About Riku's memories 2

read first post here
They didn't end up together because they were labeled separate things whoops
actually it happened because one was labeled review replies and the other wasn't

technically, this conversation happened in a comment thread, but It was so long I figured I'd post it in a new blog. 

Flightfoot asked: Building replicas isn't the only thing that memories are good for. Saix should have looked through them to see if there was any useful information on how to defeat Repliku in them. Also, it may have been helpful to see what the Organization in AtP was like, so that he could avoid the pitfalls that they stepped into. In addition, I'd imagine that looking into Repliku's memories may be helpful in figuring out what is causing meltdowns and how to prevent them.

If Repliku's memories contain the fake memories that Namine planted, then the other Riku's memories may have been helpful in figuring out what was going to happen next in "Falling to Pieces", and his fake memories may be helpful in figuring out what was going on in "Falling to Pieces". At the very least, people should have checked to see if this sort of useful information was contained in Repliku's memories

I replied:

Holy flip, I almost need another blog post to respond to that...

You do bring up some good points, Flightfoot! Really making me think!

Alright, I suppose Saix COULD have gone through his memories to figure out his weaknesses and all that. I don't have a rationalization for why he DIDN'T, except that he never thought that Riku would be such a threat... which... well... doesn't entirely work.

However, for that second question, you have to keep in mind Repliku didn't live long. He saw only what happened inside of Castle Oblivion, and even then he didn't pay much attention to it. Back in the Truth Hurts, they DID use... uhmm... no, hang on, that's not what I wanted to say... They did see his memories and guess that maybe trying to use Namine to control Repliku was a bad idea, but Marluxia was too arrogant to listen. (there, that's what I meant...)

I don't think Repliku still has planted memories of Riku. I remember reading somewhere a theory that when Namine shattered him, she shattered all his false memories, but his heart was so unstable that everything else just went with. So, those memories are probably the most vague for him, IF he even still has them. And even if he does, no one's going to THINK to look through them to see what was going on in FtP. Riku (my Riku) didn't have such close ties to the Rebellion then. And the Rebellion had other things to deal with. I'm sure maybe... 19 would have maybe warned him if he had actually SEEN, but 19 isn't terribly good with computers, remember? I doubt anyone else would've cared.

Yes, I do realize that his memories would've been a good spot to find information, but that didn't occur to me that they were even still ON the Database until just recently. The best excuse I can come up with is someone looked through them, found absolutely nothing interesting (to them, at least) in them and no one bothered to double check.

or... his memories are just too unstable, not just to use but to view (as, actually, you will see in the next chapter...)

Plus, memories are not accurate at all. They do not portray facts, but feelings. And Repliku's feelings, with no doubt, clouded up most of his memories. I doubt he paid much attention to what the Organization was doing. He cared more about Namine, and was probably focusing on her most of the time. And, I'm pretty positive, that information is almost useless. Well, okay, except the Organization can gather that she's his weakness, but I think they've already established that.

...

okay, I think I covered everything.

Feel free to ask more questions, though. This was actually fun to figure out. Thanks for making my brain work more than it's used to!!

KKBeckett asked a good question

and, I don't remember if I explained it

So, why did Sora fall into darkness? He was so bright as a kid... what changed?

the very very simple reason?

Riku showing up in this universe threw the universe out of balance. In a desperate need to fix the balance, the universe did practically everything.

Sora falling into darkness was one of those things

There is, however, a deeper level to this (what!? I'm going DEEP on you? NO WAY!!)

and to understand that, we have to go back to when Sora was a kid.

Sora LOVED fairytales. LOVED THEM. His mom would read him a book (or three) every night before he went to bed. His father would take him (and often Kairi, too) out to the smaller island every day so he could play. he'd be a pirate one day (taking Kairi as his captive) a knight the next (protecting "princess" Kairi)

he wanted more than anything to actually be part of that magical world

he wanted to actually fight monsters, be a hero

see where I'm going?

Then Riku showed up.

Riku showed up, and he could fight. He could kill heartless, or "monsters" without breaking a sweat. He used "magic". Of course, it wasn't REALLY magic, but to Sora's unknowing eyes, a Dark Aura looks like a pretty epic magic attack (and, I suppose, basically is. just depends on what you ACTUALLY consider to be magic)

Sora.... Sora hated him for it.

"The magic, the monsters, all of that- it's REAL. And I'm not a part of it."

He saw that it was real.

He wanted to be a part of it to.

He'd stop at nothing to BECOME a part of it.

When you grow up on fairytales and magic, you don't just sit there and let someone who's as good as one of those heroes go. you see them, and you think "what? It's REAL? Why aren't I a part of it?"

Let’s talk some more about Shad, and then some about Roxas

So, Flightfoot brought up a good point/question, and I really should answer it. In case you missed it (and so I don't have to keep swapping between windows =P) I'll post it here.

"If Shad's entire reason to exist is to drag Sora into darkness, and the reason he can't NOT drag Sora down is because it's his reason to exist, then how will succeeding allow Shad to continue existing? Isn't fulfilling his purpose just as bad as abandoning it? Either way, he's not needed anymore."

See... this is a very good point, and (like a lot of your questions, Flightfoot) really makes me have to think (but that's a good thing). I don't necessarily have an answer for this, because now that you mention this, I realize that it doesn't entirely make sense to have it work any other way.

Hrm....

Idk. Y'see, in my head, it's like if he fufills his purpose, then he's free to do whatever he wants. Not sure why. It's... a reward for fulfilling his purpose?

I really don't know. 

