#this was right after I finished kh3

[astro-art-archive]

ms paint (scrapped)

2/6/2019

[infinitelilith]

I agree remind only made my 3 love stronger! 4 has big shoes to fill.

Remind is so fucking good I feel like I still haven't fully processed it yet. It's the peak of peak. Perfect in almost every single way.

Oh and for the record: I'm not even expecting any game to be better than KH3 for me at this point, KH4 included. If I love 4 even just half as much as I love 3 then I'll be happy and satisfied

[thelastspeecher]

me: huh I never got around to finishing watching Let's Plays of Kingdom Hearts III. I should really do that.

me: or maybe I'll just watch the cutscenes. that'll be shorter.

all the cutscenes together: *are ten hours long*

me: ...

me: welp looks like I have the rest of my day planned

[lightandfellowship]

Was Odin testing Xehanort here?

I’m starting to wonder if the Child of Destiny is supposed to have the ability to banish darkness/dark entities from people’s hearts.

I say this due to Odin’s wording in the scene where Xehanort strikes Baldr down:

Odin: This is our only chance.

Odin: Xehanort, rid him of the darkness!

I used to misremember this scene as Odin encouraging Xehanort to deal the finishing blow on Baldr, but no, judging by Odin’s phrasing here, he was actually asking Xehanort to save Baldr from the darkness.

But isn’t that a strange thing for Odin to ask of Xehanort? Odin is no doubt a much stronger Keyblade wielder than Xehanort due to his experience and age, so if banishing the darkness from Baldr’s heart via a Keyblade was ever a viable option, wouldn’t Odin have done that himself? Either here and now or before everything went wrong? Why is he entrusting that to an underclassmen who’s still in training? Especially when the spirit of Hoder, an upperclassmen on the cusp of graduating into a Keyblade Master, is standing right there? (I have to imagine he can see her there the same way Xehanort and Baldr can, especially when you consider similar scenes from KH1 and KH3.) Like, it makes sense for Eraqus to ask Xehanort to banish Baldr’s darkness, because Eraqus is desperate and doesn’t know any better, but Odin?

Instead, it almost seems like Odin was hoping for a miracle, hoping that Xehanort would, somehow, have the ability to banish Baldr’s darkness. If Odin secretly knows who Xehanort is, knows that he’s the chosen child who was sent away to Destiny Islands, then maybe the prophecy states somewhere that the Child of Destiny is supposed to be able to save people from the darkness, and Odin was hoping that Xehanort would demonstrate that ability here and now. Both as a means of saving Baldr and as a means of proving that Xehanort is, in fact, the chosen one as they suspected. Keep in mind this detail from the finale Q&A where Nomura says that Odin was entrusted with a task that aligns with the Blue Robed Figure, implying that Odin is somehow involved in all of this Child of Destiny stuff (excerpt taken from KHInsider, translated by Goldpanner):

Q9: What did Master Odin mean at the end when he spoke of a "teacher" and a "cruel fate"?  A9: Master Odin himself once had a master who taught him, naturally. His master entrusted him with a certain duty - parts of this align with that of the blue robed figure. This will be revealed in detail in Missing-Link, which depicts a later period. 

(Odin mentioning his teacher during this scene is exclusive to the Japanese dialog, as far as I know.)

But of course, Xehanort is not the chosen one, didn’t have the ability to banish Baldr’s darkness, and thus couldn’t save Baldr in the end despite his best efforts to do so, instead choosing to just kill Baldr when he ran out of options. So when Odin responds to Xehanort killing Baldr with “Destiny can be so cruel.” maybe he was referring to how unfortunate it is that Xehanort wasn’t the Child of Destiny after all like they were hoping. Because if he WAS, then maybe all of this could have been prevented.

Of course, this then begs the question: "Why didn’t Odin try to get Xehanort’s help earlier in the story?", but maybe it’s like the Power of Waking where you have to learn it through your experiences and it’s not something you just inherently have access to. Maybe a high-stress, high-stakes situation like this is the only way to manifest the ability. I don't know.

I think this might also give more context to Xehanort removing Vanitas from Ven in BBS. If Xehanort thinks he’s the Child of Destiny, and discovered that the chosen one should have the ability to remove the darkness from people’s hearts, that might have motivated him to try and demonstrate that ability to prove himself. But since he probably doesn’t actually have that ability, the separation process was flawed and resulted in two imperfect halves of a whole, with Ven falling into a coma and his heart becoming fractured.

[starhoodies]

i'm so in love with one of your last pieces, REBIRTH I think it is? It's so so good, was in inspired by anything in particular?? I'm just in love with it! Goshh I hope you get inspiration to finish it's accompaniment piece as well!

