I feel... empty (Lilly ending spoilers)

[rebelway]

I just 100%-ed Katawa Shoujo completing Lilly's path last. I just don't know what to feel anymore. This was the first time I cried for more than an hour and kept crying until I fell asleep. I cried out of happiness, sadness, and now I feel empty.
I got so connected to the characters that it felt like I was living that life, I had the heart problem and I fell in love. Now that the game is finally over I just can't believe it. I keep telling myself that I will continue hanging out with Lilly even though that won't happen.
This game really broke me and I will really need some time to forget everything and move on with my life. Maybe I just want someone to talk to or maybe the reason I was struck that hard by the game is because I lost someone in real life because just like Hisao, I ran until my legs hurt but I was just a few minutes late to the train station.
I'm tearing up as I'm writing this and I don't know what to do anymore. It isn't depression or anything like that but I just feel sad and empty. Sad because I will have to return to my monotone life but that's life I guess. Damn Lilly why did you have to do this to me.

[Nobody in Particular]

The negative effects of great storytelling, although I get the impression the majority of people suffer this after Hanako's or Rin's routes since they generally produce the most "feels". The forum and the community acts like a support group for these kinds of issues, and there are many people (as proven by the vast amount of topics about the same issue) that go through this.

My advice? Try to do something new, preferably something with a good story like a book or a film or whatever. Hanging out with friends and socialising also helps a ton too. You won't feel instantly better, but it is certainly a start. Don't panic, it's just a game.

[rebelway]

Thanks for replying. The thing is I don't feel bad or having stress it's just like an old wound that opened again. I know that I can't do anything to change it but I just can't stop thinking about it and this game. Going out with friends and having fun might take my mind off this for a few hours but it just comes back.

[pauper]

Thanks for replying. The thing is I don't feel bad or having stress it's just like an old wound that opened again. I know that I can't do anything to change it but I just can't stop thinking about it and this game. Going out with friends and having fun might take my mind off this for a few hours but it just comes back.

It only lasts for a few days, believe me, I have had this twice already

[Nobody in Particular]

Oh and I also forgot to say that the other thing that will help take your mind off the game is time. It varies from person to person, but it usually only takes a week or so. Took me about a day or two if it counts for anything.

[FluffandCrunch]

I felt the exact same way after playing her path, Bro.
Don't worry. This too shall pass.

[dunkelfalke]

Yep, give it time. It will get better after a few days (or weeks in worst case), but a part of the impact might stay for longer.

[Mysterious Stranger]

If your symptoms last for more than five days, I hereby prescribe 250 hours of Modern Warfare 3 in order to return you to being emotionally stable. And by stable I mean dead.

[Titus]

Heh. I heard Rin is one of the most "feely" routes there. Just started, and I'm surprised that like Hisao both him and I like art but have no creative drive but are still interested.

I'm excited to see where it goes from there.

[lml99]

This happens to me whenever i finish an anime series, or whenever I reach the most recent episode. In a few days and the feeling will be gone. Try and reflect back on the game and the memories you have with it. The experience is a lot more rewarding that way. You really should appreciate this feeling while it lasts. Whenever this happens to me and I have to move on, I always regret that it's just the end of it. Besides this forum and some fanfiction, Your Katawa Shoujo experience has pretty much come to a close. Just make sure to hold onto the memories, even after the feeling's past. Good Luck .

[humhorse]

I think that will happen if you've had a real-life experience that you can relate to one of the characters.

I felt the same way after completing Lilly's route and spent hours trying to figure out what was wrong with me and why I felt so empty until I made the connection to my ex-girlfriend Nicole. It took a while because it's been several years since we last spoke and even longer since we broke up.

You see, Nicole is my Lilly. In fact, she practically *is* Lilly, on so many levels that I wondered if Suriko knew Nicole on a personal level. Okay, Nicole isn't blind but she's half-Scottish (on her father's side; her mother is English), she is tall (5'9", annoyingly taller than me) and has long blonde hair. Her family is extremely wealthy (her father bought her a new BMW 5 series with personalised licence plates for her 17th birthday kind of wealthy) and there was always an aura of refined elegance about her, not so much in her speech but in her tastes and the way she dressed.

Nicole and I had been friends since we were 14. We didn't go to the same school but we would spend plenty of time together after both our classes had finished. Things were perfect. She and I weren't just boyfriend and girlfriend, we were each other's best friends too. Of course there would be the occasional arguments and fights, but we both knew that none of these were ever serious; certainly not serious enough to tear us apart, and they just presented us an opportunity to kiss and make up afterwards. We were both so completely in love with each other that I thought it would last forever. Ah, the naievety of youth.

