Zander

Let's test this theory.
"Sister complex" and "Brother complex" were added to the article on 10:09, 4 October 2017‎ by 2601:6c4:4001:2af0:c552:121a:8b38:ec8a; a user without an account. This is their only edit on record. Since then, the page has not been edited or revised by anyone except bots and other users without an account. Sister and brother complex are neither cited nor are they mentioned in any of the citations on the page. Thus, it can be concluded that it is likely that this information is erroneous and will be revised when an expert reviews the article.
For a further bit of confirmation, I researched for academic studies containing the exact terms "brother complex" and "sister complex"; I found little to none that dealt with psychology rather than biological sciences (where sister complex and compounds are terms completely unrelated to what is being discussed here).
The only relevant mention I could find was in Normal and obsessional jealousy: a study of a population of young adults by Donatella Marraziti et al. This paper contained "Freud [9] suggested that jealousy was rooted in the Oedipus or “brother and sister” complex". 
From all of this, I can conclude that "brother complex" and "sister complex" are unheard of within psychology. The only mention I could uncover referred to them as an alternate name for the Oedipus complex, which would actually be quite misleading considering that particular complex refers to affections towards one's parents and jealousy towards siblings. Though related, it is quite different from the meaning of the original phrase "siscon". 
I hope that helps clear things up.

Attitudes like that are precisely why the behaviour of the VN community towards fan translation teams is so hostile, though. When translators like yourself act so arrogant and unreceptive towards people that are just passionate about a particular VN, and likely uninformed about the fan translation community and how it works rather than being explanatory and receiving them warmly... well, that's precisely why the forum is dead, as you mentioned.

Attitudes like that are precisely why the behaviour of the VN community towards fan translation teams is so hostile, though. When translators like yourself act so arrogant and unreceptive towards people that are just passionate about a particular VN, and likely uninformed about the fan translation community and how it works rather than being explanatory and receiving them warmly... well, that's precisely why the forum is dead, as you mentioned.

It depends on the visual novel. Naturally, the majority of stories are exaggerated to a degree, but some don't stray too far from what is realistically possible.
Contrary to some of the previous answers, I wouldn't mind a visual novel that is "real-life like" to some degree. If the story ends in a bad way where the true route is life separating the protagonist and his/her chosen lover, it's no problem with me. I enjoy a well-written happy ending or any other kind just as much, too, though.
Thanks for the interesting thread, Ratboi.

Kara no Shoujo is exactly what you are describing

hm... old kirikiri is a bit tricky...
new kirikiri and old kirikiri has the same problem, they dont support word-wrapping, but new kirikiri support space while old kirikiri is not,
and i assume, the problem is because of the spacing issue...
if you use xp3tools from insani.org, i believe there should be 3 tjs files which you need to include in your patch...

edit:
i'm blind, looks like this is a new game, eh...
then, i believe there is no spacing issue here, how about use garbro to repack the xp3?

I feel this one is the best, in my relatively uneducated and inartistic opinion. The others make the sprites too tall relative to the pony ride thingy, whereas the closer one is too close to the ride. It also has people milling about, giving it a sense that the place is an amusement park and not a lifeless wasteland. Also, the benches are nice. I like benches.

Ah, hey, that looks quite good from a first impression! I'll try to avoid reading any more about it so I go in blind. Thank you very much for the recommendation Maggie, I'm surprised I haven't heard of it before.
Aye, I have no objections there. I just wish the counter-examples were a bit more numerous, since I personally can have trouble suspending my disbelief for a utopia-ish story at times. However, I have nothing against either kind, I've enjoyed quite a few VNs that just throw realism (for lack of a better word) out the window and let it slowly die out in the cold
That's perfectly fine, we all have our own preferences. I just like a bit of variety. I enjoy a good romance story as much as anyone else, but I don't like going into every single one feeling like "okay, she is the true heroine. they will get together somehow in the end, regardless of what may happen in between", or "okay, these 4 are the romanceable characters, the protagonist can end up with whatever one I pick". I imagine that's an unpopular opinion though, and I don't expect the VN industry to cater to my unique tastes 

This is a thought that has been on my mind for some time. Now we all know the chances of a high school couple staying together forever are slim. You meet new people once you leave school, etc. I do know that it’s possible. But do you think visual novels present teenage romance in a way that is realistic?

Don't know about the quality of this novel, but maybe you'll like this one.

