How did I end up here?

How did I end up here?

HOW DID I END UP HERE?!?!?

It's the end.  The END.

I mean, I knew this was coming.  I knew I was going to end it with a wedding.  I've known that for five years.  Okay, maybe four.

BUT I PLANNED THIS OUT FOUR YEARS AGO.

I knew, that the end of everything, I would end it with a wedding.  And that Xigbar would crash it.  But that was all I knew.  Rar and I joked about it.  Because after AtP, when Xigbar was still alive, I joked that he'd come back and crash the wedding at the end of the next one.

Because I'd only ever planned on writing two.

Look at me now, I've written four.  Five if you include Can't Escape.  (I don't count Plan Beta as anything but drabbles and fun experiments in plot.)

When I sat down and outlined Remnants, when I had a pretty solid idea of who my main enemies were (how Xehanort was back, what was going on with Larxene and Marluxia, what Xigbar was up to), I planned it out through the end.  Yeah, I changed out a couple of worlds here and there, electing to include Corona and Arendelle instead of recycling Atlantica and Beast's Castle.  But I knew there'd be a wedding.

Initially, and I might have said this before, but I might not have, it was supposed to be Donald and Daisy's wedding.  Because they were the only couple who I figured would be getting married.  (I hadn't really considered much about the FF characters.  I had always entertained the thought of continuing on and writing FF7 as if the KH characters might be a part.  But that got scrapped sometime when I was writing the prequel and struggled to rewrite FF8 and KH1-2 and make them interesting.)

For the record, I changed the wedding-to-be-crashed to Aerith and Zack's wedding about when I realized Zack was going to propose to Aerith.  I liked the way it was going to flow.  Let's see, do I still have the original conversation with rar...

Oh look, I do! And it involves Cloud/Hades stuff as well.  Bonus!

rar: i feel like us discussing potential Cloud and Hades ideas requires something more in depth than tumblr, so I'm messaging you
magik: probably
rar: I mean i still replied to you on tumblr but idk if we need to go more in depth
rar: anyway i'm cool with you using the idea {for Hades to send hellhounds after Cloud}
magik: woo! i just think... hades is the type to hold a grudge and Cloud did blow him off
rar: yeah exactly
magik: and now that Hades doesn't have Maleficent in his hair and pretty soon, he won't have Disney Castle, either
rar: yup
magik: and especially if Cloud shows back up in Olympus, Hades will be reminded of his grudge
rar: yuuuuuuuuup especially since he's LOOKING for like something to do or someone to use now that his plans have failed, right?
magik: yeah.  i am loving this Cloud arc that i'm putting together.  Cloud'll have to deal with Heartless and hell-hounds
rar: oh yeah
magik: because while Hades may be bound to Olympus, his hell-hounds won't be
rar: nooope they won't

So that's that... and here's some stuff as to other characters that were getting included

magik: and of course, i'm going to incorporate Denzel here pretty soon
rar: OOH!
magik: which may have nothing to do with the hell-hounds
rar: of course
magik: and i may have to drag vincent in because i love this line i just got: "These ones aren't too bad, some of them have three heads."  "A three headed dog needs a three barrelled gun"
rar: that's perf, you may have to drag vincent in... just for that
magik: yeah

And now for the wedding part:

magik: i'm contemplating Zerith disappearing for a bit
rar: ye?
magik: and then coming back and they've actually eloped... and everyone's all like...
rar: AHA
magik: "And I wasn't invited?"
rar: man I feel like Aerith would've wanted a ceremony tho... tho maybe not? mabye she is the kind of person who'd wanna not make a big deal out of it?
magik: i think that's exactly it.  though at the same time... UGGGG everyone's just geting married at the same time!!! aslgdkasdgh;
rar: IDK??? WHAT TO DO
magik: what if... i could replace donald and daisy's wedding for Zack and Aerith's....
rar: you could maybe do that
magik: their wedding was technically a place-holder... i just needed a huge ceremony...
rar: mmm
magik: the thing with donald/daisy was that i wasn't going to write the ceremony... just the reception... i could do that still with zerith
rar: you could
magik: aerith would alternate between wanting everyone in the ceremony and thus she'd have no one in the audience
rar: she would
magik: or only having one person in the ceremony so that there could be an audience... and zack's just like "I don't care, I could marry you on the moon with one witness and the justice and i'd be happy"
rar: he would
magik: hmm... if i did that... and xiggy crashed it i... heh... if he actually showed up during the ceremony... i think Aerith herself would murder him
rar: uhoh... that's not a good thing?
magik: it's amusing
rar: but probably not good for your plot
magik: honestly... it's like having your riku murder larxene... just so long as there's a remnant left to vessel or not to vessel sora, i'm good

