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neoyi · 3 years

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I don’t think I’ll ever get to humorously commentate on KH2 piece-by-piece as I tried to do for the first two games (and god knows if I’ll wrap up Re:chain of Memories with the writing method I was doing, but I digress.) I like talking about this endearingly dumb series and replaying this game is a nice opportunity to revisit how I feel now versus how I felt back when I was a fresh-out-of-high-school Neo playing this game for the first time back in 2005.

So I’m going to surmise my current play session (this collects my thoughts up to the Hercules world) with easily containable bullet points.

*I kind of want to make a separate post about the infamous prologue and discuss how people felt Back in the Days (an understatement, let me tell ya), and ultimately what I feel it does for the game and whether I personally liked it, so I'm going to leave that in the back burner for the time.

I will say Twilight Town sounds like a nice, quiet place to live. I love the concept of a city that's always perpetually sunset. It's a beautiful place and like Traverse Town, sports an amazingly cozy soundtrack.

*I'm sure there's some bullshit reason why, but I don't get why Sora's one year absence meant some of the people he's met just....forgot him. Like why? What purpose does this serve? This especially affected Kairi, but it’s ultimately negligible because she regains her memories of him during the beginning portions of the game.

Was this Namine's doing? Was it to protect Sora from the bad guys or something? Why hasn't Riku forgotten him? Was Namine just selective on who she erased Sora's existence from? Did Kairi forget just because she’s connected to Namine? Or Sora? What purpose does this narrative serve? What was the point?

*Speaking of, I forgot, did they ever explain why Riku disguised himself as Ansem? I don’t remember if they ever explained it when I played through this game, but also I haven’t touched KHII in six thousand years, so I don’t remember a lot of the more convoluted parts of the plot.

*It is comical to see Setzer of Final Fantasy VI fame turn from a risky, gambling sky pirate who doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the empire, only cares for the freedom of the skies, and enduring survival’s guilt over a tragic loss of someone dear to him into a...

Whiffle Bat Champion.

*My sheer excitement and obsession when they first announced Vivi as one of the FF cameo was astronomical. I remember keeping a DeviantArt journal detailing any news and screencaps of the little guy pre-release. Still my favorite character from the whole franchise.

Even if he suffers the same fate as Donald and has a zipper on his mage hat for absolutely no reason other than this game existing during Nomura’s Belt-and-Zippers phase.

*Someone’s going to get sued one day because these damn kids keeps sitting atop the clock tower that has yet to be grafted with bars to prevent their inevitable deaths when one of them slips and falls.

*I swear I could play a six degrees of Kingdom Hearts with all the voice actors in this game. Or at least a "Whozit" and "Whatzit" they've done in other media (like Yuffie who is voiced by Mae "Katara" Whitman here. Pre-Avatar, even.)

Also I’m sorry, Will Friedle, you’re a fine voice actor, but you’re...Terry McGinnis. Batman told me he “totally owned all you lamers.”

*I love the Nobody enemy designs. The sheer creepiness and uncanny valley of them all lends credit to their existence as, well, non-existences. The Dusk enemy design alone is inspired with its unsettling belts wrapped around its fingers, or terrifyingly sharp teeth subtly hidden inside of its mouth. I can imagine the creature unzipping its mouth to reveal a set of flesh-eating teeth and the fear is real.

I love the way it flies and circles around its victim, almost like it’s trying to wrap itself around you, but I’m especially fond of that one attack where it essentially kicks you as while it sashays over to you upside down.

The Samurai Dusk also has my favorite reaction command. It’s just unspeakably badass.

*I never liked Squall in FF8 back then (don't know how I'd feel now if I ever replay FF8) and he was just okay in the first Kingdom Hearts, but I remember I really endeared myself to his reappearance in KHII. Squall in this game is what happens when he grew up, found good friends and family, and got some therapy for his issues. He’s stoic, but always a team player, and supportive of Sora and the people around him. KHII Squall is what FF8 Squall has the potential to be once he reaches adulthood and it’s nice to see that here.

*I really love the little changes the developers inputted for Sora, Kairi, and Riku's models to accommodate for their physical growth. Riku's is the most obvious (boy clearly ate his vegetables), but I like that you can tell Sora grew not just through story observations (Yen Sid points out how he outgrew his old garbs) but by comparing his height in relation to Goofy. Sora was shorter than him in the first game, but has since outgrown him in KH2.

Along with his better skill set during combat, this is a really nice way to visually shown how far Sora has come and how much time has passed.

This also goes in the opposite direction with Namine whom I think had to redo her mod when they remastered Chain of Memories for 3D. I notice she looks younger in that game than in KHII which would make sense at the time since it takes place a full year ago.

...Well, maybe. Can Nobodies age???

*Damn it, game, don’t give me a pouch containing 5,000 munny and treat it as an in-game key item that I can’t use even though munny is literally the currency I use to buy things.

*The retooling and emphasis on battle mechanics means the platforming element of the first really suffers and that’s a damn shame. I wasn’t particularly in love with exploring the Disney Worlds in the first KH, but I appreciate the effort put into so Sora could not easily get from Point A to Point B.

Even finding treasure chests is comical and if not for sake of posterity for anyone going for 100%, I wonder why Jiminy bothers to keep track of how many you find. There were literally like three out in plain view the minute I entered the Mulan world.

*Speaking of level designs, yeesh, the layout is not optimal for the skateboarding minigame.

*Trying to design a gummi ship in this game requires a masters degree in gummiology and metaphysical engineering, as well as the ability to tap into the 4th dimensional. The 45,000 page instructional manual they give you, the odd grid map used to piece together your ship (fair, the latter was also in the first game), and finicky button controller layout means it took me a while to fully grasp what I was suppose to do and I’m still not sure I got a full handle of it just yet.

*I don’t understand why Sora had to use a physical object as a conduit in each world to open up a metaphysical gate to the next world. He never had to use an in-between to close it. What’s the exception outside of unnecessary symbolic tie-in to the individual worlds he’s in?

*Props to the developers for recreating the ballroom. It’s actually kind of majestic to look at the beautiful ceiling and chandelier design from Sora’s perspective.

*There are a couple of random gameplay elements I forgot completely existed and seemingly there for arbitrary purposes. I just find it unusual that Mulan’s world forces you to collect literal manifestation of morale. It’s like the developers decided they wanted to reuse the Struggle minigames’ balls into a repurposed Morale Ball because well shit, someone programmed these things they’re damn well going to put it to good use.

I guess if Sora and pals don’t literally collect morale, all the soldiers will be, I don’t know, sad and die in battle or something.

*I’m aware Disney villains using the Heartless as their personal army is the norm, but it’s tonally weird when it’s Shan-Yu of all characters doing it. The infamous Charge-In-The-Snowy-Mountain scene doesn’t quite have the leg up in terms of threat when his army consist of adorable Heartless bumblebees.

*You know what pointless shit I am obsessed with? The stupid puzzle pieces scattered throughout the game. This is the first time I’m playing the Final Mix game and I’m just seething at the lack of abilities I currently do not have that prevents me from reaching certain pieces.

*Auron was instantaneously my favorite character when I first played FFX twenty years ago, and his return in KH2 sent me in fangirlish squeals. How could I not? Look at this handsome bastard. He’s calm, collected, badass with a cool sword, has rugged good looks (he doesn’t have it here, but he rocks some killer shades), and a good dad. That’s prime DILF quality right there. Of course I can’t get enough of him.

Square Enix knows we can’t get enough of him; dude be all “fuck off hades” and gives the god the middle fingers and fucks off elsewhere. Auron is King Shit.

*Oh man, do I still have my old Sora figurine? I think I got him in Katsucon way back in 2009.

*So who’s done a drinking game every time the game introduces Sora, Donald, and Goofy individually to every character they meet?

*Hey, so I noticed Square Enix is finally moving their asses and bringing the Ultimania books to the US. I doubt they’re going to bring the older KH Ultimanias overseas (my kingdom for an officially translated FFIX one), but ya know. I kinda think that yeah, I might want the KHIII Ultimania.

...Just saying.

*GET UP ON THE HYDRA’S BACK! GET UP ON THE HYDRA’S BACK! GET UP ON THE HYDRA’S BACK! GET UP ON THE HYDRA’S BACK!

GET UP ON THE HYDRA’S BACK!

#kingdom hearts #neoyi talks #kingdom hearts II

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mellz117 · 4 years

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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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rilldineth · 4 years

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So a friend of mine told me that given that we are now in 2020, it will be fun if I did a top 20 ships of the past decade for me and boy, did I thought was a good idea and I have decided, why not right? I will be listing them here and...if followers decide to read it...well...

You will quickly notice that probably that most, if not all the ships fall on the following categories: a) rare-ships that are obv not canon; b) ships that are obviously crack; c) ships that had wasted potential, the ones hinted but never happened or briefly happened in canon and writers decided to fuck up. There’s also only one...one RL ship and I am ashamed yet not, but had to list it because I spent a long time hung up on it so don’t judge me.

