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Topics - Hadriel

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1
http://www.cubed3.com/news/6783/1/Hiromichi_on_Nintendo_DS,_Wii,_Online,_Final_Fantasy_and_More_(Full_Transcript)

I'd found this a bit earlier, but can't remember where.  At any rate, Square-Enix's Vice President, Hiromichi Tanaka, is apparently not a complete dumbfuck.  Here is the key passage from the interview:

Quote from: Hiromichi Tanaka
There's still a possibility, but since the main director is not working for Square Enix now -- he's working on other titles in a different company, Namco Bandai, it's a bit difficult to ask him to come back and be the head of a team again. And also, Kato-san is working on the fourth game in the Mana series. So there's still a possibility that he might think he might want to make it again...

According to the interview, they previously stated that there wouldn't be a sequel to CC because it would be too difficult to get the original team back together again, but Masato Kato was known for wanting to do something different with CC as opposed to a remake.  Then again, enough time has passed since CT came out that he might consider revisiting it.

Discuss.

2
Welcome / Birthday / Seeya! Forum / I'm 20. *pulls hair*
« on: January 14, 2007, 08:58:11 pm »
I don't want to be old.   :?

3
General Discussion / The Dating and Relationships Thread
« on: November 29, 2006, 06:15:09 pm »
Wow, so I'm totally the least qualified person to start this.  But this is a thread that every forum should probably have, albeit with some ground rules to make it civilized.

1) Sexual orientation doesn't matter here, nor does religion, race, or age.  It may be relevant to a topic, but it is never an excuse to put someone down.  If you want to bash someone on account of their religion, do it in a thread specifically dedicated to that.
2) This thread is not for the discussion of obviously harmful or disrespectful sexual activities, including but not necessarily limited to pedophilia, beastiality, necrophilia, and rape.  If you feel the urge to do something of that nature, don't tell it to us; seek professional help before you hurt someone.  If you come in here confessing that you've actually done something like that, don't be surprised if one of us calls the police.  Ephebophilia (sex with a consenting teenage partner not yet of the legal age of consent) is treading the line; depending on where you live, the age of consent may be different, or local authorities may not prosecute if the age gap is small enough; for example, age gaps of less than three years are rarely prosecuted here.  In any case, use common sense, and don't get anyone hurt.
3) This thread is not for insulting people.  It is for healing and edification, so if you feel the need to spew a stream of vitriol, whatever your motivations, do it somewhere else.  Teasing is acceptable, depending on the context; use your own better judgment as to what is and isn't intended maliciously.  Any material obviously intended to cause offense will probably be edited over by a moderator; depending on the severity of the offense, warnings or bannings may be handed out.
4) One potential topic in this thread is frank discussion of sex, including topics such as birth control, g-spots, and different types of intercourse.  If you can't handle this, don't read the thread.
5) This thread is not for posting porn.  I love it as much as the next bloke, but it adds nothing to the topic.  Discussion of porn with respect to relationships is permitted.

With that said, post away.  I'm sure at least some of you have relationships.   :P

4
General Discussion / The Nature of Joy
« on: November 20, 2006, 06:59:21 pm »
One topic here that seems to come up occasionally, but isn't ever really resolved, is the question of what precisely constitutes joy.  A great many of us here have our own, fairly well-developed idea of the answer.  I'd like to open the floor for a dedicated discussion of this topic.

I'll start with my own personal slant.  Joy, to me, is an emotional state defined somewhat redundantly as pure bliss; a happiness so overpowering that literally nothing else enters the mind.  It appears to be triggered solely by circumstance and stimuli.  As an emotional state, experiencing joy is something of a subjective value judgment.  The magnitude of joy felt is variable depending on the circumstance.  This is a concise definition; its only x-factor lies in the individual stimuli that cause joy, and why this happens.  The stimuli that give me joy are almost entirely of a sensory rather than mental nature, or, more often, combine both.  Sex with a lover (as opposed to a one-night stand), for example, gives me an extraordinary feeling of completeness and meaning, in addition to the already incredible sensory overload inherent in the physical act.  Compare that to masturbation; the same result occurs, but the added mental and emotional stimuli is not present.  Pleasure is not joy in and of itself, though it often has the most potential to be.  Drug use is another possible candidate; depending on the drug you're using, and how fucked up you intend to get, getting high can bequeath some magnitude of joy.  Of course, it can also play havoc with your health if you do it too much, which renders the value of the act questionable even if it does engender pure happiness.

Others can have a different definition of joy.  Mental exercise is sometimes called joy by many of the posters here.  While mental exercises do bring me measures of happiness, I define happiness and joy to be two different things.  Not once has a mental exercise ever brought me true joy, even though they are capable of doing so according to this definition.

5
General Discussion / Everything you've heard about nBSG is true.
« on: November 20, 2006, 05:37:03 pm »
Especially if it's glowingly positive.

