irisnetwork | un: werther

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un: werther

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. ]

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[ 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?

[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?

[ 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?

[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...

[ 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. ]

Guilty as charged!

[Why deny it?

Oh, she thinks it'll be a fun game for Miach. She loved playing it. She nods, cheerfully, quite happy at this turn of events. Funny that this started off combative, but...

She won't complain.] I can load an emulator and the game's file on a USB drive for you! It lets you play it on your computer.

[ Miach can't help but feel like she's been lead into a trap and that's both irritating and novel. Huh. Her life had turned itself on its head once before, and it seems Daybreak might do it a second time. ]

Aube, Room 305. You can come by, Nana Daiba.

[ And with that Miach's grabbed her book and is walking (maybe dashing) off, because ending the conversation on her own terms is the least she can do to alleviate the weird tension here.

Also she may have to google some video game stuff now. ]

I'll do that soon! Ah, see you later?

[Oh--oh, she's off. Nana watches her walk away, blinking a couple of times. A little weird, how fast she disengaged.

But... this was fun. Nana watches her go, finger curling around one of the locks of hair not bound up in her twintails, and wonders.]

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un: werther

THIS THREAD IS SO GOOD!!

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

they got off to an amazing start ;w;

they really did!!

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