OH hey!! Sorry this is late!

The Rebirth WIP was for the previous soriku week's prompt, which I believe was "REVERSE // REBIRTH" (?)

I kinda knew right away I wanted to do "Rebirth", and the concept was initially inspired by a song that started off with "The End" and ended with "The Beginning" as its first and last lyrics.

I knew I wanted to go the pseudo baptism route because KH loves both subtle and unsubtle religious symbolism and so do I, especially when it comes to Riku. and YEAH IT'S ON THE NOSE, but so is haloing riku a billion times with the sun/literal halos in KH3 lest audience forgets hes gay jesus or whatever.

that's the short answer but I wrote more cause the adhd meds are bussin rn

so ok I wanted to do a companion piece that hearkened back to KHI's end from Riku's perspective. After everything he's done, his story ending in KHI being a perfect one for him in his eyes. One where he's cut loose from dragging his friends down with him. His vain attempt to gain power to alter the course of a destiny he feared resulting in losing himself and hurting the people he swore to protect. It's justice! It's his punishment. That's "THE END."

and then all of a sudden he's being roughly yanked outta the water by a frantic sora who has been looking everywhere for him.

Despite it all, he's dragged into a second chance. Through gaining control of his darkness and facing his fears in CoM, his choice to keep all his memories, his devotion to Sora, his last stand against Xemnas. Even after all he's done, even with the lengths he's gone to wake Sora up, and despite not even wanting to be found, he can still go home. (and he kinda doesn't get a choice cause sora and kairi were kinda ready to wrestle him to the ground lmao)

In the end, he gets his body back, gets his friends back, and even his old home welcomes him back, the same as it ever was.. KH2's end was super satisfying but it's also just the beginning. There's still much more weighing him down, even as he treads water back to the shore, but yknow...all in due time.

UHHH there's probably more to his I'm not explaining well enough but YOU get it. YOU'VE played the games. YOU know whats going on.

anyway I love it when riku looks at current circumstances and is like "yes this is how it should be, and is probably better than i deserve" and then the narrative hands him another W and he's like

[masteraqua]

ok well i just rewatched the kh3 prologue and now i'm going to complain about it

this is so undercooked. i thought i must have been forgetting some crucial element of it, but no, it really just is that shallow.

this game wants what kh1 had so badly but doesn't seem to know or care about what it is that made the original dive to the heart sequence so iconic. there's no sense of scope or atmosphere or mystery, just paper-thin callbacks that don't mean anything.

every second of the kh1 tutorial is meticulously crafted, from the pacing to the cinematography to the art to the sound design to the writing. every word was carefully chosen in order to leave an impression—like, you know, a dream that sticks with you after you wake up.

let's compare:

on the left, we have a cryptic directive to choose the kind of power we want to wield, delivered calmly but authoritatively by a disembodied voice that seems to know more than we do. it's careful to note that your power, though strong, can also be dangerous, emphasizing the weight of the decision.

on the right, by contrast, the prompts are delivered in a flat, almost bored tone, as though the speaker just wants to get it over with. instead of weapons, we're choosing between memories, which take the form of screenshots from other games floating side by side. i think this idea is fine in theory. however, in practice, they look like indistinguishable clutter amid a backdrop of other screenshots flying chaotically around the screen.

the choices themselves try to imitate the cadence of the first game, but with none of weight behind them. they've traded cinematic ambience for brevity in the interest of getting to the action sooner; note that in the time it takes the first game to ask the first question, time which is spent building a flow and mood that add to the experience, kh3 has already finished the interview and rushed you out the door, and you've already forgotten what you even talked about.

so then...why do all this in the first place? why did you deliberately use the same verbiage if you were just going to cut out the parts that gave it narrative substance without adding anything else? why did you go through the effort of recreating shots from the kh1 opening if you weren't going to use them to communicate something of value? why does this prologue end with a darkside fight that doesn't represent anything? and WHY does it transition abruptly and unceremoniously to a completely unrelated cutscene when it concludes????

why does it feel like no one cared about what they were making

[strayheartless]

I headcanon that Riku smokes. Not because he thinks it’s cool or whatever but because it started out as a way to compensate for the pressure darkness was putting on his nervous system.

It starts when he’s placed with Captain Hook. Ends up taking a couple of puffs off of smee’s pipe when the pirate sees that Riku is shaking after summoning a bunch of heartless for practice. He’s not exactly caring for Riku, but he does pity him a bit.

Riku hopes that he’s kicked the habit while in the realm of darkness. Mostly because of the weird nicotine withdrawal dreams he keeps having. But when he gets back, and after he devotes himself to watching over Sora, one of the first things he does is go out and buy a pack of cigarettes.

