DruSM157

You Can Become a Hero!

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Sapporo, Japan
Ishin Academy, Near Dorms. April 7th

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Hajo-san's teasing did not help Shun's attitude, as he struggled with his pineapple for every syllable of teasing, bringing his face to a bright crimson. Had Hajo-san not entered the conversation, Shun may not have even really paid too much attention on what Nekohara-Senpai had said. It's not completely what you think it is.

What was Ishin Academy, truly? And how did he have a connection to it? Those were the burning questions that had led Shun to the school. He was not a deep philosopher by any means, and did not spend too much time contemplating the meanings of fate and purpose; but ultimately he was here. He jumped without thinking, and when he did that, he knew it was the right thing to do.

Something tells me I have to be here.

Then Hajo-san said something that made Shun actually think deeply about something: “Our class is kinda goofy, though, isn't it?”

"I-I think that's a good thing, Hajo-san. If we are going to be heroes, we will have to interact with so many people of different walks of life. From the rich, the poor, from fun-loving people, to serious people. We'll have to help Japanese and foreigners if they need it. I think our class is very special, because by learning about each other and working together, we'll become the best heroes we can possibly be!" Idealism was one of Shun's strong suits, even if it came at the cost of reason and base intelligence.

Final Fantasy Crystallum en Absentia

...a lot.

@Savo

Dude, chill. We have a discord to discuss this kind of stuff

You Can Become a Hero!

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Sapporo, Japan
Ishin Academy, Near Dorms. April 7th

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Oh no. He'd never meant for this. Not like this. The bag fell into the cold slush on the ground and Shun moved. His muscles tightened, his adrenaline shot, and he moved. From one second, he was several feet away, and in a split second afterwards, he was knelt down, offering his senpai his hand to help her up. "Oh no! Senpai, I'm so sorry I didn't mean for you to get hurt!" Great, now he'd even caused his upperclassman to fall.

He'd not even thought that he'd just used his quirk, he was too busy making sure that the girl was okay. He helped her up as she continued talking about Ishin's class layouts, and how her class had been. "Huh. I never knew the school did that." Then again...

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"I don't want to see another pamphlet from these damn hero programs." His father tore up multiple glossy pamphlets showcasing Shiketsu, Yuei, Seiai, and Ketsubutsu hero courses. "You're doing general studies, getting your mechanics license, and working with me at the garage. That's final."

There'd never been a pamphlet from Ishin Academy. Not a recent pamphlet anyways. When he'd made the snap judgment to leap forward that day on the bridge, catching a girl from another middle school and landing them both safely onto the sidewalk, he'd been reprimanded and dressed down by both the local police and his teacher. But it was after that moment that Kageyama Sensei took him aside and talked to him earnestly. "You made a snap decision that saved that girls life. If that's not heroic, I don't know what is. But you've never shown interest in a hero course, Shun. I think you'd do great in a course like that. You're kind, your quirk can be used to save people..."

They'd talked for hours afterward, and by the end of it, Mr. Kageyama had sent Shun's information to multiple schools to get packets. "There's still a chance to apply Shun!"

Then his father had found out and destroyed all of the pamphlets from the schools. Shun retired to his room, defeated by the man who'd grown colder and sadder after his mother's death. It had been his grandmother who barged in, holding an old, browned envelope. "This was left for you when you were young, first showing off your quirks. We knew that you had something special dear." Shun opened the envelope to see aged paperwork for Ishin Academy. It was stark. Nothing about activities or different heroes. Just simply: "ISHIN ACADEMY IS WHERE THE NEXT GENERATION OF GREAT HEROES IS BORN." In bold, stark kanji.

"Are you sure they'd even accept this? This is...so old."

His grandmother smiled, looking wistfully out the window. "I know they will."

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"You're sure you're okay senpai?" Shun asked again. He felt horrible that he'd caused her to fall, even if he had never pushed her. He knelt down picking up his paper bag. The slush had made it soggy. He pulled the pineapple from the deteriorating bag, making sure it was okay.

