Welcome to Dissidia County Day School!

[Ryushikaze]

This is not a fanfic, not yet, anyways, but it is a character outline for a 'normal' AU that can fit most of the FF characters into it.

The school is a K-12 school in an East Coast state of the United States. It is staffed, and attended, by the real world versions of Final Fantasy characters, their stories and struggles translated into real world concerns.

Instead of SOLDIER, Cloud wants to make it as a football star for the Dissidia Soldiers, of which he is currently third string- the coach just won't give him a chance, despite the Star Quarterback's Zack Fair's recommendation, that sort of thing. Most folks' stories can be changed to fit a more mundane world, with some notable exceptions for strangeness, and even then those- Like Hojo's genetically expirimenting on Sephypoo- will be made more mundane.

The Faculty is largely comprised of Final Fantasy 4 heroes, but also includes notable elder characters from the various games, like Vincent, Strago, and Sazh. Cid Kramer would obviously be Headmaster.

I have ideas for how Cosmos and Warrior of Light- or rather Superintendent Catherine Osmos and her legal ward Rory O'Bright- fit into things, as well as a lot of ideas about what various people would be like as 'normal' people.

My idea is to have mostly self contained stories rather than an overarcing plot, as the format lends itself more to it.
Does that sound like something you folks would be interested in? If so, I might write a short story as a sample, possibly one about School Junior Ceodore giving Transfer Student Rikku a tour around the school.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Ryu, if there's anyone who can turn the overused high-school setting AU cliche into something actually worth reading it would be you. I'd love to see what you'd make of it.

Anyone ever noticed how all the good fanfictions (regardless of setting) are written by authors who have researched canon to death?

 

[Kassi]

^ this. In my experience most poorly-written 'school' setting AUs are written by people who are either still in it, freshly out of it, or emotionally/mentally will always be there.

Depending on where one wants to go with such a fic, the best 'school' fics I've read focus on how the characters develop into adults and eventually leave school (and school-age thinking and behavior) behind -- or else get ensnared by it and sort of appear to spiral inward and stay stuck. I know it's a clichéd example, but Harry Potter worked for me as a 'school' fic because of how the characters developed even outside of school. But this is in a dramatic setting, and if you were going through satire, perhaps all this is rendered null and void. Your mileage may vary anyway, this is how I feel about any fiction set in schools, be it fanfiction or else. So it's my own personal taste anyways...

I love the idea though.

<3
Kassi

 

[Dawnbreaker]

I'm not sure what you're looking for, but I'd read about it, because I agree that you could pull this off. It's a very dubious distinction of being someone who writes an AU-school-fanfic (or whatever you are doing) but if you manage it, it'll just show that much talent that you have.

 

[Captain Jack Harkness]

i'll surely read it Ryu

and here some mine ideas:
-Vincent: Once ,during his first year, he complains to his sciense teacher Hojo about the lession, so started a rivality between them and since that day Hojo always makes him fail all the test.
-Sephiroth: since childhood his father was always almost abusive with him,constraing him to do a lot of extra homework, especially about science and P.E. and usually Hojo teached him science personally. Sephiroth's childhood was awful, always studying extra subject-matters and he never had friends during primary and middle school. his classmates always looked at him like a weird swot (hope it's the right word) and always avoided him. that's caused, when Sephiroth was teen, the source of a rebelion, especially versus his father, and that's why once he retouned home with silver hair (we can explain his silver hair with (a) dyed hair, (b) strangely common in the school or (c) some strange experiment goes wrong when he was a child).

PS: are you going to insert all the main characters from every FFs, prequel, sequel and spin off inclused? if yes, be sure i'll think about something for some other character

 

[Danseru-kun]

Some of my headcanons in a highschool AU:

Yuna: quiet, shy, Baptist girl who tends to share her beliefs if spoken to so nobody speaks to her. Pretty naive and a doormat of course, can't say no to requests, too forgiving and tends fantasize that students who have troubles will find the right answers from her if only they would try to speak to her. Waits for this to happen but it does not.

Rikku: Yuna's cousin and best friend and everybody's friend as well. Indifferent to religion, philosophies or anything related to them. Volleyball player (dunno why i think of that.)

Wakka: Teacher who endorses his religion despite the school rules. Hates Rikku.