He ends up becoming a chronic chain smoker for a while. Easily burning through 4 - 5 cigarettes in one go. He usually he’s either up on the roof of the mansion with Axel or he’s taking a few quick drags before he does something he really doesn’t want to do. If anyone (*cough* Sora) had been paying attention they could have tracked Riku through the amount of Cigarette buts he left like bread crumbs.

After the events of KH2 Sora catches Riku up on the tree house one night taking a drag. He’s been having nightmares since the realm of darkness and smoking after the stress feels like the only solution. Sora doesn’t get upset or judge Riku. Doesn’t even make him promise to quit, he just sits with him and lets Riku finish the Cigarette.

They keep it up for a while. Riku smoking through a pack while he shakes through the memories of everything he’d had to do, and all the things he is more than ashamed of doing. Until they get called to YenSids tower.

Before the Exam Riku steps out for a smoke. Mickey (though disapproving of the habit.) already knows he smokes, and lets him leave the pre exam meeting with little fuss. Sora comes out after a while and takes the cigarette out of Riku’s mouth and says:

“Promise me this is the last one? If we pass this exam, promise me you’ll quit?” And all riku can do is nod, and stub out the cigarette.

He does really well. After the mark of mastery and everything that goes down in KH3 he doesn’t touch a single one. Goes completely cold, and while it’s tough he distracts himself with training and missions.

… and then Sora disappears and Riku works really hard not to fall back on old habits, but he walks out of Merlin’s one night to find Cid, Lea and Isa smoking on the steps to the Bailey. Without speaking, he takes the packet out of Lea’s top pocket and lights one up with a small fire spell.

All he says is “I’ll buy you another pack,” and Lea can only shrug with a sad look in his eyes.

“Don’t worry about it kid,” he murmurs. “You know your braking your promise though, right?”

“He broke his first,” Riku rolls his eyes back and blows out a lung full of smoke. “I can stop again when I find him, but right now my usual crutch disappeared into the sunset so I’m using this.”

“Okay bud, okay,” Lea soothes.

And then when Riku finally finds Sora, and they hug for the first time, Sora mumbles “you smell like smoke,” into his jacket.

Riku gives a hysterical laugh and says “I’ll quit again I promise,”

[sleepy-moron]

Super messy kingdom hearts feelings

Riku is genuinely one of my favorite characters in any piece of media full stop, and it’s really hard for most people to understand why I love him so much. To a lot of people who only really played kh 1 and 2, Riku is just a kind of generic rival character, and for a lot of fans of the whole series he’s one of the best characters in the franchise but nothing particularly special in the grand scheme of all media ever.

I think understanding that Riku is deeply in love with Sora is essential to understanding what makes Riku such a wonderful character. There is so much more to him as a character, but his primary motivation has always been deeply intertwined with his love for Sora, and that’s not something you can ignore.

Riku speaks to a very specific experience that most people probably have not had, but if you do relate to it he becomes so special and important. So I’ve got to get a bit personal here to properly articulate what I mean.

When I was younger, I was best friends with one of my neighbors. We had been friends for years and spent a lot of time with each other. Then, a new kid our age moved into the neighborhood, and my best friend was suddenly spending all their time with another person. I had a lot of very strong feelings about this, to the point I would feel physically sick from it all. I didn’t understand what I was feeling or why I felt it so strongly, I just knew it hurt and I hated it.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that I am very much not straight and had a massive crush on my best friend when all this was happening. I was jealous, sad, angry, guilty, and legitimately disgusted with myself and my friend. Our friendship was never really the same after that. On top of all this I was also dealing with undiagnosed mental illness as a kid, so I was basically just an emotional wreck pretending everything was normal for a few years.

I also watched my dad and brother play a lot of kingdom hearts as a young kid. I didn’t really understand the games but I was entranced by them despite this. Flash forward quite a few years to right before kh3 came out, and I decided to start watching people play through all the games so I could actually understand what the story was. I had by this point mostly finished having a sexuality crisis and was starting to deal with the unaddressed feelings I still kept locked up.

And then I got to see Riku in all his messy emotional gay coded glory, and it just resonated with me in a way I didn’t know I wanted or needed. Watching this kid feel all these messy and ugly things that he couldn’t really understand and lashing out because of it, to get to see him atone for his mistakes and begin the long journey to not only forgive himself but also accept himself and all the things he felt, it was just so emotionally significant for me. I had never really thought about what it would be like to see this part of my life reflected by a character, but once I had it I was just overwhelmed with how strongly I connected to the Mickey Mouse anime games.

