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?"

HEYRANDOMPOST (has some review replies and some of my own artwork)

WHOO!!

for starters, this is completely random, but I had some high school award ceremony tonight, and I got awards for excellence in Spanish and Computers. No surprise. The good news is, the technology department gave us 8GB flashdrives.

You wanna know how much 8GB holds?

I put nearly every single one of my word documents and pictures on there, and I've barely taken up any room. It wasn't until I added the spare amount of music that I could that it started filling up 

and...

random...

but KKBeckett asked why 23 was being so cold all of a sudden (or kind of all of a sudden). It was a review on that one ASAS chapter.

Anyway, the reason 23's being so cold is because, partially, he never wanted to help Riku in the first place. He thought 19 was being weird for helping him, especially since he had just killed Master Vexen (it's funny how I refer to my Vexen as that, and then magik's Vexen is just Vexen). 19 was the one who had finally convinced him to help Riku out it, though he never really liked doing it.

then he figures out that 19 has been hiding stuff from him. And, from the sounds of things, 19 isn't usually the kind of person to keep secrets from anyone, especially not his brothers. So the fact that he has been offended 23.

So a good portion of his anger is against 19, but I think there are other complications, too.

I really should be going to bed, but I'm not tired, and dang insomnia won't let me sleep unless I'm exhausted.

so...

I got bored and drew that. I uploaded the version with the fixed/different lighting but the picture's the same 'cept now it's not whitewashed

anyway, I got bored. Those thorns were a pain. I really should stop drawing them, but... they're so- idk. I like them. I can draw them. They're a pain, but I can draw them.

You know what else was a pain? Adapting Len's hair to look like Sora. Now, if you've seen Len, you'll be very confused, because both he and Sora have really spiky hair, and all you usually have to do is adapt it minorly to look a bit more realistic and cut off the ponytail. However, though I still had to dothose things, there was another problem

Len had really long bangs in this one. And, as fine and dandy as that is for him, Sora has really short bangs. And so... changing that was a bit of a pain. I like how it finally turned out, though.

I have a lot to say about this picture.

see, if I had the original picture that I adapted this from, I'd show you. Well, one sec, lemme look through my history

anyway, if you see that, you'll understand a bit where I'm coming from.

See, I saw that picture and I imediately wanted to do something with Sora and Shad. Because, on the left of that picture, you have regular Len, on the right, idk who it's supposed to be, exactly, but I'm assuming it's Len, just a bit-

Idk, I felt like that second Len had just been created or something. And, because he was just created, he looked a bit wilder (his hair's not pulled back and is a mess)

so, this picture of Sora and Shad might be sometime shortly after Shad's creation, or something. Or it's just metaphorical of the two of them. Idk. But, Shad looks a bit more wilder because, y'know, he's Shad and I would actually imagine that his hair's a bit messier for some reason. Or, if it wasn't before, it is now, 'cause I like that idea.

This picture as a whole, though, is quite symbolic. See, the original picture, it had that weird flower thingy between the two of them, and that wasn't relevant at all, and I didn't want to just copy it. So, I did that weird thorn structure you see in my finished product.

It has a heart in the middle, which was originally Sora's, but I changed it when I started coloring it so that it was half Shad's, because, whether he likes it or not, he was spawned from Sora's heart. So, the darker half of the heart is, no duh, Shad's.

The thorns are a recurring theme in my Sora pictures. I mean, it was a major part of his Keyblade in FtP. They showed up again (not in a picture) on that Nightmare, aka, Big Ugly. The thorns have become representive of his struggle with the darkness.

So, the thorns are like... trying to drag him back down... or something. Idk, that's the explanation that kept running through my head.

The darkness around Shad is there because, well, he's darkness, and I didn't think the thorns would be around him. They aren't trying to drag him into darkness. So... you get those whisps of darkness instead (which could've looked SO much better)

on another note, forgot to mention, that flower at the top of the thorn structure- idk what it is- but it's, I guess, a representation of Sora's light. The thorns are, of course, trying to smother the flower.

Then, another note, Len in the original picture wasn't wearing clothes (which further emphasizes my creation/recently spawned interpretation). I mean, it's not like it's a major problem, since it was mainly focusing on their faces, but that's why Sora and Shad aren't wearing clothes and this sounds so awkward.

moving on.

I debated for a bit about whether or not I would draw Sora's necklace. But, y'know, I just recently officially established that Kairi gave him the necklace, so it represents either his light or his connection to her, and since this picture has a subtle "darkness trying to consume Sora" theme (is it subtle, or is it the main theme? It's getting late and I can't tell) it needed to be there. It kinda looks like the thorns are going after it, too (though that, honestly, was pure coincidence)

That's all I gotta say.

oh, except that I love Shad's smirk. I mean, I still don't think it's entirely a smirk, but- whatever. I like how it turned out. It looks enough like his evil grin that I am satisfied with it.

That's all

I should really go to bed now

Oh Alpha... (contains review replies and some ranting)

this is sort of referencing... uh... that one chapter at the end of the ridiculously long raid. "Things better left untouched" is I believe the chapter title

and this is also review replies *shrug* I didn't label them as that for some reason (they weren't in the doc with the other review replies)

I swear he insisted on absolutely everything he did in that chapter.

weirdo...

anyway!

review reply time~~~

right, starting with Dead Inside....

actually, starting with the Organization.

let's see... who's alive?

Xemnas

Xigbar

Xaldin

Lexaeus... is... I think he's alive. He sorta just walked out of my brain, and I have yet to find him. Maybe he went traitor and was killed... maybe he's still alive and will be showing up later. I have no idea!

Saix (what? he's alive!?! *obvious sarcasm, I hope*)

Axel

Demyx

Luxord

how many Replicas were made of each member? Hahah, it's funny, Magik has the list of all this. =P

anyway you should go to my new blog and look at the Replicas page for better/uptodate info

there are 43 Vexen Replicas total. Wait, sorry, 44. My bad.

how many Vexen Replicas are currently functioning? Not a clue. Lemme go through all the ones I've specifically mentioned though...

