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embraceyourdestiny · 3 years

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Oh my god I just had a thought about Xion.

It’s never really explained why she has such a fascination with shells and yet it’s such a prominent part of not only her personality but also her relationship with Roxas. And we know not every aspect of her personality belongs to her so the place we have to look back to figure out why she likes shells so much is the source; Kairi. Specifically Sora’s promise to Kairi to bring back her lucky charm.

We all know about the legend of the thalassa shells but a reminder doesn’t hurt.

Kairi tells Sora that with the thalassa shells, her, Sora, and Riku will always be together.

Now to Xion. Xion is a creation from Sora’s memories of Kairi, and so often she is represented by thalassa shells, the shells Kairi said would keep her and the others safe and always let them find each other.

When Roxas faints and sleeps for weeks, Xion gives Roxas a thalassa shell and hopes that he’ll wake up soon and that they’ll be together again.

And Roxas returns the favor to Xion when the same thing happens to her.

Remember Sora and Kairi’s conversation after they return from Hollow Bastion, the one where Kairi gives Sora her lucky charm?

I find it so interesting that despite Roxas and Xion coming from Sora and Kairi and obviously paralleling them, they do so in the complete opposite way. Sora and Kairi tell each other they’ll never forget one another, yet Roxas and Xion are forced to. Sora tells Kairi that she helped pull him out of the darkness, yet in all the time they were together the darkness just kept getting worse and worse in Roxas and Xion. Sora says Kairi can’t help because it’s too dangerous, and Roxas and Xion both fight and in the end they end up fighting each other, to the point that Xion dies. “Finally we’re together, Kairi,” when Roxas and Xion were forcibly ripped from each other. It’s like looking into a mirrored image, altered almost beyond recognition, but the most important parts remain, the parts that make both Sora and Kairi and Roxas and Xion the people they are, even if it is in different ways.

The lucky charm means so much to both Sora and Kairi and that importance gets passed onto Roxas and Xion. They don’t want to lose each other and some part of them remembers a promise that they never made and tries their best to keep that promise despite the fact that they never can (in Days, at least.)

If Sora and his friends represent the light in the deepest darkness, Roxas and his friends serve as a reminder that even in the brightest light there will always be darkness, and Xion and Roxas give each other shells because in all the time after KH1, Sora longed to be with his friend again and that longing made its way to Roxas and Xion. Even if they didn’t know why, some part of them didn’t want to lose the other and the shells seemed like a perfect way to keep that promise, because that’s what Sora was trying to do; keep his promise and return the thing that kept him bonded to Kairi back to her.

Additionally, I always wondered what the purpose of this shot in the opening of KH2 was for.

Kairi sits at a beach by herself, playing with her thalassa shell, and the shell gets washed away by the ocean. This scene could obviously represent a lot of things; Kairi losing her memories of Sora, Sora losing Kairi, etc, but it could also represent the loss of Xion. Days takes place before Kingdom Hearts 2, so it’s entirely plausible that even before we knew about Xion we were already being told from the beginning that we were going to lose her. Just like the memories of her in Roxas and Axel’s heart, the thalassa shell gets washed away by the sea, alone and forgotten.

The more you learn and realize about Xion, Roxas, and everything about Days, the more tragic it gets. It’s almost like by having positive experiences, Sora and those he’s connected to condemned those created from them. The things that happen to Roxas, Xion, and Naminé all directly parallel the things that happened to Sora and his friends but on the opposite end, in darkness instead of light. I feel so hard for those three especially, they really didn’t deserve the things that happened to them and did nothing to even cause those things, but at the same time despite actions beyond they’re control they’re still able to use the things from their Others’ lives to help them, like the thalassa shells and drawings of memories, to keep themselves whole.

I’m not sure how much of this stuff is intentional or not but the fun part of kingdom hearts is theory and analysis and sometimes the pieces line up just perfectly to be so deep and it adds to much more to the universe, I love being able to come up with stuff like this so much it’s so fun.

#kingdom hearts #kh #kh1 #kh2 #kingdom hearts 2 #xion kh #namine kh #naminé kh #Roxas kh #Kairi kh #sora Kh #kingdom hearts theories #kingdom hearts theory #theories #analysis #og #this feels messy but shrug

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themadauthorshatter · 3 years

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... I think you guys are going to like this.

358/2 Days REWRITE Part 2

Riku is around, but he's all over the place, and he has a mission: Find and capture either Roxas or Xion, unless he CAN manage both, so DiZ can use them to help Sora recover. He's on a time limit, though, because Sora's heart is damaged and the longer Roxas and Xion are around, the less likely Sora is to waking up or even sleeping; I mean, he'll BE sleeping, but it'll be much quieter and it will be absolutely pointless to try waking him up.

For the first few days or months, he keeps his distance, trying to decide who he's picking, sadly.

Pros of bringing Roxas to DiZ: He has the closest connection to Sora, being his nobody, he's got the keyblade, Riku can probably take him one v. one, if there are any problems, he just needs to get a reaction out of 'Sora.'

CONS of bringing to Roxas to DiZ: Have fun trying to run from the remaining Organization members, he'll have to avoid Non-form or he'll get beaten all to Hell, he runs the risk of hurting his friend for reals, Roxas is rarely alone, Roxas is one hell of a runner and fighter, he'll just feel bad.

Pros of bringing Xion to DiZ: She has more 'keyblade' potential, maybe her voice will help wake up Sora(?), she looks and sounds like Kairi, Naminé gets a new friend(as long as DiZ doesn't decide to throw her away).

CONS of bringing Xion to DiZ: She looks and sounds like Kairi, she's crazy skilled, she hits hard, she's laughable when she's mad, but it's gut wrenching to see her cry or be hurt, she looks and sounds like Kairi, Naminé is probably getting Thanosed when DiZ is done with her because he's a dick right now, so giving Xion to her as a friend will mean nothing, the connection to Kairi, he'll feel bad.

As you can tell, Riku is great at making decisions(sarcasm)

While he's too caught up to do anything, let's check on the sea salt trio, who are getting closer as friends, i.e. seeing Hayner, Pence, and Olette do stupid stuff a KH equivalent of TikTok, which the trio repeats on their own without a phone recording them, eating ice cream, talking, and exploring the Disney worlds for fun, both old ones and new ones that will appear in future games.

In this time, Xion becomes a mix of Kairi and Naminé, outspoken, but careful with who she runs her mouth to, smart, but still open to learn, protective and still needs something if a protector, etc. She is also a wickedly fast learner.

We also get organization shenanigans like Demyx being lazy on missions, Roxas getting annoyed at Xigbar for calling him tiger, dealing with Saïx, trying not to annoy Xaldin, even getting head pats from Xemnas, and, for fluff, Roxas and Xion finding Axel asleep on the floor of the clock tower and the two scaring him away for shits and giggles.

Yes, a lot of time passes, about 9-11 months, give or take.

Roxas and Xion also become closer as well with Axel being something like their chaperone, only he reports to Xemnas and Saïx.

Speaking of Saïx, he meets up with Axel one day and expresses disdain with the fact Axel would rather be friends with an unstable Roxas and a literal puppet that doesn't even exist.

Axel, on edge already with Xemnas on his back, tells Saïx to put a cork in it. Saïx only pushes back, asking if Roxas even KNOWS what Xion is, even what HE is. To both their credit, the two are wonderful at playing make believe and Axel, being the child he is, is a great at being their playmate.

Axel shoves Saïx back, snapping for him to shut his mouth before he says something he'll regret. Saïx, losing his composure, shoves back, asking if he should because Axel can't handle the truth; he never has been good at it, so it's not surprising.

Ring a bell, someone, please, because Axel throws a punch into Saïx's cheekbone. Saïx returns with a left hook directly to the side of the neck and knees Axel, who grabs his leg under his knee and rolls, making them both fall and throw more punches on the ground, bruising and bloodying each other in full view of the remaining organization members. Maybe we get a gag of Xigbar and Luxord placing bets on who will win, Demyx worrying because they should probably be stopped, Xaldin scoffing at the immature display, and then Roxas and Xion walking in and instantly getting worried because Axel is not winning this fight, as evidenced by Saïx slamming his head into the floor.

When the two stand up to keep fighting, Roxas and Xion race between them, the boy in front of Saïx and a very nervous Xion in front of Axel, who tells her and Roxas to stay out of this or they'll get hurt.

Roxas obviously refuses, but Xion leads Axel away from Saïx, who asks if Axel really needs children to protect him.

No, he needs to protect these two idiots, especially Roxas, who hasn't moved and his eyes have gone Non-form-y, like he's about to transform.

Saïx returns with berserker eyes and smashes Roxas into the wall by his neck, daring him to try it.

It draws a gasp from EVRYONE, even Xaldin, but Saïx scoffs that they shouldn't try pretending to be worried, what with how unstable and how much of a nuisance Roxas is, not too mention weak, which he says while watching Roxas try to break free. He kicks at Saïx, and misses, but Saïx smirks and summons his claymore, wanting to see how tough Roxas really is.

There's a reason Xion pulled Axel away and is so nervous, because said reason puts a hand on Saïx's shoulder and asks him if he enjoys this façade of a life and would rather not disappear.

Yep. Xemnas is here, and everyone backs down, including the the bet making Xigbar and Luxord, who so they can have deniability.

Saïx snaps out of berserk mode in the blink of an eye and begrudgingly lets go of Roxas, i.e. lets him drop down.

Axel and Xion start toward him, but freeze when Xemnas eyes them, like scary eyes.

He has an announcement: There's an imposter and he could be anywhere. He's in a coat just like everyone else's, but his hood's usually up. When he's not wearing it, he's a silver haired teen. Oh, yeah, and his name is Riku.

Axel, Roxas, and Xion all gasp, Axel because Riku was in Castle Oblivion and probably knows where Sora is and Roxas and Xion because it brings back memories from Sora.

Xemnas sees the reaction, but only focuses on Roxas, asking softly if he's okay and if he was hurt.

He's fine and he wasn't and he shakes his head to chase away Non-form.

Xemnas still helps him up and orders everyone to keep their eyes open and report ANYTHING on this imposter because the sooner they catch and... well, just catch him, the better, that part being Xemnas not wanting to upset Roxas, make him go into Non-form, and have everyone need to knock him out to calm him down.

Xemnas takes Roxas away to be checked on, in case he was really hurt and doesn't know it, and Roxas asks what will happen to Saïx and Axel for fighting. He didn't see a lot of it, so he’s not even sure who started it.

They’ll be 'interviewed' and reprimanded accordingly, but they won't die, so relax.

What about the imposter? Who's Riku? And who's Sora??

Xemnas stops checking on Roxas and puts a hand on his head, which he doesn't need to worry about because the organization can deal with it. All he needs to do is keep doing missions and giving his 100%. Roxas sighs that he IS, hell he's giving 150% because Non-form's acting up, but he's kept it calm, even with the hallucinations of Sora, Ven, and now Non-form.

Xemnas finishes checking for any wounds and commends Roxas, saying that is why he chose him. Before Roxas can ask, Xemnas tells him to go in the lobby because he has a mission with Xaldin.

Roxas does so and passes by and reassuring Axel and glaring Saïx, though Roxas glares back.

Xemnas has the two sit down and that warmth he had with Roxas is GONE IN A SECOND, asking both of them what they were thinking, picking a fight in front of everyone and endangering the two most vital components to the plan. Saïx jabs that Axel is letting himself be distracted while Axel states he's doing his job and doesn't want either of them to get upset or angry to the point of dysfunctionality. Besides, He did not start that fight, which he didn't even WANT to partake in.

Does Axel have legs? For now he does, yes. Can he stand? Yes. Can he DEMONSTRATE that he can stand? This is getting tedious, but sure, and Axel stands. Now can he walk from where he is to the far wall? Again, this is tedious, but yes.

If he did ALL OF THAT, why didn't he actually do it?

With no words, Xemnas dismisses Axel, telling him to accompany Xion on their mission.

Axel nods and leaves Saïx to be scolded.

We cut to Riku as he watches Roxas and Xaldin fight of heartless and some knights in Beast's Castle, maybe even go toe to toe with Beast himself, who manages to catch Roxas off guard and momentarily confuses him with Sora.

Xaldin knocks him away and the two leave, Riku coming out and asking if that smaller nobody really was Sora.

Beast admits it was a spur of the moment, but he could have sworn it was Sora.

Meanwhile, Xion and Axel fight hard in Hollow Bastion, squaring off against Squall, Yuffie, Tifa, and Cloud, where we see both more of Axel's gymnastics and Xion's ability with a keyblade.

The fight ends when Xion stops who she believes is Riku the imposter and chases after him, Axel following her in case shit hits the fan.

Xion follows Riku to a cliffside and he gives her an offer and a warning: either give him Roxas or hope that they never meet face to face again. Xion arms herself and demands to know what that means, but Riku also arms himself right as Axel throws a chakram between them and tells Riku to fuck off before he gets hurt.

Riku gives Xion one last glance before falling off the edge and leaving through a dark corridor, making it look like he just disappeared like a badass. They’re both confused, but still call it a day, Xion asking if Axel is okay after that fight with Saïx, because he’s still a little banged up. He expresses he’s fine(he’s a big boy!!) and tells Xion not to worry.

She’s going to anyway because Riku is after Roxas, and threatened her with a fight if she didn’t bring Roxas to him. Axel, although he’s shook, tells her everything will be fine.

LIES, because Xion is sent on a mission to defeat Riku. All she needs to do is knock him out and they’ll come collect him, no problem.

Xion IS strong, but not strong enough because Riku wipes the floor with her and is about to take her to DiZ when dusks, samurai, and Non-form Roxas, who also gets whooped, but at least fairs a little better.

The two wear Riku out enough for a lance to graze his arm, an arrow/bullet to hit his leg, and a few cards to distract him.

The rest of the organization arrive, even Saïx and Xemnas, the latter using thorn/vine things to bind Riku’s hands behind his back.

He remarks that Riku’s a lot bigger than he thought he would be, stronger too, and we get one of those creepy manga Xemnas moments as he grabs Riku, pulls him close by the jaw, and states he’ll have fun seeing just how strong he is; he knows that Riku is hiding Sora, Kairi, DiZ, and his witch, and will tear him apart with his bare hands to know where they are.

With Riku thoroughly freaked out, Xemnas stands and everyone returns, all tired and ready to find Sora.

Xion, however, isn’t. Because Riku said some very interesting things to her during their fight.

She considers telling Roxas, but he’s too worried making sure she’s okay, because Riku was tough. She goes to Axel instead, knowing he has a key to the dungeons, and he’s instantly skeptical; she asked if he could take her to see Riku. Xion lies through her teeth and says she just wants to rub in Riku’s face that they won and he lost.

Axel agrees, but decides he’s going to follow her, just in case.

They arrive as Xigbar leaves, asking if they’re going to welcome the new arrival and need help in doing so.

Xion counters that she’s actually going to return a favor and would like to do it alone.

Axel’s surprised and Xigbar whistles for her to stand down; he was just asking because she got kicked like a soccer ball, no harm in asking for help.

He leaves and Xion goes toward Riku’s cell, asking Axel to stay by the door until she’s done.

He does so and Xion walks towards Riku’s cell, where she and we the audience see Riku is banged up from being interrogated; looks like Xemnas is taking his time.

Riku asks what she wants and Xion responds with a deal:

Tell her about Sora and she’ll give the organization a good enough lie to let him go so he can help Sora. During their fight, the two had an argument, Xion saying she was going to protect her friend and Riku snapping she had no idea what friends were because she’s a nobody and a replica, and the reason Sora can’t wake up.

Spark Notes of the deal: If Riku tells Xion about Sora, Xion will give the organization an answer that will buy Riku enough time to get back to Sora.

Fair, but he has one condition: If he tells her, she was to decide what she will do; he’s not refusing because she genuinely wants to know more about Sora.

Xion agrees and Riku tells her to take a seat, because they’re going to be here for a while.

#kingdom hearts #kh roxas #kh axel #kh xemnas #kh xion #sea salt trio #kh riku #kh saix #kh 358/2 days #rewrite #there will be a part 3 #violence tw #picking on the little guy

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mariposalass · 3 years

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Sora’s Time to Shine

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Summary: Mari is already not putting too much expectations going into watching the Final Smash Presentation when someone close to her besides Kirby and Edelgard’s beloved Professor pops out of nowhere in said Presentation. All hell breaks loose (but in a good way).

