#e-boyfriend

[nissakii]

"Ssum"-one Special - The Ssum: Forbidden Lab by Cheritz!

"Ssum"-one special that captures your heart, your very own soulmate...

We humans are naturally social.

Although you could be a very closed off introvert, there are hardly any people out there who thrive off of no contact at all. Even so, building relationships is something that every person does subconsciously. It doesn't even have to be another human, we create relationships with our pets, with plants or other things.

Why is that so?

Well, deep down inside everyone can get a little lonely sometimes.

Especially with the pandemic that has rattled our daily life and turned many things around for us. It's still just as important to have a special person in our midst that we can talk to.

As sad as it may sound to some, not everyone has the time or the capacity to actually go out there and find their special soulmate. It can get harder for people with difficulty building commitment or trust especially.

"Ah, I'm so busy with everything right now, I can't imagine actually getting involved with someone..."

"Oh yeah, I've tried, but somehow I just haven't found the right person..."

"Well, we worked great together, but our schedules just did not align!"

Sound familiar?

For just this sort of predicament, appears the perfect little solution if you wish to at least get a slight feel of a relationship.

Otome Games:

For the readers that aren't familiar, otome games are a certain genre of 'dating-simulation' games that have gained popularity very quickly. Generally, these games are primarily made for young women with the purpose of building romantic relationships with characters in-game.

One of the most popular otome-games that you might or might not have heard of is none other than- Mystic Messenger!

The Korean company Cheritz has brought Mystic Messenger onto the market in 2016 and has gathered a huge fanbase. With incredibly realistic gameplay and characters, Cheritz has made its reputation as one of the most renowned otome-game creators. Which is no wonder, since to this day, Mystic Messenger still has a very active fan culture behind it. If you've noticed, we have already talked about Mystic Messenger in some of our blog posts.

After six years of completely focusing on their previous franchises, Cheritz has now made a very exciting announcement. The creation of a completely new game!

The Ssum: Forbidden Lab.

The Ssum: What is it?

For the very dedicated fans among you, you might have caught the open beta of the groundworks of "Ssum" in 2018.

To 'sum' it up quickly, "The Ssum" is going to be another otome-game, this time focusing much more on human relationships.

Supposedly, you are to start a relationship with an A.I. that is so advanced, it will cater to you and not the other way around. Instead of pursuing a character and getting their route just like in most otome-games, in "The Ssum", your 'ssum-one' will adapt to you! You can text and call with your Ssum, in a very calming manner according to the developers.

The first launch date was the 27th of april 2022, but sadly Cheritz pushed it to early May of this year. We can also assume from the official Cheritz posts and website, that this game will be very long-lasting and time consuming.

To quote the official website, "Make your day happier with daily conversation! You can process the conversation up to 200 days". This already tells us that compared to Mystic Messengers' 11 day route system, we're in for a new ride!

Users of the beta in 2018 should know this, but "The Ssum" will have a high level of personalisation.

With Cheritz' promise to find something close to your soulmate, the expectations of fans are very high. On the official Ssum website, we get some more information but not very much on how this game will be.

What can we expect?

We know that there is one main character called Teo. He is 27, and an aspiring film-director. In the first pictures we see of him he has dark hair and purple eyes, but his appearance seems to change as well. According to theories from all around, Teo will most likely change his appearance according to the player.

Next to Teo, who seems to be the main character, there are mentions of unknown characters being unlockable later on.

Similar to Mystic Messenger, you can chat with your Ssum and call as well. The new and very interesting feature that was also confirmed through the beta testers is the sleep schedule. In the beta, you were asked to type in your daily schedule to have chats in times that are beneficial to you. On the website and in the trailer, we can also see “wake-up calls'' which sound like they will be some sort of alarm to wake you up.

There was also a personality test that determined how your Ssum would react to you. From the advertisement on the official website and the announcement on tumblr, we can assume that the A.I. called PIU PIU will be much more advanced.

PIU PIU, the A.I that determined your personality and sleep schedule in the beta, has a very cute bird design. According to Cheritz, the little bird has undergone many changes and is now much more cutting-edge.

Lastly, the whole reason why there is a "Forbidden Lab" in the title, is a function we know nothing about since Cheritz wants to surprise us. Supposedly, the "Forbidden Lab" should emulate human emotion. We're not sure if it's a function that we can use from the start or if another A.I. exists, but Cheritz is really putting emphasis on new technologies.

Conclusion:

The game will be available in English and Korean, and will have a global launch on the 11th of May 2022. 

Until then, we can only hope that this game is just as interesting as previous games, although the feeling arises that this will be much more than just any otome-game. 

