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Zarys wrote:Yeah, some people are just inherently screwed up

Zarys wrote:Yeah, some people are just inherently screwed up

Charmant wrote:

Zarys wrote:Yeah, some people are just inherently screwed up

True but unhelpful...Also not really applicable to this situation...

LilyKitsune wrote:

Zarys wrote:Yeah, some people are just inherently screwed up

Um... what?

Zarys wrote:but not of someone who has a bad face or is too short for example.

Charmant wrote:

Zarys wrote:but not of someone who has a bad face or is too short for example.

Okay, I'm gonna get one thing outta the way real quick: "I'm still the only one to have answer to him/her, sooo...I think I can interpret it like that since nobody has said something to help him/her. " - Stop that. Christ. You're not special for giving the first response.

Second: "A bad face" or "too short" are both hugely subjective traits. To say someone who might be too short or not that pretty (both opinions, making your claim even more awful) is "inherently screwed up" is an incredibly shitty thing to say. They're not "inherently screwed up", you're just a terrible and judgmental person. Or a misunderstanding one who should think through their words more.

And being boring isn't even an unchangeable thing (neither is "ugly" in many cases - mind I'm not familiar with Kitsune's exact issue) so I'm not entirely sure you understand the word "inherent".

a thread called "Hanako's Broken Heart Club" in the public forum where people express the sentiments you've posted just now and encourage each other to do something positive with it. I hope you can follow in their footsteps.

Dear Author,

On a rather gloomy night feeling more lonely than I usually am I was contemplating whether or not I should reread Katawa Shoujo or seek out fan fiction from a writer with similar writing style or prowess (Please excuse me for being an amateur within the realms of literature. I do not read often). I was hesitant between the two options because after reading Katawa Shoujo I was left with a void in my heart and, I was not sure if I could find a fan fiction that was good enough to fill that void. Of course, I decided to go with the latter - or I wouldn't be here making this reply - and after only some brief research, I found that "Sisterhood: True Edition' was one of the most renowned and recommended (I was of course also searching for a fan fiction based off Hanako's path). Despite the praise and popularity around your fan fiction,without an interface or pictures or even without music due to my negligence to read all of your instructions, I was unsure if I would be able to enjoy it the same way I did Katawa Shoujo. However, to my most pleasant surprise it captured me the moment I started reading and I began reading for nights on end - about a week of almost non-stop reading - until I finished it as of Monday, October 20th 2014. This has been one of the most moving stories I have ever read in my life. I cannot express to you enough thanks for taking your time to write it out and to offer it for all of Katawa Shoujo's fans and audiences to read. Whether or not you decide to read this and, in an effort to vent some of my own emotions and thoughts I want to give you my feedback.

First of all I wanted to commend you for your writing style. Although at times I thought dialogue or thoughts between characters seemed a little uncharacteristic of themselves, I thought you did an overall excellent job of staying true to their personalities. Never did I feel completely alienated from the Katawa Shoujo style or from lack of attention to each character's traits. Whether it be Lilly's pride or Hanako's apprehension most of the time you were spot on.

Which brings me to my next point. I thought that shifting first person perspective from character to character was an absolutely amazing touch and I don't think that your story could have been conveyed any better way - or at all for that matter considering how deep the reader is taken into each character's thoughts and personality. At first I had to admit that I was a bit hesitant at first especially when you described sexual content from Hanako's point of view (I'm a guy) but, everything worked out perfectly including the latter.

Of course writing style or reading perspective would not have mattered at all if you didn't have great ideas to begin with which you definitely did. As most of your fans probably mention and as you briefly mentioned in your introductory post, the original Katawa Shoujo Hanako route did not provide enough closure. It was almost like a sneak-peak to an amazing start of a story.. but that was it. Your plot brought out the preview and completely embellished everything about it - including bonuses ! Coming in to this fan fiction I only expected it to be from Hisao's point of view and, I only expected to learn more about Hanako but instead, you also considered the strengths, weaknesses, thoughts and background of every other character as well bringing forth a mixture of their conflicts and resolutions as well that reside WITHIN the overall Hanako arc of her overcoming her post-traumatic stress and anxieties. Everything mingles perfectly together and as a result there is a stronger sense of family and unity within the plot - similar to much of the plot itself ! Each one of them experiences their own hardships but together they make it through. It's really just so beautiful..

Which is why at the end I couldn't help but cry uncontrollably. So many endeavors that Hanako, Hisao, Lilly and everyone else goes through to be resolved at the end with joyous celebration creating an unbreakable bond and an unconditional love.. only to end. To be left with a good bye and thank you. Good bye. Thank you. Those last words hit me so hard. I didn't want it to end. I still don't want it to end. I want to be there with them at their sides every step of the way. To experience the hardships with them to be resolved in unconditional love. And then I realize that it's just a story. It's only fiction. Yet, never in my life have I ever felt more connected to a group of 'people'. The way you brought forth these characters.. Hisao, Lily, Hanako, Akira.. all of them.. were so vivid in my mind that every time I read your story it felt so real to me. It felt like I belonged among them whether or not I placed myself from Hisao's perspective or from a bystander perspective, it felt like I was there. Like I experienced all of their ordeals with them. So when it finished, I was left with so much despair. It felt like my life was over and another void had been ripped into my heart. I didn't go to school or do anything the next day. I stayed home and just wallowed in my self-pity. It's really despicable. Even now I can't get over the fact that it was all just a story. I can't get these characters out of my head and every time I think about them, every time I think about these experiences you've created, it feels like a memory of something real.

