Birdman looked upwards and then back as if nothing happened. He was sooOOoo not going to comment on this. With a judge like Mentok the Mindtaker and cross-examiners ...oh just he wasn't going to bother with it. "You said that you were lonely at the castle oblivion. Were there no people you could consider friends there?" *after this* "What people specifically used you for selfish desires?" *after this* "Why were you forced to alter Sora's memories? What purpose was there in luring Sora into the castle further?" *after this* "Who made the threat to you that if you did not comply you would be imprisoned forever in the Castle Oblivion?" OOC: I will pause and let her answer before continuing for it to make sense and question something said. Sora watched and would listen as Namine spoke. The memories were still unusual going through his mind but they were finding their place. He felt now at least he could testify on behalf of himself and that was a good thing. Now he finally could recall the attack by Larxene earlier. As she'd speak, the words would help organize his thoughts, or so he'd hope to believe. Repliku was chagrined and quiet, listening to each thing and pondering what Pikachu soul might taste like. Yeah, his mind could wander off like that. Especially when something was irritating him. He watched Namine as his name came up. Then he began to wonder why court had no concession stands. Food would make this whole affair much more bearable.
Scientology is just odd. I do find it funny it came around totally from a sci-fi writer. I do agree that it is wrong to charge people for every little thing of the theology and did get what you meant. I just had to point out that it seems any religion sucks away money from people and fundies in it always cause problems for anyone else. I do not buy into Scientology at all and find the little conspiracies crap they have going on are lame. What I suppose bothers me is that people actually -do- spend the money on it and back it enough to do such odd things and it is merely a created thing from the mind of one man and a few books. It makes me wonder, but then all religions do. I do think though Scientology is going to continue to be challenged because of the way it does business and likes to give secrets out in the way they do. I keep waiting for the day when some ex-Scientologists step out of the religion and come forward to tell us finally what the heck they are paying for. I want in on these alien conspiracy things!
I think Pangaea Day is really a great idea and I'm all for it. I like foreign films any way and am interested in seeing the ones we can never seem to get because they don't make their way over here at all. It's a good cultural experience and I like the concept that it lets people of various places see films and experience a taste of somewhere else. A lot of people in various places can be similar despite the eggheaded things some of our leaders choose to do so I'm all for learning of the things the 'common joes' like me enjoy and experience. Good stuff.
As much as I don't want to stir the kettle here, I have to say any zealot organization is a threat regardless of the 'religion'. I don't mean to refute you here but Scientology, though it takes a ton of money from people, is not the only religion that does it. Just about every religion does. I'm sure those priests, fathers and all deserve those super nice cars and houses at the same time as poor Christians donate money on plates which they assume are going to help others less fortunate and fix the church. Good people waste tons of money that goes into pockets of televangelists and religious organizations all of the time and people make money off of religion, period. People of any religion go bankrupt. And all of them can be cultish as well when you have zealots running around. Should we forget about the people who refuse to teach evolution in school, have their kids walk out of school for any infraction they believe is against God while at the same time telling other kids they are going to Hell for not believing as they do? Should we forget about all the problems some zealous groups have against gays, females, ethnicities, etc and all sorts of other issues that just don't matter to the -logical- minded person? Scientologists are weird, and I have yet to really meet one that does not act with a superiority complex, but I've met plenty of people who are of any 'religious' background that are the same way. I do not know if I mind so much what Anonymous does, even though going extreme is wrong. I do think that Scientology is very wrong for making people -pay- for stupid information and keeping a conspiracy going. They made themselves a victim by having such policies. In the end, any zealot organization deserves to be exploited and investigated fully. I also don't sympathize much when people of Scientology whine that they 'can't believe in what they want'. Of course they can. What Anonymous did was give people a deeper look into it that are wanting to know what is going on. So, I do blame Scientology for putting themselves in the scene in the first place. I do think though that people are being harsh on Scientology as well though in saying it's so wretched and worse than anything else out there. Fundamentalists of any religious group make it look very bad and no one is trying to abolish other religions for such actions. I am rather torn on whether Scientology should not have the same respect or be torn asunder because it seems unfair one religious fanatical group is attacked while others continuously dodge the law often and are making money off others and brainwashing too.