2 - Rebellion

4 - Disabled

5 - was rewritten, is on Saix's side

6 - we all know who 6 is

7 - Rebellion, is in charge of the Repair Program

14 - traitor. I'm not sure if he was killed or not

17 - killed by Axel

19 - you should all know where 19 is...

20 - failed shortly after creation

21 - is either on Saix's side or dead

22 - dead

23 - Rebellion

29 - with Joseph

33 - he's either rogue or dead

34 - Saix's side

37 - I would hope he's still alive...

Those are all I remember off the top of my head.

there are 24 Larxene Replicas total. Quite a few of them have been killed by now. Let's see... who's dead? C, G, N, specifically (heheh, those three letters form GCN, or Game Cube Nintendo. ... sorry...) Those are the only specifically dead ones I can remember mentioning. I know more have died, but I don't know them specifically. L is still alive (sadly). Besides that, I think S, H, and Q have been mentioned (in the chapter Magik just posted to Can't Escape, yeah?)

There are... 12 Marluxia Replicas total, I think. I've mentioned specificially: Thistle, Tulip, Amaryllis, Bloodroot, and... was there one named Snapdragon? I can't remember.

Zexion Replicas... I have no idea how many there are total. I only have to deal with Alpha. I remember mentioning Delta, but that's it. 

there are... 6 Lexaeus Replicas, I think. I also think one is dead and one is with the Rebellion. I can't name them specifically because I've never come up with a way of labeling them. *shrug*

There is also Xigbar's clone.

that's... all...

moving on!

~

I really like this question that Cookie asked me: "If everything works out at the end, would it be possible for him to settle down and live a regular life without being paranoid because he's not in battle all the time?" (or something to that effect. I paraphrased.)

The answer?

Fish freaking NO!

He might be able to survive a month or so before he became restless. Maybe.

here's a funny little story kinda on the subject... I have this random scene in the back of my head (I have a lot of random scenes in the back of my head) where Riku and some kid from school get into a fight. Why? Well, it was probably the kid's fault. Whatever the heck happened, they fight, and said kid gets severely injured probably because Riku lost his temper.

eh... I'm suddenly failing to see how that relates.

ah well.

ONTOASASREPLIES!!

When would that chapter have taken place if it was canon? (I'm referring to the scene where Riku and Shad fight actually Idk how I remember this)

eh, no where. It was never intended to be canon, actually. I suppose I might have confused you.... sorry... I was only making the point to say it wasn't canon because of certain things Shad said completely contradicted some stuff.

no idea where it would go, though, sorry.

as a note to how powerful Shad was in that battle, I'm pretty sure he's still that powerful now. I think he goes easy on Sora because he doesn't want to kill him because that wouldn't be any fun.

But if he seriously wanted to, I'm sure Shad could kick some serious @ss

Nope, Riku doesn't know about Shad in canon. He might learn about Shad in canon soon. I know he will eventually for sure. I'm just not sure if "eventually" comes in the next few chapters or by the end of Dead Inside.

No, Sora is not still in Olympus. I know where he'll be next, but I don't know if he did anything in between these two things (well, he probably did, I just don't know what he did)

I promise Sora will be showing up REALLY soon. I swear! There was just a HUGE snowball of events that I had to cover in Riku's side of the story, and I'm sure what's coming up for Sora is going to be just as big of a snowball. Trust me.

now... onto a ton of questions from KKBeckett (mainly because the email ended up in a seperate stack, and because you ask a lot of questions that no one else does *shrug*)

Nope, Shad did not destroy Sora's Keyblade. Sora's Keyblade just has a nasty habit of cracking when put into too close of contact with any darkness, and since Shad was holding it (making it a bit more... personal form of contact?) it was cracking very rapidly. It's not destroyed, but it probably isn't in very good shape... good thing this doesn't matter.

Yes! Bad Shad! no lightning! =D

I'm sorry that he reminded you of Ghirihim. I can see how. However, if Shad were to ever come into contact with Ghirihim, well...

Shad: who are you?
Ghirihim: The Demon Lord, Ghirihim!
Shad: okay...

(concerning some point with Ghirihim taunting Link)
Shad: oh my gawsh! You're evil!
Ghrihim: I know right? Evil suits me so well!
Shad: right... now you're freaking me out

(concerning said scene that I THINK you were referring to)
Shad: 0.o dude! What the flip is your problem!?
Ghirihim: You like it?
Shad: No! Ew! You're a creeep!

Which, funny fact, during the second battle with him, after he lands a nice hit on you(Link) he'll like... lick the "blood" off his blade. It is sooo creepy! *shudder* 

(last one here, but concerning the thing at the VERY end with his weird ritual thing)
Shad: *bursts out laughing* Ohwowduude!! You look ridiculous!

Ghirihim: Shut up! I'm trying to concentrate! Minions! After him!
Shad: Hmm... I wonder if I'm on the same plane of existence as them... (gets attacked by a Zombie Bokoblin) oh! okay! Yeah! Get the hell off of me!
Ghirihim: (evil laughter)

Shad: oh shut up! You still look ridiculous!
Ghirihim: (is offended but doesn't say anything because he's busy)

sorry...

I had to...

yeah, it mainly is just an old document. It was like... the first or second thing I ever wrote with him.

"I hate you..."
"Good!"

Yeah, he is cruel and sickening...

I love how you say Larxene is worse, though. Maybe it's because she's a girl, and girl villians tend to be just absolutely cruel. Or... eh... idk...

...

that was fun

I should go make dinner now. My little sister's complaining.

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.

Review replying stuff

DI123 from Peach
Peach, I am SOO sorry that's what you had to read after not reading for a week. That must've sucked... I'll update soon, I swear! (not that it really helps matters...)

DI123 from Cookie
"The tension was painful but wonderful"
That comment makes me feel really accomplished; thanks!

ASAS29 from Flightfoot
Just to let you know, you're message was one question mark too long. Fanfiction gave me the "this message is too long, you'll have to read the rest on the site" warning, and when I went to look to see what else you had written, I realized that Fanfic only cut off the question mark at the end of your last question.
Just letting you know

DI123 from KKBeckett
I suppose you can borrow my Master Sword if you'd like =P

ASAS28 from Flightfoot
Yeah, the play really is coming in handy...

