Ask Mimi

[Mimi]

Here's a wierd thread that came up as a result of a conversation I had with a student the other day.

I realized that I know things about SJS that I just don't talk about, either cause there's too much to say or because I don't think people are interested.

So, I decided I would start a thread where people can ask questions if they like, and I will do my best.

Keep your questions direct, if you can, and obviously, I can't speak about other people's characters. But many of the NPCs I know a bit about, and theme is something I could talk about forever.

[Pu-244]

When i think of SJS as a compus i dont think of the sg base in game i think of an actualy campus you know buildings and treas and soda mechiens and what not am i correct to assume its like an actualy campus walled off an all, so what im really pictureing in my mind is a place like the Xavier instatute in x men except more buildings not just the mantion are my assumptions correct?

[Kris O'Sullivan]

Well, Mimi. I'm a setting geek. If you want, I will listen all week long to you lay it all out. I'm dusting my 3-d architecture program off, and am going to see about providing a suitable layout, not just of a Quad, but of a Dormitory hallway. If you'll permit, I may also design some Academic spaces, as well.

[Mimi]

When i think of SJS as a compus i dont think of the sg base in game i think of an actualy campus you know buildings and treas and soda mechiens and what not am i correct to assume its like an actualy campus walled off an all, so what im really pictureing in my mind is a place like the Xavier instatute in x men except more buildings not just the mantion are my assumptions correct?

Hey, a tremendous first question.

What does Saint Joe's look like? Well, I have a two-part answer. One part, in my mind is WAY more important than the other.

1. Specifics are unimportant. Now, what do I mean? I mean this: take the USS Enterprise (and let's talk Next Gen, here). Barring the purchase of a big book of technical specs, can anyone tell me how many meters it is from Ten-Forward to the nearest turbolift? Are Riker and Picard's quarters near each other? If I wanted to get from the Arboretum to Stellar Cartography, how long would the trip take?

I don't know the answers to these questions, and yet it has never impacted the fact I love to watch ST:tNG. The same can be said for the innards of the teaching hospital in the show House. We know he has an office, and a few operating and exam rooms, but we don't really know where they actually are.

If we get too caught up in the details, I would be afraid that someone could write something and be wrong. Someone can say "oh, I hate to seem snarky, but everyone knows that the medical center and the tennis courts cannot possibly be damaged by the same bomb unless it blew up the computing center, too" or whatever. Wierd example there.

So I am more content to let spaces exist, without trying to nail down too hard where everything is. However...

2. In my mind, SJS has a campus. I envision a couple things. The main building is U shaped. It is made of heavy, churchy stone from the early part of the 20th century. The "handles" of the U are the dormitories, or at least ther original ones. The connector of the U is the original school building, with offices and classrooms and such. In the middle is the quad.
We have said that the school sustained damage during the Rikti attack. So, the girls' dorm was almost levelled, and has been rebuilt with more modern matierials.

Now, apart from the main building, I know there is a convent residence, a chapel, and an athletic facility with fields. This certainly does suggest that we are sitting on some land. I think it's very probable that we have some good acreage, probably on the scale of a small college or, quite frankly, a large New England residential prep-school, like Choate or the Hun School of Princeton.

I try to find a balance betwen these two ideas. I don't want anyone to try to make a floorplan of each building. I'm not even sure I think a map of the grounds is a good idea. If we need a helipad for your story, guess what? We can have a helipad. If we need an archery range, we can have that too. But if we try too hard to make a map, we may suddenly find that there is noplace on campus to put these things, and that would be sad.

[Mimi]

Well, Mimi. I'm a setting geek. If you want, I will listen all week long to you lay it all out. I'm dusting my 3-d architecture program off, and am going to see about providing a suitable layout, not just of a Quad, but of a Dormitory hallway. If you'll permit, I may also design some Academic spaces, as well.

As I said, I am not too anxious to nail down specifics. If you want, you can draw up some stuff, but I would prefer that you create an area in the main building and label it "classrooms," rather than draw out that the chem lab is here and the english lit room is there. The same can be said for the dorms. I would rather have a map that said "girls dorms" than one that specifically said which quad was next to which.

