Halloweentown (Chapters 89-93)

So this whole section starts with Axel sitting in the Gummi ship as they're all on their way to Halloween Town.  Yes, they're totally on their way to Halloween Town to go to Christmas Town so that Sora can prove to Riku that Santa exists.  That whole thing started as something that I honestly think was suggested in a review in AtP and I literally did not get around to it until now.  (Yet again a thing that was supposed to go in Betwixt and Between but didn't.)

The arc obviously expanded out after that.  It got placed this far into the fic because it wasn't a huge major plot point that needed to happen any specific time, and especially after I decided that this was where Marlynort was going down, that influenced my decision to put it here.

So, Axel on the gummi ship.  I think one of the most interesting things that came out of this chapter was Axel contemplating what time had done to him versus Leon.  Leon's still on everyone's minds after almost getting Norted in Traverse Town.  This gets the wheels in Axel's brain turning a lot because he's had several close calls with Xehanort as it is already.  Plus, he knew Leon from when they were kids on Radiant Garden.  So that's gotta be trippy.

Giving everyone new outfits for Halloween Town was interesting.  I wish I could draw better to do those... but it literally takes too much effort for me to do that right now.  Sad day.  If only I had more time.  If you want to do that though, feel free.

Anyway, then the HB gang talking about going and getting kids for the school.  Denzel is adorable.  Just saying.  Also, sticking Yuffie on a team with Leon is just amusing.  Because Rinoa's obviously not going to go because her arm hasn't quite healed yet.  Plus, Yuffie deserves to go places, I've been writing this whole thing so long where she always gets told no.  Denzel knows she gets told no a lot.  But here we go, Yuffie getting told yes.  Yay!

And then, Aerith and Zack discussing wedding plans.  And Yuffie just quietly listening in, kind of grossed out by the whole thing but at the same time rooting so hard for them it's not even funny.  And Denzel's just so surprised at how many Worlds there are.  And I actually think Yuffie does go and travel the Worlds a bit after Hollow Bastion is restored.  Not that I'm going to write that far.... (I say that now... and then we'll see where I am in two years.)

And then MINNIE AND MICKEY FLUFF which is honestly what I live for sometimes oh my gosh.

And then we've got Terra, Aqua, and Ven getting a nice break and a vacation.  With Ven all like "This isn't quite the life that I dreamed of... but this is basically the life I dreamed of."  Beautiful.  I love giving them a break because they've had such a hard time.  My babby's oh goodness.

And then we're in Christmas Town.  With new outfits again (though these one's you've probably seen examples of all over the interwebs.)  And then, they don't see Santa for long when Marlynort shows up.  And then things get real.  The line "Well, Santa, either we destroy your entire office, or we break a window" is probably one of my favorite lines.  And Santa's just like "Oh break the window."

Cue fight sequence.  It surprisingly wasn't a long one.  I could have probably made it longer, but I always struggle with whether or not it's good to write long battles with loads of detail, or shorter ones with a comparable amount of detail.  I don't want you guys to be reading battle forever.  So, I settled on a shorter one with a few Combo name drops and the whole focus being on whether or not Namine was going to be able to Shatter Marlynort.

But she was.

A++++++++ to Namine.  Overcome girl!

Then, switch gears to Cid and Shera talking about rebuilding his workshop.  Bringing back loads of things.  Woot.  Tifa and Aerith talking some more about the wedding because that's what happens when there's a wedding on the horizon.

Ah yes, then Kuin running into a Remnant.  That obviously wasn't going to be a big huge deal because the Remnant knows he can't get Kuin because of who she is--flexor, perfect balance of light and darkness--so he doesn't try.  He honestly just wants to stay clear of her because he knows she wants him dead.  But they have a little battle and then he disappears.  I wasn't super clear on whether or not she killed him--but you can assume she didn't.  Because the Remnant's a jerk.  Not that it'd matter, because he'd just respawn.

And then Marlene's first day of school and running into the Moogle Girl! I couldn't resist!

Then we have aftermath of Namine shattering Marlynort.  And I tried to do a good job showing what it would have been like for her... but honestly... *I* don't know what that would have been like.  It's not like I have those powers or anything.  So I (like every other writer) made my best guess.  Based on what I've described Namine's powers as... it did require her to be picking and prying through the memories enough to have a good grasp to shatter.

I decided that Namine shattering him was an appropriate way for him to go.  After their history in Castle Oblivion and what Marluxia has become and who Namine has grown into.  It was fitting.  So hey, Marlynort is gone.

And I know I'm halfway through a chapter here... but the next bit goes straight into Castle Oblivion.  Which is the next arc and thus next blog post.  So I'll see you for the next blog.

Corona etc (58-68)

I know that the Larxene Sequence happens in here as well, but I'm saving that for another post because it deserves its own post, not to be lumped in with this one.

