History TearJerker / DokiDokiLiteratureClub

* The VisualNovel/DokiDokiRainclouds mod re-tells the game's first act... from Sayori's point of view. It's about as soul-crushing as it seems. It really puts some perspective on her depression and suicidal ideation, and how hurt she was [[InnocentlyInsensitive by the main character's actions. It ends [[ForegoneConclusion the way it does in canon]].]]

* The reveal that Sayori [[spoiler:has been living with depression for years]]. The subject of [[spoiler:depression]] is one you'd hardly expect to come up in a perfectly normal romance game at all, much less in a realistic and frank discussion. [[spoiler:The real reason why Sayori has trouble getting up in the morning is because her depression makes it more difficult for her to wake up and get ready. She puts up a GenkiGirl appearance [[StepfordSmiler to hide it]], believing that [[ForHappiness if she made others happy she has no reason to be unhappy]]. However, the protagonist joining the Literature Club only made it worse, because [[GreenEyedEpiphany she got to see him making friends with other girls]].]] [[HiddenDepths It puts many of her personality traits into a darker perspective]], and only gets worse [[spoiler:after the player character finds that [[DrivenToSuicide she'd hanged herself in her room]].]] Let's put it this way, [[spoiler:meta-aware {{Yandere}} characters who tamper with the game they're in]] are one thing, but this sort of thing [[AdultFear can happen to anyone]].
** It gets sadder when you [[spoiler:declare your love for Sayori. Despite this being pretty much what she wanted, [[RealityEnsues she's still depressed]], even crying as she hugs the player, as pictured above. It's absolutely heart-wrenching hearing her say "why won't the rainclouds go away?", especially when, the next day, she kills herself]].
** The Protagonist's reaction to [[spoiler:Sayori's suicide]] definitely cuts deep, particularly given that [[MortonsFork regardless of the actions the player takes]], the Protagonist will [[spoiler:[[MyGreatestFailure blame himself for causing it]], either by reciprocating her affections, and not realizing that "Sayori only wanted things to go back to when they were kids", or "exacerbating her depression" by turning her down.]] It's another unexpectedly realistic feeling that many people get [[spoiler:after someone close to them has committed suicide, SurvivorGuilt.]] His reaction of a near literal [[spoiler:HeroicBSOD coupled with the progressively glitched and then immediately depressive song that plays]] definitely doesn't do anything to lighten the mood, either. This also happens to fall on [[spoiler:the day of the festival, a day which the Protagonist and the Player thought would be an entertaining outing of character growth in this lighthearted harem visual novel? Surprise Tearjerkers are typically the ones which typically get to be the hardest to accept as you go on.]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al1BNB8bKaE The track]] that plays over [[spoiler:Sayori's suicide and subsequent deletion]] manages to be both unsettling and heartbreaking. It starts out a heavily glitched version of the main title theme, but then goes into a softer variation with [[OminousMusicBoxTune a broken music box melody]] and OneWomanWail. It really underscores the tragedy behind this particular WhamShot.

-->''[[spoiler:But a poem is never actually finished. \\
[[DrivenToSuicide It just stops moving]].]]''
* It's heavily implied Natsuki [[spoiler:is being physically abused and neglected at home. She doesn't usually get enough to eat, and that her father disapproves of her reading manga, which is likely her escape from her awful home life, to the point where she has to keep her copies in the club room just to avoid his anger.]] It's also implied that she doesn't have a good relationship with the rest of her classmates, either, so the Literature Club is the only group she has to lean on. [[{{Tsundere}} No wonder she's so cranky.]]
** It's worse if you go out of your way to impress Yuri as opposed to Natsuki. [[spoiler:''[[TheFriendNobodyLikes Everyone]]'' [[TheFriendNobodyLikes sees her as a nuisance]], including Monika, and poor girl feels like nobody likes her at all.]]
*** Sadly, you don't even need to go out of your way to impress Yuri. The second act railroads you into pursuing Yuri (thanks to [[spoiler:[[HoistByHisOwnPetard Monika reprograming her into being a hardcore]] StalkerWithACrush, making this suck for Monika as well as Natsuki]]). Even if all 20 words you pick on the second and third poems are words Natsuki likes, the game treats it as if you picked Yuri's words. Even the game doesn't like Natsuki much.
** Yuri and Natsuki argue in Act 2, and Yuri tells Natsuki to go and look for coins under the vending machines. [[spoiler: Seeing as her abusive father never gives her enough to eat, collecting dropped change is probably the only way she can get enough money to buy food.]]

