Trace of Two Pasts novel discussion

Shademp

Shademp

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Torrie said:
I'm wondering the same; perhaps it's the fact that the novel leaves much less room for imagination. Before it came out, we could have theorized about the age of the Shinra manor, or the size of Nibelheim, or Tifa's early days in Midgar, or the kind of people Aerith and Ifalna interacted with in Shinra HQ etc. But now that the lore has been enriched, and the curiosity has been satisfied, what else is left to do?
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This is probably a huge reason why this novel feels so monumental to me and why my interest is at a near maximum. So much of the narrative contains stuff that we've only speculated about for well over 20 years...and now we have official literature diving into the aforementioned topics.

The novel speaks to my desire of wanting more of FF7's world fleshed out and enriched, with some obvious exceptions like not wanting Jenova's full origin story. It's the same joy I derive from seeing locations, characters and monsters realized in modern high-end 3D graphics. Leaving things to the imagination? That's (generally) not my disposition :wacky: Though I understand how much of the new content is a mixed blessing, if not an outright detriment, to the fanfic realm.
 
LicoriceAllsorts

LicoriceAllsorts

Donator
I've got another one.

In the section where Aerith describes her escape from the Shinra Building, their friend Fuzz the orderly provides them with new clothes before they escape:

The emergency bell rang in the morning. Hurried by Ifalna, Aerith changed her clothes. It was clothes she had never seen before.

“Fuzz prepared these for us,” Ifalna informed as she also wore her new clothes.
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Which means the clothes he provided for Ifalna are these:

Ifalna_from_Final_Fantasy_VII_Remake_artwork.png
So I guess that isn't traditional Cetra garb, merely a dress and shawl Fuzz managed to get hold of.
Unless he somehow has access to traditional Cetra garb. Maybe he is a Cetra?????? :O Maybe he's Ifalna's BROTHER????:kermit:

Or she told him, get me a floor length swooshy dress that's difficult to run or climb fences in, and a purple shawl to tie around my waist. The perfect escape outfit!
 
Makoeyes987

Makoeyes987

Listen closely, there is meaning in my words.
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Smooth Criminal
Yeah, to me that kind of ambiguity and openness suits films and stories that are either surreal or more generally geared to the psychological, the horrific, or just simply standalone in their narrative. If a story's going to be overarching and immersive, I want that type of detailed development that builds on the intricacy and history of this fantasy world that exists to contain the story. It's fascinating and entertaining. Like, FFVII's world definitely has so much that it has yet to explore, and yeah it doesn't need to explore everything, but it certainly has a lot of mystique that makes it one of my favorites. It's cyberpunk yet juxtaposed with many rural communities. Its a world that's vast with isolated communities, yet it feels so small and fragile with it's dwindling ecosystem. It's a world that just seems like its barely holding on and trying to re-establish itself.

@LicoriceAllsorts

I don't think it's that surprising that Ifalna would be given traditional Cetra clothing from the Science Department since they're studying a Cetra "specimen." Maybe, Fuzz gave this to her early as a parting gift so that she had something elegant or presentable to leave with and not just some standard science specimen scrubs that would be obvious to Shinra agents who'd be looking for her.
 
LicoriceAllsorts

LicoriceAllsorts

Donator
Aerith had never seen these clothes before, though.
Fuzz is planning to meet up with her later the same day in, I think Sector 4 slums. A sick woman fleeing a mad scientist with her small daughter doesn't care about looking elegant. She cares about getting away. Do those clothes look to you like good running away clothes? If Fuzz wants to give her something elegant he can give it to her later, once they've escaped. It would have been far better to give her clothes that would have enabled her to blend in with the other slum dwellers.
I must say I am interested to know Fuzz' story now.
 
Shademp

Shademp

420
I am yet to read a full summary of the Aerith chapters (I'm considering leaving myself in the dark a bit, having almost fully spoiled myself about the Tifa chapters already) but in the original game Ifalna is already wearing her familiar garb in the tapes made by Professor Gast many years earlier. Makes you wonder what clothes Ifalna will be wearing when you see these tapes in Remake.

Maybe the clothes provided by Fuzz are something entirely different and Ifalna donned her standard outfit after the escape from Shinra HQ.
 
Makoeyes987

Makoeyes987

Listen closely, there is meaning in my words.
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Smooth Criminal
I know, they were a parting gift, since Ifalna and Aerith were to be hopefully escaping and free in the world again.

