Hello everyone!
I’m really excited to start this new series today, since I’ve been thinking about it for a long time.
I’ve always wanted to make this blog more personal and interactive, to share my feelings and experiences with you: I’ve been in the otome game fandom for more than 7 years, I have a lot to talk about, besides my usual TOP10 and reviews!
I’ve decided to avoid sharing these posts on twitter or instagram, since they are a bit more personal and I want them to be read mostly by people who come here on regular basis.
Even if I rarely receive comments, I know exactly how many people read my opinions and come here from time to time, just to check if there’s something new: if you’re one of them, I guess you should check updates a bit more often, from now on!
Before I officially start talking about the first topic, I have a little request: I know many of you are too busy, to comment on a blog; but since I want to open my heart to you, expressing freely my feelings, I’d love to have some kind of feedback, about this new type of content.
Google analytics just gives me cold numbers, it obviously can’t tell me if you’re enjoying what you read or not; sometimes it feels like I’m just talking to myself, and since I put a lot of effort and passion in this, it can become a little depressing.
If you enjoy this place, could you please remember there’s a person behind it? A person who sometimes needs a little pat on her shoulder, to feel motivated?
Sorry for the rant, I stop immediately. But thanks to all the people who took their time, in these past years, to leave me any kind of feedback, I really appreciate a lot, when people don’t take things for granted.
So, for today, I’d like to talk about a weird period of my life, which lasted for 4 months.
It’s a short span of time, but at the same time it can be very long, if lived intensively.
It was about 7 years ago, at the end of 2013. Oh, the old times, when I was still a young girl living with her parents, trying to find her path in life!
At that moment, I barely knew about otome games and I was slowly approaching to the genre: it was a new world I was exploring for the first time, mostly while watching reverse anime, trying to figure out how to play those games in japanese.
It was just one of my many hobbies, those days I was mostly invested in kpop and I even went to a concert. But something about otome games captured my interest and even my soul: it was a combination of a book (I’ve always loved reading), an anime (2D ikemen with sparkly eyes and coloured hair) and a game (you gotta catch em all, like pokemon!), so I was immediately sold, it was exactly what I’ve always hoped for, but I didn’t even dare to ask.
All those handsome guys, waiting for me to enter their world, live amazing adventures together and finding love…. why should I live in the real world, with annoying people, if I can live a wonderful dream? It almost became an obsession. I kept finding something new, there were literally hundreds of games to choose from… it was driving me crazy!
I was able to keep a balance until I was working, but when my contract expired and I found myself unemployed, I lost every common sense.
I remember myself waking up early in the morning, just to start a new route: I literally played 4 hours straight, losing contact with everyone around me, alone in my room and absorbed completely by that new world. I stopped for a short while just for lunch and then I started again, for hours, until my mum complained and I had to force myself to make some effort to find a new job.
This situation lasted for 4 months. Then I finally started working again, I had to go back to real life, my mind was focused on many other things and my “addiction” naturally decreased.
Years went by, I still play a lot as you can see from my reviews, but I’m a decent human being who plays 1 or 2 hours every day, not a sociopath who depends of her family to survive, locked in her dark room.
Even if I realize that it wasn’t healthy, I still consider that one of the best experience of my life: I was living someone else’s life, not mine, and it was very fullfilling.
But obviously, it could have been very dangerous, if it lasted longer.
Why am I telling you this story?
Because I know many people go through a similar situation, but they aren’t lucky or strong enough to get out and face reality; living in a fantasy is amazing, it feels like the world outside doesn’t exist anymore. But it’s not the truth. Sooner or later, you’ll need to stand up on your own.
I hope you all find a good balance in life, this is the key to happiness.
Have a nice day!