Seriously Geeky Sundays – Back to School

Alright, alright, quiet in the classroom you lot, or it’s detention for the bloody lot of you!

Yes, this week we are all back to school (figuratively speaking, I left school 19 years ago and I shan’t go back) and Heather over at Just Geeking By has given us some expert homework, in the form of the latest Seriously Geeky Sundays challenge! So it’s a shiny apple to give to Heather (teacher’s pet!) for her hard work in putting these together, and let’s get into the questions!

Every hero and villain needs to learn the tricks of the trade somewhere, right? That means going to school, learning from a mentor or joining a secret society. This week you’re heading back to school; fandom style!

Question 1 – Which Fictional School Is Your First Choice to Study At, And Which Is Your Last?

I hated school, full of horrible people one-upping each other, boring lessons and forced physical activity that I was rubbish at… it was very hard work to think of any school which I would even slightly enjoy.

But then it came to me: Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy VIII! Normal lessons set in a beautiful, airy academy, that’s amazing! But normal lessons and combat training and the academy can fly/hover/trundle about… that’s next level! And if that music is playing the whole time I’m there, even better!

Also, Triple Triad!

As for a school I’d hate… too many to choose from! But, for the sake of something to write about, let’s go with Persona 5‘s Shujin Academy, in downtown Tokyo.

For a start, it’s a typical high school (euww) and, to make matters worse, it’s full of Bad People (and they earn the capital letters!) Sexual predator teachers, bullies, snitches… it’s all there. I’d rather hang around the Metaverse fighting shadows, if it’s all the same to you!

Question 2 – Next; Choose a Fictional Uniform to Wear to Your New School (i.e. What’s Your Favourite?)!

Tough question! My school uniform was awful, I had this green jumper that was just the cheapest, most awful thing…

As for fictional uniforms, as bad as the school would be, at least Shujin Academy’s uniforms look sharp and stylish. What’s even cooler is that the faculty seems cool with the students customising their threads, check out Ryuji’s punk modifications or Ann’s colourful modifications!

Question 3 – What Fictional Subject/s Are You Studying?

Suppose I’d be in at the ground floor with these Harry Potter magic classes, all of that Wingardium Leviosa stuff looks like good fun, not to mention the fact it would give you unimaginable power (too much power for these kids to be wielding, certainly). Potions looks a bit dull though and I wouldn’t fancy that miserable Snape bloke whacking me around the head every five minutes!

I’d also quite like to take on some SeeD training with the Balamb Garden crew in Final Fantasy VIII! Maybe I’d get a gunblade (where do the bullets come out?) and even my own Guardian Force, a big old summon-able beastie to help me in combat! Oof yes please!

Question 4 – What Is Your Favurite Setting Set In a Teaching Setting?

Okay, it’s got to be Persona 5!

this game has it all: strong characters, a twisting, epic story, tons of challenge and excellent music/graphics. Sure, it’s true, not all of the game is in a school, but a whole lot of it is, so it totally counts!

Check out my review for it here!

Question 5 – Which Fictional Teacher Is Your Favourite, Which Is the Most Useless and Who Do You Find the Most Inspiring?

If there’s one teacher, albeit not a traditional classroom one, which always stayed with me as an absolute legend then it’s Final Fantasy X‘s Auron.

Auron is a friend of protagonist Tidus’s late father, Jecht, and guides him on his journey across Spira, developing his skills as a guardian to summoner Yuna by teaching him hard lessons and, occasionally, mocking him when he kicks off. It also helps that he’s a badass ronin samurai who hits like a tank and has one of video gaming’s most interesting backstories to boot.

As for rubbish teachers, what about Harry Potter‘s… well… most of them. Sure, they’ll teach your kids magic, but not before they’ve blown them up, floated them around the room, almost given them heart attacks and showed them how to torture a little insect thing.

Absolute negligence!

Question 6 – School’s Just Started; Who’s In Your School Gang? Who’s the Bully, the Jock, the Cheerleaders, Popular Kids, Nerds etc.

Oh, blimey, tough one! Let’s break it down into each class:

The Bully: Seifer from Final Fantasy VIII. What a jerk, who even wears a white trenchcoat, anyway?

The Jock: William “BJ” Blazkowicz from the last few Wolfenstein games! He’s big, burly, very athletic and I bet he’s very competitive outside of Nazi murdering! You can just imagine him in a varsity jacket too.

The Cheerleaders: The Magus Sisters from Final Fantasy X. Bug themed, fairly like creatures with bright colours and flamboyant looks, they’d be perfect as cheerleaders!

The Popular Kid: Morgana from Persona 5! Because everyone loves Morgana, a cat-like creature that can turn into A: a cat and B: a camper van, as well fight with sword and slingshot and use healing magic. Easily the best and most popular in the school!

The Nerd: Let’s go with PS1 classic Metal Gear Solid here and choose everyone’s favourite “Japanese Otaku” expert and all round super-brain Hal Emmerich, aka Otacon. Sure, he isn’t the bravest, but his computer and engineering skills are a big help to Solid Snake on his mission to vanquish FOXHOUND and he’d definitely do your homework for you!

Is that the bell? That went quickly, huh? Thanks for reading my lovely friends, please check out all the other superb authors under the #SeriouslyGeekySundays hashtag, as they are definitely in a higher set than me!

See you all next time!