Maybe he really does cease to exist the moment he drags Sora into darkness, but he doesn't know that, so he speaks as if there's a future for him.

I'll have to think on it some more. These things usually suddenly make sense to me at like 3 A.M. while I'm having trouble sleeping.

So, we'll move on to what Cookie said.

Cookie wondered why Shad doesn't try to fight his purpose. I don't have a particular answer for this...

He doesn't think it's possible? But that's a stupid reason....

The thought never even occurs to him, because he does enjoy his job? But that's not true... he might enjoy his job, but the thought of doing something different has occured to him...

It's just impossible for him?

Ugh, I realize that these are terrible answers, but I think there is an answer to this, I just can't mention it because it's plot-related. So, coming up with something that might be answer but I don't think is the right one is hard...

Let's talk about Roxas now.

Yes, it's possible to bring Roxas back. But it is going to be a pain in the butt to do so, and I don't think it's worth it. I know we all want him back, but there's really no need for him in the story. And it'd be bad writing for me to just bring him back for just that reason.

But that's not the only reason I'm not bringing him back.

I know I didn't make it entirely clear just how hard it would be to bring him back. Or maybe I did. I don't know. I just know that's hard.

See, Cookie asked if there were records of each Replica's memories and whatnot stored somewhere.

He's right. There are.

But they haven't been updated in months because of this whole debacle with the Rebellion.

If we bring Roxas back, he'd be - at best - missing a month. A month that would be extremely hard to fill for him.

Xion - don't get me started on how much she'd be missing. Her situation's even worse.

And if something were to happen to anyone else - anyone from the Rebellion - there'd be no hope for them, either. Roxas is only missing a month, but everyone else would be missing somewhere between 3 to 5 months. 

Besides Riku and Namine, of course, who are even worse positions because neither of them have records in this universe. Well, Namine just doesn't have records. Riku has records in the other universe, but they haven't been updated since, y'know, he was last there (like, 9 months ago, sometime shortly after he was created)

Back to Roxas.

Yes, I can bring him back, I will not deny that. But it won't be easy, and I don't think it's necessary.

I mean, maybe I'll change my mind. Maybe, by book 5, I will have brought him back (don't expect him back sooner; it's not possible to bring him back until this Rebellion thing has settled down)

But...

I don't know.

Terra battle fandub!!

I know there are posts that referred to this earlier and I said I'd go back and link them to this post but maybe I won't because I'm lazy

Another post?

REally?

I know, I know. I should be writing. I was planning on writing. Then I was listening to a song, and it reminded me of the AMV that was made to that song, so I had to go find the AMV, which was BBS related, and then I was like "I'm gonna go watch the KH2 Final Mix Secret ending" and then it was either after the first KH2FM secret ending, but it was probably the second one (which had better quality) that I stumbled upon a video that had the Lingering Sentiment/Terra battle from KH2FM

I watched it for the heck of it

then in the video responses, there was this

I expected it to be a fandub.

I figured "what the hey, let's watch it."

It wasn't a fandub.

It's a million times better.

and as soon as you watch it, you will understand WHY.

OKay?

Now, unless you REALLY WANT to watch Sora and Terra beat the crap of out of each other (which is... interesting. It's like watching someone fight a combination of Ansem from KH1 with some Xemnas battle elements and then quite a few attacks from the Terranort battle all with a noticeably Terra twist.) here are the parts you need to watch:

The beginning, which stops about when the battle starts

this part in the middle, about 8 minutes in. Surprised the crud out of me, this did. Sat there for a good three minutes afterward unable to do anything more than stare with my mouth open. Again, you can stop watching as soon as the fighting starts again

then the end, which starts at aproximately 18 minutes. Probably a few seconds after, but what's it gonna kill you to watch 10 seconds of battle?

Trust me, you will NOT regret watching this

My screwed up timeline

For starters, don't ask about what Namine zoned out about. I don't remember. I looked at that, and I sat there for about 15 minutes trying to figure out why she zoned out. No luck. Sorry.

ANYWAYS!

this is really important, so important, in fact, that I will post a link to this blog in my next couple blogs for those who are behind on reading my blog.

moving on!

my timeline is SOOOOOOOOOOOO screwed up. Wanna know why? By the time of the chapter I just posted, I have a feeling that Sora had just maybe arrived in Olympus Coliseum. MAYBE! he may not have even gotten there yet...

Why? Well, I didn't expect the raid to take so long nor did I expect Riku to have to return to Hollow Bastion. And if it wasn't screwed up in this small little way, we'd have a major problem.

Major problem, you ask?

Riku and Namine showing up in Hollow Bastion while Magik's characters are there.

Yeah, I know, it sounds like a wonderful idea. However, I plotted that scene out in my head, just for the heck of it, and Riku ended up having a panic attack.

litterally...

so, for the sake of Riku not having a panic attack and me having to deal with the carnage for the next plenty chapters, you guys just have to deal with a bit of time travel.

So... in case you didn't catch it... here's a rough idea of the timeline

Riku and Namine's first visit to Hollow Bastion ch 63-68

the ridiculously long raid ch 72-78

the second trip to Hollow Bastion ch 79-??

Olympus Coliseum ch 69-71 

are you confused?

I hope not

I also have a feeling that this second trip to hollow Bastion will last longer than Sora's trip to Olympus Coliseum and they will end up running about parallel

So, just to get things SUPER STRAIGHT!

we have Riku's first visit ot HB

the ridiculously long raid

second visit to HB starts

Sora in Olympus

second visit to HB ends

MAGIK'S CHARRIES SHOW UP IN HB!!

which is... well... whatever chapters in Can't Escape. I'm too lazy to look them up, sorry! =P

AND THEN I COPIED THE COMMENTS FROM THE ORIGINAL POST and I shall post their transcription (that the right word?) below

brrp we still call Shad "Shadow" lol this is so old

Forevermagik responded

It's chapters 39-42 in Can't Escape.

