Chapter 27: Realm of Nostalgia

[X]

By looking at the title, I'm assuming those three will be on a wacky adventure, just like old times.

Thoughts?

[edcool1]

The was something Arashiko said to Loure in the last chapter that revealed something about her player. Now, in this chapter, I'm now reading this comic differently. I'm now imagining a person typing and controlling Arashiko. An unseen character, controlling Arashiko. Someone who doesn't get out enough, and, at least in her mind, is unattractive and logs into Ishikaze to escape from that world. Denki's condition that she spend her next bit of time off outside has more weight to it, now, huh?

[fishamaphone]

Today's comic made me think, "Ah, where's Miya when you need her?"

[Maelstrom]

Arishiko appreciates fighting fairly in tough fights (a.k.a. the challenges that are the exciting/thoughtful parts of the game), but she takes for granted being able to skip the tedious parts. She represents the human condition, able to respect the obvious of issues, but struggles when dealing with the limits of rules.

Denki's shoes are epic. He doesn't demonstrate what it means you decide to play by the rules. He shows what it means you have to play by the rules; as a regular player, if you want to skip the annoying platforms, you have to make the special effort and preparations to be able to skip it.

I like it.

[edcool1]

I'm confused by what Denki and Arashiko mean by "can't go home again"

Did I miss something?

[fishamaphone]

She's an admin. She misses being a player. Even when she *tries* to be a player, there's something missing. She can't go home again

[edcool1]

Why is that Home? I don't get it.

[Bekul]

'Home' being the sense of 'back when things were new and fun and exciting' - for example, here, I think she's refering to the way things 'used to be', in the early adventures of the trio, before she became and Admin. People have moved on, grown, and changed, and they can't really go back to that anymore, unless, well... unless they all roll new alts...

[Dan]

It's basically a phrase meaning "Things change, and they'll never be the same again." Home is a metaphor for the past, a place where one might've been comfortable, but you've since outgrown or become incompatible with.

I was in a really melancholy mood when I wrote this chapter, I admit.
-Dan!

[edcool1]

I always thought home was what you make of it. The idea of never being able to return home seems more like excommunication than outgrowth. I read it like Denki was banishing her.

[Maelstrom]

Past / Home: Going on a quest

Present: Going on a quest that's tweaked to Arishiko's preferences

Did Ari use her admin powers to her team's advantage? While heavily tempted, she did not do so. But her changes made the experience something other than what the quest had originally allowed. When a team usually goes through a quest, their focus is on making it through the quest. Here we have Ari changing the rules of the quest (to make it more "fun"), behavior that simply does not belong in regular quest play; finishing a quest isn't about seeing how hard you can make it and still win, but simply finishing the quest. Arishiko wants to set up epic battles that push her and her party to the limit, but that's not how the game normally works.

Again the backdrop of how he normally plays, Denki can feel these differences. Ari wants something different from the game now, and even if the gang was to play a quest without any manipulations, Denki knows playing this way (like "in the old days") isn't want Ari wants at this point. Even if Ari *could* go back to just enjoying existing quests for what they are, it's not what she wants at the present, and her future reasons would likely be different than for why she did it in the past (when she was unshaped by her more recent experiences).

Or something like that.

[fishamaphone]

So I just read Sunday's Ishikaze. The one where Denki tells everyone he's graduating in the Spring.

It's funny that I happened to forget to check this one on Sunday. It makes sense, because Sunday was hectic. But Sunday was the first day when I really felt "wow, just one more month, and I'm done with this stupid degree."

There's something interesting to that. I'm not Denki. I'm looking forward to getting rid of the life I've got right now. But then again, I know I'm going to stay in touch with most of the people that I'm friends with now.

I'm going to finish, and I can't wait.

[X]

I wish I could've graduated this year, like I should have. Alas, paying for my own school and all that other jazz has kept me from doing so.

Honestly, I'd have more time to play video games after graduating.

[fishamaphone]

I know that feeling well. I should have graduated last year. I actually noticed a few weeks ago that my Facebook profile still lists me as class of '08.

What's worse for me is that my semester doesn't end until late-June, after which I've got a solid month of exams. All my friends back home finished like two weeks ago. So I've had a few weeks of "oh, my semseter is finished," and "oh, I'm done with school," and "oh, I don't know where to apply for my graduate school."

Bah. I'm getting out of this useless institution and jumping into the army. And I'm never looking back.