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#633: An Answer.; One doozy of an answer.
Topic Started: Oct 31 2010, 02:53 AM (947 Views)
Cador_2004
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Citizen
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...Well. That... Explains quite a bit.
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mordain
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Codewalker
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...damned depressing, tho', particularly since it implies that all game worlds are a hollow, near-meaningless shell. Raises some questions about Nexus, too.
Live and learn - or die and teach by example.
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Zap Rowsdower
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The artist formerly known as Randomlurker
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The characters seem to be able to live their own lives if they're not Touched, though- just look at Nexus as a whole; Megaman was never a hard-boiled policeman in the strip of canon that being Touched would limit him to being aware of, and... Falco, I think, was never a talk show host in canon. Qirk or whatever the tomato's name is was never a doomsday prophet-merchant.

Its possible that what the Touched perceive isn't necessarily 100% in line with what is objectively true.
"Be polite; write diplomatically; even in a declaration of war one observes the rules of politeness." - Otto von Bismarck
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mordain
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That's the main reason I mentioned the questions about Nexus. They may see a point, but the objective reality of Nexus contradicts some of it, which they *should* be able to see.
Live and learn - or die and teach by example.
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Zap Rowsdower
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Some of it, yeah, but the point is that they are capable of overcoming their lack of past to create a new future for themselves and live full and as-happy-as-a-real-life-can-be lives in it (Alex specifically notes that the shallow idealism associated with Hope energy can be as bad as the shallow depression associated with Sorrow, which suggests to me that the bittersweet genuine-but-not-entirely-happy lives Megaman and co have been living are the best possible way for them). The fact that we have been shown people living true lives in the postgame, yet she couldn't remember her postgame any more than her nonexistent backstory, indicates that either something is up with being Touched that limits memories, Nexus is the only place where true lives can be lived out, or something else... maybe inter-game contact is part of the equation to developing a full life?
"Be polite; write diplomatically; even in a declaration of war one observes the rules of politeness." - Otto von Bismarck
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Knight
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mordain,Oct 30 2010
08:06 PM
...damned depressing, tho', particularly since it implies that all game worlds are a hollow, near-meaningless shell. Raises some questions about Nexus, too.

Remember, this is being seen through the distorted lens of the Sovereign's supernatural depression. That game was somewhat devoid of story and character development, but lots aren't.
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mordain
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Knight,Oct 30 2010
08:05 PM
That game was somewhat devoid of story and character development, but lots aren't.

Most of those are newer than SNES, tho'.

And yes, I realize that this is seen through a distorted lens. It is effectively being an emo teenager who grew up in a bad orphanage and only recently found out that there are such things as families, yet managed to come to the conclusion that anyone who grew up in an orphanage and is happy isn't real.

edit: Also, I am going to resume my philosophy of not commenting on the comics now.
Live and learn - or die and teach by example.
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Cran
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Well, Nexus is situated in the Desert of Shattered Dreams...

Self-awareness in sprites seems to be pretty common and it hasn't been addressed what the deal is, to my knowledge, but Kain referenced it once. NPCs used to sit around and repeat the same line over and over, but sprites have since evolved into themselves.

I can assume this genesis of awareness simply takes place after the game has ended, which brings me to note this princessy character's emphasis on how she can't recall the past. Maybe sprites in general don't question their pasts as sort of a mental defense mechanism. Unless I'm remembering something very wrong, the Shard of Tears are representative of the Sovereign's perception of the past, right?

Prevalent memories do exist, though, such as Cid meeting Blue Dragon and Cecil confessing his love to Rosa. Are these memories self-generated, or are they impressed via the Game Master's perception?

Could this mean Alex is a hopeless romantic?
"When the sun goes down, the stars come out like the ghosts of yesterday,
So drink'em down, 'cause some things never change.
Baby sing, get loud. We ain't gonna fuck around.
When the sun goes down, let me hear you say...this is my town."

~Hollywood Undead, My Town

It's been fun guys.
Hasta.
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enlong
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Well.

I suppose that explains how Blazer was in a position to be reincarnated as Will, I guess.

Now, more than ever, I'm wondering which incarnation he's in. Is he Will or is he Ark at this point?
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Knight
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mordain,Oct 30 2010
09:09 PM
And yes, I realize that this is seen through a distorted lens. It is effectively being an emo teenager who grew up in a bad orphanage and only recently found out that there are such things as families, yet managed to come to the conclusion that anyone who grew up in an orphanage and is happy isn't real.

That's a good way of putting it, really. I wonder if there's any non-depressed "enlightened" sprites out there, who know the truth of videoland without being Touched by sorrow.
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Red Silvers
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Maybe it would be like that wave of Hope.
"Speaking of being terrible at games, Red fumbling with the blocks in Magnet Man's level has to be seen to be believed. If the definition of insanity has to do with expecting different results upon trying the same thing, then he must be one of the most insane people I've ever known." - Brickroad

The Guardian Legend - By Red Silvers (VLP): Our Red Silvers continues to find the weirdest worksafe pictures of the game's protagonist, a plane that transforms into a waifu.

