Iwanako: Mean Time to Breakdown {updated 2015-4-1}

[forgetmenot]

Thank you, based Leaty. I will sleep in peace tonight.

'Based Leaty'???

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/based-god

[Leaty]

(deadfic)

[Reese8]

I didn't find Hanako's behavior off at all. I didn't even think to comment on it.

[Mirage_GSM]

Same here. I have no idea what should be strange about Hanako's behaviour...

and realized that Iwanako in my imagining looks almost exactly like Zii

Thanks for that. It's always nice to have a picture in mind while reading.

[dewelar]

What I would like to think is that if Hanako's behavior feels unusual in this scene, it's because she finds herself in a scenario completely unlike anything in the visual novel, not because I screwed up and made her too personable. And, again, remember that we're looking at Hanako from the perspective of someone who really knows next to nothing about her, who is also suffering from a brain injury and severe depression and is almost naked.

That definitely makes sense. As I often have to remind myself, just because something feels off doesn't mean it is off, objectively. It just means you should take a little extra time to verify your feeling.

Excellent writing, as always. And we're on the Lilly/Hanako route!

Whoa, let's not get carried away here. There aren't routes, not really. And Act One still has a ways to go. Rin hasn't even showed up yet!

Given the pace of release, there's something comforting in knowing there will still be new chapters of this well into the next decade...

Of course, I'm very much a cat person, so is it evil that I felt worse for the kitten than either of the humans ?

If it makes you feel better, Iwanako's parents are bourgeois as hell, so it was probably a purebred Siberian or Maine Coon or something. They would have just returned her to the breeder and gotten some of their money back, and the kitten was probably sold to some other rich family. She certainly wasn't a shelter rescue.

Okay, that helps. But only a little.

On a side note, I briefly mentioned somewhere on these boards that I read Ménage à 3, and the way Iwanako described Lilly immediately brought to mind Zii's image of Didi. Lilly is quite crush-inspiring, no?

Oh gods, this is such a can of worms.

So, I haven't read MA3 in years, and when I say years, I mean that it had been running for six months the last time I read it. It's been a very, very long time. So when you brought it up, I wound up looking through it again, and realized that Iwanako in my imagining looks almost exactly like Zii, sans ponytail and punk rock ensemble. The hairstyle, features, stature, and even the curves are almost exactly the same.

I have no idea if it's anything more than a coincidence, but now I can't get it out of my head.

I am both sorry and not sorry about this. If nothing else, it means that someone else is being haunted by this, too.

[Oscar Wildecat]

I get that the tea thing comes off as a little weird, but from where I stand, the alternative is a scenario in which Lilly would drink tea out of Styrofoam cups. However unbelievable it is that Lilly would carry around a small tea pot and three cups, it is, to me, significantly more unbelievable that Lilly would drink tea out of something as gauche as polystyrene. I mean, tea is pretty important to her, and a major motif of her character. It would have been weird to portray it like that in her very first scene in my story.

There are plenty of travel tea sets to be found online, so I wouldn't be surprised that Lilly bought one or home-brewed a set for when she travels.

[Blank Mage]

Whoa, let's not get carried away here. There aren't routes, not really. And Act One still has a ways to go. Rin hasn't even showed up yet!

Sorry, I ship entirely too frequently. It's a problem. In my defense, Shizune seems unlikely, Rin is almost never seen outside of brief cameos, and the Emi bridge burned with such intensity that it almost ignited the atmosphere. Right then, I'll try to keep romantic speculation to a minimum from here on out. (And use it all on Developments.)

[bhtooefr]

The Emi bridge burned so intensely that Emi's now on her way to becoming Katawako. Just blindness, deafness, and losing her arms to go.

[Helbereth]

What I would like to think is that if Hanako's behavior feels unusual in this scene, it's because she finds herself in a scenario completely unlike anything in the visual novel, not because I screwed up and made her too personable. And, again, remember that we're looking at Hanako from the perspective of someone who really knows next to nothing about her, who is also suffering from a brain injury and severe depression and is almost naked.

I didn't find Hanako's behavior off at all. I didn't even think to comment on it.

I'm with Reese8. I don't know what the hell these people are talking about saying Hanako sounds OOC here. I guess it's the white knight in them making them think so, but, as Hisao learns much later in the story, Hanako isn't broken, or even close to it, even at the very beginning of the tale.