EDIT: Wait, they only say Aerith had never seen these clothes before. Aerith was kidnapped as a baby.

These could easily have been Ifalna's clothes that were taken from her upon being kidnapped when Aerith was still a baby, while she was free. These could be her actual traditional Cetra clothes she owned but were stripped from her when she became a Shinra prisoner and specimen. That makes more sense.
 
The Twilight Mexican

The Twilight Mexican

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TresDias
Makoeyes987 said:
Completely deaf to their own mother. No wonder she preferred Sephiroth. Sephiroth comes when he's called.
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When she calls him what, tho? :awesome:

LicoriceAllsorts said:
To run an experiment, you kind of need scientists there doing calibrations and recording observations and generally doing science stuff. I just can't get over the fact that they left Jenova there completely unguarded. If it were just experiments, then yes, maybe, I can see Hojo being left to do whatever he likes, like seal the place up and then open it ten years later to see what emerged - but this is Jenova. President Shinra values Jenova. Were Turks really just popping in from time to time to check that she hadn't disintegrated yet? Apart from anything else, they need Jenova to make their super soldiers. What if somebody, like Wutai, got hold of the secret and took her?
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According to Seph in Crisis Core, there were still workers at the reactor:

"Legions of monsters have spawned near a regional mako reactor. The workers have all gone missing."

Well, there were still workers there until either the regular monsters or Hojo got to them.
 
Cae Lumis

Cae Lumis

Lv. 25 Adventurer
Going by the details that the figures in Aerith's Mural in her old room at Shinra Building wear outfits that matches the garb seen in Shinra's VR Movie about the Cetra, and we know via Picturing the Past that some of the artwork was done by both Ifalna and Aerith while going over the History of the Cetra... I think its safe to assume that what Ifalna and Aerith are wearing are just clothes that Fuzz managed to scrounge up and give her... though you could argue that the jewelry is traditional Cetran.

Comparison for fun:
Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 7.47.27 PM.png
4it3392q08v41.jpg

That being said, you could maybe say that while it was just clothing Fuzz managed to find, he was influenced by the general look of the Cetra when making his choices.

Also, something from the Japanese version of Crisis Core: Hollander was under the impression that Hojo wouldn't know about where Jenova was kept either, with the Q/A saying that Shinra basically lied to Hollander about this.

[Hollander] だがジェノバ細胞は 保管場所が分からない 宝条でさえ知らないんだ 見つかりっこない！！

[Hollander] But I don't even know where the Jenova Cells are stored. I don't even think Hojo knows, but I don't know where he is!!
(The retranslation was done through a more knowledgeable friend of mine)

Reading between the lines, it seems that during the Jenova Project proper, neither Hojo nor Hollander were told where Jenova herself was, only given samples of her cells to work with. After Hojo beat out Hollander in becoming R&D's new Division Chief, Shinra then told Hojo where Jenova was... which presumably earned the mad scientist quite the cackle.
 
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cold_spirit

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Alex T
On Ifalna's clothes: I think it's just an inconsistency between the game and novel. Wouldn't be the first time this has happened.

In the Episode Denzel short story, Denzel creates a makeshift spear from a plank of wood to go rat hunting. He then collapses outside of Aerith's church and is discovered by Cloud. In that same scene in Advent Children Complete, he's using a sharpened iron pipe.

Inconsistencies happen.
 
Shademp

Shademp

420
Ah but you see, Square has created an out for themselves. Every inconsistency means it's just another iteration of the timeline. The Whispers let things slide, like Denzel having a spear of iron instead of wood, so long as the larger picture is preserved. EVERY FFVII TITLE IS ITS OWN UNIQUE TIMELINE! :wacky:

I am joking with the above statement but if Square comes out and says that this perspective is valid I would honestly not be surprised.
 
A

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a_apple
Tifa bump into Turks when she was on the mountain and offer her service as a guide

RedXIII said they pick Tifa probably because younger ones are easier to manipulate, and are more susceptible to Shinra's propaganda. Tifa was almost still a child, and that's exactly what they want

Aerith ask her would she still want to be the guide now that she knows why she got pick

Tifa think to herself "Yes, because I want to get closer to Cloud", but she never actually answered that question
https://fusetter.com/tw/qd3QlXNj#all
So does that mean that Tifa actually thinks that Cloud was at the Nibelheim incidence present, Is that why she doesn't say anything?
 
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