Granted, the Corona arc isn't a major arc.  The main event is certainly what's going on with Larxene at the same time.  However, Corona is important.

But, before I talk about that, let's talk about Zack and Aerith getting engaged!

It seems like so long ago that Zack ran off to get a symbol for their relationship.  (Who all guess it was going to be an engagement ring?)  I left it open originally partially because I wasn't sure what the trinket was going to be.  I thought of other things he could get her that would effectively be the same thing.  But I decided that the small ring was perfect anyway.

I wrote chapters 56 (the end of the last arc) and 57 back-to-back within the same day.  The aftermath of Marluxia--excuse me, Marlynort--was exhilarating (regardless of how depressing it was) to write.  And then there was chapter 57 which was all the happy Zerith feels.  I didn't even have to work to hard at it.  The words just flew onto the page.  And now they're happily engaged and all is right with the Worlds.  Or something cheesy like that.

Chapter 58 was a pain to write because after chapter 57, nothing was interesting.  But I managed.  Granted, nothing terribly exciting happens in that chapter, much of it is just Sora's thoughts, but hey, they get to Corona.

I don't remember, but I think chapter 59 was a quickish one to write.  The ones where I split up the POVs tend to happen that way.  Granted, it was all mostly filler: Kuin looking for Xigbar but not actually finding him, Marlene and Barret arriving in Hollow Bastion, Yuffie blowing up something in Cid's workshop and having to deal with it.  Nothing terribly plot important, but did allow for character development.  Mostly for Yuffie though, honestly.  She's been growing up a lot this fic.  And her actually taking responsibility for something without being coerced is good.

Then there's the events of Corona, or at least the first part anyway.  Corona's not a place that's been having a lot of problems.  Things are quiet.  Rapunzel and Flynn are away at the coronation ceremony preceding Elsa's outburst that froze the place.  The King and Queen of Corona are just going about their business when Marlynort shows up and starts to cause trouble.  Naturally, Sora and his friends sign themselves up to take care of the problem.  They take time finding Marlynort because he's a true Chaotic Evil and is enjoying causing a ruckus.  This is where the Namine Replica shows up and those shenanigans begin.

The Cloud chapter makes me really happy.  Because the first bit of it is him trying to figure out what's going on with Zack and Aerith--because they haven't told anybody yet.  (Too much thought of elopement to say anything yet.)  And then Sephiroth shows up and Leon and Cloud fight him and win.  It's great.

And just when you thought I wasn't going to throw a Remnant at you because of Marlynort and Larxene and everything, a wild Remnant appears in Disney Town and tries to go after none other than Demyx.  Poor Demyx.  Not that that's going to happen if Terra, Ven, and Aqua have a say.  And when the going got tough, Mickey and Minnie both showed up and were BAMF.  I love writing for the two of them.  They are amazing and wonderful and my forevership.  I don't remember rar's exact reaction upon reading it, but it was definitely like "YOUREGIVING ME MICKEYXMINNIE FEELS AND I JUST>>> AAAAAAHHHHH...."

Cue battle with Marlynort that's really hard when your forces are cut in half.  (Like seriously, imagine game mechanics where you're FORCED to do that battle halved because the other half of your party is off fighting Larxene.)  (I'd like to think that you could choose the party that went, but for that battle with Larxene (and what follows it) it's kind of necessary that the people that went went.)  And after the battle, cue everyone being uneasy because Marlynort talks a good show.

Then, HAVE SOME MORE FLUFF (which I'm sure is what I said to rar when I sent her the chapter) with Zack and Aerith announcing their engagement and upcoming wedding.

And Corona is quietly wrapped up and the others return and they head off to Deep Space for the next adventure.

Larxene stuff to come.

Space Paranoids Arc (Chapters 34-40)

This arc was me fixing a lack of continuity between everything else I'd written.  Because I hadn't been terribly clear about what had actually happened to Tron post-AtP.  Especially since I'd done the whole "Tron's been kidnapped by CLU" thing and then I thought I said Cid fixed it, but I was overall really unclear and... yeah.  So here, lemme straighten some things up.

Also, I wanted to play with the idea of Xion in Space Paranoids because of programming stuff and whatnot.  I mean, I didn't do much besides a few glitches here and there due to less-than-100%-compatible programming, but hey, I had a Remnant in need of showing up.  Also, biggest difference between Xion and another program: Xion bleeds.

Meanwhile, I've got some Mickey and Minnie fluff (because any scene with the two of them is some sort of fluff... even if they're beating the crap out of enemies.)  And Mickey gets to do some behind-the-scenes work.  Fun times!

Meanwhile meanwhile, Terra, Aqua, and Ven are in the Badlands.  This is when Ven gets to have some temper problems.  Because, face it, everyone at some point or another is super pissed about Xehanort's existence.  And, it's gotta be annoying since he keeps coming back.  And then he freaking does, right before their eyes.  Like, Sephiroth kills him and he respawns.  And Ven gets to get out some feels, which is good.