Ima pause there for a second... This was EARLY in the planning stages.  I was still writing the Disney Castle sequence.  Pretty sure Rar was still working on Dead Inside.  We hadn't begun to write the Larxene Sequence.  Rar also didn't know all of my plot yet, as you'll soon see....

magik: honestly tho, i think xiggy would just sit in the back because "why would i want to interrupt a show like that?" {which got changed to:  "Snuck in quietly and didn't want to ruin the show.  Good show, by the way! Wouldn't interrupt that for the Worlds!"}
rar: that's good. and he probably would. (everyone would notice tho) also you're norting Sora???
magik: he could cloak himself.  idk about norting him yet
rar: oh you did say "to not or not vessel"
magik: maybe there's a way xigbar could mask the smell of darkness that lingers
rar: (I missed it) yeah maybe?? he'd probably have to... tho i think canon says the org cloaks help hide your "scent" in general but whether or not that's true
magik: darn Riku and his sense of smell
rar: yeah unfortunately i can't remember if--oh yeah it wouldn't work... he definitely says "you reek of darkness" to one of the Org members (i think Vexen ha) and they were wearing the cloak so... the cloak wouldn't do it
magik: he'd have to have a special cloak
rar: yeah
magik: or something like it... some sort of spell he bought off the blackmarket labelled with "protection" so it would end up blending with the ones that Aerith and Rinoa throw up

I realize now that Xigbar totally still managed to sneak in and see the wedding and no one noticed him.  Probably because everyone was too distracted.  But I was still in the planning stages at the time of this conversation.  I also will mention that at this point, I was still anticipating that the wedding would happen and then I'd nort Sora (assuming I norted Sora, which I did end up doing obviously).  Because the plan was: wedding, Xigbar fight, Xehanort fight where Sora gets Norted.  I changed it to Sora getting Norted beforehand, then six months later wedding, Xigbar warning, and Xehanort fight.

magik: Rinoa: "you're the bride, stahp!" Aerith: I'm not letting anything happen to my wedding!"
rar: yeah this could work
magik: but anyway... i think i like this idea

I'm actually gonna stop talking/ranting/reposting convos at the moment.  This post is getting long and I have more to say about the wedding that's gonna take more than one post apparently.  I'll come back tomorrow and post more, yeah?

Larxene Sequence (various chapters between 61 and 78)

The long-awaited Larxene Sequence post.  Ah yes.  The sequence that starts in Corona and ends in Deep Space.  And while I could have talked about it a little bit at a a time in the last two posts I did, I elected not to.

Gosh, I don't even know how long ago it was now.  A year, two? But rar was talking about a crack sequence where her Riku (the Riku Replica from KH canon) comes back to the original universe (mine circa pre-3D) to take revenge on Larxene.  I saw her talking about it on Tumblr and I was like... "so what were you planning on doing with that?"  And she told me and I said "well, how about we just make that canon"

And I'm so glad I did.

I integrated it into the rough outline for Remnants when I made the outline over a year ago.  About six months ago (maybe it was eight though, time gets screwy in my head because of how many states I've lived in this year) she and I sat down and really fleshed out what happens when.  This is terribly important because we're dealing with cross-universe travel where my universe runs on average three times faster.  Which is why we've got Larxene stuff going on in my universe so back-to-back but in hers there were a couple of chapters in between parts.

We elected to each write different POVs of the same things so that way they could be integrated into Remnants and All that Remains.  That way we weren't messing with Some Things You Can't Escape and still had coherent story arcs without making you guys jump between fics.

So it starts in Corona.  The Namine Replica and the other Kairi show up in my universe.  It's decided that Namine, Kairi, and Riku are going to go.  Ironically, that makes for two Kairis, two Namines, and two Rikus in the same scene.  But hey, it's amusing.  My Namine went because I wanted the two of them to interact and her going after him as he's trying to take revenge is much more poignant than her going to rescue him from Larxene.  (Heck, that might just be insult to injury.)  Riku went because of all the darkness floating around and he's the best one for the job.  And who doesn't love two powerousing Kairi's going around?