Going through sixth form (high school for non-Brits), Nicole had her heart set on being a lawyer while I didn't really have any plans, so I just picked the same subjects that she was studying. It was a stupid mistake as I didn't really have any passion for it and ended up getting fairly poor results in my A-levels, way below what was required to go to the same university as Nicole. She went to Bristol while I was lucky enough to get a place at King's College London through clearing (a British system that gives you a second chance at going to uni). Like Hisao and Lilly, we promised to stay in touch, but I think deep down we both knew it was over. I knew I wouldn't get to see her during term-time, and if past history was anything to go by she'd inevitably spend almost all her holidays abroad with her family, be it skiing in Switzerland or scuba diving in the Maldives.

And so it was that she ended up seeing the guy who's now her husband while I went out with a girl who slept with one of my 'friends' from college. It took me a long time to get over her. Several years in fact. Not a day would go by without me regretting it being over and wondering "What if?". I knew it wasn't healthy but I couldn't really stop thinking that way. The fact that I still think about her on occasion suggests that I'm still not completely over her and perhaps never will be, and being reminded of her by Lilly's story has re-opened a wound in my heart I thought long since healed.

I apologise for the rambling length of this post, but I just wanted to let the OP know that he's not alone in this, and it feels oddly therapeutic to write this. If you've got this far then thanks for reading.

[Nekken]

Strong emotional reactions to this game are very common. You aren't alone.

The real key, after something like this, is to harness that emotional energy. Think on your own life, and find something you can do that would improve it. Use these feelings to motivate you, and do it. Not for your waifu or anything like that, but for yourself.

[FluffandCrunch]

I think that will happen if you've had a real-life experience that you can relate to one of the characters.

I felt the same way after completing Lilly's route and spent hours trying to figure out what was wrong with me and why I felt so empty until I made the connection to my ex-girlfriend Nicole. It took a while because it's been several years since we last spoke and even longer since we broke up.

You see, Nicole is my Lilly. In fact, she practically *is* Lilly, on so many levels that I wondered if Suriko knew Nicole on a personal level. Okay, Nicole isn't blind but she's half-Scottish (on her father's side; her mother is English), she is tall (5'9", annoyingly taller than me) and has long blonde hair. Her family is extremely wealthy (her father bought her a new BMW 5 series with personalised licence plates for her 17th birthday kind of wealthy) and there was always an aura of refined elegance about her, not so much in her speech but in her tastes and the way she dressed.

Nicole and I had been friends since we were 14. We didn't go to the same school but we would spend plenty of time together after both our classes had finished. Things were perfect. She and I weren't just boyfriend and girlfriend, we were each other's best friends too. Of course there would be the occasional arguments and fights, but we both knew that none of these were ever serious; certainly not serious enough to tear us apart, and they just presented us an opportunity to kiss and make up afterwards. We were both so completely in love with each other that I thought it would last forever. Ah, the naievety of youth.

Going through sixth form (high school for non-Brits), Nicole had her heart set on being a lawyer while I didn't really have any plans, so I just picked the same subjects that she was studying. It was a stupid mistake as I didn't really have any passion for it and ended up getting fairly poor results in my A-levels, way below what was required to go to the same university as Nicole. She went to Bristol while I was lucky enough to get a place at King's College London through clearing (a British system that gives you a second chance at going to uni). Like Hisao and Lilly, we promised to stay in touch, but I think deep down we both knew it was over. I knew I wouldn't get to see her during term-time, and if past history was anything to go by she'd inevitably spend almost all her holidays abroad with her family, be it skiing in Switzerland or scuba diving in the Maldives.

And so it was that she ended up seeing the guy who's now her husband while I went out with a girl who slept with one of my 'friends' from college. It took me a long time to get over her. Several years in fact. Not a day would go by without me regretting it being over and wondering "What if?". I knew it wasn't healthy but I couldn't really stop thinking that way. The fact that I still think about her on occasion suggests that I'm still not completely over her and perhaps never will be, and being reminded of her by Lilly's story has re-opened a wound in my heart I thought long since healed.

I apologise for the rambling length of this post, but I just wanted to let the OP know that he's not alone in this, and it feels oddly therapeutic to write this. If you've got this far then thanks for reading.

...........
...get the fuck over here.

[Titus]

Quote full of feels

Dude...I'm so sorry you got the bad end. Really.

It's stories like these that remind us not to take life so lightly.

[charmisokay]

Hum, you made my eyes wet
More than the game itself -