It depends on the visual novel. Naturally, the majority of stories are exaggerated to a degree, but some don't stray too far from what is realistically possible.
Contrary to some of the previous answers, I wouldn't mind a visual novel that is "real-life like" to some degree. If the story ends in a bad way where the true route is life separating the protagonist and his/her chosen lover, it's no problem with me. I enjoy a well-written happy ending or any other kind just as much, too, though.
Thanks for the interesting thread, Ratboi.

This actually explains a lot! 
I'm dyslectic, my ortography is horrible in every language I use and I often struggle with grammar, even though I spend decent part of every day reading, including academic texts, and writing (both in Polish and English). I also have very poor visual memory (those kanji...). Relatively low English vocabulary definitely also comes from my lack of dedication in earlier years of learning and little interest in fiction literature or poetry, but in general there are important factors that can influence how hard it is for you to learn and how fast you make progress.
Obviously, hard, systematic work is always the prime component of success and learning new languages definitely is fun (I have a lot of joy learning Japanese now...). But its really not the same experience for everyone. :>

Well I've done this before but I don't really remember a lot of the words I looked up last time... result

Actually, I use my sister, who speaks English fluently, as a translator. I communicate to her through interpretive dance, which she then converts into posts for me.

Come on guys, a little more of self-confidence. I don't think there is such thing as a human being naturally bad at languages (leaving aside brain impairments). I'm the one who has the least vocab so far and I'm doing pretty good studying a bunch of languages on my own, including Japanese. 
Languages are a ton of fun. Learning thousands of words, maybe not so much though 

Ok, why not. This is me so that you can put a face onto my nickname. I think you would've been better off just imagining Shion-chan though 

1 - Yeah, sexual content is a problem to a lot of people. It's already part of the medium, though. I remember how surprised I got when I saw a lot of friends and people I knew saying things like "I don't to read VNs with sexual content" or "It has a good story but I dropped because of the sexual content", I never saw it as a big deal but I can understand them. I believe the best they could do is start making VNs with the option to able/disable h-scenes so everyone could be happy. Also yeah, the young ones wouldn't be able to appreciate the medium with this strong sexual content presence, that's important too.
Though it's a bit different if the sexual content is dark, people are too sensitive nowadays.
 
2 - Doesn't really matter. If it's good, it's good. VNs should keep their japanese setting since, well, it's their culture after all (Unless a writer wants to use a different setting, every writer should write about what they want to write). Now OELVNs can be different, yes. But if you think they should change the "standard" to appeal to the general western audience, then shouldn't they also change everything else? Like art, soundtrack, narrative and so on. If someone is tired or disinterested in japanese culture and "standards", then this person wouldn't like VNs in the first place. In the end it becomes something completely different, maybe a new medium? And that wouldn't help VNs becoming popular here. 
It should be noted that I'm refering to people who don't really have any contact with japanese culture, few people that dislike anime would want to read VNs, for example. People that only wants to complain how their VNs almost always happens with high school students or things like that shouldn't be considered (Because they are already part of the ones who read/play VNs, duh).
 
3 - So one day I wrote a review about a certain Visual Novel, and a friend of mine came and said "I didn't read it because it's too big". An other person I know once said: "I don't have the patience or time to sit through 10 hours of text with nothing happening", and an other friend of mine once said: "There's no way a bunch of text can be exciting".
Our society is growing more and more impatient, years ago people would be willing to sit through 12 episodes of an anime just to see the big twist and the story finally "starting" (e.g. Steins;Gate). Nowadays if an anime doesn't explain everything in the first episode, they drop it. This is the mentality a big part of the general audience have. Then you have VNs, which has several hours of text and sometimes dozens of hours of text, what do you think would happen?
People don't even pay attention to what they are reading/watching, let alone interpret or reflect over it. To cater to this audience would meaning losing it's identity as a "Visual Novel" the way we know it, would the great popularity be worth it? I strongly don't think so.
VNs with gameplay would help, though. I'd say the gameplay would be a way to entertain someone who is not willing to read hours and hours of text.
 
In other words, it works because it's the way it is. I don't think they should sacrifice what I call the "cultural roots" so it met the "standards" of the west, I think this line of thought is pretty dangerous too. Though it's about a completely different theme, Sakura Quest anime dealt with this discussion about "making a small culture big so people from other places could enjoy it too".
Visual Novels are like birds, they can fly high, there's a lot of different types and even some types we don't even know, sometimes they fly together in the same direction, they can be big or small, but more importantly: They are free. Let them be free, it's not worth to trap it in a cage just so you can show it's beauty to other people. There are those who can love birds, and those who can't, it's simple as that.

I can't even guess to what the average age of vn readers are in the west is. All i can say is that i'm at the age myself where i like the teacher and other older side characters better than the heroines
 But back on topic. I think a gameplay compontent is essential to a vn's success in the vest. Some of the best jrpg games are almost like VN's anyway. Take shin megami tensei and persona. Super popular games and are like dating/visual novels. 

