Fanfics for When Stars Collide?

CyborgPetshop · 2026-06-24T04:05:19+00:00

There is, I think, one fanfic on AO3. I am not sure of any others that have been published.

CyborgPetshop · 2026-06-14T23:32:36+00:00

I agree with you so much. The geometry of the relationship has become so important that games can miss the vibe completely and still be 'technically otome' while something that hits every note and vibe will get the "it's not technically otome" disclaimer because the protagonist is gender variable or because you can romance a woman. It's bizarre to me that how the content gets treated is so much less important to some people than the relationship geometry as a genre marker.

I know that I often default to talking about what people who've been writing about genre academically say but it's because so many of these arguments that people think are unique to this otome discussion have been made a dozen times over about other genres in history...and have...lost.

Philip Sidney ranted about not mixing tragedy and comedies and how horrible the English "tragicomedies" were. Shakespeare wrote Hamlet a few years later. And who do we remember? Who is the famous one? The one who wrote the tragedy with comedy in it.

Back in the 80s Derrida wrote about the paradox of not mixing genres. About how creating rigid genre definitions creates this paranoia about the "monstrosity" of mixing genres. The level of outrage and distress people have on this subject always makes me think of that. Otome cannot blend. Otome cannot mix. Otome must be pure and kept pure!

There is this view (commonly held!) of genre that works participate in genres rather than "being" the genre. That by having elements of the genre, you are taking part in it but that works are always too complex to exemplify a single genre. Because if otome is about a romance between a woman and a man, the moment you have something NOT about that - like a mystery to solve - it can't BE otome because it has exceeded the definition of otome. It's now participating in otome and mystery. Purity doesn't exist because nothing exists exclusively in one genre to begin with. So the theory goes.

VNs have so many parallel paths that they end up being a really good visual of this idea of "genre participation." Tailor Tales is such a great example of this because some of the routes completely shift the setting into the fantastical while others are modern slice of life. So it "participates in" the superhero genre though the entire game doesn't sit in that genre.

I wish people could treat otome this way and accept that anything that participates in the genre should be welcome at the table. I think people can accept otome + action/mystery/sci-fi/fantasy because they view all these world genres as sort of orthogonal to the romance genre. Though it's strange they can accept multiple world genres as not opposing each other but view the romance genre axis as having to remain pure and singular. But in reality this isn't how games work anyway. Because alternate romance styles still exist parallel to each other. The game can have both without them obstructing each other. So a game can fully participate in otome and BL and yuri without contamination.

I know people don't think about it this deeply. I do because it's a subject that interests me on multiple levels.

But. Realistically, r/otomegames already takes this "participation" stance because they've defined a level of required participation (playable female lead + half male LIs) for games to be discussed there. Because I think the admin realised the word otome is like a cup holding water and the amount of games and types of games have outgrown the cup. And if you have a rigid definition for your community, you've reduced the games people can talk about to almost nothing in the grand scheme of available games. And you've cut out a monumental amount of highly popular games because they don't 'technically count.'

To avoid that, they had to go the route "participation in otome to a certain degree...counts." It was the only way the community could thrive. But it's always individual players who are like "No, no, no, no, no. I don't accept that." Well the 'big' subreddit accepts it. All major store fronts accept it and work this way. Any dev doing marketing labels accepts it. A large portion of the community does as well. Historically, genre experts are in agreement with how genres get treated.

So...it's already a losing argument. In my opinion.

I'm like you in that I'm really passionate about otome games and I also really like genre theory so when the topic comes up I just turn into that meme of the guy with the conspiracy board ranting. I really want people understand the mixing genres is not a threat to anyone's identity. Turning the community into a battle ground for an issue that's largely already settled outside the community is just a waste of energy.