I seriously have no storytelling qualms with this show thus far.  It's one of a very, very few where that's the case.  Even Joss Whedon has stuff that I wish he'd done differently, and he's just about the only screenwriter at this point that I automatically have to sample every time he puts out something new.

I think the key reason why I think this show kicks so much ass is the character development.  Absolutely no one is a bit character.  Even the inconsequential communications officers, pilot trainees, fighter mechanics, marines, and the frakkin' Cylons see some focus into who they are and what they want.  The only thing that I really have to argue with from a technical standpoint would be the complete lack of weaponized lasers, even for point defense.  But that's a stylistic decision, mostly, and it's got little if anything to do with the pervading atmosphere of loss and desperation that Ron Moore has managed to set up.  The man's a genius.

6
General Discussion / Want to hear a sad story?
« on: November 14, 2006, 12:04:14 am »
This is a repost from another forum.  It's heavy shit, so don't read it if you don't give a damn.

So I've been dating my girlfriend since April, right. I've continually been willing to devote time and money to maintain a relationship with her. That ought to say that I have nothing but respect and affection for her, right?

Apparently her asstard parents don't think so.

Last weekend was my girlfriend's sister's wedding. Coincidentally, BOA Grand Nationals was the same weekend. I would have gone to watch my old high school band perform, because I still have some friends there, but I elected to go to the wedding instead, to please her family. We stayed in what was just about the most run-down inn I've ever seen in my fucking life; add that to the fact that I'm decisively not-Catholic, while everyone else there was amazingly, unrelentingly so, and you've already got a recipe for disaster. But for some reason, that particular disaster didn't happen.

Sunday morning, about 8 AM. We were sitting in this little cafe attached to the hotel, and my girlfriend came in with her other sister's kid. I start making conversation with my girlfriend, and I get to lovingly teasing her, like I do in almost every conversation we've ever had, all the while making the biggest googly-eyes at her, the kind of googly-eyes that broadcast that I love her to everyone within about 100 light-years, and she smiled back beautifully. Only problem is, this fucking tard (I'm pretty sure it was her uncle, who I already couldn't stand) takes it seriously. And later, all of a sudden her mom comes up to me screaming and yelling and ordering me to apologize for what even a complete retard should have been able to see was meant in jest. So I do, in order to avoid the violence that would have ensued had she kept pushing me. Most of the car trip back home is spent in silence to ensure that I don't get thrown out of the car, not because I couldn't get back home on my own, but because they've got all my shit in the other car. When I finally get home and try to thank them for having me along on the trip, they bite my head off. I've dealt with people doing that before, so it's no skin off my back. But the really great part is this; they know that it was meant in jest. Just about every group of good friends trades jibes with each other in good fun, often saying things that they know for a fact are blatantly untrue. Anyone who's been on this particular forum for longer than about a week should know that. And not only do good friends do such things, they often carry over into boyfriend-girlfriend relationships. And yet they all but said they're never going to let me see her again. As I turn to leave, my girlfriend gives me one of the long, lingering hugs that we tend to do, and lets me kiss her. I then plug my iPod into the car speakers and turn on Advent: One-Winged Angel. Anything with Sephiroth in it is surprisingly good for moping. All of the emo of Linkin Park without any of the whine; just pure, wholesome destroy-the-world goodness. Really, when I encounter idiocy so crippling, I get depressed even if I'm not being actively severed from something awesome.

Now, this might not be so offensive to me if a few other conditions hadn't also been in place. The first and most important condition is that I can't get enough of her. This goes without saying. The second condition is that her family, predominantly consisting of her sister and parents, regularly exercises a degree of control over her that hasn't been seen since the Inquisition. Her sister is even naive enough to think that at almost 23 years old and as cute as she is, she hasn't had sex. I can personally attest to that notion being completely false. I can also say that I wasn't her first. And I'm cool with that. But neither I nor any of my circle of friends that knows her sees any evidence to indicate that she's been allowed to make so much as a single decision for herself around her family. And as someone who prizes personal liberty, that seriously pisses me off. Third is the willful stupidity with which they've treated this whole thing, like they're simply looking for something to call me on. I'm sorry, but I categorically don't deserve that kind of treatment, and neither does anyone else she likes enough to date. I don't care that they're her parents. I don't care if they're God's own personal anti-son-of-a-bitch brigade. I have devoted an immense amount of effort to being there for her, sometimes at the expense of my schooling, and I deserve some fucking respect for that.

Let me ask this as well, regarding parents' supposed prerogatives to judge the suitability of mates for their children: how fucking deficient do you have to be to deliberately ignore the difference between a tease born of both love and humor and an actual judgment of character? If someone's that stupid, they don't deserve to breathe, much less raise a child. If someone's that stupid, I'm surprised they've ever held a steady job, though judging by the quality (or lack thereof) of the "hotel" we stayed in, I wonder. And finally, if someone's that stupid, they shouldn't be allowed to make any choices at all for anyone else, much less tell their children who's an acceptable candidate for dating. I'm not saying I'm a suitable mate at this point, or even that it would work out with her in the long run. In fact, I'd have to date someone for a minimum of two years before I'd even consider tying the knot, and even if I decided "yes", I'd have to be out of school, or at least very, very close to it, before I'd marry anyone. But you don't have to be the One (TM) to know when someone is a fucking asshole.