The counting scene between Namine and the Riku Replica came from another fanfic I read about their time in Castle Oblivion.  Though it's not touched on much in either rar's or my universe... their time sucked.  It sucked a lot.  He got rewritten, a lot.  They hid from Larxene... a lot.  They came up with tricks to fight through the pain--that's one of them.  

The action went into Riku's POV because I wanted a variance of POVs and I knew I wanted Namine for the aftermath.  And Kairi was responsible for the Corona POV.  So Riku got this bit.  But it worked well because then he could see what was going on between Namine and the Riku Replica and he's pretty invested because he's been through CO too.  Anyone who remembers CO is changed.  Heck, Sora's changed and he doesn't remember it.

I don't know why I write for Larxene so well.  But I do.  And I hate myself a little.  But at the same time I bounce up and down with excitement because yay writing!

She's so messed up from the darkness, too.  It's disgusting.

Then we get Namine arguing with the Namine Replica over who should be responsible for taking blows made for Riku.  And they can really only agree on "he shouldn't" .  Namine and the Riku Replica get to reconcile a bit.  Because, she's happy he's alive.  She's happy she didn't screw him up.  She's happy he's moved on, because she didn't return his affection.  (She knew it wasn't real and she didn't really have affection for anyone at that point.)  At the same time, she tells the Riku Replica that she's moved on from being afraid of Larxene--because if there's one thing that Namine's done, even since All the Pieces, it's get stronger and less afraid.  I'm so happy with her character development.  And this scene really encapsulates it.

Then comes the next chapter, which was stuff I knew had to be discussed, but rar and I decided that it didn't need to happen in front of the Riku Replica.  And this is the stuff about Namine and shattering.  And how she doesn't want to touch Larxene's memories.  At all.  She's messed with Xehanort's a bit, but she doesn't want to touch Larxene.  She doesn't want to relive any of that.  She doesn't want to see what happened to her and the Riku Replica through Larxene's eyes.  She doesn't want to put herself through that--and I. Don't. Blame. Her.

That whole thing started when rar and I were talking about who was actually going to kill Larxene.  Naturally, the idea of Namine shattering Larxene came up.  And neither Namine nor I liked the idea.  That is why.

The next chapter of this sequence is the Larxene POV chapter.  I don't really know why I decided to do that, but Larxene was presenting me with information, so I took it.  I took her anger, her crazy, her messed up mind, and I wrote a chapter out of it.  She's scared of a couple of things (her emotions included) and angry at everything else.  And she's going to take it out on the Riku Replica.  Because he started it.

Vexen's bit was great, too.  Because Vexen at first is just like "oh, I wasn't aware that we had any Larxene Replicas left" and Riku's like "that's the actual Larxene because I may have tried to murder her in cold blood."  But then Vexen gets a golden moment and gets to protect Riku and it's great.  Not that it was terribly effective--but he tried!

Then Vexen, Aerith, and Namine show up in my universe and take Axel, Roxas, and Xion with them to go save Riku from Larxene.  Axel literally just went because he wanted to mess with Vexen.  Because Axel's on his own side.  Yup.

Axel and Larxene opposing each other is a beautiful thing.  Because they have a history.  That whole CO thing.  Axel goes into his pattern of lazy defense.  And then he goes and forms his specialty of vertical dark corridors to allow Riku to fall through and right into his arms.  Because Axel's good at that sort of thing.  Oh man, and the whole "got it memorized" thing that he does to Aerith.  Golden.  Same with him saying that he should have killed Larxene back in CO.  Any of the times.  Because the last time, he just sent her to Atlantica.  And he's probably regretting that right about now.  But hey, it's time to finish her once and for all.

I have to admit, Roxas and Xion aren't necessarily out of their league, but they really don't know what to do with Larxene.  Neither of them know her all that well.  Not like Axel or Vexen who have histories with her.   Gosh.  The history between the three of them is rich.

"Stop throwing your ice where I'm throwing my fire and we won't have this problem."

Because they would.

Then comes the big reveal of Vexen.  I don't entirely remember why I wanted him to keep that secret.  Maybe so there could be a big reveal.  Maybe because Larxene might throw less hatred in his direction. But he kept it from her and then she got to realize through his caring about Riku who he was.  Fun times.

Larxene being distressed about potentially being an experiment of his is a glorious thing.

And then Vexen's the one to kill her.  Because rar and I decided that was appropriate.  But she talked about that on her blog, so I'll just leave it at that.