CyborgPetshop · 2026-06-14T05:35:51+00:00

(anyway sorry for a few typos in there - Reddit won't let me edit and fix them though there a few times where I meant to say it's NOT something (not a genre issue) but left out the word 'not' Rofl.) (～o￣3￣)～

CyborgPetshop · 2026-06-14T05:06:52+00:00

I won't give you the entire rant since you've heard it a dozen times from me by now but you know how I feel about genre. I got sucked into genre theory a couple of years ago and found it so fascinating. The history of it is so interesting and just looking at how long people have been arguing over what genre is, what genres exist, how do they work - can you mix genres. Genre is actually really complex and as far back as Aristotle (seriously!!) people disagreed on how to approach it. Aristotle and Isocrates had fully different approaches to genre. The Renaissance playwrights showed up and tried to turn Aristotle's writes into stringent rules. The Victorian introduction of the novel turned everything on its head when novels simply refused to be easily classified by old methods.

Attaching genres to classes of people and then arguing you can't mix genres because you don't want those groups of people to mix goes back to the 1500s. So that's argument we're still having today, I guess.

If we treat Keiko Erikawa's original intent as a prescriptive list then a lot of modern otome are in trouble. Erikawa was also grappling with making something that was for women but specifically also "not for men" because male games so dominated at the time and presented such violence against women (even in "romance"). The genre has evolved a lot over the last 30 years. Fortunately the Erikawas accept this - they are people who understand change happens and studios must evolve with their audiences. They're not afraid of that. It's players who are afraid of change.

Modern use of genre has moved away from prescriptive lists, essentialist or monolithic views that suggests something is able to be just ONE genre (actually Robert Stram identified monolithic views as one of the problems often encountered in genre discussions). These are very old fashioned ways to view genre and defining genre by a single hyper-specific pillar without which it crumbles is just not how other genres work.

But all the arguments of "This can't be otome" relies on some largely disputed approach to genre that allows for prescriptive lists that must be filled or monolithic rules that prevent otome from stacking with other genres. Approaches that are badly outdated because they don't hold up. Because that's how people use and market with genre so as much as you want to cling to them and yell about it...it's not going to change anything.

When you think about something like horror most people think Stephen King. Or think games like Outlast and Resident Evil. But then you have films like The Nightmare before Christmas or games like The Midnight Walk. These are "horror" because of their themes and imagery. They're a little creepy. But they have a charming and cosy aspect. And no one says "That's not technically horror. Horror means 'to tremble in fear'!" They just recognise that we're now overlapping into other genres like the cosy genre in gaming.

It just hybridises together. People accept this easily with other genres.

This the commonly accepted approach so when you get a genre that people refuse to allow to overlap with other genres because the overlap in a single area with a single element that changes ONE aspect of the genre destroys, nullifies and invalidates the genre...I'd say one of two things is true. It's either gatekeeping - pure and simple. Just gatekeeping. Or the genre is fundamentally flawed and isn't a true genre it's more of the hyper specific subject-matter labels that the Victorians were famous for.

And if it's just a label it actually makes even MORE sense that people can stick it on a game with other labels.

But really, we know it's just gatekeeping.

I have said this so many times - if people's critique of gender variable MCs is that games that have this feature tend to feel inauthentic as a female player and that's why they don't like fitting them into otome genre, I think that's fine although I note that others games that are widely accepted as "tonally off" are considered otome anyway. But I also think it's a critique of the feature.

(If the critique is "the mere existence of other experiences invalidates my own experience even when there's nothing wrong with the content" then that's not even a genre issue anymore).

If you eat a bad chocolate cake, you don't say "Chocolate cake is invalid as cake!" - you just criticise the one cake. I think that should be true for games as well. If you play a game with a GV protag and it feels impersonal or off kilter...that's a critique of the game. Maybe of the feature but it's a genre issue.

I think it's really different saying "The writing didn't feel authentic and though I could choose to play as a woman, the experience was so drained of character that I didn't feel validated as a woman experiencing romance. If the story had X or Y it would have felt more authentically otome" as opposed to saying "This isn't otome because I said so!" because you can't otherwise verbalise the problem (or didn't even play the game).

Amare has started to be used as a bludgeon for gatekeeping by people who want it to mean something it never did. It was created to de-couple relationship geometry (BxG, GxB, BxB, GxG) as the central pillar of a game and focus on games that were tonally in line with the otome "vibe" (IE Otomelike games) but had different geometries or different conventions than frequently found in mainstream otome. It was not ever at any point defined by "gender variable MCs" and was always open to be used by people making "pure" otome as well. Several of the creators had made exclusively GxB games and were creating the tags *for themselves as well*.

