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Girls who like Boys who like Boys – Ethnography of ... - Yuuyami.com

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consistently according to their character traits, OOC is not “bad” in this<br />

game’s case (and the fact that the game is obviously AU only aids this notion;<br />

the events in the game differing from those in the books give excuse to<br />

different personality traits). In other words, one could say that the protagonists<br />

<strong>of</strong> Nocturne Alley are kept consistently “in character” within their created<br />

OOC-ness.<br />

The second concept <strong>of</strong> OOC, which is used in Yuri’s game, is as much<br />

part <strong>of</strong> the game as the playing itself <strong>–</strong> it can be characterized as OOC<br />

interactions: The OOC <strong>com</strong>munity and the OOC chats are as much part <strong>of</strong> the<br />

fun as the in-character-interactions. Sometimes, when I am online on Instant<br />

Messenger, Yuri will send me little pieces <strong>of</strong> the OOC conversations she’s<br />

having in a chat room, and they are very funny. If I tried to explain how funny<br />

it is, I would probably say that these conversations are expressions <strong>of</strong> “hyper<br />

fangirl-mode,” exuberant and excited in the interactions, though the fans in<br />

questions might not identify as the stereotypical teenage “fangirl” at all: It is<br />

still a mode in which exchanges run along specific terms. OOC, in this sense,<br />

is different, as it does not refer to a deviation from the characters in the source<br />

text but rather functions as a mode: juxtaposed to being IC (implying the act<br />

<strong>of</strong> playing) OOC is used in Yuri’s game to connotate being outside <strong>of</strong> the<br />

game. It has nothing to do with the playing <strong>of</strong> the game, except for its<br />

occasional use to discuss game politics and plotlines. It has, however,<br />

everything to do with connecting to others beyond the mere game, as will be<br />

58

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