And for once, Axel doesn't take all the credit.  But he demands that Vexen thank him.  And Vexen thanks him without a second thought because Vexen is indeed helpful but "Don't make me say it again, Axel."  Because yeah.

Kay, I think I'm out of juice for this, but I did talk a lot.  I hope you enjoyed what is probably one of my top three sequences in this whole fic.

The World that Never Was (Chapters 18-24)

Darn, broke the 8 chapter an arc thing.  (It wasn't going to last anyway.)

The World That Never Was arc was to wrap up a few more things started in Betwixt and Between (and referenced in Can't Escape) that (again) didn't get finished.  Mostly it was the large amount of darkness that was running rampant around, and the fact that TWTNW also had a DCP running.  That Larxene managed to stop.  Go her.  Except, don't root for her.

pretty sure this is from the novelizations

Plus, I had to have somewhere that Larxene and Marluxia had been camping out that no one's noticed.  And they're still around and need to be dealt with.  Unlike Luxord and Demyx, who have basically turned good and can just continue doing what they're doing.

Organization XIII roll-call!
-Xemnas (Xehanort): Oh look, blasted little Remnants running around.
-Xigbar: Location unknown
-Xaldin: Deceased as of the Badlands in AtP by Sora's hand
-Vexen: MIA--currently running around rar's universe
-Lexaeus: Killed by Xehanort in Hollow Bastion when the Org had control of the castle
-Zexion (Ienzo): Running a shop in Hollow Bastion town
-Saix: Ruined by his own darkness (not helped by Xehanort's) at the end of AtP in Castle Oblivion
-Axel: With Roxas and Xion.  Get it memorized.
-Demyx (The Great Demetrius): Running around doing concerts on his sitar
-Luxord: He's Demyx's manager
-Marluxia: Causing trouble
-Larxene: Causing trouble
-Roxas: Does this even count?
-Xion: See above.

Meanwhile, Aqua, Terra, and Ven are trying to track down pieces of Xehanort's past.  Starting in Castle Oblivion clearly wasn't a bad idea.  Especially because Aqua at this point knows that it was once the Land of Departure and it's a pretty safe bet that even if I didn't write it in (I can't find it, but I'm also not looking terribly hard) that she told Terra and Ven that they're walking around their home.  Oh wait, she did.  Because Ven wouldn't be asking about their rooms otherwise.  This particular mission is them getting the remainder of the journals.  And then determining that they need to go to TWTNW because Terra thinks he can get into Xemnas' bedroom.

And them of course they run into a Remnant.  But the Remnant didn't bother them.  (This won't be the first time that the Remnant's like... eh, I'll bother you later.)  He wants to be ready to make a vessel.  And when he ran into the three of them, he really was just messing with them.  And trying to plant seeds of hopelessness.  Because those are important.

Besides, then he went to go and try and make a vessel out of Roxas.  Not that that worked.  Roxas was a little winded, but no major damage was done.  

from Advent Children Compete

Meanwhile, Cloud and Tifa are in Midgar, getting maintenance done on Cloud's bike.  I love the whole scene of Cloud and Tifa in the diner.  With Zack calling them and everything. And then they find Denzel.  Because I wanted so bad to include Denzel (I hinted to it in the Prequel.)  And I just love how Cloud and Tifa just pick Denzel up and are like "nope, keeping you."  I kind of modeled it after how Cloud finds Denzel in Advent Children, but obviously this isn't Aerith's church (Aerith doesn't really have a church in KH canon, the one in Traverse Town is probably the closest, but hey.)
Then we've got the journals.  In which Xigbar's journal is actually the most useful.  Because he's the one that remembers everything.  I believe that Xehanort's brain is a bit holey.  But Xehanort was really good at starting to make clones.  He was super successful with Xigbar and Saix--especially after Saix was marked as a recursant.

And then we get Cloud and Tifa returning to Hollow Bastion with Denzel and everyone being like "no one wants to call Aerith, so let's deal with this without her here because she needs a vacation gosh darnit"  But it's cool, they managed.  Plus, because it's mako-poisoning, Aerith actually has less experience with that because she didn't grow up anywhere near Shinra.  Cloud, Tifa, and Zack did.  Fun fact.