As I left, they actually had the fucking nerve to point-blank tell me that who she saw was their choice. I was seeing red at that moment; the only thing stopping me from dropping the both of them right there was my respect for my girlfriend. You do not get to tell a legal adult who they can and can't see. I don't care if they live under your roof or not. Hell, I'm going to be living under my parents' roof until I transfer next year, and guess what? If I wanted to go out and bone a fucking crack addict, there's jack shit they could do to stop me, because it very simply isn't any of their damn business. Sure, they have the right to not approve of me personally. I mean, hell, even ignoring the fact that I don't believe in God (and if the Christian one was proven to exist, I'd be trying to kill him) I'm already almost the antithesis of a good Christian boy. I like porn, I listen to Rage Against the Machine, I play video games until my fingers go numb, and I know the difference between kinetic and potential energy, all traits that this type of parent would hold against you. Daniel could tell you that I was like that even when I was Christian, which really wasn't that long ago.  But in the end, if they don't like me, that's fine. For them. When they think they've got the right to infringe on the personal liberty of others, even their own children, then we start to have problems. I'd expect that kind of venomous drivel out of a two-year-old trying to protect his binkie. That or a politician.

In the long run, not being allowed to see her probably won't seriously hurt me. It'll ache like a bitch for a while, but I'll get over it. There are plenty of reasons why it might not have worked as a truly long-term relationship anyway. What actually does get to me, though, is the continued fascist treatment she's going to receive at their hands. Problem is, for whatever reason, she still loves her family, who in my mind aren't people worth associating with. Anything I did to them that I actually want to do to them would make her hate me, at which point I lose by default. She's got school at about the same time I do tomorrow, so I'll probably get to see her, and it's probably going to consist almost entirely of Romeo & Juliet Bullshit (TM), except with less suicide. I'll be toting dual Winchester pocket knives, a tremendous advantage in public support, and my own brand of righteous indignation if they send anyone in an attempt to execute Redneck Justice (TM), because I honestly believe that they're unhinged enough to try something, but I'm not in the habit of making the first move. I've always believed that violence is a solution of last resort, and I'm not going to change that now. But I've also been willing to throw down when the situation warrants it.

In the short run, there's a huge blank space where my soul used to be, like someone stripped out not just the joy, but every emotion from me. The only thing I've actually felt today was anger, and that was while typing this post, the overarching message of which is fuck stupid faggots who try to lord themselves over others but have about the same mental capacity as my dick. Which is actually most people.

God, I fucking hate people.

7
General Discussion / There is no such thing as a useless life...
« on: November 07, 2006, 06:22:10 pm »
...no such thing as a pawn.

Or is there?

Personally, I'm torn.  I've got high-functioning autism, so I'm forced to wonder: how many genes away am I from falling into the "horribly dysfunctional" category?  The precedent this kind of thing could set isn't hard to imagine; we've seen it before.  On the other hand, it can hardly be called moral to intentionally keep someone with no chance at quality of life suffering.

I don't have time to offer up detailed analysis right now, because I've got to go to class.  But this is the kind of thing that takes off on its own, really, as well it should.

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General Discussion / A Letter To God
« on: August 07, 2006, 03:38:58 pm »
Dear Mr. Kato,

I'd very much like to know who sent me the free Prozac in the mail and spiked my drink with it.  How the hell did they even find me?  I live on a damn airship that can be used as a missile.  Airships don't have P.O. Boxes.  Neither do missiles.   So I'm left to conclude that it must be you, God.  So I want to ask you this one question.

Why is there a magical hand up my ass?

It wouldn't be so bad if it gave me some new magic power, but it doesn't.  Instead, it just makes me say shit like I'm narrating a fucking videogame.  And it isn't even mundane shit, like how there's a fucking galactic empire chasing a corvette, or how a bunch of teddy bears beat up a legion of elite military troops with sticks, rocks, terrain advantages and the Power of Love (TM).  No, I have to spill my heart out to the camera about how I've been continually reincarnated for like 10,000 years just to bone this same chick over and over again.  Now admittedly, she's incredibly fucking hot, but does the whole goddamn world need to know about my genetically inherited uniform fetish?  Oh, sorry, I just swore at you.  But hey, Billy's not gonna read this.  He's probably emoing out right now while I write this with a naked redhead lying next to me.  That reminds me, I've probably been in here for like 12 hours now.  And I'll be damned if I'm gonna come out until you pull that hand outta my ass.

