#then there’s the meaning the buster sword comes to embody by the time the base game starts

[replay2002]

throughout crisis core, the buster sword is kept shiny and its slots are always empty (for obvious reasons, given angeal’s refusal to use it) but in fviiremake, around chapter 11, there’s a moment where everything is dark and you can only see cloud bcs of the glowing materia on his back.

the buster sword glows in the dark in cloud’s possession bcs it’s given use, it’s employed to protect others and fight for a cause. it’s rusty and worn but the elements that aid its use give it light, not the shine that stems from its inertia. honor, which is what the buster sword symbolizes in its conception, is understood as a performative signal of restraint, a display of reverence, a flaunt of grandiosity. not stealing from a wealthy land’s tree and preserving a costly sword don’t amount to action, but they’re proof of honor. the idea of honor that dominates these characters’ motivations is defined by the ruling class: the money that goes into the buster sword but then must be recovered, the wealth that is said to enrich the apples. stay in your place and observe these from afar and you will have preserved honor. but honor is a standard you’re expected to maintain and will never be allowed to seize. cloud counts on the honor of having been a soldier, of having worked for shinra, looks back on the fabricated memory of it. but none of it is his and he disregards it to fight for the disadvantaged people of midgar and for the planet, which simultaneously enables him to find himself again among the rubble of all he lost. the spectacle of restraining and being complacent isn’t honorable; the dismissal of this illusion and the realization of change is, in angeal’s words, more important than that.

[comedicreliefonlyworkswhenfunny]

Villain! Deku au; chapter sixteen: A Fire In The Night

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Midoriya ran the bar as usual that day while his teammates went over what they were to do during the infiltration. They were to attack in the evening, when the students would be tired from quirking out and the teachers would be tired of putting up with them. The only problem was the annoying wait until evening… and telling the customers that they wouldn’t be open from prime drinking time, but that was mostly just arguments. About half of the bar patrons were participating in the infiltration, reading the vague instructions that Deku had given them each. Somewhere along the line, somebody started a discussion about what they should be called- not that it mattered. “League of Villains’ Frontal Force!” Twice, a boisterous villain with a cloning quirk, chimed in. His attitude was always a bit too bubbly for a villain, but he was the appreciated working comic relief. “Nice alliteration, but that sounds stupid. We need a name that does the job; it doesn’t need to sound flashy. We should be the Attack Force,” Mustard, a B-ranked assassin with a knack for murder, argued. Unlike some of his comrades, he prefered quiet kills and using his quirk to take out enemies without a struggle. “We should be a squad! A tight knit group fighting under the same ideals! The League of Villains’ Attack Squad!” added Spinner, to describe him as outgoing wouldn’t quite cover it; he was enthusiastic, to say the least, and a justice fighter(™) to boot. His past altercations left him with an oxymoronic hatred for heroes and a love for justice. He was, most definitely, the strongest Stain fan of the group. “That’s so childish, go for something like the League of Villains’ Vanguard. It sounds so much cooler and has a meaning behind it,” surprisingly the philosophical input came from Dabi; more likely than not, he just wanted to sound smarter than the rest of the group, though. “We take action!” Toga gleefully chimed in, “Action to make the world a better place!” They could have gone on all day and never left the hideout if Midoriya didn’t chime in. “The League of Villains’ Vanguard Action Squad. We lead an action based revolution with a tight knit group. Over. Done. No further discussion,” if Deku hadn’t said anything, Kurogiri looked like he was about to resolve the conflict himself. A silent, almost invisible, nod of thanks was sent to Midoriya.

