Pandoraverse 3

[noteaforre]

What's Wutai like, technologically speaking? Is it on par with the rest of the world, or..? (Now that my exams are over, I might start writing some more. Had a thought, hence the question.)

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YAY TEAL DEER---- I mean. Right. Wutai's a little behind the times. They're not in the dark ages or anything, but they've got a strong preference for tradition, and tradition doesn't include technology. What they've got and use tends to be out of sight or otherwise unnoticeable. I think they'd have a strong market for technology that doesn't *look* like technology, if you know what I mean... Like, for example, electric lights that look like lanterns.

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Methinks we're a little fond of our teal deer. Maybe we should give it a name. Anyway, about Wutai and technology: this sounds good, and certainly works for what I was thinking of (even if it was mostly an issue of creating the right kind of imagery and atmosphere). I was comtemplating having Kudo come across a picture of the twins; whether it be a photograph or a painting of some sort, I'm not too sure. I'm guessing it'll depend on where he sees the picture.

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We'll call it Bambi. /shot

Mm, yeah, where he sees the picture would have a lot of bearing on what medium it is. If he saw it in a newspaper or something, it'd be a photo. If he saw a huge ol' picture in the palace, it'd be a painting. SPEAKING OF WHICH. Newspapers. Wutai has them. I think they're with b&w photographs and ye olde printing press.


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I wanted to call it Bacon. :T

OH HAY, now I'm torn again. I might have him see two pictures; one in an old newspaper to catch his attention. Then, later in the palace, have him see a painting hung up somewhere in the palace as a sort of confirmation that holy crap, Prince Kaito (snerk) really does look a whole lot like him. ... Maybe. It depends on how I go about him getting dragged into the palace in the first place. I've had a few different ideas.

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How 'bout Potato? :D

If it's in an old newspaper, the twins would definitely be a lot younger in it due to the general lack of *official* public appearances since the war. I do rather like the idea of him seeing a painting as proof of their similarity.

Also, I meant to address this last time, but yeah… weird name order is weird. But it's a (FF7) feature of Pandoraverse that Wutaian names follow a [given name][surname] order instead of [surname][given name], so there you have it. Saguru Hakuba. Ginzo Nakamori. Aoko Nakamori. Kaito and Yuffie Kuroba/Kisaragi. Shinichi Kudou. Heiji Hattori. Ran Mouri. Kogorou Mouri. I... I hate how some of those sound, aaagh.

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Baked? Roast? Boiled? Mashed?

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. That way, it wouldn't be immediate "wut!", but more... uh. "... huh."? Something along those lines. I'm thinking of having Shinichi see the painting for himself, instead of having somebody show it to him, though in the end I might not be able to do it that way.

NYUK NYUK NYUK. ♥ Very weird. I'm with you, too; I really don't like how some of them sound. "Shinichi Kudou" and "Aoko Nakamori" don't bother me as much, but the rest... ugh. Well, minus the twins; "Kaito Kuroba" doesn't sound so bad, even if "Yuffie Kuroba" feels a bit awkward. I COULD ALWAYS SUGGEST SOMETHING REALLY TERRIBLE like using the horrid horrid HORRID dub names? 8D

And now I'm also wishing that we could illustrate the towns. idk. The bit about the Mechanics Ward is the cause of that.

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Boil 'em, bake 'em, stick 'em in a stew.

Well, whatever you go for, I'm looking forward to reading it. And I don't think I've mentioned it, but I love that all of this is going on in Wutai while the twins are absent. :D :D :D

I think the Mouri's are the worst of the lot, with Hattori at a close second. EW, NO, NO DUB NAMES. BAD TWIN! I'm honestly really tempted to say screw it and stick with Japanese order. But then I feel a little guilty about it. What do you think?

Rocket Town in Pandoraverse is very, very relevant to my interests. I'll admit I'm kind of having a field day developing it bit-by-bit... Which is a good thing, because it's going to be a major player in the story later on. I need to finish writing up the heist and skipping town, so that I can write up a later part that relies on it... 8D

Also, I've been wanted to learn to draw buildings and cityscapes and whatnot. Maybe I'll grab a ruler and start sketching some time?

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Can't forget the obvious, either! CHIPS!

I'm looking forward to writing it, too. Nothing has really changed; I'm still going with the whole "write whatever comes to mind and see where it ends up" idea, but now I have more direction and more things to play off, which is always good. Also, lawl, yeah. ♥ They get to have their fun, but they miss out on a bunch more.

Agreed. D8 Ew. Though "Saguru Hakuba" ties with the ick of "Heiji Hattori" in my mind, or at least comes in at a close fourth. BUT DUB NAMES, TWIN, THEY'RE AWESOME! I THINK MACE FULLER WOULD MAKE A WONDERFUL ADDITION TO PANDORAVERSE. And... to be honest, I'm tempted too. :| (If it wouldn't make things more awkward, I'd suggest we handwave it... say, have those who grew up in Wutai keep the 'traditional' name order (Kuroba Kaito, etc), and those who grew up outside of Wutai use the other style. But.