Things I'm super okay with:
-Xion flipping the lights on and off in the gummi ship to wake people up
-How everyone wakes everyone up in general
-Riku's fierce protectiveness of Namine regarding Larxene
-Xion knowing how to break into nearly everyone's rooms
-Demyx's door
-Finding Larxene's journal in a book about torture
-Roxas showing off against Neoshadows
-Xion and Roxas using each other's Keyblades periodically
-Axel saying that Xehanort was rude for going after Roxas' heart
-The FF7 Character's interactions with each other.
-Xigbar realizing that he's part Xehanort
-Saix's behavior after being marked as a recursant

Snippets here and there (ch68)

Chapter

Tumbl

So, like, I can’t say too much about any of these because ALL THE DARN SPOILERS.  You’ll find out in a couple of chapters.

But let me tell you, all the Heartless in Traverse Town is NOT A GOOD thing.

Meanwhile, Luxord has been found by the Organization and Vexen’s contemplating a Replica Program. 

But THIS PART.  I can say stuff about this:

Cloud is bothered by the great amounts of darkness in this world.  He can almost feel the darkness growing.  In addition to the darkness in the world growing, he can feel the darkness growing in his own heart.  He doesn’t want to say anything about it, though.  If it were just him and Zack, he’d say something, but he doesn’t want to worry Aerith, so he keeps quiet.  (Originally it was he didn’t know Aerith all that well, but then things changed, so it’s mostly that he just doesn’t want to worry her.)  Anyway, the darkness in the world continues to grow as they wander around.  Heartless begin appearing.  Zack and Cloud draw their swords and Aerith pulls out her staff to fight.  As they’re fighting, Cloud becomes in pain.  Zack assumes that something has hurt him, but this is not the case, Cloud is in pain because something inside of him is stirring.

BECAUSE I HAVE HAD MOST OF THAT PLOTTED OUT FOR FREAKING EVER.  Just WAIT until you see what happens NEXT.  *nods excitedly*

by Namineh on dA

And then, simply ending that there and doing a cute little snippet on Destiny Islands.  I try to do one of those periodically enough so that way you can tell how they’re growing up and whatnot.  And Riku totally has a crush on Kairi, but he knows Sora likes her too, so he doesn’t do anything, especially because Kairi doesn’t appear to like either over the other.  (There’s a part of me that wonders if he likes the Namine part of Kairi? But I really haven’t thought about that too much.)  Anyway….

Yeah, I think I’m gonna stop there before I end up giving away some awful spoiler.

Teaser Quotes:

“You’re the last person I expected to walk through that door.”

“Here.  Eat.”

“The spell works better against dark forces, I’ll admit.  But you’re getting the hang of it with just the furniture.”

“Tell me about where you’re from.  I always love to hear stories.”

“Ooh, that Maleficent is a horrible witch.”

Last Christmas Video guys, promise: (because I love the Piano Guys)

Vexen Feels (Can't Escape chapter 65)

Chapter

Rar's Tumblr Event Thing

I think we all kind of feel bad for Vexen.  I, at least, do.  The poor guy doesn't really have any friends anymore (they're all mostly dead), he doesn't see eye-to-eye with Ienzo anymore, he's staying in another universe because he's afraid of his past (namely Xehanort-who isn't even around anymore) coming to haunt him.  But in that other universe, he's hardly allowed permissions for anything, he's not particularly good for anything, but he cares about Riku, and by extent Namine, and he just wants the best for them though he's terribad at showing it.

by halfdemondog on dA

However, Vexen with goggles is a thing I like.  (See the picture).  Idk, I saw it and I liked it.  Plus, in my
head, Vexen wears glasses now.  It's a thing.

But we did get a lot of character development out of Vexen and Riku.  Mostly with Vexen being reminded that Riku is not an experiment and he should be notified if Vexen is going to use him for an experiment.  It's clicked in Vexen's head now, especially after that whole stint with Xemnas.

Meanwhile, Namine's just having a meltdown and Riku's got a massive headache for it.  It totally has everything to do with their connection.

And, Vexen had a dumb and took them to the wrong Castle Oblivion, probably sending my Vexen Replicas panicking about their security (only to stop panicking when they figured out who it was.)  They probably figured if it was anything important, Master Vexen would let them know.  And since he left again, they'll leave him to his business.  (Heh, I actually didn't account for the three of them being in CO, it just like, did not occur to me until just now... but that's totally how that would have gone down.  Had they tried to interrupt Vexen and Riku, Riku would have just left...)

And, I have absolutely no notes on this chapter, so I think I'm just gonna wrap this blog up here.

Have a video!