I finally had the time to watch the 6 hour Riku is gay and why it matters video the other day, and it emotionally destroyed me all over again. I don’t think I’ll ever really stop being emotional about Riku, sometimes you just consume a piece of media at the right time and it just stays with you forever. That’s really why he’s so special to me, I happened to get to fully see his character at the right time for him to be so important to me in a way very few characters are.

[hyouta]

Some KH ramblings as I play through the entire series for the first time...

I've only played and finished KH1, Days and DDD despite owning the rest for quite some time now and I don't know what awoke the urge but I finally got my ps4 back from my dad so I can properly experience the series myself rather than through watching cutscenes (and honestly I only really remember maybe 60-70% of cutscenes, which is mostly sea salt fam related). I replayed KH1 final mix, thinking I played KH1 final mix originally but honestly I think I first played the ps2 version (I do have a copy for the ps3) because I remember so vividly grinding for materials for the ultima keyblade, when I couldn't even unlock the recipe thise time around. I don't really plan to try to 100% or platinum everything any time soon.

KH1 is KH1, not much to say, got a bit nauseated by the camera in Hollow Bastion specifically for some reason.

RE:Com on the other hand. Oh boy... One of my earliest tweets about this game was about how I found it insufferable. Actually looking at the tweets I did post I was struggling a lot. In defense of RE:Com that insufferable tweet came after I made the rookie mistake of going to Wonderland FIRST because I thought I was supposed to go in KH1 order. After I grinded in Traverse Town for a bit I was fine...

After playing through the game (thank you youtube card deck guides), including Reverse/Rebirth, I can honestly say that it wasn't all that bad. I think it wins points for being unique with its gameplay.

I still wasn't great at it... had to redo some bosses a few times, literally won against Ursula (who was supposed to be easy, oops) with a 0 card and cures, over and over because I panic spammed my deck away. I beat Marluxia first time though! That's something right! I was so relieved that I actually put my face in my hands lmao

Anyway... I'm currently playing KH2 and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. BBS and KH3 are the games I'm still looking forward to playing the most and I tweeted about how KH2 was like the raimi spider-man movies to me. Talked so highly of at the expense of the other games that I was a little put off, but like those movies, I am experiencing them for myself and they aren't so bad.

Having played Days, but not playing KH2, and then finally playing as Roxas in his last week... just about killed me. Twilight Town in KH2 is so good, I can't wait to see it in KH3.

"Not the hints to the akusai divorce lol" I think this was re: Saïx and Xemnas talking and oof, I did not remember that cutscene at all... it probably wasn't what they were hinting at but it hurt all the same.

I think I paused before the worlds visit round 2 for an Echoes of Wisdom break and I'm back now! About level... 42 ish going to Halloweentown for the second visit. I don't know how far that is but I assume 60%?

Xaldin cooked my ass, Mickey had to save me twice but second time it was because Donald prioritised healing Beast instead of Sora. Also, gotta say, hate anti-form. Level up limit forms they said, it'll help you out with bosses they said. Nah, gotta run around until anti-form runs out so I don't die immediately. Am I playing that form wrong??

I was playing tug of war with myself but I will be replaying Days for DS then watching the movie (and doing the same with Re:coded) after this.

Man, I just... have so much more I wanna talk about it's awful dhgkjdfg I wouldn't want to bother any mutuals about it if it's not something they care for... I have a list of Sea salt fam (and some others) pics I want to draw but don't know if I'll manage to draw them before my interests switch again. I'm currently working on what was an Axel doodle, that might be a bit more but I'm not sure... work drains so much out of me.

[doberbutts]

What'cha playing video game wise, Jaz?

Need to finish AC Valhalla but I'm having a hard time staying on track. I got Sigurd back and he's a bag of dicks and I knooooooow it ties into the story and I knoooooooow being a bag of dicks after being tortured for weeks (months? unclear how much time has passed) is a pretty normal trauma response but also. Currently he's a jerk and Eivor's dedication to him while he's being a jerk is admirable but I can't relate. The game is fun but the story right now is not particularly rewarding. I don't like doing a lot of work and bringing it to someone only for them to throw it in my face and tell me I'll never be good enough. So I don't really like where I am in the plot atm.

So instead of being mad at Sigurd all the time, I'm playing Harvestella and working on finishing that. Truly it did not deserve the wankfest made about it when it first came out. I will say having gotten much farther, it's less "final fantasy meets stardew valley" which I think set a lot of people up for expectations that would absolutely not be met. It's more "Nier series with some farming/gathering elements" and even makes more than a few heavyhanded Nier Automata references. People (myself included) saw SquareEnix on the cover and assumed Final Fantasy and I think that was overall detrimental to its reception because it's very not a FF game but it's probably as close to a Yoko Taro game as you can get without having him on staff. I've been a fan of his stuff since the original Drakengard so I'm fine with that but his stuff is *weird* and often weird in really unexpected ways, so if you're not expecting that out the gate it can be a pretty big shock.

