#BecauseOfOA

*•.¸♡ Hi everyone! （*＾3＾）/～♡¸.•*

Today I’m going to do the 5th Anniversary Challenge! I’ve been around this community since early 2017, so I’m super excited to see us make it this far! I did take a hiatus for a few years in between, so I’m even more happy to be back and celebrating with you all. So for this challenge I am going to share the things that I was able to do/was introduced to because of OA, but I’m also going to show them in the context of things that I missed when I wasn’t active in the community that ultimately brought me back :blush:

* ˚ ✦ Finding new games

Let me tell y’all, there are SO MANY games that I would’ve missed out on if it weren’t for OA. Seeing as my old strategy was to look for stuff in the App Store on my phone (and try to pick ones that didn’t explicitly say “dating game” or something other people might deem suspicious), my options were limited :joy: Additionally, I didn’t check the store often, so I would’ve missed out on things like preorder bonuses or new games that hadn’t gained enough traction to show up toward the top of the search tab.

A recent example of this is AnotherPrince (characters pictured above). I saw someone posting about it back when it first came out, and they seemed pretty hyped about it. I looked at the pictures they posted and fell in LOVE with Beowulf’s hair (the man on the top right with the dark blue and white gradient :grin: ). Well, turns out Beowulf isn’t an option for a route yet; however, I love the game and was able to participate since the first event! I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do that if it weren’t for OA!

* ˚ ✦ New game community hype

When a really popular game comes out, having a huge following for it on OA makes it all the more fun!

Nothing, and I say absolutely nothing, can compare to the Mystic Messenger hype on here back in 2017. That game was so big that I a time on here that I felt like I was seeing MM stuff on the daily, and I loved it. Having the bulk of the community so focused on this game and hyping it up really made everyone relate to each other so much more, and the community had an abundance of resources around the game as a result, which was even better!

Here’s the MM theme if you all are in need of some nostalgia :wink:

I’ve also seen a little bit of this hype with Obey Me! too. It’s just really great to have a central game that most people in the community know well; I feel like it brings us together even more :blush:

* ˚ ✦ Getting advice on which games are worth buying

It seems like a big step price-wise to start buying games, at least for Nintendo Switch, so when I do finally start, I’ll be very thankful to of the community for talking about switch games on here and writing reviews. Especially on games that I enjoyed the demos of, like Iris School of Wizardry and Gakuen Club. I need to that demos are a nice sparkly slice of the overall game, so a good demo doesn’t always equal a good game. I found this out when reading old reviews for these two and seeing information that made me wonder if they were really worth the money. If it weren’t for the well-rounded reviews from other OA , I might’ve bought a game that would be a disappointing comparison to the demo.

On the other side of that point, because of OA, I’ve been able to find some great-looking paid games on the switch that everyone seems to love (such as CollarxMalice) that have made me excited to start buying games rather than nervous about whether it’ll be worth it.

Like seriously, the art is so beautiful, and this is the type of game that I definitely wouldn’t have found on my own so I’m super thankful for everyone for introducing me to it! :blush:

* ˚ ✦ A safe-zone/outlet to fangirl

OA is honestly such a great place to channel all my fangirl energy into. I love that we have an abundance of challenges so that we never run out of ways to talk about our favorite games. Additionally, the unique challenges have even sparked my creativity to create otome-related blogs/activities of my own. Like back when I did a couple of blogs recreating food I saw in otome: Azusa’s Rolled Omelet Art :tomato: (which I would love to revive at some point :grin: ). If it weren’t for OA, I would have less of a medium to channel my excitement for otome into, and therefore feel super lonely in my otome interest.

* ˚ ✦ Somewhere to share my otome fanart

Back in my early years here, I would do fanart of different characters from time to time, and it was just great to have a platform meant exactly for that sort of art, a place where lots of people had the potential to recognize the characters I drew. Additionally, OA is such a kind community that I felt not only free but excited to post such things because I knew that, even though art is a constant process of learning and growing, no one would throw hate around. This just isn’t that type of community and I love that.

Here’s one of my favorite old pieces :blush: :

While I haven’t posted any fanart in a while (though I may again soon :wink: ), I absolutely LOVE seeing other people on this community post theirs! Nothing is more inspiring than seeing other ’ ion in their own pieces. Nowhere else would I be able to be a part of a community with people who enjoy creating otome-related art and fanart and I love OA for that.

* ˚ ✦ A sense of community!!

I’m sure that many of you can relate, but outside of this community, I don’t really have anyone to gush to about otome, so it’s great to be able to get together and talk about it here :blush: . Everyone on this community is so kind and ive and I love listening to everyone talk about their favorite games! ପ(๑•̀ᴗ•̀)* thᵃᵑᵏ Ꮍ੫ᵎ *

#BecauseOfOA

Side note, but does anyone the days when there weren’t ads on here? It was like that originally, but when I came back, -ads everywhere-! Sometimes I still accidentally click on one when I’m scrolling through the feed or reading a post :sob: It makes me regret having that hiatus a little more; I could’ve enjoyed clean, pristine, ad free amino for a little while longer :joy: