#I didn't read the re:code

[yurashu]

my slymizu sketches that I wrote back in march, but decided to post only now. uhhhh.

1. sly hates mizuki. sly thinks he hates mizuki. hates his disgusting laugh, his disgusting eyes wich always look at him so brightly. sly hates searching for mizuki among the crowdy streets. in the end, sly hates himself. hates that he is just an alter. sly hates that he loves mizuki. and hates that mizuki will never love him back

2. ok but let's do it this way. what if aoba get together with somebody from the maun cast))))))) but sly has feeling for mizuki))))) sly can't stand aoba being with someone else. he likes mizuki. and he knows mizuki has some kind of feelings towards aoba. but sly can't bring any harm to aoba and his happy relationships. so he want to disappear every time he sees mizuki

3. sly knows mizuki has some feelings towards aoba and like to tease him for this. but sly gets too carried away and doesn't notice how a) fell in love himself and b) his teasing went too far and now he's kissing mizuki and almost pulling his pants off

4. sly hates bottoming cuz he feels too vulnerable. so if slymizu had sex sly tried to be more dominant untill mizuki decided to jerk him off and sly just melted because of aoba's sensitive body. after all if mizuki gets the opportunity to top sly always makes the most dissatisfied face (or at least he tries to) ana mumbles something like mizuki you are such a loser when it comes to sex (sly actually really enjoyed this)

5.1. let's say sly finally encourages himself to tell mizuki that he's not actually "aoba" and. bro the one who was making out with you all along was me. i think it'll be the moment when sly actually was worried.

mizuki listened to all this clearly shocked and like. this means aobe does not like me...?

sly meantally curses (lovingly) aoba for what mizuki is saying rn abot him and wants mizuki to saw him. mizuki continues:"but it seems you like me?". sly honestly wants to punch him. he did. actually.

mizuki says he need some time to think, look through his memories and he can't really accept it all now. sly didn't expect any of this and even so he tries to look indifferent, his eyes sparkles cuz mizuki thought about it.

- we also need to discuss our relationships

- i didn't even reciprocate u yet??

- and? u better think faster before i change my mind

- u are impatient one yeah...

- shut up mizuki.

5.2. i imagine how mizuki meeting aoba and asking "is it u or sly now?"

aoba's just standing there like what. mizuki tells him everything and aoba's just like:

- so he's in love with u?

- well. sorta.

- and u want to date him?

- welllll i thought about it.....

- mizuki. what the actual fuck.

5.3. when mizuki told sly he like him sly said "of course you like me 🙄" but actually he was trying his best not to cry in front of this jerk named mizuki

6.even after slymizu started dating sly was still acting like an asshole he is but now more loving. and even sometimes worries wouldn't mizuki be offend at him like he souldn't but what if. as for mizuki he's completely okay with all this cuz he's already lerned all sly's behaviour and he fell in love with him for his fuckass teasing

7. one day sly decided to test mizuki and act like aoba during all the day. later mizuki blurted "why are u trying to act like aoba?" and sly just look at him. he's kind of happy but on the other side how did he understood. and mizuki is just like "ur ears got a little redder when i accidentally touched ur hand" sly never felt himself so stupid before......

[sysig]

It started with a whisper ♥ (Patreon)

[chainrave]

I’m legitimately sorry but every time I read your url I accidentally read it like Brain Rave by Your Favorite Martian

i can honestly say i have not thought about ray william johnson in over a decade and i'm kinda mad at you for breaking that streak cos now i'm going to be thinking about that stupid doin your mom song for the rest of the day

also in case anyone didn't know chain rave is an attack command from re:coded which literally no one actually played

[cyanremalia]

1, 2, and 13 for general KH asks! :)

allllrighty then!! 1. How did you get into the series? something of a mix between "my dad was into one or two games" and "on a whim"? i've had a cursory interest in the series for years, but only this year (a couple days before it started, technically) have i actually gotten significantly invested to the point of being a fan i had several chances to get into the series before i finally grabbed 1.5+2.5 when it was on sale on the epic games store - thwarted by trickmaster in ps3 1.5, fell off of gba com once or twice, and there was one time where i used re:coded to see if my phone could handle ds games (answer: could've been worse) 2. What's your favorite KH game? DAYS. days days days. not just for the story either! while i think it could use some tuning up i'm genuinely a fan of the gameplay they fit into this funky little ds game, and the significantly larger playable cast through mission mode allows for interesting gameplay styles while leaving the core characters playing as core kh protags do second favorite is probably either bbs or re:coded 'cause i'm a sucker for the way the command deck allows for so many unique abilities when fusion is in the mix 13. If you read fics, favorite fic? OOF that is difficult. among the ones i think about the most is probably the roxiri fic Rejection of Fate by Taliax, which sticks out a lot to me despite being a one-shot, presenting an interesting idea in keyblade deterioration and i find integrating gameplay into story pretty fun (and roxiri stuff in general is, um. uncommon, unfortunately, so i am very happy to see them together) there's some others i'm thinking of but i didn't get their names memorized lol - i know there was one series that started as an axel-centric au of kh3 that i really liked..? and i'm not going to include the couple of madoka magica crossovers i really liked bc they're not very focused on the kh aspects

[roxtron]

Y'know now that I think about it, the kh fandom seems to have a huge problem with ignoring or disliking games they find "irrelevant" to the plot. I came into the fandom post-kh3 so I can't say I know how the fandom's changed over time but.. it's kinda ridiculous to me tbh. Because from what I read it sounds like most people hated/ignored BBS and 358/2 days because they were "spin-offs." (Which is dumb anyway, like, even if hypothetically KH3 didn't exist and they were just spin-off characters- Why is that a bad thing? Why should you treat them like they don't matter? Why do some people think the characters from those games don't matter because they only care about the fate of the Destiny Trio?) And even still people consider Chain of Memories irrelevant because "Oh Sora forgets everything anyway, all you need to know is that." And then they consider Coded/Re:Coded irrelevant because "It's all data anyway." And THEN they consider DDD irrelevant because "All you need to know is the Xehanort time travel stuff in the finale." It's so weird to me how some people can claim to be invested in these games yet only care about the numbered titles. It can't be because they care about Destiny Trio that much if they consider titles including them to still be irrelevant.. So what is it then?? Is the concept of a spin-off inherently bad to these people? Like, sure, if you're thinking of the BARE MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE then yes I would agree you don't need to know much about those games beyond what I listed.. HOWEVER, that does not mean it's good to only go into the games with that knowledge. If you truly care about this series and its characters, you would value the ways those games expand on their characters. And even if you don't.. If you're only going into these games with the idea of "vaguely understanding the plot" but the plot alone. Not the characters. If all you care about is "How did Xehanort revive other versions of himself?" And not the buildup for the characters and how these arcs affect them, y'know, as characters..

I just don't understand how you can go into these games like that and still have fun with it. Like sure if I'm into a series where I appreciate the worldbuilding but there isn't much to the characters I can get behind that. (And I mean that in the sense of games with blank-slate protagonists, not to say the characters don't matter to me, but that the characters don't have much personality to get attatched to.) But in a story like Kingdom Hearts where it is about the characters, and the story is just how the characters choices affect each other- I dunno man. I'm not sure of the right words to explain what I'm trying to say but it just feels so dull and boring to only care about that in a series, and especially a series like this. I could go on and on about the ways those games affect the characters and the story more than those little one-sentence quotes.. And sure, maybe I will in addition to this, but that's not the point I'm trying to make here. Even if they didn't affect the story, even if they were solely character-building, or even if they barely served a purpose at all beyond a couple of scenes.. It shouldn't devalue the entire experience as irrelevant. (Chain of Memories I kinda get disliking due to the combat LMAO but aside from that + some people do like the combat-) The games are more than story alone. They're more than gameplay alone. And they're more than characters alone. All aspects of the game come together to create an experience, and if you want to devalue the entire experience as a bad game, because you find it irrelevant due to it not fulfilling your specific preferences of what you want out of these games- Then I have a hard time believing you appreciated this series at all to begin with. Also a hard time believing you have good media literacy or even care about having any but hey that's a topic for another day am i right

[smartzelda]

Remind Trailer Analysis Part 1 (Warning Remind Spoilers!)

So, after I watched the new trailer, I found out it got leaked I felt really bad, but I really wanna talk about it cause it's got me screaming

So...here we go

First off, a lot of people are excited with the reveal that Final Fantasy characters such as Aerith, Yuffie, and Leon will be returning. Although I'm probably not as excited as most, I love how beautiful their renders are and can't wait to see how they fit into the story!

Okay, so Riku boi at Radiant Garden trying to figure out what happened to Sora (Riku boy looking for Sora!) I'm personally excited to see how everyone's trying to find Sora, and how everyone is taking Sora's disappearance

So, we get a shot of Sora at Ven's station of awakening, then a shot of Sora experiencing Aqua's hurt at the keyblade graveyard. It's pretty much been foreshadowed since Re:Coded that one day Sora will have to take in everyone's hurt, and even though I never wish hurt upon my boi, the angst is gonna be yes and I'm excited. Also, my guess is that Sora's going to the station of awakening of every guardian of light to feel how they felt and take in their hurt during moments in the keyblade graveyard. I've heard speculation that the reason all those anti-aquas are in the demon hurricane is that she has PTSD over being in the darkness for so long and those anti-aquas are what she saw right before being swept up in the demon hurricane. I support that theory because it's definitely plausible and I know I'd like to see how succumbing to darkness affects Aqua like we got to see how it all affected Riku during his character development.

I don't really know what to say about this. Apparently Terranort can see Sora?? I'd like to know more about the "forbidden path" and why Terranort can see him even though no one else seems to be able to while he's feeling people's hurt. Also, what is the ultimate sacrifice? I feel the sadness coming. It's probably going to be Sora disappearing from the world though

The wielders of light fighting the norts from Scala. This looks to be a cool fight and I'm excited to figure put how it fits into the story, but I don't really have anything to say about it

Seems to be continuation from an earlier Remind trailer

I hope this means we'll get to see what happens to the other characters after Sora defeats the enemies in a section. My guess is that Demyx just came to pick up the replica, so...good to know that the replica body isn't just left there during the final battle. Also, that replica body is probably going to be Naminé's, so maybe we'll get to see them bring her back?

There's a couple ideas for all the showcased battles. Some think they're data battles, but I think you might have to fight them either to enter stations if awakening or after you leave a station of awakening

OKAY THIS. THIS HAD ME SCREAMING AND DYING AND REJOICING.

So first off, that station of awakening is so freaking pretty like oh my gosh

Next, Sora talks about how everyone always told him to follow his heart, then follows it up with, "follow my heart...hearts are all connected". He says this while pointing his keyblade at what's probably (I'll say why in a sec) Riku's heart or maybe what he thinks is Riku's heart.

Okay, so Sora's station of awakening has him from kh1, so it's possible Riku's is too (just an idea), but this station of awakening shows com Riku. Now, when all the seekers of darkness die, they disappear in this darkness pillar. When Repliku and Replitwo die, the pillar is a darkness and light pillar. Based on this, I guess that Repliku might be a guardian of light. So, if you've read the SRT, part of the theory is that Sora brought back all the guardians of light in the original timeline, beginning the timeline we see in kh3. Part of the theory is that Naminé wasn't in Kairi's heart just based on some stuff chirithy says, so Sora didn't bring her back, meaning that she wasn't a guardian of light. I would say she isn't just because she doesn't do anything in the story and can't do anything to make her a guardian of light while in Kairi's heart (or didn't at least). We could say it's because Naminé was in Kairi's heart and Kairi was one of Sora's friends he knew he was bringing back, but this doesn't explain Repliku. Right before and after the first "drop" detailed in the SRT we have evidence that he is in Riku's heart, and this means that he was brought back by Sora at the end of the original timeline, because if he wasn't, he would be in the final world with Naminé, so he must be a guardian of light.

Where am I going with this? So what, Repliku might be a guardian of light, what does that have to do with anything? I'm going back to that station of awakening. It has Com Riku on it, and com is the game Repliku was introduced. So, my theory is...what of that station of awakening is Repliku's?

Now, I've heard a theory that the stained glass has Naminé in addition to Ansem and Mickey rather than Sora and/or Kairi because she, Mickey, and Ansem had an impact on Riku's life that lead to him being able to get the strength to protect Sora (it's no secret that Riku is the one that matters most to Sora). It's a good theory that's plausible.

Here's my theory though. What if Sora believes that station of awakening to be Riku's, but it's Repliku's? If Sora's connecting to the stations of awakening of the guardians of light, and Repliku might be one of them, he might encounter Repliku's. Repliku's fake memories were similar to Riku's, though they had him in love with Naminé, so he would've met Mickey and Ansem in his memories. AND since Repliku has feelings for Naminé due to his fake memories, it would make sense for Naminé to be on his station of awakening since he cares about her.

So...all that aside I'm dying cause Soriku. Also, you notice how the station of awakening is purple right? You know what color makes purple? Blue and Red. Based on trends and the secret ending, Riku is blue and Sora is red (like Yozora's eyes) so...

We're finally going to see how Sora saved Kairi!

Now, some people have pointed out them holding hands, but it doesn't seem like a romantic thing to me. It's pretty evident that they just arrived at the final world, especially considering Kairi's comment on how pretty the final world is. Sora would have to lead Kairi back since she died, and my guess the handholding is to make sure she doesn't get lost. If Sora has to use a keyhole or a portal like the DDD ones to get there, he'd probably (at least I think so) have to hold hands with Kairi so he can take her with him. It's to make sure they don't get separated I think, and I think Sora would be extra afraid of that happening cause he's trying to bring her back and because he cares a lot for all his friends, and, based on the Jp version of the scene where he goes to save her, he doesn't want to her (or any of his friends) to feel and be alone and he wants to bring her back so he can have all his friends alive and well

And....I'll have to continue on another post cause the 10 photo limit...shoot

[kh3finalmix]

ok i was reading an article and i think it explains why i feel so weird about like, re:coded and 3d and even kh3 and back cover. kh2 really felt like the end, although there were some questions it felt like the end of everyone's story arcs and then it just. didn't end?? so it just felt weird because i was trying to figure out what, exactly, is left to be said, and more and more stuff kept getting fixed and retconned and more complicated, where kh2 did a good job of tying things up nicely

[oveliagirlhaditright]

…any chance you can point me to the right direction for the most recommended walkthrough

…im always missing so many items n secret stuff and this time i would really love to get them all for the kingdom hearts final remix then i will play the 2nd one and the third one

…yet i wunder sometimes if i gotta ACTUALLY play all those other ones…

I think Soraalam1 is generally good with complete guides for stuff, so hopefully his videos might help you out:)

I know Regular Pat also has a Complete Treasure Chest and Item Guide for Kingdom Hearts 1.

All of the Kingdom Hearts games are canon to the overall story, so if you don't play, watch, or read up on all of them you will be missing out on a lot of stuff if you try to move on from one game to the next. I don't think it's necessary to play Chain of Memories before playing Kingdom Hearts II (most of the fandom didn't, even though it's a bridge game between the two), so you could probably skip that one if you want.

Though if you don't play, watch a playthrough on YouTube, or read up on 358/2 Days, Birth by Sleep, Re:Coded, Dream Drop Distance, and Birth by Sleep 0.2 ~A Fragmentary Passage~ before playing Kingdom Hearts III (and probably Chain of Memories by that point, as KHIII also touches on CoM stuff), you'll probably be mighty confused in some areas, as all of these games built up to Kingdom Hearts III. And Kingdom Hearts III was the grand finale of what is known as the "Dark Seeker Chronicles." Though I don't think you necessarily need to know the Kingdom Hearts Unchained Key/Kingdom Hearts Union X stuff before going into Kingdom Hearts III, because for the most part, the only stuff that showed up from that game was something in the epilogue and one other thing.

Most fans would probably think you need to play all of the games in the series--or at least watch them--but I honestly don't. I know Nostalgia Critic (who recently got into the series) didn't. He only played Kingdom Hearts I, Kingdom Hearts II, and Kingdom Hearts III, and just read up on the other games in-between, and still seemed to mostly understand things and had a great time with those three titles, but your millage may vary.

There's even a part of me that says you don't necessarily have to read up on the other games before playing II and then III. I mean, no one's holding you at gun point and saying you have to, of course. If you don't, you won't fully understand things, it's true, but you still might have fun with the gameplay, and other aspects of the game: like the parts of the story you can make-out, the Disney aspects of it, and what have you.

It's really all up to you.

Or maybe you'll find out the series just doesn't work for you, like some others have.

It really is a "your mileage may vary" kind of thing, and it's all up to you.

I hope this kind of helps. And if you have any more questions, feel free to ask!

[hyouta]

I watched χ, Back Cover, Union χ and then played 0.2

Hoo boy...

The plot of Kingdom Hearts isn't super duper complicated, no, what's complicated is the rebranding on Union χ, I completely blanked on there being Unchained, which became UX...

♥

I got mixed results on whether or not I should've watched or skipped χ chi but because it was on a suggested play order list I watched it over the New Year. My KH notes (that I started writing separately since re:coded) went from 2.5 pages to 11 pages alone. To be honest it was necessary for me to consume the information in this format. Disney world visits were alright but after the first hour I ended up playing the video at x1.5 speed to get through it slightly faster.

I got hooked right after finishing Agrabah. Ooooh what a lot to take in... I admit it's still a bit confusing to follow with it being dependant on what union you pick but I'm invested. I know who Luxu is from KH3 spoilers but that only makes me more curious.

I'm not going to write out 9 pages of notes, especially since it's just me describing what was happening, but:

I honestly don't know what to make of Cloud. My knowledge of him is limited to KH and Advent Children but damn he "really was gonna kill the Player and then went off to look for 'some guy' in the underworld (sephiroth? I assume? Never played FF7)"; it was sephiroth lol

I think that's the problem with not having played FF (or watched Tron), I ain't got a scooby doo what is going on or what anyone's motivations are

Mr "I'm so aloof" lol

My genuine surprise over Chirithy being a dream eater lol I don't know I just didn't expect a talking one, it seems so unique to the rest; though Riku talks so what am I saying.

♥

And OK... SO back cover was nice to fill in the blanks re: foreteller stuff and it gave me better clarification for one of my notes which was confusion on whose role was whose because it made it seem like it was dependant on the player (but not really?) - side note, been a while but I'm pretty sure I picked Union Ursus, he's a bit of a hard head but I couldn't help but feel bad for him anyway...

Some notes I made on back cover:

I can't read the text in this opening sequence it's too fast hold up

"Among us" I hate this I hate this, I haven't even played that game but that's all I could think of!!

Shaking chirithy in the vial like a shaker charm

Didn't expect Ava to be so young, or sound so young... Master and Luxu surprised me too

"Invi sort of reminds me of Aqua" whatever the fuck that means, I've already forgot

I had limited info on the Master but they were wayyy different than I expected

Lost page talks about "the one who bears the sigil" umm??

Concluded that χ chi wasn't really necessary... I thought it more for the Player context (the bangles and nightmare Chirithy).

♥

A bit naughty to break the order but because I already had the PS4 on I played 0.2 and cleared it in 3 hours. Honestly both this and BBS might be the most replayable games in the series for how easy to take in they are (for rpgs).

Didn't have a ton of things to say but:

PLEASED TO SAY I DIDN'T GET MOTION SICK!!

So... Mickey didn't know Aqua was in the dark world until KH1, where did the whole 10 years thing come from then?

Cute outfits for a dark game, Aqua can have a little bit of cutesy fun, as a treat

I'm telling my kids this is Layers of Fear

I can't remember if I've said this before but even though KH is a jrpg I wish it had more puzzles and platforming

Same with BBS I literally put my face in my hands and grieved for Aqua noooooooo;;

♥

I started the fandubbed version of UX and realised that every part, in part 1, I had already covered so I skipped this (no idea if anything was rewritten).

This dub skipped the Disney worlds so there's only a few things I'm missing out on I suppose, but not the end of the world if it's not super plot heavy. I might look for them after I finished the series.

More notes:

I knew Ven and Lauriam were in UX but I didn't know anything about their roles so I got excited to see them announced as dandelions and the new union leaders*

The twist of Ven not actually being the original choice was cool but man my heart hurts for him

Them talking about a fictional universe within a fictional universe gives me major brain ache but with the context we have for KH4 I am interested in seeing where it leads

Cause I do not really understand the Master's/Luxu's intention or role and I think that's the point but I don't quite understand their characters yet...

Honestly feel so so bad for the Player(s), KH is nothing but pain...

Since I watched UX dubbed I got to work on some wips, but then I got tired of pausing to open my notes app and just started writing in a new canvas.

Turns out the most confusing part of KH for me (along with UX branding) is the Disney worlds and their place in time.

(The song I linked to from my playlist, if anyone cares. It's basically how I feel consuming so much information)

Got me out here feeling like Sora.

The age of fairytales has me asking so many questions... lore related and questions wondering how our present cast will fit into the advancing story.

Me: I want everyone to get to rest and live their lives!

Also me: ok but give me more story of them anyway.

♥

I'm finally onto KH3! It might take me longer to get through due to how much I can play it but I'm hoping to finish the series by the end of January (I've played MoM up to the final part with new story and I will watch Dark Road afterwards of course).

Excited to actually start waiting for KH4 with the rest of you lol.

[themattress]

The kh fandom seems to have a huge problem with ignoring or disliking games they find "irrelevant" to the plot.

Not really. It's more people in general who have that "problem".

Because from what I read it sounds like most people hated/ignored BBS and 358/2 days because they were "spin-offs."

Most people absolutely did not ignore BBS, there was little chance of them doing so since it's what the secret ending videos of KH2 and KH2:FM was hyping up. It's Days and Coded that got the treatment you speak of, which wasn't helped by their premises sounding like the very definition of a spin-off which is honestly what they should have been.

Why do some people think the characters from those games don't matter because they only care about the fate of the Destiny Trio?

Maybe because they naturally thought the Destiny Trio were the main OC characters of the series, and are naturally pissed off that they now have to fight for screentime against these suddenly invented new trios and then on top of that have Kairi thrown out in favor of a vocal fan-pandering Sora/Riku duo?

And even still people consider Chain of Memories irrelevant because "Oh Sora forgets everything anyway, all you need to know is that."

I don't think they consider it irrelevant, it's just that they note it did its job successfully at being an important entry in the story while also having as little interference to understanding the next mainline entry as possible. It's a shame this aspect was never recaptured later.

And then they consider Coded/Re:Coded irrelevant because "It's all data anyway."

Because it is. Nobody needed to know what Mickey's letter at the end of KH2 said (we never saw what the letter at the end of KH1 said, after all), and even if it had to be known we didn't need to know the whole process of how Mickey got that info. It's completely tangential.

And THEN they consider DDD irrelevant because "All you need to know is the Xehanort time travel stuff in the finale."

Do they? I haven't seen any such reaction. If anything, there are more people frustrated that KH3 makes no sense unless you have played DDD and 0.2 BBS, as they both directly lead into one another and into KH3, which otherwise just abruptly starts with zero context.

If you truly care about this series and its characters, you would value the ways those games expand on their characters. And even if you don't.. If you're only going into these games with the idea of "vaguely understanding the plot" but the plot alone. Not the characters. If all you care about is "How did Xehanort revive other versions of himself?" And not the buildup for the characters and how these arcs affect them, y'know, as characters.

Speaking from personal experience, people did care about the series and its characters. The way the games "expanded on" those characters is part of what soured them on it. Because that "expansion" was mostly retcons to characters' histories, personalities and motivations that made them less interesting, new characters introduced out of nowhere as major parts of previous long-standing characters' identities, or outright devaluing certain characters while propping up other ones.

But in a story like Kingdom Hearts where it is about the characters, and the story is just how the characters choices affect each other

PAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, no. Not anymore. The story is about the plot and how it forces characters into making choices that affect how the plot affects them. The only characters making choices tend to be whatever current uber-mastermind villain, who may as well be a stand-in for Nomura, is pulling the strings and making all the puppets dance.