So yes list...

Before the list, no list is complete without some honorable mentions, these are mostly ships I either got into the hype to recently (not being dedicated for years as the one I will list) or had my fancy then lost it.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Charlastor from Hazbin Hotel (recently got into it)

Clack from Final Fantasy VII

Cloud x Squall from Final Fantasy/KH series.

Hayffie from The Hunger Games.

TodoMomo from Boku Hero no Academia.

Gency from Overwatch series ( on and off )

RinMako from Free!

Terraqua from Kingdom Hearts series.

TOP 20 SHIPS OF THE PAST DECADE

20. Spuhura - Spock x Nyota Uhura (Star Trek original and reboot): Again this was another ship that I liked, since the original series, while everyone was Spirk this and that, I was like,’’yas, yas give me the sweet, sweet Spock and Uhura interactions’ and I was happy the reboot hooked them up, even if that ended dubiously but for a glorious moment, I had it.

19. Swarkles - Barney Stinson x Robin Scherbatsky (HIMYM): This is one of those ships I am bitter, bitter and salty about, there are more in this list in fact next spot is another one. But I loved it and I did think they complimented each other better than the wet noodle they stuck Robin with, they took the time to know the other, grown separately and then together, the episode where Barney proposed to Robin gave me all the feels and it was so sweet, and then fuck the writers deciding to do what they did. It’s no wonder the finale of this show is so hated.

18. Lotura - Lotor x Allura (Voltron Legendary Defender): When they announced a new reboot to Voltron I didn’t think much of it. I had fancied Lotor x Allura in the original series, as dubious as that was, but then I started to watch this Netflix thing and there was something between them, something more tangible and I was happy. It was this strong woman with an equally strong man encouraging her strength and not putting her in the box of the exotic pretty princess, like a certain dude, and wanted to know her mind and interests, they discovered things together and for a brief moment knew peace and I was here so happy that we were getting something good and then fuck the writers again that decided ‘Nah bro, you’re not getting it’ and you know to fuck off again. I will always have fan fiction I guess.

17. VinTi - Vincent Valentine x Tifa Lockhart (Final Fantasy VII series): This is a ship that I think started to like during my second playthrough of the game, I always figured the both could work, both having loved people that for one reason or another couldn’t fully love them back (Lucrecia due to damn guilt and Cloud because of Aerith) and both were mature enough to fit together, I just like them okay.

16. Helsa - Hans x Elsa (Frozen): Truly, I have never made it a secret that I really dislike this movie, I truly do. The only good things were Hans (which I am still huh at the ‘turns out he is evil’ I still call trolls) and Elsa (because of her damn powers) and then the next step was shipping them and honestly, he should have gone for the older sister lmao, they make more sense and there have very nice fiction out there.

15. Yuzuvier - Javier Fernandez x Yuzuru Hanyu (Figure Skating): Ahh, we have reached my dreaded and dark secret only RPF fancy. Be it broship or more, I always liked the friendship and camaraderie these two skaters had with each other, they were rink mates and rivals but above all friends. I was kokoro break when Yuzuru was telling Javi that he couldn’t do it without him and stop it you two. I just like them, they are wholesome.

14. Victuuri - Viktor Nikiforov x Yuuri Katsuki (Yuri!!! On Ice): And here we have another precious figure skating duo when I started to watch this series it was only because it was a figure skating anime and I love figure skating, I never expected to see a wholesome and wonderful healthy relationship to explode in front of me. The relationship between Viktor and Yuuri is just so lovely, so mature, they both worked through issues, grew from them and accepted them even and I can’t I love it. (Special mention here to Yurio x Mila, as is another ship I love from this series and so underrepresented).

13. Jonerys - Jon Snow x Daenerys Targaryen (ASOIAF/GoT): Regardless of the stupidity committed in the series, I have shipped them since the books, because I can read in between the lines and there are too many parallels between them and their journeys, ones that at will some point collide and bring them together in a way that will be worth it, so better make it count George.

12. Rhaegar Targaryen x Lyanna Stark (ASOIAF/GoT): Yes, mea culpa, I love tis ship and no one can shame me for liking it and boy has people tried to do so. Were these two smart of escaping like that and not saying a thing? Nope, they were so not. Was Brandon smart going to Kings Landing, knowing there was a crazy king with a penchant of burning people and demanding his heir's head? Nope, that was probably the stupidest move of all. Do I want to believe they loved each other? Why not? Martin has a penchant for tragic love stories, I know this ship is problematical for some, but I still love it and if you see spot 10 here, well I have varied tastes.

