Last book I finished was S. It's a peculiar read, but the unusual format didn't make for a cohesive story. I felt like I was left in the dark for most of it even though I read the included supplementary material. I wish more authors would try their hand at something like this. It has a lot of potential in mystery and maybe even fantasy novels, but S. specifically didn't hit all the high notes.
I never really got into Spotify and usually just have a YouTube playlist playing in the background these days. I still buy CDs like the dinosaur that I am, but usually only after a live gig that I particularly liked.
I voted "checkmate" for a number of reasons.
(1) Checkers is actually only called that in America. In Europe it's called draughts. Chess at least has a uniform name in the English language.
(2) I've never heard anyone use the term checkmate in checkers and I can't find any mention of it on any webpage explaining the rules.
(3) The "check" term in both games is derived from the Persian word "shah" which means king. While both games feature kings in some way, chess requires you to capture only one. In checkers, you have to remove every piece (including every king) to win the game, so the closest thing to a correct equivalent would be "checksmate" or something like that.
Thought there was no way Master Xehanort was gonna get a calm, peaceful death after his PG-13 bisection of Kairi.
And then he did.
Seems not even karma gives a **** about her.
Finished it 3 days after I bought it (and I totally feel ya, Ienzo) because my new job would otherwise keep me from playing. I conquered all the Battlegates but I've only found half of the Lucky Emblems and have ignored anything Gummi Ship-related for now. I'll get to that eventually though. For the first time in the series, the Gummi Ship actually feels like a mode worth exploring.
Prediction: the Legendaries are going to be loosely based on Knights of the Round Table, much like Cobalion/Terrakion/Virizion were loosely based on the Three Musketeers (even though the reference to them preceded the region inspired by France).
So I've finally been playing this game again (first time Final Mix) and this struck me. What if Donald had just said "Sure mate, welcome aboard!" when Sora invited Riku to join in Traverse Town? There seems to be room for 4 in the gummi ship, Riku just proved his ability to dispatch Heartless with ease and he even held the freakin' Keyblade without it teleporting back to Sora. What more proof that this kid just might be incredibly useful do you need?
Maybe Riku left before hearing his answer, or maybe he would have refused because he couldn't stand playing second banana to Sora, but part of me likes to think that Riku owes his entire story arc to Donald Duck. At least he gave him and Maleficent something to bond over; the latter knows all about not being invited.
Using the male form to refer to a mixed group is actually extremely common in several languages and done for the sake of convenience. Even when there are gender-neutral alternatives available like in English ("Well done, you lot!"), they don't tend to see as much use and I have yet to meet someone who has issues with that. I suppose trying to mention boys and girls by default is always the safer choice, but it's not the end of the world if you slip up sometimes.
It was pretty...involving to say the least (by which I mean I traded my real social life for a fake one for weeks). It's a wonderful game though, one that I can see myself come back to some time after I've digested this playthrough.