Long Untouched Ground [Area Lv. 5 - Earth Element]
I don't think I've ever really talked about this much, but when it comes to certain other realities/stories/fiction/etc. I tend to feel kind of bad if I don't go over them more than once after first experiencing them. Part of it comes from my wanting to keep an eye out for any bits of insight or wisdom that I may have missed previously, but also it's because I want to acknowledge my enduring respect for those experiences that at one time mattered very much to me, and not feel like I'm automatically discarded them upon their conclusion. Even if certain connections with some realities/fiction/etc. have loosened to some degree or another in following years, I at least want to recognize their personal significance.
Case in point, lately I've been going back over the first series of .hack games -- something I haven't really done since my initial foray that practically was how I spent the entire Summer of 2005 -- and even though I'm kind of doing an abridged jumping from save file to save file to cut down on the time, I'm actually a bit astonished concerning a couple things that I kind of glossed over back then (though I don't doubt that it's because back then my mind was doubtlessly preoccupied by experiencing everything as it all happened, instead of stopping once in a while to really ponder certain topics.)
As a result, two subjects that I remember noting but never really explored much back then have again come to my attention: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophy and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liminality . Rather interesting stuff, as it happens, particularly the latter... plus it's given me a rather attractive term that I'll probably start using when I can. "Liminal being"... Got a nice sound to it.
Apart from that, another piece of long-untouched ground I've been looking back over is something that actually I haven't even really thought much about for damn near a decade now. While I know I've talked with friends online before about some tabletop RPGs and LARPs that I've been involved in near the beginning of the millennium -- most notably a number games by White Wolf -- there was one game in particular that, by the time it ended, I actually found myself enjoying far more than I expected: a LARP based on Legend of the Five Rings. What's more, and by barring the more action-oriented and "live by the dungeon, die by the dungeon" characters I've created and run over the years, it was actually the most relatively successful roleplay I engaged in with respect to serious character development.
But there was one thing about that character that I didn't put much effort or thought into, and in the last few days I've kinda felt somewhat obligated to do some work on it.... and that's the in-story origins of that character. I mean, there was a middle for him, and I remember distinctly giving him an ending.... but in a way I feel I owe it to him to give him a beginning.
Case in point, lately I've been going back over the first series of .hack games -- something I haven't really done since my initial foray that practically was how I spent the entire Summer of 2005 -- and even though I'm kind of doing an abridged jumping from save file to save file to cut down on the time, I'm actually a bit astonished concerning a couple things that I kind of glossed over back then (though I don't doubt that it's because back then my mind was doubtlessly preoccupied by experiencing everything as it all happened, instead of stopping once in a while to really ponder certain topics.)
As a result, two subjects that I remember noting but never really explored much back then have again come to my attention: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophy and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liminality . Rather interesting stuff, as it happens, particularly the latter... plus it's given me a rather attractive term that I'll probably start using when I can. "Liminal being"... Got a nice sound to it.
Apart from that, another piece of long-untouched ground I've been looking back over is something that actually I haven't even really thought much about for damn near a decade now. While I know I've talked with friends online before about some tabletop RPGs and LARPs that I've been involved in near the beginning of the millennium -- most notably a number games by White Wolf -- there was one game in particular that, by the time it ended, I actually found myself enjoying far more than I expected: a LARP based on Legend of the Five Rings. What's more, and by barring the more action-oriented and "live by the dungeon, die by the dungeon" characters I've created and run over the years, it was actually the most relatively successful roleplay I engaged in with respect to serious character development.
But there was one thing about that character that I didn't put much effort or thought into, and in the last few days I've kinda felt somewhat obligated to do some work on it.... and that's the in-story origins of that character. I mean, there was a middle for him, and I remember distinctly giving him an ending.... but in a way I feel I owe it to him to give him a beginning.