He still needed to see his room and prepare for tomorrow. And eat. He definitely needed to get lunch and dinner too! Tomorrow was the real start; the first big day of his career. He had so many people to thank for being here at Ishin, and he promised himself that he would never let any of them down.

Final Fantasy Crystallum en Absentia

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Holy City of Alexandria
Alexandria Hunters Guild Headquarters, Meeting Room. 21st Sun of Ondine
Background Music

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"Explosives!?" Edgar's face blanched. "WH-what do you mean? My inventions don't always explode!" Edgar seemed nervous until Avvadon explained that no; he meant more in the realm of devices with the PURPOSE to explode. "Oh-" Edgar gave a large sigh of relief. "I don't have any specific aldite stones on hand, and the ones that would make a strong reaction would cost..." he frowned, thinking to his roughly 50 gil in his wallet, "a lot more than I have on hand at the moment."

"Since this mission is being run by the Guild, you are supplied some basic equipment," Balder interjected, tossing the two large leather packs; before tossing packs to Blaike, Luna, Mithra, Ianthe, and Artemisia. "You won't be charged for the items inside, so use them as you see fit." Balder walked to the front counter of the guild, before turning back. "This mission does have a time limit on it. Check your supplies and be ready at the front door." He walked behind the counter, gathering his own pack.

As everyone checked their packs, they would see a handful of useful items. Several glass vials filled with liquid indicated they all had a few potions, antidotes, and ethers in their packs, as well as small aldite stones. Not extremely powerful, but enough to assist in augmenting gear that could take a stone. Edgar was busy digging through his tool belt and looking at the stones. "I could...probably create something out of this, Avvadon," he muttered to the giant monk. "I can work while we march, so hopefully I'll have something useful before we arrive at the forest."

Balder approached the readying group now wearing a dark leather breastplate over his jacket and balancing a steel sword on his side. He nodded to the group. "We need to take the west gate out of the city and march a few miles into the forest. There's a map of the area inside everyone's packs as well. Make sure you familiarize yourself with the area; we can't waste resources searching for lost hunters when we're stretched thin as we are here." It shouldn't have been too much of a surprise that the Alexandrian guild seemed to be lacking manpower. It seemed that apart from a few hunters, they did not have the numbers that a centuries-old guild would appear to have.

Travel was uneventful. As they left Alexandria, they found the fine stone roads quickly turn into heavily traveled dirt paths, and the massive Ferris Wood loomed in the distance. A few rodents would appear on the roads, but none were aggressive. The path was peaceful, but there seemed to be a looming feeling of dread growing as the party continued to move closer to the forest. Unbeknownst to the group, they were being watched.

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Ferris Wood
Winding Paths, 21st Sun of Ondine
Background Music

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As they entered the forest, the heavy canopy of trees darkened the area ahead. Edgar could feel the hairs on his arms rise up as he looked down the dark, winding wooded paths of the forest. Something felt unnatural here. Even Balder appeared worried, looking around the area with a grimace. "The map shows that there should only be a single path leading further into the woods here. But there are two. I suggest we stay on our guard from the moment on. Something feels very wrong here."

Edgar nodded, and clasped the small metallic object in his hand, gingerly placing it back into his pack. He'd been able to create two small fire grenades with the materials he could salvage, but the explosive blast would be nothing special. It might work against a single miniboro, but against a Malboro it would be akin to throwing a pebble at a dragon.

Balder drew his steel blade and motioned to Ianthe and Avvadon to join him near the front. "The path in the map..." he muttered, pointing the blade towards the left path, "best matches this path. Let's go recruits."

You Can Become a Hero!

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Sapporo, Japan
Ishin Academy, Near Dorms. April 7th

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"That just leaves Tanaka Shun who is, hm, by himself?”

Oh no. Shun just stood there awkwardly as everyone in the class paired off with their new roommates, and here he was alone. No roommate. The embarrassment was starting to build as he squeezed the brown bag against his chest. It could be worse, of course. He could instead be sharing a room with a scary guy or a mean person. Or perhaps someone who stank really bad. So there was a bright side to it!

