Sorry for not being able to post much of the story in the time I have been on this forum and sadly that is unlikely to change. As the years go by I find myself having less and less time to sit down and write, least of all having the drive to write. Which is a shame as I thoroughly love the Katawa Shoujo universe and have grown to love both the main cast and the family of characters we have created (though my Kirino is obviously the cutest and best
). This year has been particularly difficult for me between graduate school work at my university, participant testing, scoring, transcription, training, working with the various databases as well as the several health problems my parents are facing. All of these matters require my attention and drain me of my life and motivation, that's not to say that I feel burdened, but it is certainly taxing. So with that, I'd like to provide an explanation for my poor progress and lack of updates, as well as provide some ideas of where I had hoped (and may still lead) the story.Ideas
*Kirino begins to look at her friends and understand what makes them strong and how they overcome their weakness (Nori being happier and chipper despite his father being distant and his mother somewhat cold to him and his siblings)
*Flesh out the relationship between Saya and Kirino and delve more into forgiveness
*Kirino and Hisao getting together and things being awkward for a while before they settle into the groove of dating
>Serious tension would come around when Hisao wanted to spend more time with Kirino and she was hesitant to make more time as she was still struggling to understand what it means to be a girlfriend and a partner
>Conflict would arise after they end up getting drunk and Kirino ends up saying something dumb that causes everyone to go quiet and Hisao to excuse himself
>Reconciliation when in the second last scene Kirino screams out that she loves him and she doesn't care what other people think about them, that she'll get over him and then she kisses him
>End their romance arc with them meeting up in shopping district for a geeky date
*Yuuto and Miki's relationship is marked with intense fighting and intense passion
*Meeting of Yuuto's grandfather and little sister as they come to pick Yuuto up for summer break
*Miki ends up getting tearful and angry at Yuuto for him always avoiding talking about his feelings and trying to act like he's a tough guy
>Culminates in a fight between Hisao and Yuuto where Hisao stands up after Yuuto says something insensitive and aggressive
>Yuuto pushes Hisao to the ground, followed by a short fight and Hisao's heart starts to act up and Nori has to help him to the nurses' office ASAP leaving Yuuto by himself in the middle of the night as everyone leaves him
>Yuuto goes dark and begins to transfer schools to avoid confronting the problem only be stopped by Nori who brings him to reconcile with Hisao (who isn't actually that bothered by it)
>Yuuto goes to talk to Miki who shuts the door in his face (more so angry at the fact that he didn't try to solve the issue than what he said or fought with Hisao about), but that he didn't reach out to her
>Culminates in him tearfully saying goodbye and that when they were dating it was the best thing he's had since before his accident, signalling the end of their relationship
>Takes a step away from being a main character and an allegory for how young men horde away their emotions and it often ends up destroying the things they value most
*Nori is seen as a guiding mentor to the group and his poor family past is exposed and how close he is with his two siblings and how he's always been there for them
>Discusses his weaknesses and how he turned them into his strengths
>Ends up dating a delinquent guy who treats him terribly and Nori allows it because he's a helper and doesn't mind being stepped on, culminates in when he finally just has enough and breaks up with him after an act or two
>Goes away for a weekend into the city where he and Kirino go to see his younger siblings and visit his friends in the city (featured in the scene with Bachman Turner Overdrive), where he sees his friend's younger sister in a new light and begins to date her
>Seen as a turning point from when he goes from the lonely, wise, old man trope to a born-again young man ready to go on another journey
*Introduction of Kirino's father Cedric and his portrayal is as an immature, grizzled old man, who acts like he's still in his early twenties
>Shown that he was a bad father who never stopped trying, but just was in way over his head and was never really a father figure. Instead, I was meant to portray him as an older brother esque character
>Discusses his preoccupation with drinking and smoking, revealed that it's his way of coping with Kirino's mother's death which still haunts him and his failures both as a father and a man
>Kirino erupts at him in front of Okazaki and Hisao after he keeps pouring drink after drink in a conversation on the second night Hisao is visiting them in Tokyo during summer vacation.
>Culminates in Okazaki slapping Kirino and sending her to her room as the rest of them stay in the kitchen part of the apartment. Kirino can hear her father begin to choke up when he's apologising to Hisao for putting Kirino into a position like that (showing that one of his major parental faults was that he blamed himself for everything, which is a trait Kirino also has)
>Eventually Hisao leaves for his own family and the rest of the break is spent with Kirino and her father avoiding each other as Okazaki tries to get them to reconcile before eventually leaving to go back to Sendai
>Kirino's father eventually talks to her where they both end up crying and he explains that he's sorry that he wasn't the father that she needed, and she tells him that the only thing she ever wanted was for him to know that he wasn't the only one who was hurt by her mother's passing. That he could rely on her, and he didn't need to hide how sad he was.
>Her father goes to pour another drink before sighing and dumping it down the drain and lighting up a smoke, saying that while he can't quit both habits he can at least try to quit the one so he doesn't drink himself to death
>Gives her a hug and kiss at the train station before waving her off as she heads back to Yamaku
*References to K-on
*Minor characters being set up
*Rise from Kirino doing poorly to at least average in grades
*Becoming friends with Emi
*Kirino and Hisao both get in good physical shape thanks to Yuuto and Miki
*Sisterly bond between Kirino and Miki
*Kirino becomes good enough friends with Suzu to invite her out places and eventually to her home during summer break where they all get the apartment to themselves before Kirino's father arrives on the third day of break
*Alcohol infused shenanigans and the infamous king game
*Jokes about Canada
Thank you all for reading so far and supporting me along the way. I hope one day I get a chance to finish this story and make it the best version of itself that it could be. I love you all, and this is Yuuto the Orc putting down the pen until he gets the passion to pick it back up again.