Guys, this is ridiculous. MuffinMan, really, he's not playing the victim. He was pointing out an example of how some people take things too seriously. Having read the thread he posted, I do get why it was overreacting on the part of others. You are defending people in that thread probably to include Madiyasha but really his original comment here was not that bad. Loosen up. It's no big thing. People take too much offense to the off side remark and that's all this is. If you don't like it, just ignore it and move on. Also, if someone doesn't like an anime in the first place, what makes you think someone wants to sit through -more- episodes of it? It makes no sense. Seeing DN a few times is enough to get a feel for the show. And Tularim, just a bit of a suggestion. Next time you may want to do a quote from elsewhere but remove the person's nick from it so that it stands more neutral and that might help this not happen again. It keeps things more neutral and won't put someone else on the spot for something done elsewhere. I do not find anything wrong with Tularim posting what he did other than not omitting the nick. Let's not take this farther. No one needs the boot, guys. You are both cool and it's not this big a deal. =:/ Back on topic: Ya know...maybe the Japanese are making people fight over Anime... >.>
Yep me too. Definitely Twilight.
OOC: This is why I said that we should have more time to have the witness up there because the prosecution has been getting screwed somehow. Anyhow, what you said works and is pretty much what should happen as I was mentioning. I'll try then to stick to the formula going on though I'm not that familiar with this show. Thanks for setting the record straight now. Also, the Org themselves -did- do crimes to themselves. the Murder of Vexen was ordered by Marluxia. If it were to be added, Marluxia should have it added to his charges as well. However, the Org really isn't complaining about -themselves- though perhaps they should. lol The Org boned each other worse than others did. =:) It could be added though because the prosecution may add things like this to actually protect some org members from each other and show how -bad- some members were.
OOC: Pretty much it seems that the Org placed her there and under Marluxia's care and she was forbidden to leave the Castle. She was not a member of the Organization or given the status, called a witch, and not really treated as an equal to them. She was lonely and stuck there. For more info you'd have to look it up but that is pretty much what is declared in the games.
Hmm..very interesting choices. I can see why you did go with those. Here's my list, just to toss it in the fray. 1. Xemnas: He's the leader for a reason. He could not only use his own vast array of powers but also mimic the other Org member's powers as well. It is clear by what Ansem also said that Xehanort was at times showing signs of being 'super human' and this no doubt transferred to Xemnas. 2. Roxas: Roxas was said by Nomura to be the second most powerful and the reason is probably because of his Element affinity with Light and the fact he's a Keyblade bearer. Do I think other Org members could have beaten him? Yes, but at the same time it would merely be because they were more experienced and could be devious. 3. Xaldin: Despite the fact he was easy to elbow and get away from, his winds are formidable, the dragon out of the spears was just ruxin and the spear attacks themselves were very powerful. 4. Xigbar: It seems clear to me that Xigbar was playing around with Sora. He had the Element of Gravity/Space at his disposal and could have done more than he did. Also, he is the one that brought many new initiates into the Org, obviously having to overpower some to do so. He's also scarred up from something which shows he has been in some very harsh battles but yet is still kicking and fast. I think the only reason I don't rank hiim as #3 is because he uses guns but no close melee range weapons, which kind of hurts him. He is though just deadly. 5. Luxord: Luxord is another like Xigbar who wanted to play a competitive game rather than really go all out. Time is a darn powerful Element that clearly Luxord was not using at the moment. Had he employed it more, that battle would have been a lot uglier. 6. Lexaeus: Despite popular opinion, just because Lexaeus was big did not make him dumb as a rock. He was very smart and seemed to try to hold the Org together at points such as where he ordered Vexen and Zexion to cease their fight. He also was tough to beat and one of Riku's hardest opponents in CoM. 7. Saix: Saix was a berserker empowered by good ol' Luna. He was very strong and also followed Xemnas like a good puppy. He was also super conniving to the point some people think the guy was a 'good guy'. 8. Marluxia: A toss up between Axel or Marluxia goes and I only placed Marluxia here because of the advantage of the Castle Oblivion he had. Otherwise I'd say they were both pretty darn equal and it would have been nice to see a finish to that fight. Everyone loves a little Mortal Kombat. I felt so jipped. 9.Axel: Axel had power but the only time he really went to fight to kill direct was Marluxia, who he was against and Marluxia ran off with Namine. So he gets this spot since no one else dared to oppose Marluxia who remained. 10. Larxene: Larxene was pretty tough though her hits were weak. However, she could hit you a ton of times and fighting in the KH2:FM ...she's just really bad ass. 11.Demyx: Demyx was pretty strong for a guy that was a coward and liked to run off. He doesn't really fight as much as use water for power based off of the sounds he generates with his sitar so I put him as weaker than others because without his Sitar, I ponder if he might be rather boned. 12. Vexen: Vexen could fight though it was obviously not his strength. He wasn't bad, but compared to other members of the Org, he was just not on par with them. Too many experiments; not enough time in the gym. 13. Zexion: Zexion I rank as last, despite the fact that if he actually pulled off his illusions and shape shifting or whatever tricks, he could probably kill off Org members much higher than him. Zexion's power seems to rely mostly on his keen intellect and well...scheming. Caught off guard, Zexion is rather helpless and probably the worst combatant. If he's able to strategically set up, however, he'd mess up nearly anyone's world.
