AnHeiressofaSOLDIER

As the titles says, this is a digital manipulation I made about Nami coming to Storybrooke. And as I think it's pretty good, I thought I'd share it here:) http://anheiressofasoldier.deviantart.com/art/FAKE-Namine-Arrives-in-Storybrooke-OUaT-512595497

It's weird to me, though, that we learn about this right after Dream Drop Distance: where Sora falls into Darkness, has his heart shattered, etc. This sort of worries me. I thought they were going to have Sora acknowledge the Darkness within him in III, and try to learn to control it a bit, but this makes him look like the Light poster boy again. Hmm... I'm probably over-thinking this. And they might just be trying to not spoil the Darkness thing if that is a plot point, but I hope they don't end up ignoring what happened with Sora completely. That's what got him into trouble the first time, after all. I mean, I'm not expecting Sora to go too Dark, and he always will be the Light poster boy for the most part, I know, but this seems better suited for Kairi or Ventus to me, as neither of them have Darkness in their hearts (well, Ven's was stripped away, but you know what I mean). Don't get me wrong! I'm not opposed to this idea, really. I'm mainly just theorizing out loud. Ignore me. LOL. (And now I'm wondering if this his hinting at Sora's connection to Ven even more, and that he's even closer to waking up at this point of the game, or something?) Though... I'm not really sure why people want Drive Forms back so much:/ Personally, I like each game having its own special thing, Drive Forms, Command Styles, Flowmotion, what have you, and I don't want them to start changing that idea here. Plus, as Isamu_Kuno said, we won't even be able to dual wield after freeing Ven, so it sort of seems pointless to me. -shrugs- Which... is why I really hope this is something other than a much too overpowered Drive Form, but we shall see. Unless III has a bit of everything in it that we've seen thus far, since it's the grand finale. That would be pretty cool, and I could better accept Drive Forms then:D Edit: Wait a second, Sora was wielding Oathkeeper during all of this, right? That might be the answer right there! I mean, Kairi's pretty angelic, being a Princess of Heart and all. Maybe different Keyblades do different things for you in this game, based on who gave them to you? So, for instance, a Keyblade from Ariel would possibly be water-y, and be short ranged but pretty brutal (since that was how her own attacks were in KH1)? I'm totally just spit balling here, but it seems like an idea to me:)

Moni_22 is on the right track. I believe she says that, "Your feelings are reaching me, Sora." Which fits, since they just promised to see each other again (and that they're together even when they're apart, since their hearts are connected), Sora is seen saying something to Kairi that we don't know for sure what it is, and this is the canon pairing of the series, etc. And I really wish it was in the English version; I don't know why it's not, tbh. Maybe they just forgot about it? Or thought it was unneeded, or that it didn't lend itself well to English? IDK. But it's still a major bummer. That, and the fact that Simple and Clean's lyrics are so different from Hikari's. Hikari fit the story and ending of KH1 perfectly (I think it won an award for that fact, actually), but Simple and Clean doesn't really fit anything at all. But that's neither here nor there, so ignore me.

Apologies if there is all ready a thread for this, but I'm playing BbSFM in II.5--and am nearly done with Aqua's story--but I have a few questions about things. First off, I noticed that some of the Secret Reports aren't where they used to be? I thought for sure you got one of them in one of the anti-gravity rooms in Deep Space, and one in defeating the Iron Prisoner for the second time in the Mirage Arena, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore? So if anyone has a guide to where I can find all of those, that would be a great help. Also, I'd like to know how getting the Last Episode, Secret Ending, and Secret Episode works now. I know that, originally, you got the Secret Ending by completing all three stories, finding all the Xehanort reports in them, and completing the Last Episode all in Proud Mode. Is that still the case here? And if so, how do you get the Secret Episode: the part where you play Aqua in the Realm of Darkness that's exclusive to Final Mix? Is that also a part of the above specifications, or do you get it by doing something else entirely? And then... how do you get the ending to that segment that shows the "A Fragmentary Passage" stuff? Sorry, I'm just a bit confused, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, guys!