Granted, she overreacts a bit in her first meeting with Hisao, who's tall for an Asian boy, totally unfamiliar, and probably rather intimidating. However, if you pay attention through the route, Hanako isn't really that anxious. At worst she's misguided when trying to determine the motivations of others, and has a hard time trusting new people, but, as Leaty pointed out, she's encountering someone who currently couldn't intimidate Piglet (Winnie the Pooh reference ftw).

Stoneflower seems to be on track, though…

Iwanako hates Anne of Green Gables as much as I hate Star Wars.

I hate Wuthering Heights more than most people hate Hitler.

Sorry, I ship entirely too frequently. It's a problem. In my defense, Shizune seems unlikely, Rin is almost never seen outside of brief cameos, and the Emi bridge burned with such intensity that it almost ignited the atmosphere. Right then, I'll try to keep romantic speculation to a minimum from here on out. (And use it all on Developments.)

Meanwhile, over here in the apocalyptic wasteland that is my mind, I'm trying to figure out why everyone is predicting a yuri situation with this story. Of course it's possible, just like a tornado landing on Justin Bieber's head is possible, and both scenarios may have a benefit to society on the whole, but there are boys in room 3-3, and around Yamaku in general. The VN may have assumed Hisao was the only one there, but the VN also only ever had them attending class with Mutou, so I wouldn't use the VN as a measure of potential reality. There are six boys in room 3-3, not counting the missing Hisao: Taro, Akio, Haruhiko, Takashi, Lezard and LeLouch(or whoever that other guy is). Even if you eliminate Taro, Takashi, and Haruhiko because Iwanako seems to have a superficial outlook (yeah, I went there), that leaves three potential male partners in the classroom, and that's without considering the other three senior classrooms or potential prospects among the underclassmen.

[Snapped]

I get that the tea thing comes off as a little weird, but from where I stand, the alternative is a scenario in which Lilly would drink tea out of Styrofoam cups. However unbelievable it is that Lilly would carry around a small tea pot and three cups, it is, to me, significantly more unbelievable that Lilly would drink tea out of something as gauche as polystyrene..

During the festival Lilly does demean herself enough to drink some tea out of Styrofoam cups. That said, its mentioned to be instant tea. Lilly could have far higher standards for what she would serve against what she might accept.

Great chapter again, I can see why you might of gone back and forth on things until you get all turned around. Trying to figure out how characters act in response to something that didn't happen in cannon can be tricky. The mood worked great after the soul-crushing of the last chapter, where Iwanako focusing so much on how things feels wrong, while we the readers can see this as almost purely positive character interaction, the after effects of Iwanako going nuclear is also easy to feel.

Lilly causing girl-crushes everywhere she goes is something under-utilized in her and Hanako's route, so seeing it get some more play in this story fills me with interest.

And not admitting a focus of Lilly/Hanako for this story? I suppose encouraging a Harem route would just be crude of me...

[Blank Mage]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember Leaty confirming a yuri story very early in the thread. Whether that's subject to change is anyone's guess, of course, and it's entirely possible that there won't be much of a romantic focus at all. (Which I'll freely admit would be disappointing, because yuri is the purest form of love. )

[forgetmenot]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember Leaty confirming a yuri story very early in the thread. Whether that's subject to change is anyone's guess, of course, and it's entirely possible that there won't be much of a romantic focus at all. (Which I'll freely admit would be disappointing, because yuri is the purest form of love. )

No, you're right. It's process of elimination. For Hisao, sex poses a very real threat (elevated heart rate, yada yada). For Iwanako, heterosexual sex is surely a death sentence. It's already established she doesn't handle physical trauma nearly as well as Hisao (Emi hospitalized her, for god's sake), so unless feeling like you're fucking a china doll is your cup of tea, it ain't gonna happen. Plus there's the added risk of pregnancy and childbirth, which definitively would kill her.

But ladies are soft and gentle and did I mention they're also semen-free? Looks like we have a winner.

[griffon8]

Yes, Leaty confirmed this would be a yuri story quite early. Then she disappointed me by countering my 'finally, a Misha route' comment by saying it wouldn't be a Misha route.

Who knows, maybe she'll change her mind…

Finally figured out how to do a proper ellipsis on my iPad!

[bhtooefr]

http://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=52&t ... 15#p106769

[Helbereth]

http://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=52&t ... 15#p106769

Well that was a dumb thing to go and give away...