Sorry about the abrasive tone of the letter, but being a sock puppet gets on my nerves.  In the future, I'd appreciate it if you'd actually let me go and do stuff, instead of sitting in a chair like Maison and telling people I did it.  So stop skimping on the budget and maybe I won't use my godslaying power to remake the universe in my own image.  Admittedly, I have zero design qualifications; actually, I really can't do much other than kick people in the face and have sex.  But oh man, that would be a kickass universe, kicking ass and getting ass and FIGHTIN' ROUND THE WORL--oh, shit, Id's coming out.  Maybe I better take some of that Prozac.  But anyway, build better plots or fuck off and die.

Sincerely,
Fei Fong Wong

9
AC may have been enjoyable to a degree, but when you get to the final analysis, it was fan service rather than film, and it had a lot of wasted potential.  While sitting around idly last night, I developed this concept of a version of AC that is, in my opinion, worlds better than the one we got, because I actually bother to exploit the themes set forth in FFVII.  This AU is still meant to be in film format; I'd like your opinions on it.  I don't plan to write this or develop it any more than I already have.  I'd simply like someone to assess it, critique it, and if so inclined, say what they would have done with the premise of an FFVII film.

Here's how I'd play it:

Setting
I'd change the time frame to six months after FFVII.  Instead of Edge, the main city would be Junon.  It would be depicted as the bustling metropolis it is with over a million people living there, and will have assumed a social structure much like what Midgar used to be, what with all the refugees from Meteor having flocked to the city.  The rich will have inhabited the actual city, while the poor will be forced into the slums.  I might or might not keep the Advent Children name; I like it, but it might not be the best fit with the type of story I would have had in mind.  Rufus is still dead; none of this "I ducked" retardation.  The Turks are nowhere to be found.  Finally, Mako is established as being far superior to even nuclear fusion; the return to a nuclear-based lifestyle would cause a notable decline in standards of living.  The rationalization for this is that I don't care how stupid Nomura is with regards to technological development, or what kind of FFVII-FFX idiocy he and his team of hash-smokers attempt to propose; if a civilization has functional, non-magic-based antigravity devices and directed energy weapons, they damn well know how to build a nuclear reactor.

Plot Thread 1: The Trial of AVALANCHE and Shinra
Countless innocents died in the war between the two factions, and now that the government is free of Shinra's influence, it's attempting to bring both groups to justice in retribution for the deaths of innocent people.  The specific national government here is never identified; a world governmental body named the Coalition is instead made reference to.  A new character will be appointed to lead the prosecution against them; this will be a military general, as the deaths in the fight are largely perceived as having been war crimes.  Reeve, as the new head of Shinra, has hired top-flight lawyers to represent both his company and AVALANCHE.  He's also created the WRO, as he does in the real story; he's financing Barret's planned energy expedition.  Their idea is to convert the Sierra into a mobile science vessel and scour Cetra ruins for a solution to the energy problem, as well as doing non-Cetra-related research on the side.  (What can I say, I always liked the concept for Crusade.)  This is used as a chief part of his defense plan; the government needs all the help it can get to rebuild the world economy, even if it does come from former Shinra employees.  The chief theme of this plotline is practicality versus morality, which is a theme carried over from FFVII; as such, it centers around Reeve and Barret, who are the big dogs of their respective factions.  Reeve is being tried for the sins of his predecessors, including the destruction of Sector 7, the burning of Nibelheim, Hojo's sick experiments, and no less than 129 other counts of terrorism perpetrated by Shinra against the people of the world.  He's also the defendant in a large civil suit by the families of those who perished in Sector 7; they collectively seek payment for emotional and psychological damages to the tune of 10 billion gil.  Barret, on the other hand, is being tried for the bombing of the No. 1 Mako Reactor, in which 1255 people died.  Cloud was also tried for his role in the bombing and was cleared after Reeve's lawyers presented declassified Shinra documents proving that Cloud was a victim of Hojo's experiments and certifiably insane at the time, therefore rendering him not responsible for his actions.  Cloud's hard on himself about it; a good deal of him believes that he shouldn't have been let off the hook, and that he's as bad as Sephiroth, which only compounds his self-guilt regarding the death of Aeris.  He holds a certain measure of enmity towards Barret.  All three are trying to come to terms with their moral responsibility in the events leading up to the Meteor incident.  No one else was charged regarding the bombing; everyone else directly involved in it died in Sector 7.

Progression
~A courtroom scene designed to invoke images of the Nuremberg trials is present in the first part of the film.  Reeve and Barret are currently being tried for war crimes, though the scene focuses on Barret's trial for the bombing of the No. 1 Mako Reactor.

~Instead of Cloud's flashbacks to talking with Tifa that appear midway through AC, the flashbacks are to an argument and eventual fight between Barret and Cloud about their responsibility for the bombing.  Cloud accuses Barret of having enveloped himself in a titanic web of rationalizations for his actions, and Barret defends it by saying that Shinra needed to be brought down for the sake of the whole planet.  Cloud wins both the fight and the argument, but adds the caveat that he's guilty of the same thing; a plain and simple failure to consider the consequences of his actions.