Setting: Mari and co.’s house in Daly City, California; October 5, 2021

Notes: I was pretty behind in seeing the reveal since I was pretty tired when it came out and I had to check a friend’s post on Plurk to make sure that it was not all for the jokes before watching it on Gamespot and writing this story down. And yes, the Byleth in my S/I verse is the female version in case anyone is curious. And yes, it took me until around 8 AM to write this up. Featuring Luther Vandross. Here is an ask I made on Sora’ behest during a F/O takeover long before he got confirmed recently. #SakuraiHasReachedtheImpossibleDream #Sora4Smash

Tags: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Super Smash Bros., Swift Keyblader, Smash Reveal, Sakurai has reached the impossible dream!, Sora for Smash, #Sora4Smash

“Hurry Mari, you’re about to miss it!” Kairi is dragging me out onto the sofa to see the final Smash Ultimate Presentation on the living room pretty early before plopping ourselves onto the sofa.

“Look, Kairi, guys. I hate to be a party pooper, but I have no clue about who could it be,” I try to be realistic in my views.

“Well, at this point, my beloved, it could be anybody from the video game world,” my dear Philip chimes in while trying to reassure me, “Besides, as soon as it is done, we shall try to reply back to this non Smash invitation that El had found in the mail today.”

“Huh, is that correct, El dear?” I asked my regal adopted daughter for confirmation.

“Why yes of course, Mother,” she replies as she passes me the invitation, “I believe that a friend of yours has sent us one, but I didn’t want to open it immediately since this is addressed to you.”

“Okay then, I will get to read it and reply back once the Presentation is over and see who gets to fight with Kirby and Professor Byleth,” I smiled back at her.

“I couldn’t believe that there was a leak that just came out before this Presentation video and it is about music. Who was that dense enough to do it at a time like this?” Riku mumbles as he gets the video streaming on the Nintendo Direct page in his laptop.

“You know, Riku, sometimes people can act very idiotic at times, so there isn’t much we can do besides ignoring and avoiding that as much as possible,” Harry sighs as he is bottle feeding and gently rocking Serena as she had cried a while ago to be bottle fed.

“Guys, have you guys seen Sora lately?” Issa asks us while carrying Chris in her arms, “I haven’t seen him in the last few days. He didn’t even reply back to either my or Kairi’s texts and calls. Do you think he’s off to visit Jack and Sally in Halloween Town? It’s nearing Halloween soon.”

“That’s really a good question, Issa,” Ahk agrees, “I had given up trying to find him by calling over on the phone since last Thursday. All I have gotten from it were many ‘The subscriber could not be reached’ messages.”

Even Riku and Kairi are in a loss for words as they turn to each other and wonder what is up with our friend lately. Did he just went poof without us knowing? Kirby always informs us through his many Poyos that he would have to head off to Smash whenever a new tourney starts or a newcomer arrives and Edelgard’s class often gets shorter class schedules or early dismissals whenever Professor Blyeth gets to fight in Smash: she is the professor handling the Black Eagles class. Sometimes even El, Petra and Dorothea along with a few others (and yes, that includes the Gatekeeper) would come over to Smash to spectate from the sidelines and support their beloved Professor.

There is a long silence when the Nintendo Switch title card plays in the laptop and Karina directs us all to watch the screen to see many clips featuring many Smashers in the current tournament before it transitions to Sakurai-san in the studio explaining about the video as well as showcasing the Mii Fighter costumes.

“Hey look, Isabelle the Dog’s demon slaying friend from Bethesda is now coming to Smash to rip and tear up the competition!” Moana screams when the Doomguy Mii Gunner costume appears.

“Good for him; I know that many fans really did want him to be in Smash, though the costume is a nice addition,” Issa agrees. “That now makes three Bethesda franchises represented in the costumes.”

“Even the Octolings and Judd the Cat got hats based on them too,” I chime in as well.

“Oh hey, guys! Sakarui’s about to reveal the last fighter for the Second Fighter’s Pass, so keep down it and don’t expect too much,” Karina informs as Sakurai transitions to the main event and we all stay silent and stay glued to our seats.

The screen turns black before the usual Smash logo opening shows up, but instead of the usual zoom in, it then turns into a flaming Smash logo with all the Smashers up until Kazuya Mishima (yeah, the guy who tried to drop Kirby off a cliff) looking at it and covered in the shadows. Did MH decided to get them to show up in there and meet the last fighter in the dark? Probably, I bet that he might be keeping it as a surprise and possibly even conserving electricity at the same time. Then cut to Inkling Girl looking in awe with the Smash logo reflecting onto her pupils as a nice ode to the first reveal trailer for the game/tourney, I honestly love this shot.

Wait a minute, the logo turns into stars and the next scene shows everyone frozen in place as toy-like ambiios?!? How is it even possible? Well, it does certainly confirmed once again that the video game version of the tourney is set in a world of make believe after all. I could swear that a lot of people crying their eyes out as they are watching this. It looks like this is the end of one great video game series about mascots fighting among each other. Or is it? Because the camera is aiming at Mario as if he looks like he’s trying to take a nap while standing up.

Riku then proceeds to mumble some words to me incoherently that something big is coming the moment Mario wakes up to see a glowing light to see the last remaining flame glowing on the floor, which I do agree with him. Suspicious right? Oh God, Mario no! Please don’t touch the fire for everyone’s sanity. Wait, hold on a second: that isn’t not just fire that he just grabbed on and then tossed it into the sky like a boomerang: the mystery object looks like a Keyblade and there’s that Mickey keychain! Yep, that’s a Keyblade alright. Could it be...

I could recognize that beam of light that Keyblades often produce whenever they lock and unlock Keyholes to other worlds, so does everyone in the room. Riku and Kairi hugged onto each other as if we’re about to brace for an emergency (Karina and Moana also did the same), Ahk stares at the screen to see if he’s not imagining things all the sudden, Issa has her mouth drop in shock, Chris and Serena didn’t cry throughout this entire presentation, Harry gasps and nearly drops Serena’s bottle, Philip turns to me for answers while Edelgard begins to sweatdrop in concern.

No words are exchanged as the light grows and shines brighter before it proceeds to shoot itself away from the Keyblade to reveal a Keyhole on another part of the room. It then glows bright within as the camera switches back to the rest of frozen Smashers as the light begins to fill the room and revives Link, Cloud, Incineroar and Mewtwo as they all gawk at it as it reveals something from the World of Light with the orchestral rendition of Simple and Clean playing in the background. And that’s when it hits us right at the gut: the familiar spiky brown hair poking out from that Keyhole.

“What!?!” Kairi shouts as the Keyhole ‘spits’ out Sora from the World of Light.

“H-h-he actually got in, for real?” Riku squeaks up.

“Oh my…” I gasp in pure shock as we watch the whole thing played out.

“Sakarui finally did it?” Issa adds in to the discussion.

“Well, it’s about time that they managed to get his darn behind into the tourney,” Karina seconds in.

Soon enough, Sora finally wakes up from his nappy time and takes notes from Peter Pan and Tinkerbell as he flies around, sprinkling fairy dust all over the other Smashers, before landing on the floor and the Keyblade flying back to his hand.

“Damn it, Sora!” I scream as the splash screen pops in.

“Kai, your boy has finally made it big time!” Moana shakes Kairi in congratulation rather rapidly that it nearly gives my lil sis a dizzying spell.

“Moana, please don’t make Kairi that dizzy,” Harry had to tell her that.

“Whoops! Sorry Kairi,” she apologizes to her which she accepts.

So with that, we switch back to Sakurai going in depth with Sora’s moveset after he discussed about the Kingdom Hearts games and world. And he has gotten 4 costume changes, man Sora, that’s a big wardrobe you’re bringing in, oh wait, he even got the Timeless River costume too. That makes it 5 then.

“Oh gods, Sakurai is making us suffer by watching Sakurai using Sora to beat up everyone,” Ahk tells us as the Sora moveset showcase begins.

“No kidding,” Harry muses as we see Sora beating everyone in Battlefield.

“Whoa, they went for Sealing the Keyhole instead of having Trinity Force with Donald and Goofy? What a bummer,” Karina bemoans in dismay.

“Well, you know modern Disney: too overprotective of their IPs,” Philip reminds her.

“Oh new stage, what could it be?” Riku gleefully chimes in before they reveal Hollow Bastion as the stage, “Whoa, Hollow Bastion. I never thought that you will return again.”

Then the stage changes into Dive to the Heart and it had Riku and Kairi in the stained glass in one, Riku being the main focus of the second one, Roxas in the middle of the third, Xion in the fourth, Terra for the fifth, a sleepy Ven in the sixth, and Aqua’s in the seventh.

“Pretty!” I complimented the look of each stained glass.

“Quite impressive I will admit,” El agrees with me too.

Then Sakurai begins a playthrough with Sora facing Cloud and Sephiroth in Hollow Bastion, for a while, we all thought that he’s going to be a goner with Cloud and Sephiroth beating him up in the Stamina match but then the tides begin to turn in his favor after Sephy lost his full stock and with Sora having to take down Cloud next. When he did, the scene begins to go into a slow white fade out with a Game!

“Alright! Sora did it! He defeated both Cloud and mean old Sephy,” Riku cheers on.

“Woo! Go Sora!” me, Kairi, Moana, and Karina screams aloud.

“That was brilliant!” Harry agrees before he turns to Serena, “Did you hear? Uncle Sora managed to defeat two opponents in a Smash Ultimate playthrough.”

“9 songs is better than nothing at all,” Issa observes, “It would be a licensing nightmare to talk to Disney if they can borrow a couple of songs from them and they straight up refuse to assist, oh well. Oooh, a Dearly Beloved Swing arrangement, nice! I better get that save file on the Switch prompto!”

“And check out that Spirit Board: Aunt Kairi has a Spirit of herself,” Edelgard informs us as the Spirit Board for KH is revealed.

“Oh gee, never thought that it could ever happen, but thanks,” she blushes.

“Hey, I got one as well, same with Axel, Xion, Roxas, Aqua, Terra and Ven,” Riku joins in, “Marina is so going to be happy to see her boyfriend as a Spirit. She will probably try to get him real soon.”

“You bet it right, Riku, you bet it right,” I nod and agree with that last statement.

“Oh hey, he’s going to be ready within a few weeks’ time,” Karina speaks up, “Neat! The roster is now complete.”

“Even Steve and Alex have amiibos of themselves being made, that’s even more wonderful,” Ahk takes note of it, “I’m pretty sure that Sora will have one of his own along with Pyra, Mythra, that jerk who tried to threw Kirby off a cliff, and even Sephiroth soon.”

“WHAT?!? Kingdom Hearts are coming to the Switch too!?!” I am surprised to hear the news as Sakurai reveals this new information, that is so mind-blowing.

When it fades to black then to the Ultimate mural, the camera then goes for the space between Ganondorf and Dark Samus to fill in Sora’s spot before panning back. Man, this Presentation is long and is finally ending, thank God; it must be tiring to sit down and watch a nearly hour long video as Sakurai showcases the screenshots he has made and showed off in Twitter. Man, so many memories and montages. And the achievements, wow, that is a lot of them, it will be a game feat that I don’t think it will be broken for a long time.

Man, I will miss the presentations and Sakurai’s corny jokes for sure. I wish him a nice deserving break from all the game development for sure as he gives thanks to everyone from the devs to the players to the people prompting the game and ends it off with a heartfelt goodbye as it fades to back into the full reveal trailer.

“Oh gee, I’m going to miss the Smash Presentations,” Kairi sighs, “I can’t believe that we’re coming to an end.”

“Man, it’s finally over,” Riku gasps in remark as the full trailer plays out, “I don’t think that there will be a game like Ultimate for a very long time. That’s for certain.”

“I agree, Riku. It’s to going to be a tough act to follow up on,” I add in before I look up at the ceiling and murmur some words, “It’s been a long time coming, Sora. You truly deserve that last spot, you really do. Have fun in the tourney and Smash Mansion, buddy.”

Sora is Finally Here!

The End

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phoenix-downer · 4 years

Note

How would you personally rank the Kingdom Hearts games? Storywise, that is.

In terms of story alone, discounting gameplay (and insert disclaimer here that this is all my personal opinion):

1. KH1 and KH2 are tied for first place for me. KH1 is just so magical. It has this sense of awe and wonder and mystery and hope and bittersweetness and nostalgia. Sora’s sacrifice for Kairi will forever stick with me, and everything that occurred from Hollow Bastion onward elevates the game from “really good” to masterpiece. And KH2 has the best ending of the series. I tear up every time I see it. So, so satisfying to experience after everything the characters go through up till that point. Sora and Kairi reuniting is just... it makes the ending of KH1 (which is beautiful in its own right) that much better, and it was so lovely to see Roxas and Naminé living on through them, despite what they’d been told about Nobodies having to cease to exist.

2. KH3 including ReMind. ReMind really completed KH3 for me and elevated the whole game because it showed just how far Sora was willing to go to save Kairi, and his compassion for his friends’ suffering was really moving. That plot point has been teased since Re:coded, and this time he was able to bear their hurt without it breaking them. Being there with him for his journey over the years just makes me feel really proud of who he is now. And Kairi getting to fight is technically gameplay I suppose, but man was it satisfying, especially because we got to fight the guy who was responsible for her “death.” Her fighting by Sora’s side was what I’d been wanting ever since I played KH1 and KH2, so yes playing through ReMind was immensely satisfying, haha.

3. BBS has such a good ending in Blank Points that it elevates not only BBS but the entire series. Plus I like the whole “tragic heroes” angle with the Wayfinder Trio, and Eraqus and Xehanort’s relationship fascinates me.

(I keep waffling back and forth on how to rank KH3 and BBS. Without ReMind, I’d definitely rank BBS higher, and probably Chain of Memories and Reverse/Rebirth higher than KH3 as well, but again ReMind really elevates KH3 for me).

4. Chain of Memories and Reverse/Rebirth. Really excellent, strong story for Sora, Riku, and Naminé. I loved the themes it dealt with, and watching Naminé stand up to her captors and Sora kick Marluxia’s butt was immensely satisfying. So was Riku’s journey to rediscover himself and forge his own path, and his moments with Mickey were really touching.

5. Kingdom Hearts Coded/Recoded. Maybe it’s a surprise I have it here, but the ending was fantastic and actually made me cry. It set things up so beautifully for future KH games too with revealing to the audience what Sora needs to do to save his friends. Mickey being so supportive of Data Sora was the kind of Mickey and Sora interaction I didn’t know I needed. Data Sora and Data Riku’s interactions were great too, gave me Steve and Bucky vibes, and it was so nice to see even data versions of them get to work together like that.

6. Kingdom Hearts 0.2. Really got me excited for KH3, and I enjoyed the deeper dive into Aqua’s psyche. The moment where Terra protected her and Ven are top-notch, and her battle to protect Riku stuck with me too.

7. Back Cover. In some ways I wonder why it’s all the way down here on this list because the Master of Masters stuff was great and had me wanting more. I guess the lack of closure kind of hurts it, but it was still an enjoyable watch and got me interested in the Foretellers.

8. KHUx. I struggled with where to rank this one, because the story itself is really intriguing, but the presentation of it is frustrating with updates being rare. I wish the game updated more frequently, and I hope the story is released as a cutscene movie at some point a la Back Cover because I’d love to experience it all at once. The recent revelations have been tugging at my heartstrings, so I can only imagine what it would be like to experience the story with full voiced cutscenes!

9. Dream Drop Distance. This one is so near the bottom because its highs are really high but its lows are reaaaaally low. The time travel stuff is a mess, Kairi barely being in the plot really doesn’t have a good excuse, and Sora’s characterization doesn’t feel consistent with how you’d expect him to act after KH2 (thankfully KH3 fixed this but I digress). However, the “you treat people like bottles on a shelf” speech from Sora to Xigbar is fantastic, the whole “Sora almost gets norted” plotline was also really good, Sora and Riku being so supportive of each other shows how far they’ve come since KH1 days, and Riku’s arc in this game is just so amazing that really, it almost makes up for everything else. I just wish Riku being such a badass didn’t have to come at the cost of Sora’s characterization, but like I said, KH3 fixed my issues with that (but then handed Riku the incompetence ball unfortunately, but that’s a discussion to be had another day).

10. 358/2 Days. A controversial choice, I know, and please don’t take this to mean I think Days is terrible! Much like DDD, it’s a flawed game that does some things very well; I just enjoyed DDD more personally. Again, this is all pretty subjective, and I have been informed I did things wrong by watching the cutscene movie before playing the game. I think that probably impacted my experience of the story (plus Xion’s death was spoiled for me). The plot was also really overhyped for me I think? There just wasn’t any way it could realistically live up to the expectations people had set for me. I also don’t think I played the game at the right time of my life. The people who seem to love it the most are the ones who first played it as kids or teens, and I was an adult by the time I got around to it. So I think the theme of struggling with identity/what it means to exist just didn’t impact me as hard. It’s like if you try to watch My Neighbor Totoro for the first time as an adult. It just doesn’t land the same.

Thanks for the ask! Again, this is all just my personal opinion, and I’m curious to hear how you’d rank the games!

#answer #mademoiseli #long post #ranking the games

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khhcfi · 4 years

Text

KH: Melody of Memory [In-Depth Review]

Here’s the Tumblr version of my website post at Weebly, where I give an in-n-depth review of my thoughts and ideas for Melody of Memory.

You can also view this at my website:

https://dreamywrites.weebly.com/

Warning; very long post

News Update Review The past couple of days have been busy with updates on the new installments in the Kingdom Hearts series. We first have Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road confirmed to be released on June 22, 2020 as a mobile game. We will finally know what happened in the past to have Xehanort become a Keyblade Master of Darkness, not light. With five new characters confirmed to be present in the game in addition to Eqarues and Xehanort, we're super excited for the story.

The second news has everyone on the edge with Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, especially as it's confirmed to be a rhythm game. Before the confirmation on June 16, a lot of people and myself included were curious yet dreading if it was going to a rhythm game using the same or similar mechanics like in Atlantica (KH2) and/or the Melody Catcher Reality Shift in Symphony of Sorcery (KH: DDD). I looked on the brighter side of things and thought of how the game would work involving interacting with music. The use of Unreal Engines for the graphics, Yoko Shimomura compositions as either classics or varied renditions of the classics, including the Kingdom Hearts: Orchestra Concert music, and the story revolving (mostly) around Kairi on her journey to find Sora. The 2020 Trailer showcased what Melody of Memory will look like and how it will function, better - maybe beyond better- than I and other fans initially theorized.

[Source: Google Images]

When I first read the word "melody" in the title, I thought it had relations to music; thus a rhythm game. It reminds me the Fantasia (1940) world called "Symphony of Sorcery" in Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance. The concept of "Sound Idea" to "dispel the darkness" (Mickey, KH:DDD) from the tainted musical score inspired another idea that I will explain later in the post. [Idea 4]

The mechanics are vastly different than the previous games, which makes it more exciting! The story of the game remained unknown until the trailer released today. Fans theorized Kairi would finally get her own game where she traverses inside her Heart to find any clue on how and where to find Sora. That seems to be the case as she has more screen time in the trailer.

Flashbacks This brings up the next and most important news. After confirming Melody of Memory as a rhythm game, it transitions into a static disruption that leads to cinematic cutscenes of what to expect and flashbacks. Fans already guessed the flashbacks belong to Kairi because her memories of Radiant Garden in Birth by Sleep were hazy.

[Screenshot Source: YouTube SQUARE ENIX]

The following 4 screenshots are most talked about because it visualizes what both the Kingdom Hearts Light Novel and Ansem Report 11 talked about.

In the Light Novel, there's a few pages where Apprentice Xehanort (really Terranort) asked where "the girl" was. Aeleus, one of the Apprentices of Ansem the Wise and a Palace Guard, told him she's sleeping in the "pod".

Personal Note: I thought the "pod" was referred to the Memory Pods in The Old Mansion in Twilight Town. The same pods that Sora. Donald, and Goofy slept for a year for Namine to completely restore the damage she caused in their memories in Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories. Sora's pod was bigger, resembling a white flower that when open, it's a blossomed flower. Since Terranort was examining her, I thought they used a pod like Sora's. Donald and Goofy pods are simpler and smaller. That would make sense for them to use since she was a child at the time of these experiments.

[Source: Google Images]

In the Report: “I have chosen one special girl. I do not know if she possesses a power like that of the Princesses. But, there is a chance, and this is an experiment. She may lead me to the place where the one holding the key is… I shall send her off to the ocean of other worlds.” [source: Kingdom Hearts Wiki - Ansem Reports] Kairi was a child, 4 years old in Birth by Sleep. One year later after Terranort was given refuge in Radiant Garden under the Answem the Wise's apprenticeship, Darkness took over the world. Kairi, 5 years old, was sent to Destiny Islands. There was a meteor shower happening and Kairi fell from the sky onto the shores, where she was discovered by Sora [depicted in Kingdom Hearts Manga]. When she awoke, she had amnesia. With only her name remember, she didn't know where she came from, how she arrived on the Islands, what happened to her home and family. Five years worth of memory were "gone". In the KH universe, the memories are hidden than forgotten. Kairi claims to not know about her past in the original Kingdom Hearts game, but later states those memories are hazy for her when Aqua brought up their meeting in the Radiant Garden. My personal thought is that Kairi did have amnesia for awhile with the exception of her name. It's likely that over time she has flashbacks or visions or dreams so muddled and hazy that she can't find the truth. Another personal thought revolves around the ability of her Nobody, Namine, aka "The Witch". She's a unique Nobody born from both Sora and Kairi's Hearts after the events of the original Kingdom Hearts game. She has the ability to alter, destroy, and restore memories of Sora and those around him. Considering her abilities, I suspect she could uncover hidden memories buried deep within one's Heart. In Re:Mind, Riku states she's currently with the Twilight Gang - Lea, Isa, Roxas, Xion, Hayner, Pence, and Olette - looking for clues in Roxas's and Xion's memories. If given a chance, perhaps she can work with Kairi to fully unlock her hidden memories even though the latter is experiencing some flashbacks.

The Ark Speaking of flashbacks, the picture below is also the talk in the fandom

[Sceenshot taken from YouTube SQUARE ENIX] It's machine that has made its appearance before.

[Image found on Google Images] This is the machine Sora and gang finds in a room in Hollow Bastion. At the time, we couldn't interact with it. We just entered this room and see this machine, fight enemies that appeared, and get a chest.

[Image found on Google Images] Later in Kingdom Hearts Union X (KHUx), we see Malificent in a room where the machine is. The name of machine is called The Ark. Next, we see Lauriam, who is the original person of Marluxio (Nobody), enter and tells her to leave. When she refused, he summons his keyblade and proceeds to attack her. In a different cutscene, Lauriam wakes up in a now damaged room, including the machine. Injured, he proceeds to exit the room with a limp. Given The Ark was damaged and later made its appearance in Kingdom Hearts and in the Trailer, I wonder if they're exactly the same machine? If so, that means that Radiant Garden is a section of the once Daybreak Town. Scala ad Caelum was built on top of Daybreak Town, as seen when Sora and the gang fought Armored Xehanort underwater. Or were two machines made - 1 in Daybreak Town (KHUx) and 1 in Radiant Garden (KH, Trailer)? Could it have been the Master of Masters who built them? Who knows?

Stars and Ideas

[Screenshots taken from YouTube SQUARE ENIX]

The following photos bring up other ideas I have.

Here we see Kairi and Riku in The Final World.

Idea 1: What if this portion is at the start of Melody of Memory like in KH3 as the opening cinematic cutscenes?

Tetsuya Nomura told the public the Final World and Dive to the Heart takes place at the end of the game's plot. So what if these screenshot are actually scenes that happen at the end or towards the end of the game, but are brought to the start of the game as an opening?

Idea 2: What if Kairi and Riku go to The Final World in the middle of the game because it's the hardest place to reach? Chirithy explained in KH3 that in order for someone to reach this place, they would have to either enter a very deep sleep that's near Death or actually die. Since Kairi has been sleeping for a year an Riku has been having strange dreams, they both enter the world by going under a very deep slumber that it takes there. Sora has done it countless times before, but he didn't realize it until Chirithy explained it to him.

Idea 3: After the duo arrives, they're encountered by a group of Stars

I have two options for this idea:

Option 1: The Stars gathered because they were drawn towards Kairi, a Princess of Heart.

Option 2: The Stars were waiting for them because Sora told about them. In the Secret Ending, Sora defeated Yozora (Good Ending) and was brought back to The Final World with him looking up at the sky then walking away. A year has passed, which leads to the events in Re:Mind, so Sora has been there all that time. I'm sure the Stars were there to unintentionally give him company and a sense of comfort inspite of the situation. He'd tell them about himself, friends, and journey to pass the time as well as training. Maybe some of the Stars made a promise to keep an eye for his friends should they arrive. Sora went off somewhere in the World.

Idea 4: This supports my “Personal Note” from earlier. Remembering this is a confirmed rhythm game and I mentioned the concept of "Sound Idea" being used, what if the Stars are gathered as a guide to help the duo through Kairi's Heart Memories that resided in Sora's Heart during the events of the original Kingdom Hearts game?

Remembering the gameplay screenshots and action in the Trailer, we play as Sora. If this is a Kairi game, or a Kairi-focused game, why are we playing as Sora with his original appearance from KH? I suspect it's because when Kairi's Heart resided in Sora's during the first game, her Heart contains Memories that Sora endured in his original clothing.

If that's the case, then it makes why we're playing as Sora accompanied with other characters to assist him. I'm sure we'll play as Kairi and the other characters soon after, but it's an interesting observation.

Similar to how Riku basically contolled Data Sora to fight against Data Organization XIII in Re:Mind, I theorized it's similar for Kairi. The rhythm "game" could serve as a memory guidance for Kairi and the others. Bringing in the KHDDD Sound Idea from Symphony of Sorcery, what if they need to collect multiple Sound Ideas like from each world the rhythm has to offer to find Sora? If that's the case, then I wonder what song will be played if they harmonized all of the Sound Ideas together?

What if the clues she looking for is somewhere in the worlds Sora visited while she was inside his heart? I know Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are searching every world Sora's visited in reality but what if the clues are only something that can be seen or uncovered through the Heart...like through Princess of Heart?

@phoenixmiko: "The sound idea combined could form the Dearly Beloved for KHMoM or KH3's version."

A very good plausible! I can imagine Yoko Shimomura and her team playing a new rendition of the song!

Mentioned in:

https://khhcfi.tumblr.com/post/621112208886284288

https://khhcfi.tumblr.com/post/621112566752690176

Kairi's Heart Fragments

Mentioned in my earlier tumblr posts:

https://khhcfi.tumblr.com/post/621128405097775104/kairis-heart-fragments-in-kh3-remind-sora-had

[Screenshot Source: YouTube SQUARE ENIX]

One thing I’d like to add is that you can see Sora’s smile as he’s holding one of Kairi’s Pink Lights. I suppose he’s nostalgic of his brief quest to find all 7 Fragments and/or he’s comforted by the familiar presence.

Other Observations

Something struck me when I looked back at The Secret Reports in Kingdom Hearts 3.

KH3 secret report 3:

Experiments of the Heart Notes on Subject X, Excerpt 1--

Subject was found in the central square shortly after dawn. Female, approximately fifteen years old. After seven days' observation, she spoke her first words, but could not provide a name. Subject exhibits signs of profound amnesia, and displays concern about which world this is. Her words suggest that she departed her home world with others, though she cannot recall the names of her erstwhile companions. All efforts to explore those memories have met with a rejection response.

After his initial experiments on me, Ansem the Wise ceased his research into the heart, his hand stayed by some fear I cannot fathom. Yet this new subject is like me: devoid of memories. She is the perfect sample upon which to continue my master's work. She, too, could benefit from it: by traversing the heart, we have a direct path into memory. I myself have begun to reclaim my lost past thanks to these very experiments.

Who is she? Whence has she come? These are questions no scientist could ignore. And the words she muttered, "May your heart be your guiding key"...

—Xehanort

[Source: Kingdom Hearts Wiki - The Secret Reports (KH3)]

Yes, I'm very aware that Xehanort is referring to Subject X - Skuld.

However, the bold section of the report really struck me odd in an interesting way.

"devoid of memories" = Subject X had amnesia upon arriving this world. The same thing that happened to Terra- Xehanort hybrid (Terranort) after Aqua saved him from falling into the Realm of Darkness. The same thing happened to Kairi upon arriving to Destiny Islands.

I don't know what Xehanort meant by "my master's work" specifically, though it may have to do with studying the Hearts, Light and Darkness, and unlocking The Door (Radiant Garden's Door)

"traversing the heart, we have a direct path into memory" = this is the most interesting aspect because we've seen this before. Recall the events of Re:CoM, Namine's first display of memory alteration to Sora and Riku by interfering with the chains in their Hearts. In KH2, Namine is restoring Sora's memories by correcting the chain links that greatly affect the others connected to him.

Xehanort reclaimed his "lost past thanks to these very experiments". As to which lost past he's referring to is most likely Master Xehanort's. Terra's memories may be (relatively) from his body-roommate after they merged.

Kairi is asleep for a year with Ansem the Wise and his Apprentices overseeing the process while using their knowledge about the Heart.

She believes her Heart holds clues to finding Sora. In doing so, it appears the memories hidden from her are resurfacing as flashbacks, bit-by-bit.

She's traversing her Heart to not only have a direct path to Sora, but also a path to her hidden memories.

She's traversing the memories stored in her Heart during her time spent in Sora's Heart.

Perhaps a reason why Terranort didn't recall much after waking up except for Xehanort's name is because the amount of memories the old master had was overwhelming Terra's mind. Paired with the strong powerful Darkness that amplified his own, it overpowered him to have amnesia for a while.

#melody of memory #kingdom hearts melody of memory #kairi #kairi's heart #kairi's past #radiant garden #xehanort #rhythm game #kh theories #kh speculation #kh

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axel-fics · 5 years

Text

Because Of You - Chapter One

Summary: During his Mark of Mastery Exam, Sora falls into the hands of Master Xehanort and is taken to the Realm of Darkness. Now, it’s up to his friends to save him before he succumbs to the darkness. This is the story Axel and the reader as they journey through the Sleeping Worlds, begin their training as Keyblade Masters, and learn just how much they secretly care for each other.

Warnings: None

The Mysterious Tower stood tall against a sea of bright stars. If it was any other night, you’d find yourself spending hours stargazing at all the worlds that suspended above you. There were moments where you had a hard time comprehending that each star was a different world; there were literally billions, each one of them unique in their own way. How many have you even traveled to over the years?

But tonight wasn’t one of those nights to daydream. Tonight was Sora and Riku’s Mark of Mastery Exam, and things weren’t going well at all. It all started when Axel showed up to the tower unexpectedly. It had been a while since you last saw him; you practically shrieked at the sight of him when you opened Yen Sid’s door. You had witnessed Axel had faded into thin air months ago, but here he was standing in front of you in the flesh. And, as if things weren’t confusing enough, he was asking everyone to call him Lea.

You listened in to the conversation that Lea was having with Yen Sid. His voice was calm, but it still held urgency of the situation: Xehanort had sabotaged Sora and Riku’s Mark of Mastery exam and Sora may be in grave danger. Your eyes shifted to Sora, who looked like he was peacefully sleeping away without a care in the world, and wondered what horrors he was going through that very second. Did Xehanort succeed in making him his new vessel already? Was it all too late?

“Absolutely not!” Donald’s shriek snapped you out of your thoughts. Yen Sid looked to contemplate whatever Lea had just proposed to him, and stood up from behind his desk to pace by the star-shaped windows.

“If what Lea says is true, we don’t have much of a choice. Riku will dive back in with the King to save Sora, and Lea will follow as back up. We’ll need as much help as we can get.”

You waited for Yen Sid to give more instruction, but after a few seconds of awkward silence you decided to speak up. “Master, I’m going with them as well. I won’t just stand by and let Sora become Xehanort’s pawn. You said it yourself: ‘we need as much help as we can get’. Sora saved me once before back in Hollow Bastion, now it’s my turn to help save him.”

“I don’t believe it to be wise for a Princess of Heart to dive into the deepest part of the Realm of Darkness,” Yen Sid said carefully.

It was true: you were one of seven Princesses of Heart required to open the Door to Darkness. A few years ago, your heart was trapped inside a Keyblade that Riku—or actually, Ansem—had crafted. In the successful attempt to free Kairi’s heart from inside him, Sora had also released the hearts trapped within the Keyblade from their prison, including your own. Because of this, you felt forever in debt to Sora, and now the time to repay him has arrived.

