The Legend of Dream Senshi

Most people aren't curious where my most used screen name comes from. I get a lot of reactions like, "Er, why aren't you using English?" heh. Well, it's a long story which is relevant to something I've been feeling lately, so I'm going to write about it anyway.

About five years ago, I loved MUSHes. Most of the ones I enjoyed were no longer populated with my friends. Heck, most of my friends were busy with their own lives, as was I, and we had become fairly disconnected (... darn puns...). And then, I met this girl online. I never thought I'd make a friend like her. She's gone now, but I still think back fondly on the memories shared from time to time, even if they were sad in their own right. Being able to be truly yourself is a valuable, precious, and fragile thing.

I only bring her up because while I knew her, we talked about Sailor Moon. Mostly, this anime is unpopular these days it seems. Little girls still like it, I personally love it, but the population who were crazed fans when I first discovered it have mostly moved on to new things to love and there are a lot of people out there who argue about what's canon, and a lot of people who want to mix Sailor Moon with just about any anime ever made... or Star Trek (seriously? why?). I've even had someone tell me that Sailor Moon is too "old" to bother watching. Whatever the case, at the time I knew the girl, I loved it. And, I loved it more in the original Japanese manga, where they were senshi, warriors, not scouts. To be honest, I still hold it precious and own every DVD and manga in Japanese.

I wanted to create a world. I wanted desperately to create a safe haven for myself and my friend where dreams would stream endlessly on. Just a creative world of art to share and find peace with. So, why not a MUSH? A simple, text-based server would do, I thought. I started working on it.

But, the world needs a name. Every world has a name. It was a place for dreams to be held sacred and loved and cherished, where hopes never die. So, I called it Dream Senshi, like "Dream Warrior." I know that Yume no Senshi would be technically more correct, however I wanted to mix English and Japanese. It symbolized, to me, a place where dreams are protected. It made me happy. So, it was named!

Problems: No one would connect to said world, which is understandable. It was my dream, not theirs. And, the world really served no practical purpose except to stay connected and to dream. Also, those who were interested were put off by problems with getting them connected and the fact that I couldn't run the server all of the time.

Eventually, Dream Senshi became just a place for playing role-playing games to log. Not really what I had in mind, but it's useful all the same. The friend was gone, the dreams had changed, and so I made Dream Senshi my own screen name, to symbolize that I wouldn't give up and that my hopes and dreams would stay with me forever. I guess that's kind of cheesy, but... it's a constant reminder of who I am. It symbolizes my feelings very well.

I don't really know if that's particularly interesting or not, but I can't go into too much detail about it, really. And, there isn't too much to say. But, in the last week, I suddenly got this undeniable, creative urge. I still want to create my dream world.

I tried to talk myself out of it. I said, "But, no one will come. Those who will want to come I may not want to share this with." But, I need to do it, and I don't know why. So, I started looking at what I had. The world still works, but it needs some fixes. I'm probably going to destroy a huge chunk of it that I made that no longer serves a purpose for me. The weather system needs to be fixed; I may have installed the wrong version, which would explain a whole lot, but I really like having weather. So, I started with searching for code. Making backups isn't too big of a deal. I should get a USB for it, so I don't have to worry about CDs. Maybe 2 USBs, to use interchangeably. It's just one, small server after all. How to run full time? Well, since I've got my new computer, the old computer which is still good (though, I worry about her running all of the time... :( We'll see... ) could serve the game, so Sora, my current computer, would be safe.

Basically, I've found all of the solutions I think I need to make it happen. I wasn't going to write about it. I guess it's kind of private, but I felt like I needed to for whatever reason. And, I know I'll eventually want to share it, when I'm closer to fixing the ucky problems. Once we get another surge protector strip, I'll pretty much be ready to start... other than that I'm working full time, going to school, and preparing for a wedding. HA HA HA. So, the process will be slow, as always, but the first thing that will happen is that it will be up. It will be a good way to test the effectiveness of the serving before I have other people on it again. I guess I'll let you know how it goes. I'm really hoping to have it up and running starting this week. I'm not really cut out to be admin, but that's alright. This isn't a big project for other people, just for me. It's important, somehow. I really can't explain my sense of urgency with wanting to do it, but it's been on my mind constantly. I guess we'll see what comes of it. I must pursue this dream!