I think I'm in the camp of "there's essentially a massive amount of reading in most vns, and reading is not that popular".
I also think there's a high entry barrier: at least for me, personally, getting into visual novels was difficult. I was already a weeb and fond of reading, so that wasn't the problem - rather it was hard knowing what to expect from the medium, and crucially, becoming accustomed to their pacing. I think it's interesting to compare, say, comics/manga and visual novels. Both have text and visuals, and are not a genre but rather a medium. It's also tricky, imo, to get into them and enjoy them at first. Oh, and both are often not taken seriously despite incredible works in each.
How did other fuwaposters find their first visual novel experiences? Was it easy to enjoy them straight off, or did it take time?

Thank you!

Fuwanovel has this tagline both here on the forums as well as the main site; if you were to Google Fuwanovel, the first result proudly exclaims "Fuwanovel – Make Visual Novels Popular in the West!". I haven't seen too much discussion about it, though, so I thought I'd stir up a conversation to hear everyone's opinions on what needs to happen in order for VNs to appeal to a larger portion of the Western audience, or if it's possible at all.
Popularity is subjective, of course, so for our purposes just consider what would make VNs more popular, rather than reach any particular standard of renown.
I'll present a few general topics that I feel are relevant to provide a base, but of course don't be afraid to present any thoughts that may pertain to something else.
1. Sexual Content - This post and associated podcast by NowItsAngeTime brought up some good points on this topic. Do you feel that the presentation of sexual content, or the idea of pursuing heroines as a requisite feature, that is so common in VNs needs to be changed, altered, or removed somehow? Dreamysyu noted that visual novels with sexual content are separated from those without completely in Japan - to the point that they are essentially different genres. 
2. Setting and Japanese Influence - Naturally, a lot of VNs are set in Japan, frequently in specific settings like a high school. This even extends to OELVNs, where it is not unusual to see a VN that takes place in Japan or has characters with Japanese names, honorifics, and so on. Do you think VNs, particularily OELVNs, need to break away from this standard in order to appeal to a larger Western audience?
3. The Format in Itself - Does the nature of a visual novel make it forever doomed to be a niche genre? Would VNs with gameplay features appeal more in the West? Are there possible changes to the existing format that can be altered while still retaining the core of what a visual novel is?
I look forward to hearing your opinions!

Biggest reason it is like that is because it is a massive time sink for very little gain. Lead admin is a med student, many other site leaders are enrolled at universities or pursuing careers. There were many large projects in the works, but because the site admins work for free (Fuwanovel operates at a loss even with donations) there is very little incentive to dedicate hours upon hours creating content that would fulfill the many goals this site has.

For example, most of the steam curation team has left to do other things with their lives. I and Palas had been working on a project to create an OELVN update tracker, but the amount of time we put into it was pretty heavy, and on top of that, half of the OELVN teams I contacted never once got back to me and hid updates behind a kickstarter paywall.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle facing Fuwanovel is that the leadership that does stick around and loves VNs ends up going to work in the VN industry to actually get paid. 

The simple fact of the matter is that Fuwanovel is at this point simply a community with popular VNTS updates. I highly doubt any new projects are in the pipeline, so the site is in a what you see is what you get phase. It really is difficult to dedicate time to building these projects while neglecting a million other things in your personal life that you would rather deal with. 
 