Tidus: Either a waterpolo player or a swimmer. Yuna's lab partner in chemistry and his listening ear to all his daddy issues. Wants Yuna to have fun so he takes her to different places and gets her in trouble because of his mischief. Want to be independent from his father but can't because he thinks he is needed by him.

Jecht: Alcoholic single father who was once a great swimmer until his injury. Loves Tidus but has a bad job of showing it. Works

 

[Ryushikaze]

i'll surely read it Ryu

and here some mine ideas:
-Vincent: Once ,during his first year, he complains to his sciense teacher Hojo about the lession, so started a rivality between them and since that day Hojo always makes him fail all the test.

Vincent is going to be an elder- but distinguished- teacher in his 50s, but yes, he and Hojo have a history together. It involves Lucrecia, Vincent's dad, Sephiroth, and the reason Hojo is in a Looney Bin.

As a note, All character ages are going to be correct relative to other characters in their series. This does not mean all characters will be the same age as in their games, but they will be the same number of years apart in age as they should be.

-Sephiroth: since childhood his father was always almost abusive with him,constraing him to do a lot of extra homework, especially about science and P.E. and usually Hojo teached him science personally. Sephiroth's childhood was awful, always studying extra subject-matters and he never had friends during primary and middle school. his classmates always looked at him like a weird swot (hope it's the right word) and always avoided him. that's caused, when Sephiroth was teen, the source of a rebelion, especially versus his father, and that's why once he retouned home with silver hair (we can explain his silver hair with (a) dyed hair, (b) strangely common in the school or (c) some strange experiment goes wrong when he was a child).

Sephiroth is actually a Graduate of the school, having proceeded into College and now Pro Football, though he finds himself growing bored of it.
Much of what you say about how Hojo treated him was true, but after a prolonged custody battle, he was taken away from Hojo and raised by Lucrecia and Vincent.

PS: are you going to insert all the main characters from every FFs, prequel, sequel and spin off inclused? if yes, be sure i'll think about something for some other character

All, No. But a good many, yes. Try not to think 'High school' necessarily. Normal life is probably a better idea. I haven't solidified my ideas for Cayenne, but I think he will either be a cop or an ex cop who very nearly -or did, as per canon- lost his family to a serial kiler.

Some of my headcanons in a highschool AU:

Yuna: quiet, shy, Baptist girl who tends to share her beliefs if spoken to so nobody speaks to her. Pretty naive and a doormat of course, can't say no to requests, too forgiving and tends fantasize that students who have troubles will find the right answers from her if only they would try to speak to her. Waits for this to happen but it does not.

Not too far off from my idea. Yuna is actually somewhat shunned by half of her biological family because her dad did the blasphemous act of marrying her Atheist mom. Yuna grew up religious, but was taught by her dad to keep asking questions and fighting for what's right even if the church says it's wrong. Might go agnostic/ atheist over the course of her story. Auron acts as her legal guardian rather than Tidus's in this world, though Auron is a mentor to Tidus as well.

Rikku: Yuna's cousin and best friend and everybody's friend as well. Indifferent to religion, philosophies or anything related to them. Volleyball player (dunno why i think of that.)

Rikku in my AU is an atheist, a freethinker, and very opinionated on philosophies. Likes swimming and the beach sports. Doesn't quite understand why folks have a problem with her wearing bikinis around, as she comes from a much freer hometown. She moved for the educational opportunities DCDS and nearby colleges will offer. She loves working on cars. Sometimes she forgets to ask before tinkering, but she always makes sure to leave a car in better shape than she found it.

Wakka: Teacher who endorses his religion despite the school rules. Hates Rikku.

He's too young to be a teacher, but he is going to be involved somehow. Possibly sees himself as a guardian of Yuna's due to a promise to Yuna's dad. Initially sees Rikku as a bad influence, yes.

Tidus: Either a waterpolo player or a swimmer. Yuna's lab partner in chemistry and his listening ear to all his daddy issues. Wants Yuna to have fun so he takes her to different places and gets her in trouble because of his mischief. Want to be independent from his father but can't because he thinks he is needed by him.

Soccer or Rugby for competitive, Swimmer for training.

