Katawa Shoujo Forums

So let's say you where there for day 1.

At this point, there's no "Hanako" there just a girl with burns. There's no Shizune, there's just a deaf "calss rep" type. There's no Rin, no Misha, no Yamaku.

There's just this...
[shimmie]1[/shimmie]

and the idea that they want to make a game out of it, and of course you.

So you're going to step in, roll up your sleeves, and get to work making this into a game (along with some other people, but in our hypothetical situation, you get first dibs on what you want to do).

So, what do you do?

What girl would you have written a route for and what would it have been like?

Me? I would have wanted to write the burnt girls' route mostly because I did date a girl with bad burn scars covering a large portion of her body. Of course my "Hanako" wouldn't have been anything like the one you all know. She would have been a bit more outgoing, although openly bitter, certainly not the shy girl everybody knows and loves.

As for her route, probably somewhat less tragic although I do have a weakness for melodrama, and anybody who's read anything I've written knows I like to add a splash of humor in my works.

Honestly though, I don't think people would have liked my route as much as the one we did get.

So, what about the rest of you?

I'm sure the devs are probably going to get a chuckle out of this, along with some eye rolling, and a general "they have no real clue, do they?" type reactions.

I'd probably go for the armless chick. Name would probably change (maybe Mika). Less spacey oddness, more cold aloofness (Pictured here, like Akira but less fun). The whole "It was aliensbirth defects." explanation for her condition would be scrapped outright because having a cause to piece together is more interesting than 'I was born like that', and the route in general would probably be darker in tone. Still tragic but in a more visceral way. Someone else would probably be forced to swoop in and inject some levity and humor into the route before it was finalized.

Oddball wrote:[shimmie]1[/shimmie]

Hah, neat.

What girl would you have written a route for and what would it have been like?

Me? I would have wanted to write the burnt girls' route mostly because I did date a girl with bad burn scars covering a large portion of her body. Of course my "Hanako" wouldn't have been anything like the one you all know. She would have been a bit more outgoing, although openly bitter, certainly not the shy girl everybody knows and loves.

That's funny, I dated such a girl for awhile too, now that I think of it. She was a quirky sort. Dealt in kitsch items and was writing a book about midcentury ladies' undergarment advertisements.

I'm honestly not sure which way I would have gone. Could be Hanako the burned girl. Could be the deaf class rep, I've known a few interesting deaf folks in my time, and a few class-rep types. I fear none of us would have invented Misha, though, and that makes me sad…

I'm biased, but I know a lot about running in real life, so legless girl it is.

That being said, i know nothing about VN design so I wouldn't even want to touch that for a serious project. Writing a story is one thing, having it come together in a medium like this, especially in a genre I hardly understand, would be a mess.

Lilly would have been a musician. More than likely a pianist or a harpist. Although I guess the harp plays too much on the 'angelic' side of her that I wouldn't really want to come out.

Her route would probably have themes closer to Kagami's, but dealing with the difficulties of having to learn everything by ear, etc. She'd probably be a little more outwardly frustrated than her canon self.

Interesting to think about.

If I'm being honest, going by the descriptions I'd probably go with the deaf girl, because she's the one where it pointed out she's got big boobs. Seeing as how I've never written anything romantic before and really wouldn't have a clue where to begin, I'd probably choose instead to focus on drama or tragedy. It would probably be very far from romance and would probably read more like a Noir, with the deaf beauty acting as a femme fatale of sorts. There wouldn't be a Misha character because I could never come up with a character like her, and that's a scary thought.

The blind girl sounds interesting but I doubt I'd get involved with that route because initial the description for her was relatively boring.

The burned girl I feel I could pursue writing because she seems like an interesting and mysterious character, again making it more like a drama.

The legless runner I would definitely write as a comedy and just throw as many Sanic puns and references in there as possible.

As an odd note, I've found myself to be moderately talented at writing erotic fiction in my very private time, despite having absolutely no real world experience and being terrible at writing romances. Assuming that it would still be an eroge at all, I'd probably be able to do a pretty decent job with those at least*. The trick would be naturally transitioning into such a scene.

*Anybody else remember that scene I wrote with Rin's arms? I mean, mix a few words around, and that was actually fairly readable, if I do say so myself.

