Fates Chance- KHCD

It's so funny to think back on how everyone used to pronounce some of the Org names differently! XD You were not alone! There used to be furious debate over it. I used to pronounce Xigbars name for the longest time as zeye-bar. I dont even know why! I didnt pronounce the 'g' at all! I thought it was silent and I have no idea where this pronunciation came from! Though I dont remember his name ever being said in KH2. I also used to say Demyx as DEE-mix instead of Dem-ix. I am also not amused that Luxords name is pronounced Loo-cks-ard instead of Luh-cks-ord. Because it was such a punny and clever name for him! Luh-cks, as in luck! And Luxor is also a thing in Vegas so you have the gambling element in there too!! I just could not believe they went with what they did -_-

So I like etymology and I while looking stuff up today I decided to look at Strelitzias name. I knew it was the nane for the bird of paradise but I never expected what else I found out! Firstly, the Strelitzia gets it name from a the duchy Queen Charlotte was born in called Mecklenburg-Strelitz. So of course I wondered where 'Strelitz' comes from. It was borrowed from a Russian word стреле́ц -streléc- which means 'shooter, or archer'. And while i was looking into it further I found that word was also a title. It referred to russian soldiers in the Moscovite Guard who were once a very elite force before a lot of stuff happened and the group was disbanded. (Summarizing) And I thought, 'Huh, interesting. A name that refers to flowers but is also a title for a soldier.' And when I went back to look at the original flower page i noticed, the strelitzia genus has only 5 species of flowers in it! The one people keep associating Strelitzia with (the bird of paradise being) being only one of them! And it all came together...Strelitzia: one of 5 ancient soldiers. That interpretation just blew my mind because

Yeah...there were a lot of things that were dropped of the planet in this game and the more I think about it, the more it pisses me off a little that it feels like chunks of the game a missing

Epilogue:

Thank you to the mod who made my post spoiler safe! I made this just after I finished and was about to sleep after being up all night and must've forgot in my tiredness! I will take better care! What LunaCatte said! It's not a race! I rushed to the finish near the end and barely explored the last two worlds. Take your time and really experience the game. You'll only ever finish this game for the first time once. Make it count the way you want it to! Wall of text?! Girl I love it! I expect nothing less after KH3! So much to say, it is the only way!

Everyone is posting everywhere about how this game made them cry and I am no exception! So I'm curious, when did you cry?

I DID IT!! I've been playing all week but I pulled two all nighters and finally made it to the end! I'll admit, it wasnt everything I wanted, especially on the character reunions and interactions front but it was a decent game.

Minor spoilers!!! Minor spoilers Minor spoilers!!! Okay, so I love that they actually took the time to cannonincally answer one of the questions we have all wondered for ages: Are those marks under Axels eyes tattoos or did he take the time to draw them every single day? They are confirmed to be temporary marks during a conversation between Saix and Lea with an added bonus as to why he did that on himself that being: to keep him from crying. Which when you first hear it, doesnt sound like anything really. Just some minor thing that explains why they were there and now are gone. But when you think about it this raises so many interesting insights into Axels character and history though also raises some questions as well. It lets us know something we already kind of knew which is that Axel/Lea didnt like people see him when he was emotional. It tells us he didn't want to cry anymore which implies that perhaps at one point, he cried a lot and something happened for hin to mark his face every stinking day to remind himself not to. Which begs the question though, when did he start doing this exactly? When he was a sombody? After he turned into Axel? It'd be aweful strange for him to start it after he became a nobody because Axel as a Nobody as we saw when he first started talking to Roxas knew he had no heart to feel anything with. Knew any show of emotion was just pretend, that he felt nothing and while not ascribing to his nobody nature as much as Saix definitely didnt seem the type to believe that Noboies could genuinely cry. So it makes sense that he would've started it as a sombody and the memories of doing that everyday compelled him as Axel to keep doing it. Though then why when Lea woke up at the start of 3Ds saw the absence of the marks as proof of his the recompletion casts some doubt on that theory. It's almost as though ge expected them to not be there once he recompleted, like maybe they weren't there when he turned into a Nobody. Like how everyone came back in the clothes they were in when they became Nobodies. Which actually would maybe explain the reason he and Saix came back in their coats...what if they were turned in those coats? And when you come back, you come back aged but the same as when you became a nobody? Clothes and all...with anything that wasnt there when you turned gone. Which would then come back to the incredibly interesting question as to why Axel as a Nobody would pick up the habit of trying something to keep him from crying when he didnt seem the type to even humor that sort of thing as a Nobody... Which leads me to wonder if maybe the backstory to those marks is something like....maybe when they both first turned, Lea cried because he knew he should be devastated. Devastated for the loss of his home, his life, his family, his heart. And even though he felt nothing he couldnt stop his body from play acting it. Which perhaps lead to some teasing either from Saix or even the other members and someone (probably Saix) told him about how the marks would stop him from crying. And they helped him gain control over his new way of existence. Of a body that would be compelled to act on memories and play act emotions even though he felt nothing.... Either way, I love what that little bit of characterization that small bit of information gave us into either Axel or Leas character. Because we know next to nothing about what they went through leading up to them becoming nobodies and the immediate aftermath and how they must've felt. So it was a nice touch!

