The "feels" bazaar.

[Nekken]

You're not alone. Reactions like yours are in fact pretty common. We call it "the feels."

A lot of players have dealt with the feels by channeling them: use that emotional energy to do something good in your life. Taking up running is popular, especially among Emi fans, though distance is more popular than sprinting. Someone even drew up an Emi-themed poster outlining a plan: http://angryjedi.files.wordpress.com/20 ... 274917.png

Others have taken up new done volunteer work, started learning something new (Braille and sign language are popular), taken up hobbies, made an appointment with a therapist, or any number of other things. The idea is to make the feels work for you.

[Xanatos]

It happens. You can go check my thread on how it felt, I definitely see the angle you're coming from...Though I arrived at a very-much-more-pleasant conclusion in the end.

"Don't panic. It's just a game."

Take up fanfiction writing if you want it to continue, maybe.

[Veniathan]

You have a case of the Feels, my friend. Don't worry, this is perfectly normal and will fade with time. A lot of people got Emi for their first route and it's a common occurrence. Lilly did the exact same thing to me. It's a sign that something had been missing in your life and now it's time for you to take a good long look at yourself and find out what that is. Use this as motivation to better yourself; go out and start jogging, write something, draw something, pick up a new hobby, focus these feelings into something productive.

Pretty much everyone here has gone through the exact same thing as you are right now. This game does that to people. Just remember this feeling and use it to make yourself the better person.

In the world we live in there isn't much to change for.

If i go out jogging it wont help, i know this. I'm a student and barely have enough time for that anyways.

What is bothering me is that i don't understand why girls cannot be this friendly or nice in real life, the way these girls in Katawa Shoujo are is ... Different. It's not like ive never been together with anyone and i clearly mentioned i did but this is very different.

Since Emi was my first route i started liking her alot and i still do .. Yeah sure it's a video game character bla bla. Doesn't matter .. It bothers me heavly that she isn't real, as a matter of fact it bothers me that NONE of that is real. Those people, that school, that whole place .. It doesn't exactly exist like in the game.

I don't want to feel this but i guess i can't control my brain like that. I've planned on taking Rin's route and i'm already somewhere around the begining of the game. This game is good and replaying it is probably gonna be worth it.

[Xanatos]

You have a case of the Feels, my friend. Don't worry, this is perfectly normal and will fade with time. A lot of people got Emi for their first route and it's a common occurrence. Lilly did the exact same thing to me. It's a sign that something had been missing in your life and now it's time for you to take a good long look at yourself and find out what that is. Use this as motivation to better yourself; go out and start jogging, write something, draw something, pick up a new hobby, focus these feelings into something productive.

Pretty much everyone here has gone through the exact same thing as you are right now. This game does that to people. Just remember this feeling and use it to make yourself the better person.

In the world we live in there isn't much to change for.

If i go out jogging it wont help, i know this. I'm a student and barely have enough time for that anyways.

What is bothering me is that i don't understand why girls cannot be this friendly or nice in real life, the way these girls in Katawa Shoujo are is ... Different. It's not like ive never been together with anyone and i clearly mentioned i did but this is very different.

Since Emi was my first route i started liking her alot and i still do .. Yeah sure it's a video game character bla bla. Doesn't matter .. It bothers me heavly that she isn't real, as a matter of fact it bothers me that NONE of that is real. Those people, that school, that whole place .. It doesn't exactly exist like in the game.

I don't want to feel this but i guess i can't control my brain like that. I've planned on taking Rin's route and i'm already somewhere around the begining of the game. This game is good and replaying it is probably gonna be worth it.

Worth it? It's one of very few games I care about 100% completion for. XD

And reality will never live up to fiction...I'd make an analogy to the game but unless you've played Hanako's route, it'd be spoilers.

Suffice to say: This game is to reality as cookies are to dog poo. Reality is the poo. Why? Because real people, the real world: It's not nice. But it's all we have until virtual reality programs (note: research is being done on that, very slowly progressing).

Channel it somehow. Take up a hobby. Chess, running, something else you may find through the game. Me, I've begun work on polymer clay sculptures of the KS cast.

