Part 5: A Naming of Stoners

Chapter 5 - A Naming of Stoners


I'm open to falling from graaace.



Faaaalling, falling down.



And we just fall back to the slums again, this is why we can't have nice things.



Of course I am, I just fell 50 meters.

'No but you see Gaia is a smaller world so the gravity there...'




Can you hear the drums Fernandoooo.



In Rio people who live in the slums ('favelas') are often called 'favelados', a term that is also a bit pejorative.



Midgar FAVELADOS would be a great gang tag.



Again, there's no way I can guide you through this conversation.



Every man knows it doesn't work like this.





I don't know, Cloud seems pretty submissive to me. Not sure that kind of dynamic would work with him.



You go big guy.





Think what you will, I'm done here.



Hey, Cloud is alive!



Sure lady I just fell off into... a flower bed.

Anyway we're introduced to this nice music right now. Also, spoilers in the related videos.









Not pictured: The roof made of several different layers of trampolines.





Even the flowers are super-heroes in Final Fantasy worlds.






I suppose it's convenient I just happened to fall down in the ONE place where flowers grow.







Mwahahaha.



It's not my fault you can't stop drinking lady.



She doesn't mind as long as you're paying.



How to flirt with guys in Midgar:

Option 1: Talk about the Train Monitor.
Option 2: Ask them about their Materia.



If you think about it, Cloud starts the game with two Materia, and they're linked... hmmm.



Like I said, the thing's commercialized. It's kinda like the opposite of FFVI here.





This conversation is a lot more awkward than it should have been if you've been following my train of thought here.





So you're saying that this we've been doing is NOT talking? We're already halfway the update.





Ah yes, the moment we've all been waiting for.



This is it guys, the LP is over. Take care!



Well you see I feel like the only way to play this game is to do it the way the devs intended so obviously I'm gonna name her the original Japanese name here like I did with Mr. ARUKARUDO.




I kid of course, I know that both sides (people who want her named Aerith and the people who don't care) need equal representation so:



I kid of course, I know that Aerish is just a spy so let's rename her to Sephiroth.



I kid of course, I don't care about you guys who don't care, we Aerith lovers must show the world our devotion to a 'TH' with love and Caps Lock.



I kid of course. You see, is clearly a reference to GRRM's character, so I'm finally now truly naming her as the devs intended.



Here's something few people know - Daenerys is just a horrible mistranslation from Targaryen-to-English that the editors imposed on GRRM. The intended name was Daeneryth.

Which of course is an anagram for 'YEN R DEATH' which is a harsh criticism to the financial situation of Japan etc.

We have no choice but to name her the way GRMM intended else we're not paying attention to detail etc:



At any rate I think we'd rather pay homage to the Mad King so I'll name her Aeris with an 'I' so I don't get sued.



There you go, all Aeris' name variations you can imagine. I hope everyone's happy now so we can move on to better things.







Even Aeris is following this LP's train of thought.

I really like this, it's an effective intro. Aeris is laughing because you do "everything". We learn that she is smart, that she is caring, but that she's also got a dirty mind and a sense of humor.



Some dude with red hair comes in.







And apparently the dude with red hair is bad news.









See, this is what I was saying about how people completely miss the point of FFVII. Specially about Aeris.



Cloud facepalms.



And then accepts

If you think about it, both are paying with their bodies.



Of course accepting sex in exchange of bodyguarding gives Cloud another psychotic episode.





Even the creepy kidnapper guy thinks Cloud is weird.

For all people complain about FF7AC, I think they did it a spot-on job on Reno.

I think this scene is more relevant than most people assume though.



Yeah you sure taught him there Cloud, sick Iceburn bro.





I love Reno, dude's just chillax about his crap.



Yeah because falling 170 feet and crashing the roof on them was no big deal.







Reno: "And don't step on the flowers!"




NEXT TIME:

Goofy villainy! Awesome music! New Materia! Godawful translation jobs!



And now for an extra special Bugs & Bytes to make for the lack of it last time, since you guys have been asking for more talk about Rio.


Bugs & Bytes

Rio de Janeiro



So yay, we fell back into the slums. The first (and in my opinion, bigger) similarity between Midgar and, I suppose, other cities around the world is how the city divides the rich from the poor.

In Midgar we have the upper plate, and the slums underneath.

Rio is divided in three 'zones', West, North and South. The further you go South, the higher the average wealth of the population is.

There are exceptions of course, but it's a good rule of thumb. The south and the north are divided by the Shinra Building, also known as Corcovado, where the Christ statue is. The South is also the place you always see on the postcards from the Christ PoV. Like this:



It's also there the Sugar Loaf is. Also unlike Moonrake and Fast Five imply, there's no desert anywhere near Rio, the entire place is as green as green can be in a major city and for hundreds of miles around.

It's also worth noting that North is much, much bigger than South. And the west is much bigger than both.



You see that map? The blue spot is where Christ the Redeemer is. The light-green region on the southeast is the South. The dark green is the North, and the Pink is the West. And the West is much, much bigger than the other two combined. There are districts in Western Rio that are much bigger than the whole South.



There are maps that completely omit West and North because they presume it's not what tourists want to see.

You can travel any way you want, but there is a subway linking the south and the north, and also a train in the north.


Aeris' name

Aeris name was intended to be Aerith because it's an anagram for I Earth. After FF7 the company made sure all versions of her name were translated to Aerith with a th. Some people go apeshit when they see Aeris written with an S.


Name Screen



Fun fact, in the Japanese version you got more options here for different sets of characters. You can even put a little heart in your character names.