I am still not sure if I want to actually play FFVII Evercrisis- I'm interested in the additions to the overall lore and plot and I like the convenience of having the full compilation in one easy-to-access location (including supposedly a few Japan-only entries I never actually got ahold of) but at the same time the demo was pretty micro-transation-y and as a general rule I hate gacha systems especially when they rely on real money to use. First Soldier was one thing because the gacha stuff was mostly cosmetic, and you didn't need the gacha weapons or armor to win (as evidenced by my wins having spent 0 money on anything). But the Evercrisis demo had gacha items needed for progression which means inevitabily I'm going to hit a wall and not be able to progress the story without spending money, and I hate games that do this.

Once I'm done with Valhalla it'll be Elden Ring (thanks @khayr !) and then FFVII Rebirth will probably be out by the time I'm done with it, which I'll play to death I'm sure. I still have to play Horizon Forbidden West (thanks follower whose URL I can't find again) and then go back and play the additional content I have for KH3, Ghost of Tsushima, and the new update stuff for Ghostwire Tokyo... as well as various switch games I need to just finish already... oh and the new Y's is coming out soon and at some point I need to snag FFXVI... and then there's AC Mirage whenever that releases plus I'm really looking forward to Red and Jade... and besides I have to go back and actually finish Origins and start Odessey (and black flag, and rogue, and unity...)

[astarkey]

I was tagged a century ago by the lovely @barbienheimer to list 5 unpopular opinions from 5 fandoms! Thank you babe, and I am so so sorry it took me this long to get around to doing this! 😘💖🙏🏽

1. From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series

I know I’m gonna get dragged for this, but this has been my opinion for years ever since I stepped foot in the fdtd tumblr fandom... The Kisa and Kate war thing is just ridiculous. And bashing people for having siding with either of them and saying they’re wrong to like either of them too is ridiculous when literally they’re fictional characters and these characters ain’t that deep. Like I feel like people take it too personally when the real person to blame is the writers who wrote them that way. I love both the characters and I feel like I’m the only one in the fandom that’s playing at an even field here lol because I know that both of them aren’t good and aren’t perfect, but I’m out here having fun imagining them being best buds going on a girls road trip with Kalinda, Dakota, and Maggie :p

2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Not gonna lie, ever since Dawn showed up in s5, I’ve always found her very, very annoying and never liked the plot of Buffy all-of-a-sudden having a sister.

3. Stranger Things

Definitely felt like they could’ve handled s4 better in the ending after they left Eddie in the upside down instead of just showing him dying and then flashing up “two days later.” Also, the Steve/Nancy thing they were pulling, I didn’t like it at all.

4. Kingdom Hearts

... Remember when the first game was about a boy who wanted to leave the island and travel to other worlds (disney worlds)? Yeah, that was a simple story. ‘Cause like right after that, I really felt like... that series became a cash cow for Square. Because right after that game, they came out with Chain of Memories for the Game Boy Advance and not the ps2, and then the sequel came out for the ps2, but then Birth by Sleep and Re:Coded and 358/2 Days came out for the psp and Nintendo DS, and then Dream Drop Distance for the Nintendo 3DS, KHX for mobile phones, 0.2 and KH3 for ps4, and I don’t even know what KH4 is gonna be on, but it’s like I just never liked that they wanted to have these games on consoles that nobody has?? Like it’s just something that has bugged me for 20 years, like why not keep it simple and have it on like a main console brand like playstation? Like imo, I thought that they were making up these other stories just to have them for specific consoles for like a cash grab instead of having a coherent storyline that makes sense. And with KH3, I was expecting Sora’s story to be over-over, not go back to how it was in the ending of the first game where Sora and Kairi are separated AGAIN, in order for the story to keep going. Like right when the news broke out about kh4, I was happy and excited, but I wasn’t all too thrilled because I feel like it’ll be this never-ending cycle where Sora’s story is said to end, but it will never end. I will say though that the fans that kept pushing the developers to finish kh3 and kept asking when will it be released, that wasn’t cool at all. Like they don’t know how much work the devs put into to creating a game, and for them to demand it, that wasn’t right and I felt bad for the devs.

