ATR ch57 - this was supposed to be other things but ended up being a NamiKai

I wanna keep this short because it's getting late and cutting into my writing time, so, I'm not going to go hunt down potential update things or, uh, anything. Just take these two off the top of my head.


- I translated chapters 64 and 65 of the KH2 manga, which, as far as I'm aware, don't have English translations online anywhere otherwise! You should check 'em out because I spent a long time on them but also because these chapters are super good.

- I made a post about Twilight Princess HD - It's coming out in less than a month (three days before my bday!!) and I'm soooooooo excited! So, I did a post on it, which largely just covers what's new, and, uh, one particular thing I'm kinda mad about. Lmao.


KAIRI'S DANCE MIX

Kairi's dance mix from rarmaster on 8tracks Radio.

"rar why the eff does Kairi have a?? how is this???? huh??" WELL ASSUMING YOU'VE READ THE CHAPTER, this will make a lot of sense! Oh, though, I did mention it in a post on here a bit ago....

Anyhoo! Kairi has a dance mix which, technically, is hers and Sora's but, I relate the mix most ultimately to her. It's a CD she and Sora put together and spent an entire summer perfecting, making it the perfect blend of upbeat and happy songs for non-stop feel-good vibes, and also, the best mix for dancing.

That's important.


~ Chapter! ~

Read it here!

Tumblr tag here! (lots of yellin about NamiKai, check it out!)

I decided on doing this chapter last minute, and meant to just tag somewhere around 700 words to the beginning of the next scene, but then I kept writing and it kept getting longer. I was thinking about NamiKai again and how they deserved better in Dead Inside how I rarely acknowledged their relationship EXISTED and then went "okay maybe they should have a scene here in ATR. Like, I dunno, them dancing. I've always wanted to write them dancing." AND THEN IT TURNED INTO THIS, LONG THING, but that's fine.

That's fine.

I'm actually super happy with it and I'm glad I went with it! Not only is it good NamiKai stuff, it also forwards a lot of smaller plot stuff as well (mentioning Riku's in CO, Kairi on Kano feelings, the research, Kairi's dreams, Namine's plotline.....)

IT'S GOOD

I waffled so hard on whether or not they should be listening to music but!!! HECK IT!!!!!!!! IT’S 2012 THEIR TIME!!!! IT’S NOT LIKE MUSIC DOESN’T EXIST!!!!!!!! SURE, DESTINY ISLANDS IS BEHIND A FEW YEARS WHEN IT COMES TO TECHNOLOGY BUT STILL!!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!! IT’S BEEN FIVE YEARS OF FTPVERSE I’M SO TIRED OF NOT MENTIONING MUSIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’VE HELD BACK FOR TOO LONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also CD players are still A Thing. How they managed to get a CD full of a bunch of different songs, I, uh, dunno (I think Kairi’s dad has a computer though, and, c’mon. mp3 pirating had to be a thing even back in 2009). 

It’s weird in an age when we have phones and laptops that can play music for us, but currently, Kairi doesn't have either of those!!! She doesn’t even have a heckin cell phone of any sort, like, of the flip-phone or not-a-smart-phone kind, so, lmao.

< -- I imagine Kairi's CD player looks like this one!!

Initially I'd pictured it as one of the bulkier rectangle ones with detachable speakers (prob because, that's what I still own) but after sleeping on it multiple nights I definitely feel this one is much more Kairi, plus, it's more portable, yanno. Yanno.

I kept trying to bring up Kairi's mom but it kept coming off really forced!! (It was largely just gonna be "btw I finally heckin asked my dad about her", so, nothing, major.) I still feel super bad cutting it but as much as I'd love to pursue this plotline I have a lot of other things going on in ATR already. I know a single throwaway line wouldn't have added much but I couldn't!! It kept!!!! It kept stopping me because it felt like I was trying too hard to force it. Hopefully I can make it come up later! We'll see.

I was going to listen to Kairi’s dance mix for the entirety of writing this but as it became more about heavy stuff that proved to be a bad idea. Back to the classic broken ones part 2 mix, which I also listened to on repeat while writing ch52, Kairi comforting Riku, lmao.

(actually, that’s a slight lie: I gathered the songs I have jotted down for an ATR Namine mix and listened to those on repeat for a bit!!! But, there’s only like five of them, so it was back to broken ones part 2 before long!))

Having Kairi say “you’re my best friend” instead of “you’re ONE OF my best friends” is really messing me up, but I feel like the one of would’ve really detracted from this moment!!! It’s about namikai!!!!!!!!!!! IF I DIDN’T HAVE TO SPECIFY THIS LOVE IS NON-ROMANTIC I WOULD’VE LEFT IT OUT ENTIRELY BUT WE STILL CURRENTLY LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE THE CONCEPT FRIEND LOVE BASICALLY DOESN’T EXIST AND ANY ITERATION OF THE WORD LOVE IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE INTERPRETED AS ROMANTIC!!

Best Friend by Foster the People is the song I first planned them dancing to, and, is probably what they actually are dancing too, though, Riptide (Vance Joy) is a close second runner up, (Shut Up and Dance being the third runner up.)

I’m partial to Best Friend largely because of the lyrics “when your best friend’s all strung out / you’ll do everything you can, cause you’re never gonna let it get ‘em down” and, idk, that fits well with what this moment is, with what this dance means

This dance is two friends just, having fun, but, it’s also Kairi not sure how the fuck to deal with what Namine’s feeling, because, the emotions boiling in Namine’s gut are something Kairi will probably never understand and she’s never been, great, emotional support anyway, and

What Namine really needs is sometime to forget about those worries. Working through them is good, but, sometimes you can't do that, sometimes you can't rush that, so it's better to just... forget about them for a bit. Keep them from bugging you, take a breather, do something else to get your mind off of your worries so they don't constantly press on you and drive you mad.

So, they dance.

((This is why they dance while Sora and Riku are gone too!! to cope with the heavy feelings of loss and sadness and anger burning in their chests!! I added that in DIch2 when I rewrote it, which, uh, got posted before this but OH WELL))

And, yanno, Best Friend is thematic because it’s Kairi not wanting Namine’s life to be ruined by a bad mood, this whole hanging out with her business is to help lift her spirits, and, best friend, best friend, best friend is what they danced to first it's what they always dance to first it became Their Song alright. fight me.

THAT'S IT!

Overall I super love this chapter, I super love NamiKai, and, I love, dances. Dancing. This. All of this.