Day 31! Don't wanna take a selfie so here is my KH3 copy after I first unboxed it! Thank you everyone for participating in this it has been so much fun!! This thread got over 300 responses and it has just been a blast reading through everyones thoughts everyday! I'm really gonna miss it. Onward to KH3!! EVERYONE HAVE FUN!! Cant wait to see you all on the other side!

Replace Monstropolis and San Fransokyo with Coco and Atlantis And add Treasure Planet

My favorite characters have always been Axel and Roxas, though over time Axel has eclipsed Roxas to hold the top spot. Ontop of liking their personalities I always found them to be the most deep and compelling characters due to how much they go through and change and act as the story progresses. Roxas frustration and anger at how he has been treated, his despair at his friendship falling apart due to circumstances outside his control. Axel desperately trying to find a way to keep him and his friends together, agonizing over the right thing to do as he realizes that just wasnt possible. His desperation to get them back. And this is where Axel starts to eclipse Roxas as I've got older. I tend to like the most characters I relate to the most and as time has gone on I relate to Axel a lot more rather than just liking him for his story. Struggling with wanting things to stay how they are when they cant because of things outside anyones control or cirvumstance or even just others choices and feeling the consequences of that flaw in myself. Wanting desperately to bring back people I cared about and lost.(Though his story will probably have a better outcome than mine on that front!) And to that end struggling with taking that advice that "It's okay if things change....so long as we keep each other in our thoughts we'll never be apart." I feel like he's someone I'd very much like to be friends with if he were real. His personality and sense of humor, his smart alek nature (very similar to my own) that sometimes borders on dorkyness XD I hope KH3 is not the last we see of him.

I AM IN LINE RIGHT NOW!! Luckily my time zone alows me to get my copy at ~7pm so I'll get to play a few hours tonight!!!

Day 29: Definitely KH2. Even now watching it it just gets me pumped! Something about the music and how the video is paced to it just gets me so excited every time. My favorite part of it is when Sora turns to face Marluxia and the whole CO battle scenes with Riku battling and its just so- Aaaahhhh!! I also like 3Ds though on the DS. I love how the incorporated the dual screens into the opening it was very cool

Day 27: KH2 has really amazing gameplay and while the reaction commands always get a lot of flak I still really enjoy them and the excitement they add to the gameplay. Day 28: This is hard for me because I know I have a lot but I'm bad at remembering them off the top of my head (really ought to write them all down sometime.) "Roxas...alright! Fight, fight, fight!" "It's me! You know...Axel" "IM SO FLATTERED!" Axel: "See there's this thing about chests. They have stuff in them" Roxas: "So I should open the chest?" Axel: "Yes that is generally what we do" "I cant tell you all my dark secrets!" "Me? Sleep. And when I'm done with that, roll over and sleep some more" "I'd nap six times a day if they'd let me" Xion: "Did you guys go some where with out me?" Roxas: "Axel went somewhere...He went to sleep!" ATW: "Roxas...I doubt you can hear me...but I am sorry" Sora... You're lucky. Looks like my summer vacation is... over. Saix: "We dont accept resignations" " THEY'RE GONNA DETROY YOU!!" "Roxas...I'm out of time." Axel: "Look who's finally awake....or maybe I'm wrong...maybe it's time to sleep..." "But it's okay if things change and we cant meet up here. As long as we keep each othin our thoughts none of us will ever be apart." There are a lot of lines I love from this series XD

