Katawa Shoujo Forums

First of all, sorry if I sometimes use engrish... and I KNOW this probably seems like QQ, but it's not and yes it's a longfornothingpost...

I've never read any post on the forum since I've played Katawa Shoujo, saw the project and was like "Wow cool", but didn't followed the updates and all (think it was the V2 I played..? But I decided to wait for the full version so I won't be impatient x'D). When I was cleaning my favorites on Firefox, I saw KS' site and remembered it after what seemed an eternity to me o_O (eh I was what... 13 years old when I saw this for the first time? A huge difference in maturity now that I'm 17 ) I won't annoy you with everything I played and had a lot of fun... especially on Rin's route.

Being the most attractive girl to me (I'm personnally not for tomboys, Rin seems to me very feminine... but everyone has his/her own point of view, don't bite =/). The character really make me think. I live a little region in Canada and artists are not seem very well, so reading this and thinking that someone could think like this was awesome to me . Even if I didn't understood Rin, I understood her! (literally that's what I feel!)

And all of this made me thought about a friend of mine.
He's a real Kenji, really! He only sees corruption in the world and is a very negative person. To him, every media is made to corrupt and manipulate our mind. Yes, in a way, it is, but do we have to say it out loud? Or to look at it like it's the end of the world? When you see a good politician winning the election, for him it's just a smiling face who wants our money, when you talk about Michael Jackson's death, it's the Illuminatis who killed him because he didn't want to send their messages through his songs just like 2PAC and lot of others celebrities (he made a speech about this in class, everyone was speechless about how everything was so true... a little or a lot naive to me)... you can see the character. Always pointing out the dark side of things and never the bright side. He's 18 and probably he's even so one of my closest friend, because I can talk to him about real things if he doesn't wear his post-apocalyptic hat.

Well, the one thing that you should know about him, it's that when he discovers something, he thinks nobody else saw it and that he's a genius (when he discovered that artists made what is technology today... he's all crazy about that, he never read anything about Leonard Da Vinci and others that's for sure...)
To him, an artist is someone who doesn't go into the normalities and consider himself like so... however, he can't tell what are those "normalities" and that confuse me. (When I said to him that he was in the normalities by drawing with a pencil, he changed subject)
All of his friends admire him and he knows that he's awesome. The manga he's creating talks about the Reason Knight (what he called the "Rising Kenight" because he doesn't know one bit of english and I had to correct every english term he used... he also use german, but use Google Traductor) and about one young boy who will bring up every corruption in the world. It's about 4 clans fighting against each other with the worst names I've ever seen (the Devi for the devils ohsodarkandpragmatic and the main antagonist are Master Chaos, god of destruction and evil) and the Energy that must concentrate on a certain part of the body to do something.

Did I mentioned that the only anime he saw was Naruto and that it has the deepest characters, greatest stories and morals and he doesn't want to deny it?
I don't also have to mention that those kind of things must have been made by a whole bunch of 13 years old boys who wants to be as cool and dark sexy as those characters.
His Pseudo on MMORPG, forum and such are Analstasia, Bukake, Erecsteriux and such...
What do I talk about him? That's not a revenge or anything, it's because it's the BEST EXAMPLE I had in my sleeve!

What about me? Yeah, I made some stories, very cliché ones I know. But just for the fun, I'm mostly like a small funny comic person (I'm a Archie comic person). I don't like drawing for hours and just have a ton of unfinished sketchs on my desks and tons of ideas that will probably die with me because of my laziness and that my priorities are elsewhere. I can sometimes draw for hours straight and don't touch any blank sheet for months. I'm a very naive and idealistic person. I believe in a world with no money, only charity, I'm a believer (catholic) who believes in miracles and God. I think that people whine too much about politicians, since 3/4 of them never studied or participated in very hard politic decisions and don't think that there may be a lot of things behind the curtains... you can hate me for being like that, but it's me, yes. I hate Lelouch from Code Geass like hell, but love Suzaku (and don't go ahead with a Lelouchisawesomeandall debate about it, you like him, I don't, period.) . I think it was a good thing that Megaupload closed because it was too much out of control, but I'm not for SOPA... Yes I am who I am. Deal with it. You can argue, but what I think is what I think.
My pseudo on the Internet are mostly from an old quote or something from latin. I'm a obsessive person with depressive phases. I can be sometimes super sad and shy but I can be too enthusiastic and nonchalant. (I'm not bipolar)