You placed a hand over your heart, feeling at the rhythmic thumping beating against your fingers. “Let me go because I am a Princess of Heart. My light will guide the way to Sora. Please, just give me a chance.”

Yen Sid stroked his beard for a moment. “Very well. [Y/N] will journey with Lea and traverse through the sleeping worlds to reach where Xehanort is holding Sora captive. Both of you should see the Three Good Fairies right away in order to prepare. The powers of a Keyblade wielder sleeps deep within you two. We must awaken that power with haste.”

Lea’s eyes locked with yours, and you felt heat rush to your face. During your past adventures with Sora, you felt drawn to Lea and you could never put your finger as to why he made your heart skip a beat. He was very handsome, sure, but he was part of an organization that you’ve been fighting against for years. So…why did you feel this way?

“Uhh, Earth to [Y/N]? Are you ready?” You blinked and noticed that Lea had walked up to you, waving a hand in front of your eyes.

“Y-yeah, let’s go,” you squeaked, mentally slapping your forehead about how nervous you just sounded. You followed his lead to the double doors of the dressing room where the Three Good Fairies were waiting. Memories of being in this room started flowing back, when you, Sora, Donald and Goofy were still groggy from being asleep for a year and were given new clothes laced with magic. So much has happened since then, and you couldn’t help but smile at the memories of your adventures as they flowed through your mind.

At some point, your eyes had wandered over to Lea, and memories of when he sacrificed himself in the realm of the Betwixt and Between began to flow through your mind. He had protected you from multiple Dusks coming at you at once, shielding you with his flames and taking out every last Heartless and Nobody.

You remember feeling so confused as to why a Nobody, let alone a Nobody from the Organization, would risk his life to save yours. But what confused you the most was the painful ache you felt in your heart as he began fading right in front of you. Tears filled your eyes as you ran to his side before he dissipated into thin air, leaving you alone with a million questions and emotions you had trouble pinpointing.

Lea looked over at you and gave you a smirk. “Liking the view?” Your cheeks turned bright red, and you let your [h/c] hair fall in front of your face to hide.

“S-sorry,” you stumbled. “Let’s get to work.”

You approached Merryweather in an attempt to ignore Lea’s eyes watching you intently. “What do we have to do?”

“In each of your pasts you have both been bequeathed the power of the Keyblade,” Fauna began. “It’s time now that we awaken that power sleeping deep inside your hearts.”

A distant memory flashed in your mind. The touch of a Keyblade handle between your fingers. The soft smile of a woman with striking blue hair.

“And how exactly do we do that?” Lea asked.

“In order to tap the powers hidden, you must complete the trials that lay ahead—the trials of the Dive to the Heart,” Flora said.

“Please, come lay down,” Merryweather motioned to the two long lounge chairs that sat on either side of the small dressing room. Hesitantly, you made your way to the purple upholstered furniture and relaxed your head on the cushion. Your mind was racing with questions: What’s going to happen now? What’s the Dive to the Heart? Is this dangerous?

“Close your eyes,” Fauna said soothingly. “Clear your mind, and concentrate on the light in your heart.”

Turning your head, you stole one last glance over to where Lea was reclined. As your eyes grew heavy you saw him look over to you, and in an instant your whole world was darkness.

#axel x reader #story #lea x reader #kingdom hearts #axel #lea #kh axel #kh lea #because of you #chapter 1 #dream drop distance

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mellz117 · 4 years

Text

Mellz plays KH Re:CoM part 4!

Hi welcome to my text based commentary on Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories on the Playstation 2. Right below are my previous entries

One

Two

Three

Check out the continuation of Sora’s campaign under the read more!

—I had a bunch of stuff written out in part 3, but tumblr mobile crashed on me and didn’t save it. Here’s my attempt at trying to remember it all. Can I do better than Sora?

I went to the Hollow Bastion. Off to a great start!

Hm something seems off I wonder what it is lol. Lovers’ quarrel? Can’t be that simple. I really appreciate how ready to play hero Sora is. Such a wholesome boy.

I dunno know, there’s a whole-ass community who will happily give their love to you. I myself would appreciate a hug from a fuzzy beasty boy.

—

Isn’t that how you’ve lived most of your life anyway? Books and your dad? Wow that reminds me of Meggie and Mo. I’ve been reading the Inkheart series recently.

I SERIOUSLY don’t remember any of this. Beast’s heart is full of uwu love for Belle so Maleficent wants HIS heart, Belle gets zapped with witchy magic and loses her heart trying to protect the Beast. Oh look at that, she does care. Maleficent tried going two for two and our favorite big dragon lady lost to a 14 year old who’s barely into puberty. I liked the mcguffen card, makes Maleficent too easy.

Belle and Beast are too cute omg

—Time for Vexen to introduce himself to Protagonist

“Who are you?!” Sora’s ready to throw hands with just about anyone at this point isn’t he?

Vex you’re full of shit. So this first fight with him. My death counter was 4? How fitting… The fight got super nerve wracking. I had poor card management and barely won with 3 cards left.

So despite MARLUXIA being dubbed in KH2 “The Graceful Assassin” on his… gravestone? AXEL seems to be the head hunter. He’s told to kill Vexen, sent to get rid of Roxas, I’m pretty sure if memory serves in 358Days he was told to kill Xion? Right? It’s been a while.

I want to run my fingers through Marly’s hair tbh. We got two of the hottest members of Org13 here talking about murdering their colleague, as you do.

—Upon arriving at Twilight Town, Sora tells a story from when he and Namine were little, a meteor shower scared Namine and Sora says he’ll protect her. How cute and wholesome! Too bad it’s more fake than a YouTube apology video! OOOOOOoooHH! Anyway, Twilight Town is my favorite world in this whole series and I WISH KH3 specifically had more to explore!

Next fight with Vexen. Like immediately after the first. How vexing haha. Death Count so far: 4. I’m getting really frustrated and my hatred for him just grows exponentially

Loading my deck up with 0 value cards to– oh WAIT I DONT HAVE ANY! Because stupid me decided theyre more trouble than theyre worth. OK time to pay the Christmas moogle a visit and kick an old man’s ass!

I died.

That’s 5 so far. Need to grind more! I’m level 41! I don’t remember having such a difficult time before. Then again I remember very little about my experience way back when.

I got further in on the fight though! Vexen even used his ice sword thing out of desperation! It was kind of badass, I like it. Except he beat me again making my death count 6…!

—MY DEATH COUNT ENDED UP BEING 10 IN THIS FIGHT! TEN! GET! FUCKED! IM SO FUCKING PISSED. I LOADED MY DECK WITH FIRE AND CLOUD CARDS, I LEARNED VEXENS WIND UPS AND BECAME A DODGING QUEEN! GET FUCKED!

I felt sorry for Vexen in his death scene but NOT TODAY! NOT TODAY! I can’t recall the last time I was so utterly pissed off at a video game. IM ON STANDARD why was I struggling so much?! I probably just have bad technique tbh. If I struggled this much with Vexen how will I ever stand against Axel again? I’m so done with this game and I still have another campaign to do after this!

—I didn’t even leave Twilight Town before bed. I relished in my victory, Axel finished Vexen off (RiP), Sora got scared, then mad, Axel had a tad bit of existentialism, and I went to bed.

So now Larxene and Marluxia think they can trust Axel. Larxene honest to god thinks, even IF Axel were on their side, they’d have a chance to overthrow XEMNAS, Xigbar, Xaldin, Saix, Demyx, and Luxord together… OK definitely Dexyx but the rest won’t go down so easilly. I don’t remember what Zexion and Lexaeus are doing at Castle Oblivion at this time but that’s irrelevant right now.

LEAVE HER ALONE!

Repliku again. Oh no, he and Sora have the same memory of Namine and the meteor shower! They fight about it.

“You can’t both be right, it doesn’t make sense!” say Donald and Goofy.

“Oh so I’M wrong?!” Sora replies, angry that his friends don’t believe him. Where is that undying faith in one another? Sora wonders, heartbroken.

“Maybe you should take a moment to think things though” Goofy suggests in a ironically frequent moment of clarity.

Sora overreacts to everything he’s told. “So you want me to ABANDON HER?!” Now he’s putting words into his allies’ mouths, like a stupid baby.

—Axel shows he’s a sneaky sneak and not in fact loyal to Bloo- I mean Marluxia, and indirectly tells Namine he’s letting her go like “lmao NO ONE WHO’S CURRENTLY IN THIS ROOM wants to keep you here”. And Namine peaces out.

We now, sorry just Sora now, because Donald and Goofy aren’t with him, go to the Destiny Islands. We meet up with Riku, well not really, just a memory of Riku. An inaccurate memory of Riku because during this time he would NEVER trust Sora to keep a girl safe all by himself. “HER” being not Kairi but Namine because that’s the theme.

Sora fights the Darkside, not from Star Wars but Star Wars + Kingdom Hearts is a cool idea and could be realized. Hop to it, Square Enix! We fight the big Heartless and it was easy. The McGuffen card showed up only near the end so it was pointless.

Namine shows up! But it’s just a memory of Namine.. but wait she was never there it was Kair— Right Sora doesn’t know this! Even if it’s not real the pure joy Sora expresses upon finally getting to see her is so sweet but also super sad.

BUT THEN! A SECOND Namine appears behind Sora! And now the two Namine’s are both talking to him, and he is confused because how is anyone else supposed to even comprehend any of this?

—See you in part 5!!!

#mellz plays kh recom #kingdom hearts series #kh recom #kingdom hearts re:chain of memories #square enix #Playstation 2 #mellz post

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vibranch · 4 years

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The Keybearer’s Keychains (3/6) - Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction

Rating: T Word Count: 1,938 AO3 link here (contains some author’s notes for those interested)

Part 3/6: The Crab Claw, Oblivion, and Lionheart Part 1 Next part

Summary: So many Worlds, and so many people. Each one was unique and an adventure to Sora. But one thing that was constant on his journey, was the keychains he received. An exploration of Sora's thoughts, experiences, and feelings for each keychain he received during his first journey in no particular order.

The Crab Claw

It was kinda funny that one of the most unique Worlds Sora visited, gave him the most mundane keychain he’d receive. Just a plain looking seashell.

“Just a little something to remember us by.” Ariel said to Sora as he was about to leave. Of course, Sora wasn’t going to say no to it. A gift was a gift, and it housed the feelings of friendship that had grown between them.

Ariel had no way of knowing Sora had grown up on an island. He’d collected hundreds of seashells over the years, and the one she gave him would be easily lost if he placed it next to his old collection.

Sora spent the majority of the flight back to Traverse Town converting it into a keychain for his Keyblade. And although he thought the new form his Keyblade took was pretty, he worried what Sebastian would say if he saw a crab was being used as the teeth of the key. For Sebastian’s feelings, Sora made a mental note to not use this keychain if he ever went back to Atlantica.

For the most part, Sora was content to leave the Crab Claw hanging in his room. It was one of his lesser used keychains, though it was never truly retired. Thus, it was spared from the drawer in his room that all retired keychains ended up, but the plain looking keychain also meant Sora rarely pulled it off the wall for an adventure.

So there it stayed, serving its original duty fine as a reminder to Sora of everything that happened in Atlantica and all the inhabitants who lived there.

The Oblivion

At what point had Sora’s playful rivalry with Riku stopped being quite so playful? It was a question Sora had asked himself multiple times on his journey across Worlds. He wanted to blame Maleficent, but that wasn’t entirely true.

She had certainly made things worse, but the actual deterioration of their friendship had started before they’d even begun building the raft. In the past, Riku would occasionally tease Sora, and Sora usually didn’t mind. But Riku had been doing it more often lately, and it didn’t feel like teasing to Sora anymore.

Sora knew Riku was always better at things than him. Riku was faster, Riku was stronger. And everytime Sora struggled to think of a comeback to one of Riku’s jabs, he realized Riku was cleverer than him too.

Sora felt like he was nothing more than a measuring stick to Riku. Someone for him to stand by, so others could see how impressive Riku was by comparison.

Not to long after the raft building began, Sora felt the need to keep score of how many times he or Riku won at something. But that only made Sora feel more desperate to beat Riku. Every time Sora failed to measure up to Riku, everytime Riku smirked or said something to showboat his victory, it felt more like he was twisting a knife. And despite how much it hurt, Sora still kept track of the increasingly large divide between the two of them.

There was one thing that Riku said that really got under Sora’s skin. “How about it, Sora? The winner gets to share the Paopu with Kairi?”

Why would he say that? Sora didn’t know how to respond when Riku asked him that. Riku definitely knew about Sora’s feelings towards Kairi, he had teased him about the fruit the evening before.

Sora just wanted the race to be fun. But it wasn’t. Not after Riku said that. Riku didn’t even give Sora the right to feel upset about it, instead claiming it was just a joke.

Sora worried it was his fault that things had gotten so bad. Was it his fault for noticing that Riku won more often than not? Was it his fault for letting Riku get to him? They were friends, right?

All these questions rose up again when Sora found a pitch-black crown keychain in Hollow Bastion. It was a mirror image of the crown necklace he wore. The dark side to the silver lined one around his neck.

Sora thought that he should’ve been disturbed by it. The form the Keyblade took when hooked up to it was frightening. Something about the teeth of this Keyblade forced the word Darkness into his head.

The Keyblade’s new form was trying to be a reminder of his time as a Heartless or maybe a reminder of Riku who gave into his Darkness.

Somehow Sora didn’t care. It was reminding him of his friend. And he wanted his friend back. He wanted to be able to hang out with Riku again without feeling like he had to win the next competition. Without feeling like he was being secretly judged or talked down to or belittled.

No, he realized, he didn’t just want his friend Riku back. What he really wanted back was his friendship with Riku. And now he was going to have to fight for it. Fight both the Darkness infesting Riku, and the Darkness inside himself that fueled his insecurities.

The Lionheart

By all accounts, Leon was Sora’s opposite. He was quiet, withdrawn, and he had difficulty showing any sign of human emotion, much less positive emotion. Really, Sora should have disliked him from the personality clash alone. But instead, Sora couldn’t help but respect him.

Leon had arrived in Traverse Town under similar circumstances as Sora. He’d lost his world and most of everyone he’d ever known. But even without a Keyblade, Leon was strong, and perhaps more importantly, he was able to make a difference in people’s lives.

The King respected him enough to make sure Donald and Goofy’s first stop of their journey was to see Leon, everyone in Traverse Town looked to him as a leader, he’d even found Pinocchio and Geppetto a place to live.

Sora didn’t know how he could ever compare to that. No matter what he might accomplish, someone else might look over to Leon and see all the similar things he’d done. And he’d done it without a Keyblade.

Maybe other people weren’t doing that, Sora hoped that might be true. But if Sora was already comparing himself to Leon, what were the odds that he was the only one making these comparisons?

Maybe that was why it was only after Leon said something at the end of the Pegasus Cup that Sora noticed just how much stronger he’d become.

Leon pressed his hand firmly into Sora’s shoulder as Donald and Goofy celebrated their victory. “Good job.”

It was the usual kind of Leon statement. Simple and efficient. And yet his tone said so much more those two words did. There wasn’t any resentment in it. Sora was surprised by how graciously he accepted his defeat.

Sora still half-expected Leon to spout something about how he let Sora off easy this time or that he’d gotten lucky. But instead, he stopped, turned around, and told Sora, “You’ve gotten stronger. Keep it up.”

And then he went on his way again. Yuffie’s voice filled Sora’s stunned silence, teasing Leon as she followed behind him, but he stayed silent to her verbal jabs.

All Sora could do was watch the two walk away. Leon almost sounded proud to Sora.

Even though he lost? Sora wondered.

He had a hard time believing it, but he also hoped that he wasn’t somehow imagining it. He was tired of constantly comparing himself to someone else.

Sure, he could cast fire and summon thunder from the sky, but he still felt like the same boy from the islands, lost amongst the Worlds with none to call his own anymore. For the first time in a long time, Sora noticed how far he’d come.

Sora would eventually fight Leon again in the Hades Cup. This time however, Leon teamed up with Cloud. Despite that, Sora had also gotten stronger and the result was once again the same as last time, with Sora, Donald, and Goofy winning once again.

“Here,” Leon said once the match was over. He pulled the lionheaded keychain from his Gunblade’s pommel and held it towards Sora.

