Can You Accept Your Fate? - Saki Pseudo Route (Ch. 8, 15/02)

[Mirage_GSM]

Seems accurate enough - at the very least it's better researched than most stories here.
Nice to see this still continues, though I wouldn't mind to see a bit more of Saki...

[Mader Levap]

Sure, I hope we will get more Saki soon, but I like how in this fanfic there are more males present beside Kenji.

[ComeWhatMay]

>mfw 10,000 views

No idea how many readers that is, but as long as there's interest, I'll keep posting, and damn was this chapter was a monster!

This post is mostly just fluff about my research process and how I went about this chapter. It's not a continuation nor connected to the story per se, so if you're here for some Saki (I promise, she's the focus of the next chapter!), feel free to move on. I'm a talker, and writing about my writing kind of helps me organize it in my head. But, if you're as interested in (or bored enough for) random tidbits as I am (medical stuff, writing stuff, and even some silly puns on the part of the KS devs I noticed), press on! I have a few links to videos and sites where I did some of my research, I'll post the length of the video so you can choose how much time you are or are not willing to waste : )

So I really do want this story to be at least medically reasonable. Knowing that what's included in a story could actually happen gives a work some power by itself, and it's something I personally look for in non-fantasy/sci-fi fiction. It's one of the reasons I got so invested in Katawa Shoujo as well. Most writers would just take the easy route and say something along the lines of "weak heart" and been well within their rights as far as the narrative is concerned, but the devs made the effort to ground it in reality, something I greatly appreciated. In any case, the reason this one took so long to come out is that I was finding it difficult to reconcile two things in particular about Hisao's condition that the fanbase either knows or at least seems to have good reason to believe. First, I've seen it mentioned around more often than not that Hisao's condition is Long QT syndrome. Don't know exactly where or why this gained traction (in the game proper, for example, it's never referred to as such), but it seems to be something that many accept about the MC. Secondly, the second chapter of KS makes it pretty clear that Hisao is taking a lot of meds.

This short video (3:45) gives a cool overview of the hearts electrical system and how it presents on an EKG (And here's the pun by the way. The second chapter of Katawa Shoujo is titled 'Bundle of Hisao', some wordplay on the cells which transmit impulses from the AV node to the Purkinje fibers via the left and right bundle branches... or the Bundle of His. I'm determined to find out which dev included this! Rumor has it it might be Aura, but it's still up in the air).

Long story short, LQT doesn't have a very big list of medications that help it (as far as I know, it's limited Lidocaine and the ion's the heart uses in the electrical system. Neat video on antiarrythmics, but it's 45 minutes long, so only watch if you're waiting for your girlfriend outside Victoria's Secret.) In fact, most antiarrythmics make it much, much worse. So... I needed another problem that affected the heart, one that would require a decent list of meds, could co-exist with Long QT in a way that wouldn't be an instant death sentence for the MC, and one in which neither set of indicated drugs would negatively affect the other condition or have any inter-medication complications. Thankfully, I know someone that has (induced, not congenital) Long QT... as well as some form of cardiomyopathy. I also know someone that was shot... and an albino... all of whom I met after I started writing this story (yeah I started checking my balance after I realized how weird that was). This combination worked great. LQT screws up the electrical system while the cardiomyopathy I chose (mostly) just affects the muscle tissue. Sweet. Nailed it.

This research was a ton of fun. It's nice to have an excuse as to why I'm looking up all this seemingly random (but really cool) stuff. It's good to have Hisao nailed down, and his friendship with the guys started (Nakata is so much fun to write). I'll be shifting to his relationship with Saki now (in a totally unrelated note, anyone a fan of Damien Rice? Delicate always puts me in the right mood to write romance). But, dangit, as I keep writing, I've found my favorite side character is actually Rebecca. She doesn't have a whole lot posted about her yet, but in my worldbuilding, I've made her into a character that I quite like. At work today... I came up with an awesome idea for a potential pseudo-route with her. Wouldn't that be fun? Meeting and interacting with her USN father? (I'm thinking a much more intense version of Jigoro Hakamachi) Drama with painkillers? (practically writes itself!) Hisao goes to America???

Nope, getting ahead of myself. First things first, this work. Maybe later, Rebecca.

As always, thanks for reading.