I've noticed something in the KH fandom, and as a result I've looked at myself and realised something too. Something I've been feeling and ignoring for a long time. And I wanted to share it even if it's kinda sappy. This fandom is nearly 20 yrs old now. Most of us who've been here since the begining or even as late as KH2 are becoming adults. And somethings have changed because of that. The artist community has grown so much, it's simply amazing! I occasionally see old art still floating around the internet from back when I was a kid and it amazes me how far the fanart has come! And that includes on youtube, theres aninatics like by CharlieCo and fanmade songs and remixes. A long way from those moviemaker AMV tributes from back in like 09 (which you should go back and watch if you want a trip XD) Fanstories too! Fanfic in general has come a long way, and you can see people exploring a lot more complex themes. So much has changed and so much has improved and I love it! However... I've found something else has changed. Where before it was unabashedly proud and unashamed I find a lot of people apologizing or feeling bad for their interest, for people loving this series as much as they do. For it having helped them through hard times growing up or even now. For reminding them of the seemingly simple lessons this series preaches. For it giving them hope or them trying to emulate a character in their own lives. And I've done that too. Felt stupid and guilty and childish for loving something like this. For getting hope from it in my dark hours rather than I dont know something more 'grown up'-whatever that means. For nerding out, or spending money to go to KH concerts and fan conventions. But, I love this series. I love it. And so many others do too and hear me internet KH fans! IT'S OKAY FOR THIS TO MATTER!! It's okay for you to love this and be sappy about it and have it affect you. To move you. To give you HOPE. To remind you that friends are worthwhile and can be true. To find friends or community through it. To remind you that darkness in you is okay so long as you dont let it consume you. That even in your darkness no matter how thick there is light. What does it matter if it's fictional? What does it matter if it's a videogame? It matters to you. Let it. Feel it, express it. With out guilt or shame. Just because it's fiction, doesnt mean the way it makes you feel isnt real. It's okay for this to matter.

Day 26: Favorite Game for The Story ....oh now we're getting to the hard questions...oh boy Ahhhhh....errrghh.....dont make me pick! Okay...the best overall game story I have to say is KH2. KH2 was the first KH game I ever played all the way through after I had only played some of Soras side of CoM a few years earlier. I had no idea what was going on in CoM and even less in KH2 cause I never finished CoM at that point! So I went in very blind and the story just had me absolutely enraptured. I did not leave my living room for days! I played until like 2am, went to sleep, woke up and kept playing until I finished it. I HAD to know: who was Roxas? Why was he part of the Org? Why did he leave? Why did he have to disappear? What was his connection to sora? Why are they calling Sora Roxas? What does the Org WANT?! Why was this all happening?? What happened before that I dont know about, and how is it affecting whats happening now? It sets up it's mystery so FREAKING WELL and just draws you in and gets you invested. Every step of the way, drip feeding you piece by piece clues to figure things out until finally all the pieces start to line up. And when the final pieces fall into place, and that wave of understanding and clarity come over you it was just so satisfying! And then you realize there are still yet things that you dont fully understand and you want nothing more than to find the missing pieces and line them up with everything else. It is something I really hope KH3 modeled itself after. Even though it is a conclusion, I want that mystery, that trying to figure everything out as I go again as I find clues along the way. And to finish with answers but more questions to explore too. It's characters too, even though almost all of then were completely foreign to me at the time (i didnt even know about FF) I got so invested in just the short amount of time I spent with them and I was left wanting more! It is, i think the best overall story for all those reasons. It did it's job as a story extremely well. And especially for someone coming in almost completely blind. Days story though for me is right behind it because the story didnt feel like it was the main focus there-instead it was on the characters. Which I feel the story was integrated well with the characters-as in the story and plot and mysteries are being driven by the characters and what is happening to them- but the story is this is whats happening to these characters to interrupt their lives and how they are reacting to it. WHICH IT DOES VERY WELL! I mean, Jesus H Christ, it freaking tore me apart the first time I played it, and I still get chills when I play through the story or hear Xions theme. It is a tragic story, an emotional story, a story that just makes you invested in it's characters and their fates and future. But when compared to KH2 which had a lot more going on, and a mystery which I feel they handled and presented and integrated to the story much better than Days did with theirs, KH2 wins out on this one for me. Runner ups are: CoM, KH1, BBS, 3D (love the mystery, hated the presentation or it'd be higher) and 0.2 (cool game, I just dont think they presented the story very well). I have not played Re:coded though I have watched the cutscenes and while it has it's moments, I think they handled the conclusion (revelation that sora has other hearts connected to him) way better in 3D with Riku finding Ansem, Ven, xion and Roxas. Maybe it flows better playing through it- and I'll have to do that some time- but I feel it wasnt the best story overall from what I saw.

