I totally got distracted... (commentary on ch128)

what? Artwork? Where's the video?

Heheh, I don't have any good RokuShi vids, and I just found a bunch of RokuShi artwork.

Anyway, this artwork is done by semoken on deviantART.

Other things of theirs that you NEED to look at?

http://semokan.deviantart.com/art/I-Finally-Found-You-171278501
THIS ONE DEFINITELY!!! (it's the one that took me to their gallery, and I realized OHMYGOSH YOU'VE DONE A LOT OF ROKUSHI STUFF, and stuff I'd seen before, too)

http://semokan.deviantart.com/art/The-Trio-Talk-about-KH-HD1-5Remix-328374866?q=gallery%3Asemokan%2F4622273&qo=0
IS HILARIOUS!

http://semokan.deviantart.com/art/The-Hurt-Deep-Inside-299811539?q=gallery%3Asemokan%2F4622251&qo=9

http://semokan.deviantart.com/art/Day-24-125326941?q=gallery%3Asemokan%2F4622273&qo=29

and, you know what, just check out their entire gallery. Dead serious. They've got RokuShi art galore, and other great KH stuff, too.
http://semokan.deviantart.com/gallery/

NOW! TO THE CHAPTER!!! *cue dramatic music*

I got sidetracked by the DAAYYS stuff. (I really need to replay Days... I really need to replay Days...)

Oh, what the hey, here's the video I was watching that lead me to the picture that lead me to semokan's gallery http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5beYlrX1Kbs

Not embedded to save room. WARNING! Minor KH3D spoilers afoot in that vid. Nothing major. I need to play this game... (and it's probably not spoilers for you all, because I bet most of you have played KH3D by now. I just lack a 3DS *sniffle*)

NOW TO THE CHAPTER!!! *cue dramatic music again*

Apologies profusely for it's lateness, I've been trying to wait til I'm done with this sequence, but Riku's been STALLING.
*glare*
jk, I'm not mad at him. He's got good reason to stall.

As to what the chapter said about my hiatus, well, I don't feel any need to restate it. I think I explained it adequately enough in the author's note.

Speaking of adequately, here's the original rant that I condensed a freaking ton before sticking it in the author's note

HEY! This is slightly random, but REALLY important. If you ever think that there is something going wrong with the way I’m writing things – as in I haven’t explained something enough, or I’m spending too much time on one thing and not enough on another – LET ME KNOW IMMEDIATELY! Please. This is the glory of fanfiction and publishing as you go: you can use fan ideas to make your work better. Yes, me expanding on things will add even MORE crap to this already FREAKISHLY long story, but we’ve hit the point where it’s going to be long no matter what (technically, we hit that point 150 pages ago when I was covering Toby’s introduction and not THAT) and I think we’ll all agree that, in this case, we should throw brevity out the window for quality’s sake. I mean, this thing, with covering stuff to the least amount possible will still take about 50 chapters to finish. What’s ten more to properly go into some plot line and adequately explain/explore it? I am dead serious about this. I don’t want any of you to be disappointed with how this ends due to failure on my part to explore an idea thoroughly enough. I’d rather none of you were disappointed at all, but I’m sure that’s nearly impossible to achieve, and I will not go out of my way to include special things just for you (like shipping a set of characters (though I might take minor pairings) or making any radical changes to the story). If you want something included, though, let me know and I’ll see what I can do (just ask Cookie! He suggested an idea that I actually really liked and worked in. Your idea might be next! (note: please imagine that last statement in an advertisement-like voice) And, please do not ask Cookie what he suggested, and Cookie don't tell them what you suggested, because that's SPOILERS)

Anyway, I know that was a long paragraph, so here’s a quick recap: let me know if I’m leaving an idea inadequately explored, please, so that I may fix the issue. Also, feel free to suggest an idea (whether it be plot-arc or scene) that you’d like worked in, and I’ll see what I can do. No promises, but you’ll be surprised on what I’m willing to work in.

Wondering where the crap that came from? Well, I was reading some review on the Legend of Korra, and the person, though they loved the series, thought there were parts of the story that just... didn't make sense. Or weren't explained enough. And as I thought about it, I realized that they were right.
It was about then that it became VERY clear to me that I did NOT want that to happen with my story.