They run parallel to chapters 3 and 4 in Betwixt and Between, for those of you who are reading this entire epic adventure lol.

Flightfoot responded:

Well, that explains why Aerith didn't mention Magik's characters.

rar master responded:

yup. Besides, they're over for dinner. And, because I didn't explain how the timing doesn't clash... I'm going to say it here.

Riku and Namine left HB early morning. Just past dawn. Raid took... 2 hours, at most. It would still be early morning by the time they returned to HB.

KKBeckett responded:

Riku+panic attack=carnage. Why am I not surprised?

Oh, and after magik's charries show up, Shadow does.

That is wonderful.... and slightly screwed up.

I blame... Shadow.

(I'd blame Riku, but I might die. I would like to think that due to Shadow's weird plane of existence, he can't do anything to me.)

rar master responded:

LOL

heheh, now Shadow's thinking of possible ways of killing you...

=P

  

forever magik responded:

Now, now, Shadow... don't kill the reviewers!

You never know, some of them may secretly like you.

Sephy has LOADS of fangirls.

Flightfoot responded:

Personally, I like Shadow. If this was an actual published work, he'd probably be the most popular character.

rar master responded:

I bet he would be

he seems flattered...

forever magik responded:

Of course he's flattered! He has a HUGE ego!

And a dirty mouth.

And a habit of making crude gestures when people's backs are turned.

rar master responded:

why does he only do that in YOUR head?

forever magik responded:

Because I pay attention to stuff like that... idk...

He knows you don't approve and I don't have time to care?

Rant about Sora and Shad and Shadows

This is, actually, the first of two blogs I plan to post concerning my first trip to DisneyWorld. This one concerns crud I thought of BEFORE the trip, but didn't think much about until DURING the trip, so it goes now. The second blog will be about things I thought of during the trip.

So, I was thinking, in my mass download of music, I'd put some of the unused tracks (or less used) tracks in the FtP playlist, because I could always use more music, and I hate using something that belongs somewhere else. However, there weren't many unused tracks. I have two I'm still working on from Paper Mario: TTYD, but, haven't decided yet.

there is THIS unused track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FLFnaV_Q6k

which I love to death, but I can't bring myself to use it, because it's the "Richie vs. Chris" theme from the Stupid Mario Brothers series. It plays every time Richie and Chris's characters confront each other, whether it be Mario vs Mr. L, or Mario vs. Nox Decious, or Merlin vs. Nox Decious, or UPS vs. FedEx --- it's the theme that plays, and I can't bear to tear it away from what I have come to associate it with.

So, though a beautiful theme that I could probably find use for, it stays.

And, more speaking about Stupid Mario Brothers, I realized in watching their final episode (it's over!! AWEROISNOGDSHFODSIFNNSD!! I will miss the series soo much!!) that I have subconsciously based the relationship between Sora and Shad on the relationship between Mario and the Darkness. Not entirely, but the basic mechanics of how Shad was formed and currently exists and whatnot

and, the logic on which I subconsciously based the relationship between Sora and Shad just told me that I cannot kill Shad.

I mean, I can change the logic however I want, since I'm not using it exactly

but it's unnerving to be sitting there like "That fits. Oh, that fits too. Yup, that applies. OH! I CAN USE THAT!!" and then all of a sudden "he can't be killed" and I'm like "What, i can't kill Shad!?!"

Because, basically, the logic says that even if I kill him, he will come back because he is connected to Sora and as long as Sora is alive so is Shad.

Which, I think magik asked me about a couple weeks ago...

I don't think this will apply in my universe, though.

I highly suggest you go watch episode 75 of Stupid Mario Brothers. I mean, it won't make perfect sense without the Movie and the rest of the 4th and 5th season, oh, and the end of the 3rd, but it was a wonderful way to end it, and the effects were just BEAUTIFUL. I watched it, and I was like "Richie!! Why can't the rest of the series have been like this!?!?!?!"

Ah well. Wonderful ending. I mean, I'm upset about how the Darkness died, because it was rather plain... but... whatever. 

If you don't feel like watching it, then, well... you don't have to. but you might want to watch just the conversation between Wario and- you know what, I have the video up, I'll just copy the important parts...

oh wait a minute, watching it again, I realize that there's spoilers littered all over the place. I mean, I might sum up the basic concept for you, but just to let you know, if you want spoilers for my fic, go watch episode 75 of Stupid Mario Brothers, and Wario and Waluigi's conversation about the darkness is full of em

basically, the important thing is that the Darkness (Shad) stole quite a lot of Mario's (Sora's) strength, leaving Mario very weak. As time wears on, the Darkness gets stronger, and Mario has to become stronger himself to overcome it. That, and they're connected to each other, and so you can't kill one without killing both because even if their body dies, their spirit can't because it's bound to another spirit.

Which technically means I can't kill Shad, but I will think more about that before I decide that theory is completely canon for me

There is more that fits for the relationship between Sora and Shad in that conversation, but it's technically spoilers. I mean, if you want to go watch the episode, you will without a doubt find what I'm talking about. However, I'll let you watch the episode (incentive for you to watch Stupid Mario Brothers, yay!!)

