This Isn't A Game Anymore (VenturianTale fan fiction)

Closure

Hello again. I've not used this site in ages, but still enjoy revisiting this story and reading the comments left on the better chapters. This story still holds a special place in my heart as a love letter to a channel that helped bridge the gap between my brother and I as kids, and I hope that the creators one day find the same peace they gave us.

Perhaps one day I'll rewrite it entirely. For now, I thought it might be interesting to help close up some of the holes left by my over-ambitious high school self and provide a bit of closure on the plot threads that were never explored. Trust me, if you have a question about anything in this story, there is probably some overcomplicated lore explanation for it that I must have thought was reeeeally clever at the time.

All that aside, here are some interesting facts, starting with the most pressing and descending into less important ones:

-- Johnny Ghost's wish to become a "ghost hunter" was double-edged. Because Box Friend grants wishes with the express purpose of feeding on the suffering inflicted by that wish on the wisher, he interpreted the phrase as both 'ghost hunter' in the traditional sense that he looks for paranormal activity, but also as a quite literal hunter of ghosts -- he needs them for sustenance. Jimmy does not kill because he has to; he kills because Ghost, and he by proxy of his own wish, needs to actively devour fresh souls to survive. 

-- Jimmy knows that his brother wouldn't be able to handle the reality of what it costs to maintain their shared life, and takes on the burden of controlling the body to "hunt." Equally ashamed of this fact but having quickly lost touch with the gravity of death (he has, after all, been dead for many more years than he lived) coped by embodying a stereotypically "insane" persona to distance himself from the crimes, drawing from the limited media he was familiar with in life. Consequently, as time goes on, he loses more and more of himself to this persona until the distinction totally wears down. Ghosts are malleable, literally made of emotional unrest, and thereby become defined by these feelings alongside others' memories. Ghost repressed the incident and thus doesn't remember him. Jimmy, over time, can barely remember himself.

-- Johnny Ghost had a notebook full of research on Box Friend before Jimmy's accident occurred. He already knew that Box Friend did not have the power to raise the dead. Having no reason to suspect that Jimmy was listening in and therefore not seeing the point of voicing this fact out loud, Johnny wished to become the world's best ghost hunter so that he could see his brother again.

-- He knew how miserable ghosts could be. The last thing he wanted for Jimmy was to go through it alone.

-- The original trilogy concept employed the idea of "saved games" as a digital equivalent of the many worlds interpretation, meaning that multiple timelines/dimensions would be involved. This became convoluted and ridiculous basically immediately, but some fun things were planned, including an apocalyptic merging of multiple game files that forced a ragtag gang of characters to traverse through each others' origin stories.

-- The third book would be set in a computer that was slowly eating itself alive.

-- In one iteration, Box Friend was conceptualized as Johnny Ghost from a universe where he died instead of Jimmy (different but parallel circumstances) and the ability to grant wishes stemmed from the deep loathing he accumulated watching his brother experience the life he never got to live. This confused his motives and denied the plot a really cool irredeemable villain, so while it was present in most drafts, it started being phased out towards the end of the project.

-- I really wanted Bethany to become the leader of a gang during the apocalypse setting. She deserves a Mad Max-style outfit and a giant sword with which to do tremendous violence.

-- For some reason I included direct quotes from a Transformers movie in my notes under a section titled "dialogue inspo" ??? High school me spared the world from a literary tragedy when she decided to have a breakdown and stop writing this series

-- Inexplicable note of "Minecraft torches: foreshadowing?". Cannot fathom what the hell this ever meant.

-- The theme of the series overall was supposed to be the prevailing power of familial love and the damage it can cause if corrupted by selfishness and unhealth. In retrospect, that feels a little cruel. 

I might add more as they come to me. And feel free to ask in the comments, if you're all still out there -- as much as I joke, this story meant a great deal to me and still does hold a very firm place in my heart. I can't thank you all enough for the support I received while writing it, which was more important to my mental health journey than I can bear to admit at length. You couldn't have known what was going on with me back then (I didn't either), but knowing that I could write things people enjoyed and resonated with kept my passion going when all else fell to pieces. Thank you, again, as many times as I can say it, thank you for going on an adventure with me.

If there's anything at all I can elaborate on in the comments, please feel free to ask. I love you, and hope you're all doing well.