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Nausicaa_Cat
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quote:
Originally posted by Saddletank
Your character could have an NPC sister who is the other kitsune but she is lazy, indolent and an under-achiever who completely suppresses her Companion. It's there, it just sleeps all day.



I'm slightly confused by your phrasing - are you suggesting that my character herself be a kitsune or just have a kitsune Companion?

In either case I was thinking the other kitsune could be a little brother (around 5-6 years of age) who doesn't/cannot speak. This plays on the idea that kitsune pairs are usually of two different genders, and also how with guardian statues one is usually open-mouthed and the other closed. That way he'd be also fairly easy to NPC, but could be used for plot importance later on if wanted.

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Saddletank
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No I was referring to the Companion, not the character. Your version is better though.


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Nausicaa_Cat
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quote:
Originally posted by Saddletank
No I was referring to the Companion, not the character. Your version is better though.



Oh okay, cool! I was going to say, what I was picturing was just the fox spirit as a Companion.

Ah, I'm excited for this! I already have a lot of ideas/backstory in mind

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arren18
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Wow, I went to bed and look what I missed! I'll need to think all this over some more, but some of it does sound interesting. I'm still keen to have the supernatural aspect as something fairly low-key, but I can adapt.

Anyway, as for character, I'd probably go for somewhere around my own age, for simplicity's sake.


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Nausicaa_Cat
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quote:
Originally posted by arren18
Wow, I went to bed and look what I missed! I'll need to think all this over some more, but some of it does sound interesting. I'm still keen to have the supernatural aspect as something fairly low-key, but I can adapt.



Whoops, yeah. Well as Saddles said, for the majority of the 'plot', we can play down a lot of the spirits stuff? This is all still super loose, idea-sharing rather than anything decided so don't feel like you missed out on anything at all.

The main thing is that we come up with something everybody can enjoy

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arren18
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Of course that's true. It does sound like a lot of people are keen on that particular idea, though, which is fine! Maybe we can flesh out a few alternatives and see what ends up most popular in the end.


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fenkashi
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Oh man, Isakaya. Those were good times. I miss Mai =(

When were you guys planning on starting? I don't really have any time to join in with the idea sharing, but I'd love to take part once I'm back home in August.


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Kazegami
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I sure don't see us starting before then, fen. You'll definitely be able to join. :3 It be fine anyway even if you and others did join a bit after starting; we weren't all there from the beginning of Isakaya after all and that worked out fine.

Thinking of that ghost whale skeleton reminded me a lot of the boar god scenes at the beginning of Princess Mononoke.

These... companions, guardians... they're something that have always been at characters' sides, but invisible or disguised? Or maybe they're less peculiar to the characters and rather creatures that have lived in and protected the people of this particular town for generations. You mentioned bakeneko earlier, Saddles; I imagined a familiar neighbourhood stray (like Muta from WotH!) turning out to be one. Like, one day the character would see it and it would suddenly have two tails or something like that, while other people didn't seem to notice anything strange about it.


I'm so excited about this. ;v;


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Post last edited by Kazegami on 07.25.2014, 05:25 AM.

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Nausicaa_Cat
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quote:
Originally posted by Kazegami
These... companions, guardians... they're something that have always been at characters' sides, but invisible or disguised? Or maybe they're less peculiar to the characters and rather creatures that have lived in and protected the people of this particular town for generations. You mentioned bakeneko earlier, Saddles; I imagined a familiar neighbourhood stray (like Muta from WotH!) turning out to be one. Like, one day the character would see it and it would suddenly have two tails or something like that, while other people didn't seem to notice anything strange about it.



I actually quite like this idea! In my mind I'd been thinking about how spirits like Kitsune tend to grow more powerful as they grow older etc. and how it would be cool if they were passed down as a protector of my character's family through generations. The character's could be awoken to what are normally just a neighbourhood cat or fox statues, becoming more than that, when the sort of danger descends?

That would limit the supernatural element a bit more, which arren may prefer, and could even only be brought in after a few playable days.

In terms of what triggers the 'danger', how about we play on the Ponyo/Princess Mononoke vibes and have a recent bout of sea pollution be the cause of the sea spirit descending? There could have been a new factory on the water being built for example, which would have angered a lot of the normal townspeople anyway. Merely a suggestion, just thought the whole nature-out-of-balance thing would give it a Ghibli element.

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Kazegami
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quote:
Originally posted by Nausicaa_Cat
I actually quite like this idea! In my mind I'd been thinking about how spirits like Kitsune tend to grow more powerful as they grow older etc. and how it would be cool if they were passed down as a protector of my character's family through generations. The character's could be awoken to what are normally just a neighbourhood cat or fox statues, becoming more than that, when the sort of danger descends?

That would limit the supernatural element a bit more, which arren may prefer, and could even only be brought in after a few playable days.