~A massive urban battle between Deep Ground and the military would take the place of the Bahamut Sin fight; read the section on the second plot thread for more details about them and their relation with both this plot and the canon version of the Deep Ground SOLDIERs.  Here's how the battle breaks down.

On the Deep Ground side:
-Normal gang members armed with automatic weapons and stolen Shinra hardware (14400)
-Deep Ground SOLDIERs equipped with magic and Materia (120)
-Summoned creatures (Bahamut, Shiva, Ifrit)
-Cetra X-5 Sentinel Mobile Base "Alexander" (is portrayed as a war machine cast into the Lifestream to be summoned at will)

On the side of the Coalition forces:
-181st Infantry Division (15000 powered-armor troops including heavy armament plus 7 M2 hovertanks, 7 M4 treaded main battle tanks, 3 heavy projectile artillery units)
-1st WRO Robotic Infantry (5000 drone soldiers including heavy armament)
-2nd WRO Robotic Armor (40 DoC spider walkers)
-3rd WRO Infantry (Shinra powered-armor troops, 1000)
-Junon defense grid (Antivehicle beam weapons, antiaircraft flak guns)
-Cloud Strife (Ultima Weapon, Shield Materia)
-Vincent Valentine (Cerberus assault rifle, grenades)
-Barret Wallace (50mm chaingun, 300 kW X-ray laser, massive amounts of Materia)

If it weren't for the summoned creatures, the deck would be heavily stacked against Deep Ground.  As it stands, Barret and Vincent shoot down Bahamut, taking out a large force of DG infantry in the process, and after a heavy bombardment by allied forces, Cloud defeats Alexander with Climhazzard, chopping it cleanly in half.  Note that none of the figures I provided for army sizes or weapon power are exact; they're approximations that would be changed to whatever reflected the situation best if this had ended up being AC.

~At the end, the General abandons his fiery crusade against AVALANCHE, and so do the courts, for the simple reason that the world needs AVALANCHE.  They sure as hell don't like it, though.

~Yuffie is only briefly mentioned as rallying support for the WRO's energy crusade in Wutai.

~Red XIII is the guardian of Cosmo Canyon, and has donated all of the now-dead Bugenhagen's scientific equipment to the WRO.

Plot Thread 2: The Plight of the People
This is where the other half of the story is centered.  Tifa, Cloud, and Marlene have relocated to Junon along with the rest of Midgar.  While Tifa runs the newly reopened 7th Heaven, Cloud has joined the local police force and military in an effort to help quell the civil unrest; he's regarded as "the last SOLDIER" even though he actually wasn't one.  Cloud's personal motivations are the same as in the real AC; redeem himself for the death of Aeris.  This plot features him trying to track down a terrorist group of pro-Mako zealots, comprised of both rich and poor, who aren't ready to abandon its use.  His training, his sheer power, and his association with AVALANCHE make him uniquely qualified to handle this.  The group is similar to the Deep Ground SOLDIERs; in fact, the gang's name is simply "Deep Ground."  Instead of the Zvets, however, Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz are kept intact as the leaders of this group.  Unlike the real AC, they're some of Hojo's Sephiroth clones; I never liked the "remnants of Sephiroth" angle.  In fact, I think it's completely fucking stupid.  In this story, the SHM will have termed themselves Deep Ground SOLDIERs because they've been infused with Mako; the most devout of their followers are also infused with Mako, trained to fight, and given this title.

Progression
~The beginning of the movie features Cloud singlehandedly defeating and arresting an entire group of DG SOLDIERs, all of which wield Velvet Nightmares and some of which have magic and Materia.  Cloud is depicted as being possessed of a Wolverine-style healing factor, sustaining several gunshots without any noticeable decline in combat performance.  It could be said that he possesses something of a healing factor in AC as well, as he sustains several normally crippling wounds but retains the ability to function almost at his maximum, though it's clearly not at Wolverine's level.  Regardless, the DG SOLDIERs do not have this ability in any measure, and are defeated with relative ease.

~Contrary to the real story, where it took a direct statement from Nomura to convince fanboys (one of the few good things he's done completely on his own with regards to FFVII), Cloud and Tifa are concretely depicted as being in love, and are shown having sex immediately after he arrives at home after defeating the initial group of DG SOLDIERs.  However, their relationship is rather strained; Cloud is still feeling guilty for Aeris' death, the No. 1 reactor bombing, and the fact that he worked for Shinra in the first place.

~Denzel does not exist in this continuity.  Priscilla is used in his place, having been taken in by Tifa after her parents were killed in a drive-by shooting perpetrated against their entire street by Deep Ground.  She is killed in the Junon Riot, accidentally getting the top half of her head blown off by a misdirected DG sniper bullet.  Yes, you read that right.  FFVII wasn't afraid to kill off main characters and to depict horrible atrocities, and I'm not afraid to pop the brainpan of some annoying little orphan kid.  I'm sick of the unrealistic and stupid protection they're afforded in RPGs anyway.  More orphans need to die.  As a final note, fuck you, Mr. Dolphin.

