I won't say my knowledge of what the real name of the character "Kururu" (not KuKU ru, but KuRUru) is supposed to be comes from the fact that I co-wrote the FFV FAQ. Because it doesn't. In fact, we used "Kururu" in that FAQ, a literal Romanization of the katakana. The RPGe translation isn't right either, although "Cara" is the closest English name. The guys at Square almost Romanized it correctly: on Square's Japanese website, they had it as "Krile", which is close, but it looks way too much like it should be pronounced "kreel".

It's ACTUALLY "Kurile", which is pronounced "Ku-rill", with the u as in "put" and the "rill" rhyming with "fill", and the accent on the first syllable. She's named after a group of islands between Japan and Russia. Proof? The Katakana rendering of "Kurile" (the islands) is "Ku ru ru."

I realize that this has nothing to do with RPG's but I came across something I thought everyone might like to know. Sony thinks we're all idiots. Why, you inquire? Well, I was really bored recently and decided to take a look at the instruction manual for my Dual Shock controller (don't ask me why). Under the part entitled "For Saftey" Sony tells us, and I quote: Do not attempt to operate the controller with anything other than your hands. Do not operate the controller with, or attach it to; your head, elbows, other bony parts of your body, face or stomach. WHAT? How stupid do they think we are? If anyone actually ties the controller to their elbows, or tries to operate it with their stomach, please tell me so that I can come to your house and kick your ass? Well those are my two cents. Oh, wait... "Ask Thor" implies I'm supposed to ask a question. Er... what, uh, do you think about this... heh, heh, aw crap.

I know this has nothing to do with RPG's, but to the guy who wrote about "Riven's" storyline in yesterdays column, i recommend him to read the MYST books: "Myst, the book of Atrus", "Myst, the book of Ti'ana" and "Myst, the book of D'ni"... If you really liked the storyline you'll be blown away by these books, the first one is a prequel of the game "Myst", the second one is the story of the fall of "D'ni" and the third about its revival... They're worth it, give them a try, you can find them in any bookstore or in Amazon.com.

Thanks for replying to my last letter, even if it was by E-mail. I love to hear from you anyway. ^_~

Anyway, I read the letter from Alice who wanted to know about a Parasite Eve script. I don't have a link to one, but I can explain the ending and the Chrysler Building Ending to her (yes, I AM obsessive with Square RPGs and I DID beat the Chrysler Building) You see, in the normal ending, after Aya defeats, more or less, the Ultimate Being, she has to run away from it because it is the ultimate stage in evolution, and has evolved even more than any other lifeform could. That's why she blows it away along with the carrier. Then, Maeda explains to her that the reason why only she was able to exist around Eve and the Ultimate Being was because there was a part of Maya in her too; not only Eve. Aya was born with a defect in her right (left?) eye, and Maya's eye, complete with Maya's cells, was replaced with Aya's bad eye, so Aya got her share of Maya Cells as well, just like Melissa (Eve) did when Maya's kidney or whatever it was was transported into her. Maya's cells protected Aya's mitochondria in Aya's body and mutated the mitochondria in Melissa's body. Now, I WILL tell you that I DON'T get why everyone's eyes flash red at the end. Sorry. As for the Chrysler Building ending, well, when you get to the top, you find that the real Eve has been hiding there all along, and that the Eve you fought in the normal game was just a manifestation of her real self. And guess who's body she's in: Maya's. So after some words are exchanged between Eve and Aya, Eve allows Maya's spirit to talk to Aya, and it gets really emotional an' stuff, and then Eve comes back and taunts Aya, ad the battle with Original Eve (insanely hard) ensues. If and when you actually defeat her, Eve is killed for good (or so we think) and Maya's spirit enters Aya's body to be with her forever. How sweet. :)