“Huh?” Sora just stared at the silver keychain Leon held out in front of him. “What’s this?” He asked.

“It’s a keychain. Your Keyblade uses them, right? I’ve seen you around Traverse Town with all sorts of different kinds.” Leon explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Sorry, I just wasn’t expecting a gift,” Sora said, shortly before taking the keychain from Leon’s hands. “You sure it’s okay for me to have this?”

Leon gave a rare smile. He placed his free hand over his mouth in an attempt to hide the look from his face. “Like I said back at Hollow Bastion, we might never see each other again, but we’ll never forget each other either. I want you to have something to remember me by. And besides, it’s not like it’s one-of-a-kind or anything, at least not anymore. Not on my World.”

Sora examined the small silver keychain in his hand. Its features were faded from years of being exposed to the elements of whatever Worlds Leon had been to since he’d fled Hallow Bastion. But despite its age, there wasn’t a speck of dirt or dust on it. In fact, it looked recently polished.

“Are you really sure I can have it?” Sora asked again. He didn’t want to take away such a long-held treasure from Leon and have him regretting it later.

“Really,” Leon said resolutely. “I wouldn’t have my World back if it wasn’t for you.”

Leon could see Sora was still unsure. He placed his hand on Sora’s shoulder and spoke again. “Listen Sora, this keychain depicts a Griever. On my World it represents courage. You’ve proven that you’ve got enough courage as is, but I’d like you to have it anyway.”

When this keychain was equipped, a lion’s head appeared at the end of the Keyblade where the vague resemblance of the teeth of a key would normally be. The whole thing was made of a rough metal. Compared to most of the Keyblade’s other forms, this one looked drab by comparison. But Sora loved it regardless.

Sometimes, during their return trips to old worlds, Sora would equip the Lionheart keychain and pretend that he was Leon. He’d mimic his short and snappy sentences, would try to act nonchalant while fighting the Heartless, and would press his palm into his forehead whenever he stopped to think.

Donald and Goofy often noticed, but wouldn’t say anything. They let Sora have his fun and be the kid he still was.

Pretending to be Leon gave Sora the chance to reflect on their time together. The encouragement he felt when Leon told him if anyone could save Riku, he could. The excitement and surprise he felt when he unexpectedly heard Leon’s voice call out to him after defeating that Behemoth of a Heartless in Hollow Bastion.

But there was one other thing Leon said that kept repeating in his mind. “We may never meet again, but we’ll never forget each other.”

Forgetting everything he’d experienced with Donald and Goofy scared him. And forgetting all the people he’d met scared him even more. Sora didn’t just want to play pretend because Leon was cool or something like that, though he would admit that it was fun to pretend he really was as calm and collected as Leon.

But what Sora actually wanted was to solidify his memories of Leon more. He wanted to truly understand Leon’s mannerisms before it was too late and he might never see him again.

Sora told himself that if he kept doing this, he would never forget Leon, even if he never saw him again. So, Sora kept pretending.

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts fanfiction #Sora #Donald Duck #Goofy #Leon #riku #fan fiction #My Writing

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oveliagirlhaditright · 5 years

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I See Myself the Way You Remember Me

Summary: For AO3 user TechnovoreX. They requested Kingdom Hearts III Sora turning into a Heartless, and being unable to revert... and Kairi not knowing it was him, and taking care of this tame Heartless as a pet. But I forgot some of those details, so it's the Master of Masters (Sora) changing the past, so that he remained a Heartless when he stabbed himself with the Keyblade of People's Hearts and then Kairi got the Keyblade and saved the day. KH1 AU, basically, where Kairi becomes the protagonist at the end of the game. And since I forgot TechnovoreX's request for Kairi not to know the Shadow is Sora, she does here. I hope you guys enjoy! And I did put my own spin on some of your ideas, TechnovoreX. I hope that that's okay.

Sora’s PoV

The Master of Masters—who was really Sora from a world line where everyone had died in the Keyblade Graveyard but him—had succeeded in his plans to get Kingdom Hearts, and to save his friends, the Foretellers, and the worlds as he had so wanted to.

And the only thing he still needed to do, was to to use the power of Kingdom Hearts to change some of the life experiences that he’d had with his friends: because through a bit of foresight the Master still had via his eye (had someone else taken it and carried it into an even further future?), he could tell that if things in the past didn’t get somewhat altered, it would end in disaster for everyone.

So Sora closed his good eye, called upon the power of Kingdom Hearts, and set to work.

His first thought—as it always was—being of Kairi.

…

Five Years Previously

Kairi’s PoV

Kairi was horrified; Sora had just turned into a Heartless to save her… And while she’d felt lost in the moment that it had happened, she’d been hopeful that somehow she could revert him to normal.

But after they had found his Heartless right outside the library—and she, Donald, Goofy, and Heartless-Sora had escaped Hollow Bastion with the help of the Beast—she had to admit that that possibility was seeming less and less likely to her.

Donald and Goofy—as much as they loved Sora—were worried that his instincts would take over, and he’d steal Kairi’s precious heart or theirs. But she knew he wouldn’t; deep down, he was Sora and always would be Sora. And that’s all that mattered.

…And she got the sense that he was trying to show her how to use the Keyblade: something she assumed that she must have gotten when Sora had transferred her heart back to her.

When Kairi swung her Keyblade, Heartless-Sora would jump up into the air to try and push the blade even farther for her—to make the blade move in the wide arc that she needed it to… …Hopefully through all of this, she’d find a way to bring Sora and Riku home.

“Sora… I know the other Princesses think that Ansem has gone into the deepest darkness and taken Riku’s body with him… But I promise you that I’m going to get him back! You, too, for that matter!”

This form of Sora just blinked his large, vacant eyes at her. The gaze didn’t say much, but Kairi felt it was similar to when he’d looked at her curiously when she’d woken him up on the beach so long ago.

“…Well, Sora, it’s bedtime,” Kairi decided at last. At first, she’d been unsure about if she was going to let him stay in her room or not… But she knew that they both could use some comfort, so she’d keep him here and just go into the bathroom when she wanted to change and whatnot.

Kairi thought about asking Sora if he wanted to brush his teeth… if he had any—or needed help brushing any hair he might have on this somewhat slimy form of his?—but thought better of it. (she did tie her lucky charm around his right antennaeas an “earring” for him, though)

And speaking of nightly routines… Usually Kairi would have just gone to sleep with her hair messy, but since Sora was here, she thought she needed to be at least a little more presentable for him.

So she brushed her hair, curled up in bed beside Sora, and tried to go to sleep… and to ignore the millions of worries already plaguing her mind.

And she may have been imagining it, but Kairi thought she might have seen Sora’s eyes become a bit more orange than yellow before she lost consciousness.

…

For the next few days, Kairi focused on training with Yuffie and Aerith more than anyone else. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Donald, Goofy, Leon, Cid, or Merlin, or thought that they’d do badly teaching her… But rather, Yuffie and Aerith were both girls—so Kairi thought that they might better be able to help cater to her strengths.

And Yuffie was somewhat close to Kairi’s size and had her energy… and Aerith was as new to combat as the redhead was, so she thought for both of those reasons that this was a good start.

They trained in the underground cavern—Heartless-Sora riding on Kairi’s back the entire time she used “the Key”… which sort of made it harder, in some ways, but she appreciated his moral support—and just within two weeks, Kairi felt enough improved that she thought she could probably take on the End of the World and mostly handle it.

Kairi didn’t believe that her newfound prowess was due to any inherent talent she had… but rather the Keyblade’s own power, and maybe even Sora’s heart, as well.

Kairi didn’t completely understand how the heart worked yet—she was reading what she could about it in the mysterious “Ansem’s Reports”—but she was convinced that Sora’s heart had gone into hers when he’d used the Keyblade of People’s Hearts to free her. After all, her heart had been in Sora’s… so why wouldn’t things get messed up when Sora was trying to free hers by having his go into hers? And since his body—what the Heartless had transfigured from—didn’t have his heart because it was within her… well, that would be why Sora was a Shadow…

This was Kairi’s theory, anyway. But she definitely thought it was Sora’s heart in hers that was causing her newfound jump in combat skills. And how she longed to try and reach out to his heart… Or do for him what he had done for her. But there was no time… The worlds needed a Keyblade wielder to close the Door, and the Keyblade of People’s Hearts had disappeared after Sora had used it, regardless…

Anyway, it was when Kairi had successfully smacked Yuffie’s ninja stars back into her—on the third week where Kairi’d decided that she’d finish this last bout of training and then hightail it into the gummi ship—that Heartless-Sora seemed to be blushing the color of... eggplant? If at all possible?

Aerith was the first to notice this; she was being kind,, in trying to offer Heartless-Sora some of her lemonade—seeming to feel that if she couldn’t heal his heart with her magics, then she could at least attempt to aid his soul.

And just out of the blue, when Yuffie was nursing the blow to her chin, Aerith mused, “I wonder why Sora is blushing.” “What?! Sora blushing?!” Yuffie demanded, before Kairi could get her own words in (she had her own theory about this, after all. That Sora was just flustered because he was a gentleman—he always had been to her—and therefore was just sad that Yuffie had gotten hurt). “Yo! You know what I think it is?! Aerith, Sora totes thought I was Kairi when we first met, since he likes her! And maybe having Kairi accidentally hit my face lodged that thought back into his brain, and he’s embarrassed about it!”

Kairi really didn’t know if Yuffie’s assessment was correct. At all. But her saying this did seem to embarrass Sora as he jumped down from where he’d been on Aerith’s shoulder in eying the lemonade, pulled his antennae over his eyes, and began wobbling towards the entrance to the Magician’s Study… But she really couldn’t focus on that right now.

“Sora… likes me?” If Kairi was being honest with herself, she felt like she was lying in order to act like she hadn’t already guessed that. After all, she had somewhat encouraged Sora and Riku to fight over her, hadn’t she? It had all been in good fun… But Kairi, at least now, doubted that any of it had been real—that instead, Sora and Riku had been fighting over a play-wife and nothing more and nothing less.

And ignoring Yuffie and Aerith’s nods and words in the affirmative, Kairi turned her attention to Sora… Who had stopped just beside the water and looked like he wanted to drown himself in it, yes… but he was also looking at her sternly, for whatever reason.

…And it was in that moment that Heartless-Sora seemed to morph a bit, and got some sort of mane around his Heartless head… and Kairi had no idea what to do with this knowledge, so she ignored it and moved on (she had no time to do anything else).

…

Kairi was fighting, fighting, fighting—trying to defeat enough Heartless to get some sort of Keyhole to form so that it would create a door they could go through—and she was exhausted… and probably not doing as well as she could have been.

Really, Kairi knew there was no way she could have been a seasoned Keyblade wielder yet—even with Sora’s heart fighting alongside hers—but she was still trying, and thanking Donald and Goofy for their efforts that aided her with her every breath…

Though Kairi felt bad about defeating Heartless in front of Sora… as if this was somehow a hint to what would happen to him if he lost himself and began attacking his friends. Kairi wanted to tell him that that would never happen, but the words wouldn’t come. So, she just settled on trying to send some sort of telepathic message about it into his heart, as her body focused on the here and now.

…Heartless-Sora’s body was focusing on the here and now, too. For right now, he was clawing Heartless after Heartless for Kairi. She was thinking of kissing him on the head for it, and seeing if that would be enough of a reward. The good thing about the mane he had gotten? That when most Heartless tried to get a hand on him they would just get a handful of that fur instead.

Donald was using gravity spell after gravity spell on the tougher Heartless, but Kairi could see he was about to be knocked-out… And Goofy just seemed focused on sending her as much magic as he could.

In her heart, Kairi saw herself using firaga on these new, larger Shadows that were creeping around her—so she thought this was a sign from the Keyblade that this was what she was meant to do here—but she didn’t know if she had it within her to be fiery anymore…

And just as that thought seemed to enter her head, Sora looked at Kairi incredulously this time. She didn’t know how a Heartless could manage that sort of expression, exactly, but he was a living example of how it was possible.

And taking this as Sora trying to be as verbal with his expertise as he could in his current form, Kairi decided to be brave again and bellowed a “firaga!”—and watched in awe, as a sphere of the flames seemed to dance around her without harming her in the slightest and defeated every enemy in sight.

And there before the quartet, the door to Ansem finally faded into existence. And the friends charged towards it… Sora morphed into the shape of a human again even more as he did so, which Kairi noticed, as she caught his hand with hers.

…

When Heartless-Sora and Kairi were about to say goodbye to each other at Kingdom Hearts—after their heartfelt, temporary farewell to Riku that was still tearing them both apart—Kairi finally figured out what had been going on with Sora and herself.

Because of her guilt for what had happened, she had become a lesser version of herself—turning away from the things she usually would have done.

And Sora had caught onto this, and had tried to tell Kairi about it as much as he could with his looks. This was why he’d transformed when she’d chosen to be clean instead of messy—because he’d wanted to tell her then and there that she was allowed to relax and take it easy—and had even been altered when she doubted his feelings for her, and the embers in her heart.

Sora—perhaps via their connected hearts—had evolved for her, so he could be more himself and everything she could ever need… But since he was still in darkness, he was almost becoming a humanoid version of darkness incarnate now.

And while as a Princess of Light, Kairi should have been sad about this and even have her worries… she couldn’t.

Sora was Sora—and would always be Sora—and that’s all that mattered.

And how could she see something awful in this, when his intentions were so noble and pure?

He’d evolved for the last time—now pretty much being the boy he once was, even as a Heartless… though his eyes were still yellow, and he still couldn’t really speak—when Ansem (who Sora was now almost like, and yet also so different from him) had dared to try and make her fall by saying that Riku’s “Giving up already? I thought you were stronger than that!” was for Sora and Sora alone, and could never be directed at her. That no one would ever tell her anything positive at all…

It had been then that Heartless-Sora had somehow learned to fly—and flown up from their plummet, with Kairi in his arms—and said the first thing he’d been able to since he’d received his awful curse: “No!”

They were at the pinnacle moment now, where Kairi had been thinking strongly of letting Sora go back to the Islands since he was mostly himself… and since she didn’t want him to be in danger until she found some way to turn him back.

But, having just lost Riku the way they did… this plan they’d come up with, when the Princesses had told them what had happened when the Door to Darkness was closed, went up in smoke.

Sora and Kairi couldn’t be without each other on this journey… they just couldn’t be, despite it all.

Kairi—even in her inexperience—had saved the world because of their bond and surely that was something to be celebrated. And Sora had defied the laws of nature entirely to become a new kind of champion for her and the worlds.

Sora and Kairi’s places remained with each other.

Just as the earth came apart beneath them, Kairi reached forward and grabbed Sora’s hand… and found a way to fly herself this time—Donald and Goofy following after her.

And a winding road appeared behind the four, with each of them deciding to hold onto each other’s hands this time as they traveled along it.

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whereissora · 5 years

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My Favorite Sora and Riku BroTP Moments

First off, I don’t ship Soriku. Sorry, but I just don’t. I have never gotten a romantic vibe from them EVER and I really enjoy how they interact and work together like a pair of brothers. There are plenty of other tumblrs that post Soriku, and I assure you they’re not hard to find.

Riku is sexy and important and Sora is a literal drop of sunshine, and I love both these boys so much. I really enjoy how much Riku’s character arc reminds me of Zuko from ATLA and how he embodies the “protective big brother” cliche which can be seen in a lot of animes. Likewise, Sora is a wonderful protagonist and the way he adores and actually listens to Riku makes me want to give Riku a thumbs up:

Good job, Riku, on somewhat-raising Sora. He’s wonderful in a million amazing ways~

I know Sora has parents alright, im just messing around~

And so, as I write this, I will be viewing Sora and Riku in a very platonic manner. These two are close to the point of being real brother’s, and since Kairi does play a part in their relationship, she will be mentioned here and there.

Just know that even if you ship SoRiku and I ship SoKai, doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy this list! This is a BroTP post, not an OTP post, but you may find one of the reasons you ship SoRiku on here even if I have a different understanding of the moment in question.

I will be leaving comments open, with one request: you may say whatever you like in response to this post so as long as you are respectful about it. So please, no character bashing, no ship bashing, and definitely no harassment or bullying. I will block any guilty party and/or close the comments for this post.