You have no idea how much you've touched me. Even before reading this, the original Katawa Shoujo already earned its own special place in my heart - void or not - and now Siterhood: True Edition takes its own place as well. I don't expect you to read this but, I can't stop myself from writing this out and I want to show you just, how much you moved me.

In my Grade 11 year of highschool I was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer. It wasn't anything permanent and it wasn't as life threatening as many of the disabilities many of the characters in Katawa Shoujo or, even real life for that matter but, it was enough to place me in a hospital ward for a month and to leave me at home for the rest of the school year. I really didn't make anything of it when I received the news as, I was already really depressed before then and to be honest there might have been times when I hoped it would take my life. Things in my life at the moment were already not really working out for me.

The highschool I went to is one of the top high schools in my province and there is a very high standard set among all students. Everyone I knew was a prodigy of some sort. Everyone was great at everything. Except me. I don't even know how I got passed my audition but, in the midst of everyone else I really was a nobody. The only thing I really had was a close group of friends whom I ate lunch with everyday - Jadie, Richard and Lucia. For a moment, it seemed like our friendship was reaching a peek. Or at least I think so. We had done many things together and we even confided in each other a few times, especially when Jadie was considering moving schools. I think, given enough time, we might have even been as close as Lilly, Hisao and Hanako. However, as the months went on and high school started to become more difficult, I started drifting away from them. I couldn't keep up the same way the could in the courses they took and I would end up dropping most of them for different courses. Being a very academic bunch - one of them even received a 20,000 dollar scholarship during our last year - our conversations very heavily revolved around our school work besides our usual small talk. I started to become just the clown of the bunch. I couldn't keep up with them in our studies and so I tried really hard in other ways to make up for that. It was never really the same and we stopped having the same intimate conversations we would usually have and so, when I was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer I was really non-chalant about it.

At the time I thought that as long as I could get away to my room and play games away from the rest of the world I wouldn't have any worries and so when I had to stay home for the remainder of the year it was more a relief than anything because I no longer had to stress out about doing well in school, keeping up with my friends or trying to get past the awkwardness between us that suddenly arose. I secluded myself from the rest of the world and, when I came back for my final year after being home schooled, that's exactly what the rest of the world did from me.

Like Hisao, people would visit me at the ward, visit me at home, send me cards and what not but ultimately the world kept spinning and I was stuck in the past. When I came back my group of friends went on by themselves and I became a stranger to them. A stranger to everyone for that matter. When I talked to people they didn't treat me like an equal but instead they perceived me as 'that guy who got cancer' and they would treat me like china glass. Nervous smiles, small talk, I could no longer confide in anyone or talk to anyone as a friend. At the time I don't think it hit me as hard because I didn't mind the seclusion and, it also let me focus a bit more my studies and to improve some of my academic habits but, now it's hitting me more than ever.

I'm now in university for my first year and I am miserable. It's almost like a repeat of high school where, I somehow managed to get into a one of the top 20 universities in the world, surrounded by people with multitudes of talent but, this time, I have no friends. I have no one to confide in. I have nothing to work for. I thought I was changing my life around when I started increasing my grades but, I realize now that what's the point if I don't have anything to look forward to ? If I have nobody that I can love unconditionally who loves me back the same way. I lost my Lilly, Hisao and Hanako. Unlike Hisao, I wasn't able to repair myself after being broken and now It's as if I'm just the 'bad route ending' to a visual novel story. I'm truly, truly alone.

Which is why your story hit me so hard. It was after my experience with cancer, during my final year that I finished reading Katawa Shoujo. Reading your story was like I had caught up with friends of the past. I could relive the memories of reading Katawa Shoujo with an even richer story and a stronger sense of belonging or mattering. I can't express enough how real you've made these characters in my mind and how powerful you've been able to touch me. I don't know whether or not this feeling is negative or positive as I am trying to use it as a source of inspiration but, none the less I will never forget reading Sisterhood: True Edition. You can ensure that you have a permanent fan waiting for whatever it is you write next. Until then, I will keep reading Sisterhood: True Edition until I no longer can.

Thank You.

Charmant wrote:
Okay, I'm gonna get one thing outta the way real quick: "I'm still the only one to have answer to him/her, sooo...I think I can interpret it like that since nobody has said something to help him/her. " - Stop that. Christ. You're not special for giving the first response.

Second: "A bad face" or "too short" are both hugely subjective traits. To say someone who might be too short or not that pretty (both opinions, making your claim even more awful) is "inherently screwed up" is an incredibly shitty thing to say. They're not "inherently screwed up", you're just a terrible and judgmental person. Or a misunderstanding one who should think through their words more.

And being boring isn't even an unchangeable thing (neither is "ugly" in many cases - mind I'm not familiar with Kitsune's exact issue) so I'm not entirely sure you understand the word "inherent".

LilyKitsune wrote: Its funny, that's probably like what I would have said if it was to someone else. I just cant feel that way for my own sake though.

Zarys wrote:some people are called "boring" their whole live so I can assume it's unchangeable for some people...And there are objectively ugly people