Katawa Shoujo Forums

ProfAllister wrote:

Steinherz wrote:I just remembered.
Eyebrows.

A person's eyebrows is the same colour as their pubic hair [someone on FB mentioned it, don't ask] (Hanako's are either black or dark purple). And Misha is the only one who's eyebrows don't match her hair colour (but that's expected because of the dye)

Where do you people get these things?

My facebook newsfeed.

Steinherz wrote:

ProfAllister wrote:

Steinherz wrote:I just remembered.
Eyebrows.

A person's eyebrows is the same colour as their pubic hair [someone on FB mentioned it, don't ask] (Hanako's are either black or dark purple). And Misha is the only one who's eyebrows don't match her hair colour (but that's expected because of the dye)

Where do you people get these things?

My facebook newsfeed.

I was talking about the statement that Misha's eyebrows were the only ones that didn't match her hair. I don't see that supported by anything.

The "eyebrow rule" you mentioned is sound enough, if lacking nuance.

Still I advise you replace your facebook newsfeed as your go-to source for scientific information...

This is the first, and most probably the best fan fiction I've ever read.

I came across Katawa Shoujo in a very unexpected way, browsing through random related videos on Youtube, on my usual games such as Minecraft and Dota 2.
Being a gamer, I've played countless games from RTS such as Warcraft 3, to top FPS like Battlefield and Halo, story-based "pick-your-own-adventure" games like Walking Dead and even the occasional indie game, Faster than Light.
But when I finished KS, I decided that I would put this game onto my top favourites. With good reason of course.
On my first try, going in blind, I managed to achieve a Emi Ibarazaki good ending. Then, I tried to get Lily, but ended up with a Hanako neutral ending.

... Anyway I'm rambling...
So, I've watched the good and bad endings of Hanako and I think you have definitely put in a tremendous amount of effort into this fan fiction because it is very detailed, with a well-thought out storyline and also, you took the effort to match all the personalities of Hanako, Lily and Hisao and even Shizune and Misha to the VN. This makes it so much more realistic. It makes me feel as if it was the original 4LS writer (cpl_crud? I'm not too sure) that wrote the continuation. Also, I take kindly to the shifting perspective. It makes the ending seem much more whole and complete. It gives rise to the assurance that the feelings are mutual and not a one-sided wishful thinking.

Besides the numerous merits to your work, I feel that the VN Hanako good ending seems rather incomplete as well. I mean, so Hisao and Hanako are together now, does that constitute everything is okay?? What about Lily? Even though I must admit being touched by the public display of affection my Hanako, despite my "feels" (As I see many other people here put it in this rather amusing term), I was really hoping for more. And you have fulfilled that last remaining gap. I think I must stop reading anymore Hanako epilogues, however, because I really want this ending to be the one and only concrete and true ending. I think I rather prefer to deceive myself that what I just read was a true extension of the VN rather than reading other works, that might not be as good or falsely depict the actual characters of the VN. Due to my overwhelming desire to make this ending my "real" ending, I think this thread will probably the first and last thread I'll ever read on Hanako's ending.

Thank you for the amazing read, Guest Poster. I appreciate this alot. This is my first post on the forums, and I made this account specifically to thank you for this kind gift. Having over a hundred friends on Steam, I make it my personal goal to try and introduce as many people as I can to KS, for the rest of the year. The game needs more popularity, I feel, not only because of the life-changing aspect of the game, but also because of the countless hours of blood and sweat poured into it by a group of determined volunteers. 4LS.. If anyone of the people I recommended KS to ends up with a Hanako good ending, this is the first thread I'll link them to.

Thank you,
-StormyMusic

Thanks for the kind words. I agree with you that Hanako's ending left people wanting more, although it was also the perfect cut-off point. In order to do a relationship between Hanako and Hisao justice, you'd need at least two more acts. A few extra scenes simply wouldn't have done it.

Man, I can't believe it's been a year since this fic was posted. It's received a lot more replies than I expected. I initially simply wrote it because Hanako's VN ending kept leaving me wondering how things would continue and I ended up writing down the scenarios that started forming as a means of getting the story out of my head. And that worked, sort of, kind of.

I started out hoping to finish this story on the 10th and post it as a "birthday gift", but in the end I couldn't make it. Still, Hanako's birthday party wasn't on her actual birthday either, so no biggie.

Dumb question, but have you done any other KS fics Guest? This story has been an inspiration for a lot of us.

Like the VN itself, it runs through the whole cycle of emotions. There are scenes that make us gasp in shock, smile, squee with happiness, and cry.

The fic's very slice-of-life, and the drama is very believable. Makes it very enjoyable at the end of the day.

Don't break your back too hard with all that patting

Dumb question, but have you done any other KS fics Guest?

