Katawa Shoujo Forums

Act 4, Part 06 is out. It wasn't easy work, but they don't call them "labors of love" if no labor is involved.

inthewind wrote:

Popo wrote: I imagine you'll make quite a meaningful post. We're grateful to you and all of our readers for joining us on this linguistic journey.

This is said post. Reading that, I think you'll understand why I'm so drawn to this work; your Shizune is very compelling and well-wrought, and I highly appreciate it, as well as the great level of attention to detail overall. I really enjoy how planned and structured things are that references made in the first act end up coming true in a sideways manner later on, and it leaves one wondering what will end up being self-referential next.

This is, actually, one of the first pieces of fanfiction that I've read at all, and certainly the only one I've felt compelled to see all the way through. Thank you for your time and work.

I'll respond to your linked post in that thread. Though I will say I can see the similarities, though it seems there were some differences to Shizune, as well. KS reached me on a very personal level, too.

Thank you, but it's more like Kane's Shizune, not mine. The preface document will tell you which writer handles which character. I've given him a little advice here and there, and he's done the same for me, but Shizune's all his work. He writes Misha, I write Kano. We work with a good natural chemistry, so he made Shizune fit in line with our early vision of her as misunderstood; our interpretation of her being that you get from her the quality of what you give of yourself. As for self-reference...there is more of that to come. The musical motifs no doubt reflect my fondness of casting things from the past in a new light.

Funny enough, I've actually not read much fanfiction, either. Hardly any. Kane and I just both got the urge to write, all of a sudden. Ah, the magic of KS. I'm fond of the effects it has inspired in people, including myself.

Popo wrote:Thank you, but it's more like Kane's Shizune, not mine. The preface document will tell you which writer handles which character. I've given him a little advice here and there, and he's done the same for me, but Shizune's all his work. He writes Misha, I write Kano. We work with a good natural chemistry, so he made Shizune fit in line with our early vision of her as misunderstood; our interpretation of her being that you get from her the quality of what you give of yourself. As for self-reference...there is more of that to come. The musical motifs no doubt reflect my fondness of casting things from the past in a new light.

Funny enough, I've actually not read much fanfiction, either. Hardly any. Kane and I just both got the urge to write, all of a sudden. Ah, the magic of KS. I'm fond of the effects it has inspired in people, including myself.

Haha, you know, while I knew the joint-writer-status, I had the two of you confused. I blame the similarities of title in Kane/Kano for the mishap.

That notwithstanding, the back and forth feels distinctly more genuine and banter/patter-like, very conversational and genuine, and I'm glad you two started this.

Popo wrote:Act 4, Part 06 is out. It wasn't easy work, but they don't call them "labors of love" if no labor is involved.

Yamaku should start a fight club.

I really liked this chapter, it pushed the story forward fairly well in my opinion and we learned something about Kano's past. You guys also did a good job of making me hate that dude.

inthewind wrote:Haha, you know, while I knew the joint-writer-status, I had the two of you confused. I blame the similarities of title in Kane/Kano for the mishap.

That notwithstanding, the back and forth feels distinctly more genuine and banter/patter-like, very conversational and genuine, and I'm glad you two started this.

Heh, no wonder.

We're glad we started this, too. The way we write nearly simultaneously lends itself to natural conversations. Like if we both sent a line at the same time, it's like the characters accidentally talking over each other. Sometimes we just have fun with one character interrupting another's serious moment when some comic relief is needed; I write Rin, and some scenes with her become a very fun game of seeing how badly I can derail the scene with her before it gets put back on track, which is very nearly real banter between us, haha. Kane and I actually started writing together pretty soon after first meeting each other, so the story reflects life, as writing was the thing that made us hit it off, all while developing the characters' own relationships.

Dippeggs wrote:Yamaku should start a fight club.

I really liked this chapter, it pushed the story forward fairly well in my opinion and we learned something about Kano's past. You guys also did a good job of making me hate that dude.

Something tells me Mutou and the nurse would staunchly disapprove.

I'm glad ya liked it. One of the recent part's descriptions hinted at his backstory, actually. Always gotta keep your eye open for things like that. Even parts as early as it gets can bear later significance. The guy wasn't a complex character, but if there can be elegance in simplicity, so can there be the exact opposite.

Hmm. Interesting chapter, not much more to be said than that, obviously. Pretty big reveal of information delivered in a sort of nonchalant, matter-of-fact way after what had just happened beforehand. Interesting approach to that whole matter, definitely enjoyed this a lot. Keep up the good work, you two.

YourFavAnon wrote:Hmm. Interesting chapter, not much more to be said than that, obviously. Pretty big reveal of information delivered in a sort of nonchalant, matter-of-fact way after what had just happened beforehand. Interesting approach to that whole matter, definitely enjoyed this a lot. Keep up the good work, you two.

Thank you. I'll try my best, but it ain't easy. Truth be told, I'm having some serious medical complications, hence the slow and kinda small updates. Heart problems, ironically enough for a KS fan. It's scary stuff, and there's been some kinda close calls (mostly due to accidental drug interactions/drug allergies), but it's secondary stuff kinda tied with my infection and my jaw healing, so once those are dealt with, I should be doing pretty good, and then exercising and such will get me back in shape. I'm completely determined to get better, though, and I always work on KA when my body allows.