10) Encounter in the Land of Dragons

Sora spends the majority of KH2 looking for Riku, and eventually, Kairi. By the time he makes his second trip to “The Land of Dragons” (I’m super tempted to write China, here) Sora has still yet to encounter Riku despite all the extra behind-the-scenes help Riku keeps giving him.

They finally run into each other here, but Sora assumes its a member of Org XIII given what he seems to be doing and what he is wearing. Riku casually warns Sora to watch his back by pointing at the heartless, which Sora then takes out. After the fight, Riku makes this hilarious gesture, like he’s saying “well, look at that. You’ve become so dependable,” then runs off. Sora gives chase until losing sight of him at which point he wonders aloud:

“That guy...”

“No...! Why... Would he...?”

Sora thinks that it’s Riku he just met, and kinda reaches for him as he calls his name. He says “Riku?” in a way that doesn’t hide how cautiously hopeful he is, and is overjoyed later when he hears from the emperor that the guy in the black coat “was kinda rude.”

Sora, YOU’RE a little rude.

9) Riku demands to know what Diz wants (with Sora)

Diz is a pretty suspicious character, and Riku trusts him about as far as he can throw him. Unfortunately, the only people Riku trusts implicitly are comatose, absent, or far away. He can’t wake Sora up on his own, so he begrudgingly accepts Diz’s help.

Near the end of Sora’s reconstruction, Diz expresses his thoughts over Sora waking up in a way that’s... mildly creepy.

Diz doesn’t really care for Sora as a person. He’s a means to an end. Riku isn’t stupid--he can tell. His priority is doing everything he can to help Sora wake up. But the minute Diz says Sora’s name--in a tone that makes it abundantly clear he is being used, like Roxas is--Riku takes a seat like “Don’t you f***ing dare. What do you want with us, anyway?” And says the polite version of that.

8) Riku visits Namine

I’m not sure whether Riku knew to go see Namine on his own, or if he was summoned there by Diz. But either way, Sora’s awakening is taking way too long.

After leaving Castle Oblivion, Riku began investigating the Organization since they literally forced Sora into an indefinite, comatose state. Namine promised to look after Sora, and when they meet again, Riku, gently, but firmly, reminds her of this, as if to ask “What’s taking so long?”

There can’t be a good reason, so he needs to know. That way, he can help.

Unfortunately, the situation is that some of Sora’s memories currently reside in two different people. Namine carefully explains that there is no way to help Sora without harming them, and if they try to do that anyway, Sora will wake up only to realize no one remembers him.

Here, the camera shifts from Namine to Riku while keeping that one line on the screen, making it clear that’s not an option for them. Sora cannot wake up to find out he’s been forgotten--they are not willing to risk that.

This leaves just the worst possible option, and that is to kill two people.

A role which Riku now resigns himself to.

This might have been higher on the list if not for how SAD it is... For everyone involved.

7) Sora remembers how they grew up together

KH1′s ending broke a lot of hearts (cough not as much as III cough) and final mix’s version just twisted the knife with this little scene. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I do not remember seeing this little Sora-flashback first time around.

The door has been shut and locked, leaving Riku and Mickey stranded in the Dark Realm. Sora looks on as he recalls his childhood spent growing up alongside Riku, how they laughed and ran together, and this scene couldn’t possibly be more heart wrenching--

Hears Project Destatis D.B. themes and variations playing in the background~

👏Thank👏you👏Everglow👏

You, too @projectdestati

6) Sora and Riku fight the final battle together

I love all the little scenes in this fight.

You get a lot of these two protecting/supporting each other here.

At one point, Sora is nabbed by Xemnas and is having his HP drained, and you get to fight as Riku in order to free him.

When Xemnas starts firing those light-rods or whatever they’re called at Sora and Riku, the boys stand back to back as they deflect them.

This leaves them so drained that Xemnas is able to kick Riku back and attack Sora, but Riku pulls Sora out of the way AND TAKES THE HIT HIMSELF.

Sora and Riku use their combined strength to shoot Xemnas out of the sky.

And on top of all that, you get this:

SORA AND RIKU STOPPED IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT TO FIST BUMP!!!! This is canon. THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED!!!

It’s as if they’re each telling the other:

“No worries! I’m here.”

5) Riku meets Xion (twice)

For the sake of keeping this list to my top ten, I’m including Riku’s first and second meetings with Xion as one reason. I know, I know, I’m kind of cheating, but I really can’t choose between these two.

While investigating Org XIII, Riku must wear their coat. It allows him to move about without detection. Ironically, this also gets their attention since he’s Riku, he’s not one of their members, and he’s clearly opposed to them. They send Xion to take him out, but he defeats her and is both disturbed and concerned by her appearance.

Xion demands to know why Riku is dressed as one of them, and he answers:

“To make sure my best friend... Sleeps in peace.”

Riku is determined to protect Sora, who is vulnerable in his sleeping state, no matter what Riku is forced to wear, or who he transforms into. This may partly be due to the fact that:

Riku was the one who opened the DTD and destroyed the islands.

Riku is the reason Kairi’s heart was separated from her body and went into Sora’s for shelter.

And Sora ultimately had to stab himself through the heart to free her and complete the keyhole in Hollow Bastion.

And all of this led to the creation of Roxas, Sora’s Nobody, being born. Sora wouldn’t even be in this mess if it weren’t for Riku’s actions. Heck, without Riku, Sora never would’ve gotten the keyblade, which has made Sora a huge target for Org XIII. Riku carries that guilt with him everywhere he goes throughout Days, as he struggles to help Namine complete Sora’s reconstruction.

The next time Riku meets Xion, she’s run off from the Organization because she learned what she really was. She tries to ask Riku where Sora is and he outright tells her:

“That secret stays with me.”

Riku says this in a way that makes it clear he would die before he handed Sora over to the enemy, and isn’t willing to risk Sora’s safety for anything.

Riku, buddy, you’re a priority, too.

He never blamed Xion or Roxas for the Organization’s actions, though, because just like Sora, these two were being used. So when Xion asks “Do you hate me for taking your friend away from you?” Riku’s answer is:

“Nah... I guess I’m just sad.”

Me:

Xion is the reason Sora cannot wake up! On top of that, because Xion exists, Riku must see to it that both she and Roxas meet their ends if he ever wants to see Sora again. And despite all that, Riku doesn’t hate her.

5) “Don’t be so reckless. Do you want to end up like Riku?”

Halfway through KH2, Saix implies that Riku has ended up in a dire situation, causing Sora to react with alarm. As far as Saix knows, Riku was taken out by Roxas, and he’s more than happy to let that slip to Sora who has been searching everywhere for him.

With or without his memories of C.O., Sora’s last real memory of Riku is watching him be trapped in the Dark Realm when they closed the door together.

The Dark Realm is basically the KH version of Hell, and it’s not the place for hearts of light residing within still-living individuals. From what Sora’s seen of the Dark Realm, it is crawling with dark sides, and even if there is a light within the darkness, the Dark Realm is not a safe place to be.

So hearing Saix say “Do you want to end up like Riku?” has a pretty powerful impact on him. Aside from his own firm belief in Riku’s strength, Sora has been given every reason to believe Riku is dead. There’s no sign of him anywhere, no word of him from anyone, and the last place he was seen in is a relatively fatal environment.

And now he has even less reason to hope Riku is still alive.

4) Riku rescues Sora in 3D

Say what you will about 3D, but the bro feels are HEAVY in this game.

Once again, Sora is lured into one of the Organizations traps.

And again Riku attempts to protect him from this trap.

Again, he failed to reach Sora in time. It is only with the help of Donald, Goofy, Mickey, and Axel that he is able to retrieve Sora before it is too late.

Sora’s heart was trapped in darkest abyss, leaving Sora’s empty body in a sleeping state, similar to what Ven suffered through for over a decade. Yen Sid theorizes that Riku, who unlocked the seven sleeping keyholes within Sora’s dreams, now has the ability to retrieve Sora’s heart and wake him from his sleep.

Come to think, maybe this has something to do with why we see Riku looking for Sora in the KH3 secret movie instead of Kairi?

It’s insanely dangerous to venture into the abyss, but Riku goes anyway and is successful in rescuing Sora.

3) Did I mention that Sora called for Riku when YMX nabbed him?

Sora’s afraid! He’s steeming in darkness and he’s struggling to keep his eyes open because he knows there’s a chance this will be the last thing he sees! He’s aware that if his body is turned into a vessel, he’ll be used to hurt Riku, Kairi, and everyone else he loves.

So what does he do? He calls for Riku!

Riku has been taking the exam with him, and if there’s anyone who can pull him out of this mess its Riku, the same person who has almost always come to his rescue.

And Riku does that just that.

I actually really enjoyed 3D just because it was fairly dark, and heroes can’t succeed all the time. Plus, Riku got to play the role of the one who has Sora’s back no matter what and was rewarded with the title of Keyblade Master for his trouble.

Sora deserves to be Master, too--

2) Kairi reunites Sora and Riku in TWTNW

This scene has me in tears, even now.

As mentioned before, Sora has been given every reason to believe Riku is dead.

He saw someone in the Land of Dragons who was using Riku's keyblade, and was kind of acting like Riku. But was that really him? Or just another member of Org XIII messing with him?

What did Saix mean when he warned Sora not to be reckless like Riku was?

King Mickey made a promise to Riku, but what sort of promise? And why won’t he say anything about Riku?

What happened?

Where is he?

Thanks to Kairi, Sora is able to reunite with Riku properly. Riku wasn’t even going to say anything to Sora--he still feels ashamed of himself for betraying Sora, and for looking the way he does. But Kairi takes both boys hands and has Sora close his eyes, and Sora is able to finally figure it out:

Riku was always close by, helping him. He just looks a little different.

Sora raises his head, and his eyes first widen then scrunch up as the tears come.

He takes Riku’s hand and falls to his knees.

Once he’s down there, he can’t hold himself together anymore and just starts weeping.

This is part of the reason people ship SoRiku at all, and heck, I might have too if not for SoKai and the fact that Sora is a super affectionate person.

Also, it’s pretty clear by how relieved and tearful Sora is that he more-or-less believed Riku was gone. He looked for him, but couldn’t find him anywhere. The organization loves to mess with him--maybe that guy who was behaving like Riku in the Land of Dragon’s killed him and stole his sword. Maybe the reason Mickey won’t say anything is because the truth is too much.

I have best friends that I’ve grown up with, too. If they were to vanish like Riku did, and I went from country to country in search of them, and then if I finally found them after being told everywhere I went that they were gone... Well, I’d be more of a mess than Sora because I’m not as strong as him.

Sora manages to choke out that he looked ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE for Riku. To which Riku answers:

This earns a shocked little gasp from Sora, because it’s kind of a slap in the face to Sora’s efforts to locate Riku.

Not that Riku is trying to be cruel here. Sora doesn’t understand yet that Riku only pushed him away in order to protect him. And when Sora demands, “Why didn’t you let me know you were okay?” Riku calmly explains that he couldn’t stand for Sora and Kairi to see him like this, with Heartless Ansem’s face. The face of the man that possessed him and nearly killed Sora and Kairi.

But they don’t care what he looks like, because it’s still Riku on the inside.

1) Riku protects Sora in KH3

Gosh, this was such a heavy moment.

Sora and Riku were just forced to watch as all their friends were whisked away into the Demon Tide. The last person to go was Kairi, and once she’s gone, Sora falls to his knees lets out a scream that destroyed me physically, emotionally, and mentally.

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We have never seen this side of Sora before, and neither has Riku. Just after Kairi is taken away, Riku is standing nearby, staring out at the demon tide, apparently in shock. We can’t see his face, but Riku grew up with Kairi, too, and he’s clearly distressed by what just happened.

But Sora screams his heart out and Riku immediately rushes to his side. He kneels and listens as Sora gives up and claims he is worthless without the others. Riku’s expression is soft at first but slowly hardens, and after Sora cries over his failure, Riku quietly gets up and tells him:

“Sora, you don’t believe that.”

“I know you don’t.”

Riku then walks forward without another word, and singlehandedly keeps the demon tide at bay.

Sora cannot find the strength to get up and help, but Riku doesn’t yield. He screams in defiance as the shadows overtake him, determined to protect Sora until the end.

Overall, I just really like how Riku has Sora’s back no matter what and how Sora quietly acknowledges that in KH3 when comparing Riku and himself to Anna and Elsa:

youtube

These two are bros for life.

#Sora #Riku #Kairi #Elsa #Anna #Kingdom Hearts #video game series #brotp #bros for life #i love these boys #riku is sexy and important #sora is literal susnhine

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zdbztumble · 5 years

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“Kingdom Hearts II” revisited, Part V

Having only ever played XIII out of the Final Fantasy series, I only know characters like Cloud, Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith through their roles in Kingdom Hearts. In that capacity, I like them quite a bit, and I was upset along with all the FF fans that they were left out of KH III, for spurious reasons. “We didn’t need them because we have original characters to fill those roles” basically amounted to handing off the job of exposition dumps to Ienzo, as if it were simply a matter of trading out corporate spokesmen. From KH I to II, Leon, Yuffie, Sid, Merlin, and Aerith establish themselves as a group, each with a distinct personality, notable interplay among themselves, and each with a unique relationship to Sora and friends. Cloud, on his own, did the same. To toss them aside in favor of a character with no personality, and no connection to Sora, makes the exposition dumps in KH III far more tedious to get through, not helped by the fact that the exposition itself is so much more ridiculous by then. The character dynamics lost are hardly worth the promotion of one unremarkable figure just on account of his being “original.”

But KH II has the opposite problem with its FF guest stars: at a pivotal moment in the story, an excessive number of cameos make unavoidable appearances, creating a painful drag on the pace of the game and distracting from the main story just when major events get underway.

This is unfortunately evident as soon as Sora arrives back in Hollow Bastion after his first pass at the Disney worlds and runs into Cloud. I have absolutely no objection to Cloud being included in this game, and I love that he’s in Hollow Bastion with the others. But Cloud’s history with Sephiroth - and with Aerith, and with Tifa - have nothing to do with the main KH II story, and when the game is building toward King Mickey’s reintroduction, the twist with Ansem, and a shift in power among the villains, being forced to take time out for cutscenes teasing conflicts and relationships from a different series is most unwelcome. The scenes of Tifa rifling through the castle are, if anything, even more of a distraction - one could at least argue that Cloud’s conversation with Aerith has some thematic connection to Sora and Kairi, and that his relationship to Sephiroth has some thematic relevance to Riku and “Ansem.”

A far better reintroduction for Cloud, and a first introduction for Tifa, would have been to have them with the others when Sora first comes to Hollow Bastion. Cloud could be aloof, if that was desired, and Sora could have been surprised to see him there. Tifa could have been introduced as another member of the Restoration Committee, with a line from Aerith or Yuffie or somebody about how “it’s not just us, y’know.” Their first appearances would thus have come at an appropriate moment in the game, and they would have already been established as part of the Hollow Bastion world before Sora returns after completing the first pass at the Disney worlds. If Sephiroth, Tifa’s desire for Cloud, and Aerith’s relationship with him were all things the staff dearly wanted in the game, that all could have come in the form of completely optional material unlocked after the big Heartless battle, just the way that Sephiroth was an optional fight in KH I. There was no reason to make this material mandatory.

Worst of all are the appearances by the Gullwings. My understanding is that Final Fantasy X-2 is a controversial title in the series, and all I know of it comes from this game and a comedic “review,” but I can still wholly understand if any fan of that game had a problem with their cameo here. Besides the pixie makeover, they are, more than any other FF characters, completely irrelevant to what’s going on. A gift of a Keyblade after the fact does not a justification make, and I really can’t believe that they were included, just for the sake of Nomura’s notion of doing “not human yet human” versions of the characters.

(I hate to say this, but Stitch’s introduction is pretty appalling too. He’s just there, no rhyme or reason, and there’s no relationship established between him and any other character before he jumps down. At the very least, Merlin could’ve introduced him a “a stray I picked up along my travels” or something.)

But, I’ve gotten ahead of myself - and while this issue is a substantial one, it’s my only major gripe with this middle portion of the game. There’s a medium-sized one as well...but we’ll get to that.

Since I tend to play “in character” as Sora, I can sometimes find myself reacting to certain things in unusual ways. In the case of the first return to Twilight Town, I started to get excited at the thought of seeing Kairi again even as I knew how the story plays out, which makes me very grateful that I was alone at home while playing the game. Kairi’s brief interaction with the Twilight Town trio is nice, though having been introduced to the KH II manga, it’s hard to watch her being taken by Axel and not wish she showed the sort of fight she puts up in that adaptation.

