The "thank you 4LS" thread.

[PasterOfMuppets]

just wondering...
Is this 'digital ph33r'?

[Ph33rles]

No, ph33rles has just been my tag since.... eesh long time ago.

[Theeyebrowsofdoom]

I want to bond with you on an emotional level SO HARD.

[Thrasher Thetic]

I want to bond with you on a physical level, perhaps involving some manner of high-test adhesive or maybe velcro. I haven't decided yet.

[Anon53]

I'll join in on all the others and say "Thanks 4LS!"

You released a really great story. I was inspired when you released Act 1, which helped me realize that disabled people are just like us, and the full version really fleshed out all the characters that I grew to love.

[GaseousMask]

This was the first VN I ever read. I saw a couple of my friends reading through it and I thought I might as well give it try. I didn't know what to expect.

I found myself fully engrossed in Hanako's story arc (and my first choice). I slowly fell in love with the character although it felt weird because she was fictional and this was the first time this happened to me. I stayed on the computer all day playing through her arc. Afterwards though, I suffered from many restless nights and depression. I was in a state of confusion on how KS, specifically Hanako's arc, was able to affect me this much until I realized I had similar emotional scarring. Although not as drastic as Hanako's, I had a similar past to her.

Throughout my childhood, I was constantly bullied and teased. From elementary school to middle school. Just because I had slightly slanted eyes. I was a minority... not even a minority, I was the only asian kid in the entire school. I suffered from severe bullying and name-calling. Even the few friends I made joined in on the "fun". The worst part was that I had no one to support me or help me. I couldn't rely on my friends for the previous reason. Although I was the fourth and youngest child in the family, there was no support from them either since my parents was always at work and my siblings at school and college. I was alone as a kid.

When it was time for me to move the middle school, I hoped that it would be different. It wasn't, I suffered the same type of bullying I did back in elementary school. Still without support, I tried to find out how to escape reality and avoid people. This was when I turned to reading, much like Hanako. I would read novels by the day, wishing that my life was perfect like the characters in them. I wish I could be in their footsteps instead. But there is so much books can do sometimes. I still needed help in the real world.
I finally found out there was at least some hope for me when a few kids I talked to a bit realized what was happening to me and reported the bullies. They were later expelled from school. This made me happy, somewhat. And I was no longer bullied even into high school. But the damage was already done.

In high school, I was an emotional wreck. Always in states of depression and random happiness. Social awkward and avoided people. Any attack or criticism on me, no matter how small, will cause me to break down and cry. Any acts of kindness towards me will make it seem like I just won the lottery. The bouncing around between two extremes was stressful. It was hard for me to make friends since I was extremely shy but I managed to make some which became my closest friends to this day. I was finally happy that I actually had real friends. Sadly, I couldn't tell them what happened to me when I was younger. Whenever they'll try to get me to open up and tell me to stop being shy, I would often break down or run away. As the years progressed, my case still didn't get any better although I was getting better at hiding it.

Now, I'm in college and hoped to live a happier life but yet I still suffer from random states of depression. No matter hard my friends tried, they couldn't cheer me up during those moments. And of course, being friends, they still do they additional teasing to one another, including me. It was still too much for me and whenever that would happen, I would often leave my group of friends leaving them to wonder what they did wrong. They would also make fun of me for that and obviously, that didn't help either and would lash out at them. It was still hard to explain why I was such an emotional wreck, especially for a guy.

It wasn't until I read KS that I started to realize I had to finally confront my problem and open up to my friends. If the characters in this VN can, so can I. It took a while before I could muster the courage to tell my friends about what happened to me while I was a kid. Then I did. And for some odd reason, I felt like a new person. I felt more relaxed and calm. I felt like I can go out into the world and just give a hug to everyone. A heavy burden on me was lifted. Even my friends noticed how much I've changed and even left me out of their teases. Although I'm still a soft-spoken guy and still get sad at times, its a much big improvement from what I used to be.

I've read other people's stories about how KS helped them open up their views and perspective on life. My biggest thanks to the writers of this VN and how well you can emotionally capture the feelings of many. Hopefully, one day I can find a girl like Hanako and help her feel better also

[yipyapper]

I know there is a feedback section already, but all of these great stories should have their own section because they are everywhere and so wonderful to read that people wanting a good story just has to go on it *tear*.