I mean, I know I've said this before, but it was a really nice series. I mean, season 1 was stupidity, but it was funny and sets everything up. The rest of the series REALLY IS amazing, and if you have time this summer, why not watch it? Start with the Movie, if you want. That's what I did. I found the Movie first, watched it, and while I was waiting for it to be finished, went back and watched the first 3 seasons.

Seriously, though, you should watch it. Good series.

Moving on.

There is another certain thing about Shadows that's not entirely related, but because it's about Shadows I suppose it's related enough.

I remember there being a lot of questions concerning WHAT EXACTLY the Darkness takes a form of when a Shadow is spawned. The "Shadow/dark reflection of the person" doesn't work, because neither canon Riku (Real thing/magik's Riku) nor Cloud (whom we've both established have had a Shadow) had that happen to them.

I mean, you might be able to argue with Riku, but it doesn't work quite so well for Cloud.

I finally think I figured it out, though.

The Darkness takes whatever form you fear the most.

Or, more appropriately, will enhance your greatest fear/greatest weakness so that it's easier to consume you again.

For my Sora, he has problems keeping control of himself. If he gets angry, his control slips. He gets scared, his control slips. And Shad is the perfect person to bring out the bad side of Sora, and Sora's lack of control that's triggered through that is perfect bait for the darkness.

That, and, what Sora fears most is who he'll become if he succumbs to the darkness, which is exactly what Shad is. So...

For Riku, it's easy. I mean, I suppose part of it was Ansem himself lingering inside of Riku, and the darkness took the form of that. But, easily, Riku could've been scared of Ansem.

I know what you're thinking. He's Riku. He doesn't get scared.

Well, tough, because I bet he does. I mean, sorry, I don't think it's possibly for any NORMAL teenager to not be terrified of some creeper that tried to possess them. I'd be scared to death, and I doubt that's just because I'm a girl. I think any boy would be scared, too. I don't know for a fact, because I don't actually know a lot of boys my age, but that stupid stereotypical "boys don't get scared thing" is, well, stupid. And stereotypical. And I doubt it's true.

Because I'm pretty certain that absolutely ANYONE (besides, say, Xehanort and Ghirihim) would be terrified if they had Ansem creeping on them like he creeped on Riku.

Just saying.

So if the darkness takes the form typically of what your most scared of, then Ansem was easily Riku's worst nightmare.

So...

It took me a while to place Cloud and why Sephiroth is Sephiroth, but I finally figured it out. Well, for my universe at least.

See, Sephiroth spawned from Cloud in my universe shortly after Zack's death. Cloud's altered darkness and the overwhelming guilt that resulted from Zack dying spawned Sephiroth.

Why, exactly, Sephiroth as he is, and not some more appropriate Shadow-type figure?

Because Sephiroth formed at the weakest moment in Cloud's life. He had tried to save Zack, but was knocked away with a single blow, which he took to mean that he was weak. Too weak. Too weak to do anything.

And so it makes perfect sense that the darkness spawned Sephiroth. Sephiroth, who's an extremely powerful, bad ass villian who can easily upstage Cloud and make Cloud feel even more weak.

Cloud hates being weak.

He hates being useless.

And that's exactly what Sephiroth could make him feel like.

Because Sephiroth was everything he wanted to be but couldn't be.

And nothing else (short of maybe Zack blaming him for what happened) could've possibly hurt Cloud more.

Anyway.

That's about it. I should probably go write now... or... something....

OH! I just remembered! I mean, this isn't ENTIRELY important, but i kind of plan on going back and rewriting parts of Falling to Pieces. Not much, just a few scenes that bother me, and I might change any occurance of "portal" to "dark corridor" if I feel like it. It's less of a rewrite than a revamp, really. Just letting you guys know! that's probably never going to happen lol

I don’t have anything witty to say here (that rant of Shad's)

So... here's the rant of Shad's...

Well, real quick, explanation thingy concerning background and whatnot

and ohmygosh the tv is so distracting...

Okay, so, for some odd reason, "during" (not really during, but this is where it would take place if it were to honestly take place) the exchange between Shad and magik's Namiku someone asks Shad how his powers work and he starts ranting

I still have no clue why. It makes no sense, really, but the rant is somewhat amusing, and it does explain crud.

Anyway, it starts something like this:

~

Well, it's like, say, I'm here (he gestures at some section of the air with one hand) and Sora's here- (he gestures at a different area with his other hand, then pauses) Me talking with my hands isn't doing you any good, is it?

(of course it's not, because they can't really see you)

Right...

(he turns to Namine)

Can I borrow your sketchbook?

(She probably protests. Not that I wrote her protesting down, but it's easy to assume that she does. I mean, why would she hand her sketchbook to a psychopath who's done nothing but insult her?)

(impatiently, he replies:) This is really a visual lesson here...

(she protests again)

No?

(cue annoyed sigh from Shad)

Fine...

You need to think of it as a web. Everyone's energy just forms this great big web that is ever connected, intertwined, and I can manipulate to my liking. I can chose who I feel like drawing energy from, how much, all that.

I mean, everyone draws energy from other people, but it's a subconscious thing. You two are drawing energy from each other right now. It's not anything to a massive scale, but it's there. I could sever it if I wanted to... *evil grin*

Anyway, I just have more control over the "web" than most people do.

Not as much control as I'd like... If I had the control that I'd like, I could block out- urg. This isn't working. Visual lesson. This is a visual lesson!

Okay, it's like this:

~and then, I actually wrote this part like a scene! 

            He drew a circle in the air with his finger, a strand of darkness following his gesture and forming the picture for him.

            “This is me…”

            He drew another two circles.