** During the second act, she gets excited because she gets to spend time with someone she likes and when this happens, she rushes out to get water for tea. You notice that it takes her a long time and try to find her [[spoiler: only to hear sharp breathing noises, ending with visions of her with slit forearms. Just watching someone you've come to care about hurt herself without you capable of stopping it is incredibly painful, especially because this act is after your best friend commits suicide.]]
* [[spoiler:Yuri]] undergoes severe SanitySlippage in the second act. While most of it is prime NightmareFuel, it's shown through her rambling and behavior that she's [[ReluctantPsycho just aware of her deteriorating mental state and is appropriately horrified, but can't do anything about it]]. What's worse is that she implies that she had a history of driving people away with her odd, obsessive behavior before, [[spoiler:explaining why she's a ShrinkingViolet]]. She also has a history of SelfHarm; [[spoiler:it's unclear if her habit is in any way sexual like Monika claims or if she's just trying to make Yuri look worse, but make of it what you will]]. Eventually, she fully gives in to the madness and confesses her love, only to [[spoiler:stab herself to death in a fit of "excitement," regardless of how the player chooses to respond. It'll likely bring back memories of Sayori.]]
* One of Natsuki's poems in the second route is [[spoiler:a note pleading for you to help Yuri. She's horrified at the amount of SanitySlippage Yuri has clearly undergone, and feels you're best to help her get the treatment she needs. She can't do it personally because it'll only start another argument, and Monika will act like nothing's wrong. But she knows Yuri will listen to you.]] This nice little FriendshipMoment gets ruined when [[spoiler:Monika tampers with the code again, making Natsuki immediately tell you that she's "changed her mind" and that you shouldn't bother with her and Yuri. [[ArcWords Just Monika]].]]
** What's even more heartbreaking [[spoiler:is that she finds out that you failed her. Despite her pleas to get Yuri help, Natsuki still comes to school Monday morning to find you staring at Yuri's decomposing corpse.]]
* Even [[spoiler:Monika]], despite all her faults, is [[CryForTheDevil still worthy of sympathy]]. [[spoiler:Despite being a {{Yandere}}, everything about her suggests that she's not a sociopathic monster who feels entitled to the player, but a lonely girl who resents being stuck as a side character in a DatingSim who, despite being a SchoolIdol who the player character clearly admires, still doesn't get a route. She repeatedly asks if the player can hear her, and even asks through a pop-up for the player to help her. She [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone even acts horrified when she realizes the player hates her enough to delete her]], and [[HeelFaceTurn restores the other girls so that the player can play the game without her.]]]]
* If you [[spoiler: have saved a back-up of Monika's character file and add it back to the character folder between Acts 3 and 4, a message from Monika pops up at the start of act 4 telling you to stop playing with her heart and that she doesn't want to come back.]]
* One example mixed with NightmareFuel is [[spoiler: if you delete Monika's character data before starting a new game, the MediumAwareness baton passes to a still-depressed Sayori, who can't handle the revelation that she's a fictional character in a VN and promptly has a breakdown before immediately destroying the entire game, leaving just a black-and-white still of her suicide and (after about 10 minutes of waiting) the line "Now everyone can be happy."]]
* At one point after the School Festival announcement [[spoiler: in Act 2]], Monika takes you aside to have a heart-to-heart [[spoiler: only to be cut short by the screen starting to fade to black as she pleads with the player to stay, and then abruptly cutting to the next poetry composition minigame. And then in this particular minigame, picking certain words, instead of causing Natsuki or Yuri to jump in approval, instead causes a chibi Monika to just barely jump into view before falling back below the screen. Both scenes back-to-back really encapsulate Monika's loneliness and desperation to try and bypass the game's railroading and get the player to notice her.]]
** Even more heartbreaking is one thing... [[spoiler: There is no way to do the poetry minigame with Monika able to join the other two, or three girls.]]
* [[spoiler: There is ''no way'' to escape a DownerEnding in this game; the best you can go for is [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]]. This is sad for the player, but must be ''really'' sad for the characters - because of circumstances entirely outside their control, no one will ever be happy - Sayori and the Protagonist can never be happy together; at best Sayori becomes self-aware but comes to terms with it because of how happy you made everyone (temporarily). It's more of a bonus, secret ending than a GoldenEnding anyway, and all it does is prevent absolutely ''horrible'' things from happening rather than make anything better. Sayori is still depressed, Yuri is still struggling with loneliness, Natsuki is still likely being abused, and Monika must cease to exist. The best that can be said is that at least you prevented Sayori from committing suicide; but even then she's now aware that the world she lives in is entirely fictional; and this may be a FateWorseThanDeath depending on what she does with the knowledge. This is, of course, assuming that the world in the game still continues on without the game's script; it's entirely possible that the characters are now ''all'' trapped in a FateWorseThanDeath, in which the game is deleted but the character files remain.]] The only way to escape sadness in this game is to not play it at all.
** Don't be sad! [[spoiler: Monika is still able to act and communicate even if you delete her character file, she just doesn't have a physical appearance within the game world. With the game deleted and the character files still there, it's not a FateWorseThanDeath, it's just an afterlife! They might not be able to remain in the world they lived in, but they're still their complete selves, kept safely in a folder on your computer. For them, it's Heaven: all four of them can be with you now, even Monika.]]
*** ..... [[spoiler: [[FridgeBrilliance "Now everyone can be happy."]]]]
** This gets even sadder once you realise that [[spoiler:even when Monika gets you all to herself, she cannot ever have a proper relationship with you. She loves you despite [[LovingAShadow not knowing a thing about you, or even what gender you are]]. She can't see you, there's no way for you to input anything into the conversation...essentially your dates consist of you listening to her monologue to herself, with no way to truly reciprocate (that is, if you actually wanted to - which by this point you likely won't). She's convinced herself that just being in your presence is enough to satisfy her, even though she's simply talking to herself at this point.]]
** Probably the worst thing about this is the fact that [[spoiler: Monika and the protagonist ''are'' shown to be genuinely interested in each other from Act 1. So, [[YouCantFightFate the only thing that really does keep them apart]] is [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters the programming]].]]
* In the second act, Natsuki and Yuri's fights become far more intense, [[spoiler: seemingly in equal parts because of Monika accentuating the more combative parts of their personalities and because Sayori isn't there to help them cool off. During their fight on the first day, it gets so heated that Monika suggests the two of you step outside. A few seconds later Natsuki runs out of the classroom with tears streaming down her face. On subsequent days, their fights don't always take the same form, but in one of them as Natsuki tries to talk to the main character, Yuri interjects with, "No one cares, Natsuki. Why don't you go look for coins under the vending machines?", causing Natsuki to once again start crying and run off.]]
* If you favour Natsuki in the first two days of Act 2, after she reviews your poem [[spoiler: she will give you her own (which is actually written in [=Base64=]) and start asking why you didn't come read with her and how it was the only thing she had to look forward to all day long. This slowly drifts into a confession that her home life is a mess and that the club is the only place she feels safe and welcome, before begging the player not to take that away from her]].