Not really. This was my first attempt at fan fiction, though I've been involved with long-term internet projects before which came in handy when things started to get tedious.

This story has been an inspiration for a lot of us.

That's cool, although...

Don't break your back too hard with all that patting

...it seems like it unintentionally had the opposite effect on others, which is a shame. Oh well.

Guest Poster wrote:

Dumb question, but have you done any other KS fics Guest?

Not really. This was my first attempt at fan fiction, though I've been involved with long-term internet projects before which came in handy when things started to get tedious.

This story has been an inspiration for a lot of us.

That's cool, although...

Don't break your back too hard with all that patting

...it seems like it unintentionally had the opposite effect on others, which is a shame. Oh well.

Well now I'm doubly impressed. first effort? Wow! So any hope you might be inspired to take on any of the other girls stories? Like giving Misha a resolution, or making Shizune more of a loveable person?

Probably not. Shizune's role in this story is probably the closest I'll ever come to making her more likable. I never really felt that much of a connection with the student council duo, (at least not to the degree I felt with Hanako and Lilly) but there's several stories/epilogues about Shizune and Misha already and I doubt I could add all that much. If I'd ever write another KS-fanfic, it'd be another story about Hanako and Lilly...a continuation of this one. A lot of people seem to like having "A weekend at Hisao's" as their headcanon, so you could try that one. The Misha-pseudoroute is also pretty popular.

Well Sisterhood is my headcannon for Hisao/Hanako post ending. It also has an ending that shows you can get the feels from something without it being romantic.

This was a very lovely story, and extraordinarily well-written. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I thought Hanako's Good Ending was the one that had the most potential in the whole game of leading to something permanent, so I was willing to leave it be at that point. However, after reading "Weekend at Hisao's" (having originally been left a bit wanting by Shizune's arc -- a feeling that has since changed dramatically for reasons that I won't go into here), I decided to see what else existed as far as continuations. I found this, and I'm very, very happy that I did.

This story was such a perfectly natural follow-on for the Hanako arc. The issues that were addressed made so much sense, and I was so enthralled by being allowed to hear Hanako's thoughts for several chapters (I loved how much FUN the more intimate scenes were). The whole idea of the three characters being a family immediately brought to mind what I consider the best line from "Lilo & Stitch" - "This is my...family. It's little...and...broken, but...still good." The eyes, they water. The character of Miss Yumi was also an excellent addition. I also really appreciated that this story fit so well into what I consider one of the major themes of KS, which is what I call "mirrors". The best example I can pick out (I presume this was intentional) was when Lilly was calling her mother to tell her she wasn't coming home...and she had inherited Hanako's stammer, while Hanako was behind her, encouraging her. So. Perfect. So many things to love about this.

I read this story to a female friend (see the "Reading Katawa Shoujo to someone else" thread at http://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=8868 for details) over the course of yesterday. One theme of this story really resonated with her - how sometimes, your best isn't going to be enough, but you can't fault yourself as long as you've done what you can, and accept that same thing about others. I think it struck a personal chord with her. In any case, both of us, like so many other posters above, now consider this story to be part of our personal KS canon.

This is amazing how did i not comment on this.

I also really appreciated that this story fit so well into what I consider one of the major themes of KS, which is what I call "mirrors". The best example I can pick out (I presume this was intentional) was when Lilly was calling her mother to tell her she wasn't coming home...and she had inherited Hanako's stammer, while Hanako was behind her, encouraging her. So. Perfect. So many things to love about this.

That was indeed one of the themes. Or rather, the evolving of Lilly's and Hanako's relationship. By the time Hanako's ending in KS rolls around, it's made clear her friendship with Lilly isn't perfect and Hanako has severe doubts about it from time to time. But since Lilly never comes back in that particular arc, she never goes through the process that Hisao goes through...the painful, but ultimately rewarding process of breaking down a structurally unstable bond and replacing it with a stronger one that is founded on equality. It seemed the logical thing that a Hanako epilogue involved Lilly going through the same process as Hisao, since she's still an important part of Hanako's life.

The mirroring as you called it was a natural result of Lilly and Hanako becoming less like a mother and daughter and more like equals...sisters if you will.

I read this story to a female friend (see the "Reading Katawa Shoujo to someone else" thread at http://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=8868 for details) over the course of yesterday. One theme of this story really resonated with her - how sometimes, your best isn't going to be enough, but you can't fault yourself as long as you've done what you can, and accept that same thing about others. I think it struck a personal chord with her. In any case, both of us, like so many other posters above, now consider this story to be part of our personal KS canon.

I'm glad to see you caught that one. I figured that with Hanako's insecurities still very real for her, this was an important point to make.