5. Yellowjackets (SPOILERS AHEAD)

S2 was not as good as s1. I felt like everything was rushed to answer almost everything, while there’s still important things left unanswered. Natalie being the antler queen???? And then having her killed off while she was also a recovering addict was just a wrong move. She was literally the most sane character in this story, and now the most sane person is gone. I don’t even know if I wanna watch it anymore after that because she was the strongest character and my favorite, and I had high hopes for her. I was hoping s2 was all just a dream because it all felt like one big joke to me. There was no mystery, no thrill, nothing that left me hanging wanting more like s1 did where there was one mystery after the next that doesn’t reveal itself. And I also didn’t like the Misty/Walter thing, like it was cute, but it also got on my nerves idk how to explain it lmao 😂

I felt like I was rambling through this 🤣 But yeah, those are my unpopular opinions.

Tagging (no pressure of course!): @bloodychamber, @camiladnne, @bellamuertes, @justjstuff, @blondiest, @ondinaaa, @alwaysupatnight, @lilmissuncreative, @charlottesmatthews, @chronic-ghost, @bonnielass23, @weloveachother, and anyone else who wants to do this! ❤️

[van-yangyin]

hii! are u still going to upload the other kingdom hearts outfits like aqua? :]

Hi!

Of course Aqua is in my plans, like every other KH character, she's in fact one of my favourite characters together with other ones, but I'm sorry, because at this moment I'm working on commissions and any of my current commissions are about Kingdom Hearts. At the present time commissions are one of my only incomes and one of people who commissioned me has been waiting since September. So until I finish them, it will be impossible for me to work on other things. I hope you understand.

~❤️More info below cut line💙~

What I have thought about is to make my launch projects smaller, so that I can launch them sooner (and so that my perfectionist side doesn't complain so much). Because at the moment for Riku's CC (who wins to be the next one) I had planned to do it this way: - Riku's KH3 Hair for all ages - Riku KH3 Outfit - Riku Braveheart and Way to the Dawn (two versions - normal and break) accessories with his poses - A special set with Nightmare's End, Mirage Split and Combined Keyblade Accessories with poses for two sims (Sora and Riku), included if I can poses of KH3D.

You can more or less think how will be Aqua's set who goes after Riku's set.

What I'm thinking is on uploading little by little (i.e. first hair for all ages, later outfit and then first and second keyblades with poses) and not wait to have all finished to make thumbnails and upload it at a row because doing it the way I've been doing it up to now puts extra pressure on me and I end up burning my brain so much that I put it aside. Also I want you to know that I make this in my free time and that Kingdom Hearts is my favorite videogame ever so publish their CC the way I want (the most perfect possible) is my priority and I hate make things in a hurry, so please have patience. (I know, I know, since Sora on last january I don't upload another character of KH. I'm the first one more aware of it, but for me things have been more complicated than just uploading CC of such character.)

I hope this answer your ask, send me an ask saying me what do you think about publish them little by little as know that it would helps me a lot since I upload Sora in a row. As I said you before right now I'm prioritizing commissions, hope you can wait a little more!

I hope you're having a wonderful week!

[overlyimmersed]

Y'know... I used to know everything about Kingdom Hearts...

After kh3 I knew everything there was to know. I would go on and on about how kh wasn't actually complicated if you did it right.

Now I never even finished melody of memory, or dark road, I don't know what missing link means, everyONE'S TALKING ABOUT BEAGLES AND IHAVENOIDEAWHAT'SGOINGON!!!

[softsky-daily]

8/5/2023

I think I literally only left my room once all day, so no chance of getting a sky picture today.

Positive thing: Uhh. I'm alive? My roommate made me a krab onigiri which was the only meal I ended up eating so I'm grateful to her as always. I managed to get myself out of bed and work on commissions too despite everything.

Weirdly enough, after spending all day by myself, and sobbing into the pile of laundry in my closet for an hour (which is somehow not a new low for me), I do feel a little more clarity at the moment. I guess sometimes you just gotta ride out the waves no matter how rough they get.

I keep eyeing Baldur's Gate 3 and wondering if I should get it. It looks fun, and I played Divinity: Original Sin 2 which was by the same developers which I really enjoyed. The thing is that it's $60 and when I'm depressed I buy too many things on impulse to Feel Something and I know the desire to buy it is part of that urge. I wouldn't even end up playing it right away since I want to finish Yakuza 7 and KH3 first anyways, so I'll probably wait to buy it and hopefully it'll be on sale at some point.

I probably should eat something else tonight. Maybe the leftover chicken katsu from yesterday - I think I also have instant noodles. But we have a guest over right now so the electric kettle might make too much noise to boil water for that.

Man, I'm still craving kamaboko. Or maybe just ramen/udon with kamaboko in it. I think my craving is also related to the fact I keep listening to this song that's about kamaboko that's really catchy. カマボコかマホロかマコトか

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Random ask that may or may not be foreshadowing; if you were to completely drop persona cold turkey, what other rpg series do you think you'd hyperfixate over instead?