Cheritz promises us real life relationship building based on chatting instead of a choice-based visual novel like Mystic Messenger.

Is this the new step into the e-boyfriend culture? And how do you think this will affect our future?

If you're just as excited as I am, make sure to tell us your opinion in the comments!

And if you're interested in the beta testing and want to potentially spoil your experience a little to find out more, here is a link for gameplay from 2018, as well as the official website and announcements!

Beta 2018 Gameplay:

Cheritz Tumblr:

Make sure to write this down in your calendar!

Until then, let's hope we all get our special ssum-one! 

-Nissa

[rwnjun]

gorgeous gorgeous boyfriends make lunch for each other

[werecreature-addicted]

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas- the white is werewolf cum. not snow. Creampie Christmas

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for refusing to propose to my boyfriend?

We both wanna get married and our families & friends are cool and everything (honestly he's my mom's favorite child at this point), but he says I should have to do the actual proposal and I say he should.

He thinks since I hate every restaurant he takes me to (I work in food service I know what I'm about he picks BAD places) I should just be in charge of it, I think since he makes way more and he's stupid picky about jewellery (he knows what the different gemstone cuts are. He has OPINIONS on gemstone cuts. I am marrying a monster) he should have to buy the ring, and we both need it to be a special romantic surprise enough that we're not about to co-propose or some shit. We're also both guys, so there's not really any traditional rules to fall back on here, either.

It's been mostly fine, but his 30th birthday was the week before last and he's LEGIT mad I didn't propose then. We took a whole trip and had dinner with his entire family (we live a 2 1/2 hour flight away) and shit, so if I were gonna do it, that would've been the time. I told him I've already said I wasn't proposing, and that he can do it himself or we can be boyfriends for his 70th birthday too, and he said "If we're not married by the time I'm 70 you will be LUCKY to still be boyfriends" and stormed off to our room, and now he says he's fine but I'm 90% sure he's been training the cat to bite my hands? It's happened every single time I try to pet her and he looks very smug about it.

So did I fuck up here or what?

PS If I'm not the asshole how do I talk him into proposing already I am DYING over here I wanna marry him so BAD. He BRIBED the CAT to BITE me I NEED this man to be my husband N O W .

What are these acronyms?

[gamgersgamging]

this came to me while i was in the shower

[lotrmusical]

a. e. housman, from 'hell gate'

[batteryneutral]

Hey sorry your boyfriend's been defenestrated :(. Yeah, he started to develop a conscience so we had to do something :/ sorry

[transmascissues]

i love helping other transmascs speedrun getting over their doubts and fears about going on t. there are two people in my personal life who have been contemplating going on t for a while, and both of them talked to me about it because i’m the resident Guy On T, and by the end of our conversations one of them was fully decided that they want to start t and the other had realized the thing that had been stopping them was actually probably not a real barrier at all. i’m making it my life’s mission to become the little trans devil on as many people’s shoulders as possible whispering “you should totally go on t i think you would really like it” in their ears. maybe the real transgender craze seducing our daughters was the friends we made along the way.

[yuutaok]

Yuuta prayer circle everyone keep him in your thoughts I need him to live or else

[mrsumpavasee]

“This is.. stronger than I think…”

Uh.. so I reading draqx’s Q&A and I ran across this and my science nerd sense be like

“ So He MuSt DrUnk On Rubbing Alcohol “

So yeah

characters belong to @darqx

[vellichorom]

I AM A PERFECTLY LEVELHEADED PERSON WHO DRAWS PERFECTLY RATIONAL & MINDFUL CROSSOVER MATERIAL & SUPPLEMENTARYoh my god

part- what. 25?

[hamletthedane]

For the record: I do not hold a secret position in Kensington Palace.

However, my former neighbor’s boyfriend is the scandalously gay grandson of Earl So-and-So (living in sin with the son of a Texas Democrat - the horror), and he liked my cancer theory so much he told all his fancy Oxford friends about it before the news broke, and they apparently got several very stern call from their fancy peered parents about where did you hear that and stop gossiping, it’ll get out.

So while I’m not a palace papers source, I did get Earl Black Sheep Jr. calling me at 6am this morning excitedly confirming that I was right about the third cousin once removed of his childhood friend having cancer 💀

[daylight-boyy]

I present to you: Blob Jon

And also: wibbly wobbly

[lupinedreaming]

Thinking about the fact that Leroux Christine perhaps potentially thought she was in a monster fucker story at first, because it definitely seemed like she might have had a Thing for Erik’s Angel of Music persona

[frnkiebby]

what total fuckin dads~🎃

[aanthonyvb]

​Some E & R from my sketchbook