trace of nostalgia [video]

[zanarkandian]

[Tidus is out by the water on the Curti Center island, as he usually is. There's a sunglasses-wearing moogle, Zunne, sunning on the beach behind him. But for anyone who knows Tidus, it might seem more odd that his eyes, usually bright blue, are now red.]

Hey guys, me again. I hope everybody's doing okay after that trip---and if you've run into any chocobo eaters, rest up. They're really tough!

Anyway, I've just been thinking. Does something about this place seem off to anyone else? I don't really know how to explain it, I know it sounds crazy, but I can't help but wonder why we're really here. It's just...I see these little things everywhere that are familiar, but they aren't? And I have to wonder if something big's lurking out there that we should know about?

Maybe I'm just homesick. Or hungry, that could be it.

[Distantly, from the Moogle's direction: 'How astute.' Tidus mumbles and ducks his head.]

All right, he's right. That's enough. If anybody's still up for blitz practice, I'll see you tomorrow!

Comments

video

[nanaimo_bar]

The unsettling fact that too much is very similar to my own world feels off. But at the same time, there is enough different that makes me feel like I am on some sort of grand adventure.

Still the same, I will be up for attending practice.

video

[zanarkandian]

You're probably right. Better to just relax and deal with it as it comes, yeah?

[He leans down and squints at the screen. Something about her is different.]

Hey, are you feeling okay?

Re: video

[nanaimo_bar]

Indeed. No worry should grace our lips for the time being, if we are to relax for the morrow.

[Hmm? She looks up a little.] Whatever do you mean?

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[promiselisting]

I mean there's plenty that seems off, but this place isn't anything like back home for me. Probably depends where you came from.

Why we're here is a good question though.

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[zanarkandian]

Huh. I wonder if that makes it easier or harder...or if there's some reason why we all ended up floating out there, why it was us and not some other group.

Maybe it's just random, but...I don't know, doesn't feel that way.

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[promiselisting]

Not a bad question either.

The problem is it's gonna be pretty hard to investigate all on its own.

[ Unless they were able to find some obvious common thread between the whole group, it'd be really difficult to find the selection criteria until they found out why they were here, or who (or what) was doing the selecting. ]

video;

[boomchucka]

[Well hello there, Tidus! You are greeted to a wave and a yawn from your housemate who may or may not have been partaking in the enjoyment of sleeping in if the bedhead and sleepy eyes weren't indicative of that already. The feed from the camera shifts as Selphie sits up and tilts her head thoughtfully as she ponders his question for a bit.

Guess who also got to go play with a Chocobo eater?]

I don't there's really any way for us to find out what's going to happen until we get a bit more information from the natives of Vaikuntha. I totally hear ya on the familiar-but-not-familiar feeling of a lot of places in this world but it doesn't seem like it's a bad place.

We could always start taking notes of what we know and start compiling information as we learn more about what's going on.

[Selphie hadn't caught Tidus's first post about Blitzball as she regards her friend with a puzzled look.]

Blitz practice?

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[zanarkandian]

Yeah, definitely. These slates are probably good at recording stuff, and I'll have to remember to when I see something.

[A beat, and he smiles, hoisting his ever-present ball into the camera's view.]

Blitzball! It's one of those weird coincidences I was talking about. I'm a pro player back where I come from, and the same exact sport with the same ball and the same rules is here too. Which I thought was great at first, because that's an easy job, but then someone reminded me that that's pretty unlikely if you think about it.

How did that happen? Did someone from Spira come here before me and Rikku, or did someone from here end up there thousands of years ago? Now I'm wondering if it was that O'aka guy's ancestor. We had an O'aka the twenty-third back in Spira, and he was a merchant too.

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[boomchucka]

It'll come in handy and I'll definitely help!

[Selphie nods eagerly as she totally gets where he's coming from.]

Oh, that's what I've heard about from the locals around town! How does it work? Maybe I'd like to play with you sometime! Yeah... it's like when I picked up the Stave Master asterisk. Even though I have experience using one of the weapons that it focuses on, I had to start at square one and start over. I'm using it as a time to refresh myself on the basics and fighting with a staff is just the right amount of challenge right now.

[It really makes it hard to worry about your friends if you're so wrapped up in something new.]

That I couldn't tell ya to be honest but you've seen that game Triple Triad, right? That's totally from my world! Same rules and playing styles and everything. So if O'aka is from your world and Triple Triad is from mine, there's no telling what other similarities there are.

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[gglosers]

What are you talking about, hotshot? I mean, aside from the fact that just being here seems off. And being pulled from our homes all together? Or that everyone seems to have their own unique versions of Earth and other planets period?

Everything is off! So you gotta be more precise!

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[zanarkandian]

Right, right. So here's what I'm thinking.

Remember blitzball? It's a little weird that two worlds have the same game and the same rules, isn't it? A couple species being the same is a little less weird, because all the worlds seem to have stuff like that in common, but I still wonder.