Finally, I have a aunt who dictated her life for painting. She paint all the time and dislike cities. She has a very comfortable life with her boyfriend and now she's being kind of old. She's not really economically comfortable, but live with it. Her house is full of paintings, statues and such (and my house is too ; she knows that I love her art so she sends me a lot ). However, she can be the "annoying aunt" mode when she wants to, isn't a family person so she lives on her own far away from the one who loves her. She's calm... maybe too calm and doesn't seem to express herself truly but only through her paintings (who are too calm too o_o). She dedicated, the other side of her life to her mother, who died some years ago... However, her art is very concrete and isn't abstract. It's pretty much realistic, so if she wants to draw a woman, you'll see a woman, etc.

3 differents profiles and you can add yours...
Everything leads too... What's an artist?

Is it the kind of Rin who wants to destroy herself and paint so she can be in "another world"? Is it my friend who thinks always like the average (noob?) teenagers boys, but still has imagination in a way and has acceptable drawing skills? Is it me, who can't do anything straight, is a non-concrete type, but doesn't create much and prefer to admire other people's work? Or my aunt, a lonely person in her own little green (foreeest) and comfortable world, painting has a job, but more as a passtime? (she sells her paintings and statues, but never do them as fast as she can to product them)

Or is EVERYONE an artist as we all think differently, act differently? We can be similar, but we're unique. Aren't we a piece of art in some way? But does that make us an artist?

Now it's 2:40 AM, I've school at 7:00 AM... gosh what a long post >____<"

What is an Artist..

"A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist." ~ Louis Nizer
'Between You and Me', Beechurst Press, 1948.

And now I feel stupid.

Chekchie wrote:And now I feel stupid.

Don't feel stupid. You're looking at the world around you and try to figure out stuff. Stupid people don't do that.

I'm much like Rin, in that I don't really care about what an artist is. If I enjoy looking at a painting, I ejnoy looking at a painting. If I enjoy listening to a song, I ejnoy listening to a song. If I enjoy reading a book, I enjoy reading a book. If I enjoy writing a story, I don't necessarily enjoy the result. Sometimes I do. When I show my stories to others, they often enjoy them; but they rarely like what I think is clever (ignoring it), and they often compliment stuff I wanted to cut, because I thought that's boring.

The upshot is that people are different, see the same things differently, produce different things. And often the things that look boring to you, may be the ones others like the most. Whatever else it is, I think art is the arena where we can safely play with misunderstandings, show each other that we're different. And this is why I get a tad cranky when people try to make rules about what counts for art and what doesn't.

You seem to look at the wrold around you and spot the difference between people who are creative in different ways. I'd like to think that that's part of the spirit of art.

Hopefully that's not too confusing.

Hm... that's the question I gave myself yesterday eve while doing Rins Arc (She's hard to like but yet lovable).
The question lead me to a different question: If you want to know what an artist is, you have to know what art is. So what is art? Just the expression of someones Emotion or Ideas or what?
Thinking even deeper about it, I somehow came to the conclusion that there must be some kind of well where Ideas and thoughts emerge from. This would be not only the exterior but also the interior of a person.
Going even further ahead this would mean - to me - that Life itself is art. Because of life there are these exterior and interior things for the very own personal well of everyone. Not everyone is able to create a picture, or write a story or so - but everyone is able to handle a thought or an emotion and is capable of changing his view on his object of interest. Of having a very own personal view of the world - and fantasy.
So when there's this exterior world and this interior world therefore everyone who's alive must be an artist by just living.

Maybe this is a stupid thought, but I came to this conclusion after sitting around for probably three hours with a few stops to smoke and look up to the nightly sky.

Personally I think art is about expressing one's self.