Harvey waited for the Judge's approval before going before the table and walking to pace before the stand. "Namine, did you feel that you were a prisoner at the Castle Oblivion? If you can, detail some of your life there to us so that we can get a stage to understand you and your place in this more."
OOC: I believe in NORMAL court, not going by some anime, there is examination and cross-examination always available if the lists of testifying people match from each lawyer side. I do not know why there is this bias leading in this regard that there is no examination even allowed before the witnesses keep getting transferred over. I seem to have trouble getting to ask questions too of the witnesses etc, and would kind of like my chance instead of the cross-examinations being called too early. At least when it comes to not having to interview my own characters heh. Also, the 5th amendment right...pfft. It should not apply here since there is not even a jury to do anything and the judge is making the final outcomes. It also technically would make anyone look bad and the Org lawyer would use it to the hilt to avoid them answering truthfully. I'd suggest the answer should be no then. Lastly, the charge of having weapons without a license was dropped as Harvey declared it and i think the judge agreed. At any rate, the charge of Aggravated Assault, not just Assault and Battery should be added to the list of charges against the Org, or Larxene at the moment at least since she is the center one on trial at the moment. Also, Coercion of a Minor should be added in count 3 times pertaining to Namine, Sora and Repliku. Theft also of the oathkeeper keychain as well. I think that would wrap this up then to get us all straight. Also, I'm kind of confused why Namine didn't say that she could not leave the "Castle" instead of the room but ah, I am critiquing. However, Namine did declare in CoM she was stranded at the castle, imprisoned there so this stuff is not real proof. But it can be handled IC so not sure why I said that. Sora blanched and sank in his chair...then slid right off of it to his knees on the ground while gripping his head. Droves of memories from such a short time filled his mind and it was all very confusing. It was as if he had for a while lived an entire separate life, and yet this was supposed to fill the void of merely a few days? He staggered to his chair with some help from Riku and looked at Kairi and Riku now. "I remember...it's all so fast and confusing...but ...I remember now." He rubbed his eyes as visions continued entering his mind. Of course he couldn't slow them down by doing that but it was the simple action that perhaps helped him calm down some. He looked up at the stand where Namine was and though pale still, could see she was not in the best condition either. "What happened? Is she okay?"