ASAS27 from Flightfoot
More questions would've been appreciated!
Riku's found that there's no point in hating Real Thing... He only ever hated Real Thing because he was "real" and that's it, and he's moved past caring about being a Replica (hope you followed the pronouns of that...) 

ASAS27 from KKBeckett
I agree.
Riku! KKBeckett wants you to get over your woiehosifjsoifjsdofijsdf!!

DI122 from Cookie (I don't think I've answered this yet)
There's a reason why Terra's wayfinder ended up in Agrabah. It was so the shopkeeper could find it so he could sell it to Sora so Sora could do something with it in book 5.
The thing with Terra's wayfinder will be explained in detail in book 5.
Or, if I decide to write that one scene... as soon as that scene is written and posted =P

ASAS26 from KKBeckett
They all (Aerith, Leon, Cid, Yuffie) had separate houses before Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden was plunged into darkness
I think Zack's more worried about other things besides the fact that Xehanort has a Keyblade... (detail I didn't think much about)

...

I think that's it.

I know there were a few questions that were asked directly after the "Questions" chapters, but most of them I turned into questions for the next "Questions" segment... thing...

That make sense?

...

I'm done

Commentary on ch121

there was some rant here I cut out *shrug*

onto the chapter!

oh wait

I have a freaking ton of reviews to reply to

(working sort of backward)

ch120 from Cookie:
Yes, new locations are nice
And you're the third person to say that about the wolf

ch119 from KKBeckett(yeah, slightly out of order...)
I've been thinking about Kairi getting new clothes ever since you mentioned it! I haven't come up with anything yet, but I am thinking about it!
Tifa might hope Cloud's with Sora... I'm not entirely sure why you're asking this question. I know that, since Tifa's already looking for Cloud, she probably figured there was a high chance they might run into Sora while doing so

ch120 from KKBeckett:
Sorry I scared you!
And I have no clue who'd hate it more. Probably Larxene. Sora's used to sand, but not so much the heat. And the sand and heat combined are just... ugh

120 from Peach:
I can't answer any of those questions. Sorry.

ch120 from archsage:
I don't remember them being a pain in re:Coded. Though, thinking about it, I just had trouble with Agrabah in re:Coded, period. So...

ch120 from Flightfoot:
Again, can't really answer...

(I don't think I answered reviews from ch119...)

ch119 from Cookie:
Good news! Joseph wouldn't be weirded out if you decided to give him a hug! I don't quite know how you'd get to him to give him the hug, but he wouldn't be weirded out
I hope Tifa and Kairi searching for Cloud and Sora will live up to your expecations, too. But that might be hard because I have no clue what you're expecting...

ch119 from archsage:
Yeah, they're all probably really shocked (29 would be really proud though, once he got over the shock)

oh, this is why I didn't answer reviews from 119. You guys all said pretty much the same thing...

I covered that like... five posts ago (in the post titled: "this calls for a celebration!")

so...

NOW ONTO THE CHAPTER!!

I am going to start by saying that, according to Microsoft Word: "Here." is spelled wrong. It only marks it wrong if there's a period after it, but it's not a green squiggly line that points out grammer, it's a red squiggly line, saying that it's spelled wrong.

"Here."

nice going Word! Nice going!

I don't have any notes about the Agrabah portion of the chapter. Lo siento.

I do have notes for the scene at the end of the chapter, however

So, this scene actually started off as Kairi having insomnia, and then Tifa also having insomnia, and them talking for about ten minutes before Tifa decides: "neither of us can sleep, so let's just go!"

Except that screwed with timing, so I scrapped it in favor of this scene with Joseph

Yes, I sort of stole Leon reading a book from magik.

Leon's perceptions of lightning and fire are both taken from Avatar.

The description of lightning is nearly word for word of what Iroh called it in Book 2: "Bitter Work" (my family's favorite episode, because of Foofoocuddlypoops) He was talking to Zuko about lightning, and he was like "Lightning is precise and deadly, like Azula"

The description of fire was loosely based off of what Jeong Jeong (the Deserter) described fire as to... erm... him talking to Katara is what comes to mind, but I'm pretty sure he says it to Aang, first. I don't remember. The Deserter is one of those episode I don't watch frequently

Yuffie's response to Leon's observations on lightning and fire reminds me of Toph. 

what?

what do you mean I didn't take any notes on what happens when Joseph returns to Castle Oblivion?

sigh...

Actually, I can't think of anythin I'd want to say about it except that I really love that little sequence. I do.

And... here's this little conversation I wrote down

2: This wouldn't happen if he'd just use the Repair Program... (he's referring to Riku nearly dying and having trouble recovering and all that)
7: He's not compatible.
2: Really? Since when? (2 remembers everything, so he's extremely confused that he doesn't know about this)
7: Well, we figured that out about a week ago... You weren't there.

AND THAT'S ALL ABOUT THE CHAPTER!!!

Commentary on ch120

In other news, I beat Epic Mickey today. The ending did come really quick... However, I will give the game the fact that the boss battle was like the LONGEST BOSS BATTLE I have ever fought. I mean, Xmenas from KH2 comes to mind to rival it, but it's really hard to tell... Espeically considering one game is "fight the boss directly five times in a row!" and the other is "let's do all this roundabout crap that will eventually get rid of the boss!!"

*shrug*

POST ABOUT ZACK TWO POSTS AGO! (you guys should really look at it. I mean, I understand that posterous has been down for the past two days, so I'm not upset or anything, just making sure you know that it's there!)

And... time to talk about the chapter

I'd do review replies for the last chapter, but it's basically just:

"Yes, Joseph is awesome" and that's about it. 

Oh, except:

Peach: Your question about Tifa. (well, it was more of a comment, but still)

This is actually something that is explained later, but it's explained very lightly and I have no idea how soon it will be posted. So, I'll explain it for you now.

