Trace of Two Pasts novel discussion

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I'm really interested to see how all this goes, and whether they'll take the story as far as Shinra's rediscovery of Aerith in Elmyra's care. I feel there's a plot-related reason why Nojima made the Gainsborough family Teamsters (or were Teamsters truck-drivers?), and I think it'll be connected to the reason why Shinra decided to leave her with Elmyra. I really hope we get to see a mobster war between the Gainsborough family and the Corneo family, with Aerith in the middle!!

I've also always really liked the way Shinra leaves the "government" of the slums to whoever is strong enough to make their power felt. Maybe it's a different mob in every sector. If you're lucky, it's a collective, like the Neighbourhood Watch, as in Sector 7. If you're unlucky, it's a brutal dictator like Corneo.

I get the feeling Nojima had fun writing this. I hope he did.

 

[frosty]

Thanks @odekopeko and @Eerie for taking a stab at the Tifa novel. I realize I made some mistakes (i.e. Aerith doesn't know what a picnic is) from loose translations, and it seems that she does!

Rona as a name is....

I really love the fact that Elmyra is a mobster's daughter-in-law!

It makes sense now that their house is so lavish, for some place in the slums. I always wondered about it, chalked it up to "one of those things game people don't think about" or settle on the theory that Aerith used her talents to also grow weed, with a sophisticated supply-chain to Wall Market and that whole flower basket and pram thing was a farce lol (Kidding, but not really)

Maybe it's a different mob in every sector

I think this is confirmed somewhere in the Tifa part of the novel. Here? That each section of the slums is ruled by a different "boss" and trouble arises if there are territory conflicts
https://fusetter.com/tw/uvz2qQOY#all

I think it's funny the Tifa part of the novel speaks about her taking two showers a day because it translates to being more cost efficient - maybe that's why her voice lines in FF7R are about having a shower

I'm also seeing somewhere on Twitter (I can't remember the source!) that kids later accuse Aerith of being a name thief, because they know who the "real" Rona is. I'm wondering if there is a connection with this backstory, and the scenes in the train graveyard, where kid Aerith wants to play hide and seek, but no one wants to play with her

 

[Torrie]

That's an unfortunate name you got saddled with there, Aerith.

Rona as a name is....

Are there any cultural associations with this name that I don't know of, like in Billy Bob's case? Doesn't sound that bad to me (except it's part of "corona" and we've been sick and tired of the pandemic for quite a while already).

 

[Odysseus]

(except it's part of "corona" and we've been sick and tired of the pandemic for quite a while already).

Yes that

 

[waw]

The Teamsters were originally truck drivers, as a union it encompasses more today.

Ah, the multiple bosses per slums make sense. We should have one being a gambler with a heart of gold!

 

[Shadowfox]

It's getting much easier to headcanon a Leverage crew or two starting up in the sector slums.

 

[waw]

It's a bit silly, but have we listed out/mapped out the slum leaders/gangs anywhere to have a clearer/accessible picture of who is where? If not, I can work on putting that together.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I don't know of anyone who's done this.
Do we yet know of any slum leaders aside from
Corneo - 6 (or maybe only Wall Market)
Gabriel Gainsborough (note the angelic name!) - 5
That guy in Sector 7 who controlled Tifa's doctors and the bun stall

 

[Eerie]

@odekopeko just posted the next part of the novel:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1420820229920231427

Enjoy

 

[Final_Heaven]

@odekopeko just posted the next part of the novel:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1420820229920231427

Enjoy

I’m probably going to check their twitter every day for more

 

[Eerie]

Well, I hope you're a K-pop fan then

 

[Kain424]

So wait... the story proper starts on page 8?

 

[Eerie]

Yes. Before that it's just the presentation, title, summary? A book never starts on page 1, so why the surprise? She's putting the page count for people for have the book in Japanese and who want to check.

 

[Kain424]

Just want to be sure I'm not missing anything, since my own copy seems to have been lost in transit.

 

[Freederick ZERO]

[QUOTE = "LicoriceAllsorts, post: 910263, membro: 625"] Tenho que dizer que adoro a parte "eles a objetificaram e tiraram fotos de seu peito". Uma crítica não tão sutil aos fãs que veem Tifa como nada além de seu peito. A questão sobre "eles a viam como um prêmio a ser ganho" aponta a mesma coisa.

[/ CITAR]

Por parte dos médicos não objetivaram, a verdade é que procuraram mostrar aos pacientes como a cirurgia faz a diferença comparando a foto com o antes e depois, para divulgar o seu serviço, que é um bom método sujo. É por isso que Marle ficou chateada com os médicos porque eles fizeram isso com uma MENINA DE 15 ANOS, ela é menor e eles também não pediram sua permissão.

 

[Makoeyes987]

[QUOTE = "LicoriceAllsorts, post: 910263, membro: 625"] Tenho que dizer que adoro a parte "eles a objetificaram e tiraram fotos de seu peito". Uma crítica não tão sutil aos fãs que veem Tifa como nada além de seu peito. A questão sobre "eles a viam como um prêmio a ser ganho" aponta a mesma coisa.

