"Can You Open Your Heart?" - a Rika pseudo-route

[kekkres]

it seems to me that rikas philosophy is best summed up in bon jovey lyrics
"its my life"
"its now or never"
"and i dont want to live forever"
"i just want to live while im alive"

[pip25]

This is beautifully written, with a great style resembling the original game quite well. The characters are also fleshed out, and I enjoyed reading it very much.

It's a sad fact though that I got stuck at the Act 3 bad ending, and perhaps for the first time that I've been in such a situation, I feel no motivation to change my mind.
Rika feels self-destructive to the point that I would tell her she's not going in the right direction if she were a total stranger, let alone someone I care about. The alternative feels like an insult. "It's okay Rika, feel free to doom yourself. It's your life and all." Heck no. Of course, Hisao started rambling and went about it the wrong way in many aspects, but most of what he said was spot-on. Apparently though, Rika could not handle the truth, so in the end the whole thing became pointless. I wish there was a third option, perhaps... :/

Maybe I approach this the wrong way, but still... Most, or I'd dare say, all KS routes have some kind of moral to them, as clichéd as that may sound. You don't have to understand Rin to love her and be there for her. You can't truly help Hanako and make her happy if you don't treat her as an equal, and a similar logic applies to Emi as well. Shizune's arc teaches dedication, while Lilly's hinges on trust and mutual support.
This story... well, if we assume that getting a bad ending means I made a bad choice, seems to say that, err... people should mind their own business? As long as you're there for each other, it doesn't matter what either of you does with his/her life? That's a total self-contradiction. How can I love someone and at the same time be content with watching her wither away and ruin her life by her on volition? That's impossible... well, for me, anyway.

I think I have to commend this story for making me think about such issues, but my impression is nonetheless... conflicted, to say the least.

[Roamin12]

Thank you so much finally getting around to finishing this, I had lost nearly all hope of this getting a conclusion, and then I see the update on the fanfiction board, I literally let out a cheer...at 5 in the morning when I saw this.
I think the ending was a bit too rushed, and that Rika seemed to do a 180 turn with her personality towards the end, but it still was a highly satisfying conclusion, and now I need to go dunk my head in a cold bucket of water to help the hell my brain is going through; finishing re-watching Lost, finishing A Brief History of Time, and reading all the philosophical thought related at the end of this story in one day=MIND FUCK.

[Po1ntBlank]

I bear down with the stubbornness of the Fastest Things On No Legs, sweat dripping from the tip of my chin.

Haha this is funny. My older bro went to University of Arizona, and their "motto" of sorts is Bear Down. I have a hat with that printed on it, I wear almost every day, and it's kinda become my "thing" if you will. Whenever I or one of my friends sees it somewhere, we always joke about it. It's stupid, but it entertained me nonetheless! Great fanfic!

[Titus]

Thanks for finishing it up, Rikabro. I enjoyed your story.

[Bacon Elemental]

Excuse me for the necropost.

But... I want to echo a "wow." That was an amazing read.

I think I want to reread this since I could not fully grasp Rika's character and the only thing that's clear about her is that she doesn't let her condition define who she is. Or something to that extent. But for now, I should probably crawl back to my bed and lie in a fetal position, thinking and trying to digest everything I've read here. Definitely my favorite route, even though it's a pseudo-route.

Can't wait to see how the Suzu, Miki, Saki, and Misha routes stack up.

[Wookie]

I'm usually abit reluctant to read pseudo routes since they tend to not fit with the KS 'feel'. This fanfic however not only 'feels' like KS but also manages to be fresh and deliciously different to all the other routes in KS.

Inotherwords, this is winsause of the highest measure!

[Kitsune Spirit]

I finally finished reading this, and I absolutely loved it. I feel that this should be a part of the game, it's just that well written and engaging. Rika is such a fascinating character, and the ending was beautifully done and totally fits with the rest of the story.

[neio]

I enjoyed this a lot. Especially the characterization of Rika: for all intents and purposes, she's an OC, and you did a great job making her different than the other characters in canon. I actually prefer the bad ends to the good one; they seemed to fit Rika better. Her good end was too much of an instant "eureka! I'm a better person now!" moment, but you made up for it with excellent symbolization.

[Rikabro]

Thank you all for the nice comments. It makes me happy that people still read this, heh.

I wish I could go and give highly detailed responses to all of the critiques that have been offered, but I think the story itself answers most of its own questions and I don't really want to ruin any of the mystique by putting all my cards on the table. There are a lot of people who seem to have fully understood what I intended to convey, and that's enough for me.

You're all wonderful people and I'm glad I got the chance to spend time with you.

[centurion911]

Thank you all for the nice comments. It makes me happy that people still read this, heh.

I wish I could go and give highly detailed responses to all of the critiques that have been offered, but I think the story itself answers most of its own questions and I don't really want to ruin any of the mystique by putting all my cards on the table. There are a lot of people who seem to have fully understood what I intended to convey, and that's enough for me.

You're all wonderful people and I'm glad I got the chance to spend time with you.

I'm disappointed I could not be along for the ride but I'm very happy you bumped this. Now I have another route to read

[Rikabro]

I'm disappointed I could not be along for the ride but I'm very happy you bumped this. Now I have another route to read

Cool, thanks! It's kinda weird but I hope you like it.

I wasn't intending to self-bump, that's why I was waiting for a new reply actually, heh.

[TARDISman85]

This was definitely a terrific story, I mean I got pretty pissed off at Rika at certain parts for... well being her, but anything that can really evoke that kind of emotion from me is definitely something special. That and it gave me something to read during my Geology lectures, so there that is.

[neio]

Who did the cover art?

[Rikabro]

Who did the cover art?

Two KSG artists. Act 2 cover art is by Skrats. Act 3 is by Emi's Waifu.