As for a character, I do have someone in mind, but it's someone who's hard to pin down with a single-word label. He used to be a Shinra employee, but then again, he used to be a lot of things. Half Wutanese ("Wutainese?" Simply "Wutai?") though has little connection to his cultural heritage, other than the fact that he lives in the Little Wutai area of the slums, above his father's apothecary shop that he inherited after his Dad died. See, his Dad was very well-liked in the community, a good guy who helped a lot of people, and now that legacy has fallen on my guy, only he doesn't think he really wants it.
Injured in the line of duty, he's on permanent disability leave from Shinra and has been for a good, oh, at least ten years. During that time, he's become the neighborhood troubleshooter of sorts. The neighbors all remember him as the kid everyone liked, the one who had so much potential and went off to a bright future working for Shinra. They felt so badly for him when he was injured, which is around the same time his dad died. I think they feel responsible for him in a way, and want to find him work (and they're also notorious matchmakers, something which he studiously avoids. One ex-wife is bad enough.) So they ask him to help out with their troubles and offer him trade goods for barter in return--he has a pig living in his back lot that he's never been able to bring himself to slaughter, and it's just gotten bigger and bigger.
Now, past his prime and pushing middle age, he's a stranger in his own culture and a reluctant do-gooder, wanting to either live up to everyone's expectations of him or to finally disappoint them so badly that they just leave him alone in disgust.
As for how he could know Ally, I'm not sure, but as for the plot, I was thinking perhaps something that seems simple at first--someone from the neighborhood approaches him to say that their son/daughter/cousin, who works for Shinra, has mysteriously disappeared, and Shinra doesn't seem to have a good explanation. They just want him to look into it for their peace of mind. In any case, I won't develop that too much right now in case it doesn't mesh, but I hope you get a good sense of the character, at least.
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Date: 2006-05-17 05:50 pm (UTC)From:As for a character, I do have someone in mind, but it's someone who's hard to pin down with a single-word label. He used to be a Shinra employee, but then again, he used to be a lot of things. Half Wutanese ("Wutainese?" Simply "Wutai?") though has little connection to his cultural heritage, other than the fact that he lives in the Little Wutai area of the slums, above his father's apothecary shop that he inherited after his Dad died. See, his Dad was very well-liked in the community, a good guy who helped a lot of people, and now that legacy has fallen on my guy, only he doesn't think he really wants it.
Injured in the line of duty, he's on permanent disability leave from Shinra and has been for a good, oh, at least ten years. During that time, he's become the neighborhood troubleshooter of sorts. The neighbors all remember him as the kid everyone liked, the one who had so much potential and went off to a bright future working for Shinra. They felt so badly for him when he was injured, which is around the same time his dad died. I think they feel responsible for him in a way, and want to find him work (and they're also notorious matchmakers, something which he studiously avoids. One ex-wife is bad enough.) So they ask him to help out with their troubles and offer him trade goods for barter in return--he has a pig living in his back lot that he's never been able to bring himself to slaughter, and it's just gotten bigger and bigger.
Now, past his prime and pushing middle age, he's a stranger in his own culture and a reluctant do-gooder, wanting to either live up to everyone's expectations of him or to finally disappoint them so badly that they just leave him alone in disgust.
As for how he could know Ally, I'm not sure, but as for the plot, I was thinking perhaps something that seems simple at first--someone from the neighborhood approaches him to say that their son/daughter/cousin, who works for Shinra, has mysteriously disappeared, and Shinra doesn't seem to have a good explanation. They just want him to look into it for their peace of mind. In any case, I won't develop that too much right now in case it doesn't mesh, but I hope you get a good sense of the character, at least.
Again, thank you. I appreciate the opportunity.