Namine... you didn't want to do that (Can't Escape ch64)

Chapter Link

Rar made fun of me for revealing all of Vexen's passwords.  To which Xion says:

His passwords all have the word 'replica' in them.  Except the once that was 'scienceiscoolxiii.'  Vexen can just hush about that one, okay?


Sometimes, I think I have too much fun with talk sprites.

Anyway, first of all, my Namine was totally thrown for a loop when Riku showed up.  Like, we all know Riku practically had a panic attack, but it basically fried her brain, too, note how she's being super slow? I don't even remember intentionally planning that.  But this is Namine.  And Namine does things like that.

Additioanlly, she can nearly vicariously have a meltdown if she pries into Riku's memories too hard.  Like, Namine, you know that's going to hurt... she could have pried farther, but I made her stop because that's a headache (for both her and me) that I don't want to deal with.

So this conversation happened:
magik: no swearing, sheesh
rar: sorry? who's doing it?
namine: unstable memories...
repliku: no shit, sherlock
rar: ...
rar: OMG NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING

by forbidden siren

And, apparently, that conversation where Namine offers to fix Namine's meltdowns did actually happen
(how did I forget?!?!?) it just happened here instead of two chapters ago.  But instead of Riku having a panic attack when she mentions it, he actually goes and considers the possibility.  Like, wut? Charries, you ok?

And, I know that the picture there is totally NaminexRepliku, but I just... the picture is so good... and... I have to share... yeah.

Also, another random conversation that I feel like sharing:
rar: QUICK NAME ME A WORLD THAT ISN'T HALLOWEENTOWN BUT THAT ROXAS WOULD GO TO
magik: AGRABAH
rar: OKAY THEN I GUESS THAT WORKS
magik: CHINA
rar: ... we literally just had the same thought process here
magik: lol
magik: hawaii?
rar: like I was like "not halloween town ... agrabah!"
rar: "I don't like agrabah... CHINA!"
rar: yeah
rar: idk
magik: lol
magik: Xion is having none of your crap, Vexen.

Kay.  Yeah.  Have a video now.

WHAT IS THIS IS IT THE CROSSOVER? (Can't Escape ch62)

Chapter

Why yes.  Yes it is.

This is the epic crossover you've all been waiting for? (Well, one of them at least.  I think ya'll were pretty excited to see Sora and Sora, too.  But Riku and Riku was always going to happen first.)

Rar and I have had this planned since... oh... Probably since AtP, about when rar was finishing up FtP and moving into Dead Inside.  We even had it written.

Except, reading through it, we realized that we had to rewrite it.  Basically entirely.

Things that stayed the same:

by Maulsypaulsy

Vexen dragging Riku to the other universe
Riku landing face-first in the sand
Namine being the first one to see him
The cast of characters
General chit-chat about recent happenings

Things that changed:
Everything else.

See, originally, before Dead Inside turned into the huge thing that it turned into, Sora and Kairi's plotlines were significantly less... erm... expansive.  (This is the short version.)  From my understanding, Sora had some trouble with the darkness, but nothing on the level of Shad, because Shad didn't exist yet, and Dead Inside actually took place in a lot shorter of a timespan, which meant that Kairi never actually left the Islands.  This made the Riku Replica super confused when he saw Sora and Kairi BOTH on the Islands.  (I may post the original scene when we're clear of spoilers.)

Repliku was also cockier and the meltdowns were still a relatively new thing.  As in, Vexen didn't even know they existed.  And Repliku was having a conniption about them because no progress had been made (which of course had to change because of the recent experiments.) I think we were also having trouble with Namine continuing to offer to help and he kept saying no.  There was also a whole thing where they got on a tangent about Replicas being their own people (we were on a Days kick) and we were having feels about Repliku being worried that his Namine would be worried that she was a Replica and not a "real" person.  That got cut because people's focuses changed.

Plus, we had to change some of the conversation, because things we projected would happen and things that actually happen do end up being two different things.  And, some things had to get cut because at the time we first wrote the crossover, we hadn't planned on Joseph and Axel being frequenters of the other universes.  And, since Can't Escape became a huge thing, we didn't have to cover a lot of the mechanics.  The people in my universe know about where Sora and Kairi in rar's universe are, because they keep running into each other.  Plus, Axel ran into Repliku recently.

Yeah, it was a whole big thing.