Right. And the reason that only some people can see them is that only families who've been in the area for many years have these guardians. Hm, and anyone who wanted to be a newcomer to the area but also able to see the spirits could perhaps do so because of being descended from a family that used to live in the area, even if it was way back, even if they're not aware of the connection.
quote:
In terms of what triggers the 'danger', how about we play on the Ponyo/Princess Mononoke vibes and have a recent bout of sea pollution be the cause of the sea spirit descending? There could have been a new factory on the water being built for example, which would have angered a lot of the normal townspeople anyway. Merely a suggestion, just thought the whole nature-out-of-balance thing would give it a Ghibli element.


Makes sense to me. It being a coastal area you can imagine there being a lot of fishing families who wouldn't be at all happy about something like that.


Ah, I'm a little conscious that the three of us are sort of running away with his... Is everyone okay with where this is going? It's really important we have everyone on board. Please chip in if there's anything you don't like the sound of or want to add.


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Post last edited by Kazegami on 07.25.2014, 12:21 PM.

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Saddletank
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Hi Fen! It would be lovely to have you play. I miss Mai as well. Why don't you play her? She's older, graduated from school, got over her lost love at Isakaya and moved to the coast to work in a local business for the summer?

She might be one of the non-Companion people.

I know its a trope but she could be the 'main outsider' character who enters a community with secrets and slowly they impact on her. Think of the opening episode of 'Air'.

Or it could just be an excuse to use the sundress pic again

Yes, Kaz and NC, you are thinking very much along the same lines I was. The current characters are the present members of an ancient line of families who in the past understood spirits and had spirit helpers that aided and protected the community in times of danger - either natural diasters like tsunami, earthquake or crop failures or from warring daimyo and their armies. These families were respected in the community and had high social standing.

Over the centuries with modernisation and change and traditions becoming less respected the local beliefs became forgotten or suppressed but the spirts watched over their (unknowing) hosts and its a tradition that while many young people leave this small seaside town and go on to be successful in the cities, some family members (it just seems like its one person from each generation) stays in the town and appears to stay poor and unsuccessful. But they always marry, have children and the family line goes on.

Of course its the Companions who are choosing the host of each generation. The host suffers a rather dull life without travelling the world and some resent their lack of good fortune but in fact their fortune is in staying here and continuing the bloodline. Those who once were the proudest and most respected families in the town are now seen as the poorest, least successful and worst-travelled. This seems like an unfair curse but time will prove that it is a blessing.

Kaz - yes, we need something Ghibliesque such as pollution to cause damage in the sea, or maybe a political move by local fat cats to establish a factory nearby, perhaps a huge fish or whale processing plant with dodgy ethics - I'm just scrambling for ideas here - something of that sort.

Although I think for the Companions to come out of generations of silence it should be something really catastrophic.

My priest may have a store of old scrolls that describe some of the past glories of these families, but he keeps them secure and acts as a form of guardian of this important knowledge. I like the Muta idea of a big fat lazy cat who everyone thinks has just had too many pies but who is actually magical and quite powerful. Not sure about the twin tails but perhaps different coloured eyes or fur when he does whatever he does, (no idea what that is yet!)

You know, this setting does allow anyone who had a character they liked in Izakaya to bring them in like maybe Mai could. Hibiki could be here... its the same universe as Izakaya but otherwise unrelated, a little like a new iteration of Star Trek, new characters, same universe. Hibiki bumping into Mai for example would be awesome in fact and those two could spend ages chatting about the good old days

Eh, I rambled on a long time. Over to others to throw ideas in.


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Saddletank
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Ug. I can't stop thinking. Just had an idea. If Mai or Hibiki do come in, one of them could be an employee of the Bad Guys At The Factory. Even someone pro- that development.


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Kazegami
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If we're needing something more catastrophic then how about something akin to a massive oil spill in the sea - perhaps instead a massive spill of chemicals from the factory due to an explosion or something, or a large ship connected to the factory running aground. Thousands of sea creatures could die from this, washing up on the shore - among them that spirit. It could ruin the beaches and the local sea. Well, the scale of the disaster can be whatever we need it to be.

That also opens another possibility for outsider characters - they could be volunteers in the cleanup operation.

Will write more later, cooking dinner just now.


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Post last edited by Kazegami on 07.25.2014, 12:45 PM.

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Nausicaa_Cat
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quote:
Originally posted by Kazegami
Ah, I'm a little conscious that the three of us are sort of running away with his... Is everyone okay with where this is going? It's really important we have everyone on board. Please chip in if there's anything you don't like the sound of or want to add.



I feel very strongly this way also. I know me, Kaz and Saddles are all on GMT time as well (are we not? I think we're all UK-ers?) so I don't want people feeling like they're missing the chance to input because they've been working or sleeping or something

The idea of having old characters re-join is really nice, but would it not be on them to also (when interacting with each other or thinking over past memories) tie up the loose ends of Isakaya? That might be a little complex. I mean you could just have them 'drop out' or 'move away', but Hibiki for example had to be there whilst the spirit healed his throat cancer? My understanding of it all was very vague though so perhaps I'm misjudging all that.