Now, that said, I do have images in my head, and if people want me to try to describe specific features, I will try my best!

[Oby]

Okay, hit me with the image of the dorm quad. Is the quad 4 separate rooms with central shared stuff, is it one big room for 4 people with shared ammenities? Is it two people per room and two rooms with a central common area? I have 3 quadmates, but does that mean that I have 4 roomates? Or one, or none? Just curious how that dynamic works. I don't really care where the dorms are, but knowing what the room I live in looks like would be a big help

[Kris O'Sullivan]

As I said, I am not too anxious to nail down specifics. If you want, you can draw up some stuff, but I would prefer that you create an area in the main building and label it "classrooms," rather than draw out that the chem lab is here and the english lit room is there. The same can be said for the dorms. I would rather have a map that said "girls dorms" than one that specifically said which quad was next to which.

Now, that said, I do have images in my head, and if people want me to try to describe specific features, I will try my best!

Oh! I agree! I never intended to say which room was where, as that's a headache. The kind my ex gets absorbed in. Anyway, what I had in mind was just drawing a basic layout labeling stuff as "dorm," "classroom," and "storage." And, as you said, it detracts from the fun to have people sit and bicker over a dumb map that, as things go on, may change. Look at Salve Regina in Newport, RI... It's an old all-girl's catholic school, but as buildings need remodeling and repair, new ones are built or old ones, newly redone are reactivated. It's probably done on a similar scale with St Joseph's.

[Pu-244]

Hey kirs if you want help with 3d modaling we can work in tandum i have 3d studio max 8 and would like to do something besides classwork hehe

[Mimi]

Okay, hit me with the image of the dorm quad. Is the quad 4 separate rooms with central shared stuff, is it one big room for 4 people with shared ammenities? Is it two people per room and two rooms with a central common area? I have 3 quadmates, but does that mean that I have 4 roomates? Or one, or none? Just curious how that dynamic works. I don't really care where the dorms are, but knowing what the room I live in looks like would be a big help

Sure thing.

The boys' dorm is still part of the original architecture. Since Saint Joe's was originally an all-girls' school run exclusively by the church, privacy concerns were not paramount at the time of its' construction. The quads are pretty much large square rooms. All four boys sleep in the same room, which in my head always had two bunkbeds, though four single beds could also work. The beds are on either side of a simple open space, in which the boys might put a TV or whatever. All quads have at least a couple windows. The boys' dorm has bathrooms and showers at the end of each hall, shared by everyone who lives on that floor.

When it was rebuilt after the Rikti war, the girls sortof lucked out. Their new dorm is much nicer, and built with the sensibilities of the modern day. The girls' dorm was not entirely destroyed, however, so a small number of the rooms are still done in the "classic" style of the boys' dorm. The other modernized rooms, however, have one of two styles.

The first style is really what I would call a "joined double". Three rooms: two bedrooms, each with a pair of beds, seperated by a small common room.

The second style is similar to the "open" style of the boys' dorm, but due to more modern architecture, provides more privacy by placing the beds in recessed "nooks." This second style has a larger common area, but essentially mimics the old style.

The girls' dorm also has shared bathroom and showers on each floor.

Now, a word about both dorms. Each floor has an RA (resident assistant) double-sized room that a single student occupies. This person is usually a kind of "dorm monitor," harkening back to the days of a staff member who lived with the students and kept them in check. Nowadays, only one staff member lives in each of the dorms, on the ground floor. The other floors are "monitored" by student RAs.

Also, the boys' dorm has a small number of odd singles and doubles, some of which have their own bathroom facilties. Nobody remembers what the function of these rooms are, and some are occupied, some empty. If you've ever been in an old building and stumbled across a wierd room with a random sink in it? Yeah, that sort of thing.

Also, both the boys' dorm and the remaining "old" section of the girls' dorm have a garrett room, up at the point of the roof. It's sortof like living in the attic.

Last word on this: there is a proposal to build a new set of dormitory buildings. Whether they would be for freshmen or for upperclassmen is not known, but certainly, one or the other.

[Kris O'Sullivan]

Oooo! Thanks, Mimi! That'll come in handy for the project I have going. I should have designs done soon, and hopefully, Pluto will do the renders.