Keep in mind that just because something isn't listed here doesn't necessarily mean that it won't be at the event. I mean, try not to get your hopes up too much, just in case, but there's always the chance that SE could show something KH related as a surprise. They've done it many times before, after all, and Jump Festa is Nomura's favorite event, so... there's still a chance for us, maybe. Personally, if we get anything, I imagine it might be an official announcement for KH3DHD or whatever that is. And maybe if we're lucky, we'll get something KHIII related. We'll just have to see:) But still... don't get your hopes up, on the off chance we don't get anything at all. Better to be pleasantly surprised than sadly disappointed, after all! But on topic: I'm definitely glad to be hearing that FFXV will be at the show. Here's hoping an official release date isn't too far off now...

I'd greatly appreciate it if you guys could pray for my dad right now. I just found out that he has fourth stage Colon cancer, and at the worst case scenario, he maybe only has two months to live. This whole thing has been a real shock to my family and me, as we only thought my dad had the flu and nothing even close to this. And now to learn he has cancer, and in such a dire way... it's way too much to handle. But I believe in God and I believe in prayer, as well as the idea of staying positive and keeping your spirits up; my dad is really young still (the youngest of his family of fourteen siblings) and very, very healthy otherwise. If anyone can beat this, I know it'll be him--as he has so much more to live for. Thank you all for your support and what you do. I appreciate all of your prayers and hope greatly, and you're all in my debt. -Shanna

KHII has so many flaws, though! I could write a book about them, actually, and most of the series' problems (that they're still trying to fix) started there. And Birth by Sleep is just a rehash of the first game, almost (with Terra getting possessed by Xehanort like Riku did and that sort of thing). I'm definitely not putting down people who like those games, or the games themselves (and those three games are great and definitely the best ones in the series), but KH1 is where it's at, imo:) It has the best atmosphere and balance ,and it was there that everything started and gave us this series to begin with:D

Playstation 2 for KHI, KHII, and Re:CoM. And also... shouldn't a cell phone also be a choice here, for those who played the original Coded and that kinda thing, I mean? Just wondering:)

Aqua, Ventus, and Terra. If you play anyone else first, you're going to get spoiled for the other stories. Though, technically, if you play as Aqua first you still do get spoiled somewhat, but you don't see any of the major events actually play out, so there's still some mystery to it there and an incentive to play the other games to understand what happened fully. Also, if you play Terra last, it keeps you wondering just what he did do in the other worlds. It leaves you thinking the worst: that he succumbed to the Darkness and did some terrible things... Only for you to realize he really didn't do anything wrong and was actually coerced, tricked, and possessed by people into doing things. So, yeah. If you want to keep some mystery to each story the first time you play through them, I definitely suggest Aqua, Ventus, then Terra: even though I know it's supposed to be Terra, Ventus, and then Aqua.

Not only that, Andrew Rowland, but it could be detrimental to his health and mental state. He's also stated in the past that work keeps him away from his family... Honestly, I think it'd probably be better for everyone involved if Nomura didn't take on so many heavy burdens at once. -sigh- Anyway, I'm going to go pray to the gods for a TWEWY sequel now. And maybe a follow-up game to Dirge of Cerberus, hinted at by the game's secret ending. (What? After having directed Advent Children, Nomura could be working on something like that, maybe.) I'd list other things, but I don't want to get my hopes up too much. And I do wonder what happened to that online KH game Pleasants hinted at. (Not that I think SE had anything to do with that, though.) Edit: Wasn't there also talk about sequels to Versus/FFXV at one point? Not that I can imagine Nomura being involved with that anymore at this point. Edit Deux: FFXVI being in the early works might also be a thing.

While I don't disagree with you that that's what happened at all, I don't think it was necessarily intentional on Nomura's part. For instance, pre-established canon kept Nomura from maybe putting Kairi in the games like he might have wanted to. After all, since it was all ready stated in KHII that she'd been living a normal life between it and the end of I, she therefore then couldn't be in 358/2 Days. And Nomura admits to having rushed DDD--and there are some hints that maybe Kairi was originally supposed to have some kind of a role in the game--so they couldn't fit her into it for that reason. They've also added a lot of new characters since II that makes it hard to juggle everyone, I would think. But if the ending of KH3D's anything to go by, Nomura's seen the problem and hopefully we'll be seeing more of Kairi in KHIII now--and if nothing else, maybe more in the next Saga. Also... while I don't dispute that Terra and Celes are great characters, I feel it's a little unfair to compare her to them (especially here in a pro-Kairi thread)--seeing as how Kairi hasn't really gotten her moment in the spotlight yet--but that's just my opinion:) I'm really glad that you're open-minded and neutral about her, though^_^ Honestly, I feel like that's how everyone should feel about Kairi. What Square's set up with her in canon is pretty cool, after all, but it's the fault of the writers--and not any fault of Kairi's, of course--that they've yet to do it any justice yet. If nothing else, I think harsher critics should reserve their judgment on Kairi until they see a little more from her (and they could also try putting themselves in her shoes, imo). But anyway...