One thing he did notice was the lack of boys in the classroom. Only...3 guys total? He'd seen other male upperclassman through the school, so he knew that Isshin wasn't separated by gender, but what was going on about this? "Just a quick question-" he asked, holding a hand up. "Is...Ishin famous for its female heroes or something? It just seems odd that there's only three guys total."

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread

<Snipped quote by DruSM157>

Because I've been on rides helmed by Nomura before.

@Fabricant451

Same. And some have been great and others have been weak. I think the level of care they've taken for this game, with Nomura and the other OG FF7 team all working together for this makes me less all "doom and gloom" and more just hopeful excitement for the future. But right now everything is speculation.

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread

I for one welcome the meta narrative. I just wish the spooky plot devices had better presentation. It still leaves a lot of potential for... Bad times ahead.

@tex

BIG BRAIN DUMB SPOILER IDEAS

So I love the idea that by defying fate that the heroes have basically played into Sephiroth's hand. I have a strong feeling that in the sequel we will see a lot of the same narrative bits as the OG FF7, but maybe in a different presentation. What I hope to see is more Sephiroth emotional manipulation of Cloud, and perhaps pushing him to "save" Aerith from her death. My theory is that if Aerith does not join with the lifestream, she cannot manipulate Holy to stop Meteor; meaning that Sephiroth wins.

Aerith's death is one of those BIG spoilers in gaming history, but my hope is that the next game will play with the player's emotions as well as Cloud's, by making us WANT to save her, defying the plot of the original game but also opening up for Seph's true victory. Adding in Zach being alive in another continuity also gives a chance for some moment where he may intervene in our timeline, and act against fate as well. How big of a gut punch would it be to be told that she HAS to die to save the planet, and instead of the City of the Ancients sequence, we're surprised at another moment later on. Maybe even a moment of self-sacrifice from Aerith.

A lot of people are angry because there is a plot divergence, and I understand folks wanting this to be a pure "retelling" of the OG story. But I've spent the better part of my teenage and adult years with all of this compilation of ff7 bullshit that is now ingrained into my brain and seeing more of that appear alongside the old stuff is really interesting.

The next games could be incredible and a deep emotional story that deals with coping with loss that is out of our control, or it could be very contrived and dumb and kingdom heartsy. Only time will tell!

I've watched waaay too much of Maximillian Dood's theories and was shocked to find his level 4 galaxy brain stuff synced up with my own ideas playing.

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread

@Fabricant451

spoilers

I mean Zach is alive in ANOTHER alternate reality.

How isn't that rad. It's just a crazy wild ride that no one knows where it's going.

Polaris: A New Anchorage Story

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Smith's Rest | Medical Offices
January 16th, 2677
Music

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It's been a while since I had a doc look at me. Alan sat in a plastic chair against the wall, casually holding his hand up, rotating it by the wrist, looking at various callouses and scars that marked his limbs. How many scraps had he been in by now that had left some memento? The worst was his facial scar, which dug into his left cheek. Metal debris had flown into the cockpit when he was cut open by an enemy NC outside Dead Springs. Time had caused the scar to fade in color, but the shallow recess on his face remained.

A memento.

Voices echoed throughout the hallway and a klaxon sounded, the sound of countless men and women rushing down metal hallways into hangars. A deep voice came in over the intercom, but he couldn't make out what was being said. Only the feeling of dread over what was to come. A door opened, revealing a large hangar of pristine NCs, ready to be deployed and-

Alan blinked. His head throbbed. He ran his left hand over his face, putting pressure over his eyelids and rubbing the bridge of his nose. Anything to keep these...flashes at bay. How many did this make this year? Three? Now four? It was only around a year ago that the flashes really started happening. The idea of the frequency increasing, the idea of being lost in one of these dreams, and not knowing reality from fiction; that frightened him deeply.

Don't be obvious about it. He wasn't the first with feedback from a PS, and he wasn't going to be the last. Still, if these were going to be an issue, he was going to need to speak with a medical professional about this. And that could hurt his chances of making the grade for Graham's little army.

