un: werther

[imitationsoul]

This school boasts about forming a last bastion against Nightfall, but all I truly hear are tales of student-on-student violence and poor prevention measures for such incidents. I was brought here under the pretenses of 'channeling my talents more productively', but I can't help wondering if this isn't just a quarantine zone for those who are deemed potentially troublesome. Let them cause trouble for each other, rather than for those in power.

Not that I mind. I've never once considered using my talents 'productively'. That is just synonymous with 'for other people'. I hold no interest in becoming a tool for anyone.

in person option

[ Miach's been going to this school since the start of the semester, and she's spoken to exactly nobody since. She's just... around. A silent new presence on campus, always with a book in hand, never greeting anybody. If that's the kind of person you'd approach, you can find her anywhere, but most commonly in the library.

Note for faculty: Miach got transferred away from her last school for summoning a demon and getting students injured. Faculty would likely be informed of this ahead of time. ]

Comments

[imitationsoul]

One way to find out!!

[ She is so down for a teacher getting in trouble doing this shit. ]

THIS THREAD IS SO GOOD!!

[imitationsoul]

[ Miach definitely had a response ready to all of this. It's a topic she thinks a lot about, albeit not nearly as solution-oriented as Nana. It's fun to find someone else who cares even if in a completely different and contrary way.

There's things to be said here about nature vs nurture and the question of how natural people's 'instinct' to help truly is...

... but it all comes to a halt with that final question.

Miach knows a lot of things, useful and useless alike. She can tell you about the cruelty of literature in every era of mankind, she can point out a top 5 of cruel paintings for the last 10 centuries, she can do many things..... But what she can't do is tell you anything about video games.

The seemingly completely disconnected question has her blinking. Miach Mihie is never speechless. Except now. ]

... Final... Fantasy ...6?

isn't it just?? I love their CR already!!

[playitagain]

[There's a lot of things Nana could have said. Oh, she doesn't know classic literature, but she knows her plays; she's better with 19th and 20th century plays. She's a movie buff.

And she likes older things. There's something about the classics, about operatic things, like...

...a certain RPG she played a couple of years ago.]

The old video game, from the nineties? Ah... it's the one with the charismatic, power hungry emperor and the rebels who try to fix things, but everything falls apart because of a nihilist who decides that the only thing to do with ultimate power is see everything burn?

And the nihilist is a clown?

[lastexit]

I can hear when people cross that line. That's my thing. Certain beliefs twist a person, like, say, that its okay to just kill people for no reason.

I'm done with this, I have the feeling I won't like what I hear from you.

[highelves]

Is there a reason why you shouldn't?

they got off to an amazing start ;w;

[imitationsoul]

[ None of this means anything to Miach. She's... aware of the Final Fantasy franchise. On a very general level. But somewhere in losing herself to assumptions about her own educated and sophisticated nature, she's... completely missed the bus on a whole niche of contemporary pop culture. Even though she's very proficient with technology generally, the most she's ever played is Minesweeper.

And thus she continues staring as Nana explains, feeling like the rug has been swept out from under her. That should not happen. Although the context is as benign as can possibly be, it's leaving a stupidly large impression. ]

That... sounds like a very classic story archetype. Except for the nihilistic clown, that's more of a 20th century addition with the exception of some niche in the 1600s...

[ Okay, trivia dropped, she feels better. ]

What does it have to do with all of this, then?

[imitationsoul]

You probably won't.

But if you ever feel like specifying in more concrete terms, I'm here.

they really did!!

[playitagain]

[Nana's faintly embarrassed at throwing her off like that. Almost like she did something she wasn't supposed to. Though... it's endearing, somehow, she thinks. Seeing Miach stare, like she isn't sure what to make of this. She smiles after a second, tugging idly on some of the hair not caught in her banana-tails.

She tilts her head, then nods.] Mm-hm. It's... actually a very classic plot--it reminds me of a lot of films. The nihilistic clown is really what made it, though, I think? He had some amazing dialogue.

[Then, she blinks, and laughs.]