Twilight Town is also the first time in quite a while that signs of Roxas appear, as he asserts himself from within Sora with the blue stone. At first, I found this moment a little jarring - Sora has just been learned that Kairi was kidnapped, after all - but given that it’s a moment for Roxas to briefly take control, I made peace with it.

Out of all the Disney titles used for Kingdom Hearts worlds, Tron is the one I have the least amount of experience with; I’ve only seen it once, I didn’t care for it very much, and I never bothered with the sequel. Here in KH II, the level is fun and colorful, it isn’t too stiff a recap of the movie from what I remember, and it represents a clever way to tie Disney material in with the original elements of the KH universe. Though I do wonder if Tron was only selected as a world because it offered Nomura and company a platform to indulge in nonsensical techno-speak dialogue.

Tron is also the catalyst for that medium-sized complaint I mentioned before: I see no good reason why Sora’s talk with King Mickey about Ansem had to wait until after Sora goes back into Space Paranoids. There’s no clear ticking clock demanding that he go back right away, and all this does is undercut the reunion with King Mickey and the sense of revelation in the air over the true identity of “Ansem.” When we do finally arrive at that moment, however...it’s not bad. It has to be admitted that there is no real set-up for this twist. You can’t even go back to KH I and find lines equivalent to “there’s too much of his father in him” in Star Wars to retroactively make into foreshadowing. Nothing from KH I, or CoM, is negated by the revelation that “Ansem,” Seeker of Darkness was really Xehanort the apprentice, however. For a twist that exists just for the sake of having one, it’s innocuous, and well-placed within the narrative to give an appropriate jolt to the proceedings. Certainly it’s better-handled, and more benign conceptually, than later “twists” in the series.

This leads us into the long battle with the Heartless, and there’s a lot to recommend this whole sequence. As clumsy as Cloud’s reintroduction was in this game, the moment of him and Leon fighting back-to-back was fantastic; I imagine that scene is an even bigger thrill fro FF fans. What’s more, it’s appropriately placed to be both cool and relevant. The run down the hill that sees Sora fighting alongside one FF character after another is just as delightful. I’d completely forgotten about this part of the game, so it was a pleasant surprise...and a painful reminder at the lack of effort put into giving the other Keyblade wielders some time with Sora in KH III. I will note, however, that Aerith’s absence from the line-up in this run is a problem, and that by rights Merlin should be there too.

The villain material in this section isn’t bad, though it would have been more powerful if their respective plots hadn’t been in such a long lull in the back half of the Disney worlds. Maleficent battling the Nobodies, and ultimately confronting Saix to buy Sora time, is a wonderful idea, and helps to illustrate her story as one of a long and ultimately fruitless climb back towards the top of the villain totem pole, but a larger presence for her in some of those Disney worlds would’ve helped build to that more. Some appearances by the Organization would’ve done the same for the battle with Demyx. It’s not a bad fight, for the first serious boss battle with a member. The shorter time trials got pretty aggravating, though.

There are also some character beats in this section that are on the whole nice additions, if imperfect in execution. Sora being conflicted over whether to help Leon like he promised or to go search for Kairi and Riku is fine - it’s a conflict Sora’s faced, in various guises and degrees, since the beginning of the series, and he’s well-established at this point in the story as someone who goes where the greatest need is over his own desires. But the scene is just a little overdone. I’d say the same about Goofy’s fake-out death, which is cleared up just a little too soon. On the other hand, it’s in the midst of all that that the 1000 Heartless fight takes place, and that’s just as much fun as I remember.

(While I’m on this section of the game, I want to air a nitpick with the gameplay that pops up before, during, and after this section. What is the point of these “runs” where you take about two seconds’ worth of steps after one cutscene just to trigger another? Just go straight to the next scene!)

This section also reveals that Kairi managed to get away from Axel. As an idea, that’s fine. But why isn’t it a scene? Give me one reason why that wasn’t a serious enough story beat to warrant a cutscene. Of course I’m advocating for more material for Kairi, but - and I can’t believe I’m saying this - such a cutscene might have even given Axel some development. I’ll be talking more about the additions to Final Mix in a later post, but the fact that a long-ass walk down hallways was a priority over expanding on this plot point tells you something about the warped priorities the creative team developed in the years after KH II’s release.

We leave this section of the story with Sora, Donald, and Goofy on the retreat, guided out of darkness by Riku and guided by the Keyblade to some unknown destination. But when that lane opens, Sora declares “not yet! I have to look for Kairi!” thus setting up the second pass at the Disney worlds. How often in this series does Sora voice an urge to follow his own desires over the call of duty? I thought it was an impressive moment for his character.

EDIT: corrections made (thank you @khtrinityftw.)

#z's crits #kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts 2 #critique #commentary

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beyondmistland · 5 years

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“May your heart be your guiding key” (Full thoughts on Kingdom Hearts III below!)

Graphics:

Ø The game is bloody gorgeous, which helps mitigate the long and frequent cutscenes

Ø The lip-syncing rarely fails

Music:

Ø The new remixes are awesome and the brand-new tracks don't disappoint either

Ø What does though is the actual audio mixing:

More often than not I struggled to hear the music over the sound effects during gameplay and the voiceovers during cutscenes

Ranking the Worlds:

Ø #1: Corona: The world is huge, with varied terrain and a kick-ass final boss

Ø #2 Olympus: The sheer scale and scope of the world took my breath away, plus we (finally!) get to fight all four titans

Ø #3 The Caribbean: Assassin's Creed IV meets Kingdom Hearts, what's not to like

Ø #4 Monstropolis: While not as eye-catching as some of the other worlds the way it intersects with the broader KH lore is really neat and the final cutscene was a delight in that it averts the Disney characters being useless when dealing with the original KH villains, on top of which its straightforward design is a nice change of pace, my only complaint is that there are only four types of Unversed

Ø #5 San Fransokyo: The story is surprisingly short, which means you don't really get the chance to explore the environment, which sucks because the verticality and day/night cycle are awesome, plus there are a number of memorable boss fights

Ø #6 Twilight Town: If it had been fully recreated based off the KH2 version the world would be much higher on my list but despite how small it is I love the liveliness, not to mention how peaceful it is in comparison to the other worlds, the same can be said for Hundred Acre Wood

Ø #7 Keyblade Graveyard + Final World + Scala Ad Caelum: Though jaw-dropping in terms of visuals and audio they're not fully realized worlds, the same can be said for Dark World

Ø #8 Toy Box: I loved the final boss as well as how the story tied into the larger plot of the game and I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy exploring Andy's room while "You have a friend in me" played in the background

Why then is Toy Box so far down on my list, world design

Even with endgame stats (LV40-45) the Gigas are tough to take down and as a result they come off as gimmicky in the worst sense of the word, beyond that the fact that the majority of the world is set in Galaxy Toys made me feel constrained and claustrophobic, which could have been partially alleviated if we'd been allowed to make our way through the parking lot outside, finally, the story kind of got repetitive with the backtracking whenever the characters were about to leave because "someone went missing yet again"

Ø #9 Arrendelle: Though it has one of the best final bosses in the game along with Corona there is so much wrong with this world that I wonder if it's less Square Enix's fault and more Disney placing an insane amount of red tape on their favorite cash-cow:

1) Elsa does not become a party member even after you beat the world

2) You do not get to explore the city or the ice palace despite the latter being fully rendered on the map

3) Larxene, a lightning-based character, randomly traps you in an ice labyrinth when that would have made a lot more sense both logically and thematically if it had been Elsa

4) Speaking of Larxene, she does practically nothing the whole time you're there unlike Marluxia and Luxord, who are at least semi-active

5) You climb a mountain and get knocked off of it so many times that even Sora gets fed up

6) The bloody minigame where you have to find Olaf's body parts

7) Forcing us to watch the entire "Let it go" sequence and then having "Do you want to build a snowman" play over Anna's voice as she's explaining herself to Sora

8) So much of the story is excised that you have little clue as to what's going on to the point Hans appears for all of five minutes, doesn't say any lines, and isn't even named when it would have been cool, not to mention, just plain better, if he had started off as a guest member of your party

9) As a result of #8 Sora, Donald, and Goofy's presence feels like even more of an afterthought than usual in the sense that them not being there wouldn't have changed anything at all apart from Hans' Heartless then having no one to defeat it which can be seen by the fact that when they leave no one tells them goodbye unlike in every other world

10) The visual design was bland and tiresome after a while

11) The world's gimmick was uninspired to say the least

12) Fighting alongside a giant snowman (AKA Marshmallow) was awesome and in terms of pure gameplay the labyrinth was actually quite fun

Story Pros:

Ø Master Xehanort's new voice actor is good but after hearing Leonard Nimoy's voice for the past couple of games the change is a bit jarring

Ø The way previous games are referenced and tied together is a nice way of bringing new players into the fold while also setting up the finale's resolutions

Ø The game has a better sense of humor than previous installments

Ø Sora is more like his KH2 self than the bland caricature we saw in 3D and quite a few characters display some degree of genre-savviness

Ø Master Yen Sid gets out of his chair to lend a hand for once

Ø Donald Duck is the most powerful mage in Square Enix canon (and I am not making that up)

Gameplay Pros:

Ø Being able to switch between different save points in the same world is a welcome addition

Ø The secondary ability of all shotlocks to airstep is ingenious

Ø You can have more than two party members finally!

Ø The secret ending isn't too hard to unlock

Ø You can upgrade your Keyblades, which means older ones aren't automatically relegated to redundancy

Ø Donald and Goofy are useful again after being nerfed into uselessness in KH2

Ø Towns and cities are actually populated by fully-voiced NPCs!

Ø Cutscenes in Theater Mode are unlocked after completing each world rather than after beating the game

Ø I never tried the Classic Kingdom minigames but the cooking one with Remy was a nice break from the normal gameplay (I suck at the egg-cracking one though)

Ø The camera doesn't get in the way like it infamously did in KH1

Ø I like the new main menu design (Feel free to disagree though)

Ø The Gummi Ship is entirely optional outside of a few mandatory boss battles

Ø Moogle Tickets are a nice way of giving players a second chance during difficult encounters (I do wish they didn’t activate so quickly though)

Gameplay Cons:

Ø The game never once tells you that you can switch between Situation Commands using L2

Ø The game never once tells you that you keep all your lower-tier magic (Fire, Fira for example) and that your shortcuts don't automatically update to include the higher-tier version of whatever magic you have equipped

Ø There's no real incentive to switch between Keyblades (That being said, my favorites are Wheel of Fate, Nano Arms, and Happy Gear/Ever After)

Ø Attractions lose their charm quickly and completely ruin the flow of combat

Ø Summons aren't too big of a deal since I only ever ended up using them once and even then it was by accident

Ø Donald still heals you at the wrong time more often than not

Ø Even on Proud Mode the game is way too easy for the most part (Apparently Critical Mode addresses this but I can't confirm that)

Ø There is a lack of sidequests and post-game content that contributes to the feeling Square & Disney gave us half a game (For example, there is only one secret boss, said secret boss has a generic design, no ties to the story, and can be defeated at LV40 on your first attempt)

Ø Hollow Bastion, Mysterious Tower, and Destiny Islands are not playable

Ø The parkour from 3D has been nerfed too much in terms of distance to actually be useful

Story Cons:

Ø Nomura fridged Kairi and he worfed almost everyone the first time you arrive at the Keyblade Graveyard!

Ø The wrapping up of plot points and character arcs from prior entries was a little too nice and neat for me

Ø The out-of-nowhere introduction of Subject X

Ø Pete and Maleficent do literally nothing the whole damn game

Ø The pacing is awful:

Almost all of the game's resolution is held back until after you've beaten the last Disney world

Ø There are two important cutscenes in the Final World that you can accidentally miss because for some reason they are optional

Ø We don't get to see what happened to Lingering Will, which also means we don't get any more insight into the third aspect of being (AKA the soul)

Ø There are no Final Fantasy characters in the game, not even Sephiroth!

Ø What happened to Demyx?

Ø Master Eraqus has absolutely nothing to do with Terra’s restoration

Changes I’d make:

Ø Require us to go through the Disney worlds a second time like in KH2

Ø Have Aqua and Ven be saved halfway through the game instead of at the end, they could then spend the second half of the game resting or join you on one of the Disney worlds to refresh themselves

Ø Have Lea and Kairi join you on one of the Disney worlds to get practical experience

Ø Make the Keyblade Graveyard sequence be a series of one/two/three-on one battles so that members of Organization XIII can use their full arsenal of attacks from previous games

Ø Let us play the second battle between Lingering Will and Terra-Xehanort

Ø Speaking of Terra-Xehanort, we should have fought him alongside the Guardian Heartless

Ø Have us explore Scala Ad Caelum while hunting down the individual replicas before then making us fight all of them in a boss battle

DLC

Ø The presence of it says a lot about the game and not in a good way

Final Score

Ø 7/10-8/10

#kingdom hearts #square enix #disney #kingdom hearts iii

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we-are-trickster · 5 years

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Trickster of the Month - January 2019

It’s been way too long since I’ve done one of these, but it’s time to yell about characters that fit the Trickster Archetype again.

This month, we’re going to talk about a cute little Trickster who is near and dear to my heart, a sweet young man who’s been a bigger inspiration to me than even I once thought. He’s one of those characters that at first glance you would wonder “that’s a trickster? But how?!” and of course, I’m here to back my point up.

Today we’re taking about Sora from Kingdom Hearts, a Trickster Hero in more ways than one.

-x-x-

“Oh yeah? Well, you’ll see. I’m gonna get out and learn what’s out there!” - Sora, Kingdom Hearts

The first Kingdom Hearts game came out in 2002, nearly 20 years ago now. It introduced us to a multiverse made up of Disney-movie based worlds under threat from creatures born of darkness called Heartless. These Heartless prey on negative emotion and steal people’s hearts, causing worlds to fall into the darkness. Sora is our main hero in the fight against the Heartless, he begins the game as a carefree youth on Destiny Island. Sora and his two dearest friends, Riku and Kairi, want to get off their island and find whatever’s out there. Unfortunately, they get their wish when the Heartless attack their world and plunge it into Darkness, scattering them throughout the Multiverse.

During this attack, Sora discovers he is a chosen wielder of a weapon known as a Keyblade – a large, key-shaped sword that has more uses than just bludgeoning Heartless to death – and upon his arrival in a place called Traverse Town, a kind of nexus for displaced people who survive the destruction of their worlds, he meets Donald and Goofy and learns from other survivors about the truth of the multiverse and about his place in it as the wielder of the Keyblade.

This begins a journey for the ages as Sora, Donald, and Goofy set off to find His Royal Majesty King Mickey with Sora having a secondary goal of reuniting with Riku and Kairi. Along the way they face many challenges and make many new friends, learning that the strength of one’s heart and the bonds of friendship are what help fight off the Darkness, and that no matter what if you keep your friends in your heart you will have the strength and courage to face any challenge.

So what gives Sora the Trickster mantle?

Throughout the Kingdom Hearts series we come to learn that Sora isn’t the typical “chosen one.” He’s not particularly strong or courageous in the traditional sense, but he does have something unique to himself and that is the depth of his loyalty and the depth of his kindness. He’ll face any challenge if it means reuniting with the people he cares for most. In fact, Sora extends a hand of kindness and friendship even to his enemies, trying to encourage them away from a path of destruction. This fact is highlighted by Ansem the Wise at the end of Dream Drop Distance when he highlights the unique ability that Sora has to not only connect to the hearts of others, but to restore them. Sora is the one person to reunite with his Nobody without destroying him, Roxas still exists as his own person inside of Sora’s heart and Sora is perfectly okay with this fact. He is the one person who looks at everyone in the world of Kingdom Hearts and sees the potential for goodness inside of them and won’t stop fighting until they have a chance to realize that potential.

Sora as Traveler

After Destiny Island is swallowed by Darkness in the first Kingdom Hearts, Sora becomes a homeless wanderer. He goes to many places and makes many allies, but he never stays in one place for very long.

This echoes the “dweller at the threshold” aspect of Tricksters. A Trickster has no set home, they are welcome in many places both civilized and wild but they have nowhere that they truly belong.