Very relevant to your interests? Are these interests shareable? Curious Re is Curious beyond words. Or, at the very least, share some tidbits! Developing towns and plots is a fun, fun thing. Out of curiosity, was there any reason in particular for why Rocket Town got chosen? :O

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General direction is always good. And I have to admit: part of why I'm so eager to see where it goes is because once the twins finally go *back* to Wutai, I'll need to know the state of affairs while they were gone. I considered discussing the possibility of incorporating the two stories and alternating chapters every so often, but I think I rather like the idea of keeping the two plots totally separate with only the possible occasional nod to each other. I want them to meet Kudou sooner or later, but possibly only after it's all over for both stories.

NO, EW, NO. That said, I may actually have references to the dub names? I dunno, maybe. They'd be random NPC-like characters. Or, I dunno, redshirts. The idea of in Wutai vs outside of Wutai is definitely a possibility, since that's kind of what the real world is like, but. THAT REMINDS ME. The Mouri family: are they in Wutai or Midgar? Is Ran still Shinichi's childhood friend, or does he meet her in Wutai and fall in love at first sight? Will Mario ever save the princess? Inquiring minds want to know.

I've found recently that I have a really hard time putting some of my thought processes into words, which is *odd* because I think in words. But some ideas and interests are these vague little clouds of... something. They're not words and they're definitely not pictures, but it's like they'll develop into words once I refine the thought blob into something more concrete. That's why I've had a hard time sharing some plotty things that are still in their initial stages of being developed: they're still in that state. I've got an idea of something, but I can't describe the idea yet. That's why I also tend not to share plotty things until they're solid enough to write or talk about; it's not that I'm trying to be evil, it's just that the explanation of "well, see, there's this thing, and then stuff happens and it probably all goes wrong, and a Kid gets backed into a corner, shot, and goes through a window and... erm, something-something, roof, swiss cheese" doesn't really cut it (and yes, that's some DMG plot for you there).

THAT SAID, I will try my best to explain why Pandoraverse's Rocket Town is relevant to my interest. First of all, I latched onto the idea of using Rocket Town for a couple of reasons: 1) it was probably my favorite FF7 location, 2) I found the way the town sprung up around the rocket to be interesting, 3) I felt like it had a lot of potential to be more in Pandoraverse than it was in the game, and 4) I, uh, love the name. It felt like a suitable choice for a big city that's relatively free of Shinra's influence; Shinra was there with the space program in the past, but they were attracted to that city because of the amount of talent that had already gathered there. I mentioned in the Rocket Town intro that was (or had been) "the greatest hub for engineering that the world had ever known"; throughout Pandoraversian history, it's been THE place to be for inventors of all ages. Even now, Rocket Town is like an onion: it has layers. (/shot) There's a lot more going on there than it seems at first glance.

Going back to thought blobs, certain things invoke a certain kind of... imagery? No, maybe not imagery, but a kind of idea. I mentioned this briefly before when I said I love the word "clockmaker;" there's a certain thought-blob attached to the word, but I can't quite define it. I think that part of it is the frequent k sound in the word as far as the sound goes, but I think it's also because a clockmaker would work with gears. I have a love of gears; their aesthetics appeal to me and the way they work is kind of fascinating. Rocket Town's name invokes a similar kind of thing, and the kind of ideas that the name brings to mind have dictated a lot of how it's developed in Pandoraverse. Engineering, particularly mechanical engineering, is a big "theme" for this Rocket Town; the idea of the "Mechanics Ward" in Hakuba's intro spawned the idea that it's divided into different wards with different specialties (and that said, I may have an Inventors Ward where the watch is, instead). My original thought process was to have Rocket Town be a very clean place, almost pristine, with tall building but I think that's more suited other locations like the upscale parts of Midgar City; the Mechanics Ward also transformed it into a... not dirty, but industrial look and feel. And I think that helps drive home its current state better: it's built to have a lot going on, but nothing's happening there now.

There's a bit more about why Rocket Town is going to be a major player in the story, but that part's still a secret for now. ♥

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CAN TOO. And you can't stop me, nyeh-nyeh! (It's partially the scope of your story that reminded me of it, and partially the way you go about it. … Which made more sense in my head, but, I digress. The plot/s of the series is best described as a Celtic knot of sorts; it's all intertwined and weaves about, and after a while it's possible to start picking out the patterns and seeing the bigger picture. Which, done right, is a really appealing thing to me.)

Heh, if this is the case, I better not let us down with this! I'll do my best. Hmmm… could be interesting if the stories had some kind of indirect effect upon one another? Like you said about the occasional nod. As for when Kudou finally gets to meet the twins, I guess it depends on the direction that my side takes… as things stand now, I'm having thoughts of Kudou getting his Thinking Cap on (or stealing Hattori's) and finding Something to investigate.