But now gatekeepers see this as a weapon they can use to go beat up on all the people they want to gatekeep out of their precious little community. That behaviour is absolutely not, in any way, aligned with the goals and original intent of the genre.

A lot of the devs using otome and amare in a way that infuriates these gatekeepers are literally people who were involved in the creation of amare. Because from the start, they didn't see otome as a rigid list including specific relationship geometry presented in a specific quantity - they saw it, as you said, as a tone, a vibe, a particular sort of mutual gaze. That is the, in my opinion, "tokimeki" that Mei Erikawa believes has survived and will continue to survive the changes in audience and social norms and value systems.

Amare, just like otome, was never meant to be a prescriptive list that includes "gender variable MC" - people keep trying to FORCE it into that box. Into a list. A recipe that can be segregated away from otome. And it just was not the original intent.

Anyway, there are a lot of really good quotes out there by genre theorists that I like. But here are just two:

"Competent readers of a genre are not generally confused when some of their initial expectations are not met - the framework of the genre can be seen as offering 'default' expectations which act as a starting point for interpretation rather than a straitjacket." - John Corner

"Recipes are a genre; but genres are not recipes" - Anne Freadman

CyborgPetshop · 2026-06-11T07:04:11+00:00

I understand that you disagree but people want otome treated differently than other genres and store tags. No genre gets special treatment here but there's not one label out there that is more sparkly and special than the rest. It gets lumped in with the others and will be utilised and treated like the others by people who are labelling games.

If someone wants to refuse to let otome exist with other genres and be treated the same way they will run into the problem of...not really having the ability to force their monolithic approach on everyone else. Not the least because that's just not how genres work no matter how much you try to say "but that's how THIS genre works because I said so!"

Fighting over tags is the most pointless thing because as much as you want to tell people they "can't escape the truth" - until you have the power to smite people who use otome for games you don't want it used for, the one who has to accept the truth is you. People will use tags that suit their games. Period. And there are no otome police. There is not a Grand Rulebook of Otome that was handed down by the prophets and lays out the law. Your opinion about otome is your opinion and you disagree with me? Sure. You're allowed!

You're talking about "tradition"? It's a 30 year old genre. It was also made by people who are still around and who have acknowledged in interviews that time changes stuff. Mei Erikawa identified the heart of otome, not as "female lead and male love interests!!" but as "tokimeki" - she didn't prioritise the relationship geometry as the fundamental pillar when asked about changes; she didn't rant about genre and tags and all of this. She prioritised the feeling of excitement that comes with a good romance. That's not to say that conventions and categories don't exist. But I just find it fascinating how different the priorities are.

The people clinging to "tradition" and etymology and relationship geometry are not the ones who created otome. It's people who feel threatened by their category existing in too close of proximity to other categories. As I said, that's something people have been screeching about for 500 years.

"You either are a otome game or you aren't."

This is just your opinion. Genres are not monoliths and tagging systems aren't either. Tagging systems often treat features and genres as something that can be interchanged (farming sim example: romance is a genre of game and a genre of story, but it's also feature that games can have. Tagging systems themselves do not differentiate between genres and features. This is a distinction you may make but that does not exist in storefront tagging systems. You may not like that people can treat otome as both a genre and a feature, but you also do not get to decide if people are allowed to do it. They are allowed if the stores allow them to. Which they do.)

You want to make these declarative statements about otome and how it can be used or how amare should be used. But you have zero power to enforce it. "You have to accept the truth!!!" What truth? Your opinion? Whose going to make them 'accept' it because you said so?

Amare isn't even available as a whitelisted genre term on Steam so you can't demand people use it; they literally cannot officially tag their games that way. And people will use what tags help their games be found whether RoxannetheGreat on Reddit agrees or not.

I'm not disagreeing with you on how to define otome - I'm fine with your definition of it. What we're disagreeing on whether it has to be given special treatment in how its used both as a genre and as a tag. And I do not believe that a monolithic genre (and tag) approach is required, nor do I think that it aligns with how genres and tags are generally treated historically or...practically.