Sora travels the multiverse, popping into various worlds to visit some very familiar faces to any Disney fan. He makes friends and enemies wherever he goes, but he can never stay for very long nor can he reveal where he is from - outside of their world. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but one of the tasks Sora is charged with is keeping the worlds secret from one another. The only heroic character to realize he is from another world is King Triton from Atlantica and when he realizes this, he admonishes Sora for “meddling” even though Sora is trying to defend Atlantica from the Heartless. At first, Sora has difficulty hiding this fact but by the time of Dream Drop Distance he has become practiced at hiding this fact, blending in successfully.

Sora as an Outsider

As previously mentioned, Sora is an outsider to the worlds he travels. While he eventually adopts Traverse Town and Hollow Bastion as home bases, everywhere else is a place he visits. And whenever he goes somewhere, he can instantly be picked out by his behavior and manner of dress as an outsider. There are a few notable exceptions where his form changes via magic to fit in better in certain worlds, but overall he’s easy to pick out from the common people of a given world.

In the first game he is new to traveling the multiverse and thus is a little more obvious and oblivious to his outsider status, but by the time of Dream Drop Distance he’s become a seasoned traveler and has developed a friendly vagueness. He knows he can’t fully reveal himself, but the nature of his work requires him to interact with the denizens of a given word on some level, so he has developed his kindness into its own cloak of obscurity. He becomes the kind stranger you meet and who does good works but disappears and avoids recognition and accolades. He brings an outsiders’ perspective to every situation he encounters, having the secret knowledge of other worlds and the threats of the multiverse – Heartless, Nobodies, and Dream Eaters – as well as how to deal with them.

Sora as Teacher

Despite his status as an outsider, Sora does manage to leave an impression on the places he visits and not just because he deals with the dangers present there. He often imparts important lessons to the residents of these worlds, especially in later games when he’s gotten a wealth of experience under his belt. He imparts bittersweet lessons of friendship and loss, learning to heal from hurt – which can be a long and painful process. Sora never turns his back to someone who he believes can be saved but also doesn’t hesitate to fight those who are too far gone. His most driving goal is to reunite with Riku, and then see Riku brought back to the light. Even when Riku doesn’t believe in himself, Sora still believes in him.

Sora is a good example of “the wise fool.” No matter how serious he gets, he is still a silly young man. His youth hides his experience and wisdom, but he does still enjoy simple pleasures. The look on his face when he sees Christmas Town for the first time and is confronted by Santa Claus is a look of pure wonder and childish glee. But at the same time he takes his duties seriously and can be quite profound in his observations. Not only that, he is willing to take authority figures to task when they need to be. Even King Mickey himself isn’t exempt from Sora’s questioning and lessons. He defies orders at times, choosing instead to follow his heart.

Sora as a Crosser of Barriers

Throughout the Kingdom Hearts series, connections and barriers are a reoccurring theme. The Keyblade itself is a weapon that can both lock and unlock worlds. It has the power to both seal a place away, removing its connection to the greater multiverse or reconnecting it in the same manner. It also has the power to unlock the potential of its wielder, responding to the strengths of the one who holds and only lending its power to those deemed worthy. In the first game, Riku attempts to take the power of the Keyblade for himself, to use for Dark purposes, but the Keyblade rejects him and returns to Sora when he realizes his own strength. In this manner, it cannot be separated from its wielder. It is as much a manifestation of the power within Sora as it is an actual weapon.

During some points of the games, characters try to shake Sora’s belief in himself and his worthiness to wield the Keyblade – implying that it is a weapon that can be passed from wielder to wielder. Of course, this information often comes from the villains of these games so it’s hard to tell the reliability of this statement. Keyblades seem to be weapons manifested by the wielder, so I believe that it’s more a matter of strength of heart and ability. You can’t take someone else’s Keyblade, you simply manifest a copy of your own.

Sora uses the Keyblade time and again to open paths between the worlds. This is most powerful use of a Keyblade and is likely the reason that Keyblade wielders must be carefully tested and trained. It’s less about teaching them to wield the Keyblade, but rather teaching them to wield its power responsibly. Thanks to its ability to lock and unlock hearts and worlds, connecting them or closing them off, it is a weapon that has terrible power to destroy if a user so desires. Sora uses the Keyblade’s power to travel between the worlds to protect them, which does seem to be one of the original purposes of the Keyblade Masters like Aqua, Terra, and Ventus. During these travels, Sora associates with both the highest of the high and the lowest of the low, even treating the computer program TRON like a living person. There is no place that Sora will not travel to, no place he will not defend. In the first Kingdom Hearts he faces off against Chernabog in an area that can be described as a “underworld” of sorts. It’s called “End of the World” and represents an area where remnants of worlds that have fallen to darkness gather, awaiting restoration.

The Ultimate Barrier that Sora has ever crossed was during the first Kingdom Hearts. There is a moment towards the end of the first game when Sora has sacrificed himself to give Kairi back her heart that Sora becomes a Heartless. Up to this point, we had never seen anyone return from losing their heart. But Sora manages to maintain enough of his personality and memories as a Heartless to seek Kairi out and what’s more when he finds her, he is able to leverage their connection in order to return to his original form. This is just the first of many times that Sora crosses what can be interpreted as a Life – Death barrier. If Death doesn’t even have a firm grasp on Sora, how can he be anything but a Trickster?

The evidence is staked very high in Sora’s favor as a Trickster. Kingdom Hearts represents one of those rare times that a Trickster is unapologetically heroic. Sora teaches us that unashamed optimism in the face of danger and our connection to others is an intense and extreme power that anyone can wield. In a world where cynicism and darkness rule, having an open hand of friendship is a revolutionary act. Tricksters are agents of Change and Transformation and Kingdom Hearts is ultimately about the purest kind of change, the change that occurs when we open ourselves up to becoming part of a greater world. When we leave the safety of the familiar and step into the unknown, facing it not with fear but with kindness and an open heart. That is Sora’s Trickster Lesson, and an important lesson in these times where people close themselves off from one another.

-x-x-

If you enjoyed this analysis, considering buying me a Ko-fi!

#trickster of the month #kingdom hearts #sora #analysis #long post #trickster paladin #light and darkness cast aloft

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ismiseben · 5 years

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Thoughts as I leave Birth By Sleep..

Wow. I forgot just how amazing this chapter of Kingdom Hearts is. Some reflective thoughts re: story & current world state as I progress through the games chronologically:

Aqua

Master Aqua is probably the most skilled keyblade wielder we’ve seen thus far, I’d imagine she would out-perform both Sora & Riku. To survive for over a decade in the realm of darkness speaks volumes about her character and strength (not to mention she brushed off Terranort in Radiant Garden).

So, Aqua at the end of her chapter stated she would protect Ventus until he wakes and also claimed to know how to ‘find’ Terra - Wayfinder, and technically she did find him I guess.

The knowledge Eraqus passed down to her allowed her to turn the sacred Land of Departure into Castle Oblivion, a maze of sorts unsolvable by any except Aqua - the perfect hiding place for Ventus. She leaves him, and we get that daunting image of Castle Oblivion before she sets off to find Terra.

Terra at this point is lost, Xehanort controls his body - however, post-fight, Terra regains control long enough to perform a heart release on himself, which plunges him into the darkness in an unconscious state. What exactly occurred here? Something definitely happened. More on this below. Anyway, Aqua sacrifices her own blade & armor to ensure Terra escapes the realm of darkness - throwing herself in instead.

In the secret episode, which I have never played until now somehow, Aqua traverses the realm of darkness and fights the heartless - indicating how long she has been in here. She continues to fight in the face of adversity, with some help from Terra & Ven’s keyblades - and we eventually see her arrive at what looks like the Castle of Dreams. - a fragmentary passage -

Ventus

Not much to say here. When Xehanort tore his heart apart, he found solace in Sora’s newborn heart. This led to a connection which still lasts to this day, explaining perhaps why Vanitas looks like Sora. This bond is confirmed at the endgame when Ventus, now dormant, finds Sora again - this time, as a young child, and now his heart rests with Sora again, while his body remains unconscious in Castle Oblivion, awaiting Aqua’s return.

Terra

A strong boy with good intentions. He gets manipulated by Xehanort and only realises when it is too late. Terra becomes Xehanort’s vessel, and has ultimately lost his own body. As I suspected, Eraqus resides within Terra’s heart also, allowing him to fight off Xehanort in some way - however, Xehanort still maintains control for now. Not sure what the heart removal interaction actually means in the final episode, as all it did was throw Terranort to the darkness - was Terra’s heart released in this moment? It does not seem so, as Terra continues to speak with Xehanort internally. Interesting to see what happens here, perhaps this has something to do with Terra’s armor, which seemed to possess some of Terra’s life-force/essence. Time will tell.

Xehanort

In his reports, he tells us of how from a young age he sought answers. What is the keyblade, it’s meaning, the light, the dark. He travelled and found the answers he sought. He seeks balance, while Eraqus seeks only light. He wants to obtain Kingdom Hearts to reforge the world and bring about equilibrium. He plots with Ventus & Terra, the x-blade & the vessel. He is a manipulator, and takes advantage of Eraqus. This was his plan all along. To achieve his goals, he cannot have an old-man’s body. When Eraqus became successor, what else was there for Xehanort to do but chase his dream?

Xehanort now resides in Radiant Garden, with Ansem the Wise and Braig, Dilan, Ienzo etc. He does not seem to have any memories, but does refer to himself as Xehanort. Also, confirmed that Xehanort & Eraqus are from the Destiny Islands. I wonder will we ever learn who their master was?

Finally, Xehanort, when speaking internally with Terra, stated that he has many paths should this one not work out, he reiterates that he ‘made sure of this’ - what exactly are these other paths? He also recognizes Eraqus’ presence, which seems to be a hindrance.

The world is in a strange state at the moment, Sora & Riku reside on Destiny Islands - Kairi was in Radiant Garden, but her spell seemed to activate (perhaps as it transitions to Hollow Bastion?) she now ends up in Destiny Islands.

Ven awaits Aqua’s return and his heart is in Sora. Terra’s exact whereabouts is unknown, but I speculate he is still fighting internally for control. Aqua roams the realm of darkness.

A look at the Future

Aqua finds Ansem the Wise in the Realm of Darkness, many, many years after the events of Birth by Sleep. This is actually post-KH2. She cries a tear upon hearing that Sora, the young boy she met on the Destiny Islands, grew up to become a protector of the light - and a good one, at that.

Ansem makes a note that this is his second time on these shores. I better watch out for when the first is.

Finally, we see Sora, Riku & Kairi - all slightly older - with Sora stating he must go, as they need him. He holds a bottle & a letter in his hands. Who are they? Has Sora been told about Ven, Aqua & Terra? I guess we’ll find out.

#kh3 #bbs #birth by sleep #kingdom hearts #road to kh3 #road to kingdom hearts 3 #aqua #ventus #terra #sora #kairi #riku #ansem #story #summary #recap #ps4 #hd #final mix #secret #kh

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dukeofriven · 5 years

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Wither Tinkerbell? Part 3: This Episode Was Badly Written (KH Liveblog)

PART 1, PART 3

Let’s look at Sora’s three options one more time: A) He can depart for Hollow Bastion, and in doing so leave Tinkerbell in captivity. B) He can surrender the Keyblade, at which point Hook won’t kill him. (Will he let Tink go? Unclear) C) Sora can walk the plank and die.

It’s at this point my brain broke. Sora is an agonizing cipher of a character - so opaque at times that he basically produces a homunculus later simply to store a personality in and save him the trouble of having one. (For those of you just joining us, I am playing-through (well, watching other people play through because I can’t afford these games) Kingdom Hearts largely for the first time. I have played the Destiny Island portion of KH 1, and the prologue of Kingdom Hearts 2 - everything with Roxas up to Sora coming back to life. THAT’S IT. No spoilers, please. #RoxasForProtagonist2019). Fifteen hours in, here’s what I know about Sora: He likes Kairi. He wants to hatesnog Riku He is super good at hitting dudes with sticks. He wants to help everybody instantly This sometimes causes tension with Donald Duck He wants to see other places And that’s it. I don’t have much of a sense of Sora’s interiority as a person. I can’t even tell if he has interiority. (You cannot tell me in good conscious that this boy:

Has anything going on in there that isn’t this song playing on a loop.

youtube

Playing on a loop, over and over and over. That’s why he so rarely interacts with conversations in this game: poor little kid, he’s got a bad case of audio processing disorder and most of the time he’s zoning out to the soothing sound of Tijuana Brass.) That lack of self quickly becomes a problem whenever Sora has to make something resembling a decision because there’s very little there in which to anchor motive. I mentioned Finn the Human earlier: Finn would rescue Tinkerbell in a heartbeat because his motivation to be the good guy is very clear. Self sacrifice would make sense for him too if the cards were arranged properly: “jump off this plank or I’ll kill Jake!” the villain cries, and Finn chucks himself off screaming “anything for you buddy” - but Finn won’t embrace death so quickly for just anything. Finn would have already called Hook a buttface and launched himself at his face long before Hook finished monologuing. Sora, to all appearances, decides to let his quest to save Kairi go and die rather than... let Tinkerbell stay imprisoned in a lamp? There’s so many problems with this scene I am 2500 words in and feel like I still haven’t captured how bizarre it is. There’s the lack of peril: Tinkerbell doesn’t seem to be in any immediate danger, making Sora’s willingness to just up and die seem a serious overreaction. There’s a lack of intimacy: Sora’s near-ignorance of Tinkerbell doesn’t seem commensurate with the Christ-like willingness to perish on her behalf. There’s the Problem of Kairi: he sure drops her needs like a hot potato the moment some other random person is put in any state of inconvenience. There’s the problem of scale: four heartless and one dude with a sword stopped seeming like a threat before we’d beaten Traverse Town, why is it suddenly this big of an issue? Then there’s the problem of time: the whole scenario, from the moment Hook reveals that Tinkerbell is kidnapped to the moment Peter rescues her from Smee takes about 1 minute and 28 seconds with no interruptions. The player doesn’t even get to attempt to rescue Tink - we are shown she is kidnapped, Sora makes the baffling decision to die rather than punch Hook in the face, then Peter rescues Sora through the power of positive thinking and saves Tink by just grabbing her (this last part no more than 20 seconds). Then the game lets you fight the four heartless who were standing there anyways. You might be wondering “Why are you spending so much time on this moment that ultimately doesn’t mean much”? Because that’s sort of my point - Kingdom Hearts, a badly written game, is full of moments like this: tension call-de-sacs that are resolved quickly, without impact, and without player or even protagonist agency. Unless its ‘hitting things with his stick” Sora does very little in this game. He shows up to events, is told what he ought to do by other people, and then does them, sometimes with a pretence of agreement but never one that feels like he’s going to go his own way. It’s a little like Final Fantasy XII: Sora might be the viewpoint character, but he keeps finding himself in a story that isn’t really about him. He feel superfluous as a person - if you equipped a sexy lamp with a keyblade and the power to fight heartless, how much of the game would proceed unchanged? What impact does Sora have on his own story? The moments that Sora genuinely makes choices stand out precisely because of their rarity. Many of the choices he does make are guided almost entirely by non[diegetic need: he agrees to team up with Donald and Goofy because that’s the conceit of Kingdom Hearts and also he needs that gummy ship to do the gummy ship sequences: even now, though repeatedly called ‘friends’ by the script, the trio don’t seem to have much to do with one another. That’s why this scene baffles me: Sora gets a very rare multiple choice question and he picks the worst answer possible for no clear reason, motive, or purpose. Sora chooses to die so that Tinkerbell can... can what, exactly? Hook doesn’t threaten her beyond saying that she’ll stay imprisoned. Hook says Sora can either give up the Keyblade or die, and Sora chooses to die without a fight, despite having taken down far larger and more obviously threatening villains at this point. He just folds. And then Pan rescues him and Tink in seconds, and the whole scene goes by so fast it is breathtaking. Why am I spending so much time thinking about this scene? Because its obvious that nobody who worked on the game did. It’s a nothing moment - so forgettable you likely have no memory of it to begin with. And yet: SORA CHOSE TO DIE. This game is poorly written. And Tinkerbell deserves a better than to be Imprisoned Woman #380 in this game.

#tinkerbell #peter pan #captain hook #smee #keyblade #kingdom hearts #sora #donald duck #goofy #dukeofriven liveblogs kingdom hearts #disney #roxas #kairi #riku

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