REDSHIRTS. But now that you've mentioned NPC characters, I'm imagining a bunch of people loitering around on street corners, repeating the same phrases over and over again whenever a Major Character talks to them. Maybe they're drunk. Or really bored. … The Mouri family! orz I totally forgot about them. Hmmm. I'm a little split on this; on one hand, it could be fun to say that they were friends during childhood but got separated, but I'm not sure how we'd work that in… Unless Eri was a successful lawyer in Midgar, but when the divorce happened, Kogorou took Ran and went packing off back to Wutai? Mario doesn't save the princess; he gets stuck in a pipe. Upside down.

… That's. Really interesting, actually. And now I'm trying to think of how *I* think, but can't quite my finger on it. It isn't quite words, not always. It's like… a weird mixture. Concepts. Something-or-other. And sometimes -- diagrams. Weird, weird diagrams that I can't really draw out on paper to explain to anybody (I've tried it before. Almost worked. Didn't quite, because the diagram in my head was three dimensional). My approach to storytelling is more linear than I'd like; while I do get a lot of the random blobs of inspiration, I have trouble solidifying them into something more so that they can be… idk, anchored into the bigger picture? Something like that. Like with DASNLI; I got the initial idea, and then it progressed in steps forward from there. It was only when you and I started collaborating for Realz that it branched out as well as up.

Weirdly enough. When I was reading through what you've been saying about Rocket Town, the biggest thought I had was COMPLETELY RANDOM: that it reminds me of sunset. I don't know how, exactly, and I can't even think of how to explain why. Wutai makes me think of sunrise, in a way that's completely unrelated to the Japanese "land of the rising sun" thing. ANYWAY. I'm really looking forward to seeing what these layers are. As long as they don't make me cry and almost cut off my hand like real onions do. 8D Which SOMEHOW reminds of yet another thing… one thing I'd kind of like to do is find a way to bring in more FF7 characters. D'you think there'd be any way to work them in?

The "Mechanics Ward" has a better ring to it for the pocket watch, I think. And I definitely like the idea of it being… industrialize-y; I think I can visualize it pretty well. Which leads me onto another question (please don't hate me 8D) that I've been wondering about, once again related (sort of) to technology! Transport. What do we have? I can see railways being used in some areas, but it wouldn't fit everywhere. Nor would big 'ol highways. What d'you think?

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Well, it depends on how both of them go. The twins are going to be rather busy, after all, and their paths may not be able to cross until after both stories.

Bwahahahah. (The castle has many guards.) I need to find another particular strip of a different comic that has an NPC repeating "*sigh* Times are tough...", 'cause that could be the Rocket Town NPCs! 8D

Eri's lawyer shtick works better in Midgar than Wutai... I do like the idea of Mouri moving back to Wutai with Ran, but I'm thinking maybe it was a recent occurrence? If it was in the past year or two, it could work to mirror their separation a la Conan. Also, is Hattori in Wutai or Midgar? I'm kind of partial to Wutai for him, myself, but I snicker over him in Wutaian clothes. I think he probably mixes Wutaian and Midgar...dian styles.

Diagrams? Ooh, that's interesting! I said that I think it words, but it's more like a combination of words and... some kind of "blank" space that I really can't describe. Maybe concepts, not quite the thought-blobs... eh, maybe "blank" really is the best word for it since there's nothing of any *substance* that I can attach to it. But I have a lot of inner monologue, or something like that, which is why "words" is the immediate way I describe how I think. I only have anything visual-like thoughts if I'm specifically attempting to visualize something.

Hmm, I can see both of those associations. Though personally, I think Rocket Town may be more of a dusk sort of thing: the light's getting dim, but the bright colors from sunset aren't there. I can see either way, though! As for the FF7 characters, I have definite, definite, definite, DEFINITE, concrete plans for one of them, 8D. The thing about the FF7 characters is that most of them are going to be somewhere in Midgar or Europe; since the twins are everywhere except Wutai, they have plenty of chances to meet them, and I was planning to incorporate most, if not all, of the main cast in cameos at the *least.* I was thinking about Cloud and Tifa the other day, too, and I'm kind of picturing them in Midgar City (or some other city is OK, too) in the kind of situation they were in during AC. I was thinking that Cloud was a soldier who fought in the Wutai war, but he quit once the war was over and Tifa dragged him into the courier business. BY THE WAY. About dear ol' uncle Reeve. He's built Cait Sith in Pandoraverse, y/y? 8D

It's got a better ring to it, but for the purpose of the ward, Inventors might be better. Inventors' Ward would be one of the "softer" areas of Rocket Town, and I'm thinking it would have a couple of museums dedicated to inventions, in one of which the Clockmaker's Daughter could be the prize piece. The Mechanics Ward would be a little more rough-and-tumble.