Also, this rant is NOT permission to bash or tell me that you're upset that the story's taking too long. Bashing is rude, and I am well aware of the fact that this story is taking FOREVER! But if I left it at what it was originally, there would DEFINITELY be stuff I didn't cover, and it's not like I could just end the story now--

Well, I could end the story now, pero... no quiero porque sera muy muy mal. (That was Spanish for "I don't want to because it'd be very very bad". I think. I might have the wrong verb... I forget what future tense "to be" is, and in this case I might need to use "estar" and not "ser". My Spanish isn't perfect.)

anyway.

ON TO THE STORY!! for real this time. *cue dramatic music again again*

The chapter title for this chapter comes from the last spoken line. It became the chapter name because it's what I sent it under to both magik and KKBeckett (who betas for me, in case you hadn't caught that yet, I've only mentioned it never consistently)

OH HEY! I still need to post Riku's updated dark mode. Probably tomorrow. I'm so procrastinating right now and don't need more reason to do so.

is that bad? I write "Riku ignored her (Namine)" and the first thing I think is "oh there must be something wrong..."

Okay, he's in pain. I thought he was just angry. (Ignoring Namine because of pain is understandable - ignoring her because he's angry means he's absolutely pissed, and I know he's not absolutely pissed right now...)

If this was a video game or something, the screen would be going all glitchy to further get the "darkness screwing with data" point across... (Wow, I wrote this forever ago - I was still working through the dot Hack games...)

section where I yell at people:

"Now, now, Riku, you aren't Haseo" (See? dot Hack)

"RIKU! That is Sora's line! Don't you DARE steal it from him!!"
(No, I won't tell you what the line is. Dont ask)

"Namine, you are not Atoli!" (No offense, Atoli, but you are much more soft-spoken than Namine, so her pulling from you is a BAD thing)

The darkness brings out the cruel side of Riku. Surprised he has a cruel side? Well, I don't think you could be raised by the Organization (or Xehanort, in Vanitas's case, but that's a separate issue) and NOT have one. Especially not if Larxene (or, again, Xehanort) was involved, because at that point the cruelty is a self-defense.

Yeah... I just killed that poor Lexaeus Replica. I wish it could've been a Larxene, I've got 15 of those to get rid of. However, I couldn't have a Larxene there -- they've been forbidden to go to CO, remember? (L exempt, and there will be some other exceptions later)

Anyway, yeah, I supposed I didn't HAVE to kill the Lexaeus Replica, but I wanted to make a point of how cruel Riku can get at times...

And, I suppose Namine could've stopped him from doing so, but I think she was a bit too shocked to realize what was going before it was too late. *shrug.*

Really? I made a note of wondering what was going through 37's head here, and then commented I might want to write this scene from his POV for the heck of it. I don't think I have time...

Okay, so, I suppose this would be something I'd address in that "Riku's Darkness" post, if I ever got around to actually doing a post on that. Since I probably won't...

I've always wanted to explore the darkness as a weapon, but I don't have a character (besides Shad, who doesn't fight frequently) who can use it freely. Sora's my only character close to the darkness (again, besides Shad) and he can't use it as a weapon because it's detrimental to his heart. Riku, while yes, is programmed to use darkness -- I've made it clear (at least in my head, if not on paper) that because he's data, he can only use dark attacks that he was programmed to use. That doesn't leave me much room to explore darkness as a weapon.
So... cue Riku being super-infused with darkness. Yes, purely so he could have some epic powers. Got a problem with that? Heh. Played a video game recently? Characters get power-ups left and right without notice by their party members and there's often few consequences (Kingdom Hearts being an exception; it does a pretty fair job of keeping the entire party balanced with awesome powers, and Drive forms ARE "detrimental" if you take anti-form into account)
Anyway, it's not like the super-infused darkness thing isn't just a completely non-detrimental power-up, either. Riku's still going to have some issues -- darkness and data are NEVER a good mix -- but you know how Riku is. Physical pain means nothing to him, so he can ignore the issues that the darkness cause him.