[Mirage_GSM]

(And here's the pun by the way. The second chapter of Katawa Shoujo is titled 'Bundle of Hisao', some wordplay on the cells which transmit impulses from the AV node to the Purkinje fibers via the left and right bundle branches... or the Bundle of His. I'm determined to find out which dev included this! Rumor has it it might be Aura, but it's still up in the air).

I remember those puns in the chapter titles being a royal PitA to translate for the German version...
This one was relatively easy, but "Acute Triangle" and "A Brief History of Thyme" took quite some time to resolve...
As for which dev brought it in, my best guess would be Silentcook, as he was the medical advisor on the project.

First, I've seen it mentioned around more often than not that Hisao's condition is Long QT syndrome. Don't know exactly where or why this gained traction (in the game proper, for example, it's never referred to as such), but it seems to be something that many accept about the MC.

Long QT was confirmed by Aura here:
https://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4824
and by Suriko here:
https://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1480
The source of the idea is probably SC again.

[Silentcook]

Can't take credit (or responsibility) about the Bundle of His bit, since it was already in place even before I joined.

[Eurobeatjester]

First off, congrats on 10k views!

Also, yeah, research is fun when it comes to learning how to write a story believably. The devs did an amazing job of this.

That being said, it's important you don't get too caught up in the details to the point they interrupt the flow of the story - it's something that happens to a alot of authors here.

For example, while Hisao is confirmed by the devs has having LongQT, it's never mentioned in the game because that information isn't really critical to the story. It's enough to let the reader know he has arrhythmia and give a brief description of it, without going into all the different types and how treatment differs.

Think of it like an episode of House. Someone throws out a disease or problem the patient has, and House or another doctor briefly describes it without breaking out a medical journal. It's just enough to keep the audience interested, without them getting lost in over-technical explanations.

This doesn't just apply to medical things however. We know that Nurse has a name besides Nurse - but it's not important what it is, because as far as the story is concerned, he's Nurse. Same with never knowing the names of Hisao's parents, or officially knowing the names of the other students in Hisao's class that he doesn't interact with.

Seems you're doing good on these points though. Keep up the good work!

[ComeWhatMay]

Long QT was confirmed by Aura here:
https://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4824
and by Suriko here:
https://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1480
The source of the idea is probably SC again.

Wow, I've been looking for official confirmation to this for a while, got discouraged when I couldn't find any links on reddit or at the wiki. Good to know it's not something I just imagined up.

Can't take credit (or responsibility) about the Bundle of His bit, since it was already in place even before I joined.

I asked Cpl_Crud about this on the KS subreddit, who pointed me to Aura since he supposedly rewrote the 1st act. Just gotta ask now lol, probably through Twitter.

congrats on 10k views!

Thanks! Saw you recently broke 100k, so I'll send some congrats you way as well. That's impressive man.

The amount of medical information to include in this chapter is something I struggled with for a while. In the end, I did decide to include a little more than most fics, if only because I wanted to show Hisao learning about and adapting to his handicap, something I hadn't seen a lot of. I loved the Lilly route in the game proper because it showed more of Hisao's struggle with his condition, and how the couple adapted to it, so I wanted to emulate that in my own way. Thematically, I hope that this will mesh with future chapters, and that I didn't write a check I can't cash.

[ComeWhatMay]

Guys, I just graduated from college! 6 years coming but I just got my bachelors in Geological Engineering!

Sorry, just super excited. Got my outline on the next chapter done and I've started writing it. Lots more Saki in this one!

Wohoo!

[Zerebos]

Congratulations from one engineer to another! Enjoy the post-graduation celebrations!

[PKMNthiefChris]

This was... a ride. It's pretty awesome. Very, very different take on Hisao than I've seen done and... it works. I don't think I could've imagined it working this well until I read it, to be totally honest.

[ComeWhatMay]

So, sorry about the hiatus, but over the last year I learned that I'm actually a girl.

I want to continue this arc, I'll be working on it soon

[Eurobeatjester]

Woo, welcome back my friend!

[ComeWhatMay]

This's gotta be weird eh, given that the last time we met I was a guy

[QuietlySomething]

Well, good for you! In more ways than one.

Welcome back!

[Eurobeatjester]

This's gotta be weird eh, given that the last time we met I was a guy

Nah, not at all I've had several of my friends transition in the past and I'm happy for them (and you!)

Hope you're still up for a beer next time you're in town