PFF, questions are fine. I like questions! But I like specific questions (as that one was) over generalized "tell me what you're thinking! 8D" questions because of my aforementioned difficulty with explaining my not-yet-worded thought-blobs. Anyway, railways are the most common kind of ground transportation, I think; I don't think there are major highways, but there are paved roads (ranging from cobblestones to concrete, depending on the place) within cities and unpaved twisty-turny roads without. Midgar is a mix of trains and roads, I'm torn on Europe (I know they're big on trains now, but I can't decide if it fits in Pandoraverse since we're probably talking ye olde steam or maaaaybe early diesel), and Wutai is just now starting to have a single track between really, really major cities *if anything* and paths are probably mostly unpaved roads. THAT SAID. There are also prop planes around and some number of airships, but air travel is pretty uncommon unless you're rich or lucky. There are also boats, and Yuffie discovers her motion sickness the first time she gets on one. 8D (Which reminds me: would her motion sickness be worse on a boat or an airship, do you think?)

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Ooh, that's a good idea! And as for Hattori, I vote that we place him in Wutai, yeah. A mix of styles… that'd be interesting! I quite like it. Also, Midgardian. 8D That sounds kind of funky. In a good way, I mean. 'Tis fun to say. And sounds a lot better than 'Midgarian', actually, now that I think about it.

Hey, it could've been worse. He could've gotten himself eaten by some kind of gigantic carnivorous plant AS WELL as gotten stuck head-first down the plumbing. (Speaking of plumbing, I've been in giggle-fits over Yukari at Damned. It's been a really, really fun (series of) threads to play in. ♥)

Bla-- ah, I think I know what you're saying! I can't attach anything of particular substance to it, myself, but I get the same sort of thing. Kind of. When I try to visualize how I think, I get an impression of… idk, layers of overlapping circles, with "space" in between some of them, or… something like that. Spirals, too. Inner monologue I get *sometimes*, especially when I'm actively focusing on whatever.. Mmn… OH, I've told you this before, I know but. I think best when I'm walking/travelling, right? The "words" (that aren't quite words and aren't quite images, either) are more distinct then; there's more clarity to them, and they just seem to fall into place more naturally. The gears turn, and then when I stop or sit down, it's like trying to hold sand. 8D; To be cliché about it.

http://maludan.3dtoast.com/images/Golden%20Sunset%20.jpg is one thing I think of when I think about Rocket Town. Or, like… when Dad and I went to Norway, we were allowed off the boat for a few hours, between 11pm and 1am. It was still light, kind of, like a… a kind of dusk? Also, yay, plans! I'll be glad to see them in more in Pandoraverse; I always wanted to bring them into Klepto a little more, but… idk, it just never quite worked out, outside of little cameos and such. One thing I'm wondering about for Pandora! In the original verses, the Turks were cops, right? Are they still cops in Pandora, or are they actually… y'know, Turks? (As for Cloud and Tifa, if we could give them someplace like Edge, maybe? A city being rebuilt or something? Idk.)

LOLOL SUDDEN RAINSTORM WHILE IT'S STILL SUNNY OUT, LOL. --- Oh, yeah, Reeve. Totally built Cait Sith. 8D

Ahhh, yeah. Though now I'm imagining more about how Rocket Town is laid out and such, and. Dfmnlaskmd need to stop my brain running off on odd tangents. Like this other-other tangent. About antiquity. I swear that it was somehow related-- ahh, it was the word 'museums' that pinged me on that one.

Europe… I'd suggest some train routes. Steam ones. Because I'm ttly thinking of the old steam train routes that we've got in the UK; they're pretty awesome. I can also see decently well-maintained roads being pretty "popular" between villages that are… kind of linked(?), too. Like. My town is about 2 miles from another, entirely separate town, and you can follow the road by foot. YAY AIRSHIPS. 8D (Yuffie's motion sickness… I'm going to go off a few things here. Firstly, my own experience is that I get a lot worse on boats than I do on planes. Which is to say, being on a plane doesn't effect me at all. It still gets to Yuffie, of course. Secondly: in FF7, Yuffie asks for a sedative-y thing when she's on the boat from Junon to Costa Del Sol. She doesn't ask for one when she's on the Highwind, though she's still pretty 'blaaargh D8'… So. I'm going to go with "she gets worse on boats".)

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Well, the thing about FF7 is that some stuff (like Midgar) is named after badly spelled Norse mythology. In Norse, it's Midgard. It's Niflheim. It's the Midgardsormr. Granted, a lot of this comes from the fact that the Japanese have to transfer foreign words into their character set and then they tend to get a little funky when they try to write in English letters, but also I think the FF7 English translation team was... a bit lacking. (See also: Aeris/Aerith, Shera/Sierra, etc.) Anyway, it may just be me, but I think the reinclusion of the d for Midgardian is logical. (I seem to remember having this conversation with you before in part, about which spelling to use, but I can't seem to remember if we decided anything other than using "Niflheim"... And I only remember that one because I wrote Verdot's 100q right after that and he mentioned it.)

Ahahah, yeah, I get the idea for the walking/traveling thing. That's actually when the majority of my inner monologue happens; I kind of talk to myself in my head when I'm planning or going over things, and that's when most of it tends to happen. When I'm sitting and thinking, I sometimes monologue, but if I'm not focused on a particular thing, it's that blank space kind of thinking.