All of this arguing was caused by Sora's Shadow. All of it. And, considering he was pretty mad at Tifa at the time, she was affected the worst. That, and, things like this haven't happened to her since Sephiroth was around. It's been years since Sephiroth was around in my universe. She had let her guard down over time which allowed Shad a better vantage point to mess with her

So the reason that all of her apologies were half-hearted to begin with was that Shad had a better grip on her, and he was desperately trying to keep the conversation from going in the direction of returning Kairi's hope to her.

Did you follow all that? I sure hope you did.

ONTO THE CHAPTER!!

For starters, it's nice I live in a desert. Writing Sora's complaints about Agrabah and its heat feels so natural (as is Aladdin's "you get used to it" even though I think that's in the next chapter...).

"Sora, don't try to mutter a healing spell. You only know one."

He was trying to "mutter a healing spell" instead of just casting Cure. I have no idea why, and I can't blame the books I recently read for it, because I read those like, a week ago, and I wrote this about a month ago.

SPEAKING OF BOOKS!

there's this series called "The Beyonders" that was really interesting to read. If you have time, you might want to read them.

Moving on. (prepare yourself for a rant!)

Agrabah, in my head, looks like some cross between the games and the movie. Or... let me put it this way. It's got pretty much the same layout as KH1 (with a couple extra back alleys) but it also has BUSY streets and the shops aren't deserted and whatnot.

I like my Agrabah. This is slightly random, but I was reading this Zelda fanfic a while back, and the author spent a lot of time explaining the townspeople of... Kakariko, I think it was, and at the end they apologized for it. And I was like: "really? More fanfics need stuff like this!" Because most of them (mine included) focus on the main characters and nothing else.

Though, that's not hard with a base like KH. If there's one thing that botheres me about the KH series, it's the lack of random NPCs. You go to a different world which SHOULD be bustling with a bunch of people, and you find the three or four main characters from whatever movie it's based on instead. It bothers me. I mean, I understand in some places, such as Deep Jungle, that there aren't people there, and that's fine. But places like Agrabah have NO one. I mean, you can write it off as the Heartless scaring them away, but... still! There needs to be more Worlds like Traverse Town, where there's all these random people milling about! And, even then, there's not a lot of people in Traverse Town!! It bothers me! I mean, maybe it's because I was raised on Nintendo, and if you haven't noticed, Nintendo games have a LOT of random NPCs. Rogueport is full of them! Zelda games are full of them! I mean, Twilight Princess is a smidge lacking, there's about ten people a town, but- well, Ordon is small, a lot of people in Kakariko were killed, and Castle Town is FULL of them!
I mean, KH is amazing, don't get me wrong, but the lackof random NPCs is another reason why I think I love Nintendo more. Sorry to say it, Squeeniz has good stories, but Nintendo just- I don't know. They're story-lines might be lacking, but it's certainly made up by gameplay and things like NPCs that you can sit and listen to for an hour as they talk about random crud.
Which reminds me, FF13 has seriously disappointed me. I mean, the storyline's great, but I'm tired of the "just keep walking til we hit the next cutscene" layout of the game. I want more GAMEPLAY, thank you. Especially because when I don't feel like fighting enemies (which is frequently) I don't have extra time to make up for it later. It's just like: cutscene, cutscene, boss! And then I'm not prepared because I haven't been fighting enemies! it's no wonder I haven't finished it yet! Usually, I sit and play a game til it's done (with the exception of a few Mario games on handheld systems... but those are TOUGH). But FF13bores me! It's like sitting and reading a book or, more accurately, watching a movie. One very long movie. No challenging gameplay to overcome. No challenge at all. I get ten minutes of fighting enemies and walking, and then I hit a cutscene, and we're on the move again. I miss naviagting temples and finding that one guy who holds that random secret you need to activate some statue to get to some place so you find the key that unlocks the chest that has the item you need to move on. Again, that could be just because I was raised on Nintendo.
Maybe FF13'll get better. I mean, I'm on the second disc and it hasn't picked up yet, but one can hope...

okay, sorry about the rant. I'll move on now.

The annoyance towards the Bandits (the Heartless that Sora ends up fighting) was taken from personal experience. They are my LEAST FAVORITE Heartless. Probably just because of how ANNOYING they are during the battle with the giant Tiger Head (entrance to the Cave of Wonders), but I still hate them

If you haven't noticed, this chapter has a lot more detail than usual. It was a side effect of that Zelda fanfic I was reading, which had a lot of detail. I don't know if I'll be able to keep the detail up, but I think I might try.

Is it... sad that the most violent scenes I have written are between Shad and the wolf?

hey look more review replies

I really think I did just save all of them.

btw I also cut off the rant at the beginning of this post Idk what it was but considering what this starts with I assume I was talking about something before I started replying to reviews

ON TO REVIEW REPLIES!!

starting off with reviews from ASAS:

ch25 from Flightfoot (yeah, I know you posted this review forever ago...)
That is EXACTLY what's going on. I couldn't have described it better myself.
to recap what they said:
"It's not so much that the Kingdom Key is broken, it's more like Sora's broken and he transfers that brokenness to his keyblade." 

ch25 from Cookie:
I bet it would be interesting to see what Mickey had to say about Sora's Keyblade, but one of the reasons why that got cut was because I had no clue what he would've said.
I'm sure I would've come up with something eventually, and I'm sure I can still come up with something, but at the time I wasn't going to sit for an extra few days and mull it over if I could easily take it out and move along.
actually, that's what I usually do when I start getting stuck: If the part I'm getting stuck on isn't important and I don't desperately want or anything, it's going to get cut.

ch25 from KKBeckett:
I'm assuming that "chat format" is something along the lines of IM chats, like you said, too.
I don't know if that's true or not, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
And I have no clue why it's not allowed. fanfic just says it isn't and I'd rather not risk getting my account removed for something as stupid as that.

ONTO REVIEWS FROM DEAD INSIDE!!

