Brianna was late, walking as fast as possible from school to his home a few blocks away.
He had a good reason to run. Today would be his first day broadcasting live on Twitch. He was anxious, having already gotten stream overlays and finished his setup, but in a few moments, CRPGBoi would go live for the first time.
Once he was home, he ran straight to his room and locked the door, not even saying hi to his mom. He sat down and applied the makeup he'd been practicing all weekend.
"Take a breath, Bri," he said out loud to himself. "You practiced all this. All you need to do is tie your hair and get that wig out." A bit back, he'd bought a Cloudia wig at a comic convention. Once he got that all taken care of, he dashed back to his computer, fired up Final Fantasy VII on his PC, and right at 5:00, he went live.
"Hello guys and gals, I am Brianna and welcome to CRPGBoi, where this boy in charge." He beamed and pointed to himself, staring at the camera. "Today I am starting a main plot run of a classic game from a distant past. So let's play Final Fantasy VII Remastered."
Even though he hadn't done much—if any—promotion in the previous week, he noticed a few viewers as he hit play on the game's opening animation. It didn't take long for the handful of viewers to have things to say.
is this FF7? i don't recognize these chicks, oldgeezer010 commented.
This mod looks cool, where did you get it? asked captainhaven.
Bri looked a bit flustered and tilted his head, but before he could say something, a third viewer chimed in. I know this game, and this is the real opening animation, DieHardSQUENIX explained, including a link to a YouTube video. The streamer's head was spinning. What was going on? He decided to click the link and watch the video, but he got the typical "Video unavailable" message.
"That link doesn't work. Is it working for anyone else in chat?" Within 20 seconds, a couple of others had replied that it did. "Anyway, gals and guys, let's play it," he continued as the cutscene concluded. "If you don't know, Final Fantasy 7 is the first 3D game done by Square and the second with a female protagonist. We play with Biff Lockhart, and I must admit, she is pretty awesome with all those hand to hand combos, including the Meteor Punch, where she summons a rock from space to smash her enemies. Before him and Tellus from Final Fantasy VI, or Final Fantasy IV as it was released in America, all the other protagonists were male because of the clear association between boys and prince roles. That was a daring move for the 80s when you think of fare like the Legend of Link series, which is about a princess saving her commoner lover."
He turned his attention to chat; while he was excited to see activity, the strange messages were still rolling in.
Come on, I just joined this channel and the name is CRPGBoi and what i see is a girl with an ugly wig, complained JoeGenaro. There was an emote but it wouldn't load.
Wasn't it FF3 in the US? asked cherry_nation.
A hot GIRL at least and not a fake geek girl atta whore, MachoManRandy added.
Hey Bri, do you have a boyfriend? JoeGenaro taunted.
Bri sighed and realized he needed to get things back on track. "I love these retro games because they really put the focus on good storytelling. Anyway, now Biff meets up with Aether, the dashing healer with her umbrella and canes. This is when the sismance starts." He glanced over at chat. "What!? I've only been on for 20 minutes and 100 viewers and 30 subs already!? I can't believe this!" He couldn't hide his excitement and had to hurry to avoid smearing his makeup.
You know, this game seems good, I might buy it. Plus, your makeup is cute, captainhaven replied. What Bri Walker didn't know was that he and his stream were an unwitting vector for magic.
"Thank you Captain, if you wish you could add me on Snapchat," said Brianna excitedly. "Plus I have my makeup YouTube channel, there's a link down below. Now back to the game..." Bri sighed and collected his thoughts. "OK, it's time to grind a little, I want to level up these characters. Meanwhile, gals and guys, you can ask me anything!"
Are you single? JoeGenaro asked again, this time with some horny emotes.
"Yes Josie, I'm single," Brianna replied with a smile.
How come a boy like you wouldn't have a lot of girls interested in you? said JosieGenaro, the second person affected by the magic.
"I am too geeky to get a girlfriend. That is why I play dating sims when I feel too lonely."
So what else besides Final Fantasy do you like? asked RockStar99.
"I like Mass Effect, I am so excited that BioWare is finally releasing another DLC for Mass Effect: Andromeda, and I really love Romancing SaGa and all the Telltale games like Catwoman and Snow White Among Us and the Arkham series," Bri rambled excitedly. "If you can't notice, I love Catwoman games and I'm a total a Square Enix fanboy."
Didn't Telltale just fold? asked a confused Omaha95.
"No, a Japanese company bought them and is dumping a ton of money into them, too. A lot of people think it is the end of Telltale, but Atlus isn't going to butcher them."
What kind of parent names their son Brianna!? GamersforJesus asked.
"Parents who love their son a lot?" Brianna replied. Another one of those strange messages. Is this what variety streaming is like? The stream had climbed over 500 viewers.
Where in the globe are you? wondered RiotterGrrl.
"I am sorry but I can't say, or my parents will cut off my internet privileges," Brianna politely answered.
That's a shame. By your accent, Oregon or Washington maybe?
"I refuse to say. Now stop it, or I'll ban you from chat." Looks like I forgot to get some chat mods.