THAT. THAT IS PRETTY. In a kind of eerie way, but. I think it fits Rocket Town quite nicely! The Turks are Turks in Pandoraverse; I'm thinking what that might MEAN, though, is that they're kind of like Shinra's private security force and occasional rent-a-cop (but mostly private security, because I'm sure the fee to rent a Turk is exorbitant). Edge could work. I'm still thinking they were in Midgar for a while, at least, probably right after Cloud got back from the war and quit the military, but then they moved out of the city.

SO, WHAT I SAID ABOUT FLORIDA BEING LIKE ENGLAND... |D

Yay for Cait Sith already being around! I love the little spybot. As for his incorporation, I think he'll lead to the twins meeting Reeve; he might actually be using Cait Sith at the moment to be an extra pair of eyes in looking for the missing twins, since Reeve can send kittybot to cover more ground. AAGH, and now I'm thinking of ways to eventually incorporate Cait Sith into the Kid shtick, and it's actually kind of nifty and I like the idea, and--! I think I may have to add a cat to the story of the one-eyed moogle, and that maybe Reeve modeled Cait Sith after that cat. HMM.

If you wanna suggest some stuff for Rocket Town, I'm totally listening. I've got some ideas in my head for the look and (to a lesser extent) layout of some of it, but I have so much interest in it now that I'd love to have the whole thing planned out really nicely.

Alright, roads and some trains for Europe sounds good. And for Yuffie's motion sickness: that's kind of what I was thinking, but I wasn't entirely sure and couldn't remember from the game. Do I remember something about on the Highwind she was a little better if she was outside rather than below deck, or did I imagine that? (By the way, the twins probably left Wutai on a boat. It was not fun tiems for Yuffie.)

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The English translation team -- yeah, I agree. Sorta sucked, though some of their suck turned out to be Absolutely Epic. "This guy are sick", etc. ♥ Actually… that's kind of interesting, kind of. Maybe. Makes me wonder exactly how things would be pronounced in the world of FF7; "English" is the language used in Midgar, etc, but they don't have an England. Unless I'm just thinking too hard on this. I do think it'd be rather cool if it came up in Damned, with Yuffie going 'blah blah Midgar blah etc. Blah Tifa blah blah Nibleheim blah blah Midgar Zolom blah' and somebody making the connection between the names and the original mythology. Out of curiosity, what spelling do you prefer for Aerith/Aeris & Shera/Sierra? (You've mentioned this before, yeah, but it was kind of in passing as far as I remember; you weren't so detailed.)

(/)_(\ orly. Well. I'm glad you've been enjoying them! I've been stalking Kaito's thread, too. Yuffie would like to protest that she's so much more awesome than any mere *shoplifter*.)

Like. Right now? I'm actually not really thinking all that much in my *head*, I'm just… writing my thoughts as I think them, pretty much, and not giving too much attention to anything else. I once got bored before a class and just wrote out an entire monologue of thoughts. That was fun.

I KNOW, RIGHT. I found it and was like… "ooooooooh". And brb while I laugh myself to death at the idea of renting a Turk. Lulz aside, though; would they still have the shadowy connotations that are present in their original canon? As for Cloud and Tifa; that's a good idea. Would you be including Denzel in this? :O

IT'S DRY AND BRIGHT NOW. HAHAHA. But probably still kind of chilly. And. YOU WERE RIGHT ON THE MARK, TWIN. RIGHT. ON. THE. MARK. WTF, weather.

Interesting point when it comes to catbot shenanigans! In Reeve's FF7 profile, it said that he has an actual ability to bring some inanimate objects and suchlike to life. This ability being known as "Inspire". Are you gonna use that, or…? AND! Nifty idea is nifty! I totally think you should go with it. It's a… well, I'd call it foreshadowing, but it isn't quite. It could raise an eyebrow between the twins, though… maybe? Idk where you want to go with it, BUT. Ha. Now I'm getting quite enthused about Cait, myself.

Well, it's… mostly what you said about the different wards. And then the idea of the Inventors Ward being 'softer'. The images that brought to mind, for me at least, was that the Inventors Ward is set on slightly higher ground. Not necessarily to a significant extent, or anything. But maybe… stairs…? Stone ones. Something like that. Also, what's the terrain like around Rocket Town? Is it close to the coast, like it is in FF7?

She didn't really go outside, but she didn't like to stay in the… control room or whatever you'd call it. Usually, you'd be able to find her moping about in the hallways/space outside of that, so she was still indoors. In AC, she *does* stay in the control room-whatever during Cloud's fight against Kadaj and Sephiroth. She also stays in their during the military/tactical meeting just before the Battle over Midgar in DoC. (Poor Yuffie. 8D You gonna have her suffer through the trip?)