No problem. =:)
Roxas seems to be what remains of Ven. Also he had ties to the Keyblade. He did not remember much because Sora's memory mostly stayed with Sora when he was healed back from being a Shadow. However, if Ven is a part of Sora from BBS, it stands to hold true that this would be the form Roxas would take since Ven would have at one time had a strong Heart. Basically, Roxas was an unusual Nobody because he has some clear connection to Ven as well as Sora and I think we have to wait for BBS to come out to get more information on him other than what is already known. He did get a small portion of Sora's memories, such as the ability to fight and such, and we can surmise that Sora has a strong Heart and that Ven did, so in the end, it makes the formula work, albeit stretching it some. Sora also did not have wafts of black darkness smoke going out from him and didn't disappear when he died. Sora isn't going to 'bleed' because of the way that censorship works and the game would be rated Mature otherwise. However, he could be knocked out cold etc and did not disappear as the Nobodies do. He also had no signs of dissipating as they did. Xehanort = Ansem's student who tossed himself into Darkness, had no memories, wrote false Ansem reports etc. He became Xemnas. Xemnas looks just like the portrait in Ansem's study. Xehanort may not be this character's real name, but it was all he could remember was the name, even if it was not him. Therefore it is what Ansem and others called him. Xehanort's Heartless = the one who addressed himself as Ansem and was separated from Xehanort and who Sora had to fight in KH. Master Xehanort - is the old guy back in BBS that we are going to learn more about who apparently fell to Darkness and caused a war. What corrupted him, we do not know and will have to see. I did that out so you could see who I meant because I am not sure you understood what I was saying. It is strongly implied that Ienzo was a genius and scientist in his own right. He was the youngest out of Ansem's apprentices but Ansem held him in sincere regard. Again, I ask who would listen to someone who was just a person with a high school education coaxing them to study on a topic as complex as this in a scientific way? I doubt Ansem would have regarded his opinion so much and also why was Ienzo even part of the project at all if he did not have the intellect to be able to carry out experimentation? It does not make sense if he was not educated enough to do so or intuitive. You are right. No one totally declares him as a genius but it seems by his own name in the Org as the Cloaked Schemer, the fact he likes puzzles, he obviously reads and studies a lot, his book is a lexicon (which most people don't even know what a lexicon is) and he uses strategies against opponents that are all having to deal with outsmarting them, it seems apparent he was of higher intellect. Also, Vexen did acts that show he did hold some regard to Zexion's intellect, to include trying to get Zexion to aid him in learning more about what Xemnas was doing when he went off. Also, Vexen seemed to have a competition against Zexion in a way when challenged and was harsh enough to merit Lexaeus telling him to stop. When Vexen was dealing with Sora and all, Zexion turned his focuses on other things with Lexaeus and both did not seem to regard Vexen that highly. There are just some things like this that push one to believe Zexion was extremely intellectual and probably knew many things that made him rather valuable to Xemnas and the Organization. Otherwise, if he was just some high school leveled person, I doubt that he'd have been involved with the top other members of the Org and would have been more of a gopher like Demyx than what he was. There's no solid proof, but it seems these hints are as much as we are getting and I suppose we can take it how we want to for each member of the Org because none of the characters are so well explained. The titles of the characters though do give info about them and it seemed that other than some of the later members, all of the top members were very intellectual and had to be. I will try to. I can't for the life of me remember where I read that but it was something with Nomura declaring it. It seems at times I have a very selective eidetic memory and recall information I read but not where the heck it came from. I am pretty sure Nomura stated that Braig was rather important and that Xigbar had a history with the Keybladers. It would be nice to see the other apprentices as well, like you said. It would really answer this question ultimately as well as let us get a glimpse of what they were all really like prior to becoming Nobodies, which of course would be great to know. Here's to hoping!
Harvey looked at Pikachu. "When you are done questioning her, I have some inquiries to add as well so do not set it over for Cross Examination until I am done, alright?" Riku tapped his fingers softly on the arm rest of the chair. Namine was under some pressure here and he gazed at Kairi, seeing her nervousness too. He wondered if Kairi knew anything from Namine but it was apparent that she must not since she had asked him to relay the account of what transpired. This was going to be a pretty rough case on everyone; maybe even the Organization, who they were all here to try in the first place. For some reason though it seemed the witnesses were getting more hell than the Org probably would. He hoped that this would be fair and balanced but it may not be. Anything could be twisted to fit the needs of the other side. It was not that Riku wanted to see the Org unjustly punished either, but the treatment of those who had already spoken was questionable. Sora getting an electric charge as an example...Namine being berated up there... He knew whatever was going to happen, that everyone needed to be ready to be called on a lot. This other lawyer was clearly looking to put blame on anyone but the Org for their actions. Sora glanced over at Kairi. "It's going to be alright. She is strong." His voice was a soft whisper because court was like the library as far as he was concerned. He truly wished he could recall anything on his own and tried to let his mind wander back to the period of over a year ago now. It would really help if he could remember and it would take some heat off of Namine. OOC: My question seems to not have been answered. Would it be too much if Sora were to be able to recall things if he worked at it? Or some method by the court seeing as like I said before, the Org is back in black and so is Namine? If the answer is no, that is fine, but I just would like to know.
