Katawa Shoujo Forums

The absolutely fantastic idea rose from one discussion about the cheapness of facial scarring or something. Who was that idiot who opened it, again?
Hrm, anyway, since I don't want that other thread(...) to go completely Off Topic, I have decided to create yet another thread(I am doing that a lot as of late, am I not?) for that fantastic thought experiment: how would different characters change(their personality, presentation, storyline(as far as we know about it...) etc.) if we gave them the disability of another? Would they stay roughly the same? Change completely? Lose their entire point? I think it might be interesting to think about.
In order to fuel the discussion, I am going to begin here with perhaps the simplest "switching" pattern: characters in KS are conveniently presented to us in pairs. Without requiring to much thought(lazy me), we can just say "How would each character be if we gave him/her the disability of his/her pair"? I am trying to keep pretty much everything else "the same", for now, for the sake of simplicity.

Misha/deafness: A deaf Misha would at least have a solid excuse to be so loud all the time. Some deaf people are like that. Alternatively, she may be very quiet. I believe that might actually be kind of creepy. Think about it for a moment.
Shizune/mysterious quantum disability(MQD): A Shizune unimpaired by the inability to hear and speak would be a terrifying dictator. I mean, it would allow her to actually scream at people when she wants to. She would never, ever, shut up again. If the relationship with Misha stays, it would probably be less "super best friends forever" and more like "supervillain and her freaky, silent minion/henchwoman".
Hanako/blindness: This version of Hanako lost her sight in some sort of accident(a fire?) when she was about 8-10 or something. She still doesn't handle that very well, naturally, and the inability to know what is going on around her/what other people are doing makes her paranoid, fearful and shy. Still moe.
Lily/disfigured: I am going to assume, for now, that Lily still had her disability from birth, so I guess it can't be fire scars, but I don't think that's too much of a problem. There isn't exactly a lack of disfiguring birth defects out there. One way or another, I envision this version of Lily as somewhat of a Mama Bear. Very kind to members of her so called "flock"(still Hanako?), very nice generally, but very scary if you annoy her/threaten her kids/just don't know her very well. Remember that she is also significantly taller then the other Japanese characters. This makes her even more intimidating.
Emi/armless: boring. I don't think there would be any major changes to just about anything, in this case. Yup, she still runs.
Rin/legless: same here. She paints, and probably is still very eccentric.
Hisao/comically near sighted(since he has no "official" pair...): gigantic, ridiculous glasses reduce bishonen factor. Try to get laid by the entire student body now, four eyes.
Kenji/arrhythmia: "Watch out! There's a feminist consp-HHHHHHNNNNNGGG". And that was the end of it.

...........

If you have any ideas for alternative patterns or if you want to talk about this one, go ahead. Should be a nice way to pass the time, if nothing else.

Have a nice day everybody.

Giving Hisao massive burns and passing Hanako with a heart condition would be an interesting twist. Hanako's constant breaks to calm down, not to mention her immense avoidance complex from heavy or shocking stimuli could be painted in a very complex new light. Essentially, she could be Hisao if Hisao had known about his condition for a decade without consuling.

Hisao with burn scars could be interesting, and could improve the actual connection between the players and himself because most of us aren't eye candy anyway/he's just coming to grips with a extreme trauma.

I can actually see Emi becoming a gymnast without her arms, centre of gravity notwithstanding. It'd let her keep her gym outfit, at any rate.

This topic has given me a great idea for a fanfic + the same idea after reading an old Galaxy Angels manga. I bet you guys know what idea i'm talking about.

neumanproductions wrote:This topic has given me a great idea for a fanfic + the same idea after reading an old Galaxy Angels manga. I bet you guys know what idea i'm talking about.

I am sure it would be a fantastic piece of fiction indeed. If you ever decided to write it and put it on the forum, I will be very happy to read it.

ContinualNaba wrote:Giving Hisao massive burns and passing Hanako with a heart condition would be an interesting twist. Hanako's constant breaks to calm down, not to mention her immense avoidance complex from heavy or shocking stimuli could be painted in a very complex new light. Essentially, she could be Hisao if Hisao had known about his condition for a decade without consuling.

Hisao with burn scars could be interesting, and could improve the actual connection between the players and himself because most of us aren't eye candy anyway/he's just coming to grips with a extreme trauma.

I can actually see Emi becoming a gymnast without her arms, centre of gravity notwithstanding. It'd let her keep her gym outfit, at any rate.

Interesting. So you say in order to keep the theme of "do what you can't do just because you can" that is going on with Rin and Emi there is need to change their hobbies? hmmm. A sport that would be extremely difficult without arms. Swimming, maybe? Or gymnastics, as you have said.
A form of art that would be extremely difficult without legs... Well, that's a bit more difficult. I'd say dance but I really don't see Rin as a dancing person. thoughts?