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Ahahah, yeah. I think it's kind of common for most games back then to have kind of crappy translations; in any case, they've gotten much, much better in the years since. As for the language... Honestly? On a technical level they're speaking Japanese since it's a Japanese game, but that has the same issue... But with fantasy world, I always view the fact that they're speaking English/Japanese/whatever as magical translation for our benefit when it comes to pure "what language are they speaking" terms. For FF7? Honestly, because of the use of some Norse names for stuff, I tend to think that their language is a bit on the Scandinavian side of things. Which, uh, reminds me. I don't think I ever stated it, but I kind of picture Niflheim as being a country and being the Scandinavia of the 'verses. As for the girls: I prefer "Aerith" and "Sierra."

Well, typing is kind of an extension of inner monologue. It's just that instead of echoing words inside your head, you're using your fingers to form them.

Yes, they would be somewhat shady, mostly because Shinra is somewhat shady. And I dunno 'bout Denzel; he bores me. :|

(Quick aside: the "inspire" thing made me think of The World Ends With You, which led me to compare Reeve to Hanekoma. Oh, the lulz.) I could probably work in Inspire through lifestream magic. I think he's just a kickass engineer above all else, but the magic could give it that little extra "kick" needed to turn a machine into a "living thing." Do you have more info on this? But yeah, I'm reeeeaaaally liking the direction this is going with Cait Sith. And I will reveal my deep, deep (*cough*) thought process that led me to it: "I want Cait Sith in this, but I don't really like his fat moogle from the original game. He's cooler when it's just the cat. ...Heeeey, Kid's cloak is meant to look vaguely like a moogle; I can totally see him riding around on Kid for a bit. WAIT A MINUTE, ONE-EYED MOOGLE STORY." 8D

The area surrounding the rocket is very flat, but once you get away from that and head toward Rocket Town itself, it's a fair deal less even. It's not rocky or anything, but there are some hills; I definitely don't picture the land that the city is built on being completely flat. Given that the scale of the land (vs. speed of travel) on the world map can't really be compared to real-world travel... It's not going to be totally inland, but it's not a coastal town; "close" is a relative term. I'm thinking it'd be maybe a two hour drive (at least) to the coast.

Okay; I'd been thinking that there was one part where you could find her outside, but I may have been thinking of a different character. (Yep. She's not going to be a happy camper, and she's going to refuse to take another boat. She'll *swim* if she has to.)

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The thing about FF7 that makes me go 'hmm' is… well, take AC/C for example. In the Japanese version, most of the writing that you see? Is in English. Signposts, glimpses of text messages, on statues, etc. All English. The Mako Reactors has the numbers in English as well as Japanese (from what I can see), while Wutai has a *lot* of Japanese/Chinese lettering in the tapestries and suchlike. The actual language being some form of Scandinavian would be a lot more interesting, though; it's a good idea. :O And for the girls, I prefer "Sierra", but "Aerith" bugs me. I kind of bite my tongue and just go with it for the most part, though.

Nice way of wording it. 8D INNER MONOLOGUE, I CHOOSE YOU.

Denzel is very 'eh' in my opinion, but he--like Marlene-- can provide an interesting enough foil for characters like Cloud that it might be worth giving him a smidgen of consideration? I mean. You could always have him killed off! … **bricked**

More information… mmn, not much about the ability is explicitly stated. The rest of what I 'know' is just my speculation and conclusions based on what happens in the game/s/movie. Here's a basic overview: Reeve has multiple Caitbots, but only one is in operation at any given time. Cait can act independently, but Reeve can also control him directly and speak through him. There appears to be some connection between them; they're closely enough in tune that Cait can mimic Reeve's movements, etc, but they're separate enough that Cait getting killed doesn't appear to have an effect upon Reeve at all, including mentally. Cait's something like Reeve's "child". And while Reeve speaks very politely/formally/whatever it was, Cait uses an accent -- the same accent that Reeve's mother speaks with. I'm not sure if that was helpful at all, and you probably knew most of it… but! There you go. I'll see if I can think of anything else that I might've missed. ALSO, YOUR THOUGHT PROCESS. I see what you did thar.

This is mostly just an aside, but I thought you might find this wiki interesting: http://beyond_a_wiki.editthis.info/wiki/Further_Reading#Distances_and_Time_on_Gaia I don't agree with everything that the article(s) talk about, but it was a fun read and included some nice speculation.

Hmmm. I can't remember, either. It's possible, but… eh, I need to replay the game. Can't say for sure either way. (Pfffft. That's mean, Twin! Keep up the good work. Kaito'd better be nice to her.)

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Well, that is a good point. I still stick to my Scandinavian theory (old Norse is my favorite for it, though any of the Scandinavian languages are OK) because I like it; maybe an English/Norse hybrid. THOUGH ACTUALLY... I kind of really like the idea of it being like Firefly, where English and Chinese are both predominately spoken; in that show, English is spoken most of the time and Chinese is typically busted out when they start cursing. Maybe like that, but with English and Norse. 8D (As for Aerith/Aeris, I dislike "Aeris" for the aesthetics of the spelling (too... lopsided? I dunno, the "s" bugs me) and the fact that there are a bajillion companies named Aeris.