            “And I’m drawing power from Sora…”

            He drew a line from one circle to his circle.

            “And then, say, from Cloud.”

            He drew a line from the other circle to his circle.

            “And then Tifa shows up.”

            He drew another circle.

            “And Cloud starts drawing from Tifa…”

            He drew a line from Tifa to Cloud, then emphasized the line between him and Cloud again.

            “See what happens? I start, indirectly, getting energy from Tifa, who happens to be very bright. And, in turn, it hurts.”

            He waved his hand, and the darkness in the air dissipated.

(continuing with just him ranting...)

If I had the control over the web that I would like, then I wouldn't indirectly pull energy from people like Tifa! (I think he spits her name loathingly)

Anyway, back to the web.

Every person is like a ball on this web. We're all just balls of interwoven strands of energy and emotion that work together in perfect harmony.

Unless you're Riku.

Riku's a ball of tangled mess.

I mean, yes, everyone gets tangled. You'd have to be completely devoid of emotion to avoid it!

You see, each strand of that ball is an emotion, and the tighter the strand is pulled, the more the emotion happens to be affecting the person. The pulled strand would eventuall snap, and the emotion would flood out from the person. And then, of course, the loose ends get tangled with other emotions, get pulled tight again-

It's natural. Everyone works like that.

But Riku...

*shudders* I don't even want to go into that.

Back to the ball of emotion.

Because now, we're adding darkness to the equation.

See, you, or, well, I, can take the threads of emotion, pull them 'til they snap, and then quickly send in some darkness to grab ahold of the loose ends. Then I can manipulate the strand however I want, granting me control over the person's actions.

Okay, really, only Sora's. I'm a bit too focused of a form of darkness to pull that off on just anyone. 

I can toy with the strands of pretty much anyone's heart, though.

I just can't manipulate them.

Which is such a shame...

Though...

(Cue thoughtful glance in Real Thing's direction)

I might be able to manipulate your strands, given just how dark you are.

It would just be one hell of a strain...

~

Hrm, I think that's pretty much it. Everything else is just irrelavant or going into how messed up Riku is, which is something I think I will leave alone for now. So... yeah...

RANDOM UPDATE TIME!!

This isn't much. Just saying that I only have 30 SECONDS left of the Meltdown Project!! 30 SECONDS!!! WHOOOOOOOO!!!

I mean, it's a lot of fast paced editing, so it'll probably take me forever...

BUT IT'S STILL ONLY 30 SECONDS!!

And

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6702294/1/Take_This_Key

You really need to read this fic. You'll understand why as soon as you start reading, trust me. It's REALLY REALLY good.

POST ABOUT ZACK!

here is the post you guys probably really care about, and that is the post responding to your guesses about Zack's death. (sorry it's so late, my parents suddenly decided that we were going out to dinner in the middle of me writing it...)

I was considering let you guys have a second chance at this because you were all really off... but KKBeckett guessed what I was looking for

and, NO I'm not saying KKBeckett "wins" this little "contest" (not that it was really a contest or anything, hence the "") because she had the most detailed (and acurrate) guess. Trust me, if I was looking for that, I would've told her she couldn't have "competed" because she had the unfair advantage of me telling her that Zack died protecting Cloud because Cloud was in some bind with the darkness.

No, KKBeckett "won" because she correctly guessed who had killed Zack.

Which was really why I was doing this; to see if anyone had caught on to thesubtle little hint that implied Zack's killer. (Not that I know if KKBeckett caught onto the hint or not, but she still guessed right)

Now, before I go into any further detail, I'm going to clarify a little something concerning Sephiroth.

SEPHIROTH WAS NOT AROUND UNTIL AFTER ZACK DIED!

I know that's been really unclear. I said towards the beginning of Dead Inside that Zack was around when Cloud was struggling with the darkness. I never specified Sephiroth, but it would be easy to assume Sephiroth.

And I really had no way of clarifying it, because I wasn't absolutely certain myself about this until about a month ago when I wrote this whole sequence that I just posted in Dead Inside (with them yelling at each other, and the stages, and "Sephiroth's favorite trick")

However, do not think that Sephiroth is not linked to Zack's Death. Zack's Death (and the guilt Cloud felt because of it) was one of the two main factors that spawned Sephiroth.

The other main factor was Xehanort's meddling... 

Yup, Xehanort killed Zack. I'd take a gun to his head for it, but I don't have a gun... I do have a Master Sword... *evil grin*

Jk, I can't kill him, I'd kill Terra, too.

Anyway

Peach:
Sorry, your theory was really off. It's okay, though. I understand that you didn't think about it much

Flightfoot:
You mentioned the rain! That made me laugh when I read it for some reason (no one else mentioned the rain, though...) I guess just because you thought to mention it was kinda cool...
And, yes, Aerith was there
The parts about Sephiroth were wrong, though... (and I'm sorry about the confusion concerning Sephiroth...)

KKBeckett:
Like I said, (did I say?) you were spot on.
Yes, I did give you the the part concerning Zack dying protecting Cloud, but the way you deduced who killed Zack was amazing to read.
Oh, and, I called that you would figure out it was Xehanort. Again, I don't know if you just guessed, but I still called it

Cookie:
He did die in a way similar to Crisis Core. He died protecting Cloud. Granted, he wasn't facing a million Shinra troops-- just one very evil man named Xehanort---
Though... if it took a million troops to kill him in Crisis Core... either Xehanort's FREAKISHLY powerful, or I need to look over this scene again...

Now, wondering what that little hint was?