Also, just to add to your mythos there Saddles about the hosts having to remain in the village, seemingly due to bad luck and fate. I was thinking that my character's parents could have died - due to the fact that the mother and her twin brother (to carry on the double kitsune theme) fought fate and left the village and as a result great misfortune befell them. Perhaps the twins were even aware that this would happen to some degree, but decided to fight fate anyway? Maybe an underlying awareness that 'bad things happen' when one leaves the village could be part of the family's history. I don't want to make things too complex of course, just a thought.

@Kaz, I think a large oil spill/chemical spill would suit purposes quite well.

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Haha, this is very exciting. So for the first time in months, I've come online at work!

I've only had time to skim the amazing ideas you guys are throwing around, but I'm very drawn to Saddle's idea of being an outsider coming into a community with secrets. For Mai coming back, it would be a bit less complex than Hibiki or Aoi (though, it'd be so great to have Mush!).

After such intense years at Isakaya, she may have drifted away from that group and I think, having gained some life years, she would be more serious, less warm. Straight-laced and closed off to the spirit world, maybe a bit in denial even. It would be a lot of unspoken things in her life (and at some point, for personal development, she may talk of them, but it would be very involved).

If you're going with the factory/environmental disaster idea (which I think would be a really neat starting point), she could be a negotiator brought in by the Bad Company to buy off the people of the town, and avoid litigation. That gives her reason to interact with a variety of characters.


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I was thinking of being an outsider coming in on a community with secrets! I definitely want a romantic relationship, though. I was thinking that my character could be looking for work near the sea, because they live close by, and they discover the secrets with everyone else.


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Kazegami
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Character's beginning to take shape. I have an anime character to represent him.

But I'm still very attached to Kazuo... I might have him appear. I remember he was from a coastal town so he might as well be from the one here, but was one of the 'ones that got away'. My main character, the one in the family cursed to be stuck in the area, might be his cousin.

Could be an... interestingly difficult meeting, fen, since Kazuo and Mai would be on opposing sides.

My character will be nineteen I think. And Kazuo a little older, what, about twenty-two? Whatever age you had in mind for Mai, fen.


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I have my character pretty much firmed up in my mind now as well as her accompanying anime character appearance.

Kazuo would be very interesting to add to the mix!

As far as playing NPC roles, I don't mind doing a few of those as they appear necessary? I know a lot of the brunt of that fell on you last time Saddles, so I'm happy to help out a lot more this time round!

Okay so to summarise the current plot ideas which seem to be floating:

- The setting is a small seaside town, which has (perhaps) in the last few years seen the erection of a large factory. This would have resulted in mixed reactions and tensions > new people would have moved into the area to work there, fishing may have been affected etc.
- The town features several families which have lived in the area for many, many generations. Within these families, once a generation, somebody tends to end up 'stuck' in the area. They are plagued by misfortune if they attempt to leave and so end up remaining in the area. This could have a varying level of impact on the lifestyle of the family and stature in the neighbourhood. (I don't know that I want to assume they'll necessarily be universally hated)
- An environmental disaster happens due to the factory and as a result the sea becomes polluted.
- This results in the appearance of some kind of negative spirit which threatens the safety of the town.
- 'Guardian spirits' of those previously mentioned families rally and perhaps bestow powers on their associated human/or use their powers alongside them.
- In amongst this would be an investigation into the spirits/cursed families involving the town shrine's records and the playing out of factory officials vs. townspeople.

How is all of this so far sounding to everybody? Are there elements people aren't sure about or want changed? Or even want to scrap the whole concept all together?

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I prefer the idea of something being planned or about to happen that warns the spirit world into action, more than a catastrophe that has already happened and the beaches are polluted.

1) Huge fish/whale factory processing plant
2) Industry up the coast with supertankers that might run aground
3) Nuclear power plant nearby
4) Big hotel chain wanting to create a resort and so 'pollute' the town in a less physical way (I am liking this one more and more)
5) New high speed bullet train link that will drive a huge bridge across the bay
6) etc etc - more impact on culture and town tradition that actual pollution maybe?

My feeling is the spirits sense the problem before it occurs and work to guide their hosts into stopping it happening.

I am a weeny bit reluctant to see the introducing of too many Isakaya characters. Mai seemed an obvious one because Fen mentioned her. Hibiki I simply mentioned as a way to suggesting to Arren that he could 'buy into' the new game because he didn't seem over-happy with the setting. I think if we bring in any more it may seem a cheesy co-incidence.


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Nausicaa_Cat
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I agree with you on the 'about to happen' front maybe, but not so much on the 'impact on culture and town tradition' aspect?

It's just that from what I understand of Japanese spirits and the culture that surround that, a big part of their existence is linking man with nature and being part of that balance. Consequently it would make sense for them to be intervening on matters which will 'hurt the land', so to speak.

A big hotel chain building a resort, however, may be an 'evil' in terms of changing the way of life, but is still just modernisation in the works. Would spirits intervene just to prevent tourists? A lot of seaside towns would probably welcome the huge boost in income and prosperity, even if it meant sacrificing a quieter more traditional way of life.

I'm not completely against it, I'm just not sold on it. 1, 3 and 5 I get more. Maybe if you explain your reasoning a little more?

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