#aaaa the diving reminds me of kh

[mirror-to-the-past]

Dream Drop Distance is really cool so far! Anyone who's heard me speak knows I love shit with dreams, and I'm glad KH is really throwing itself into that mix now. The intro was admittedly a bit jarring, because I was like... "okay... they're younger... with raft? No Kairi? URSULA?! They're drowning? Traverse town... did I skip a cutscene without realizing?"

But I'm good to go, now! 😆 👍

Except for the phantom Ursula bit... why her? Trying to figure that one out, still.

Anyway, here's where I squeal!

Remember when I said this, one post ago, in reference to Maleficent rhetorically questioning fiction vs. reality:

"Here we go, create new worlds from stories, huh?"

On top of Sora's journal being established as being tied to his very being, and that the two clearly have just as much life within them, and that line, it's an interesting choice that the Dream Drop Distance opening movie shows lots of storybooks with writing within them of places in the games, particularly one of Destiny Islands with the trio within it. The game's going meta, boys... I'm banking on it.

The intro scene with Braig's death and Xehanort's... whatever is going on... so intrigued...

The Dream Eaters are SOOO cute! I love their wonky little faces and weird eyes. A mix of Inception dream diving, KH, and Pokémon? This game is like... scientifically engineered to make me go insane. I immediately went to see if censors were enacted for Dream Eater naming as was the case for actions in BBS, and Riku now has a colorful bat following him around named "FU%K." Truly, I am maturity incarnate.

The addictive card game in Traverse Town is very rewarding as a CoM Enjoyer with how it replicates the gameplay. The entire time I was running around I shared Sora's hyper reaction of "I haven't seen this part of Traverse Town before!!" :D I am Filled with Wonder. Traverse Town's got a whole underground supersized mailroom that reminds me of that one place in Polar Express, holy cow!

The two worlds I've been to are so pretty so far! And AAAA a Hunchback of Notre Dame world, which I have been wanting since the first game, ohmygod, guys! The intro got my hopes up for a Fantasia world, but it could've just been a one-off reference like they've done before, and there's so much in Fantasia that I don't know if they'd actually commit to stylizing a whole world off of it. But anyway, if they did... I'd explode. But I won't hold my breath (I say, coping, setting my expectations to a reasonable level). Anyway, now I can legitimately say "Sora and Riku fight the church lmao" and actually have canon backing for it. My wish came true again. And wow.... the cathedral windows are so purty... I just sorta stared at them for a 'lil bit. Then I fought a frog. Then Sora got profiled by Frollo (that was not on my bingo sheet, but something was both disconcerting and hilarious about Frollo looking Sora up and down and going "I know what you are," *projects discriminated group onto Sora's oblivious being*).

And hoo boy, don't get me started on my little duo. Not half an hour into the game, and already Sora was screaming for Riku at the top of his lungs. That was the true indicator it was a KH2 sequel. And Riku, Mr. 'I-agree-with-the-I-wanna-protect-the-one-thing-that-matters-feeling,' *reaches out tentatively for Sora's spectral face,* and "Wish I could take my own advice?" (In terms of struggling to be vulnerable enough to look for acceptance from those close to him- a theme I hold near and dear to my heart) (Seriously, that Quasimodo and Riku parallel was just *chef's kiss*) These two are gonna be something (and when were they not), aren't they?

Also loved when Riku just instinctually backed up Esmeralda with the 'I am an alien to this world and do not know your slurs, I only know to turn a blind eye when I see someone running from authority.' I lol-ed.

Theory time! I guess not really a theory, but moreso multiple observations. The Dream Eater symbol is really similar to the Unversed symbol, first of all! Which is interesting, but would also make sense, as Nightmares and "Bad, lingering feelings" can kinda go hand in hand. Will that mean something for the plot? I'll see! ALSO I think it's interesting how the story took the time to have the characters be like "woah my clothes are different," so like any self respecting person with eyeballs that work, I looked at the clothes and noticed Riku had a Dream Eater symbol on his back! I checked, and unless it's hidden, Sora did not, so hm.... I mean, all I could really throw out with that is "Riku's a dream eater!" But that wouldn't answer why, how, why Sora isn't one, what it really entails to exist as a dream eater, anyway, so it's not really a theory and instead is half baked speculation. But... neat, y'know?

I'm still figuring out what exactly the Sleeping Worlds are and what they mean for the canon, but ya know I'll get there! It's about the journey, maaan. 😎 But know that so far, I am definitely a happy camper (Playing in Proud mode though, we'll see how long that good feeling lasts, lol).

[ayzaart]

dive into the heart kingdom