But what really got me thinking was O'aka selling the airship parts. He says he's the twenty-fifth, right? Well. I knew an O'aka the twenty-third, 'merchant extraordinaire'!

[He says that last bit in an imitation of his O'aka's accent, puffing up his chest a little.]

This O'aka says his ancestor came here from another world. Maybe he came from mine, and they showed them blitzball, and then...because the cloud had reached my world before, it found me and my friend Rikku?

[He has other guesses, some more terrifying, but that seems like a good place to start.]

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[gglosers]

Huh. I'm not familiar with any of them, but it does seem kind of fishy. We don't have blitzball in my world, but there are other people who are from my world. Their version of Earth is a lot different from the Earth I come from.

Maybe it works the same way here. Maybe the people you knew in your world are here but ... other dimensions or something! There's a whole lot of crazy wild things happening here that I'm still trying to grasp. I wish I could say some of the things here feel familiar but they don't. Well, aside from the fact that others seem to have mechs, too!

[ She sighs. This is all weird. ]

But you know, I do kind of wonder why we're here... there has to be a reason.

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[euphemia]

[ There's a lot said here she can relate and understand. But what can she offer here to help alleviate his worries? She knows so little about this place and the similarities. So... let's try and cheer him up! ]

If you're hungry, I know someone who is supposedly a very good cook. [ A smile. ] What's blitz?

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[zanarkandian]

Blitzball's a big underwater sport! Did you see the stadium in Ka'Pandol when we were on the tour? People swim up there and try to get the ball into the other team's goal.

But I'm always interested in food. Who do you know?

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[euphemia]

An underwater sport. I've never heard of it. Will I be able to watch you play?

[ She laughs. ]

His name is Hunk! He's an excellent cook, or so I am told. Perhaps he might make you a dish or two!

Video

[conanima]

Familiar? In what way?

Video

[zanarkandian]

I mean, like...did you see that post Monika made? About how many people came from a planet called Earth, but they're all a little different?

It's more different than that, but.

Vaikuntha doesn't have the same cities and towns as Spira, or anything, but we've got the same sport, a couple of the same fiends, but with a few differences.

Like. I've raced chocobos and fought off a chocobo eater before, but I didn't think moogles were real 'til I came here. But my friend had a puppet who looked just like one.

video

[fatefulprincess]

It could be all of the above. Being homesick is pretty natural and I think everyone here feels it some way.

[ A smile. ]

Being hungry might just make the feeling worse too.

video

[zanarkandian]

Yeah. I've been checking out everything they serve around here. Some things are familiar, but some things just look wrong. Like that blue milk-like stuff,whatever it is.

Chefs are definitely the most powerful people in the world.

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[chocobosnap]

What's 'blitz practice'?

I think I know what you mean. This place is like Eos, but not. I'm not sure if that's better or worse than being completely different.

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[zanarkandian]

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<tt><big<big>Yeah. It makes things easier, but it also makes you wonder how they came to make all this stuff. Like there's some big thing in the past we don't know about.

And blitz is short for blitzball! It's the big underwater sport they play in Ka'Pandol's stadium. I'm trying out for teams right now, but I'm willing to help anyone who wants to give the game a try.

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[chosennobody]

last place we were there because evil gods wanted to use us against each other.

if it helps a lot of worlds are connected. someone said they share the same sky so familiar things are just something the worlds share in common.

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[zanarkandian]

Share the same sky, huh? I like that. Better than the evil gods thing, but we can't really rule that out either, huh?

Action because I'm a rebel

[how_do_i_shot_dog]

[Rinoa frowned as she watched Tidus' message. She had thought that maybe the similar-but-different thing was just her (maybe a sorceress thing?), but apparently her housemate had not only noticed, but had some similar questions. She wants to talk to him about it, but the problem is while Tidus is nice enough, she doesn't know him well. If it were Selphie saying these things she could just sit her down and tell her to spill, but Tidus? She's not sure how to broach the conversation.

Then again, he had mentioned he was hungry, hadn't he? She's never really cooked before, having grown up rich and all, but surly it can't be that hard, right?

Forty five minutes and only one fire later, Rinoa's strolling the beach. When she spots Tidus, she gives a wave and walks towards him.]

Hey, you said you were hungry, right? [She hands him the bag in her hand. Should he open it, it's.... a turkey sandwich. A plain turkey sandwich, at that.] I tried to make something more substantial, but, uh... [The memory of a pot boiling over, a smoking oven, food splattered ceilings, and a very angry moogle flashes before her eyes. She laughs nervously.] Let's just say you may not want to go into the kitchen any time soon.

[zanarkandian]

[Tidus just flashes her an understanding smile.]

I gotcha. Trust me, the last time I tried to overdo a sandwich, it ended up on the ceiling. Mustard dripping for days.

[But he is touched that she thought of him, and happily settles back in his spot.]

Did you get something for yourself?