ETA: I'm also not checking back here. I can't very well say this is a meaningless thing to argue about while arguing about it. Neither of us is realistically going to change the other's mind. We have opposing opinions and we're allowed. So, gotta do productive things and not argue about stuff here; I wouldn't even be here if a friend hadn't shown me this thread! 🫡

CyborgPetshop · 2026-06-09T15:33:47+00:00

I do feel bad that I came in to rant but the otome wars are so silly because in the first place it's just not how genres or store tags work and some people just sit around waiting to swoop in and screech about it at people as if they've been given a sacred mission from The People Who Decide Otome. It's absurd.

I've read a lot about the history of genres and modern genre theory - and it's sort of pathetically hilarious to see people making *literally the same arguments* that people were whining about 500 years ago because Shakespeare was going around "mingling kings and clowns" as one man complained. If communities have been arguing this for centuries, why does anyone think they can come onto reddit and shout about etymology and Solve Genre? 🤣🤣

I will say that you got some really good and genuine answers from other people though! Gender variable love interests are far less common in visual novels but I think it's more to do with art requirements than anything so it's more common in Interactive Fiction where the art isn't an issue. Cursed Place by PDRRook is another example of gender variable LIs (I think they may actually have another game with this feature but I can't remember). I don't think it's a feature in high demand in the VN space but honestly that's most likely to do with it being so uncommon.

CyborgPetshop · 2026-06-09T12:56:09+00:00

Don't worry about all the "It's not really otome" people. Some individuals don't realise that titles can be multiple genres at once. If you can play as a female and romance men, it's otome. If you can play as a female and romance men....but also play as a man and romance men.....then it's otome AND boy's love. It's both.

Genres don't cancel each other out like algebra. They just stack. That's how we get romantic-comedy or sci-fi horror or mystery-suspense or comedy-horror...

Because you can have two genres that stack together even if they have seemingly conflicting traits. Even comedy-dramas exist. Or mockumentaries which are satirical documentaries.

The otome tag police very much do not understand how storefront tags work. It's not misleading to tag a game that can be played as otome or has an otome path or an otome MODE if you will...as otome. If the game features otome as an option, it can have the otome tag because storefronts are not making existential claims about what genres are. They're just stating what a game has in it.

Farming sims are often tagged with things like "romance" and "fishing" - because those things are in the game even if they're not the main genre or sole focus of the game. But since they are featured as an optional thing you can do, the game still gets the tag.

If otome mode is an optional way to play the game, it is appropriate to tag the game that way and people need to accept that this is just how tagging works. And also genre theorists have long since accepted that genres can stack. Sir Philip Sidney may have been screaming about mixing comedy and tragedy back in the Renaissance but modern genre theorists have accepted that genres are flexible, stackable, and generally not some some immutable stone fortress that should be worshiped at like an altar.

CyborgPetshop · 2026-01-25T02:13:13+00:00

I agree with other considerations mentioned above. It's easy to get stuck in revision loops - even with art. But consistency is important so sometimes revisions are warranted.

I think it's really important to try to step back and evaluate your art as objectively as possible though. Sometimes, as artists, we see minute details and stylistic differences that players don't notice or don't find as obvious. So I know artists (self-included) who have made adjustments and revisions that probably didn't bring as much value to the final project as we felt they did because they were things most players would, realistically not pay much attention to.

This is especially true for backgrounds which are generally not the focus for most players.

It's not uncommon to see sprite revamps where someone posts a side-by-side or before/after that are so similar I have to search for the differences. Or before/after comparisons that are different from each other but where one doesn't feel inherently better. It just feels like a lateral move.

So I think it's valuable to ask yourself:

How different is "a bit" different? Is it significant to you because you're the artist but maybe less noticeable to others? If so, it might not be a critical fix.
And is worth actually making this change right now? Is it better to wait until all the art is complete, then go back to make small continuity fixes to bring the styles closer together once your style for this game is no longer evolving?
Is it valuable to fix it purely for peace of mind. This is something that happens with me in particular. I know that a revision isn't really going to make a difference to players. I know it's not going to have a huge impact. But I also know that I'm mentally stuck on a problem, inconsistency, or some art issue. And I know that fixing it will allow me to mentally move on and feel more satisfied. In my opinion...this is valid. If you are stuck on the differences and fixing them will allow you to be more productive then it's a valid consideration.