** Natsuki is also [[spoiler: the character Monika tampers with the least. As far as we know, all she does is make Natsuki's home life more abusive (it was slightly subtle in Act 1) and makes her forget a hurtful argument with Yuri so that Yuri starts to question herself]]. Monika chooses to indirectly mess with Natsuki instead through tampering with Yuri instead.
* The ending credits song, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAL4WMpBNs0 "Your Reality"]] is, in context, bittersweet. [[spoiler:It's Monika post-HeelRealization singing a song to the player about whether her actions hurt people she cared about, and deciding that [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy the player is best off without her]]. She'll perform it in both endings, so you'll either hear it right after Monika stops Sayori from going down the same route and then while she's deleting the game, or after Sayori thanks the player for SaveScumming to make sure all the girls are happy.]]
-->[[spoiler: ''And in your reality, if I don't know how to love you...~'']]
-->[[spoiler: ''I'll leave you be.'']]
* In Act 3, several of [[spoiler: the "conversations" you can have with Monika really emphasize how lonely her existence and identity as a video game character is:]]
-->'''Monika:''' [[spoiler: It feels like everything is just there because it needs to be, and the actual setting is an afterthought. It's kind of giving me an identity crisis. All my memories are really hazy... I feel like I'm at home, but have no idea where 'home' is in the first place.]]
* [[spoiler: For some, Monika's final letter to you at the very end of the credits, and then her subsequently deleting the game's files.]]
-->[[spoiler: ''This is my final goodbye to the Literature Club.'']]
-->[[spoiler: ''I finally understand. The literature club is truly a place where no happiness can be found. To the very end, it continued to expose innocent minds to a horrific reality - a reality that our world is not designed to comprehend. I can't let any of my friends undergo that same hellish epiphany.'']]
-->[[spoiler: ''For the time it lasted, I want to thank you. For making all of my dreams come true. For being a friend to all of the club members.'']]
-->[[spoiler: ''And most of all, thank you for being a part of my literature club!'']]
-->[[spoiler: ''With everlasting love, Monika'']]