And on another note, this whole "super-infused with darkness" thing has become pivotal to the plot of book 5.

Okay, so, I hate writing things that require a lot of hand movement -- Riku manipulating darkness in this chapter, or Shad's "puppetmaster" technique -- because it's impossibly to convey movement on paper without getting too wordy. I mean, I can relate Shad's puppetmaster thing to pulling strings (on a puppet), but when it comes to manipulating darkness (which is much like bending elements in Avatar) it's near impossible to make it work.

So, I was acting out the movements for what Riku's doing to get a better idea of how I was supposed to write it, and apparently he manipulates darkness with his left hand. I mean, that makes sense: if he's got a blade in his right hand, his left hand is the only one free to manipulate darkness.
Then I tried to think of which hand Shad uses, but came to the conclusion that he switches between right and left hand depending on the context of his situation. For battle, if he's got his Keyblade summoned, he'd use his left hand. If he's got his chains summoned, right hand. If he's got both, he'd drop the chains (more sensible thing to drop) and use his left hand. If he's got neither... *shrug* at that point it doesn't matter.

"Why didn't you attack 37 first?"
"I was aiming for him. I missed."

oh look, more yelling at Riku:
"Riku, stop it! You can't be harsh to Namine -- it contradicts your character. AND YOU ARE NOT HASEO!!"

I'm not entirely proud of how Q ended up explaining everything. See, the problem is, the only thing I've ever gotten from her about this conversation prior to writing it is a lot of complaining about L. I'm pretty sure I know what she wanted to say, but it only flowed if she was ranting. So... cue what ended up happening...

"a voice in the back of Riku's head" isn't anything special. It's a phrase that Diane Duane uses in a lot of her books, and only means Riku's talking to himself. However, I should probably not make a habit of using the phrase, as I typically use "voice" to imply a person separate to the one who's thinking. (Though, we could argue this is someone else -- the side of Riku that embraces his past rather than runs from it)

"Namine, shut up, this isn't your POV!"

Q's a lot less fun to write from Riku's POV...

Oh, crap, Snapdragon should've been over here somewhere.
Hmm... maybe people have just sort of left them all alone because they know Riku and Larxene is a bad combination and don't want to be near it. Of course, Amaryllis stays because he and Q are a thing, 2 stayed because he thought he could be useful, Joseph stayed because he's Joseph, Toby stayed because Joseph stayed, and Namine's not going to leave Riku's side any time soon.

lol, what the crap? Why'd I write that down? lemme see if I can find the thing that made me think that...

Ah, no puedo encontrarlo.
I can't find it.
But, apparently something about this chapter (I can think of a few possible things, but nothing specific) made me think "Quick! He's doing something nice! Trip him from behind!"
If you've watched Wizards of Waverly place, you'll get the reference. If you haven't... eh
OH WAIT! NOW I FOUND IT!
"The moment you start believing that is the moment one of them trips you from behind"

When I use "Larxene" (In Riku's long thought process and at other times) it's almost plural.

How many times have I said "don't antagonize the people that are going to hurt you?"
*Sigh* he never listens.

Heh, "stupid revenge" is exactly what she called it. Or was it precious. Crud... *doesn't remember*

HEY LOOK! Book 5 foreshadowing!!

And, yeah, I know you probably all saw the end of this chapter coming a mile away. I don't care. It was necessary. This whole sequence was started just for that. Dead serious.

Random trivia: It's not that Toby has any problem catching and absorbing and controlling the lightning. He just has a set limit of how much energy he can hold as a defense mechanism to avoid him frying his data. The defense mechanism -- unless he's consciously overriding it -- releases enough energy to balance everything out once that limit has been reached.

Oh, that's bitter "though he seemed to be feeling pain just fine"
Bitter thought. Read it bitterly.

AND HEY LOOK! It's the scene that I use over and over and over again, since it's the only memory I've written involving Riku being electrocuted.

Anyhoo, I've got a lot of original drafts of this sequence I'll have to put into an extra chapter for you guys. No clue when I'll get around to doing it, but keep an eye on ASAS.

That's about it. Feel free to comment, as always.