You're no weirdo, I'm quite the fan of OELVNs myself. You're not alone in that! 
Addressing your other point, though, I do think there are OELVNs that have no connection to weeb culture at all whatsoever. Cinders, in my opinion, is a good example of an OELVN that subverts many of the traditional connections to, er, weeb-ism. It has a distinctively European art style, no sexual content, and a lot of input from the player. It's not a perfect or all-encompassing VN by any means, but I think it stands as an example that a connection to weeb culture is not a necessary ingredient to make a successful VN. Unless you mean that people will simply see that it is a VN and instantly mark it off as a weeb thing... while I would like to think my fellow humans are more open-minded than that, it may indeed be the case.
I'm interested in taking on similar things, if you ever felt like working together on something or sharing ideas! I do agree with you that Fuwa is pretty barren, with the site being even more so than the forums.
On your first point about heroines, I agree that it is a defining attribute and a big selling point, but note that I don't think it should be removed entirely from the genre necessarily, just that the way for other types of VNs should be left open. You later mentioned Danganronpa, which I think is a good example of a very successful VN (although some wouldn't call it that, I suppose) that subverts the traditional trope of pursuing heroines' routes while also selling very well. 
Popularising Japanese otaku culture in the West is one way of looking at it, I suppose. It seems your opinion is the polar opposite of mine — I feel as though the West should have its own VN industry that stands on its own two feet, whereas you think that the Japanese media should be retained but popularised. I agree with you on the point that VNs aren't available physically in the West, and that digital distribution is often a complicated process due to the, er, proclivities, of some visual novels. 
I can't really disagree there. Porn games will always appeal to people that are interested in playing porn games, and I don't think having a gratuitous display of nudity and such will really change any of their minds. The way VNs are presented is definitely important in how they are generally viewed by their potential audience; I really can't imagine linking a friend that hasn't played any VNs to Mangagamer to look at Dies Irae, for example, without him getting the wrong idea about my interests...
I think you basically have the same ideas as Lesiak and I with regards to Fuwanovel itself. I think giving more attention to OELVNs could be helpful, without degrading the quality of content we have here in terms of Japanese visual novels. OELVNs rarely get any attention on the visual novels subreddit, which is perhaps the only other significant VN community. 
Are there good OELVNs being released though? Maybe, maybe not. But I feel like if one were released tomorrow, the world wouldn't know about it.

Well, many people definitely do that (which infuriates me whenever I see it - I despise close-mindedness and bigotry in every form). But that doesn't mean they're that big of a majority or can't be converted to some extent.
And yeah, there are notable exceptions when it goes to "weebness" of OELVNs and the are also games that still take a lot from their JP sources but also mix in decent amounts of their own cultural context and ideas, which makes them much more approachable for people without "weeb" sesitivities or any knowledge about Japanese culture. I think that's the right way to go for western devs (and if you go for Japanese themes and setting, at least do it for a reason, like for example Strawberry Vinegar is just a charming, weeb love letter to Japanese food and it's pretty much impossible to hold it against the author ;)). 
I would love to! Still, the hard part is getting cordinated with Fuwa's administration. The formula of the Frontpage and FuwaReviews probably should be a topic for another, open discussion on the forums but it won't take much sense without authorisation from people actually having access to the site, and to Tay. There's a lot of things that could be done, but won't happen without getting through to people in charge.
What do you mean by that?

You're no weirdo, I'm quite the fan of OELVNs myself. You're not alone in that! 
Addressing your other point, though, I do think there are OELVNs that have no connection to weeb culture at all whatsoever. Cinders, in my opinion, is a good example of an OELVN that subverts many of the traditional connections to, er, weeb-ism. It has a distinctively European art style, no sexual content, and a lot of input from the player. It's not a perfect or all-encompassing VN by any means, but I think it stands as an example that a connection to weeb culture is not a necessary ingredient to make a successful VN. Unless you mean that people will simply see that it is a VN and instantly mark it off as a weeb thing... while I would like to think my fellow humans are more open-minded than that, it may indeed be the case.
I'm interested in taking on similar things, if you ever felt like working together on something or sharing ideas! I do agree with you that Fuwa is pretty barren, with the site being even more so than the forums.
On your first point about heroines, I agree that it is a defining attribute and a big selling point, but note that I don't think it should be removed entirely from the genre necessarily, just that the way for other types of VNs should be left open. You later mentioned Danganronpa, which I think is a good example of a very successful VN (although some wouldn't call it that, I suppose) that subverts the traditional trope of pursuing heroines' routes while also selling very well. 
Popularising Japanese otaku culture in the West is one way of looking at it, I suppose. It seems your opinion is the polar opposite of mine — I feel as though the West should have its own VN industry that stands on its own two feet, whereas you think that the Japanese media should be retained but popularised. I agree with you on the point that VNs aren't available physically in the West, and that digital distribution is often a complicated process due to the, er, proclivities, of some visual novels. 
I can't really disagree there. Porn games will always appeal to people that are interested in playing porn games, and I don't think having a gratuitous display of nudity and such will really change any of their minds. The way VNs are presented is definitely important in how they are generally viewed by their potential audience; I really can't imagine linking a friend that hasn't played any VNs to Mangagamer to look at Dies Irae, for example, without him getting the wrong idea about my interests...
I think you basically have the same ideas as Lesiak and I with regards to Fuwanovel itself. I think giving more attention to OELVNs could be helpful, without degrading the quality of content we have here in terms of Japanese visual novels. OELVNs rarely get any attention on the visual novels subreddit, which is perhaps the only other significant VN community. 
Are there good OELVNs being released though? Maybe, maybe not. But I feel like if one were released tomorrow, the world wouldn't know about it.