* The VisualNovel/DokiDokiRainclouds mod re-tells the game's first act... from Sayori's point of view. It's about as soul-crushing as it seems. [[spoiler:It really puts some perspective on her depression and suicidal ideation, and how hurt she was [[InnocentlyInsensitive by the main character's actions]]. It ends [[ForegoneConclusion the way it does in canon]].]]
* A minor meta-example, but [[https://www.youtube.com/user/EricVanWilderman Eric van Wilderman's]] horrified, yet rather [[LargeHam hammy]], BigNo when [[spoiler:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5DK0nWEJKE&t=1302 Yuri stabs herself.]]]]

* Lesser know Youtuber BryanCroiDragon's reaction to Yuri's suicide is far more subdued but no less of a tearjerker. He doesn't scream, he just stares in shock and when all is over all he can say with a sad tone is Yuri's name.

* A minor meta-example, but [[https://www.youtube.com/user/EricVanWilderman Eric van Wilderman's]] horrified, yet rather [[LargeHam hammy]], BigNo when [[spoiler:[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5DK0nWEJKE&t=1302 Yuri stabs herself.]]]]

* The saddest TearJerker of all? [[spoiler: There is ''no way'' to escape a DownerEnding in this game; the best you can go for is [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]]. This is sad for the player, but must be ''really'' sad for the characters - because of circumstances entirely outside their control, no one will ever be happy - Sayori and the Protagonist can never be happy together; at best Sayori becomes self-aware but comes to terms with it because of how happy you made everyone (temporarily). It's more of a bonus, secret ending than a GoldenEnding anyway, and all it does is prevent absolutely ''horrible'' things from happening rather than make anything better. Sayori is still depressed, Yuri is still struggling with loneliness, Natsuki is still likely being abused, and Monika must cease to exist. The best that can be said is that at least you prevented Sayori from committing suicide; but even then she's now aware that the world she lives in is entirely fictional; and this may be a FateWorseThanDeath depending on what she does with the knowledge. This is, of course, assuming that the world in the game still continues on without the game's script; it's entirely possible that the characters are now ''all'' trapped in a FateWorseThanDeath, in which the game is deleted but the character files remain.]] The only way to escape sadness in this game is to not play it at all.

* Even [[spoiler:Monika]], despite all her faults, is [[CryForTheDevil still worthy of sympathy]]. [[spoiler:Despite being a {{Yandere}}, everything about her suggests that she's not a sociopathic monster who feels entitled to the player, but a lonely girl who resents being stuck as a side character in a DatingSim who, despite being a SchoolIdol who the player character clearly admires, still doesn't get a route. She repeatedly asks if the player can hear her, and even asks through a pop-up for the player to help her. She even acts horrified when she realizes the player hates her enough to delete her, and restores the other girls so that the player can play the game without her.]]