[/ CITAR]

Por parte dos médicos não objetivaram, a verdade é que procuraram mostrar aos pacientes como a cirurgia faz a diferença comparando a foto com o antes e depois, para divulgar o seu serviço, que é um bom método sujo. É por isso que Marle ficou chateada com os médicos porque eles fizeram isso com uma MENINA DE 15 ANOS, ela é menor e eles também não pediram sua permissão.

Any reason why you're replying in Portuguese?

You can read English since you translated their English post into Portuguese so... I'm sorta lost about this.

 

[Freederick ZERO]

Any reason why you're replying in Portuguese?

You can read English since you translated their English post into Portuguese so... I'm sorta lost about this.

Oops, my mistake kkkkkkkkkkk, thanks for letting me know

 

[Freederick ZERO]

I have to say I love the "they objectified her and took photos of her chest" bit. A not so subtle dig at those fans who see Tifa as nothing but her chest. The thing about "they saw her as a prize to be won" makes the same point.

On the part of the doctors, they did not aim, the truth is that they tried to show patients how the surgery makes a difference, comparing the photo with the before and after, to publicize their service, which is a good dirty method. That's why Marle was upset with the doctors because they did this to a 15 YEAR OLD GIRL, she is underage and they didn't ask her permission either.

 

[Maidenofwar]

Ahhh, a new update from Stanley on Aerith's story is out! I confess to some tears during some sad bits Some very interesting stuffs revealed including past connections between cast members, like some people suspected before is revealed!

 

[TurquoiseHammer]

That Chapter 21 ending... at least confirms that if Biggs did survive in the main party's timeline, they still don't know about it by the time they leave Junon. Not that the OG ever showed any means of communication with Midgar aside from Reeve and Cait Sith. Begs the question, how hard is it to get one of them big ass cell phones Heideggar is holding? Cloud didn't get a phone until right before AC right? And it seems like only topsiders have landline phones. Is there a phone somewhere in Elmyra's house in Remake?

 

[Odysseus]

So Biggs was Racer X all along.

 

[frosty]

“It’s the same, it’s the same. If I recall correctly, the 'Lower Class Sector 5 House’ was the official name, and Sector 5 House was the common name. That name was changed to the 'Leaf House’. I didn’t know it at the time, but there was a rumour that its proprietors were selling kids away.”

Whelp. That turned dark pretty fast. All the happy pappy images of Ms. Folia and Aerith's flower mural replaced instead with...kid trafficking.
Think there was a speculation on that a few pages back and....

This does sound like the kind of place Cissnei came from, but it definitely doesn't sound like Leaf House. One could spin it that after the "breakout" of the oprhans Shinra decided to become more caring and compassionate in their treatment of orphans, but does that really sound like the Shinra we know and love? We don't know when Zack undertook these missions, but we do know that it could either have been before or after he met Aerith; we know Aerith has had a long association with Leaf House, and that Biggs worked there before Miss Folia. Does he seem like the kind of man who would have helped to run a brutal boot camp for child soldiers?

...and so it seems then that Biggs is the one who turned the Leaf house around, then.

If anything, Clay popping up and Aerith thinking he's actually physically there...calling for Elmyra but she's not able to see Clay...and Ifalna being able to see and interact with Aerith a bit after her death...but starting to fade away into translucence. Idk, I haven't been following the new Material Ultimania, but then it just kind of hints that Zack and Aerith are...indeed dead in Part 2.

Zack comes to see to Aerith at the church, and no one seems to be able to notice him in Intermission...and was it @aitaikimochi that says Aerith projects her future consciousness in her resolution scene to tell Cloud that "everyone dies / cherish this moment etc?" and then fading away? Wouldn't it mean that Aerith is already...part of the lifestream by then? It just kinda seems too similar to be a coincidence.

Is there a phone somewhere in Elmyra's house in Remake?

Not that anyone had a screen shot of. There IS one in Jessies house tho, and it looks exactly like the ones I use in my office

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I still don't think The Sector 5 House, where "people are selling kids away" sounds the same as an institution where children are brutally trained (and NOT sold away) to be soldiers in Shinra's military units. It sounds like an orphanage that fell under corrupt management and was a front for trafficked kids, like a lot of real-life orphanages, tbh. I could give you links but it's distressing reading.

How old is Biggs supposed to be?

 

[Odysseus]

How old is Biggs supposed to be?

25

 

[frosty]

Google says the Remake Ultimania says Biggs is 25. I think there are some sources that say Aerith is 13 when she starts working / volunteering at the Leaf House, that would make him...16? Which is pretty young, but Zidane was 16 and Tidus was 17 when they saved the world, so...maybe just FF's weird age system, where Tseng also looks like forever 18.

I still don't think The Sector 5 House, where "people are selling kids away" sounds the same as an institution where children are brutally trained (and NOT sold away) to be soldiers in Shinra's military units.

Yea probably not trained for child soldiers. More like, hey a kid went missing one day, out of ~ mysterious ~ reasons, and no one talks about it.