[Mimi]

Oh, I guess I should say one last thing about the "look" of the dorms.

The boy's dorm is sortof a big block. The rooms are on either side of a central hallway and there is a set of stairs that is pretty well contained by heavy fire doors and such. It isn't dismal, but it's pretty uninspired.

The girls' dorm, when it was rebuilt, was built a little wider. Instead of a single central hallway, there is an open airway, surrounded by a bannister and topped by skylights. The stairs are open, built into the airway. A girl on the top floor can go out her door, lean over the railing, and shout to a girl on the first floor, for instance. At the bottom of the airway is a little planter or green space, with ficus trees or whatever, near the door to the quad.

Needless to say, the skylights provide cheeky entertainment to the braver boys, who sometimes sneak up there to watch the girls as they scurry to and fro to the showers. Everyone knows the boys do this, but hell, the building is built and its not going to be rebuilt again (hopefully) anytime soon.

[Kris O'Sullivan]

The design of the buildings.... Is it gothic (catheralesque, with flying butresses and statuary)? Or is it more modern?

[Mimi]

The design of the buildings.... Is it gothic (catheralesque, with flying butresses and statuary)? Or is it more modern?

The chapel is a real butressed affair, with several large blocks of stone on the spires. They were going to be gargoyles, but they ran out of money when they were building it. Statuary, certainly. I had always thought there should be a little garden near the chapel with a pool and a fountain and big ol' goldfish or something.

The main building is almost more brownstone in its design. Mainly heavy stone, some brick. It was originally a convent, after all, and was modernized later. Like a lot of modernized buildings, a great amount of the wiring is exposed. They couldn't very well drill through the stone to hide them. Thick wood floors, high cielings with exposed beams. It's worth looking at something like "Sister Act" or something. When I think about the main building, I seem to think about that movie. Or was it "Sister Act 2"?

The new convent residence was built much more recently but in a classic, austere style. No flashy architecture for the Sisters of Cupertino.

Both the athletic facility and the girls' dorm were built post-Rikti. A lot of glass and metal, though obviously the girls' dorm uses less glass than the athletic center. However, they are both a much more modern design.

[Kris O'Sullivan]

Man! I'm falling in love with this place!

[Pu-244]

So Mimi being intrested in bubble wrap and air ducts (me that is) What is the air duct system like could one potential crawl though it? also is there like underground catacombs? places of adventure and misfortion like a well in the quad that leads to an underground cave full of bats and .....mistery?


and what does the headmasters office look like. how many classrooms total? (catagorised pelase) is the groudsn coverd by plants trees water fountians? or lagoons maby small ponds? and is there a chance of a maze like in the movie labrenth? in the event of a fire what exits are designated as fire exits? fire arms rule? is there only one or many lines in the cafeteria? can there be a hot dog stand outside the school gates in the event of sour milk or just a roach coach? how many stalls to the bathrooms and where do i store my gym shorts, speeking of gym are there gym outfits we are to wear? does the football team stand a chance at reaching state? what classes does the SJS really offer (catagorised & alfabetical order)? are tehre koi fish in said pods if there are ponds. can the campus have a "zen garden"? in the event of a parenting class would we have to really pare up with a male (or female) member of the school and pretend to take care of a baby? is there drivers ed corces, telaporting ed, flying ed, super speed ed? what would happen in the event of a food fight? where is scruffies room? where is the janitors closite? how many floors are in the school. is it a peaked roof or flat? do they use shingels or tile, tar?. what sould be done in the event of a 42? does the administration offer jobs to students? any chance of sound profing the aditorioum? does the tile color in the boys showers match that of the girls? are the showers open in a military fasion or separated by curtons? are the sheets for the beds egyption cotton or cotton, poliester, silk or nylon? is there a grotto? can fridays be pizza days? Red pills or Blue pills? If pookie escapes into a rabbit hole and leads to a alternate reality of talking doors and "unbirthdays" talking cards and games of cochee (sp?) with pink blue and sometimes green long necked birds causaly played with queens sould we fallow or not?


and yes im serious about all of the questions above =|