Kurogiri slowly fed the villains through a warp gate to a mountain protecting the hideout. Miscellaneous chatter soaked up the short waiting time that the villains were currently being melodramatic about. “No good, it’s just not cute!” Toga, one of the many bouncy children in the League complained aimlessly. “The abstruse administration has laid out our orders. While they don’t appear to be the most professional, their planning is sure to be sound,” Mustard argued for the sensibility of the plan. “Not that, not that. It’s just not cute,” she aimlessly complained about whatever was most prominent in her cluttered mind at the time. “Who the hell cares? We came to kill, and I want to get to it!,” Muscular was just ticked that he was the newbie of the group and was very much treated as such. He was a powerful ally to have, but he did not embody the beliefs of the league at all. He was a chaotic evil amongst lawfuls and neutrals. “Shut up, weirdos, the plan is to wait for all of us,” Dabi spoke up, looking over the see of forest. Magne, Spinner, and Moonfish all walked through the portal after taking too long to get ready. “Ambitious punks only cause more damage than they’re worth. What they need is a hit from a gang of elites,” an open mouth declaration to the rest of the squad, “Peace is ours, and they will learn that tonight.”

Eventually the time came for the mission to truly begin. Mustard and Dabi were to launch the initial attack, drawing the attention on them, while Magne and Spinner were to hunt down the Pussycats. Once the smoke was up and ready, everybody spilt. The League of Villains’ Vanguard Action Squad slunk into the forest like a snake in the grass. Mustard released his quirk, the gas swirling like a typhoon, and Dabi did his job, igniting various trees, all far enough away to spread the fire, but not too far away as he was lazy. Magne and Spinner went to target the Pussycats. Moonfish and Toga wandered the forests in search of stragglers.

Mange was the first to officially strike, pulling on of the Pussycats towards her and landing a heavy blow to Pixiebob. “We are the League of Villains’ Vanguard Action Squad, tiny UA students. Pleased to meetcha!” Spinner stupidly declared. He was a living definition of a poorly written comic book villain, always blurting out whatever comes to mind. ‘Ha ha, heroes! I (we) have (think we have) the upper hand! (we don’t) Since we’re so confident (cocky, stupid), here is the entire layout of said plan, step by step (as if we were explaining it to one of our recruits)’ type of badly written comic book villain. Magne was smarter than Spinner, holding Pixie-Bob to the ground with her weapon. “Should I crush her pretty little skull? I don’t see why not, but what do you guys think?” psychological manipulation that was to instil a feeling of helplessness. It wasn’t outwardly taking a hostage, but it was showing that she wasn’t hesitating. The problem with hostages always becomes ‘if you kill them, you have nothing,’ so having the clear ability to ignore your “advantage,” shows power. Student’s shocked faces were priceless as they gaze upon the villains. Tiger, however, was not having it. He knew the woes of being a woman, and, as a person, also wished for a similar happiness. It was no secret that the Pussycats were steadily creeping past optimal age. Pixie-Bob was taking it the hardest. “Don’t you dare!” he hissed- pun intended, with rage hot on tongue. Both Ragdoll and Tiger were happy with hero life, Mandalay was just worried about the idea of being old, but Pixie-Bob was the romantic of the group. Magne didn’t care for that though, she had her heart broken far to many times to care about the heart of a “beautiful” woman. Tired of being the “coyote ugly,” she wanted to make it so that beauty didn’t run the world. Spinner cut in as well, completely knowing Magne’s anger for those deemed “attractive.” He called out, “Don’t be hasty Big Sis Mag,” he knew she loved that nickname, for several reasons, “You, too, Tiger,” he held his arms out to stop the two readied opponents. “Holding life in your hands is the most important thing you can do! Do you not remember Stain’s teachings?”

Of course that fanboy would bring up Stain. He took every word from that man’s mouth as if it was his lifeline, after a while that was what happened. He believed heavily in justice, but was always made fun of as a kid. He wasn’t the strongest, the smartest, and definitely not the most beautiful: he wasn’t an “ideal” hero, and his strong sense of justice got him nowhere. “Stain… So these people were his followers,” Iida almost felt regret at this point, the thought that Stain had followers who quite clearly knew his face as one that brought their “teacher’s” demise. He could easily push it aside because Stain was an asshole who put his brother in intensive care, despite being a hero for the purest of reasons. “You got that right!” half right, at most; most of “Stain’s followers” weren’t actually his followers, they just believed in same or similar ideals. Shiragaki couldn’t understand that, but he was just a big man child who refused to try- a statement taken directly from fellow members of the league. “And we know all about your feats, four eyes,” Spinner looked at him with a side glance, “And how you helped bring Stain’s end in Hosu.” He placed his hand on his weapon before he continued, “I’m who they call Spinner, and I’m here to make Stain’s dreams come true!” he declared as he “unsheathed” his weapon. It was a new addition for him, made of every knife Stain left behind, with a few of his own, awkwardly tied together to create a patchwork buster sword. Spinner, still lost in the confidence of his introduction and the echoed ‘woah’s of his blade’s reveal, plucked a nerve of Tiger’s.