[Veniathan]

You have a case of the Feels, my friend. Don't worry, this is perfectly normal and will fade with time. A lot of people got Emi for their first route and it's a common occurrence. Lilly did the exact same thing to me. It's a sign that something had been missing in your life and now it's time for you to take a good long look at yourself and find out what that is. Use this as motivation to better yourself; go out and start jogging, write something, draw something, pick up a new hobby, focus these feelings into something productive.

Pretty much everyone here has gone through the exact same thing as you are right now. This game does that to people. Just remember this feeling and use it to make yourself the better person.

In the world we live in there isn't much to change for.

If i go out jogging it wont help, i know this. I'm a student and barely have enough time for that anyways.

What is bothering me is that i don't understand why girls cannot be this friendly or nice in real life, the way these girls in Katawa Shoujo are is ... Different. It's not like ive never been together with anyone and i clearly mentioned i did but this is very different.

Since Emi was my first route i started liking her alot and i still do .. Yeah sure it's a video game character bla bla. Doesn't matter .. It bothers me heavly that she isn't real, as a matter of fact it bothers me that NONE of that is real. Those people, that school, that whole place .. It doesn't exactly exist like in the game.

I don't want to feel this but i guess i can't control my brain like that. I've planned on taking Rin's route and i'm already somewhere around the begining of the game. This game is good and replaying it is probably gonna be worth it.

Worth it? It's one of very few games I care about 100% completion for. XD

And reality will never live up to fiction...I'd make an analogy to the game but unless you've played Hanako's route, it'd be spoilers.

Suffice to say: This game is to reality as cookies are to dog poo. Reality is the poo. Why? Because real people, the real world: It's not nice. But it's all we have until virtual reality programs (note: research is being done on that, very slowly progressing).

Channel it somehow. Take up a hobby. Chess, running, something else you may find through the game. Me, I've begun work on polymer clay sculptures of the KS cast.

I think you've missed this i said in the original post "Some people got motivated especialy with Emi's route but me ... I did not."

After going through this story i don't feel happy, i did feel happy while i WAS going through it but there is nothing to be happy about or even be motivated about.

When i think of Katawa Shoujo it feels like a kick in my guts and heart, it feels sad. The only thing i have after KS is the depression because i know that i will never in my life find someone so nice, energic and exactly like Emi was. It's ... Awful, i don't even want to search for a girlfriend.

My hobby is gaming, i've been doing this since the age of 8 and it's still fun. But this novel was so good, so full of happiness and here i was wanting more but the end came so fast and so hard i barely have any motivation. If i did pick up running, chess or whatever. I'd always get reminded of the fact that it's not real every time i do chess or running, so no thanks.

Time is a doctor.

[Nekken]

In the world we live in there isn't much to change for.

Yes, there is. For yourself, if for no other reason.

If i go out jogging it wont help, i know this. I'm a student and barely have enough time for that anyways.

I'm not sure what makes you so certain, but if jogging isn't for you then that's OK. As I mentioned, there are plenty of ways people deal with this game.

What is bothering me is that i don't understand why girls cannot be this friendly or nice in real life...

That's just it: they can. Finding them can be tricky, and there are a variety of reasons for that, but they do exist.

I don't want to feel this but i guess i can't control my brain like that.

You can't control it, but you can ride it out. That's what I meant by channeling the feels: harness them, make them work for you. There must be something you've been wanting to do for a long time, something ongoing. Take this chance to do it before you change your mind. Or if it's not something you can just go out and do right away, then take the first step. By the time the feels fade, you'll have force of habit to drive you and keep you in the groove.

I think you've missed this i said in the original post "Some people got motivated especialy with Emi's route but me ... I did not."

Then do some more routes. Maybe you'll find something that clicks.

It's ... Awful, i don't even want to search for a girlfriend.

Then don't.

"Searching for a girlfriend" is the wrong tactic anyway; it scares off the nice ones. Find a group of people who share your interests -you sound like you're in college; if so then this shouldn't be too difficult- and take the chance to make some friends. Not "potential girlfriends," and not "friends who you hope might become something more"; just friends, people with whom you can rediscover the joys of local multiplayer (and I don't mean that as a euphemism).

If i did pick up running, chess or whatever. I'd always get reminded of the fact that it's not real every time i do chess or running, so no thanks.