~Aeris' role would be about the same as it is in the real AC.  She may or may not appear at the end of the movie; her appearances, as well as Zack's, will likely be concentrated in flashbacks.

~Vincent brings Cloud a tip regarding a DG gathering.  He's established as being a field operative for the WRO's intelligence agency.  The gang leaders aren't too terribly smart about that sort of thing; infiltrating them was an easy task.

~After the defeat of Alexander, Cloud sequentially fights Yazoo + Loz, Kadaj, and then Sephiroth.  It goes down almost exactly as it does in the real AC, with the exception of the Sephiroth fight.

~Sephiroth himself is a bit different; out of religious fervor, Kadaj sacrifices his soul to the Lifestream to be used as spirit energy, which is then channeled to find and return the fragments of Sephiroth to the living world.  Kadaj's body is mutated into Sephiroth's likeness, but Sephiroth himself isn't all there.  He has none of the self-assuredness that he did in life.  In fact, he's no longer even capable of rational thought, and his entire knowledge base consists of "DESTROY CLOUD" in stark contradiction to his real-AC state.  He attacks like the raving madman he is, but Cloud defeats him nonetheless, and without too much trouble.  Omnislash V is still the finisher.

~Cloud's revelation is quite a bit different here, and arguably much more realistic; it's more along the lines of Peter Parker in the first Spider-Man movie, who refuses to get close to people because they end up getting hurt by association with him.  He draws even further into himself, and at the end of the movie, he leaves Tifa, seeking spiritual awakening to atone for the deaths that he's both committed and failed to prevent.

~The Turks may or may not show up.  They don't have too much relevance to the plotline, but the one I've set up here leaves the opportunity for a sequel.  They're mercenaries now, and they have their own quirks that I've decided on ahead of time: Reno's the polar opposite of who he is in AC.  He's a dark and brooding character trying to come to terms with the fact that he's been responsible for a lot of evil under Shinra's employ; really, it never even occurred to him before, because working for the Turks made him almost a complete sociopath.  He's become an alcoholic and cocaine addict and has a new, upgraded Asp that can shoot even more powerful energy bolts, as opposed to the crappy, budget version he got in AC.  Rude is depicted as having the same problem, but dealing with it in a very different way; he's actually going insane, sometimes softly singing children's songs while cutting himself or crying himself to sleep.  He has a Mako addiction that may or may not be the cause of his insanity, but it certainly can't be helping.  The only thing it does do for him is that it's turned him into a very powerful telepath capable of inducing horrible, nightmarish visions into someone's mind.  Depending on the severity of Rude's psychic assault, it can do anything from simply horrifying a target into impotence to causing them to attempt to claw their own eyes out or sometimes commit suicide to make the visions stop.  He can render people vegetables with this attack; of course, there's the more obvious danger of them having a heart attack and dying.  Finally, his psionics can manipulate his enemy's nerves, forcing them to kill themselves.  Reno is the only one Rude will respond to or even acknowledge the existence of.  Tseng and Elena are depicted as being lovers.

---------

10
General Discussion / SWEET JEEBUS MCDEATHSTARTITS
« on: March 15, 2006, 03:11:24 am »
http://www.play-symphony.com/news.php?full=15

Quote
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 13, 2006 - Today JMP Productions announced that Japanese video game composer Yasunori Mitsuda is joining PLAY!. His music from Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross will be presented in one exclusive suite in every PLAY! concert world-wide. Yasunori Mitsuda is going to attend the premiere of PLAY! in Chicago on May 27 2006, he will also be joining the meet and greet.

Yasunori Mitsuda is an icon of video game music. His work includes music for productions such as Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, Chrono Cross, Shadow Hearts and Xenosaga. His music for Chrono Trigger alongside with Nobuo Uematsu was the turning point in his career, established him as a composer and made him a well-known musician all over the world.

Says Jason Michael Paul: "Mitsuda-san's music is flavorful and stylish. He has created some of the greatest video game music of all time. To have Mitsuda-san come to the US for our premiere in Chicago is a dream come true. My hope is that the fans will come out and show their appreciation for the distance he has traveled to celebrate with us."


I didn't see this posted anywhere, so I figured I'd begin frothing at the mouth.  So...enjoy the frothing.

*seizure*

11
Wow, we need to do some stuff on this.  As I understood it, the project's basically on hiatus until TF 2.1 comes out, but there's no reason why we can't at least get something done.  And one thing that we haven't gotten done is, well, most of the things in the title.

I had a couple of new ideas and edits to the actual plot, but they're very minor; I'll send out another iteration of the master plot as soon as I find the time, which will likely be sometime this coming weekend because of mid-terms.  One of them includes a lot of pain for Lucca, and possibly a dedicated Robo sidequest.