I agree with you. You aren't stupid, of course. It's pretty lame thing to say but some people are just that convinced for a time. That's like calling someone stupid for hating some song that is so cool to the person. Most of the time I tend to ignore things like that because everyone has their preferences. There are things I find that are so awesome and yet someone else will say they suck and oh well; that's their preference. Of course, if more people would stop judging people based on what they like or don't like, the world would probably be a better place. Something like an anime show, movie, book etc...these just aren't things to really fight over and I am always amazed at how some people really want to press on about the stuff. It really is trivial.
Actually all of the characters look different from CoM to KH2 because the artwork is different. Namine to me looks pretty much the same including the same hair style, except her body is more long as aren't others. She was one of the ones that hardly changed but to make her less 'chibi' sort of looking.
It is one of those minor things that I wouldn't go nuts about but yeah, I agree it would make more sense to have it changed as you said. It would seem to be only a minor thing to rename it if someone would want to but also again, it is a kind of minor thing so not sure what the thought from others is on it.
Well, this is basically why I think the Nobodies don't age, besides the fact they don't even have their original bodies anymore. These bodies are composed of the strength of their former Hearts and the memories they carry with them. It's what separates a higher Nobody like the Org members versus a lower Nobody that had a weaker Heart and lost much when they fell to Darkness. Note, Nobodies don't even bleed or anything but exude Darkness when damaged bad enough because the Body is partially composed of that. Does a pseudo body of Darkness and some element, and also a person's memories age? I doubt it. It wouldn't make much sense since the whole reason they have the form and it isn't an exact duplicate of the former body they owned is because of the power of heart and memories carried over from the loss of that heart. KH history has it that Hollow Bastion/Radiant Gardens fell one year after BBS completes apparently, which would be 9 years ago by Ansem's account, as well as Aerith's account in the library in KH..or Leon's. One of those two told Sora that Hollow Bastion fell 9 years ago and that Maleficent took over and spread Darkness about. So...if Xehanort didn't age in 10 years, that is kind of amazing as he looks just like the portrait in Ansem's office. Exactly the same age. Also, an 8 year old doing high school work is not someone who has the knowledge it is clear Ienzo did. Ienzo would by accounts probably have had college under his belt by quite a few years. Therefore, he probably was 8 when he cleared high school but what about all of his intellect to talk Ansem into building a lab for research and he was one of the top scientists doing the work despite his age? That seems to reflect he has some credentials far more than high school education is going to permit. I've never even heard of a 7 year old having a Master's Degree and for as brilliant as Ienzo apparently was, I'm pretty sure he'd have had to be around that level of education. 16 or 17 would put him at the age that would allow him to have these credentials of being called a scientist legitimately. Yes, the scene in KH2:FM is dated around 2 years ago, possibly around a year before KH for Marluxia and a bit later for Larxene. I'm pretty sure any way. So there would really be no way of proving their aging or not because we also do not have any information of history on any of the bottom org members below the original 6. So, in the end, all we can really point at for any serious proof is Xehanort/Xemnas and Zexion/Ienzo. Xigbar also when we see BBC and Vexen may also be in BBC under their true identities as Braig and Even. If we see them there and they don't look too different, that will show more proof since the Nobodies were created maybe a year after BBS. I suspect Vexen may be in BBS to some degree since Ansem says that he had a lot of interest in Xehanort and continuing the studies. Xigbar, Nomura said in an interview had knowledge of the Keybladers and has some history so apparently it seems likely we will learn more about him either in BBS or an upcoming KH after that, or perhaps 358/2 Days, though less likely.