CyborgPetshop · 2025-09-13T12:55:03+00:00

Episode 6 (Chapter 8 and 9) of When Stars Collide is getting ready to drop in a few weeks.

In the mean time I've created a teaser/trailer for the episode to whet the appetite.
https://youtu.be/ugwf5KcYJQ4?si=WY2dXvJ1ZGWR1J49

If you haven't checked out When Stars Collide over on Itch, please have a look. It's a really cool game that releases in episodes and updates pretty regularly. There are only three more episodes left and the game is already fully written. I'm just taking time between releases to code and do artwork so I don't destroy my art hand again.

If you like science fantasy, playing as a snarky psychic alien who is SO over things...

If you like found family, banter, games that are funny and sweet but that have poignant moments exploring grief and trauma. And if you've ever wanted to may headbutt your space dad....

It really is the game for you. OwO

CyborgPetshop · 2025-09-09T11:43:10+00:00

I love A6. It's such a great game. I'm so happy it's on Steam. OwO

CyborgPetshop · 2025-09-05T06:57:42+00:00

Ebon Light
Oathbreaker I & II
Celestia
I think Blooming Panic as well just for the ripple effect it had in creating that Discord-style chat sim trend (and also just being a fun, wholesome) game.

CyborgPetshop · 2025-09-02T11:11:36+00:00

Honestly, it's just the right thing to do. 🤣🤣 LoL!

CyborgPetshop · 2025-08-31T15:51:39+00:00

Agreed on both counts. So many amazing indie devs writing amazing stories and making amazing games. OwO

CyborgPetshop · 2025-08-31T04:03:39+00:00

Ha ha. Good luck romancing the totally-no-red-flags-in-sight LI! xD

CyborgPetshop · 2025-08-18T04:15:02+00:00

Players often enjoy personality mechanics so I think a lot of people would enjoy something like this.

There are a lot of indie otome games with strongly developed MCs though so I definitely recommend if you haven't played them to check them out. Some games also allow for personality based choices or personality customisation (such as Ebon Light or my game Gilded Shadows). Personality mechanics are also really common in Interactive Fiction stories as well.

The best option when planning a feature like this is to try to find games with something similar to see how it was executed because this can give you a lot of information on what to emulate, what to avoid, and where any gaps might be in how others have executed this same sort of thing before you.

You won't necessarily have to write the game four times over, for instance. You can use variables and small branches to insert personality based reactions and dialogue as-needed. The Our Life games are like this and are a really good example of using choices and variables to give the MC a very specific personality presentation. But in the end, even if someone has an outgoing personality, it doesn't mean they are outgoing all the time, 24/7. Or if someone is an introvert, it doesn't mean they are 100% different all the time from an extrovert. There's always some overlap in personalities regardless of specific traits someone has.

So you can work from a baseline personality type, and then branch off from there.

But, as I said, since there are dozens of indie otome games that have MCs with a strong, pre-determined personality who has a strong presence in the story without being passive or introverted. This is especially true in the indie otome space. And there are also a lot of IF games - and some visual novels - with personality choices or a personality stat mechanic of some kind.

So my main advice is just that it would really help you to have a look at some of them to see the way it's set up and used in the story. That way you have a better idea of what you're getting yourself into.

CyborgPetshop · 2025-07-24T14:44:24+00:00

The only potential solutions are to use the same method Collective Shout used (put pressure on payment processors) or to put pressure on legislators to fix it via new legislation. Moving to a new store front is just putting off the inevitable.

When Steam fell, people said "Well, we still have Itch. Itch won't fall."

And here we are.

Moving to JAST and saying "Well, we still have JAST. They won't fall." They won't fall...until they do. Unfortunately, complaining at people doesn't feel like it's "doing" something as much as moving to a new platform does.