And I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the Remnant trying to nort Xion sequence.  Because he really thinks he has it here, what with Xion being his puppet in the past.  And he goes for it, and she just stares at him (meanwhile, Roxas is panicking because he thinks that Xion's lack of movement is a bad thing).  But Xion's just like... "dude, what are you even doing? are you trying to take my heart because it's not working." (Granted, her body did go into stasis as a failsafe, but still) Because Namine freaking put in a failsafe! Muahahaha.

 Oh yes, and then I have Leon taking Zack aside and being like "look man, if you love Aerith, then you need to let her know, okay? Because she doesn't want to believe it for fear of getting hurt, and I can't have you hurting my sister-like-person, kay?" And then Zack's like... I need to get Aerith something that is a symbol of our love.  And so that arc begins.

Things I am 100% okay with:
-Denzel learning about the HB family
-Ven, Aqua, Terra working together to fight Xehanort and their command styles blending and recognizing when someone is going to go into a particular style
-Anything Mickey and Minnie
-Motorcycles/light cycles
-Vincent trying to figure out Cloud and Tifa's lives for no other reason than his own curiosity
-Cloud visiting his mother
-Xion casually talking about how Kairi thinks she's going crazy because Xion keeps flickering
-Xion and Roxas fighting with the discs like Axel fights with chakrams
-Roxas using Xion's blade (that whole concept of them being able to summon each other's blades is amazing to me)
-Namine smirking
-The line "Oh please, it doesn't take Riku's sense of smell to recognize your stench."
-The Leon-Zack-Aerith dynamic
-Zerith

Disney Castle Arc (Chapters 10-17)

Interesting, the first arc took 8 chapters, so did the second arc.  Anyway.

The Disney Castle arc was a combination of several things that I had set up for myself in Betwixt and Between and due to horrible planning, wasn't able to complete until Remnants.

from the Disney Wiki

First of all, I had this desire for Hades to attack Disney Castle.  It stemmed from a game called "Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom" in the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World.  It's basically where Hades decides that he wants a new summer home and the castle in Magic Kingdom is going to be it.  So he contacts his favorite villain friends (Maleficent, Doctor Facillier, Ursula, Jafar, etc) to rampage around until he can claim the castle for his own.

I fell in love with the idea and wanted to included it, replacing Cinderella's Castle with Disney Castle itself.  Plus, it gives me more of a chance to play with Mickey, who's always a fun character to write for.  I set it up in Betwixt and Between with Namine, Kairi, and Aerith learning of Hades' plot, but I never enacted it because I stopped Betwixt and Between before I wrapped up all of my plotlines (with the full intention of I'd wrapping it up in Remnants.)

The next thing included (at least in chapters 8 and 9) is the idea that Sora and the gang would all be chilling on Destiny Islands, and then be summoned promptly elsewhere.  Granted, given my canon, I'm sure that sort of thing happened all the time, with Cid or Mickey calling one of them up and being like "Hey, can you take care of such-and-such Heartless problem for me" and them being like "Yeah, sure, totally on it!" But I wanted to write it out, so here it was.

Though, as a side-note, originally it was that Aerith was in trouble that pulled them all away, back when I was still trying to incorporate FF7 into my fic like I incorporated FF8 back in the prequel.  I scrapped that idea because it's a fic in and of itself practically (or at least a huge chunk of one) and I didn't want to do it.  (Mostly because I didn't want to kill Zack or Aerith.)

Oh yes, and then comes Axel starting to read through Saix's journal.  Which will have important information in it.

Of course, as all of that's going on, I have Cloud and Tifa off on their little adventures (which happen periodically through half the fic).  Because they're in Agrabah at the moment because Cloud thinks Sephiroth's going to show up there.  Spoiler alert, he does.  I think I stuck them in Agrabah because I liked Cloud's dynamics in Agrabah from rar's fic.  But ignore me.

Tifa using corridors of light is just something so neat.  Since I gave her that ability in the prequel, of course she'd still be able to use it now.  And Cloud's just now learning about it, because she's kept it secret for so long.  But Cloud should know.  And meanwhile, Rinoa's just like, if Sephiroth comes after me, I will fight him.  Okay, kay?

by rongs1234 on dA

I love Mickey fighting.  He only does it when he feels he has to, but Hades attacking Disney Castle kind of gives Mickey reason to fight.  And Hades going after Minnie was just dumb, because the whole "let go of my wife" thing is just beautiful.  MickeyxMinnie is my forever ship.

Oh look, ZackxAerith in chapter 14.  Shameless and I don't care.  But gotta include life in Hollow Bastion even when the action is elsewhere.