Wasn't Denzel raised by Reeve's mom before she died? (I have this terrible desire now to throw Denzel and Marlene in with the Detective Boys. A shame those two wouldn't be in Wutai.)

I knew most of that about Reeve and Cait Sith ('cept for Reeve's mom having the same accent as Cait Sith)... It's a shame they don't have any more info about Inspire. MY THOUGHT PROCESS; what did I do thar? :(

Interesting; that's certainly... an in-depth analysis, and some interesting speculation.

More motion sickness questions for you. How do you think she'd be affected by the following modes of transportation: riding a horse; riding in a horse-drawn carriage; train (since I don't remember her riding in one in the game?); prop plane (a la Tiny Bronco).

And now, for some Rocket Town: http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/6227/rockettownsketchsmaller.jpg . Very rough sketch, and I didn't bother doing perspective properly. (Though I do think that buildings at odd angles with each other would be a feature of several of the wards for a sort of "we're squeezing this in here" feel.)

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I find it interesting, actually. I was reading something a long, long time ago, where people were comparing FF7 characters with… stuff. Anyway, I seem to recall somebody saying that they thought either Cid or Cloud looked vaguely Scandinavian. A hybrid of English and Norse could be *very* interesting… or, lol, Firefly route. Reminds me that I really need to try watching that show again; I did like what little I saw of it when I was staying with you. (It's… for me, it's the "th" that I can't stand. Bugs me like woah. Out of curiosity, is it pronounced something like 'Aeris' in the Japanese version? I was listening to a song on the way to work, and one of the lyrics had 'earth' in it, pronounced… 'earse', or something like that.)


Yup. His parents died in the Sector Seven incident, so Reeve's mom (Ruvie, I think he name is) took him in. She corked it during Meteorfall. (HAHAHA, oh man. Have 'em meet sometime? Somehow? … A vacation in Wutai?)

Mmhm, it is. Like I said, I don't really agree with all of it, but it's fun to read.

Oookay. Hm. If she's the one in control of the horse, then she's fine. Horse-drawn carriage she'd prefer to sit on *top* of; inside, she'd feel ill, but not really-really ill. Train… Drawing from my own experience again here; it'd depend on how smooth the ride was. The more rickety, the worse she'd feel, but it still wouldn't be as bad as on a boat. Prop plane would have her going "blaaargh D8", kind of like how she gets on airships (so she'd feel pretty terrible, but upchucking would be a lot rarer than it is on boats.). If those make sense?

Heee! Yay, I like that sketch! The narrow streets kind of remind me of Bruges. The odd angles are definitely a nice touch; I agree.

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I'm totally agreed with people who think Cloud looks vaguely Scandinavian... Cid, too, but to a lesser extent? Fair hair is pretty stereotypical for that region. Aeris is written as "earisu" in Japanese; please note that the Japanese do not have a "th" sound in their language.

EVEN WHEN THEY'RE NOT TWINS, THEY'RE STILL TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN---! (/shot)


Obviously I have to include them in the story now. Maybe they get to have an adventure with Kaito and Yuffie, and the twins can later invite them to Wutai and then it can be expanded Detective Boys tiem. Because of Denzel being taken care of by Ruvie in canon, maybe Denzel is close to Reeve in Pandoraverse. Hmm.

Yes, thank you! Since I'm not sure exactly which kinds of transport are going to come up during the course of the story, it's good to have a reference for possibilities. :D

I'm rather fond of the narrow streets; I think they're wider in some places (to allow for vehicles), but when you get deep into certain wards, it's all by foot. It's an old city, so only the newer areas or ones that have been renovated allow for more modern kinds of layouts.

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Vaguely Scandinavian, discounting the Chocobo that he's got perched on his head. Cid definitely reminds me of some European stereotypes, though I can't nail it down to just one.


Ooh, an adventure with the twins! That could be good. Maybe he could be doing some detective-ing around somewhere and meet them that way? Having him be close to Reeve… that could be interesting! In canon, Ruvie hasn't seen her son for years, though. Would you be scrapping that?

Okay! Well, if you've got any other questions, feel free to ask. ♥ Speculating this stuff is oddly interesting and fun.

Reminds me of this picture, kind of: http://www.terragalleria.com/images/europe/belg10505.jpeg :O
The idea of it getting narrower the further in you get is quite a good one, by the way. I like it!

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I wouldn't necessarily be scrapping Reeve not having seen Ruvie in years; I'm thinking by the current day in Pandoraverse she may have already passed away (through an accident since there's no meteor). If that's the case, maybe Reeve picked Denzel up after her death (at the funeral) instead of Cloud & co. Does canon say where Ruvie was living prior to her death?

Will do! I think that's it for the time being, but I'll definite ask if I think of anything else.