Super Metroid - By Red Silvers (VLP): I think it's safe to say at this point, that Samus ain't leaving her suit once Red Silvers finally gets around the finishing this game.

Fantastic Dizzy - By Red Silvers (VLP): Fresh off his recent run of Super Metroid, Red Silvers tackles yet another, err... classic? (Egg-scuse me for being confused about Red Silvers' next choice.)
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Alger
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I see it as one of two possibilites, either sprites whom Alex is personally invested in , and thus made up backstorys for, have backstorys here (and only touched sprites are aware of this, he simply never cared for this game, for instance) OR all sprites actually have memorys the way real people should, its just that the touch of sorrow makes them lose everything that isn't expressly "in game", becoming true to what they have "actually" been through.

Or not, but i'd like it to be one of the two.
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ShadowWarriorLuke
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Knight,Oct 31 2010
11:29 PM
That's a good way of putting it, really. I wonder if there's any non-depressed "enlightened" sprites out there, who know the truth of videoland without being Touched by sorrow.

Does Mario count?
"If shower heads could talk, mine would say KSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHH..."
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"Darling Fascist Bullyboy, Give me some more money, you bastard. May the seed of your loin be fruitful in the belly of your woman, Neil." - The Young Ones
"... SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH. Squeak squeak. You take too fucking long to shower. Anyway, that's what my shower head would say... don't interrupt me."
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Knight
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That's a very good question. Mario is widely traveled, but does he truly realize he's in a game?
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Sir Donald
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Knight,Oct 31 2010
07:29 PM
... I wonder if there's any non-depressed "enlightened" sprites out there, who know the truth of videoland without being Touched by sorrow.

Well, first we would have to find characters who would question their own existence/significance within their own character. A healthy curiosity about what lies "outside the bounds" helps here.

Of course, what they would find at first may drive an otherwise sane person to despair; assuming that the "truth" about Videoland is that it's basically Mainframe from Reboot. Fulfillment requires being able to move past this step and find meaning in this new discovery. A process that Omega Energy could block without an outside stimulus. (Alpha Energy?)

Mario? Well, he does have some awareness of his game's mechanics. And he does seem to know the existence of other worlds. The catch here is he seems to think it's all "normal", doesn't he? i.e. is he aware that his reality isn't "real"?

Or is it Omega Energy that makes one lose touch with one's own reality? (And Alpha Energy as well?)

On that note, I just reread This page from TVTropes and its comparison between Sentience and Sapience. These two are close and akin, but not the same.

Could Omega Energy by Sentience (Self-Awareness and thus the ability to question a sprite's place in the world) and Alpha Energy be Sapience (the ability to judge between conditions and adapt)? Perhaps the reason those imbued with Alpha energy do not quit is because they have a sense that "for every problem there is a solution" even if that solution lies beyond their abilities.

Which could mean that among the sprites, only Roll has the capability to know and handle the truth.

The other "touched", all they want are answers.
It's a flimsy pretext, but I'm sure that the N-Team have gotten away with worse.
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KilloZapit
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Started reading this a little while ago and thought I would make a comment on how the story is going.

You know, I never really liked the whole "Oh no! We are not real!" angst thing that shows up in stories like this, but I guess it's something every fictional character who finds out more about their world then they are meant to goes though at some point, and even some people in real life go though it.

I don't think it's quite fair because, well, real or not, when someone writes something, don't they usually put a bit of themselves in a character? When someone reads, watches, and expectantly plays something, don't we identify a bit of ourselves in characters? So at the very least can't fictional characters be thought of as at least PARTLY existing in the real world, at least as part of our minds? And that's not even getting into meme theory or the collective unconsciousness where ideas can be said to TRANSCEND the individual mind and exist almost in their own world.

Of course, this can often be the point of this type of thing, but I think most people miss the subtle detail. For example Captain N and shows like it seem to depict video game sprites in there own literal real universe. One nice thing is Captain SNES at least questions how and why such a thing would exist and seems to even go as far as to imply, if I am reading right, it's all in Captain SNES's head. I kind of wonder though, if there could be more to it then that.

For example, I met a guy online once that claimed that he got into the occult and as a result had a demon in his head. Now assuming he isn't just pulling my leg, he seemed rational enough in other aspects, but really think some occult stuff was real. Now I am not one to follow this kind of stuff, but a thought came to me. What if demons are basically memes or ideas, spread from person to person. When a person's mantle state is weakened enough, they remember this idea of demons and suddenly everything clicks. They believe they are inside their head, they give them names, and they take on some manner of real control over them. And you see, that's kind of what demons ARE, spirits that possess and tempt people. They exist because people allow them to exist, so to speak.

What does that have to do with the comic? I am just saying, it need not only be demons. What about angels? Gods? And even, yes, fictional characters and whole worlds even.

I wonder if this has been brought up before actually...

Edit: Thinking about it more, the last panel in this comic I think is terribly important for exactly this reason. The words "a shadow cannot feel pain" are might become the key to the whole plot. Of anyone met so far, both touched AND untouched, who HASN'T shown the ability to feel pain?
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