(I'll talk about Zack after I respond to your comments on the chapter... or maybe I'll put the thing about Zack in a seperate post... would that be weird? No, it wouldn't be. I'll just do that.)

ch118 from Peach
Joseph can be surprisingly... not crazy/hyper when he wants to be.
And yes, Shad sucks.

ch118 from Flightfoot:
It's less of that Yuffie and Joseph are more mature, and more of that Shad just can't do anything to them. That, or he didn't feel it was necessary (though I bet he really wanted to strangle Joseph as soon as Joseph broke up the shouting...) 

ch118 from KKBeckett:
Well, you didn't have comment's about the chapter, but I have to say:
HAH! I so called it!
(I'll let you know exactly what I called in the post about Zack)

ch118 from Cookie:
It is kinda nice to see Leon take charge.
And it being funny was one of the main reasons I even bothered with doing this.
Why exactly is Kairi bothering you? If it's because she's being really... uhh... "AOSFIOSHFOISFSIOFNSOFIJWOIEJROEIASN" about her faith in Sora, then it's not really her fault. That's Shad's fault.
Trust me, I've written later chapters, and her attitude improves greatly.
I just had to have her be all "ASDOIFHSODFISDOFIUSEROIEANFSD" now, because Shad's trying to keep his control over her. I mean, seriously, his hold on her lasted about a day. If I didn't have this whole "ASOIDFHSODIFUESRIOESNAF" process happen, then it would be weird (at least for me) because, y'know, his hold on her only lasted a day. I mean, it still lasts only a day, but at least he put up a fight to keep it there.
Makes me feel better, at least.

AND MORE REVIEW REPLIES

I saved all the important review replies. or I just saved all of them. I can't remember

Stupid deviantART keeps taking Brawl In the Family's place in my "most visited sites" (if you have google chrome, and only visit 8 sites and make use of that section of the "new tab" page like I do, you'll understand why this bothers me). It's not really MY fault I cleared my browsing history and since then they've been competing for that "5th most visited" site spot. I mean, I'd sit and poop around on BitF more often, but I've read each of those comics at least ten times now (with the exception of, say, the latest three) and I don't get how I can look at three pages on deviantART and it suddenly changes everything! I mean, last I checked, the "most visited sites" are determined by how many times you go to the site (and pages within it), and not how long you spend on it. Seriously.

Anyway

JOURNAL DUMP TWO POSTS AGO!

LAST POST WAS ABOUT THE CHAPTER AND HAD SOME INTERESTING CONVERSATION!

again not really because is a new blog so

this is the post is going to be review replies!! yay!! *hastily adds that to this post's tags before I forget*

so, ch117 from Peach:
Magik started the shish-ka-Cloud thing, last I checked. But, yes, it is funny
I... I don't quite know how to respond to your next question/comment. I feel like clarifying might give too much away... but "mirrors" is definitely the wrong word.
I'll... explain stage 3 in a minute

ch117 from KKBeckett:
the "anonymous" thing might just be your phone, but I DID notice that you can put your name in again (mainly because your review and Peach's had your names on them, lol)
You might have asked that before. I know she does eventually find that out (book 5 requires it), but how SOON she'll figure it out is definitely another story 

ch117 from Flightfoot:
That first bit is a comment I don't think I have to reply to
And, again, gimme a sec on stage 3

ch117 from Cookie:
I knew there was a reason why I was putting off replying to reviews, but it wasn't until I got your review this morning that I realized what it was. Lol. My subconscious was like "don't reply to reviews yet! Cookie hasn't responded!"
I don't know what the rest of my brain was thinking...
Anyway
I... don't think I've ever actually gone through this with anyone. Considering I can't think of any specific times, I don't think I have. That's the weird thing about I write. I just... write, and things come out, and almost none of it is from personal experience.
My characters write themselves. I mean, the logical part of my brain says "that's impossible, they're fictional characters you made up! You write for them". However, if that were truly the case, Dead Inside wouldn't currently be 117 chapters (and not really near the ending, thanks to Sora delaying me), my chapters would still be struggling at 1000 words, and Namiku would NEVER get together because I'd have no idea how to write for them.
I'm really glad that you said this latest chapter seemed realistic to you (I'm assuming it did, since you assumed that I'd been through this sort of thing before) because I really just sat and let my characters talk (and Kairi rant) like I usually do (though it's usually Riku ranting)

(and... talking about stages, though this continues from Cookie's questions, technically)

What made me come up with stages?

No picking clue.

Leon's just like "stage two" and I was like "stage two of WHAT!?"

See, my characters write for me. If this stops when I swap from fanfic to a novel, I will be very very upset and miss it terribly

So, what's stage three?

Very simple:

Puking.

Stage three is the iffy stage. Sometimes it hits you, sometimes it doesn't.

It is also known as the "stealthy" stage, because SOMETIMES, it doesn't hit you right away, and you assume your fine, and then out of nowhere: STAGE THREE!! MWAHAHAHAHA!!! ahem *shifty glance* 

And just why is it puking?

Well, because the body mistakes the darkness as some kind of poison, and does what it naturally does when it identifies a poison (I'm using the word "poison" lightly. I really just mean something that the body doesn't like, such as red dye (red 40, specifically)). It tries to get rid of it. In any way possible.

Don't argue with me on this. I spent last summer puking up nearly every meal I ate because my body decided "Oh! You can't consume red dye anymore! Hah!" And, considering it took us FOREVER to figure out that it was red dye that was bothering my system, (and I happened to like a lot of foods with red dye in them: fruit snacks especially) I, again, ended up puking a lot.

Of course, in-story, puking doesn't do you any good because the darkness really only affects your brain (well, heart, if I want to use proper KH terms) and not the rest of your body, but your body doesn't know that and pukes anyway. 

No, Flightfoot, there aren't any more stages. I mean, I think I rememberthinking about a stage four, but I'm pretty sure it only applied if stage three occured, so I assume that it was just, y'know, recovery from puking (which isn't usually fun, might I add)

That's it, isn't it?

*looks at reviews again*

Yeah, that's it.

The other two things I want to say will go with the next update in an author's note, just so that I know EVERYONE sees it

EVEN MORE RANDOM REVIEW REPLIES

I just realized, I didn't reply to ANY reviews on ch 114, and now I have a bunch of reviews to reply to on ch 115.

So...

REVIEWREPLYEPICNESSTIME!