Hmmmmmm hard to say.

If it's something I've yet to play then I dunno.

But if it's going back and playing older games I've played the hell out of.....hmmm let's start there I guess:

I like Pokemon, but I'm not gonna compete to be the biggest know-it-all with that franchise (esp with the amount of conflicting info and canons and possibly mistranslations). It's astronomical compared to MegaTen.... (what applies to Pokemon can also be applied to Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh too....)

Dragon Ball.......Tbh I'm not that into fighting games, maybe if I ever get a Legacy of Goku 4 fkjdlajf; Gimme some good RPG DB games and I'm down (I have Kakarot and the Legacy of Goku games tho)

There's really no plot/character/story analysis I can do on the Tony Hawk games.....

I like DMC and Nioh, but I feel like those games and fandoms are more focused on the gameplay mechanics....plus they aren't exactly easy games to just "kick back and enjoy" I have to really concentrate which is draining...... (more so Nioh than DMC, but I'm more invested in Nioh than DMC so that's an issue TT0TT)

I love Assassins' Creed, but even I know the amount of content I'd have to hard core consume (between AC and AT LEAST Watch Dogs......oof). Just thinking about it might explode my brain. u_u

Love Rule of Rose, but other fans have dug deeper done everything with it. So there's nothing for me to really bring to the table.

.hack.....maybe I could get back into that? My knowledge is mostly in the novles/manga I've read tho. ("But Silly! Isn't that technically a fantasy game?" I mean.....yes but it's modern day chars playing a video game. I dunno I always found that idea novel alongside 'oh people are dying' mystery. It's why I watched SAO because it reminded me of .hack! ....I'm not getting into SAO tho >_>)

Most heavy fantasy.....probs not likely but not impossible. The thing with Persona/Megaten is that they usually have a very "grounded in real life" kinda vibe going on. Which was nice because it felt like less stuff I had to memorize to understand the world. Plus it was more of a vibe I liked..... (but I'll mention some of the well known franchises....mostly cause they are the ones with the most entries to get into)

Love KH but I don't really wanna deep dive into it (I think the writing was best in KH1 and CoM, I think Sora's char has really devolved over the games, and I hated 3D and KH3). I am keeping an eye on KH4 and maybe even Verum Rex (which I'm pulling for us to get, outta all the FF games, FFvs13 was always one I was super interested in).

FF.....I'll play them, but I'm not that invested into them. (12's ok, 7's ok, 7R's ok but I need to finish those three first.... I liked 15 even tho it was messy, I hate 13 with a passion, I should try 10 cause it reminds me of Destiny Islands. 15 and 10 are the best contenders for me to be invested in tbh).

Tales of...... tbh Xillia always interested me the most. I should go through my backlog......I'm like halfway through Arise so I should probs pick that back up.

Maybe I should try Ys? Or finish the Trails of/Legends games I have too, tho I'm not very invested in that that.

Atelier series.....I should finish the games I have of that....then again....it's related to Mana Khemia right? I actually played and liked the first game of that (I sucked at it so I don't think I finished, that and I think I got P4 within that year so that ended up consuming me not long after)......I should give Mana Khemia another chance.

Oh there's also the Lunar series......I was always interested in that after I was graced with the game Lunar Dragon Song as a kid. :'D Weep for me yes, weep. I know. u_u IYKYK

I like Harvest Moon/Story of seasons.....but not enough to like...deep dive into stuff.

I mostly play Slime Rancher for the gameplay loop than the analysis too tbh.....

Far Cry 5 is a heavy contender. I did get lucky, outta all of the FC games....at least this one not only got a direct sequel with New Dawn (even tho it deals more with the Highway men than the cultists *sobs*), it also got a tie-in DLC with FC6......plus I got that novel, and the little bit of supplementary material. The issue, which is a double edge sword....is that it ends there. There's a lot of side content I could probs find and dissect, but once I find it all it ends.

At least with Persona, I can expect the world to keep going and expanding (either it's main continuity or the larger continuities in general). FC I'm not sure.....they might have diff timelines but no in an interactive way like MegaTen does.....

I guess I can try a swing at Mind=0, Tokyo Xanadu, Caligula 1/2, or Monark. Both with finishing and attempting to hyperfixate....but they just don't hit the same. Plus I run into a similar problem as with FC5....it's pretty much it when it ends (and unlike FC5, I doubt those games have as much content).

.hack might be a heavy contender.....