And I like how Lilly is almost literally described as being "kinda boring". What a great base for a character. I'm glad she panned out better than that, at least to me.

I would have tried to write all the girls, with interconnected routes and a believable back-story. I'd have gone for up to seven of them, adding in a couple more just to make it balance — because eight (seven plus the zero option) is a good number for people obsessed with digital coding.

I probably wouldn't have done so well, but who knows?

Frankly I'll get the same team and get the story out as-is.

KS, in its current form and release, hits the right notes just right.

It is respectful, considering the subject it covers.
It engages you, makes you think.

And finally, the team that gave birth to this expresses their labor--and it is evident with the product that came out and how much impact it gave. With those in mind, I probably won't be able to make something better or as good as this VN we have now.

So really, I wouldn't do much--except maybe correct a few continuity errors, typos, and what-not; also, epilogues--animated ones.

I'd have made a damn calendar of events that the different routes synced to (and was also synced with reality), and actually fact-checked a lot of things, including locations.

(Seeing as some of that's what I'm having to do now just to edit and plan fanfic...)

If KS was under my control?

I would have liked to have kept it the same, but knowing me, I would have tried to put in a secret ending.
like, if you get 100% and then replay for the Manly picnic, you'd get the secret ending.

Obviously, that'd be down to time constraints.

Well, they say that you write best when you write what you know, so when it comes to which route I'd have picked I'd have gone for the blind girl. I don't want to say how I would portray her other than she would be more like someone I knew. I would then go about trying to find fellow route-writers who have experience with each of the disabilities in question, whether their own or through someone they know for the same reason (and also because it would mean cutting down some of the research time for the sake of realism).

Once that was in place, I think the idea of deconstructing some of the various VN cliches is an excellent one, as is the idea of making each route be more about the girls as people than about their disabilities. I'd like to say I would have come up with that on my own, or that someone on the team would have, so that part sticks. I'd probably be more inclined to base the story somewhere other than Japan, since my knowledge of Japanese culture was much more limited before encountering KS. I have this tendency to try and do something nobody else has done, so I might have based it in Sydney or Johannesburg or somewhere else that's underutilized .

I'd need some more time to consider where it would go from there, but that's a start.

Well I'm kind of in a weird position with this, as I'm working on a VN currently and know how much of a pain it can be getting everything synced to a timeline.

I'd probably have made Hanako a musician, but have her be incredibly modest and shy away from any opportunities that come up because "people would rather look at a pretty girl" than her. Instrument would probably be something that draws attention, like sax or vocals, maybe both. Route would be kinda like Lilly's ending, have a huge opportunity show up after Hanako gained confidence, have her choose between Hisao and fame, do a big switcharoo and make Hisao go to her performance where she notices him in the audience and stops in front of thousands, runs off the stage and hugs him. Fluffy shit. Would've probably kept an uncle alive or something.

I'd have given Lilly a more flawed character. Hated the whole perfect air around her, made her my least favourite character because of it. Likely would've had her tend to a garden because she likes the smell and texture of flowers. No idea what I could do with that, but it's an idea.

Rin would've stayed a painter, I like the idea of armless painting. Again, no idea how I'd handle the actual route, but she'd be a painter.

Emi has always been a runner, and she's always been in a car accident. I'd opt for losing her uncle, running to continue his legacy despite hating the sport herself.

Shizune would be pretty much the same, just without Misha. Probably have more focus on the relationship than the character, have her problem stem from being the "other kid" her parents had while a successful older brother took the spotlight. Wants to prove herself.

Nurse would still exist. I would make him a much more prominent character. Have him appear multiple times in every route to offer advice. Don't care if it's redundant, Nurse best girl.

I would have gone for Hanako and kept her more or less the same as the final version of her(She is almost exactly the kind of girl i like).After completing her route i would have tried to convince the rest of the team to put a ''Katawako'' route in,as a secret or a reward for 100% completion,just to watch the reaction of those who manage to unlock her route.

I'd have given Lilly a more flawed character. Hated the whole perfect air around her, made her my least favourite character because of it. Likely would've had her tend to a garden because she likes the smell and texture of flowers. No idea what I could do with that, but it's an idea.

I'm kinda surprised people still consider Lilly flawless or next to flawless. It's like saying that Emi's carefree.