But, for starters:

IF YOU WANTED TO READ THAT RANT OF SHAD'S, IT IS IN THE LAST POST! no it's not when I post it maybe I'll put a link here to it how 'bout that?

It wasn't as long as I expected it to be (it was a lot longer on paper, but most of it was him repeating stuff) but it's still KINDA IMPORTANT. Not, like, MAJORLY important, but it definitely is some useful information, and kinda funny to read (though, not as funny as usual, I do think)

NUMBER TWO!!

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

IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS FIC, YOU NEED TO DO SO NOW

Trust me, this person's take on what happens after KH2 is interesting, slightly funny, and had me on the edge of my seat the entire time (granted, that isn't always hard to do, but it's still a really good fic and you need to read it)

NUMBER THREE!

If you happened to miss this video I found, you need to go watch it
http://rarmastersftpverse.posterous.com/ohmygosh this link might not work. I will eventually update it because I think that post is one of the ones I'll port to this "new" blog

I am redirecting you to the blog specifically centered around the video, however, because there is not enough time to list the highlights here

However, it is an AMAZING piece of work, and had a lot of thought and time put into it.

NUMBER FOUR!!

Hmm, I think I had a fourth update, but for the life of me, I can't remember it...

Well, I'll just go with saying that:

I HIT 200,000 WORDS!

THAT'S RIGHT

200,000 

Ahem.

now, onto those review replies

Okay, this isn't REALLY in any specific order. I mean, it's in order in which they are submitted, but it does skip around chapters a smidge.

I'll just label them by chapter number and reviewer name...

Starting with....

ch114 from Peach:
Hmm, did I seriously never adress this question? Wow. Okay.
From what I know of, no, Kairi's travels WILL NOT take her to magik's universe. It is an interesting thought, and I suppose it could feasibly happen (what's funny, is Joseph was suggesting that she go and talk to the other Kairi in my head... so...) However, whether or not it does depends on how much timeI have for extra stuff, and what magik's doing.

ch114 from Cookie!
I think you're looking too far into things again. I mean, it would be interesting if Kairi having Sora's necklace helped Sora, but... I've already written what's happening on Sora's end, and there's so much other crud going on that I know it doesn't happen NOW (that make sense?) but it easily could later. Maybe. If I remember.

ch114 from KKBeckett:
I think I just want Riku's dark mode to be DIFFERENT.
And... no capes. As cool as a cape would be, capes lead to getting caught in a jet engine and killed. Lol.

ch115 from Peach:
Weird? Weird how? Or is this just one of those things where it's easier just not to ask...
However, yeah, Kairi and Riku are smart. But, Aerith and the gang are used to hiding stuff from people, I'm pretty sure. At the very least, they're skilled in dodging subjects.
I suddenly have no idea what I'm talking about...

ch115 from psychicshipping:
Aerith almost swearing? Well, she probably just said something along the lines of "Shiva!" instead of "shi-".
As for your second question... uhm... I don't quite understand it, due to a few words being out of place, but if it's asking what I think it's asking, that question will be answered in... two chapters. If it isn't, let me know.

ch115 from Flightfoot:
For starters, I skipped your other two reviews because they weren't questions. Just to let you know.
Would it really be so bad if Riku found out about the other Namine's visit?
I don't know. But I think Aerith wants to play it safe.

ch115 from Cookie:
Please! I'm avoiding the subject of Zack as much as everyone else is! Lol. Not that I really see how a chair might lead to a conversation where you'd learn more about him... just saying...
The chair has been noticed. Not by everyone, of course, but Aerith's house has gone through like three different setting changes in my head, and the position of the chair has moved around in each change. Magik's Namine noticed it, however. Though, honestly, I don't see how the fact that no one noticed the chair is even important... I'm sure everyone just figured that it was an extra chair. I mean, do you go over to someone's house, see a chair in the corner, and then ask "my, what's that chair for?" I don't. (though, I don't go to people's houses very often...)
Everyone doesn't have their own chair. Zack just has his own chair. Why? Because he carved his and Aerith's intials into it and effectively claimed it as his. 

ch115 from KKBeckett (last review):
I think Joseph's willing to wait a few weeks for Namiku to get together. If they get together now, he'll lose that bet he made with Sora!
Tifa's getting up to go get one of those extra crates they have sitting around the house (which are typically used as chairs, actually). It probably wouldn't have taken terribly long to get a crate, but Aerith apparently doesn't think it's worth it.
I can't answer that last question. 

Funny story about this chapter (ch114)

First things first, though. Cookie just left a review and I need to answer him

About Riku and his darkness... well, he's not going to have to keep expelling it.

I didn't mention it, but there are two things you can do with it. You can either a) expel it or b) master it. Riku's just not coherent enough at the moment to master his darkness at the moment.

Also, the excess energy will probably wear off once his body/data decides how it's going to deal with it. We're just not quite far past him being superinfused with darkness in the first place, so- erm... where was I going with this?

Next thing he asked was, to quote directly

(quoting my fic) "Find a way to get to me, and we can figure it out from there"

(he asks) "Is that foreboding the end? You've already said that when everything has gone to hell, which is usually right before the end, Namine won't be there. Or am I just looking too far into these things?" 

Well then, this isn't something I even thought of! However, don't think you're looking too far into it, because it could easily be true. I mean, I didn't plan for that to "forebode the end" but it easily could. Wouldn't be the first time a character did that to me.

And... on to the chapter

This chapter was actually planned to replace the previous one. There was just something about the previous chapter that... I didn't like... I mean, I've gotten over it now, but when I first wrote it, it just didn't seem like something I really wanted or needed

then, of course, Joseph said something that made it imperative that I kept it... and you know me, I hardly scrap something if it involves getting rid of something that Joseph says

Sorry if the transition from Riku's POV to Kairi's is a bit awkward. I didn't want to rewrite it all from Kairi's, so I sort of went from Riku's, to an omniscient, to Kairi's POV. It works.

Heh, the first part of my notes is just me ranting about why this chapter replaced the other one, which isn't relevant because they both went up...

I am going to take this time to say two quick things, though.