I am very Avatar-pilled atm....and I'm going through those games. Which was something I meant to do like 10 years ago during my last hyperfixation on the franchise (but I think I got distracted by PQ1 jklsdfj;). So maybe expect a small deep dive on those? Platinum's Korra will probs reign supreme for me tbh klfdjsa;f

Hmmmm I've heard good things about Suikoden......same with Phantasy star, Chrono trigger, Mother/earthbound.....maybe actually finish FE 3Hs......

Tldr; I dunno. At least game wise. Other media (either exclusively a diff format or one that's multimedia'd)? That's a bit more easier/open ended. (I'm juggling Atla/Korra, Addams' Family, and Naruto like a lil' court jester, we'll see how this goes)

[super-kristuff]

I finished Arendelle, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that is was a fun and enjoyable experience.

Like, I still think KH3 has a lot to learn about level design, and I think that is still its lowest point. I saw a KH3 post recently where someone was complaining about the number of cut-scenes, and I have to agree that, although I love the cut-scenes, the game is clearly using game-play exclusively to break up cut-scenes and not the other way around. Like, without the puzzle-box level design, the levels are just combat, and each combat feels exactly the same.

Anyway, I really did love the level. Most importantly, I think this was one of the strongest levels in term of KH lore. I'm pretty sure it is the only time KH has even tried to draw parallels between its cast and the in-world characters, and I felt it was pretty successful.

To give a brief summary, we start by running into Elsa after the coronation. I was really hoping Elsa would join the party, but I think I agree with the game that it would be too out of character. Elsa pushes Sora away with the same icy-spike thing she used to push away her sister, and we run into Larxene. Which, holy fuck, Larxene was the perfect character choice.

Like, I feel Larxene is a fantastic foil for Elsa. Obviously, Larxene is there for some evil plan, but from the first encounter, Larxene's interaction with Arendelle seems so personal. Like, Larxene's big argument is that, maybe, Sora shouldn't be chasing after Elsa. That maybe Elsa needs some space to sort out her feelings.

And like, she's right? Elsa building her tower is one of the few times Elsa is happy before saving her sister. There's another scene where Larxene tells Sora to bugger off, and Larxene causally mentions that if Elsa feels her magic is evil she will likely become evil because that's what she thinks she is. And like, Larxene is one of the more magic focused members of the Organization. She uses her classic lightning when we first meet her, but she picks up snow magic and appears to get better with it each time we see her. And like, I can't help but feel Larxene went through something similar? That she felt her magic was coming from a place of darkness, pushed others away, and became who she is now. Unlike the other Organization members, she sticks to her own advice and seems to be trying to let Elsa choose her own path. And that's just really nice? Compared to Monsters Inc.'s "I love pain and suffering" Vanitas, it was a refreshingly deep character.

Also, there was a "Let it Go" musical number. Which, considering the marketing of Frozen, I suppose was unavoidable. It was pretty good, but it did also make me reconsider the level design of Monsters Inc. Like, I forget if this made it into the last post, but I did suspect some content had been cut from the Monsters Inc level. Originally, I suspected that two guys raising a child together caused Disney to step in and cut anything they didn't like, but considering the amount of thought put into Frozen, it makes me wonder if they intentionally cut content from Monsters Inc to make Frozen look better in comparison. Both Pixar worlds have us meet the cast after the movie, and I feel that is a much stronger story model. We don't know how things will end, and it means Sora can actually interact and influence the direction of the story.

Anyway, Larxene wasn't the only well crafted character. Sora bumps into Anna, and in line with the ice-spike reference before, the game explicitly draws a connection between Sora-Riku's arc and Anna-Elsa's arc. Which, like, Sora actually commenting on something and having any kind of personality is huge. It also cements Sora as a foil to Anna, which honestly fits.

There is a fun Olaf building mini-game where you can grab the wrong parts for Olaf, and I felt it was a nice game-play moment. Each world has had a few of these fun non-combat moments, and I feel they really make each world shine. There is also an odd amount of characterization for the snow golem that Elsa created? Like, we get to fight it at one point, but we see it again later, and it just wants to help Elsa. Which, connecting back to Larxene's comment, I think there is some symbolism for Olaf and Golem being two directions Elsa magic could take. I think Sora befriending the Golem shows how even the scarier parts of Elsa's magic have good in them.

I also wanted to comment of the avalanche mini-game and ice-labyrinth, but really all I want to say is the ice-labyrinth was a nice puzzle-box-esqe level. Pretty much the definition of puzzle-box level design, but only embracing it enough to check all the boxes. The rest of the level was just snowy mountain. Like, honestly, a comical amount of the level was snowy mountain. We climbed the mountain three times. Very linear and very boring.

Anyway, that's enough KH3 commentary for one night.