"Seriously, I think I'd heal anyone who showed up on my doorstep if they needed it. Well- Except Xehanort. If Xehanort showed up, I think I'd laugh and slam the door in his face."

Again, it's not a very major hint, and at the most just implies that Xehanort might have killed Zack.

But given all the other clues, it's not hard to piece everything together.

Then again, it might just be easy to me because I wrote it...

But KKBeckett figured it out!

Then again, me and KKBeckett tend to think a lot alike...

Hrmmm....

That's all I can think of for this post.

Except...

Things I'll admit about Zack's death:
Sephiroth didn't kill him
Aerith was there
It was raining
Zack was protecting Cloud
Xehanort killed Zack

And if I admit to much more, I'll ruin the... three surprises that are left.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go look over the scene again...

OH! AND!

I have the scene (k'now, Zack's Death) written. I have to look over it again and change a coule of things, but other than that, I can pretty much post it whenever.

You guys wanna read it now (or relatively soon)? Or do you just not really care?

LET ME KNOW!!

In response to Flightfoot (and a bit concerning Edd)

well, you've asked a couple questions, and if I don't reply to them, I'll end up forgetting or something, and that would be bad.

so...

First question:

YES it has been only seven years since BBS. I could've sworn I mentioned that. I bumped it up  smidge because Xehanort did some stuff before turning himself into a Heartless, and I didn't want there to be TOO much of a gap because then there will be aging issues when I eventually get around to bringing Terra back. Inevitably, he'll still have aged about three extra years.

Trust me, there's this certain thing that happened that he needed to be there for that only happened about four years before the Truth Hurts, and that's the main reason I bumped it up. Because he needed to be there for that, but I didn't want him to age like, five years, because that would totally screw with any AquaxTerra shipping I want to do later. 

You follow?

Second question:

Well, this was more of just a comment, but I have something to say about it anyway. The review you put into Dead Inside, being all worried about Riku and the darkness and "losing sight of the light" (I know you said the same thing about Sora, but it's totally true about him, so I don't have anything to say)

I don't think Riku can lose himself to the darkness. Yes, the darkness did go to his head there, but it can't last that long, because data and darkness don't mix. The darkness won't be able to keep ahold of him long enough to plunge him into darkness completely. The most he's going to have issues with is a bunch of darkness-corrupted data, and I think the extent of his powers will be boosted a bit, too. 

I mean, I guess that's kind of giving away later stuff, but... Riku losing himself completely to the darkness isn't going to happen. It might go to his head at times, but not much more.

(I suddenly feel like I should've waited to say all that... like I'm giving away something... but for the life of me I can't think of what I could possibly be giving away...)

Third question:

Edd.

Actually, for starters, THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING ONE OF THE 19 CHAPTERS! I was almost scared that none of you were reading them, and while, no, the first few aren't incredibly important, but this information will be important later. Just saying.

Anyway.

Edd.

He was only there in the Truth Hurts. I know it seems like he's popping in and out, but, really, he's not. Yes, he wrote those reports for Falling to Pieces, but... eh... I don't know. I don't consider those "popping in and out". That was me needing SOMEONE to point out the fact that Sora's Keyblade was falling apart. Literally. Only reason they were there.

Oh, and he showed up in the first special chapter of Dead Inside. But... that was because Dimension Girl dragged him there and nothing more. and that scene's not entirely canon, anyway

He was only there in the Truth Hurts. Yes, he does pop forward in time SHORTLY to gather data from Namine around now, but... It's not like he's just popping in and out for the fun of it. Technically, he's dead now. He died shortly after the Truth Hurts. So, while, yes, he showed up once or twice in Dead Inside, it was either a) time travel to further progress the Truth Hurts or b) the special chapter which technically isn't even canon.

Canonically, he's dead.

I'm so over explaining this.

Now, why was he helping with Namine? Because a) no one else can time travel and so he ended up being shoved in to mess with that. But, b) (the in-story explanation) he wanted to give Riku a second chance at life, and he feels bad that Namine isn't coming out right, nor does he want her to end up like the Original Namine, and just break his heart again. So he's helping out so neither option happens.

Why is he helping in the first place? 

Well, I think he kind of sees himself in Riku. He sees a kid who could use a second chance, and since he himself wants one, but there's no way he's going to get one, he's helping Riku get one.

Did that make sense? I mean, it makes sense in my head, but now that I'm looking at it on paper, it doesn't make sense.

Lemme try a different approach.

Forget why Edd wanted to help Riku in the first place.

He's helping create Namine because her not working means that him helping Riku completely backfired on him. And he's a bit tired of trying to help and then only making things worse. So he's trying a bit harder to fix it this time.

There.

That explains why he's helping create Namine, that he's NOT just hopping in and out of my universe and-

you asked who he was.

I can't answer that.

Because I do, eventually, want to write a story with him in it, and so I don't want it on the internet. 

I have a nasty feeling that someone might have stolen another one of my stories, because I emailed them the beginning of it and never got an email back. It doesn't really matter, though, because I never plan on finishing that one now, but... still...

I don't want anyone stealing this one.

Not that YOU guys will. But this IS a public site. I could have someone stalking me and not even know it. It's a good thing I don't put anything more personal than what video game I just finished on here.

Though, I guess I can go a bit more in depth concerning why Edd's even in the story in the first place. I wanted to drop the Riku Replica off in a parallel universe, and he was the only logical person who could and had had the motivation to do so. His motivation? He wanted to do something for make up for crud he had done in the past (didn't I already explain that somewhere?). So... he caught the Riku Replica before he died, healed him enough so he wouldn't die, and dropped him off in this universe.

