But how much of that is the empty school, and how much of it is Lilly's absence?''"
Developments
is an epic Katawa Shoujo Continuation Fic by Dewelar. Stemming from the Lilly route of the Visual Novel, it distinguishes itself from similar stories in the fandom by kicking off shortly before the end of the Bad/Neutral ending, rather than the more popular Good Ending, and carrying on straight through from there.
Rather than being told exclusively from Hisao's perspective, as in the visual novel, this story retains the first-person present tense narration but utilizes a Switching P.O.V., with each chapter following a different character—generally Hisao, Lilly, Emi and Hanako, but with several other perspectives occasionally thrown in to mix things up.
While dealing heavily with the aftermath of Hisao and Lilly's ruined relationship, this is by no means a Fix Fic—there's no long, inevitable march to a predictable reconciliation. Rather, the story becomes even more complex, as other people (including those who had become Out of Focus in the canon route) begin to step into Hisao's life in the wake of his breakup with Lilly, and, gradually, the lines of a Love Triangle begin to materialize... making things more than a little complicated for all parties involved.
Tropes associated with Developments:
- Ascended Extra: Several characters, overlapping with O.C. Stand-in—many of the characters in the story had no dialogue whatsoever in the visual novel, if they personally appeared at all. See also
Unexpected Character, below. - Character Development: Oodles and oodles, for every character in the story.
- Continuation Fic: Of Lilly's non-Good ending. (Because of that ending's idiosyncratically non-confrontational tone, the fandom is split over whether it should be called a Bad Ending or a Neutral Ending.)
- Door Stopper: The story is over 300,000 words long. That's longer than "The Two Towers" and "The Return Of The King" combined, and probably longer than the Lilly route itself.
- Given Name Reveal: Dewelar gives one to Nurse. It's Goro Kaneshiro. This is a Shout-Out to Brythain's After The Dream, where the name first appeared.
- Love Triangle: In the wake of his breakup with Lilly, both Emi and Hanako become interested in Hisao, and that forms the foundation for much of the drama in the story. For a small portion of the story, Lilly herself acts as sort of a Third-Option Love Interest.
- Missing Mom: In one case, averted magnificently. Shizune's mother, Mayoi, who is often perceived by the fandom to be deceased, turns out to have been Right There All Along—she lives near Yamaku Academy, in fact—but Shizune is uncomfortable bringing her up because she's still reeling from Mayoi leaving her father for a woman.
- Original Character: Fewer than you'd think—most of the characters introduced in this story already existed somewhere in canon. One notable exception is Takako Hamaguchi, a first-year student in the Newspaper Club.
- Out of Focus: Kenji, Miki, Hideaki, and Jigoro. Conversely, Emi and Rin, who all but completely disappeared for the latter half of Lilly's route, come back with a vengeance.
- Parents as People: The fic explores Meiko's character and backstory much more elaborately than it was in Emi's route, and she has something of a troubled past. This is true for Mayoi as well. Hisao and Rin's parents, on the other hand, remain as invisible as always.
- Poor Communication Kills: A lack of openness and honesty is the catalyst for Hisao and Lilly's breakup. The breakup is permanent.
- Recursive Fanfiction: In the slightest sense. Miss Yumi, Hanako's OC therapist in Guest Poster's Sisterhood, is also a character in this story. The stories also have some superficial structural similarity—they're both long Continuation Fics with Switching P.O.V.—but they go in completely different directions. See also Shout-Out.
- Shout-Out: There are numerous references to story elements specific to other Katawa Shoujo fanfics, like Tomorrow's Doom, the Kagami Pseudo-Route, and Mean Time to Breakdown. (The authors of those stories all share their work on the Katawa Shoujo Fan Fiction Forum and have a rapport.)
- Towards the end of the story, Hanako makes friends with Ritsu Tainaka, a student in her class, and she turns out to be... Ritsu Tainaka. As in, the exact character from K-On!, who transferred to Yamaku because she developed carpal tunnel in both hands. Dewelar literally made the entirety of Katawa Shoujo a de facto K-On! AU.
- Switching P.O.V.: Mostly between Hisao, Lilly, Emi and Hanako, with a few one-shot perspectives throughout the story: Akira, Shizune, Misha, Meiko, Rin, Taka-Taka, and Noriko.
- Those Two Guys: Yoshi and Noriko, to Hisao. Naomi and Natsume also serve this role for Hanako.
- Unexpected Character: The unnamed, unseen second-year student who speaks a single contemptuous line about Hanako in Lilly's route? Her name is Noriko Yoshimura and she's one of the more important characters in the fic. The blind boy in the Art Club that Rin speaks pensively about in Act One? His name is Yoshiro Kamisaka, and he becomes the Class Representative of 3-2 after Lilly departs. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