So an artist would be a person who creates something to express.

Rin on the other hand states that she paints in the hopes of communicating.


The difference is small and large at the same time.

Going even further ahead this would mean - to me - that Life itself is art. Because of life there are these exterior and interior things for the very own personal well of everyone. Not everyone is able to create a picture, or write a story or so - but everyone is able to handle a thought or an emotion and is capable of changing his view on his object of interest. Of having a very own personal view of the world - and fantasy.

Everyone 'can' create art. Even if it's badly. I don't think that thinking itself is an art. Because art requires expressing oneself in a non-utilitarian way.

Yeah, that statement was mainly from a look on "better" art - to say so. I think you can debate over this theme and yet don't find a definite and lasting answer to it.

KILLTHIS wrote:Yeah, that statement was mainly from a look on "better" art - to say so. I think you can debate over this theme and yet don't find a definite and lasting answer to it.

Aye, there's lots of opinion on what art is. It's why there's such a debate on games being art or not. Creator's intent tends to be the best way to go about calling something art. Us peanut gallery have no real weight compared to Creator's intent.

There's also multiple meaning to 'art' like Martial Arts, Art of War, that make people who aren't good at word crafting confused.

Daitengu wrote:

KILLTHIS wrote:Yeah, that statement was mainly from a look on "better" art - to say so. I think you can debate over this theme and yet don't find a definite and lasting answer to it.

Aye, there's lots of opinion on what art is. It's why there's such a debate on games being art or not. Creator's intent tends to be the best way to go about calling something art. Us peanut gallery have no real weight compared to Creator's intent.

There's also multiple meaning to 'art' like Martial Arts, Art of War, that make people who aren't good at word crafting confused.

Absolutely... maybe that's it after all. Everything's art in it's own way? The art of being oneself for example. Which would only lead me back to the things I've already stated. If things validate themselves - even though it sounds nihilistic - then things are them, right?

KILLTHIS wrote:

Daitengu wrote:Aye, there's lots of opinion on what art is. It's why there's such a debate on games being art or not. Creator's intent tends to be the best way to go about calling something art. Us peanut gallery have no real weight compared to Creator's intent.

There's also multiple meaning to 'art' like Martial Arts, Art of War, that make people who aren't good at word crafting confused.

Absolutely... maybe that's it after all. Everything's art in it's own way? The art of being oneself for example. Which would only lead me back to the things I've already stated. If things validate themselves - even though it sounds nihilistic - then things are them, right?

I mean the word 'Art' has more meanings than just the one the OP is concerned with. Which tends to confuse people. In the context of Martial Arts or the Art of War. Art is mean as "the way" or "a path".

Yep... lost it back there, right. I guess by saying "Art is just art" things seem to be right and wrong at the same time.

KILLTHIS wrote:Yep... lost it back there, right. I guess by saying "Art is just art" things seem to be right and wrong at the same time.

pretty much lol

It's one of the reasons I like talking about 'art'. people see it differently.

Daitengu wrote:

KILLTHIS wrote:Yep... lost it back there, right. I guess by saying "Art is just art" things seem to be right and wrong at the same time.

pretty much lol

It's one of the reasons I like talking about 'art'. people see it differently.

Well as long as it's not too much about a certain style or something, I'm okay with it. I like interpretations more as well. By looking through someone else's eyes you can get way better glimpses at things, if you ask me. That's why I probably like philosophy as well.

KILLTHIS wrote: Well as long as it's not too much about a certain style or something, I'm okay with it. I like interpretations more as well. By looking through someone else's eyes you can get way better glimpses at things, if you ask me. That's why I probably like philosophy as well.

Agreed. There's no real right or wrong, and new perspectives do encourage personal redefinition. It's pretty entertaining.

An artist is someone who captures emotions in another medium, art is that medium in which emotion has been captured.

Daitengu wrote:There's also multiple meaning to 'art' like Martial Arts, Art of War, that make people who aren't good at word crafting confused.

Well, art comes from Latin ars, meaning skill or method, and the English word art originally meant "that which is practical", aka what we now call technology or also useful knowledge.