There there, KittensOnFire. -soothingly pats you on the back- Anyway, moving back to a more positive Kairi light, have you seen the Arch Twist AU http://archetwistau.tumblr.com/ thing on Tumblr at all? I really think you'd like it:D It's absolutely fabulous! Basically, it takes everything that happened in canon before the Islands got destroyed... and then flips it on its head while still allowing things to make sense and for the characters to be in-character. It's also great because it breaks a lot of Tropes this way (like, since everything that first happened on the Islands are canon in this fanfic, you so think that Kairi's going to be the stereotypical one in need of saving again, but nope! Fooled ya: Kairi's the Keyblade wielder and going to go on a journey with Donald and Goofy to find Sora and Riku, etc.) And honestly... the more trio is balanced this way because even though Riku's a Prince of Heart here (and taking Kairi's role in the series in this AU), he still sparred on the Island and knows how to fight, and therefore actually fights and goes with Kairi on her journey with Donald and Goofy to find Sora at the end of KHI, but I digress. But seriously. Arch Twist is golden (and I sometimes wish that it was the true canon, because the trio's so much more trio-like here and Kairi finally gets her chance to shine). But anyway, this is a fun AU that I think anyone could get a kick out of, so give it a try;)

1. Do you mean that I'm in love with Kairi or think she's hot or something? Because if so, that is most definitely not the case. LOL. I'm a girl and I'm straight; the main reason I love Kairi so much is because when I was nine, I looked up to her as a role model. And in every KH game since the first one, I've still adored her for that nostalgic reason and have wanted Nomura to develop her character further. 2. ...If you knew all of these things all ready why did you ask me to elaborate? And honestly... I think you and I might see eye-to-eye more than you might think:D Like, I love Kairi, yes--and I think that she has done more for the series than people think--but I do know that she's been handled terribly and that Nomura doesn't seem to want to develop her at all. Here's hoping that all changes in III, though... 3. Uhh, dude. I HAVE played games other than KH. I've played most of the Final Fantasy games, The World Ends With You, Metal Gear IV, the Tales series, Eternal Sonata... A lot of games, really. And though I do appreciate you trying to get me to branch out and find other things to enjoy, the thing is that I all ready have. LOL. And you... you probably shouldn't make snap judgments like that. ^_^' But anyway...

