*EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW* KH-Vids.net Sits Down with KH-Vids Royale III Author Roxas

The following interview occurred on the official KH-Vids.net Twitch channel on 1/6/2022, but has been transcribed for your reading pleasure below.

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kh-vids.net: With the one month anniversary of KH-Vids Royale III's release on our minds, a week ago we reached out to the story's elusive creator and author, Roxas, to see if he would speak with us. We were so happy when he messaged us back saying he would fly out for an exclusive interview, so we invited him here on our Twitch stream tonight. Welcome, Roxas. Come on out.

(Roxas walks on set, sets water bottle down, waves at audience)

Roxas: Thanks for having me.

kh-vids.net: It's us that should be thanking you. After the release of KH-Vids Royale III the forum has gained enough traffic for us to launch this Twitch channel. It's the biggest thread in the Spam Zone in about three years, and members who last logged in a decade ago are back and posting.

Roxas: It's just a fanfiction...

kh-vids.net: Now there are dozens of questions from the 5-6 fans of the story that we're clamoring to ask you tonight - but before we get into all that, here's a word from our sponsors.

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kh-vids.net: Welcome back to the studio! So, Roxas, we must know - what inspired you to write KH-Vids Royale III?

Roxas: Well, after coming back to the site after thirteen years or so, I saw it wasn't quite as busy as before. (laughs) And I knew other old members like me would eventually come wandering back for nostalgia's sake. I had this really rad idea to write a third story so there would be an amazing treasure for them to find when they returned. And I hope people get that "oh wow!" experience when they come back and find it, even find themselves in the story. So yeah, after that thought, I knew I had to write it.

kh-vids.net: There are quite a few players in KH-Vids Royale III that weren't even around during your time at the forum. If you wanted this to be some big reunion, why did they make the cut?

Roxas: Things change. When I came back to the site and saw all these new staff members I didn't know, I realized just how much time had passed since I'd been around. So I wanted to give them their due. It's been awesome, too. I've been getting to know these people thanks to this story. That's all I want really, for the story to bring the community together like the first one did.

kh-vids.net: And this is your plan to do it, then? Kill off all of your friends?

Roxas: (laughs) Yeah, good point... You know, my first Battle Royale fan-fiction included people I knew in real life. Then I suddenly had this thought, like - wow, you know, that's really weird to be killing off your school friends. You're gonna get put on a list if the wrong people find this stuff, you know. (laughs) But I still had a need to write that story and I went with the members of my favorite forum instead. I guess not actually knowing them made it seem alright to kill them off, even though they are real people.

kh-vids.net: It's all in good fun. So what's your process? The chapters are coming at a steady stream. How do you stay so focused?

Roxas: My process has definitely evolved since I started the story. These days I try to write during my entire lunch break and if I can get the chapter out then, great. If not, I finish it when I'm free later that day. I know what's coming next generally, though I like to keep myself open and try to surprise myself with twists, too. But that's what helps me pump the chapters out - is having some kind of roadmap. I also write it initially in another editor, then paste it into KH-Vids and do my revising there so I get another take at it.

kh-vids.net: Wow, it's great to get inside the author's head like this. And what about staying invested? How do you keep the inspiration coming?

Roxas: Sometimes I listen to The KH-Vids Song while writing it. (laughs) But that's just a way of reminding myself why it's important that I write this story. The original KH-Vids Royale, the song, all of that stuff - it built this community back in the day, and gave us an identity. It linked us together and gave us something to gather for that wasn't just Kingdom Hearts. So many people contributed to our community this way and look at how much this place means to us now. By listening to that song I remind myself not just what KH-Vids means to me, but of what it means to the greater community, and that's why I want to write and finish this story, so those of us who are still around have something to look forward to and enjoy and love about this site again.

kh-vids.net: (wipes tear) T-t-that was beautiful. And now another word from our sponsors.

Serious voice: If you or any of your loved ones have vaped in the last 6-7 minutes, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Call 1-800-FUC-KOFF today.

kh-vids.net: Well that's it for us tonight, folks. Thanks for tuning in, and again, Roxas, thank you so much for flying out here to spend the evening with us.

Roxas: It was a true pleasure.

kh-vids.net: Next up, we have KH2 randomizer speedruns with Tamale, and then we'll be playing the entirety of KH2's cutscenes from midnight to eleven in the morning tomorrow. Good night.

 

Holy moly, Roxas on the khv twitch channel? Yeah take some bits from fan number 5 out of 6

 

I can't wait to watch kingdom hearts 2 cutscenes on loop for 11 hours straight

 

Just so we're clear, I've never forgiven you for killing me with a Throwing Hatchet. - Yukai, Girl No. 14. KH-Vids Royale #1

P.S. Yes. I very clearly remember I got killed with a hatchet to the back of the head by Boris after all this time.

P.P.S. Good show, old boy.

EDIT: Since I found my old hard copy, I reread the chapter I ended up dying in and Darkwatch was the one that killed me. Must have mixed him up with Boris. Boris kills quite a number of people in the original fic while Darkwatch dropped in with the hatchet.

 

Oh my god... My mind is literally blown right now.

 

(cackle) I just appear out of the blue like magic!

If you think that’s mind blowing, I’ve had a hard copy of the original fic that was printed and bound tucked away in my garage. My friends would discover it when we clean up once in a while, become curious, and read it. They would then proceed to come to me and say that me surviving for days on end with no one finding me till the very last minute when I out myself is very on brand.

 

That actually is even more mind-blowing. Can I see?

 

I’d have to dig through boxes to find it again but I’ll give you a shout when it resurfaces.

EDIT: I found it faster than I thought I would.



The entire fic was proofread, edited and formatted by me back in the day for readability when I printed this. You can tell it’s kinda old ‘cause the page edges are starting to yellow.

 

This is one of the coolest things ever. I can't believe that 15 years later I'm still discovering new ways my antics lived on. The fact that this is the Final Mix version makes it even crazier. Thanks for sharing :D

 

It belongs in a museum!