Reminded of the fact that what isn't real? Chess is a very mentally engaging sport; you won't have time to notice that KS isn't real. Running works almost the opposite way, in that there's a stream of consciousness but not much room for focused thought; you still won't have time to notice that KS isn't real. That's the thing about hobbies: they occupy your mind.

[ProfAllister]

I think you've missed this i said in the original post "Some people got motivated especialy with Emi's route but me ... I did not."

After going through this story i don't feel happy, i did feel happy while i WAS going through it but there is nothing to be happy about or even be motivated about.

When i think of Katawa Shoujo it feels like a kick in my guts and heart, it feels sad. The only thing i have after KS is the depression because i know that i will never in my life find someone so nice, energic and exactly like Emi was. It's ... Awful, i don't even want to search for a girlfriend.

My hobby is gaming, i've been doing this since the age of 8 and it's still fun. But this novel was so good, so full of happiness and here i was wanting more but the end came so fast and so hard i barely have any motivation. If i did pick up running, chess or whatever. I'd always get reminded of the fact that it's not real every time i do chess or running, so no thanks.

Time is a doctor.

I just addressed this in another thread.

I have heard the phrase "I'm pointing at the sky but you're looking at my finger." In this case, the experience is pointing at you, but you're looking at its finger - or perhaps you're looking behind yourself.

You have this solid experience, and you want to keep the feeling, but you're looking in the wrong places. You were taken to a magical wonderland by the game, and want to return, but you can never go back. The very experience has changed you in such a manner that you will never have that same experience. As the Devs often protest, KS is just a visual novel - ones and zeroes, words and pictures on a screen.

Where did the magic come from, then? As the cheesy children's specials go, it was inside you the whole time. You just needed a little help to see it. You can never relive the experience, but you can relive the memory. As much as you may wish to treasure the memory, it is a seed. It must be torn open so that the flower may grow. Look deeply into the experience, try to take it apart. Look very closely at the parts that really hit you hard. There, you will find yourself. It may be a pleasant part of you, it may not, but, once you find it, you'll know what to do. For some people, finding it is easy, for others, it can take weeks of soul searching. What you felt was real - you just need to be determined to find it.

You're feeling depressed. This is natural. You're clearly dissatisfied with your life. But you can't change the world by complaining or regretting the unpleasant. You can change yourself. It may be hard as hell, and you may have to drag yourself kicking and screaming. And you WILL have failures. But there are people to support you, both here and in meatspace.

It's true that you won't find Emi. Hell, you might find someone who's more Emi than Emi, and then come to the realization that you actually can't stand someone like that. But that doesn't mean you can't find love. When it comes to love, you do not know what you want. I repeat, for emphasis, you have no clue who you will love or why you will. You may even find that things you thought would annoy you are the very things that make you love her all the more. You aren't going to find Emi because you don't really want Emi. And when you do find that someone, you'll wonder why you were ever willing to settle with Emi.

This isn't to say that love is all sunshine and rainbows. Love can be a bitch. Hopefully that came through when playing KS. It takes hard work and dedication. And there are times when there is no right choice, and you're doomed to a bad end. These things happen. Life goes on.

You want something that's real? You're real. You aren't happy with yourself? Then make a change. It doesn't need to be huge. Start small. Take time to warm up. Remember, the second day is the hardest.

[mysterycycle]

In the world we live in there isn't much to change for.

Forgive me for saying this, but you are way too young to be thinking this way.

What is bothering me is that i don't understand why girls cannot be this friendly or nice in real life, the way these girls in Katawa Shoujo are is ... Different. It's not like ive never been together with anyone and i clearly mentioned i did but this is very different.

Katawa Shoujo is fantasy fulfillment, of course - I doubt anyone here has or will have the experience of going somewhere new only to find all of the available females are stunningly attractive and romantically interested in us - but fictional characters won't affect us or resonate with us if they're unbelievable. And I think KS's storylines are potent because they are believable. They more closely resemble actual romantic relationships than many I've seen portrayed in fiction, especially in visual novels. Not every relationship is going to be so dramatic and moving, but neither is every relationship you're ever going to have necessarily going to fall short of that experience.

When i think of Katawa Shoujo it feels like a kick in my guts and heart, it feels sad. The only thing i have after KS is the depression because i know that i will never in my life find someone so nice, energic and exactly like Emi was.