Why is it creepy? Because I like Kairi as a character and feel the need to stand up for her when a lot of the fandom tears her down? I'm sorry, but I've been with Kairi and rooting her on for more than twelve years now, so excuse me if I've developed an attachment to her like I have the rest of the characters. And let's begin, shall we? First of all, it's been revealed in DDD that Kairi--as well as the other PoH--have made up all the Light in the world since the Keyblade War, and that's a HUGE deal. Also, this highly hints that Kairi is either immortal (doubtful), reincarnated (most likely), or the powers can be passed down to other people (maybe). So if she has been reincarnated, she's been keeping up the Light for a millennia, so there you go. And going along with that, there's the very likely theory that Kairi was one of the Foretellers in a previous life. Xehanort cast Kairi into the Lanes Between to see if his theory about the Keyblade and the Princesses being connected was true or not. And I think this is a pretty heavy Kairi-centric plot detail that's very important and probably deserves some more focus. She led to Aqua getting the Destiny's Place Keyblade (and will probably be Aqua's successor someday and all ready sort of is). It was thoughts of her (and the other people that Aqua knew and loved) that kept her from pretty much committing suicide in the Realm of Darkness. It was because of Kairi that Riku wanted to explore outside worlds and most likely remembered his promise with Terra, because people barely remember things from when they were five. Kairi also lied about not remembering Hollow Bastion for some reason and clearly owns up to it later (this isn't so much something she's done or contributed to, but rather there's some depths and interesting things about Kairi that I wish were explored). Let's not forget that Kairi was the one in charge of putting the raft together on the Island, and the one who seems to have kept the boys in line. Kairi almost seemed to want to protect Sora, when she said she wanted to take the raft and go and that Riku had changed (especially since the original KH1 trailer seemed to hint that there was supposed to be a scene between Riku and Kairi before the Islands fell, and I think this scene was carried on to the novels). In my eyes, she'd probably tried to help Riku, too, but we could tell earlier that she was concerned for him and maybe thought him too far gone, so when the opportunity presented itself to her, she would try to protect Sora with her words and advice where she couldn't Riku. It's stated in Dream Drop Distance that Xehanort brought Kairi to the Islands on the night they fell to lure Sora there. During all of KHI, Kairi is talking to Sora in his heart and is trying to tell him she's there and maybe even to go to Hollow Bastion, because she reacts to images of it a lot. She also gives Sora hope "I believe in you", when he'd just been about to give up, and alerted Sora to Riku-Ansem getting ready to strike before he could kill him. (Also, did anyone else ever notice that Kairi's casket in Hollow Bastion is away from the other Princess'? Probably hinting that she's different than them and/or maybe has a power that they don't? Maleficent also somehow seems to know right away--after she realizes they're missing someone--that Kairi is the remaining Princess, which is probably important.) After Sora disappears for her, Kairi tries to catch him and save him--shouting, "I won't let him go!" And later on, she tells Donald and Goofy that she can't just leave Sora and Riku behind in Hollow Bastion. She then bravely acts to protect Heartless!Sora--most likely at the expense of herself, even--and succeeds in bringing him back where no one else could have. In Traverse Town, Kairi begs to go with Sora because she wants to help him get Riku back, but Sora refuses her. In response to that, Kairi gives Sora her thalassa shell lucky charm, which--by the stories that Aqua tells in BbS--probably did succeed in bringing Sora (and maybe even Riku) safely back to her. She then sees Sora off courageously. I can't tell you how much it would hurt to go a year without seeing your best friends--not even knowing if they were alive or dead, and no doubt feeling useless about it all--but she stays hopeful and keeps her faith in them: even when other people think she's crazy for remembering Sora when no one else could. And when the opportunity presents itself, Kairi gives up on waiting and goes to look for Sora and Riku herself. Evading Axel twice with no weapon or training, and echoing what Sora did in Chain of Memories in starting on a dangerous journey by himself to find someone he can't remember. But backtracking a little bit here: Kairi also created Naminé and Xion. Xion ended up resembling Sora's memories of Kairi--and therefore affected the plot of Days--and Naminé being her Nobody and having special powers like her affected the plot of Chain of Memories. Also, Kairi was the driving force for that game, as Naminé pretty much made Sora and the Riku Replica think she was her: which means the fighting they were doing in that game was to get to and protect her (and it's heavily implied that the second "Naminé" that Sora sees in his memory of