Sora's body was returned to him when Kairi connected to him via the link of their Hearts and she transformed him back to normal. Sora seems to have no such power as was mentioned. In fact, Sora as a Shadow makes the comment he is losing his memories etc even as he travels to find Kairi and the others. He would have been a goner if not for his connection to her. Now for the reason of Roxas and Namine having their own bodies. As has been posted before about Nobodies, they are formed when someone loses his/her Heart by the cause of Darkness. Usually this results in someone becoming a Heartless, but with Kairi, she could not become a Heartless. The first time she lost her Heart, it went to Sora, and so she did not have Namine form then. Kairi's Heart, however, left the safe haven of Sora after the Dark Keyblade was used and this was a Darkness catalyst. Because she had no Darkness in her own Heart, her Heart was bodiless a short time and then traversed to her own body. This is the time when Namine was created. Due to the fact Namine's 'other' had a body and such, and no Darkness, and also the -very- short time she was actually out of her body by Darkness, Namine was considered even a ghost amongst the Nobodies of the Organization. Roxas's form is the form of Ven. I am about 98.9% sure of this. He looks just like Ven. Now as to why the Nobodies have 'bodies' when they also have Hearted people walking about? This is because Nobodies do not go with their bodies to become Nobodies. They have made -new- bodies for themselves based on the memories of the Heart that pass on to them. They have nearly the same features as they did in their original bodies, but it is important to understand that the Nobodies in fact do not have these original bodies. The bodies they do have are made up of Darkness and an Element. All of the Org Nobodies and Namine had another element than Darkness to attach to. These bodies are basically like golems which house the soul and mind of the being as they are now emotionless and without a Heart, which makes them incomplete. Their original bodies are usually probably eaten by Darkness when someone becomes a Heartless. ICSP debates this with me, but I am pretty sure that the reason Kairi remained is because she is a Princess of Heart and her body was in fact, in tact. As for Sora, her Heart rested in his for so long, when she held him she used the power of that bond to bring him back to his form, thus giving him back his body, because he still had his Heart, not totally vanquished, and therefore also his memories. When Roxas appears, we can note he had no memories except for minor ones such as the ability to fight still due to the fact Sora was a Heartless for a brief stint in time. I don't buy that it's a power of Sora's but more one of Kairi's because she is a Light being and she basically brought Sora back to the Light side. The only unique thing Sora did, which Axel pointed out, was that when changed into a Heartless, he did retain his memories and Heart to some degree until he could find Kairi. He was pretty much 'led' to her in a way. He fought to retain who he was. That is about all that is 'remarkable' that Sora himself did. Despite how useless people think Kairi is, she is in fact supposed to be pretty powerful and though her powers come off at moments that are sparse because she's not as physical as the two boys are, she still possesses the power of Light. It brought the two home in KH2. In KH, Xehanort sent her out adrift the waters of innerspace to find the Keyblade bearer, believing she could be a Princess of Heart and she could find him. She did, even though she ended up unconscious when Sora and Riku discovered her, so his gambit paid off. This is why Riku sees the glowing door but Sora never notices it, because at the time, he was a little kid but was already the chosen wielder, so Xehanort found him. Kairi's powers are very subtle but she does have them and if we think about it, they can do grand things if she learned focus since she already shows the abilities, even though they appear to be not in our faces. In some ways, Nomura really has not explained much about Kairi, or what changes Riku all went through either. Sora is the only one we know things about solidly as far as what he can do and possibly in what direction he will go. I think KH3 will better reflect on the other two, or at least I hope because it would be nice to see Kairi not being so much of a Mary Sue.
Harvey drank a cup of coffee..a good sip and as Pikachu inquired about manipulation of Namine..he splurted it out. He was beginning to wonder whose side Pikachu was on. "Of course we can!" He then cleared his throat and adjusted his composure. Harvey Birdman flipped through some documents and points. "Ah-hah. I knew there was something also missing from the charges other than aggravated assault!" Harvey stands proudly and clears his throat. "We should also add the charge of Coercion as this implies that Larxene did in fact coerce Sora and Namine to do things they normally would not and act in ways they would not wish to, to include forcing Namine to do acts that are criminal and to have Sora's memories robbed from him to coerce him into aiding them to kill the other members of the Organization. Also to add to it, mental coercion since this is what Larxene and Marluxia forced Namine to do to Sora and possibly Riku, who was also affected by the memory issues because of Sora's connection to him. Coercion is a charge that can be added to most of the Organization members, even if it was against one another." Harvey began to ponder if there should not be also trials held against certain members of the Org versus the others. This really was an odd case and at points he felt he may even be defending certain members of the Org as this story was sketchy and there were betrayals upon betrayals.