ContinualNaba wrote:Giving Hisao massive burns and passing Hanako with a heart condition would be an interesting twist. Hanako's constant breaks to calm down, not to mention her immense avoidance complex from heavy or shocking stimuli could be painted in a very complex new light. Essentially, she could be Hisao if Hisao had known about his condition for a decade without consuling.

Hisao with burn scars could be interesting, and could improve the actual connection between the players and himself because most of us aren't eye candy anyway/he's just coming to grips with a extreme trauma.

I can actually see Emi becoming a gymnast without her arms, centre of gravity notwithstanding. It'd let her keep her gym outfit, at any rate.

So many ideas are just pouring out of some of these!
Hisao would still have to worry about getting rammed into by Emi in the hallway, as well. A heavy hit, or even any touch on his (relatively) freshly scarred skin would probably hurt like hell. Heck, depending on the sensitivity, it may be hard for any romantic contact as well. Instead of the potential heart attack, he'd have a totally different handicap with a girl.

To my mind it is not a question of how would a different disability change the person. The question I wondered about originally was that even with a different disability which parts of the personality would be basically unchanged. Sort of as a thought exercise to help expose the core of what made them a unique person/character. Then as a secondary thought, reflect on how a different set of circumstances would either emphasize or lessen the impact to the basic core of the character.

That is a rather obscure description isn't it? Sorry, it is about as well as I can sum it up unfortunately. But I do not mean to imply that the disability defines the person. I absolutely don't think that any ones circumstances dictate who and what they are. My opinion is every person is born with a mixture of basic core traits and tendencies. This is the "base" we start with, basically inherited from our parents by genetic lottery. From childhood onwards those basic tendencies are modified either positively or negatively by the lessons learned from and influences of the people and circumstances we experience. (Don't ask me about "Nature vs. Nurture" and all the various studies over the years... these are simply my personal opinions and observations.)

Ok, now I'm wandering down dimly lit and cobwebbed corridors of my brain and I'm a-feared. I think I may need some mindless anime to return me to my normal mindset. K-On marathon? Nah, bad for the blood sugar levels...

ContinualNaba wrote:Hanako with a heart condition.

oh god, if she still had the same scared-of-talking-to-people personality, she would have a heart attack every time somebody would talk to her, especially with hisao around.

DESU wrote:

ContinualNaba wrote:Hanako with a heart condition.

oh god, if she still had the same scared-of-talking-to-people personality, she would have a heart attack every time somebody would talk to her, especially with hisao around.

An interesting conflict, there. She would defiantly have to deal with those stresses, because otherwise, as you have said, lot's of heart attacks.

Keep in mind that that kind of personality would be self destructive, literally. If Hanako is so scared of heart attacks that her anxiety actually triggers one anyway... so yeah. Chances are she'd gain that retiring persona gradually, possibly with a bystander noting how 'She used to be so sweet after the operation. Now, I dunno.'

ContinualNaba wrote:Keep in mind that that kind of personality would be self destructive, literally. If Hanako is so scared of heart attacks that her anxiety actually triggers one anyway... so yeah. Chances are she'd gain that retiring persona gradually, possibly with a bystander noting how 'She used to be so sweet after the operation. Now, I dunno.'

I don't think she would be scared of having a heart attack, but more scared of people, as shown by how she is initially scared of hisao, and how when hisao escorted hanako to lilly's classroom, she hid behind hisao when a few random students walked past them.

She would be scared of people because they could bring about an arrest, hence the fear of heart attacks.

ContinualNaba wrote:She would be scared of people because they could bring about an arrest, hence the fear of heart attacks.

ah, that makes sense. I though you meant fear of a heart attack by itself.

DESU wrote:

ContinualNaba wrote:She would be scared of people because they could bring about an arrest, hence the fear of heart attacks.

ah, that makes sense. I though you meant fear of a heart attack by itself.

wow. Being so afraid of having a heart attack that you give yourself a heart attack must be the most ironic way to die EVER.
What about giving arrhythmia to other characters? How do you think they would be affected?

Minister of Gloom wrote:wow. Being so afraid of having a heart attack that you give yourself a heart attack must be the most ironic way to die EVER.
What about giving arrhythmia to other characters? How do you think they would be affected?

Hm... Emi would likely still run her legs out, just be a little more mindful of her limits. Which she already seems to be, I think... Rin and Lilly would probably just be the same, really. And Shizune... Well, she's most likely to have anger-induced flutters

I can see the joke already.

"...!"

"Shicchan says: HHNNNNNNNGGG."