And of course, even after they've dealt with Hades, I'm going to also make them deal with a Xehanort Remnant.  (Hint, they'll do that a lot.)  And I loved being in Xion's POV for this because Xion thinks faster than everyone else because she's got a computer for a brain and so she strategizes and then spends the remaining time figuring out how she's going to enact said strategies--in the same time everyone else is still figuring part  a out.

Riku is officially the first person that the Xehanort Remnant tries to go after.  And of course that fails miserably because Riku has actually built up a tolerance to that sort of thing.  And then he's just an ass and he makes everyone believe for three seconds that Xehanort might have done something, before just being like JK NOPE SUCKERS!

Cid and Shera love.  This is me, reintroducing her to the story, because she wasn't around in AtP or in BB.  And now she's back.  And I'm totes cool with that.  I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but I did actually intend on killing Shera in that massive cannon blast in Traverse Town, all that time ago.  She was supposed to die and it was going to freak Aerith and Cid both out.  It would also solve the "where has she been" problem.  But then I decided I didn't want to kill her (especially since she survives in the FF7 timeline--she and Cid quietly get married, even!) So I decided that she went back to work for the King.  But anyway.

Things I'm really okay with:
-Everyone on Destiny Islands being ready to help
-Xion reading upside-down
-Xion giving absolutely zero cares regarding walking in on Axel
-Aerith's hunches and sending the appropriate people to help
-Ven using shotlocks
-Tifa being able to use corridors of light
-Rinoa being like "ima punch Sephiroth if he comes after me"
-Rinoa's dynamic with Cloud and Sephiroth in general, I guess
-Mickey fighting Hades
-Hades out-hotting Axel
-Xion's computer-like battle planning because she's a Replica
-Everyone protecting Ven from Neoshadows
-Namine shattering things and then conveniently not talking about it

Mickey and Minnie

Art by andy-pants on dA

Mickey and Minnie.... oh where to start.  That picture up there is vintage designs for the two of them.  They've come a long way from their roots.  Look at them now! So prominent in society.  Not just in the bounds of Kingdom Hearts... but permeating the globe wherever Disney (and Disney affiliates, and people who can get minimal rights... etc) is/are. 

Sorry... I just feel it's appropriate to mention Mickey and Minnie in my couple's posts because they are a couple in my fic.  AND THEY ARE SO FREAKING ADORABLE.

Like... in the show "Dream Along with Mickey" which plays in the afternoons in the Magic Kingdom, there's this part where all these princesses (Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora) are all out dancing with their princes as they talk about wishes.  Mickey asks Minnie what her wish is and she mentions that she wants to dance with them, but she can't, because she's not a princess...

To which he replies: "Aw, but you've always been a princess in my eyes, Minnie."

CAN YOU GET ANY CUTER THAN THAT?

If there is one thing that being at Disney has done for me, it has given me a new appreciation for probably THE MOST canon couple EVER. 

So, I'm having a post about them.  It's only appropriate. 

art by NikiVandermosten on dA.

In my universe/fic/KHcanon/whatever we're calling it at the moment.... Mickey's obviously a King and Minnie's the Queen.  I don't think Mickey's always been a king... he may not have always been royalty even.  (I dunno, Mickey's been more things than Barbie it seems.)  However, he's too... what's the word... humble to have always been royalty in my opinion.  Or something like that... Idk.

In addition to being King, though, he's also a Keyblade Master.  And, before Sora and Riku were Masters, he was one of the only ones out and about.  He's had a lot of work on his plate the last several years.  And now he's playing catch-up in his Kingdom because Queen Minnie can't do everything. 

Bless her heart though, she did a dang good job.  She ruled with peace and kindness while he was away, and nothing was forgotten about even in his absence.

Both Mickey and Minnie are heavily on the side of the light.  Most of Mickey's attacks involve Light Bursts of some sort.  He also has this habit of showing up out of nowhere JUST when you need him.  I mean, how many times has he saved Riku's butt? More than I can count.  He did the same with Ven and Aqua, and Sora.  Mickey's just amazing like that.  He's just in and out, saving people, making sure the darkness doesn't get too strong.

That doesn't mean he doesn't have his faults, he's been mistaken about things before.  He used to think that any darkness was bad.  He's learned otherwise.  Still though, he's amazing.

One of my favorite parts about Minnie is that she doesn't let herself be helpless.  She can actually fight! They're all light-based attacks from what I can tell, with Pearl, or is it Faith? One of the two.  Mickey can do Pearl, so she probably has Faith.  (I was legitimately excited when I got to that part in KH2 and she could FIGHT!)  And she's strong-willed.  She also has the patience of a saint--what with Mickey being gone as much as he is. 

Okay... I'm not sure if there's anything else I actually want to say about them.  I'll let you guys comment and stuff.  I'm too busy squeeing about Mickey and Minnie and not actually analyzing anything...

art by titanicfreak23 on dA