Jecht: Alcoholic single father who was once a great swimmer until his injury. Loves Tidus but has a bad job of showing it. Works

Not Alcoholic. Widower. Terrible at expressing himself. Old friend of Yuna's dad. Still a popular figure, and responsible for turning his sport of choice into a national sport on par with basketball, if not American Football. I keep thinking rugby. It suits him.
Loves fishing. Wants to take Tidus, but thinks Tidus would hate it.

Also, my brain is SCREAMING at me to make Cloud and the Farron sisters Siblings due to their identical parental situation and obvious similarities between Cloud and Lightning.

 

[Kermitu Kleric Katie]

Mmhmm, so Sephiroth is a football star then, and I take it Cloud wants to be one to impress Tifa? Who's the coach? Is it Lazard? Angeal, possibly? Or maybe Shinra?
Will Cait Sith and Nanaki be in this? If so, how will they be incorporated? They've always seemed to be some of the hardest FFVII characters to incorporate into the real world. My guess is that Nanaki would be a specimen for Hojo to show the science class I would assume he teaches, and Cait Sith is a puppet that Reeve carries around. The hardest to incorporate would be Jenova, so I'm especially curious if you'll even bother including it.
I've always seen Lightning as more similar to Squall than Cloud. Perhaps all four could be siblings? Is Lightning a bully to Snow?
Will Cid Highwind be included? I hope you include interactions between the Cids. Who wouldn't want to see those?
Will Gilgamesh be included? I hope so.
I take it Yuffie will be a klepto and do Ninja-y things such as spy on people. Assuming you include her, of course.
If she's included, how will Aerith's mystical powers be toned down to a realistic-ish level? I take it she'll be dating Zack?
Will Kefka be included? I think it'd be quite interesting to se how he gets incorporated into the story. My guess is he's a former circus clown, who has turned serial killer, and perhaps is the serial killer that killed Cyan's family.
Is Sephiroth good or bad in this fic? Or does he start out good, and then turn bad, like in the canon of FFVII.
Since Cloud seems to be de-aged 4 to 7 years, since I'm assuming he's in high school judging by your description of how he'll be incorporated, and since you said the characters of the same games' ages will be relative to each other based on how old they were relative to each other in the original game, I take it marlene won't be included, since she's only 4. So what will you do with Barret? Will you include him at all? I take it he'll be leader of your fic's equivalent of AVALANCHE?
Will you include Gabranth? I'm curious to see how his relationship with his brother would get incorporated into your fic.
And one last thing, is this your first attempt at writing fanfiction, Ryu? If not, could you provide me links to fanfiction you've written in the past (whether it's through posting or PM doesn't matter to me)? You've always been my favorite person on TLS (besides myself, of course), and I'm curious to see what kind of fanfics you write.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

The sibling idea sounds good. Go with it.

My two cents on ideas as you don't seem to mind.

-- Zangan and Aramat run a martial arts studio where Tifa and Zell (and all the other hand-to-hand fighters) go

-- Quistus is a model student, but would be very embarrassed if anyone found out she was the president of the Tipple Triad Club that meets at school

-- Dagger (what name is she going by in here?) is the daughter of a millionaire and she's currently on the run with Zidane and the rest of his gang

-- Zidane and Co. have recently come to town and are being chased by Dagger's mom

-- Squall only hangs out with Lightning and Cloud (until Rinoa comes along) and he never really mentions where he lives

 

[Kermitu Kleric Katie]

The sibling idea sounds good. Go with it.

My two cents on ideas as you don't seem to mind.

-- Zangan and Aramat run a martial arts studio where Tifa and Zell (and all the other hand-to-hand fighters) go

-- Quistus is a model student, but would be very embarrassed if anyone found out she was the president of the Tipple Triad Club that meets at school

-- Dagger (what name is she going by in here?) is the daughter of a millionaire and she's currently on the run with Zidane and the rest of his gang

-- Zidane and Co. have recently come to town and are being chased by Dagger's mom

-- Squall only hangs out with Lightning and Cloud (until Rinoa comes along) and he never really mentions where he lives

I would either add Yang to the martial arts training program instructors, or replace one them with Yang. How dare you leave out Yang! But Sabin could be a student.