What ever works right?

Okay so background, I am in the Navy okay. And in the US military you have to learn a list of 11 'general orders' which are basically how to stand watch. You are strongly advised to learn them before boot camp and before I left I was having issues learning them because I suck at memorizing stuff. So what did i do? I associated in my head each one of them with an Org XIII member by number (yes really and they actually lined up really well with each respective member XD) AND IT WORKED! Thats how I remembered them every time i needed to say one. After you leave Boot Camp, people dont talk about GOs anymore. So most people forget them. And sometimes, people in your upper command will tease you by asking you one. Because everyone learns them and forgets and people laugh about it. Alternatively sometimes you get asked seriously and get yelled at if you dont know. And today, I'm on duty and someone asks me what my General Orders are. IMMEDIATELY in my head I am going through all the Org members in my head trying to remember them and I remembered a few because they were so spot on (#8 has to do with fire for instance) but I couldn't remember most of them XD Luckily I didnt get yelled at, but here i am now, reviewing them and trying to associate them with each of the Org members to remember!! HAHA! Just a funny story I thought I'd share.

This is it folks! THIS. IS. IT!!! The last day...the final day before KH3 is officially released!! The last day in a KH3-less world... It's been a long journey to get here, huh? 13 years since Kairi found that bottle from the King on the beach at the end of KH2 and we all began to wonder what came next. 17 years since Sora started on his grande adventure. It's here....it's really, REALLY here! How to spend this final day? Why dont we all share what this means to us? And maybe share our favorite stories or memories in this long journey we took to get here. When did you start? Which game? What was the moment you fell in love with the game and knew you had to see it through to the end? What was your happiest moment? What made you cry? Anything you want!! It's here guys!! THIS IS IT!!!

I really wanna go easy because I dont feel I have a ton of time and really wanna see the story and discuss it with people but I HAVE to go proud because I want this to be the challenge and have everything uncovered be that much more valuable because I had to struggle to get there.

Hm...that's so hard!! Cause exciting or: causing strong feelings of enthusiasm and eagerness in (someone)- isn't exactly how I'm feeling during boss battles XD I'm more determined and focused while I'm battling them. I'm excited in the time leading up to the fight and when I beat them. So I guess I'd have to go with Xemnas with Riku and Sora in KH2. Because that was my first final boss playing KH and it was the culmination of EVERYTHING in that game and my palms were sweaty, my heart was beating out of my chest it was just like "This is it! It's the end!" And when I finally beat him I almost cheered! Xaldin is a close 2nd because of just the sheer difficulty of it. I just couldnt beat him. It was the first time i ever threw my controller in frustration after dying! XD And beating him I just jumped up and was so excited that i DID IT! Xions fight the first time I played through that game too is one but mostly because I didnt know it was coming. At the time, I just didnt know what was gonna happen, how this was all gonna end. I knew she had to die somehow or have something happen to have her 'go away' but I did NOT expect that fight and just how it kept going and GOING! And the whole time I just wanted it to end, to be over! Not because I didnt like the fights or they were too hard but because I wanted to see what this all lead to. This cant be how this ends no way! Was she really gonna die like this?! Were WE really the ones who killed her iN THIS STORY?!?! No...no that cant be how this ends...how could it end this way?! And then...well...you all know what happened after T^T

How surreal is it that in less than a week we'll all forever finally be able to say, "Remember before, when we were waiting for KH3 to come out..."? I cant wait to go to one of the KH orchestra concerts this year! It'll be the first one where everyone will be talking about KH3 and it'll be so awesome to talk in person with other people about it. ^-^