With all due respect, this isn't necessarily true: you don't know. You may suspect, you may believe it'll never happen, or that people as cool as Emi don't exist in real life or would be interested in you even if they did exist, but right here, right now, you have no way of knowing what tomorrow may bring. How could anyone know?

Consider Hisao sitting in the hospital for months; if he'd been told then that his life would vastly improve before the year was over, and might even be better than it was before his heart attack, would he have believed it? I think he would have said something very similar to what you're saying right now.

Yeah, it's just a story, and, of course, the shoujo style is all about emphasizing the attractiveness of the girls, but there's a reason this stuff resonates with us. I've known (and fallen in love with) girls like Hanako and Emi in real life. Such people do exist, and if anything they're deeper and more interesting than the girls in this game. So I disagree with some of the earlier posters - while fiction can be idealized and certainly better than real life in some ways, there are experiences to be had in real life that can outshine them.

But you won't ever experience that if you refuse to. That way lies Manly Picnics.

Time is a doctor.

Time can be a doctor, certainly. But like Buckaroo Banzai said, "No matter where you go, there you are." You're never not going to be you. I put off feeling things for a very long time because I believed that time would heal all wounds, and until that happened, I didn't want to hurt. But it hasn't - my wounds are still there, and they still hurt many years later. This game reminded me what it was like to feel things again; I missed that sensation, and KS reminded me that there's no reason why I can't feel such things again in my own life. But it does require me to actively change myself; I think for the better.

[Camoufrage]

mysterycycle is right in just about every way. You (and most people around here) are far to young to be making assumptions as to how your life is going to go for you, ESPECIALLY romantically.

[mysterycycle]

mysterycycle is right in just about every way.

I have to bask in that for a moment, knowing it will likely never happen again.

[ravenlord]

This is what I always refer too:

[Pseudogenesis]

I had the same reaction. Although oddly enough, it didn't come from the same source. I took Hanako's route first, and was disappointed that it was over. Did I wish it was all real? Not really, but my reaction was a carbon copy to yours all the same. I loved playing the game, but when I thought about it I got this weird, unexplained depressed feeling with no origin, like something in my chest wasn't right. No reason, it just was. Now I'm tempted to just write it off as a case of The Feels, since it very clearly went away. Now all I'm left with is a vague euphoria, a need to improve and a desire to finish the rest of the paths. So don't worry about it. Like you said, Time is a doctor.



Hell, join Hanako's Broken Heart Club if life is giving you trouble. We're an understanding lot.

@MysteryCycle

This game reminded me what it was like to feel things again; I missed that sensation, and KS reminded me that there's no reason why I can't feel such things again in my own life. But it does require me to actively change myself; I think for the better.

Whoa, way to explain exactly how I feel about the game. I've been jaded for a long time now, but this game gave me a taste of what it's like to feel emotions other than boredom and cynicism again, and now I want moar. So self-improvement it is!

[Xden]

I felt really similar to you just earlier this morning. Some of the people in this thread actually helped me. I felt the exact same way. I felt like I would never meet a girl like Emi, and that I might live my life without ever being as happy as Hisao and Emi were. It was a euphoric feeling, but a very dreadful feeling at the same time. I didn't want to not be able to see Emi ever again, having her always say the same things whenever I started up a game. But i quickly came to realize that thinking that was would get me no where. A nice quote from Hisao from the Emi route that really helps: "I am who I am because of all that happened to me and all I look forward to experience. Present, future, and past." You have to take this experience and mold it like clay to yourself to improve yourself. I know you might think that's useless, but what if someday you meet that real life Emi of yours. Don't you want to impress her? You want her to know that you've worked hard for yourself, just like Emi worked hard for herself. You want to show this girl that you are dedicated and have will power. I myself often look at the world and feel lost and desperate for an ideal world where everything is nice, people think more before acting, and have more consideration for progressing humanity as a whole instead of their own personal agenda. But that world takes time to develop, and it's not here yet. If we all take our emotions and utilize them in such a way that we can improve ourselves, someday maybe we can build that world. It's a long shot, but it's a shot we should take.