OK, I'll start off with weaponry, since we've done the most on it.  I'm simply going to lay down a flat list of every single weapon name anyone has suggested for every character (culled from the other thread) and if I feel like adding any of my own, I'll italicize them so you can tell the new ones apart, and bold the ones that are pretty much certainly going to be included.

~Crono
Lead Sword
Arco Iris
Ara Dei
Trusilver
Jade Hilt
Shamshir
Geistrand
Ryuraizan

Hattori Hanzo
Shima
Meido (afterlife)
Meifumado (Buddhist hell)
Dotanuki
Kodachi
Wakizashi (short sword, same as Kodachi)
Sakki (palpable desire to kill)
Bokuto (wooden practice sword)
Onibocho (Demon Knife)

~Glenn
ArmingEdge
Gilt Sword
DwarfSword
Caliburn
Clarent
Galatine
PaxGuardia
Nauthiz
Masamune (big duh right here)
Maximus

~Marle
YewBow
FarShooter
Fay Arrow
Ivory Bow
Cherubim/Kerubim
Alkanost
Fail-Not
Naveed

~Lucca
QuantaShot
SnipeShot
VerneShot
FreeRadical
Flintlock

Zonker8000
DualMagnum
Sterling

~Robo
Strainer
Atlas
EmpireHand
Clasp
PryingHand
SteamPunch
DeathGrip
Impax
Imperator

*If the Servo Module can be done, we need to think of another set of weapons for him.

~Schala
DreamStone
Sun Charm
Diamond Pin
Hope Jewel
Star of Zeal
Will of Fire
Living Zeal
Death Wish
Peace Charm

~Magus
Grigori
Khadhulu
Kronian
Iscariot
Erebos
Totentanz

Gehenna
Vanitas
Legion
EbonyMoon

I've also been mentally toying with the idea of having gag weapons, like Crono's mop from CT or the joke weapons from Soul Calibur.  They wouldn't necessarily have to be exceptionally weak, though; they could just be references to something else entirely that we want to throw in for one reason or another.  For example, I had an idea for Robo's joke weapon, a ranged energy weapon named the Prometheus Buster.  As this is far too long to fit in the window, it's conveniently shortened to P. Buster.  At least some of you probably know where the term Buster originated to describe a blaster weapon; the Mega Man series used it first, and Robo carries almost the exact same vibe as X, as well as having a backstory that touches on many of the same themes as the idea of Reploids does.  Marle's gag weapon, in my mind, would either be a bowcaster or a blowgun, while Lucca's could be a paintball gun or a DL44.  Magus probably has the most possibilities for gag weapons; he's a naturally dark and intimidating character, which results in plenty of ways to take the piss out of him with weapon choices.  He could have a broom, a pitchfork, one of those cow axes from Diablo, a lance of some kind, who knows.

We did have a few item and armor names in the old thread.  I'll dig those up later; have to work on an econ project now.

12
General Discussion / Technical prowess versus storytelling
« on: February 14, 2006, 12:48:46 am »
No, this isn't a rant against ZOMFGCGISEX!!!!11!  When I refer to technical prowess, I'm not speaking of the authors' abilities to produce special effects; I'm referring to the actual capabilities of a fictional civilization itself.  I've been thinking about this, and I wondered what the opinion here was; how much, if any, does the power level in a story impact the actual storytelling, and why?

There exist numerous powerful universes with excellent stories behind them, and there exist equally as many with crappy ones; the same applies to relatively weak universes.  Reading around on some other boards, namely sci-fi/fantasy versus boards, I've found that there are some levels of technology or magical ability beyond which some people feel that it's impossible to get into a story.  There's also the question of whether a universe's realism affects its technological capacity or ability to tell a particular type of story; FTL travel, for instance, is regarded as either "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" or "this might be possible in some interpretations of bleeding-edge physics, but there's no way we can muster up the resources to do it."  Yet it's still accepted as a plot device in sci-fi, perhaps out of necessity, perhaps out of some small sliver of hope that it might be possible to explore worlds far removed from our own one day.  Likewise, magic and sorcery are almost never quantified or given any explanation as to their mechanism.

This thread isn't intended to be a versus debate in the conventional sense (which sci-fi/fantasy civ or character could beat another); it's just interested in discussing the concept of story versus power.

13
General Discussion / Popular Games Explained in Thirty Seconds
« on: December 21, 2005, 10:45:27 pm »
In the spirit of the popular Book-A-Minute sketches comes this brief interpretation of Final Fantasy X.  Readers are encouraged to contribute their own Game-A-Minute sketches, because there aren't nearly enough of them.

Peter Griffin: *impersonating Meg* Hey! I'm Tidus! I'm in Zanarkand! I play blitzball!

Zanarkand Populace: Oh shit, Godzilla!

Tidus: Waah, I'm a thousand years in the future!

Yuna: Hi, I'm a hot summoner chick!

Tidus: Jackpot!  I'll hook up with you!

