BlackOsprey

Just sending ya a Happy Birthday shout out Osprey! Have an awesome day! ;D

Nice! Have you read the latest chapter of :re yet? I am currently jotting my thoughts down about it plus on some other things.

Happy b-day Ossie! I wish that you`ll will have a great day!

It's somewhat morbidly funny that in many fictional universes the concept of reaching a compromise seems to be so alien for almost all acting characters . <__<
It only serves to further my impression though that the Foretellers, despite their names, are ridiculously shortsighted and dense. The prophecy speaks about Darkness winning and a great battle/war taking place and they do not see the implication that by creating five different factions, who are competing over collecting Lux right from the beginning, they've already set the seeds to eventually grow into this very war by themselves?

They stupidly divided the "forces of good" with the noble common goal from the start not because to be more flexible in responding to threats (a case in which splitting up forces is actually sound and wise) but to prove themselves (and their own proposed "way" of solving the crisis) superior to the others. That is already a severely flawed outlook from the get-go which carries the prospect of disaster inherently in it.
Who- or whatever the manipulating forces behind the whole thing are have it already so much easier just because of this setup.
In Star Wars, Palpatine (at first together with Darth Plagueis) had to do decades of manipulation and fostering of corruption in the Galactic Republic to cause friction and eventually give birth to the Separatist Movement that became the Confederacy.
Here in X[chi] the Foretellers already set all this up themselves with the manipulatiing forces only needing to escalate the already present friction instead of fostering it.

I actually can't recall a specific case where Nomura pulled such a stunt. I know several anime/manga who did this and arguably Hans of Frozen also qualifies, but nothing specifically done by Nomura.
This is something that generally gets on my nerves with all the new X[chi] characters and I have to restrain myself always when this comes up in threads to not get impolite. People are complaining about "Clones" and supposedly "new" characters too tightly pinned to already known characters (and in turn praising Aqua for her rather loose ties to other characters) but then they go doing an exact 180?-turn when it comes to the X[chi]-cast?
I regidly facepalmed when I read somewhere people "desperately" picking the new trailer apart in order to fit the behaviour of the Foretellers in it to the supposed characters from the Rebirth theory.
Goddamnit you fools, even if they are truly reincarnations it doesn't mean they behave exactly the same nor does it mean they're the same persons. And that's not even going into the real possibility, y'know, that the Rebirth theory could also be false and the Foretellers are truly completely new characters.
For Ephemera and Skuld essentially goes the same.

Thanks, just recently I finished the whole FF X cast and next I'm going to try my luck with the FF XII, FF XIII and Type-0 characters.

Ouch, it just had to be the worst kind had it? And holy sh* he was only eight? ;__;
Life sometimes can be really really cruel...
On the other hand, the inspiration for all the symbolism in novels has to come from somewhere, so...

Hmm, I actually have an example for such a guy in Isaac Netero, the former chairman of the Hunter Association in the manga Hunter X Hunter from Yoshihiro Togashi. He was more than 120 years old, one of the best human fighters in that world and the President of one of the most powerful Organisations of the planet. He could be dignified and serious in most dire circumstances and loved fighting, but most of the time he was very jovial, cracking jokes and loved trolling his subordinates while not taking it personally if some of these subordinates trolled him back or set him deliberately up for some challenges. In his words this kept things from getting "boring".
For some reason I'm actually wanting Coaty to troll Xehanort now, lolz.

Xehanort: "I wanted to see what lies beyond the Keyblade War."
Coaty: "You kidding bro? You stand right in it and can see it everyday."
Xehanort: 0_o "But what about that precious light that was found in the legend? I want to see it with my own eyes!"
Coaty: "Nah, not possible."

If the Coaty is really one and the same person we might still have the reveal of the 6th and maybe he/she has such a double-voice. ;P

That's also a possible reason of course.

Exactly, that ending was build up to give both a sense of closure and enough open threads for people to spin the story further in their minds and fanworks.
I'd say one of the main reasons was money and that some folks of Square literally wanted to make Lightning into the new mascot and postergirl of the Final Fantasy series as a whole.
Unlike the mixed reaction in the west if I recall correctly LIghtning was much more well received in Japan.
The FF fandom as a whole can be highly toxic due to the constant feuding between factions like "everything after VI is shit"-purists, "only VII to X are good"-90's fans and the "XIII and all the newer FFs rock"-fans.
Then there are the Kefka vs. Sephiroth debates, Aerith vs Aeris (yep, they even quarrel about how a name is written), whining about the "undeserved" attention both VII and X get when VI or IX are so much better and many more stuff.
Things like those are why some fans who like nearly every FF, often for different aspects, choose to largely stay out of the fandom itself.

I've met several people who feel inspired by Nomura's art style for their own. Shasta in this forum is one of them.

Ahaha, I see. Very well said.

Most birds are just adorable, especially when they tend to tilt their heads aside when looking at you. Even some often derided birds like pigeons can have their very own charm. ^__^
Yep, baby birds, there's a reason the term "fluffball" is a thing.

i'll send you some meme lines on FB for coaty

The why is certainly the crucial question here and I'm actually wondering if the true answer to that will really be revealed in the ending of Back Cover/X[chi]/Unchained of if there will be still a crucial detail missing, a detail that only comes into play during KH III itself.
Xehanort's motivations have several layers with his immense curiosity being only one of them, so regardless of any possible connections between him and the "Grand Master" I suspect there being several layers at work as well. The role of the sixth Apprentice is also still highly shady in this whole mess.
Having the forces that are to protect the light split into different unions is highly suspicious from the get go as eventually the own machinations of the Foretellers and loyalty to one's chosen union overrides the overall shared endgoal and competition turns into outright hostility and eventually war.

Sure do, although I'm still not willing to rule out at 100% that there might be something fishy about him as well, that 3D-Transition worked just so damn well. ^__^
DW 8 Empires does not have a hairstyle that curly so I had to take the next best thing and therefore I'd need a second opinion on my Ephemera (and Skuld).
I did look towards establishing Ephemera's black/white color scheme somewhat and especially his red scarf.

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Your brother passed away? Oh dear, my heartfelt condolences. Was it illness or an accident (can't imagine him already being so old). ;__;
It's really somewhat odd that we get a 3D-render of a boy who looks rather similar to him just around this time.

That still doesn't rule out two hearts in the same guy though nor actual schizophrenia, the latter being actually more feasible if there is really only one voice actor as people with two active hearts (like Ansem-Riku and Ventus-Vanitas) tend to speak with a weird double-voice.
Deadpool would certainly work as well although he's certainly less dangerous as Kefka, lol.

I see, well, at our household and in my school as well there was quite some emphasis to teach things in a broader sense and while Jesus certainly was also part of it, he didn't have any priority or special place compared to the other topics.
Then there surely also comes in the factor that I'm a bookworm and "reading rat" interested in several topics and sometimes I just use lunch break at work to roam the net for interesting history articles on diverse topics.

That's what people who actually pay attention mostly do, lol. I'm not looking at XIII with that much negativity although I do admit that the linearity was a bit too obnoxious and putting so much lore only in datalogs (a problem that Type-0 has as well) hampers the whole experience. If I had to decide FF XIII would also have remained a stand-alone title (FF games tend to do generally better when they're on their own) as the ending was both definite and open enough to allow for several interpretations how it could have go on without needing either XIII-2 or Lightning Returns.
If I recall correctly Nomura was heavily involved with all FF titles starting with VII (even beforehand he was a monster designer at least) except IX, XII and the XIII-trilogy. Out of those, VII and X are among the most successful FF titles regardless of what detractors and haters say. Combine that with KH as a whole and one may see from where his reputation comes.

Heh, good to know... ;D

Haha, somehow I can just imagine a total pouty expression right now. Did I ruffle some feathers? *ggg*
Those more extreme people often remind me of Nietzsche and consorts and it is often impossible to have a real rich conversation with them.
Gotta love birds, I've often one sitting right outside my office window, a common blackbird singing its song. ^__^

Booyaka, hint taken. ;D

I know that feeling, as I had it countless times with other mysteries not only in KH but also with other works. Needless to say both BBS and DDD gave me many "aha" effects on interpretations of some processes and events I already had beforehand.
The inevitable Apocalypse being inevitable simply because we already know it happened. What intrigues me truly though if it was really "inevitable" by design or if someone made it inevitable by ensuring that every piece on the board played somehow into his/her hand.
Somehow it reminds me again of Palpatine, the Clone Wars and the "Grand plan of the Sith" in general.

In terms of design he's really a breeze of fresh air in all the overblown outfits around. Riku's DDD outfit comes close in simplicity, but while he's a dork he's certainly not one of the cinnamon rolls anymore (5year-old Riku is another case).
It's too late in the evening today but tomorrow I'll be sure to revisit and revise my Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires custom character of Ephemera as creating him from the actual x[chi]-artstyle was not very easy, yet this one will certainly help scores with that:

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Seriously, those eyes and expression are of someone who's clearly hungry for life and wanting to see and experience things while that doofy grin has almost a Sora-vibe to it.

Apocalypse-Coaty is just a bombshell, lol. In the thread about the trailer I already joked that while Vexen might be our resident KH-expy of Professor Hojo from FF VII, Apocalypse-Coaty might be one for Kefka Palazzo from FF VI.
"Destruction, Destruction everywhere!"

Then I most definitely won't have any problems with it.
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I guess I'm just rather knowledgeable in some general things...<__<

At least that's what I read somewhere on the net.
It's also ridiculous when so many people, especially in the west, blame Nomura for many things that might be wrong when it comes to the XIII-saga but the main mind behind it was actually Motomu Toriyama with Nomura really only responsible for design work.
Nomura's name is well-known and he has brought Square some of its most successful products in several past years so I'd guess his name sells even if it leads to misunderstandings.

From what I've seen from the trailers though Lann seems to be a total dork, so that's more Sora/Demyx territory although I'd admit Ven can also have a dorky side.

Pfft, as long as it doesn't get out of hand. *ggg*

this is the edgier, darker chuman. i'm gonna be a lot cooler from now on. [trips and fractures my wrist] HARDCORE

He is indeed adorable...I NEED MORE!!!

I'm SO filled with anxiety right now

how does it feel

talking to a STAR

It's just because Nomura apparently can't let anything stand unconnected to the main narrative at all when it concerns KH and when he is somehow involved with it.
Something I recall driving Gram nearly nuts, lol.

Who knows, maybe they undestood what he/she said through their hearts, there does not have to be vocal communication at all times? ;P
I'm not sure if this is really significant or not actually, but we'll see.

Sure, visually I've seen it more than once already and it is gorgeous. Seriously though, Ephemera looks to damn cute I think Roxas, Sora and Ventus get competition for the "cutest male cinnamon roll" in the series, lolz.
It would certainly at least warm myself up to them a little more if they are indeed their own new characters, that's for sure.
I'm also cracking up at that black coat figure apparently totally owning Foreteller Ira and enjoying the shit going down way too much.

Comedy-AUs are yet again a totally different pair of shoes. I can easily live with those and sometimes even enjoy some as they're not meant to be taken seriously.

Both are mistranslations if I recall correctly as it should actually be "Sepher Sephiroth", which translates to "Book of Numbers" in reference to the actual Sephirot/Tree of Life and the numerical aspects of God of which Sephiroth is named after.

I could imagine he gets trolled pretty much by the rest of the team in other fields as well, lol, but maybe these designs were the reason as to why for example in FF XIII he only designed the faces of the characters rather than their whole outfits. ;P

Speaking of these spiky hairstyles, Lann, the male main character from "World of Final Fantasy" I think has totally a Roxas/Ventus-vibe to him with a bit Cloud mixed in just because of that hair (and he's a blond too on top of it):

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The character editor of that game is pretty detailed indeed, you have more than 100 options including different body types like i.e. stocky, heavy, curvaceous (only for females), slender/skinny, model, muscular etc.
It may also depend a little on how you customize the face of a character and which "default" mouth position you give them (smiling, neutral or with mouth corners down).

True dat, and yet they continue to find more cancer-inducing reasons and stuff every year which does indeed partly come from lifestyle and environment changes made by society as a whole.

On a broad scale, that is certainly true, lol.

OMG I know right!? I thought for the Backcover we were only going to get like still frames or something. And I can WAIT to sample what KH3 has in store!!!

Osprey, I'm going to cry over this trailer. It's just too beautiful for words. The conflict we're going to see is going to make feels!

Well, one does have to remember that KH X/Unchained originally was envisioned as a light-hearted, specifically non-canon entry in regards to the overall lore and story of the KH series as a whole. It was only later that Nomura decided to not only make it canon but also make it crucial to KH III which I admit I still have mixed feelings over.
If all the X-stuff ends up overshadowing the already established major characters and plotlines that were laid out by Blank Points and Re: Coded I am not going to be a happy camper at all. I'm already disliking the Foretellers and them possibly being yet another set of clones as is, so I can only hope for anything X-related to be really only serving as extended background lore and not taking over the whole plot.
The player character might not have exactly have had no heart, but maybe an incomplete or even damaged one, as one might recall that Ventus with heart-damage was also pretty unresponsive and quiet.

That is of course also possible, it being nothing but a tongue-in-cheek reference just like the scene in the dungeon of Beast's Castle where Player complains that they're trapped and Chirithy reminds him/her in deadpan mode what he/she is actually carrying.

I can enjoy such AU's sometimes as long as they remain true to the character's personalities.

FF has generally a bigger scope and even there are some things that are only revealed in interviews and/or Ultimanias, lol.
In Advent Children he actually does get the One-Winged-Angel look, although that one came obviously after KH 1 where it was first coined.
His Safer/Seraph Sephiroth form does have one black wing as well, but also six white ones which sometimes confuses people. ;P

Yea, he can be a troll in that department sometimes.
It's also the reason why Sephiroth himself actually had very little close-up screentime in Advent Children, because his flowing hair was a bitch to animate.
I know, *ggg*. It also shows that whenever characters are seen jumping or doing other acrobatics in FF X, Lulu is never among them.