Destiny Islands is supposed to be Kairi, as she acts like her and later turns into her, even). But even then, Sora can't forget Kairi completely and he chooses to remember Kairi instead of Nami (which is why he goes to sleep for a year, and why DiZ helps out--so he can be the instrument for his revenge). And Kairi even affects the real Riku's story because it's through Naminé pretending to be Kairi that Riku finds the strength to accept the Darkness (a huge staple of who he is), and win that fight with Zexion. In Kingdom Hearts II, Kairi has a mental conversation with Roxas, which is pretty impressive--seeing as as far as I can remember, powerful people like Terra, Aqua, and Mickey have been the only other people ever to do that. Kairi's also a lot more fierce in KHII: going into defensive stances, looking ready to get into a fist fight with people to protect herself if need be, jumping from balconies, battling Heartless with a Keyblade, which is a HUGE step up from where she'd been in the first game. She also says that she's sick of being left behind, and the boys having to always be the ones in danger, so that wherever one of them goes from now on, she'll follow. And she DOES follow them into danger for the rest of the game. She once again escapes her enemies through Naminé and Riku's help. (Another thing of note is that Kairi seems to have some latent psychic ability that allows her to predict things, like how she seems to know that Naminé is her Nobody at the end of the game without an explanation from anyone). She alone is the one who begs Riku not to leave, shows Sora that it is Riku in Ansem's guise and succeeds in getting him to stay. When Ansem's Kingdom Hearts encoder explodes, Kairi seems to be right with Sora and Mickey in the idea that she wants to save Ansem. And in that very scene (if you look closely) seems to be trying to get to him, or to at least talk to Mickey about it. She points out to Sora and everyone the Heartless taking over The World That Never Was, and points out to them Kingdom Hearts' appearance before anyone else notices it (before it truly appears, even). Probably because she and the other Princesses are the new Kingdom Hearts. Kairi's voice that first starts to pull Sora out of the void that Xemnas had pulled Sora into to fight him. And though in the gameplay Kairi doesn't fight any battles after reuniting with Sora and Riku, there's a chance that story-wise she did, because as TV Tropes pointed out, she--and everyone--are in a battle stance after the first half of the fight with Xemnas (and it's a little bit of a discontinuity there, since Mickey an Kairi weren't supposed to have fought), and Mickey says, "Gosh, you all did great!" So maybe story-wise Kairi did fight, but we just didn't play it. It wouldn't be the first time that KH had gameplay and story segregation, and we never did see her dismiss her Keyblade or anything like that. At the end of KHII, it's Kairi's letter that gets Sora and Riku out of the Realm of Darkness and back to the Islands. Kairi's the one who finds Mickey's letter at the end of KHII and brings it to them to continue the story that way. In KH3D, it was illusions of Riku and Kairi that pulled Sora further into the dreams, but also thoughts of Kairi (and his other friends fighting alongside him), that allows Sora to defeat Xemnas in his later fight. We also know that Kairi's showing up at Yen Sid's to learn how to use the Keyblade properly and finally assist everyone the way that she wants to. And a few other tidbits are: that when Roxas dual-wields with Oathkeeper (the Keyblade made from Kairi's lucky charm), it represents happy memories of Xion (which is fitting, since Xion is "Kairi as Sora remembers her", and both of them collected thalassa shells--probably for that reason. In fact, the lucky charm is made of thalassa shells.), and that it was after Sora learnt that Kairi had been kidnapped in IIFM that he unlocked Limit Form. Look? Is Kairi a perfect character? Hell no. Has she gotten screwed over a lot and deserve more screentime? Most definitely yes. But she's really not as bad as people think she is, and there's a lot about her that most people overlook--even if it's just being a driving force for everyone else, Kairi has caused a lot of relevance to the overall plot and that should not be forgotten or discredited. Edit: Looking back on this, a few sentences here might be structured a little awkwardly, since I didn't get a chance to proofread this. Hopefully someday I can come back and edit it fully, but until then... I can only apologize and hope it's all not too jarring. Edit Deux: Somehow, I forgot to mention the most important part of all of this: that Kairi was the main driving force for KHI--and the main reason that that story developed the way that it did in that game--and that it was actually through Sora and Riku's shared desire to save her that they got brought together again, after Maleficent's lies had torn them apart. Another Edit: It was actually through Kairi and Nami joining hands, and Sora's Keyblade reacting to that, that a path was opened for them to be able to get inside The Castle That Never Was. Also, Kairi faces down ASoD briefly in KH1 and doesn't show even an ounce of fear.