It was really good of you to be part of opening your heart on the forums!

[encrypted12345]

I know there is a feedback section already, but all of these great stories should have their own section because they are everywhere and so wonderful to read that people wanting a good story just has to go on it *tear*.

It was really good of you to be part of opening your heart on the forums!

There's a Thank you 4LS thread. That being said, maybe there should be a "Gush out your life story" thread...

In any case, it's always heartwarming to read these types of stories. Welcome to the cripple porn eroge fan club!

[charmisokay]

If we concentrated all of these stories into one thread I think we would have too much "d'aww" in one place.

[ether75]

The feels, man. The feels I felt from reading this post.

But seriously, I'd like to share a story too. I'm a second year university student. During my first year, I fell into a catatonic state of depression. I refused to eat, I rarely slept, and when I went outside I would hack and cough like I had been smoking for decades. Now, since I was young I had always feared being ostracized for being different (My mind doesn't exactly run on the same wavelengths as everyone else's.), and I had always tried to be who others wanted, rather than being myself.

Now, it was through a long period of happy accidents and careful readjustment that I worked my way back into a healthy state of mind, but it's since been a burden on me. I've not gone a day without remembering some aspect of that lonely, empty period. I was ashamed of it, thinking that I had done something very wrong somewhere along the way, and as more months went by I began to realize just how little self-worth I had. I basically hated myself for something that I should have understood wasn't necessarily my fault.

Anyway, it was only recently, upon completing Katawa Shoujo and stumbling upon this quote online that I realized how true it rang for me. I didn't have to be ashamed or hate myself or blame myself. I just had to move on, and do my best to live my life the way I believed was best. So, yeah. Long story short, my life is slowly getting back on track. I'll post the quote down below in case anyone hasn't seen it already.

"So it's actually not about seducing and nailing disabled girls. The girls happen to have disabilities, but the more you get to know them, the more you come to realise that they are girls just like any other. They are humans with hopes and dreams, and messy, f*cked up insecurities about being alive and happy. They are not strange people - they are regular ordinary human beings who feel the way they feel not because they are disabled, but because they are ordinary. They are the universal allegory for humanity; the archetypal human; the mess you become when you feel sad and alone and unworthy. They are the girl next door, the prom queen, the bookworm, the tomboy, and all the baggage that comes with that - nothing more or less. You are not alone, and you are not strange. You are you, and everyone has damage. Be the better person."

[Shasta]

I thought i'd think up something smart and deep to write in order to adequately thank the people who gave me Katawa Shoujo, the game I will never forget. I delved as deep as I could.

Thank you.

[Dave1]

nothing I can say that hasn't already been said.

Thank you for the story, and the memories.

[MrBackpack]

This is my thread that I started on reedit, I figured that I would post it here:

This has been gnawing at me for the past couple of days, seeing all the posts about how Katawa Shoujo has changed people's lives, and all my own comments on many of them. It's time that I shared my story.
I have often been described, and often described myself as such, as a negative, cynical, sarcastic asshole; a persona that I redly embraced. It was easier to be all those negative things, become numb, than to face reality.
Then, along comes my best friend , the woman who would become my girlfriend and now fiancé; she saw through my act and we started a relationship. There were hard times, I was in college two-and-a-half hours away, but we got through the four years that it took me to graduate with 'skype-Saturdays' and random texts throughout the week.
Now, like any 19-23 year-old male, I am/was a randy bastard. However, when we started dating, we made and agreement: she was going to wait until her wedding night for her first time, and I agreed thinking that I would eventually break that resolve down.
I haven't. We're still waiting.
I'll be honest, it would've been too easy to stray, she would have had no way of finding out; I am proud to say that I never did and she put up with my not-so-subtle hints about moving forward with our physical relationship. I knew after a year of dating, in a very metacognizant kind of way, that I was in love with my girlfriend, that I would love her for the rest of my life, but I wouldn't let myself really feel those emotions.
I had long since locked those emotions away, deep within myself, behind as many barriers and walls as I could erect ; keeping what I felt for my girlfriend as close to my real emotions as I could without really letting her in.
We got engaged in August of 2011.
Fast froward to the release of Katawa Shoujo, the real turning point in this whole rambling diatribe.
Like many, I downloaded the game for the hentai, thinking that it would simply be a quick fap and then delete the game and go about the rest of my life. I, being the reader that I am, stopped to read a bit of the prologue and quickly became enamored with the story, forgetting my original intention for downloading very quickly. I played through Emi's story first, then Hanako, followed by Rin and Shizune, smiling when the girls did, frowning at their sorrows, and grinning during the 'good endings;' but nothing really hit me, they were just characters on the screen, well done characters, but just art and a good story, nothing else.
Then along came Lilly.
Lilly waltzed right through my mind and into my heart, right past all the defenses that I had and stood before the fortress that I build around the deeper parts of my psyche.
By the end of her 'good ending' Lilly had walked through every defense, every wall, every barrier and lock that I had, right into the vault that held my locked my emotions into. She took my hidden emotions by the hand and led them out of the fortress, smiling as the fortress fell away behind her, leaving a gaping hole in my heart.
She then took my emotions over to my fiancé's location, joined them together and shoved them into the hole in my heart.
Fast forward again, to a couple of weeks ago, my fiancé and I were watching a movie together, curled up on a couch, she was more on me than the couch; and for the first time that I can remember, I wasn't thinking about sex with her, a thought that usually dominated my mind, and this realization didn't make me thing about it either.
I smiled, a real, warm smile as I pulled her closer to me, content to bask in this feeling of being truly and utterly in love.
Now, that was long and melodramatic, but I think that it had to be said to really get the point across that Katawa Shoujo is and can be a game changer in your life. I didn't want to be changed, I thought that I was fine just the way that I was. Katawa Shoujo will change you, you might realize how great a 'game' can be at telling a story or you might realize, like I did, that your life can be so much better than it really is, it doesn't take all that much effort to change.
TL;DR Lilly changed how I connect with people, KS can change you
Without a doubt, I know that this has been said, but the world needs more stories like this; it's one of the most moving and human experiences that I have ever been through, be it in a movie, book or poem; as a English BA graduate, I have been through many 'moving' experiences, but nothing has ever been this powerful.
This is my game of the year 2012. I know that I will probably play other games more than KS, might even enjoy them more than KS, but nothing is going to stick with me like KS will.
I am a broken human being and I am proud to wear a wounded heart.

Thank you from the bottom of my hear for this story.

[themocaw]

MrBackpack: I'm going to quote Robert Fulghum now.

Here's Fulghum's Formula for Marriage Testing, as passed on to my young friend.

"Heather, give me your gut reaction to three questions." She's ready.

"First, if I asked you to take me and introduce me to the person you've known at least five years and think of as your closest friend in all the world, who would it be?"

Her eyes answer. "Him."

"Second, if I asked you to take me to where 'home' is, where would it be?"

Her eyes answer. "Wherever he is."

"Third, do you ever lie in bed at night with him, cuddled up spoon fashion, your backside to his frontside and his arms around you and neither one if you is thinking about sex; instead you are thinking how content you are just being there like that -- at home with your closest friend who just happens to be the man you love?"

Quiet. She was in tears. "How did you know?"

Well, for one thing, I have a home of my own.

And I told her that if he feels the same way, they're married and just don't know it yet. I pronounced them husband and wife right there. It's only a question of whether or not she wants to have a party to celebrate that. Furthermore, the whole state of Washington, as well as her parents, might want to help her celebrate in their own particular ways -- a document and a feast. And who knows, her children may be glad about the whole matter someday, as well. "Go public with this news -- that's my advice."

Congratulations on your marriage.

[ICEheaven102]

I feel awesome. My routes from favourite to least favourite: Emi, Lily, Hanako, Rin, Shizune.

Kudos to 4LS, an AMAZING game. Emi's and Lily's routes made me cry like a baby. Katawa Shoujo: Now THAT'S a game.

I enjoyed every single moment of this game. The game also got my Words Per Minute rate up too. I became an even faster reader lol.

Katawa Shoujo shall remain permanently on my toolbar. I love you Emi.