Mm, yeah, it kind of does, only not as... clean? Maybe that's not the word, but hopefully you get what I mean. "Old streets" is kind of the keyword for parts of Rocket Town, particularly the Mechanics Ward, so they kind of have that feeling of narrow streets and not quite run-down buildings, but they're definitely not brand-spankin'-new. Speaking of which! I'm trying to decide on how many wards there are and their names. (And I'm kiiiiiinda tempted to have Shinra have made a hostile takeover of an area back when they first came to town and have it actually be *called* the "Shinra Ward". Debating. I don't want much of a Shinra presence in Rocket Town, but if I have such a ward, it's kind of... disconnected from the rest of the town. Not in location, but in mood, presence, and style. If I have it, it's probably also where Yuffie will be doing her thing during the watch heist instead of some government place.)

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An accident could work! Or old age combined with… idk, stress? Ruvie lived on one of the upper plates in Midgar; can't remember exactly which sector it was, but she lived a comfortable life and seemed fairly well off.

When I think of Rocket Town, I think of… the older areas of my town. Some of the buildings are dusty/sooty, even on the outside, and you can tell just by looking that industry has been there. And on the note of not-brand-new, I can imagine some of the buildings looking kind of like… patchwork jobs? Like instead of taking a place down or totally stripping and renovating it, they just fix up bits and pieces at a time.

Mmmn, maybe instead of calling it the "Shinra Ward", you could use a word that's… kind of related to Shinra/their aims? Though I am fond of the idea of it being disconnected, and having a ward to play in might make things more interesting than just a government building.

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Alright. Since Cloud and Tifa aren't going to be living in Midgar City, I think it'll be easier to have Reeve pick up the kid instead of them. Unless they picked him up before moving away. But I think the move was probably several years ago, and Ruvie's death was more recent.

Yes, definitely! That's exactly it for the oldest parts of Rocket Town. I think that in those oldest parts, the streets aren't wide enough for a car, but there may be motorcycles on the streets for couriers and deliveries; also, there are a lot of alleyways between buildings. There's a rail line passing through the city; there's going to be a small Rail Ward where the station is.

Well, my thought with the (possible) Shinra Ward was that it was originally a different ward, and Shinra slapped its name onto it when they moved in. So it'll be called either war by residents, depending on what their personal feelings about Shinra are. (Some people may even give it a third name--a disparaging one.) Not sure what its original name would have been, though. Also, I'm kind of split on how to characterize it: either pristine and still bustling despite the rest of Rocket Town, or 100% abandoned and in a state of decay (windows broken, graffiti, general vandalism).

'kay; I'll work on it. But Pandora Decision writing may come first.

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The first time the twins were in Rocket Town, it was to steal some stuff and they didn't really get involved with the city. But this time, there's going to be a much more up close and personal look at Rocket Town and how it split into two. Cid and the Highwind crew are very, very involved in the town's situation, and because they accidentally stole something that was much more important than they realized, Yuffie and Kaito are going to get dragged into the aforementioned shit that'll be going down. I may end up splitting events so that the Rocket Town stuff won't happen for a while longer (in which case the twins will end up back there for a third time, and I've got the perfect way to have them go back of their own free will), but they'll be at least partially involved when it does.

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I was reading up on motion sickness, and this bit in wikipedia kind of fascinates me:

"The most common hypothesis for the cause of motion sickness is that it functions as a defense mechanism against neurotoxins. The area postrema in the brain is responsible for inducing vomiting when poisons are detected, and for resolving conflicts between vision and balance. When feeling motion but not seeing it (for example, in a ship with no windows), the inner ear transmits to the brain that it senses motion, but the eyes tell the brain that everything is still. As a result of the disconcordance, the brain will come to the conclusion that one of them is hallucinating and further conclude that the hallucination is due to poison ingestion. The brain responds by inducing vomiting, to clear the supposed toxin."

It also made me wonder if maybe in Klepto/South/Pandora, she's got some subconscious magic trying to cleanse said fictitious poison. 8D

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Ooooooh~! I knew the bit about the disconcordance, but I'd never heard the theory about the fictitiuous poison. That's really kind of awesome and interesting. HM.

... 8D I think that may be an idea that you and I can run with, Twinny.

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I was all "ooh, shiny!" when I read it. Oh, brain, you are a wacky, wacky thing. ♥

And honestly? The magic thing for Kleptoverse was literally the FIRST thing that came to mind when I read it. Probably because of how I had magic stick its nose in where it didn't belong in other medical matters. 8D

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Me too, me too! I wonder if there's anything else like that... WELL, I know there's the whole thing about phantom limbs and such. 8D

I kind of think... maybe the medical things is half the reason why Lifestream Sciences exist? :O

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I agree that Lifestream Sciences are around because of medical applications. I envision medicine as the reason why they started looking into that kind of thing... though it's definitely still a new field.

Also, I'd been thinking about Pandoraverse and medicine lately. I'm thinking that in their medical practices, magic (and by extension, Life Stream sciences) in medicine is much more advanced than in Klepto/South.