“That’s good for you, but,” he looked to Pixie-Bob who was lying unconscious, “Pixie-Bob, my friend and teammate, has been worried about marriage. Happiness in life is a woman’s woe! With all of it’s difficulty, she tries very hard!” at this point it was just an oration. Until Tiger got to the point, “How dare you leave an ugly scar like that on her beautiful face, and blab like that without any care?” he was yelling now, showing his true colors. “So heroes have such plain dreams, too?” Spinner was laughing at the thought. The term ‘hero’ had degraded so much, to the point when they’re worried about life after their job. Wasn’t that so funny to think about? A profession where your only purpose is to help people, and there’s a question of what comes after this? People who are trusted with lives have time to worry about marriage and their white picket fence dreams; do the people not matter? Spinner couldn’t help but laugh as he charged towards half of the Pussycats. “Tiger! I’ve sent out the order to Ragdoll to make sure the students are safe! All we need to do is hold them off here!” Mandalay relayed to the partner beside her. She turned to the students and gave them what they needed to know, “Get on your way kids! Be alert, but remember: no fighting!” she couldn’t afford to turn her back. “Keep them safe for me, Class President!” a statement to encourage Iida; being called the class president reminded him that Momo accepted the ‘Vice’ role because she trusted his decision making more than her own. “I’ll make sure we stay safe and out of the way. You heard her, time to go!” Iida rallied his peers as their fearful feet pounded down the path to safety.

Shiragaki and Kurogiri discussed the likelihood of the mission as their pawns were in play. “Do you think they can pull this off?” being honest, Kurogiri still wasn’t over the stupid naming ceremony that they held instead of preparing for battle. “Maybe, maybe,” he almost laugh, unwilling to admit that Midoriya’s words made him change his strategy. Sure, he could have thought of it on his own, and that was what he told himself, but, ultimately, it was Midoriya who told him to think of it like a video game. “I thought this was an rpg, advancing through the storyline as quickly as possible, but I was all wrong. See, when my level one party and I should have been killing slimes, we were trying to fight the boss,” he understood that his ambition got ahead of him, seeing as all the he wanted to do was defeat All Might; it was a heavy fault to admit. “Instead, I am the player, I am the GM, moving my characters and the storyline to places that will get them closer to the end goal,” he grinned at the idea of his master plan, “And to do that, we need to break a few walls to allow the chaos in. It doesn’t matter if they thrive or not, they might not even survive,” he laughed leaning back slightly. Kurogiri didn’t follow, “So they are disposable?” how would that help at all? “No, no, of course not! They’re all comrades, but what matters is the lingering fear that something could happen at any given moment. Wariness, mistrust, accusation; why fear us when they fear each other? But of course, I do hope they succeed,” he made a point. Wariness would fry their systems; who has time for self care when evil might be anywhere? Mistrust would scramble their minds; it was exactly that! Just a thought! Who’s to say if it’s wrong or right? Accusation would tear them apart: why am I suspicious? The fact that you find me suspicious is quite so. Do I even know you? Not to mention the big pawn: Deku; the young boy Izuku Midoriya. Shiragaki knew his relations to the explosive blonde boy, an ex bully who knew him as a hero fanboy. All Might himself, who had shot down the young boy’s dreams. The two students who fought Stain in Hosu, side by side with the kid who saved their lives. Shiragaki grinned as the battle raged throughout the mountains. Several unconscious and unaccounted for, injury count racking up a total; it was going just as planned.

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