Advice I would give you, is to take how you feel now and cherish it. Take those raw emotions and save them in your mind. Because if you let them slip, you'll be stuck trying to find them again, and it will be very hard to do so. You need those emotions to drive you and to keep you going on, to make something much, much better of your life. I know pretty much exactly how you feel right now, or at least how you felt when you posted this, and I can relate. I'm sure everyone felt the same/similar way. The things others in this thread have been saying are all very true. Keep in mind that you don't want to find Emi, you just want to find the happiness that Emi brought you. You want a girl that is going to be your best friend, who will give you what Emi gave Hisao, and more. That's not impossible, It's actually very, very possible. You just need to be patient, and keep improving yourself. Looking for a girlfriend is a bad way to approach it, as this game has made me see. We need to live our lives in such a way that the girls that we need/want, ourvery best friends in life, will be drawn to us by their very nature. We won't even need to look for them, because we're just going to find them in what we know and love in life. That's why it's important to be yourself with women. If we're constantly looking for someone just to find someone, we might just find someone who isn't as good, and we may miss our chance with someone better.

I might have gone off on a tangent here. I'm trying to find myself as I type this, and trying to talk these things out to you has actually helped me a bit to organize my thoughts. I can only hope that it helps you as well. Know that Emi wouldn't want you to linger and let this feeling hold you back. You've got to press on and keep running forward. I'd love to be able to help more, so feel free to PM and perhaps we can share our feelings and develop our thoughts together, seeing as we both seem to have completed the same route very close in time and are likely in a similar state of mind. Either way, good luck in your endeavors.

[Xanatos]

This is what I always refer too:

[img][snip][/img]

That last bit I find a tad...Off. Anyone can pin up a burn ward photo and demand "Would you still love her?" but anyone who actually would do that is, honestly, a few tubes of lubricant short of a track team captain. Pardon the silly expression. People take to Hanako, Rin, the others because of what's inside them...They weren't just pinned up to put their flaws on display like a photo would be. These characters are known. A photo is merely seen. So it's something of a moot point when the comparison is inherently flawed.

Anyone can put up a photo of some horribly scarred noseless fire survivor but comparing it to Hanako, while it may make a point about superficial obstacles, wouldn't be an entirely fair comparison: Hanako is not as damaged as that. Such comparisons are short-sighted even at their best. I couldn't get close to the noseless, woefully mutilated burn victim...The sight of such things is gag-inducing in all honesty. But the burn victim whose only physical scars are some browned burnt flesh...Is a considerably easier sight to digest.

Hold up a photo of an armless woman to anyone here and ask them that question. Every one would say no, regardless of superficiality, because that woman is just a stranger in a photo. Of course she will go unloved, because people love Rin, not just the fact that Rin is armless: Some random similarly-amputated stranger will be nothing to them. To do something like what is mentioned in that little guide is to define love strictly by disability. And that's simply not how it works. No, people won't still love that random burn victim because they love Hanako, not her scars. No, they won't love that legless girl because they love Emi, not her stumps.

The question, while valid on some levels, is intrinsically a flawed one.

But never mind me. I just woke up.

[Veniathan]

I had the same reaction. Although oddly enough, it didn't come from the same source. I took Hanako's route first, and was disappointed that it was over. Did I wish it was all real? Not really, but my reaction was a carbon copy to yours all the same. I loved playing the game, but when I thought about it I got this weird, unexplained depressed feeling with no origin, like something in my chest wasn't right. No reason, it just was. Now I'm tempted to just write it off as a case of The Feels, since it very clearly went away. Now all I'm left with is a vague euphoria, a need to improve and a desire to finish the rest of the paths. So don't worry about it. Like you said, Time is a doctor.



Hell, join Hanako's Broken Heart Club if life is giving you trouble. We're an understanding lot.

This is correctly how i also feel.

I had a tough time sleeping yesterday .. I could not get my mind off of the whole game, what happend and all those lovely scenes. I've played a BILLION games in my life and nothing has made me this depressed, heck i think this may be a record that i'll write down. I'm not complaining alot really ... I just feel sad.

I think it's not the game that made me sad ... It's Emi, there is something about her that completely fills a part of me that is missing. I don't know what it is .. I have a feeling that if i take another route i wont feel this sad, not because i've played through already but because it's another person.

I've already skipped the begining a bit, i know what happens and i've decided to go for Rin because she is awfuly similar to me. I don't know if it's a good thing to start another route this early, but i feel if i wait too much it won't be the same.

I can't get enough of this game, the music, the scenes .. Everything. I don't know why.