And, about the time when we were going to rewrite it, Namine was dumping loads of feels on me of things that she wanted to say to Repliku.  Which is where the first half of the chapter as it currently stands comes from.  The second half being a brief sum-up of the parts of the story that my characters don't know.

And, I think that's all I'm going to say.  There are more chapters on this to be posted, and I don't want to discuss everything to death just yet!

I think I'll do review responses for this whole sequence once I'm done posting :P

And... I think this is an appropriate video; Also, it's amusing:

On Vexen’s Odd Fatherly Relationship with Riku

So, Vexen (my Vexen) has an odd fatherly relationship with Riku (rar's Riku).  It's true, he does.  If you haven't noticed it, let me know, because that means me and rar aren't doing a good enough job.

Why does he have an odd fatherly relationship with Riku? Well, Riku was the first successful replica (sorry, Xion) that wasn't him.  Xion was sadly unstable and he barely got time to interact with her before getting shipped off to CO and then dying.  So! Riku's this great success to him.  He was made in a matter of hours (or at least overnight) and showed great potential on many levels.  Kinda like the son he never had or something.  The other Vexen Replicas are just comrades and whatnot. 

Do you get where I'm going with this?

Vexen is destroyed.  He comes back as a Somebody, hates his job and goes to a parallel universe as soon as he realizes that HIS Riku is there.  This is, in part, being interested in Riku, and everything else his want to get away from Xehanort. 

He ends up in rar's CO right before the Rebellion begins.  And he has been bugging Riku ever since.  He constantly follows Riku around, doing research on him, which is just standard Vexen behavior.  But then there are the times when he genuinely shows worry for Riku.  He worries over Riku's headaches when Namine has meltdowns.  He tries to figure out the relationship between Riku and Namine like just about any father would any son with a potential girlfriend.  He tries to understand what happened to Riku to change him.  He tries to get Riku to listen to him.  He hates Larxene (and all the Larxene Replicas) for what they've done to Riku.  He gets freakishly proud of Riku when Riku succeeds at something.  (Though this one might just be a creator thing, not a fatherly thing).  He wants to protect Riku (this one isn’t shown very well, because Riku does a good job of protecting himself, but the feelings are still there for Vexen) He freaks out over Riku's injuries...

The list goes on.

Some of this is in the name of scholarly research, some of it he disguises as fatherly research, and some of it is just plain him being fatherly. 

So, yeah, we've got an odd fatherly relationship going on.  Riku hates every minute of it.  Vexen chooses to ignore Riku's hate.

So, Vexen has the capacity to be compassionate.  Awesome.  He's also like an uncle to Joseph, as Joseph just so kindly informed me.  Vexen’s also quite nice to Toby, and very kind to Namine.  (We are NOT going to talk about Vexen and Namine’s relationship, it’s a completely different thing.) 

As for Xion, well, spoilers.  Sorry. 

Heheh, funny story.  So, the other night, Rar suggested that Vexen was the actual Riku's father (at least, as far as my canon goes.)  Riku's father left.  Vexen could have easily left Destiny Islands to go study under Ansem the Wise.  Oh, I'll just quote her, it'll be easier than trying to sum it up:

but wouldn't it be weird if Vexen (Even) was Riku's father (not suggesting that he IS, but it would be interesting...) I mean, it would make sense. He's in Hollow Bastion (Radiant Garden) WHY!? Probably to study under Ansem the Wise. Which, if he grew up on Destiny Islands, I wouldn't blame him for leaving. He would have been bored out of his mind!

it would explain why he's so interested in Riku in RR

and possibly why he bothers to Replicate him

and, by extension, why he insists on acting like Repliku's father at times...

Yeah.  It's merely a thought.  I don't think I'll actually go with it.  Besides, where did Riku get his hair from then? :P

They Were Once Organization XIII

And now quite a few of them are dead.  Or in parallel universes.  Or in exile. 

Vexen: He's in a parallel universe now.  He got out before Xehanort could either A) Make him make more Replicas or B) Kill him. 

"How easy is it to corridor between the different universes?" --Aaand, Onto Another Universe

Lexaeus: Killed in Hollow Bastion Castle. He was an unfortunate victim of Xehanort.  He was captured and the Xehanort drove a blade through him. *mutters bad words about Xehanort*

"I did not go down without a fight." --A Date With Fate

Zexion: He's alive.  Xigbar didn't have the heart to kill him.  He let Zexion go, claiming he couldn't shoot the boy "Ienzo."  He now owns a bookshop in Hollow Bastion.