I-I never did explain. One of the characters was named Locke. So when I heard Locke, I just... thought of...

[imitationsoul]

[ The explanation is so simple and now Miach feels a little less like she missed the bus on something important. It makes her laugh. ]

John Locke, born in the 1600s. One of the most important British social philosophers. The world owes a lot of how it understands humanity and society to him.

[ Which means he's of great interest to Miach, who may be pretentious but also has a genuine passion for finding out how groups of people function. ]

Considering the themes of your game, the hero being named Locke is likely not a coincidence. So there's our connection.

[imitationsoul]

Absence of a deterrent does not create an incentive.

[hattersgonnahat]

oh......but there is nice daemons you could have summoned instead.

[Maybe, maybe she didn't know??]

[imitationsoul]

Nice demons might have been nice enough to hide away from sight, to not disturb the balance. That wouldn't do.

[ Hm. ]

[playitagain]

Ah...! I should read some of him, then. [She sounds interested, too. It's not too hard for her to be interested -- for someone who likes plays, movies, and literature, it's easy to get interested in where the ideas there came from.

Her brow furrows for a second, and her smile slips into thoughtfulness.]

I wonder if the writers were saying something about him. In the game, Locke's so caught up in the past that he, ah, is trying to keep a departed loved one's body intact until he can find a way to bring her back from the dead. Instead of moving on.

[highelves]

Hmmm.

Let me think on it and I will ask you at a future date. Does that sound alright?

[hattersgonnahat]

i think just seeing any daemon would be enough to make people believe.

[So why go with one that might actually hurt then?]

[imitationsoul]

Violating the sanctity of death, huh... Not exactly a noble goal for a hero.

[ Which is delightful in itself. Admittedly, this sounds more interesting than she'd expected just upon hearing the words Final Fantasy. What she gets for being a culture snob, maybe. ]

I can't say I immediately know how this connects to his presumable namesake though. Locke in real life was a devout Christian. I can't imagine he'd have approved of necromancy, if he knew it existed.

[imitationsoul]

No.

[ I don't know what you expected, Ana...... ]

[playitagain]

That game certainly liked its cast to have some big flaws and twisted goals. But...

[She nods, as she thinks about it.

Now she'll need to go read some Locke. She's at a loss -- which makes her want to know if there's something more there than the opinion that she suggests:]

It might be a a name that someone liked? I know sometimes they pick the names because of how they sound, more than the ideas behind them. I think I'd have to do more research to know for sure.

[highelves]

Fine. I'll admit, that was for my own benefit and I doubt I'll have anything sufficient enough to provide you in return.

[imitationsoul]

The problem is making people look. It's not as easy as one might think. Denial is comfortable. That's what society teaches and the majority is all too happy to believe it.

[imitationsoul]

Maybe it's because it's homophone to the English word 'lock'? Locked into the past, wanting to lock someone into the world of the living, something like that.

[ She has no idea why she's spit-balling about the meaning of a video game she'd never heard of now, but that's how the day is going. ]

Though that would be a disappointing solution. Evoking meaning from philosophers who a large part of the game's audience won't even know much about... that's a lot more fascinating.

[hattersgonnahat]

they cant ignore somebody with horns and wings!

[You're making this way more complicated than it needs to be.]

[playitagain]

Hm... you know, that makes sense. Which was sort of a surprise, with him fighting an authoritarian empire, wanting a better future. But... it was all about revenge for him.

[She taps a finger against her chin, then looks sideways at Miach.]

Maybe I should read some, or you could play the game, and we could unravel it more? It might be subtle, how they do it. Really... it could be the homophone and a reference to the philosopher, maybe.

[imitationsoul]

.... you don't really believe that.

We live in an era of effects make-up.

[imitationsoul]

You're just trying to get me to socialize.

[ Miach lets that sit in the air for a moment. She herself is still figuring out how she feels about that. Nana is persistent and she'll certainly hand her that. ]

But I do like overthrowing authorities and everything associated with it. Maybe I should branch out from older media for once.

[ In the end, curiosity killed the cat. ]