I love Kairi and always will. I've been with her from the beginning and she has so much potential and stories to be told . She's also done so much more than people give her credit for. Honestly... sometimes I feel like the series would have gone a lot differently if Kairi were the hero. LOL. She's not dumb like Sora can be, she wouldn't have been stupid like Riku was, she wouldn't have been selfish like Naminé was, she'd never backstab anyone like Axel has, and she would have actually talked things out with her friends--unlike Xion, Terra, Ventus, and Aqua... so at the end of the day, Kairi would have saved everyone and we could all go home. (I'm mostly kidding, btw. Don't bite my head off. But seriously: Kairi's amazing. And I do think a series about Kairi would have been cool -looks at the Archtwist AU on Tumblr http://archetwistau.tumblr.com/ where Kairi's the hero, Sora went dark, and Riku's a Prince of Heart... and Xion is the Riku Replica, Naminé is Roxas, and Roxas is Naminé-)

Thank you, Caity! Unfortunately, someone on Tumblr had stolen my old username "DenizenofTwilight" and had begun stalking me online... Worrying and terrifying stuff, tbh. So this name change was just what I needed to hopefully stay under their radar, as well as differentiate myself from that person (because I didn't want someone to see that my name on here was DoT and try to follow me on Tumblr, only to get the wrong person), so thanks a bunch for the name change! I really appreciate it and you're a life saver:)

Uhh... looking back on it, I think yesterday was only six days. So I'll post it again, just in case. Could you please change my name to "AnHeiressofaSOLDIER"? Thanks a bunch! I really appreciate it:)

I think it's been seven days since I posted last... Anyway, I'd still like to change my username to "AnHeiressofaSOLDIER". Please and thank you:)

I'd like to change my username to "AnHeiressofaSOLDIER". Please and thank you:)

FYI. If you see a DenizenofTwilight on Tumblr, that's no longer me! Some asshole is stealing my accounts and, like, making fun of my opinions on them while pretending to me. If you come across this person IGNORE THEM IMMEDIATELY!!! I'm... I'm so mad! And this is the second time they've done this, too! I'm getting scared, guys. This person is like personally stalking me, and I have no idea why! I don't think I ever even interacted with them, and I'm nothing but cordial and nice to everyone. I don't... I don't know what to do.

And on the topic about Kh1 Kairi, I do think she's pretty! She looks like Xion, in fact (and Naminé, body wise), I just don't think the graphics back then did her much justice. They were a bit too stiff looking. For instance, she looks a lot better in the new 1.5 official art, where her hair looks almost fluffier somehow. I also think the color choices they gave her in 1 might not have worked that well together for some reason. I think it might have washed her out,maybe, because the colors she wears in II make her look a lot lovelier. (Even if I prefer the style of the 1 outfit.) Yeah... But, anyway. Kairi ftw. She's one of my favorite characters in the series, actually (she always has been, as I've been with the series from the beginning and have therefore known her for twelve years now), and here's hoping she gets more love from the series and fans both after III:)

By the way, this is not me hating on Kairi! I'm probably the biggest Kairi fan ever, and love her to pieces, but there's no denying that SE somewhat... shifted how they treated her in KHII. But then again, the entire tone of the series shifted after KH1 and CoM, so... That's still up for debate, tbh, but I didn't mean that her and Sora are a couple. I meant that the game treated her like a shounen would treat the protagonist's girlfriend: she was a damsel in distress, pushed to the side at the end of the game for seemingly no reason, had an attire and sex up; SE made fully modeled panties for her, that the players have found a way to look at; the hair flip that she does, her girly run, and the fact that she's so committed to Sora (even if they are just friends), etc.

KHII Kairi's better visually (though I did like her outfit in KH1 was better, as it's more like what an islander would wear). But as for personality and stuff... I've got to go with KH1. I really liked her snark and tomboy attitude in that game. In the second game, she's a bit more somber. Understandable, since she'd been without her two best friends for about two years--with no idea whether they were okay or not--but I miss that fire. Here's hoping it's back again in KHIII, now that she's had the chance to spend some time with the boys again. Also... she had more of a presence in KH1. She was the main driving force in that game, and even when she wasn't in scenes, I still felt her involvement there. KHII treated her more like the girlfriend in a shounen anime, which is sad to me. They also treated her more fanservice-y in that one. (But that was the time it was released in. KHII came out during the height of Naruto, and things like that, so it's only natural that that's the most shounen feeling game of the series, but still.)

This is all I've ever wanted in my life. OMG. I'm like crying tears of joy now. The novels are just amazing and shed so much light onto things (and are even third tier canon, almost)... So now to hear that I'll finally get to own them and read them all (at least the KH1 ones)... It's a dream come truly, really. OMG. This is like the best day ever. No joke. All that Yen Press and SE pestering finally paid off. Woot!

You're a person after my own heart, dan. Great job! And I actually favorited this on dA before I even saw it here. LOL. I, too, made stuff for SoKai Day, as that day's better than Christmas for me, and I really hope you continue to make stuff for them! You're a lovely artist who really seems to understand their dynamic, and we can always use more SoKai in the world, so epic job! Keep it up.