He scanned the room. He glanced Ryn, then the Saxon-boy and the girl he had arrived with; there was the foreign girl as well. Some deep, lizard brain part of his psyche wanted him to go over to Ryn, to explain things, to talk to her. But he knew all too well that would just lead to what, getting slapped? Punched? Cursed out? No reason to drag something like that out in the middle of the damn medical office.

So instead he clipped the datapad from his belt loop and brought it up. His library was still packed with literature he hadn't finished reading yet. Something short, maybe a collection of short stories would do until they called him up. Maybe a book of poetry. Anything but thinking about talking to Ryn.

Final Fantasy Crystallum en Absentia

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Holy City of Alexandria
Alexandria Hunters Guild Headquarters, Meeting Room. 21st Sun of Ondine
Background Music

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The proctor had been busy filling out reports when the monk from Fabul spoke up. His reply was short and curt. “I’m simply filling out the rest of these reports unless you’d rather we simply leave your dead body for the carrion creatures if you fall in battle.” He went back to finishing his report, while the young engineer looked bright-eyed at everyone in the room. The Free Cities had their share of diversity, but when you grew up in a small village near Feltunder the most you ever saw were miners and researchers on their way to deliver orders.

“Wow. There’s a lot of recruits!” Edgar was shocked to see so many different people introducing themselves, some with more gusto than others. “My name’s Edgar and I’m a freelance engineer!” There was something familiar about the man in red, and when Edgar’s brain returned to the fact that he mentioned Dr. Cid of all people, his stomach sank quickly, and he tried to find a way to hide in the room. The big guy from the desert, he’d made a good hiding space, but he was so loud and friendly he worried the man would simply throw him on his shoulders so everyone could get a good look at him.

He closed his eyes and decided his best option was to roll with the punches here, and if anyone asked, he’d just explain that he’d been let go. No reason to get anyone worked up over Aldite related explosions. Besides, he wasn’t dealing in any gear that was too experimental; everything he had on his person was tried and true tested by himself. And there were only small explosions. “I’ve got a few gadgets that might be helpful, and I’m more than willing to pull my weight alongside everyone else!” He hoped that enthusiasm would get him through this, and hopefully gain him a paycheck and an actual filling meal. He was quickly interrupted by the proctor.

“Alright, listen up recruits. My name is Balder Grescott and I am this chapter’s proctor and advisor. Today’s exercise will be a little different than our normal tests, due to an unforeseen rise in miasma in the eastern Ferris Wood. Your target is small: an immature species of Malboro that most people dub a miniboro. They’re not too dangerous on their own, but we’re dealing with an entire nest. As a group they can devour a man whole in seconds, and if there’s an entire nest of them, there may be a larger Malboro nearby.” He handed each of the seven a document explaining the risks of the mission, as well as a place to sign their names. “The guild ranks the danger of a mission with stars. A single star is a fairly safe mission, while a five-star mission is incredibly dangerous even for the most veteran hunters.” He walked around the room, eyeing up everyone in the room. Some looked hardened already; they’d be useful. But the young and innocent ones, they were the kind that got devoured. How many would survive this mission?

"The ranking of this mission has been given a preliminary two-star rating; and if a mother malboro appears, the rating will increase to three stars. Your pay will increase if that happens as well, but let me stress this: if things become too dangerous there is nothing wrong with retreating.”

Edgar was busy going over the paperwork and feeling a slight tinge of worry with so many disclaimers about the various ways a hunter could die. But he’d had to deal with this problem already; there were no other options at hand. So no, he couldn’t run away. He quickly signed his name on the form, and as Balder finished talking, he handed it back to the proctor. “I’m ready!” he said, touching the grip of Francesca tucked in his engineer’s toolbelt. “Let’s go prune these weeds!”

Prune these weeds?! What kind of line was that!? Did he think he was some cool hero now? He winced slightly after making his statement, and made his way near the doorframe, begging to start the mission already before he died of embarrassment.