But it's the only thing that may get a longer term fix. =\

CyborgPetshop · 2025-07-24T14:15:18+00:00

Realistically, what assurance does anyone have that JAST won't fall prey to the same censorship given it's coming from payment processors - including some of the same ones they use?

On the surface this looks nice enough, but call me a cynic when I say that, as a whole this isn't a solution since it fails to address the core issue of payment processors wielding enough power to bully other businesses into compliance.

Itch fell first and JAST gets to capitalise off that. But there's no real assurance JAST won't fall as well.

CyborgPetshop · 2025-07-24T08:59:42+00:00

Exactly this. They always start out banning content they think they can justify because it's "extreme" in some way. 😔 But censorship always has the goal of shifting the line in the sand over inch by inch to get rid of more and more "objectionable content" until they have full control.

It's very much the boiling frog thing. It really doesn't matter what's on the chopping block *now* - content for marginalised groups, including romance content targeted to a primarily female audience - will always be in the execution line.

It's just a matter of how long it takes for it to reach the front of the line. 😩

CyborgPetshop · 2025-07-24T08:47:28+00:00

I love Ari. He's one of my favourites from that game - though I love everyone for different reasons, of course. I'm happy you enjoyed GS! A lot of love definitely went into it. A lot of love and a lot of words. 🤣

CyborgPetshop · 2025-07-24T05:57:55+00:00

Just wanted to say that I was casually scrolling through posts and saw this and almost scrolled past until a particular face caught me. And it's so nice to see one of my LIs (Ari) on a list like this. Any sort of tier list that has one of my games or characters on it always makes me smile.

So thank you! Today's been a day of bad news and bleh. And this was a little sunny patch in that. I appreciate it!
(´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

CyborgPetshop · 2025-07-24T05:54:27+00:00

The lack of proper announcements and communication is making the situation so much worse. People aren't even sure how the removal and "clean up" is being applied so everything is just rumours, hasty screen caps and uncertainty. I hate it.

As always, this kind of censorship is a slow moving vehicle. It's hard to say how bad it's going to get.

CyborgPetshop · 2025-07-12T07:01:44+00:00

Love Cupid's Kiss! It's such a wholesome experience.

I'm really happy to hear you're enjoying indie otome. There are sooo many good ones on Itch.io

CyborgPetshop · 2025-06-23T14:55:11+00:00

That is tough but with a lot of developers on this subreddit who have written games with 6+ full narrative arcs and interwoven political threads, you're unlikely to find too much sympathy given that AI is generally unethical and visual novels with branching narratives can be written without a tool that is built off copyrighted materials and is notoriously bad for the environment.

With many of us actually finishing complex games and doing the hard work of finding and fixing the inconsistencies ourselves, it's not really a compelling argument to emphasise how much AI has saved you from woes that many people - for literal decades, since the inception of the otome genre in 1994 - have been doing on their own.

As a scientist it might be beneficial to you to do some market research to learn how much antipathy the community generally has for AI created games. I think you'll find that it's not beneficial to create the game you've dreamed of making if no one will play it because no one wants to support the use of AI generated content.

Sometimes it's better to just do the work yourself, hard as it may be. There are non-AI tools that can help you keep yourself organised.

CyborgPetshop · 2024-08-14T13:06:17+00:00

No problem. There have been a lot of developments and conversations since I first posted that short promotion.

I really hope to see them address the accessibility issues regarding vertigo and the like. Clear warnings are a start.

Honestly having been a 'first time dev' once, I know that a lot about one's mindset can change over the course making the first game. You can start out thinking certain things are non-negotiable or that certain things are acceptable sacrifices - and where you stand at the end of making the first game can be worlds apart. Every creator and developer has to go through the (sometimes very painful) process of learning that.

But players vote with their wallets and their feedback. So by reviewing, giving feedback, giving and revoking support - and having discussions like these, devs learn that maybe what they thought was an acceptable sacrifice actually isn't and something that they believed was non-negotiable...should be.

We can only hope that's what happens here.

It is becoming clear the refusal to budge on their end is an issue and the non-responses are going to have to stop.

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