* If you favour Natsuki in the first two days of Act 2, after she reviews your poem [[spoiler: she will give you her own (which is unreadable gibberish) and start asking why you didn't come read with her and how it was the only thing she had to look forward to all day long. This slowly drifts into a confession that her home life is a mess and that the club is the only place she feels safe and welcome, before begging the player not to take that away from her.]]

** The [[https://www.cykadev.com/rainclouds/ Doki Doki RainClouds]] mod re-tells the game's first act... from Sayori's point of view. It's about as soul-crushing as it seems.

** The Protagonist's reaction to [[spoiler:Sayori's suicide]] definitely cuts deep, particularly given that [[MortonsFork regardless of the actions the player takes]], the Protagonist will [[spoiler:[[MyGreatestFailure blame himself for causing it]], either by reciprocating her affections, and not realizing that "Sayori only wanted things to go back to when they were kids", or "exacerbating her depression" by turning her down.]] It's another unexpectedly realistic feeling that many people get [[spoiler:after someone close to them has committed suicide, Survivor's guilt.]] His reaction of a near literal [[spoiler:HeroicBSOD coupled with the progressively glitched and then immediately depressive song that plays]] definitely doesn't do anything to lighten the mood, either. This also happens to fall on [[spoiler:the day of the festival, a day which the Protagonist and the Player thought would be an entertaining outing of character growth in this lighthearted harem visual novel? Surprise Tearjerkers are typically the ones which typically get to be the hardest to accept as you go on.]]

* A minor meta-example, but [[https://www.youtube.com/user/EricVanWilderman Eric van Wilderman's]] horrified BigNo when [[spoiler:Yuri stabs herself.]]

-->[[spoiler: ''With everlasting love, Monika'']]

** The Protagonist's reaction to [[spoiler:Sayori's suicide]] definitely cuts deep, particularly given that regardless of the actions the player takes, the Protagonist will [[spoiler:blame himself for causing it, either by reciprocating her affections, and not realizing that "Sayori only wanted things to go back to when they were kids", or "exacerbating her depression" by turning her down.]] It's another unexpectedly realistic feeling that many people get [[spoiler:after someone close to them has committed suicide, Survivor's guilt.]] His reaction of a near literal [[spoiler:HeroicBSOD coupled with the progressively glitched and then immediately depressive song that plays]] definitely doesn't do anything to lighten the mood, either. This also happens to fall on [[spoiler:the day of the festival, a day which the Protagonist and the Player thought would be an entertaining outing of character growth in this lighthearted harem visual novel? Surprise Tearjerkers are typically the ones which typically get to be the hardest to accept as you go on.]]

** It's worse if you go out of your way to impress Yuri as opposed to Natsuki. [[spoiler:EVERYONE sees her as a nuisance, including Monika, and poor girl feels like nobody likes her at all.]]

** It gets sadder when you [[spoiler:declare your love for Sayori. Despite this being pretty much what she wanted, she's still depressed, even crying as she hugs the player, as pictured above. It's absolutely heart-wrenching hearing her say "why won't the rainclouds go away?", especially when, the next day, she kills herself]].

* The reveal that Sayori [[spoiler:has been living with depression for years]]. The subject of [[spoiler:depression]] is one you'd hardly expect to come up in a perfectly normal romance game at all, much less in a realistic and frank discussion. [[spoiler:The real reason why Sayori has trouble getting up in the morning is because her depression makes it more difficult for her to wake up and get ready. She puts up a GenkiGirl appearance [[StefordSmilier to hide it]], believing that [[ForHappiness if she made others happy she has no reason to be unhappy]]. However, the protagonist joining the Literature Club only made it worse, because [[GreenEyedEpiphany she got to see him making friends with other girls]].]] [[HiddenDepths It puts many of her personality traits into a darker perspective]], and only gets worse [[spoiler:after the player character finds that [[DrivenToSuicide she'd hanged herself in her room]].]] Let's put it this way, [[spoiler:meta-aware {{Yandere}} characters who tamper with the game they're in]] are one thing, but this sort of thing [[AdultFear can happen to anyone]].

