The Dark History of My Username
Many have asked where my username comes from.* Here, I shall reveal the truth and break it all down.
"Imperial" refers to the Imperial Scrolls of Honor. This is how game progress was saved in early Dragon Quest, as deeds were recorded upon such scrolls. The original Dragon Quest has ONE such point where the game can be saved (with the king). Absolutely brutal. But yeah, the Dragon Quest series is some top-tier JRPG gaming. Every game is good. Well, every numbered game (I haven't played the one hundred spin-offs... actually I haven't played part X either but come on now no one has)...
"Xtal" (crystal) has a double meaning. For starters, it's an excellent Aphex Twin song. Best song from Selected Ambient Works 85-92 by a long shot, and one of the best tracks from his entire discography. Whispy bubbly bliss. I never knew those vocals were sampled until fairly recently.
"Xtal" is also a nod to Xtalsoft. A hugely influential JRPG developer in Japan (with Mugen no Shinzou being a critically important game), they're basically unknown in the West as only one of their titles was ever localized and they mainly focused on computer systems. I recommend Kalin no Tsurugi (FDS, fan-translated) which is a bumper like Ys, though the battles take place in single-screen "arenas." You know I love Ys.
Okay so who the hell is this "Bone" person? Well, that references an old internet handle of mine. I'm a very cautious internet dweller and I prefer to change usernames after some time. "Bone" should be retired but the banner & site name come from an older iteration of this website and I didn't feel like it was necessary to change that. I first used the Bone moniker in World of Warcraft. I was an orc hunter (as in, an orc that is a hunter and not someone that hunts orcs) as I recall. I didn't love it. Spending a ton of time in a virtual world doesn't interest me much; I like it when games end. The "online game" (not a true MMORPG) I prefer is Phantasy Star Online, which does have a distinct ending scene though you can continue playing on and goofing off forever. I'm partial towards the gun-weilding human female ranger. Also called a "RAmarl" (I mean, obviously).
Now, the image in my banner is from Dragon Knight III (not to be confused with Dragon Quest III!!!). Or, as it was known in the West, Knights of Xentar. This is an adult-oriented JPRG/VN hybrid that I highly recommend. It's the only game in the series that plays like Final Fantasy, except the standard-attack A-button-mashing is automated. Brilliant soundtrack and it's funny as hell too. And playing a DOS JRPG just feels surreal, in the best way possible. Okay... I think I've covered everything. Now go forth with this forbidden knowledge!
* No one has ever asked me this.
Last Updated: 04/12/26