Myriad truths (of Destructoid)
[This time on the bloggers wanted topic, we stretch the bounds of character creation to its limit for something interestingly personal. Blaze muses about the ultimate character creation: her online persona on Destructoid, through the ups, downs, and reinvention since her former time as KyWii. Crazy right? ~Strider]
Who are you? Who, who, who, who???
The fun thing about going online and playing video games, as Pixie pointed out in her call to arms this month, is that we can be anyone we want to be when it comes to character customization. We can be cute, crude, funny, rude, bold, or weak. The possibilities are endless. The concept of fantasy is that we can make a world all our own and live it exactly how we want to. That’s what makes fantasy… well… fantasy. While the lines between reality and fantasy can sometimes become blurred and skewered at times, I’ve always found that going by an online alias was my get away from the real world. You all know me as Blaze now, but many of you once knew me as KyWii as well. Let’s talk about that for a bit!
Once Upon A Time…
When I first came to Destructoid from IGN, I took up the alias of ‘KyWii.’ I had gotten the nickname from my father when he bought our family a Nintendo Wii back when it first come out, and it just kind of stuck. I had been browsing Destructoid for quite some time, and I always thought that the brash, sometimes vulgar sense of humor was kind of fun and catchy. Needless to say, I got my uprising from the Destructoid Forums, the former official forums of Destructoid. It was there that I met the likes of many glorious, wonderful former members such as Usedtabe, Brightside, Luna Sy, Firion, Marche100, Gatsby, Red Morgan, Phil, Lion, BrowneyeWinkin, PK, King Zelos, Opium, Nihil, and MANY MANY other fantastic individuals. I got on every day, and was immediately welcomed into a world of crude behavior, yet fun loving family moments.
This was the essence of ‘the basement’ at its finest, an often overlooked, judged and belittled place that had a bad rep for literally all the wrong reasons. Sure, it was a little harsh at times, but I know those people truly loved each other, and I was so happy to be a part of that. It helped me to develop my own online persona, it made KyWii who she was. I miss that place every day, and I’m grateful for all the experiences I had there to this day.
Unfortunately, things changed. Minds clashed, and Mr. Destructoid himself deemed that our family simply wasn’t meant to be. Within the time period of a few days, the family and community that had taught me so much and really showed me how fun an online community truly could be, was gone. It was tough sure, but we moved on. To this day, I still keep in touch with many of those fine people, even though we all know things simply aren’t the same. It hurt watching everything we had built, everything we had established disappear, but it was out of our hands. I tried to hold onto ‘KyWii’ as long as I could, because I had met so many people and made so many friends through them. The truth is though…. when the Destructoid Forums died, KyWii died with them. I simply couldn’t maintain that persona anymore. I felt like everything it meant was just gone.
Enter Blaze
With the changing of the times, I knew that a change of persona was meant to be. I decided that I simply couldn’t be ‘KyWii’ anymore, yet I still loved and missed the community that had taught me so very much. Many of the older members have gone…. but there are many new upcoming members that I knew I wanted to get to know and grow closer to. Enter Blaze, my new persona. I like to think of the change as ‘A New Hope’ for myself, a chance to start all over again. We cannot change the past, and so dwelling on it never solves any problems. Instead, we push ahead and start something new. Is it that strange to seek comfort in something so trivial as a new persona? I hardly think so.
Sometimes we all just want the chance to hit the reset button. The beauty of online communities and video gaming characters, is that we ALWAYS have the opportunity to do this. Like fantasy itself, we can always go back and start over again. It’s what keeps us forever young, it’s what keeps us pure at heart, it’s what gives us the chance to be who we want to be, unrestrained and unrestricted. It gives us the life we long for and a chance to be something or even someone special. Of course we do that in our day to day lives and I personally live every day with no regrets, but I love the ‘getaway’ that I have, and how much fun and happiness it has brought me.
Persona is a valuable thing. Creativity, art, and fantasy are all are essential to truly unleashing our deepest inner voice and being. Do you too like to live under a persona? I hope you blog about it too, and share with all of us!