* The reveal that Sayori [[spoiler:has been living with depression for years]]. The subject of [[spoiler:depression]] is one you'd hardly expect to come up in a perfectly normal romance game at all, much less in a realistic and frank discussion. [[spoiler:The real reason why Sayori has trouble getting up in the morning is because her depression makes it more difficult for her to wake up and get ready. She puts up a GenkiGirl appearance [[StefordSmiler to hide it]], believing that [[ForHappiness if she made others happy she has no reason to be unhappy]]. However, the protagonist joining the Literature Club only made it worse, because [[GreenEyedEpiphany she got to see him making friends with other girls]].]] [[HiddenDepths It puts many of her personality traits into a darker perspective]], and only gets worse [[spoiler:after the player character finds that [[DrivenToSuicide she'd hanged herself in her room]].]] Let's put it this way, [[spoiler:meta-aware {{Yandere}} characters who tamper with the game they're in]] are one thing, but this sort of thing [[AdultFear can happen to anyone]].

* The reveal that Sayori [[spoiler:has been living with depression for years]]. The subject of [[spoiler:depression]] is one you'd hardly expect to come up in a perfectly normal romance game at all, much less in a realistic and frank discussion. [[spoiler:The real reason why Sayori has trouble getting up in the morning is because her depression makes it more difficult for her to wake up and get ready. She puts up a GenkiGirl appearance [[StefordSmiler to hide it]], believing that [[ForHappiness if she made others happy she has no reason to be unhappy]]. However, the protagonist joining the Literature Club only made it worse, because she got to see him making friends with other girls.]] [[HiddenDepths It puts many of her personality traits into a darker perspective]], and only gets worse [[spoiler:after the player character finds that [[DrivenToSuicide she'd hanged herself in her room]].]] Let's put it this way, [[spoiler:meta-aware {{Yandere}} characters who tamper with the game they're in]] are one thing, but this sort of thing [[AdultFear can happen to anyone]].

* The reveal that Sayori [[spoiler:has been living with depression for years]]. The subject of [[spoiler:depression]] is one you'd hardly expect to come up in a perfectly normal romance game at all, much less in a realistic and frank discussion. [[spoiler:The real reason why Sayori has trouble getting up in the morning is because her depression makes it more difficult for her to wake up and get ready. She puts up a GenkiGirl appearance to hide it, believing that if she made others happy she has no reason to be unhappy. However, the protagonist joining the Literature Club only made it worse, because she got to see him making friends with other girls.]] [[HiddenDepths It puts many of her personality traits into a darker perspective]], and only gets worse [[spoiler:after the player character finds that [[DrivenToSuicide she'd hanged herself in her room]].]] Let's put it this way, [[spoiler:meta-aware {{Yandere}} characters who tamper with the game they're in]] are one thing, but this sort of thing [[AdultFear can happen to anyone]].

-->'''Monika:''' [[spoiler: It feels like everything is just there because it needs to be, and the actual setting is an afterthought. It's kind of giving me an identity crisis. All my memories are really hazy... I feel like I'm at home, but have no idea where 'home' is in the first place.]]

* The ending credits song, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAL4WMpBNs0 "Your Reality"]] is, in context, bittersweet. [[spoiler:It's Monika post-HeelRealization singing a song to the player about whether her actions hurt people she cared about, and deciding that [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy the player is best off without her]]. She'll perform it in both endings, so you'll either hear it right after Monika stops Sayori from going down the same route and then while she's deleting the game, or after Sayori thanks the player for SaveScumming to make sure all the girls are happy.]]

*** Sadly, you don't even need to go out of your way to impress Yuri. The second act railroads you into pursuing Yuri. Even if all 20 words you pick on the second and third poems are words Natsuki likes, the game treats it as if you picked Yuri's words. Even the game doesn't like Natsuki much.

** Natsuki is also [[spoiler: the character Monika tampers with the least. As far as we know, all she does is make Natsuki's home life abusive and makes her forget a hurtful argument with Yuri so that Yuri starts to question herself]]. Monika chooses to indirectly mess with Natsuki instead through tampering with Yuri instead.