He originally was supposed to just fade out after that, but then he decided to stick around. I guess he was just trying to make sure everything settled out with Riku, and since he didn't have anything else to do while he was waiting to die, he stuck around. I mean, he couldn't really go anywhere else, anyway. There's a price on his head in a lot of other places.

So, he stuck around. And then the thing with Namine started getting all wonky, so he tried to help fix it, and I already explained that.

Then he dies. He dies shortly after the Truth Hurts ends. In fact, his dead body might just still be sitting in Castle Oblivion. No joke. I mean, I'd like to think someone found it and got rid of it, but... uhm... no one in my head officially has.

As for the Stranger Reports in Falling to Pieces, I already said they were originally put there just so he could point out that Sora's Keyblade was falling apart. Not kidding. In-story explanation? Idk, he had nothing else better to do while he was sitting in that corner in the back of my head, since that's where he's gonna stay until I get around to writing his story.

And the only time he's shown up in Dead Inside is when the Dimension Girl dragged him over. I mean, I might have a short snippet of him showing up, but that'll be to gather data from Namine or something, which is chronolically for him before the Truth Hurts ends.

I mean, I know this is complicated time travel, but... it's what happened.

Anyway, if you have any more questions, ask and I'll see if I can answer them. Anything concerning what he's done within the Falling to Pieces series I can probably answer. But... anything outside of that will have to depend on whether or not it's possible to explain without giving crud away about the book I eventually will write.

Now, I've been sitting here for an hour blogging about this crud. I should go try and write, because the sooner I finish Dead Inside, the sooner I finish book 5, the sooner I can move on to that story with Edd in it.

Edd and his magic

*shifty glance*

I'm not going into extreme amounts of detail because this is a public site and someone could steal all this. If you want something in depth, contact me and let me know

moving on

Make sure you've read the latest 19 or all chapter before you continue to read.

So, Edd and his magic. I'm only explaining this just to be sure that you understand.

See, Edd used his magic to, first, fix all of Namine's ruined pictures. Why? Well, it took him a while to realize that that was an extremely cruel thing to make her do in the first place, and that it wasn't even necessary. So he just used magic to fix them.

Seem far fetched?

Well, it's not much different than waving your wand, saying "Oculus, repairo!" (I think I spelled that right. I went to look it up in the book only to find that it's not in the scene I expected it to be. Of course, I'm sure it's SOMEWHERE in the book, but I'm not going to sit here all day looking for it)

at any rate, he used magic to fix Namine's pictures

and then to make Namine forget that she had even ruined them

which is a personal specialty of his; being able to go into people's heads and rearange things. It's like Magik's Namine's/canon Namine's/probably any Namine that isn't my Namine's ability to rearange memories, but at a much larger scale. Because he can do it with memories, and thoughts, and emotions (I'm debating on the emotion part...) It's like Shad, I guess, but at a still larger scale because Shad can really only affect a certain few people, and Edd can affect everyone.

He's thinking about doing it to you, right now.

Just kidding!

Anyway, so then he uses aformentioned powers to block all of the thoughts and memories that Namine shouldn't have yet. I mean, I explained that in the chapter. So...

Btw, that's what Vexen was confused about in the previous chapter, with the "locks and spells". 

Though, technically, the term "spells" is not accurate. I don't use spells in my magic. I think I just phrased it like that to make my life easier, though, or Edd's just trying to put it in terms that they'll understand.

But spells isn't accurate at all. It's just that KH has such a primitive understanding of magic, that I have trouble squeezing Edd and my definition of magic in sometimes. Not that what KH defines magic as is bad, it's just that it's tailored to being a video game, so that anything more complicated than "Dark Thundaga" has it's definition a bit skewed.

That, and my definition isn't what people typically consider magic. I mean, magik's magic (that sounds so funny) is some cross between Harry Potter magic and Wizardry in Diane Duane's books. So, it's relatively simple.

But mine is more like... I don't know, some big conglomeration of every single definition of magic I know. Admittedly, it is lacking some Harry Potter elements, but it's not spell-based magic (such as the magic you find in Harry Potter). It's something closer tailored to Wizardy, and then more.

It's like... magic is when you bend the universe around you so that it gives you what you want (such as Wizardry) but a bit less complex and science-y and a bit more... natural. 

That the right words in the right place at the right time can cause something phenomenal to happen.

Then again, that's really just what Edd (and a few other of my characters) use. I haven't developed other characters enough to deterimine their kinds of magic, and I'm sure that when I eventually write the story, there will be many different kinds.

But the idea of bending the universe around you to make something happen is the idea that appeals to me the most, for some reason, and that's where my magic comes from.

That's it.

Time to turn on Red and let Kairi rant at me.

Translation of ch50 Can’t Escape

Goodness, I missed like three messages from magik

and she didn't notify me that she posted the chapter to Can't Escape!

So, if you wanted a translation, here it is now

(btw, this is all from memory. the translation is I think I don't know how I could've remembered the entire chapter. It might not be ENTIRELY accurate, but I DID just write this yesterday. You would think that I'd remember what I wrote...)

Okay, so, the first thing that 6 says Riku translates

I would hope that you know enough Spanish to know that "seis" is "six"

this would be easier if I just did:

Riku: 6! speak english please!

6: I don't want to!

Riku: 6, we want to understand you. And they (everyone else in CO) can't understand you because they can't understand Spanish. And I don't want to have to translate for them.

6: For you?
(I realize this doesn't ENTIRELY make sense, but he's answering Riku's earlier "speak english please" question, technically.)

Riku: Sure...

