Update 1.1.1

Well, work isn't too bad. Sure, I'm stuck with a lousy keyboard and a braindead mouse but I'm not really minding it. The PCs suck big time (my first desktop was faster to be honest) and th OS feels both alien and unfriendly. I actually enjoy the work most of the time and the free internet connection while at work is really nice too. People aren't that bad, though I still don't know the names of most of them. And, since I have some degree of control over how long I stay in this place, I have more time to create, write, and play.

Speaking of games, I just finished Threads of Fate, for both characters. While I would reluctantly agree that Rue is the more "protagonist-like" character and has the more serious storyline, I actually prefer Mint's scenario over his. For one thing, Mint is more likable than Rue is (or most Squaresoft/Square-Enix characters made around and after her time). She's dominating, persistent, cocky, greedy, and damn interesting. She makes for a much more entertaining character than ever-brooding Rue. Funny, though. The dynamic and differences between the 2 characters vaguely reminds me of the differences between Angel (Rue) and Spike (sort of like Mint) from the Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel TV shows. Although, to be honest, the dynamic between Mint and her sister Maya is far more entertaining than any character relationship I've seen in any Squaresoft/Square-Enix title so far. Sad that there was never any sequel to this and that there aren't enough fans of the game. I actually found it to be more appealing than FFVIII once I beat the game, although it could use more save points. And, though I am likely alone in all this, I think there's potential for Mint/Maya shojo-ai...

You know how sometimes you plan something and then, through some insane machinations, it falls apart? Something like that happened to me. I was intent on constructing a cosmology that was rather expansive, to say the least. The idea was that every fictional world was, in of itself, a universe. Some of these universes are related or connected on some level, be it critical or superficial. Sort of like how CLAMP has turned all their creations into a single multiverse, so it was to be with my creation. Only, there isn't just one multiverse. There's a lot of them and each one is connected to the other only through a remnant fabric from before they came to exist: The Void. Any being with sufficient power could, theoiretically, open a portal to The Void and escape the confines of their multiverse. However, to accomplish that requires both the ability to travel within one's own multiverse as well as the nature of one's power being independent of their universe.

Powers that work in one won't work in another. So, let's say you're a Malakite of Creation with all the Attunements and Distinctions. You somehow end up in the D&D world. You'll find that there is no Symphony in that world and as such, your powers don't work. The source of your power has to be independent of your world. Of course, I left in ways to do that.

Once you've been to The Void, however, it becomes apparent that there is a place that holds it all together. At the very center of the collection of multiverses, known as Existence, is a place that is known as The City That Cannot Exist. Simply put, it takes the role of Sigil from D&D: Planescape but expands it so it has doors to multiverses, not realms or planes.

It all seemed like a good idea and it allowed me, in the event that Hell becomes a prime vacation spot, a chance to consolidate any and all fictional worlds together without much hassle. Essentially, the nature of it was contrived to make impossible crossovers more plausible. After all, Kenshin Himura (Rurouni Kenshin) teaming up with Squall Leonhart (Final Fantasy VIII) to take on Sarevok (Baldur's Gate), Doll Master (Threads of Fate), and Victoria Ash (Vampire: The Masquerade) doesn't seem at all plausible when one looks at their individual worlds. However, the idea fell apart. Granted, I'm using it in the LHFBW and intend to create some sort of document to flesh it out in detail for no good reason, but that isn't what it was intended for.

The real plan behind it was to create a story using beings from The City That Cannot Exist, to show how their lives are and how they see the multiverses that they alone have completely free access to. I even had the five races lined out: the shapeshifting Lilim, the magically-inclined Baali, the master psionics known as the Hellions, the mentally unstable and magic-devouring Wraiths, and the not-too-bright but magically-immune Aeons. The cosmology has found use but what about the creatures? Well, they're not going to waste either. I'm reviving my old Charity city idea for them, adapting them to suit a setting more confined to the world as we know it. Of course, I had to make concessions. The Lilim I cut down from hundreds to just 9, for one thing.

Still, it isn't all bad. If I can't have Mint/Maya in Threads of Fate, I'll have some semblance of it in Charity.

That's it for today, I guess. I better get back to doing what I do best: being lazy.