Auron: You know she dies at the end, right?

Tidus: ...on second thought, let's not go to Zanarkand.  It is a silly place.

Wakka: Oh snap, Yevon's a sham!  Let's do something else!

Lulu: I want to have your babies!

Wakka: *impersonating Cartman*  Sweet.

Jecht: hahaha emos lol

Tidus: STFU n00b!

Yuna: Yay! We beat Sin!

Tidus: Shit guys, I'm disappearing!

Rikku: Don't worry, there's always the sequel.

Tidus: That's not how this series works!

*Final Fantasy X-2 is released*

Tidus: Oh.

14
General Discussion / Story time
« on: November 16, 2005, 06:19:57 pm »
So one of my friends masturbates a lot. Anytime he isn't in class is masturbation time...frighteningly general, I know. Then two religious chicks knocked on his door at 11:30 at night. He put on a pair of boxer shorts, purposely shoved his dick through the hole, and opened the door. These chicks are the type that you just know have never had sex or done anything even remotely fun. One look down equals instant eye contact for the rest of the conversation. So here's what they say.

Girls: Uh, hi. We're going around talking to people about Jesus Christ. Have you accepted Jesus Christ into your life?
Friend: No.
Girls: ...have you ever thought about accepting Jesus Christ into your life?
Friend: No.
Girls: ...then how do you know you'll be saved?
Friend: Because I'm that fucking good.
Girls: Oh...well, we just think it's a really great feeling to vibrate at the level of Christ.

..........

15
Crimson Echoes Plot Construction / Finishing touches on the story
« on: November 15, 2005, 07:09:58 pm »
If I do one thing right this entire semester, I'm going to finish the Crimson Echoes story; it deserves to be finished after all the work everyone's put in on it.  And I think I've come up with something approaching a solution for the problem of Lavos' scheme.  First of all, some backstory.

Lavos' race is a key part of the new "main scheme."  They're basically a race of builders that have been around almost since the beginning of the universe, being born by a chance collision of molecules that formed the equivalent of a spaceborne "primal muck."  It was from this sea of chemicals that a collection of protein-like substances and then, short-lived organic molecules which quickly evolved to survive the harsh conditions, formed in the fire and crushing gravity of the first era of existence.  They utilized a process similar to photosynthesis to produce energy for themselves, save that they survived on not just visible light or heat, but nearly any form of stellar radiation.  Since time was compressed near the beginning of the universe, they were afforded something akin to a "peanut gallery" view of various timelines.  This was the key factor in their growth.  Even as a collection of single-celled organisms in the chasm of space, they were able to sense the shifts in the timestream.  This held true when some of them eventually were taken to nearby planets, drawn there by random atomic motion, collisions from macroscopic objects, gravity, and other inextricable forces.  They quickly managed to form complex organisms in so doing, and their temporal senses gave them a sort of hive mind.  It isn't as drastic as the Borg; it's more like one Jedi sensing another one through the Force, both in feeling and in fact due to the postulated nature of Zurvan.  But this did allow for one important thing: the faster development of logic.  From there, the road through math, science, and technology to their godlike understanding came within tens of millions of years.  Their achievements are more than sufficient to earn the status of legend.

They survived under the harshest imaginable conditions to become a civilization.  Their civilization survived to become great, due to their uniqueness.  They found cures for every imaginable form of illness.  They derived the the equations that, even in the primal form of the universe, predicted the current form it would take.  They discovered the grand unified field theory, and applied it to eventually learn what some consider the ultimate secret, the ability to travel faster than light.  They used their temporal senses to manipulate energy directly, with nothing more than their wills and the force of millions of years of evolution; this is the power known as magic, born of Zurvan.  The Sea of Dreams is that of the roiling flux of time; it and its probabilistic nature can sustain any number of occurrences that would seem magical to those without understanding.  And with the power of magic, of Zurvan, at their command, they even learned how to command time itself.  And with that, they became the lords of the universe.

However, Lavos' race was a unique occurrence; no other race has evolved like that, because no other had the opportunity.  Therefore, they took it upon themselves to become as gods to lesser races, to show them the paradise of knowledge they had achieved.  They traveled to the far-flung worlds of the universe and instilled life there, grooming it to one day join them in their paradise of the mind, as they believed that the power of reason was the most divine resource to be had anywhere.  The only problem is that, as sentient beings, they weren't perfect; even Lavos made a mistake, when he sent Gaspar to the End of Time.  But the mistake the Lavoids made is far more fundamental than that; they misinterpreted the very nature of sentience.  Because of their temporal hive mind, they had managed to be far more cooperative with each other than we've ever been.  However, there's still some room for individuality.  That's where Lavos comes in.

He was once a great lord of his race, leading the charge into the unknown reaches of the universe and the search for ever-greater sums of knowledge to add to the stores of his race.

...argh, my stomach's calling.  Must eat dinner.  I'll post the rest tomorrow.

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