For starters, I'm still a bit puzzled as to why I only got two reviews on the last chapter. Oh, and an anonymous review, but.... I'm lacking reviews from Flightfoot and Xianit and... erm... I think that's it. Unless I have more than five regular reviewers...

Just puzzled.

if either of you check my blog: I'VE UPDATED!!!

Second thing, uhm, still taking suggestions for Riku's dark mode. I mean, I might sit down and spend the rest of the night designing it. But... well... I don't know what I plan on doing tonight.

I mean, I know I should be writing, but now that the fact that I probably WON'T hit the end of Dead Inside by the end of summer has become pretty clear in my head, I don't think I'm going to focus so much on writing. Besides, sitting on my butt all summer and trying to pound out another chapter... well... just seems stupid. Where's the fun in that? Shouldn't you try and have fun during the summer? I mean, I'm not saying I'm going to try and do something that Phineas and Ferb might do, I'm not THAT ambitious, but I definitely am going to try and do more than just sit on my butt and write.

I mean, I do have Epic Mickey to finish.

And plenty of books to read.

Along with scores to improve on Link's Crossbow training

and things to unlock on Melee

and maybe I'll do the Subspace Emissary on Brawl again. Been a while since I've done that.

I also have FF13 to finish

and Hero mode on Skyward Sword.

anyway, enough ranting about my life, back to the chapter.

You wouldn't put it past Aerith to speed up cooking with magic, would you?

This is random, but, before I thought it through all the way, Kairi was planned to cook dinner. Of course, the timing wouldn't have worked, which is why that didn't happen, but the conversation when Riku and Namine came back went something like this:

Riku: You cook? Since when do you cook!?
Kairi: Well, I'm glad my best friends pay attention to me-
Riku: I just didn't know that you cooked!
Kairi: I live alone with my dad, who's the MAYOR, and works late every other night. Of course I know how to cook!
Namine: I knew that she knew how to cook...
Riku: You're not helping.

it made me laugh... 

Cid kind of reminds me of my dad in the next bit. He has a really cluttered desk, and then you're like "where do you want me to put this?" and he's like "uhh..." and then frantically moves stuff and makes everything pretty much more messy than it had been before.

"Eh, the rest of them do it all the time!" I love that!

along with

"You expect ME to hang onto it? It'll get lost in this mess overnight!"

I also find it funny that Kairi just says "friends of Namine's" and completely leaves Riku out

Kairi kind of scares me here, actually.  I mean, I understand completely where she's coming from. Yes, she misses Sora and strongly believes he's not coming back. It's that firm belief that scares me... yeah, it was my idea originally, but the way she's taken it up in stride is just- just- I don't know.

Review replies and character development stuffy stuff

I think this actually is like the last half of a post *shrug*

Though, one a day was pretty typical, huh? (I think I'm referring to posting blog posts frequently)

ahwell

I just saw the Avengers, and about half-way through I remembered "oh, I have reviews to reply to..."

so...

REPLYING TIMEE!!!

Archsage, you do have a point. Admittedly, I never specified that the darkness couldn't affect Riku. I think. Maybe I'm arguing a dumb point, and this is going to sound really cover-up-y. I don't mean it that way.

The darkness does not and really cannot tempt Riku. He can't fall into darkness. Part of that is because he's already got a crap ton of power, and he might have a lot of hurt in him, but I can't reasonably see that hurt dragging him down. That, and it just wouldn't work. Even if data can be affected by darkness, it still isn't supposed to be; the two don't get a long, and it usually causes a lot of pain to the data. Why? Something's trying to change it that shouldn't be able to change it.

Okay, maybe I am covering my butt.

But there's this part later on that would be a ton more epic if Riku could just explode darkness at someone. 

Oh! And it helps a freaking ton with book 5!!

I knew there was more than the "I wanted epic darkness" reason...

Anyway.

I'll go with that the darkness normally/naturally/usually can't affect data. But Shad intervened. And Shad's gotten the darkness to do things that it wouldn't normally do more than once already.

Theoretically, anyone else with control over darkness could intervene, too.

A think an original draft of FtP had Ansem trying, and it still caused Riku a lot of pain.

Maybe the darkness doesn't affect data in the typical ways, and since Riku didn't know of the non-typical ways, he said he just couldn't be affected. Because, no, darkness might not be able to drag data into darkness. It might not be able to latch on and cause problems later. But it certainly can try and it's the trying that hurts. Darkness corrupts data very quickly, or if not corrupt, it'll certainly leave data severly damaged.

And am I over explaining again?

That or I'm trying too hard...

I'll just move on now.

Flightfoot, yes, they are dodging the subject of Shad. There's a reason behind this. 

hmm... KKBeckett, I'll come back to your questions in a sec. I should finish answering those concerning this chapter

Yes, Peach, that is my logistical (I think that's the right word) reason. That would totally kill the story arc, and that's the only thing I care about! Just kidding, that was sarcasm! While, yes, that is a reason, my main one happens to be that Sora refuses. He doesn't want to see her until he's sure he won't hurt her again.

That, and other people have ideas to keep them apart, too.

I'd scrap one to make this thing shorter, but I really kinda like how it turns out, and I love this thing Shad does, and- ugh. Cutting it would make my life so much easier, because it means I could be like, end-game in about a month of writing. Maybe it'll still be a month if I keep this, but considering how spacey and not concretely planned it is, I think most of my time will go into brainstorming instead of writing...

As for the second thing you said, Peach, I don't see it happening. Terra's not... around at the moment. (Unless KH3D gives me a different/canon reason, he's exactly where magik's Terra was. And by the time he's back, it'll be book 5 and a bit late for it to do Riku any good). And there ain't no way he's asking Real Thing for help. I mean, maybe maybe if it was a life or death situation, he'd ask, but even then....

I mean, say, they were fighting together (I can't even see that happening... but...) and he's like, about to fall off a ledge or something, I think he'd be okay if Real Thing helped him get back up.

But, if he had to ask Real Thing for help fighting someone (see, this is why I can't see them fighting together) I think he'd rather die.