 

[Captain Jack Harkness]

-Cid Pollendina and Cid Highwind would be schoolbus driver or they would be teach engine.
--Aerith and Yuna would be bestfriends, they have a lot of things in common, and i don't see so bad Zack/Tidus.
--Tidus can be the captain of the football team.
--Vincent can be a cop too, or maybe he was a cop who changed work and now teach something reguarding legality and similar (dunno if in other country there are lesson or scholastic activieties about legality).
--Golbez is a student who sometimes is secretally jealous of his younger brother, but during the story changes his mind and became protective to him.
--Yang, Zangan and Amarant run the dojo.
--Rikku plays beach volley.
--Edward/Gilbert and Kuja run the music club but sometimes Kuja bullies Edward.

i like to imagine a 'Cids secret club' or something similar maybe once at week all the Cids have a special meeting and spend the time talking about engine and flying means of transports.

there will be 4 onions knight or Luneth, Arc, Refia and Ingus?

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

You're going to have a cast of, if not thousands, at least scores. It will be hard to do them all justice. Are the majority going to make little cameos while you focus on developing plot arcs for just a few?

"My Disjointed Life" is the only good school AU I have ever read. It was set in a college. It's usually a genre I run a mile from, but I'd give yours a go.

 

[Ryushikaze]

You're going to have a cast of, if not thousands, at least scores. It will be hard to do them all justice. Are the majority going to make little cameos while you focus on developing plot arcs for just a few?

"My Disjointed Life" is the only good school AU I have ever read. It was set in a college. It's usually a genre I run a mile from, but I'd give yours a go.

I'm not looking to make any overarcing plot here. Mostly short episodic things focusing on a few characters at a time. And yes, there are lots of characters that could feature in this, most will be cameos.

I'm also not just going to focus on students, since there's a lot of mileage in the teacher's lounge as well.

 

[Danseru-kun]

Are you planning to include FFT characters?

I would really love it if you include Delita but I'm not quote sure how he would be translated into the realistic world. I'll tell you once I get an idea.

 

[Captain Jack Harkness]

Ramza's father could be a local politician and Delita's parents could be servants. then it can be quite easy, just nedd to tranform all the War of the Lions in a political campaign.

 

[Kermitu Kleric Katie]

Prishe could also be a dojo student.

 

[Alex Strife]

My advice is to leave the mmorpg games out of this actually

 

[Kermitu Kleric Katie]

My advice is to leave the mmorpg games out of this actually

Why are you one of those MMO haters?

 

[Ryushikaze]

Actually, given I know practically nothing of 11, I'd be leaving it out, except for maybe a tiny tyrant of a Science Teacher named Shannon.

 

[Alex Strife]

Why are you one of those MMO haters?

Who told you I'm "one of those MMO haters"?

 

[Kermitu Kleric Katie]

Who told you I'm "one of those MMO haters"?

Well the fact that you said he should leave out the MMO game characters seemed to imply you hate MMO games. Nobody told me.
EDIT:Ah, I now realize my lack of a comma after the word "why" in the post you responded to caused you to misread my post and think I was assuming you hated MMOs and was asking whyyou hated them, when I was really asking if you were one of those people who hates MMOs.

 

[Kermitu Kleric Katie]

Actually, given I know practically nothing of 11, I'd be leaving it out, except for maybe a tiny tyrant of a Science Teacher named Shannon.

Hey, I know practically nothing about it as well, but I liked Shantotto and Prishe in Dissidia 012. Is this Shannon supposed to be Shantotto?

 

[Alex Strife]

Well, I didn't misread it, you miswrote it .

Either way, I only suggested he leaves them off because since you don't play as the characters in the MMORPG's from Final Fantasy, they have less backstory, and in the end a lot less people know about them as well. If I was to make such a thing, I would make cameos for some character, but very little more than that, if at all!

 

[Ryushikaze]

Hey, I know practically nothing about it as well, but I liked Shantotto and Prishe in Dissidia 012. Is this Shannon supposed to be Shantotto?

Of course not. She's

Spoiler: Lina Inverse

.
Yes, Shannon Megumi Tuttle, the Half Japanese Chem/Physics Teacher. Could be either at this point. Not sure which

.

 

[Kermitu Kleric Katie]

So where will you post this fanfiction, Ryu?