"Ienzo, I go by Ienzo now." –A Forgotten Remnant

Xaldin: Killed in the Keyblade Graveyard/Badlands.  Riku shoved one of his own lances through his gut and Sora landed a finisher on his head.

"Such use of power will easily backfire here." --Old Friends, Old Rivals

Marluxia: Unfortunately still alive.  He'll probably come back and cause trouble later.  However, Axel's sent him someplace unpleasant in the meantime.

"So quick to anger..." –Up Down Adventure

Larxene: Also unfortunately still alive.  She will come back and cause trouble later. But, before she does, she's got to get away from all the water.

"I am going to pick you off one-by-one!” –Larxene the Ruthless

Xigbar: Still alive.  Roxas probably would have killed him if he'd stayed around, but he didn't.  He'll be back to cause trouble later.

"I gonna take a rain-check on this battle.  See ya, Kiddo!"  --Final Match

Saix: Killed in Castle Oblivion.  He tried to kill Xehanort with darkness but failed.  The darkness backfired on him and he was consumed. 

"Remember me as I was, before I messed up." --Final Match

Xehanort: Killed in Castle Oblivion by way of 8 Keyblades full of light as well as an additional light-attack from Namine for good measure. 

"Four masters in one place... all fighting for the same side..."  --Final Match

Demyx (Now Demetrius): Alive and well, started his own band and travels around with Luxord as his business manager. 

"Come one, come all, come see the amazing Demetrius!" --Fantasia alla Marcia

Luxord: Also alive and well.  He travels around with Demy as his business manager.  But he is always up for a good game of cards.

"Perhaps a game of cards?" --Fantasia alla marcia

Axel: Well, I'd hope he's still alive.  He's got a few more battle scars thanks to Saix, but he's alive.  *SPOILERS* He'll stay alive.

"You don’t want to fight me, I’m not worth the effort.” –Struggle Away

Roxas: He's quite alive and quite happy.  It's his new mission to go out to the worlds and keep the balance of light and darkness, and become a Keyblade master while he's at it.

"Maybe me and Xion still want to do a bonfire!" –Friends Forever

Xion: She, like Roxas and Axel, is also still alive.  She's going to stick by her friends forever if she has any say about it.  Her new mission is to achieve the rank of Master.

"Shh, I like using magic." –Friends Forever

On the Many Vexen Replicas

“He [Vexen] had a habit of testing out replica programs on himself, repeatedly.” –Axel, Squirming Evil

The idea for the many, many Vexen Replicas came from two places.  First, it came from the KH Mangas, both the CoM one and the KH2 one, though they are featured more heavily in the CoM one.  Secondly, it came from rarmaster, who has practically an entire storyline based off of them.  Well, replicas in general, not just Vexen. 

But anyway, so why am I doing a post for the Vexen Replicas?

Well, why the heck not?

Vexen is, currently, in another universe (rarmaster's).  He’s actually become quite the pivotal role.  And this is OUTSIDE of simply freaking out when Riku gets injured. 

The first order of Vexen Replicas (that my Vexen created) were the ones that existed in Castle Oblivion during the events of CoM.  Out of the 42 of them, 25 of them are dead/discontinued/disabled by some means.  Xigbar killed a good 7 or 8, random bit of trivia for you.  42, 34, and 27 (aka, the only ones that you should actually remember (though, 18's pretty cool, too)) are in CO, basically running the place (or just living there while it runs itself, however you wanna look at it.)  The 15 that remain are wandering about the worlds somewhere and our heroes may run into them at some point in time.  Some of them are in worlds with Princesses as an extra layer of protection for them.

Of the new order Replicas, 19 of them are still out and about.  (Pi is specifically still in Hollow Bastion, because I think it is his new mission to bother Ienzo or something, idk quite yet.  He’s just… helping with the shop…)  The other 5 were killed by Xaldin when he rampaged Hollow Bastion.  Gamma, Rho, Tau and Epsilon were all killed in the rampage.  Omega was the Replica left in Vexen’s stead and was naturally killed when Xaldin found out that he was a Replica and not actually Vexen.  I have a database with all of mine and rarmaster's replicas labeled and whatnot if anyone wants to see.  I mean, it's not entirely accurate on rarmaster's account, because some Replicas (most of them Larxene) just get killed and we don't have a number or a letter to attach to them yet.  But still, I have a database. 

Now, enjoy Repliku being bothered by Vexens.  I think it's fitting.