This is the only fanfic to date to illicit a physical reaction from me as I was reading, hell it's the only literature to do so. Amazing, keep it up you guys!

Popo wrote: Thank you. I'll try my best, but it ain't easy. Truth be told, I'm having some serious medical complications, hence the slow and kinda small updates. Heart problems, ironically enough for a KS fan. It's scary stuff, and there's been some kinda close calls (mostly due to accidental drug interactions/drug allergies), but it's secondary stuff kinda tied with my infection and my jaw healing, so once those are dealt with, I should be doing pretty good, and then exercising and such will get me back in shape. I'm completely determined to get better, though, and I always work on KA when my body allows.

Tell me about it. I do have an arrhythmia, as noted in the other thread, but it's more an annoyance than an actual problem - until sporadic medication interferes. Ugh. Best wishes, and thanks for sticking it out.

ZtotheT wrote:This is the only fanfic to date to illicit a physical reaction from me as I was reading, hell it's the only literature to do so. Amazing, keep it up you guys!

I will never claim to be a great writer, or even "good," when professional authors who blow me out of the water exist now, and throughout history. By an unspeakably wide margin, to boot. All I know is my intentions in writing this story are as pure as they get: I want to help people, to invite them along a path of catharsis and healing. It's been my highest hope to succeed at that, even if I look at what I'm editing and see millions of technical flaws. Self-critical thinking can be a crippling thing that can completely prevent one from producing any art, so I always have to work up the courage to keep trying, improving, and not let anything stifle my voice.

One of the things that's become apparent to me, though, is that a truly emotional story cannot avoid being flawed; it's not purely intellectual, after all. If I literally break down sobbing while I'm writing a scene, I'm obviously distracted, and my vision's blurred. I can't keep every academic data-point in mind, and even going back to edit it...I just can't take out some flaws without making the scene no longer be a truly human experience. Creative writing is an interesting balance, because you want to avoid flaws, yet a character without flaws would usually be poorly regarded. So, I just try to make my own flaws as a man interesting and well-felt, I suppose.

inthewind wrote:Tell me about it. I do have an arrhythmia, as noted in the other thread, but it's more an annoyance than an actual problem - until sporadic medication interferes. Ugh. Best wishes, and thanks for sticking it out.

Mine's been a real problem, but I'm a tough guy. I have a strong will to survive. Not being able to write KA feels not unlike death, so I won't let anything take that from me as long as I have a say in the matter. It's funny because, as I said, I don't regard myself as a really good writer, yet writing this has very much come to feel like my life's greatest calling yet, at least at this point of my existence.

Nothing like some real tough times to make me a little overly dramatic, ha. Nevertheless, it's what I really feel. I'm beyond grateful that, in a generation where some people will say "too long, didn't read" to shorter and shorter forum posts, even, that some people have read such a long series. I suppose if anyone feels they want to make a gesture of gratitude, you can do that by making a conscious effort to make this world a better place, however you can. Not just for others, but for your own self, too. Live a fulfilling life. The small touches are deceptively, supremely important, like being good and fair to the people around you. I'm rooting for all of you.

Popo wrote:All I know is my intentions in writing this story are as pure as they get: I want to help people, to invite them along a path of catharsis and healing.

You're succeeding.

Popo wrote:Nothing like some real tough times to make me a little overly dramatic, ha. Nevertheless, it's what I really feel. I'm beyond grateful that, in a generation where some people will say "too long, didn't read" to shorter and shorter forum posts, even, that some people have read such a long series. I suppose if anyone feels they want to make a gesture of gratitude, you can do that by making a conscious effort to make this world a better place, however you can. Not just for others, but for your own self, too. Live a fulfilling life. The small touches are deceptively, supremely important, like being good and fair to the people around you. I'm rooting for all of you.

KS itself started me down this path, giving me the desire to want to be a better person. I come here now to keep exposing myself to that influence from people like you. Even if I mostly listen, and don't talk much.

I love you all. You're a wonderful community.

Back on topic, the story is going great. I'm interested to see whether Shizune and Misha keep this debacle hidden from the faculty, after watching Kano almost kill a man.

fluffy_pink wrote:You're succeeding.

KS itself started me down this path, giving me the desire to want to be a better person. I come here now to keep exposing myself to that influence from people like you. Even if I mostly listen, and don't talk much.

I love you all. You're a wonderful community.

Back on topic, the story is going great. I'm interested to see whether Shizune and Misha keep this debacle hidden from the faculty, after watching Kano almost kill a man.

It's very encouraging to know that I'm reaching people, on any scale.

Words come to people upon their own timing.

No large community is ever uniformly perfect, but I'm glad to be part of it, and I like the majority of KS fans I've come across.

As for the plot, we try not to leave any loose ends. We'll see.

Act 4, Part 07 is ready for viewing. Thanks for the patience.

I think I melted, at least a little. (=

So close... yet so far away. Shizune is a blunt and to the point person, she should have just sent it for my own selfish desires ;~;.

Act 4, Part 08 sees the light of day.

I'm glad the last release garnered some interesting reactions. As for this one, we like to switch up the pacing like this, outside of some story arcs to come, which center more on specific characters.