The games are more than story alone. They're more than gameplay alone. And they're more than characters alone. All aspects of the game come together to create an experience, and if you want to devalue the entire experience as a bad game, because you find it irrelevant due to it not fulfilling your specific preferences of what you want out of these games- Then I have a hard time believing you appreciated this series at all to begin with. Also a hard time believing you have good media literacy or even care about having any but hey that's a topic for another day am i right

See, right there. That's the thing. Yes, each game IS an experience. The problem is that Kingdom Hearts has shackled itself to having all those experiences connected as part of a greater whole rather than letting them stand on their own, so that connection will affect how the player views the experience. For example, if Coded was just a standalone title, a player might have had a good experience with it...but because Nomura makes the conscious choice of making it a part of an overarching series storyline, then that same player might now not have a good experience with it because they'd be spending the whole game waiting for when that connection comes in at the very end. Similarly, Dream Drop Distance can have a negative impact on past experiences that players enjoyed, since its story connects to those experiences and flat-out says the victories the player worked hard to achieve didn't matter because Xehanort had a master plan that was always a jillion steps ahead and that what you achieved in those games even helped that plan along! Rather than create hype for KH3, it just tarnished KH1 and KH2 for players and even made them pre-emptively resent KH3.

Tl;dr - Fans ignoring the spin-offs isn't the issue.

The spin-offs not being allowed to truly be spin-offs is the issue.

Y'know now that I think about it, the kh fandom seems to have a huge problem with ignoring or disliking games they find "irrelevant" to the plot. I came into the fandom post-kh3 so I can't say I know how the fandom's changed over time but.. it's kinda ridiculous to me tbh. Because from what I read it sounds like most people hated/ignored BBS and 358/2 days because they were "spin-offs." (Which is dumb anyway, like, even if hypothetically KH3 didn't exist and they were just spin-off characters- Why is that a bad thing? Why should you treat them like they don't matter? Why do some people think the characters from those games don't matter because they only care about the fate of the Destiny Trio?) And even still people consider Chain of Memories irrelevant because "Oh Sora forgets everything anyway, all you need to know is that." And then they consider Coded/Re:Coded irrelevant because "It's all data anyway." And THEN they consider DDD irrelevant because "All you need to know is the Xehanort time travel stuff in the finale." It's so weird to me how some people can claim to be invested in these games yet only care about the numbered titles. It can't be because they care about Destiny Trio that much if they consider titles including them to still be irrelevant.. So what is it then?? Is the concept of a spin-off inherently bad to these people? Like, sure, if you're thinking of the BARE MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE then yes I would agree you don't need to know much about those games beyond what I listed.. HOWEVER, that does not mean it's good to only go into the games with that knowledge. If you truly care about this series and its characters, you would value the ways those games expand on their characters. And even if you don't.. If you're only going into these games with the idea of "vaguely understanding the plot" but the plot alone. Not the characters. If all you care about is "How did Xehanort revive other versions of himself?" And not the buildup for the characters and how these arcs affect them, y'know, as characters..

I just don't understand how you can go into these games like that and still have fun with it. Like sure if I'm into a series where I appreciate the worldbuilding but there isn't much to the characters I can get behind that. (And I mean that in the sense of games with blank-slate protagonists, not to say the characters don't matter to me, but that the characters don't have much personality to get attatched to.) But in a story like Kingdom Hearts where it is about the characters, and the story is just how the characters choices affect each other- I dunno man. I'm not sure of the right words to explain what I'm trying to say but it just feels so dull and boring to only care about that in a series, and especially a series like this. I could go on and on about the ways those games affect the characters and the story more than those little one-sentence quotes.. And sure, maybe I will in addition to this, but that's not the point I'm trying to make here. Even if they didn't affect the story, even if they were solely character-building, or even if they barely served a purpose at all beyond a couple of scenes.. It shouldn't devalue the entire experience as irrelevant. (Chain of Memories I kinda get disliking due to the combat LMAO but aside from that + some people do like the combat-) The games are more than story alone. They're more than gameplay alone. And they're more than characters alone. All aspects of the game come together to create an experience, and if you want to devalue the entire experience as a bad game, because you find it irrelevant due to it not fulfilling your specific preferences of what you want out of these games- Then I have a hard time believing you appreciated this series at all to begin with. Also a hard time believing you have good media literacy or even care about having any but hey that's a topic for another day am i right