It also runs the risk to have the intended "Sora" look like someone else because there are many guys with spiky hair especially from japanese media.
A colleague of mine actually ran into that as she wanted to draw Naruto but started with the hair, which eventually turned out to look more like the hairstyle of Killua from Hunter X Hunter.
Thus. one has to study "spike-layers" in order to get the correct variant for the character you want to portray.
Yep, and DDD goes right back to ridiculous in regard to Sora's shoes. At least his new KH III-outift looks to have been more reasonable proportioned.

It's actually funny it comes out like that as the game allows you to choose between more than 24 japanese voices for self-made characters and adjust their pitch too. For Vanitas I choose a hot-blooded variant with a medium deep pitch.
That is the "trying to look pissed off"-expression of someone who looks like a cinnamon roll, but is actually a small tiger inside and thus it comes over a little ridiculous.

I don't claim to be an expert in those things either so it's probably be better to not get too deep into this topic.
There is a saying that stitched together half-knowledge might be more dangerous than no knowledge at all...

The current effed up weather patterns are already symptoms of the decades of abuse of the fossil fuels though at least in part while at the sites of Chernobyl and Fukushima at least healthy human life seems to be still impossible for more than 100 years and we have more people dying of different forms of cancer each year.
So it is clear that both are bad news in the long run, so eventually the renewable sources will have to be the only onces used if humanity doesn't want to really destroy itself.

Indeed, which is actually a tad unusual for the KH series as a whole as normally the story is filled with more or less easily identificable characters rather than a blank stand-in. Except of course if this is a whole new level of the "growing a heart"-process and the Chirithy being so surprised is actually in correlation to that.

To see such opportunities is also an ability, lol, and it so totally fits with Scrooges overall character.

The mangas are way too comedic over great stretches of their volumes, including the Days one, hence why I am completely content with them not being canon. It cannot be denied though and needs to be hammered home that in terms of overal characterization of nearly all characters, even the minor support ones, and story pacing the manga outshines the games to several degrees and Amano knows how to really translate Nomura's overall vision into a form that makes the story better understandable and the characters much more detailed and likeable.

Genesis was intended as an flawed "prototype" of the Jenova Project as was Angeal, with Sephiroth being the eventual "flawless" result of the project. All three of them where good friends and supposed to show off Sephiroth's "humanity" and that even he had people he cared about and was capable of being a decent person despite all his superpowers and genetic "enhancements". When counting Zack into the whole issue as well the core intention behind it all is actually to show just how far Shinra Inc.'s morally bankrupt experiments and policies actually go and to give an overview about how Sephiroth got eventually made into the psychotic villain he is now, with the relationship to Zack being not close enough to actually being capable to help him retaining his sanity.
Genesis himself however his way over the top and much too theatralic to actually truly show these story intentions off in a favorable light, him coming mostly over as an overly whiny, poetry-babbling Sephy-wanna-be copycat, which on one hand is ironic as he actually did envy Sephiroth somewhat for his hero fame and wanted to be one himself, but also idolized him and wanted to remain his close friend.
To me, Genesis is a clear-cut example of a character that was overdone to a ridiculous degree, here less would have been more.

Will do once I get audio back, lol.

That and Nomura is also known to want to give animators challenges.
Sora's hair is certainly a challenge for any animator and I read somewhere that he specifically designed Lulu's dress from FF X with that many belts as a challenge for the animators as well.
Goofy appearance, yeah, especially with those ridiculous big shoes (and feet?).

And it's tremendous amount of fun and challenging creativity. ^__^

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And yet all those safety measures and secure design also cost money, money these people then try to save by either choosing cheap designs or by giving their employees only a crash course about their jobs rather than the full thing.
Then there's of course always an uncalculable risk factor left one simply can't prepare for. The fallout and consequences from such disasters though are going to be felt more than 100 years after the actual thing happened though and there's also still the delicate question about the highly toxic atomic waste that can also lead to a disaster.

Wind, water and solar-created energy does not have any possible disaster-consequences that last for a century nor toxic waste that needs to be somehow be dealt with, a clear advantage in these fields.
Yeah, just like politics in general, this is a topic that can be worth the exchange of essay-posts more often than not. ;P

come to the chat right now very important

It seems my PS4 works. I am not sure if it's able to read disks, but I think I need to stick with the basics. The first things that I need to get are: an HDMI cable, some controllers, and a power cord.

I think my cellphone nor receiving any signal is related to an outage that Cricket is under.

I am still sorry. I can't imagine how your mom is doing.