I mean, I could see them fighting together, I suppose, if Real Thing asked for help. But I can't see Real Thing asking for help. So...

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic/joking with the last thing about Toby and the cookies. But he has been locked in a closet for the past three months, just in case you weren't joking.

And yes, Xianit, Kairi needs to meet Sora, not only to get her faith back, but also for Sora's sake.

now... KKBeckett's questions

Yes, this is one REALLY LONG day. I guess I'm just spacing crud out a lot, or just spending more time writing it than I usually do.

Though, that ridiculously long raid, timing wise, can't have lasted more than a halfhour. It was probably less.

Yes, Shad is being a meanie. But he doesn't feel good, and nothing makes him feel better more than bothering people, or, even better, making Sora bother people for him.

OH, and you can argue that Magik's Namiku bothered him first. He just bothered them back.

Shad, sleep, are you kidding? He doesn't need to eat, either.

How did Leon overreact? I don't know. I'd imagine there was definitely some shouting... and maybe some threatening. Idk, Leon seems like a person who might threaten someone if he had enough incentive to do so. He might have tried to attack Sora. I don't, honestly, know. I don't know Leon enough to spit out his reaction without thinking about it first. So, lemme think about it. And by the time I'm done, I'll probably have a scene written, because what's the point of all that thinking if you aren't going to write your result? That is, of course, if I have time to write it...

Because I should be writing other things, really...

I don't think Kairi was always bitter. I think she was always easily-offended, though. I'm actually beginning to think that she had/has a habbit of taking things a bit too personally.

Not sure if that relates to being bitter at all... but, for certain, the bitterness is probably a result of Sora falling into darkness

I'm glad you appreciate the juxtaposition of Namine and Kairi's conversation compared to Joseph and Toby's horseplay. I didn't mean for it to be that way, honestly. I wrote the conversation because I had to, and I wrote the horseplay to get Joseph and Toby out of the way. But, if it makes nice juxtapostion, that's great!

I'm going to go type up a journal now.

And pray that youtube works, because I want to listen to techno, and grooveshark doesn't have easily accessible techno that I would like to listen to (especially since I don't want some techno remix of the crud they play on the radio these days. If I want techno, I want some good techno, and that's on youtube.)

Oh Procrastination! (more review replies)

Write? Me?

Well, I should. But... ugh... I so don't feel like it.

So, instead, I sat on my lazy butt all day and unlocked crud on Super Smash Bros Melee. Again. Because my old memory card got corrupted, so I've lost a LOT of data.

Yup.

Anyway.

OH! And I played some FF13 this morning. Then I got bored.

not that you care.

So... REVIEW REPLY TIME!!

because I completely forgot that I needed to reply to them...

Not that there's a lot.

Okay, reviews on the latest chapter first, then I'll go answer some more of KKBeckett's questions.

Psychicshipping (you better be reading my blog) the reason why she drew a picture of Riku dying instead of wherever he was, is because that's the image that's been burned ito her brain. And that was the image she needed to show everyone else to prove that this situation REALLY IS URGENT.

While, yes, having my Namine meet magik's Namine MIGHT solve that (MIGHT. And it's a very small might) it doens't entirely matter, because they aren't going to meet until about three months after Dead Inside is finished, exactly one day before book 5 starts. They can't meet any sooner because it would most likely involve my Riku being there, and he just- no- he can't do that.

Besides, that would ALSO require a ton of rewriting on mine and magik's part to make it work. Which neither of us feel like/necessarily need to do.

So... yeah.

I'm glad the rest of you liked the ending. It made me lau- oh hey!! HEEEYY!!! Aang did the thingy that Tenzin does later! (watching old Avatar right now). Aang formed a little pocket of air below him before he hit the ground so it wouldn't hurt, and Tenzin formed an air pocket below Korra so that when she fell-

yeah.

Sorry.

ONTO KKBECKETTS QUESTIONS!!!

Is Shad happy with the result of his actions?

Well, that depends on exactly how we're defining results, and WHICH actions we're talking about. Overall, I think he's pretty satisfied. Sora's having trouble thinking straight, which is good (and amusing) and Sora's control slipping = more fun for Shad. So, for the most part, he's pretty happy. Maybe not estatic, but at least content.

The darkness turning on Shad? Hmm... Idk if that's possible, but if it is, I could possibly see it happening. However, that might complicate things more than I need them to be complicated. But it's an interesting thought, and I will keep it in mind.

We all know it's in Sora's nature to be sympathetic to people who've recently hurt him if they give him enough reason to be. It's just how Sora is, even in my universe.

Zack died... uhm... four years, I think it was. Four years ago. It's like, permantly three in my head, even though it reasonably should be four if not five (have I mentioned this already? I feel like I have...) So why did Tifa JUST notice Aerith's dislike for rain? I don't know, it's not like that she spends much time in HB, so I guess she just keeps missing the rain. Or, if there has been rain, something bad has been going on (such as Sephiroth being there or something) and Aerith's discomfort goes unnoticed.

Shad's the trump evil at the moment? Well, I know who I need to try and top when Xehanort comes around. Because if Xehanort isn't my trump evil when he shows up, there is something seriously wrong with me.

As for the special chapter actually happening... erm... maybe. But it would be towards the end of Dead Inside (and thus not on Sora's birthday, which ruins most of it) Because all the crud that's going on to Sora right now just- just doesn't allow for him to be... level-headed. I guess. Idk what the word I'm looking for is.

Y'know, there's one thing I don't like about being an author. You suddenly become critical of every story you read/see (so, TV and movie plots are included). I mean, I'm sitting here watching Avatar, and I'm picking it to bits thinking "oh, they could've done that better". Sigh.

I'm rambling.

When's Kairi's birthday? I want to say sometime in February. That seems... expected, though. Like, there's something about Kairi that just screams "February!" and I hate doing what's expected or... stereotypical. That's it. I hate stereotypes. So, I'm not sure if it's just me being paranoid about stereotypes and I'm crazy or not. Maybe I just shouldn't worry about it.

February 5th. That's her birthday. actually now it's May 4th

Okay, I'm going to have to be done now.