6: I would, but... I can't. Sorry. I can't speak English any more.

Riku: Seriously?

6: Sadly, yes

(after the short exchange with 7)

Riku: Do you know why?

6: No. I don't know.

6: Why do you want to know?

Riku: 7 wants to fix you

6: And if I don't want to be fixed?

(now, teasing 7)

Riku: How sad! 7 doesn't like when we speak in Spanish. He wants to understand us! Ah, poor guy!

6: Yes! We should speak in Spanish more often!

(exchange with 7)

Riku: I think we're bothering him

(when Namine comes up, Riku starts to ask "como estas?" which is basically "what's up" in Spanish. It took his brain a moment to remember what language he needed to be speaking in)

6: Namine! I think Riku likes you!
(little note about Spanish: 6, here, uses the more familiar form of "you". He uses "tu" instead of "usted" (which he had been using for the rest of the conversastion). This was mainly just a slip on my part, but only because I didn't think "le gusta" got the point across as well. Maybe it did, but "gustar" is such a WEIRD verb.)
(In my head, actually, Riku's yelling at 6 for using the familiar form of "you" on Namine and not because of what 6 actually said :P)

I'd assume you know (or can guess) that "No es nada" means "it's nothing"

6: You don't have to be embarrassed! you can-

Riku: (in english) Shut up!

6: Sorry Riku. If you want me to stop, you'll have to tell me in Spanish

Riku: (in Spanish) Shut up!
(At least, I think that's what "shut up" is in Spanish. That's what google translate says, but I don't entirely trust it)

6: Why? If you like her, you should tell her. Why hide it? I don't see the point in hiding. Besides, acting the way you are, she's going to notice soon. (note, that last sentence wasn't a direct translation: It's what I wanted to say ORIGINALLY, but getting it to mean the same exact thing in Spanish was too complicated) I think it would be better if-

~Now, Riku speaks Japanese here. Putting it VERY LIGHTLY, he says "shut up, idiot!"

However, "damare" more acurately translates to "shut your face" or something ruder than that. "Bakayaro" translates roughly to idiot ("baka" means idiot), but it can also translate to, again, something ruder.

Riku: You didn't understand that, did you?

~Riku then goes on to apologize in Japanese, figuring that 6 would understand him. Why Japanese? Well, because I think it's easier to get the point across of "I am extremely sorry!" In Japanese just by what form of the words you use... not entirely sure, though. 

(I feel sorry for Riku here, he has like three different languages running through his head)
Riku: Eh? (which is the Japanese version of "huh?") You want- (finally switching to spanish:) You want me to explain in Spanish? But I thought- uhm- Spanish doesn't have the vocabulary that- *sighs* I'm really sorry, 6! I was mad and wanted you to be quiet.  I didn't mean it. Sorry.

6: It's fine

Riku: You didn't understand me

(6 grins)

Riku: (In Japanese) I hate you...

6: What?

Riku: (Spanish) I don't like you. You really made me think-

6: What did you tell me? (referring to what Riku said earlier in Japanese)

Riku: Ah... You're right. It's fine.

And the rest of it is explained.

So....

yup

About Riku's memories

Right, so, flightfoot asked. I can't NOT reply.

Why hasn't anyone done anything with Riku's memories if they have been on the Database?

Well, for starters, they have been on the Database since the Truth Hurts. And it's not like nothing was done with them, either.

Namine is created entirely from his memories. THOSE memories, the memories that were on the database, blah blah blah I think you get what i'm talking about...

So, Namine was created with his memories.

Does that mean they were useless after that?

No.

I'm sure if Vexen had the time he would've done a TON of crap with it. Experimented with it, messed with it, created a ton of random crap Replicas like Joseph with it-

except...

What happened before the Truth Hurts was finished?

Vexen was killed.

The Replica Program was thrown into chaos. There was a good amount of time where no one had any clue what to do. Yes, Saix took charge, but I don't think he took charge right away. So no one would've touched Riku's memories until everything settled.

And, arguably, things still HAVEN'T settled.

However, that's not the point.

Saix isn't like Vexen. He doesn't conduct random experiments. He wouldn't even GLANCE at Riku's memories unless he got something from it. And he probably never thought he would get something from it. Sure, Saix is smart, Saix is cunning, Saix is just plain SCARY with how much he ends up figuring out.

But he's not skilled in building Replicas.

I doubt he's even touched the Database.

He leaves all that to 37.

37 wouldn't see any need in looking at Riku's memories, not really. He KNOWS that they're unstable. Or, if he didn't know, he would soon find out. And, without a possible way with making any Replica they produce actually relatively stable...

Saix hates mistakes.

Saix kills mistakes.

And Replicas built from Riku's memories just aren't stable. Yes, Namine turned out okay, but the meltdowns-

Let's put this into perspective. You go an engineer an absolutely WONDERFUL fighter. No one can beat him, no one stands a chance against him- except... the meltdowns. They aren't predicatble. And, because of them, you have now lost a good amount of fights-

Do you get it?

A Replica like that, no matter how good a fighter, would eventually have to be decommissioned.

So... Riku's memories haven't been touched.

No one in the Rebellion would've bothered to look. Either because they didn't have time, didnt care, or they knew Riku and didnt want to be raiding through his memories.

Yes, as of just recently L has started looking through them. BUT, she's a Larxene Replica. I'm sure every Larxene Replica would have a lot of fun just sitting through the database and finding interesting parts on random people's lives. Just, none of them have because Larxene Replicas don't typically have access to the Database.

Why does L have access to the Database?

well think about it for a second. I bet you'll figure it out.