11. Soriku - Riku x Sora (Kingdom Hearts series): Come on, this is a given. Prior to Kairi appearing, it was clear Sora was Riku’s world and Riku’s was Sora, they were attached to the hip, the rivalry for Kairi more felt like Riku being jealous of Kairi and wanting Sora’s attention back. Then we have KH2 where Sora spent the whole damn game being all ‘Riku, Riku!’ and Riku doing his damn best to help him from the shadows, ashamed to be seen. DDD was more Riku protecting him and Sora leaning on him, even KH3 had Sora wanting to find and reach Riku, and then Riku going once again to find him by the end, so I am sorry but if there was a love story written here it was between these two.

10. Hannigram - Hannibal Lecter x Will Graham (Hannibal): Quite honestly, from all the things I ship, they are probably what one will consider the most toxic one I guess, which fair considering one part of the ship is a charismatic yet cannibalistic serial killer. But there was something in the way this relationship was developed by Fuller and brilliantly brought out by Mads and Hughs that just hooked me, their soft moments, their violent ones, it just somehow worked for me. I guess this is also one of the few canon ships that I have, funny enough.

09. Rivetra - Levi Ackerman x Petra Ral (Shingeki no Kyojin): Who will have thought that a series about human eating titans was going to give me one of my most everlasting and also shortlived OTP’s. Years can pass by and I will still love this ship, my heart will still believe there was something more between them, something that was realized or something that wasn’t, I don’t know, but I will forever love it and even though years have passed since she died, I always enjoy the hints here and there that he still remembers her or hints where we are supposed to do so.

08. Squinoa - Squall Leonhart x Rinoa Heartilly (Final Fantasy VIII): People can say whatever the fuck they want ‘the love story was rushed’ ‘we hate Rinoa’ (fuck you btw) but it doesn’t change the fact that Squall fell in love with her and that Rinoa helped him to open up, to not take things for granted and Squall taught her to be even stronger and conquer her fears, they helped each other grow and it’s what matters in the end.

07. Feanor x Nerdanel (Tolkien): This is probably, from all the romantic relationships that Tolkien has gifted us, which I have loved the most and held my attention the longest. They have the happy times, the ones that were full of joy when they met and fell in love and had their children, then we have the tumultuous times when he became too obsessed with this craft, the separation when he left with their kids leaving her behind in her pain and then their possible reencounter when he leaves the Halls of Mandos and how they might deal with it.

06. ItaHina - Itachi Uchiha x Hinata Hyuuga (Naruto): Both the heads of two of the most important clans of their villages, both with heavy expectations upon their shoulders that nearly broke them, only one was talented from the start and the other had to learn, yet they are also similar. Both love their siblings to a fault, sacrificing so much for them and their happiness, both seem to hate conflict yet know is necessary and both are devoted and loyal to a fault, they would have suited each other wonderfully, in an AU probably they would have gotten engaged, who knows, but it would have been wonderful.

05. SessKik - Sesshoumaru x Kikyou (Inuyasha): A ship that could have been but that we didn’t have. This is a ship that has been with me for years and I don’t plan to let it go, they were the best players (in a sense) in that game against Naraku, also probably the strongest, both level headed and smart, not easily intimidated and calculating, together they would have been quite a formidable force and it’s a shame we didn’t get to see that.

04. Bethyl - Daryl Dixon x Beth Greene (The Walking Dead): Another wasted potential and gone so soon, not to mention forever salty at the waste. The way they were being developed promised so much, in the few time he was with her, well, she taught him to have faith and it’s something that apparently still shows from times to times (I am not sure as I stopped with this show) and imagine how it will have gone if they had more time. Just a waste.

03. Romanogers - Steve Rogers x Natasha Romanov (Marvel/MCU): I have been shipping them for years, like honestly, and when the MCU was showing me the seeds of potentiality I was happy, not even that stupidity with Bruce killed my hope, as they still had this steady relationship, he trusted her and she trusted him, something that she couldn’t say of many, they had each others back and took care of the other...but again another wasted potential right there.

02. Huddy - Gregory House x Lisa Cuddy (House MD): I spent years, kind of, season after season watching the delicious and lovely UST between these two characters, watching them snark and then help each other, watching the ‘won’t they will they’ dance, waiting for the moment when these two will finally collide and my lord was it glorious when they finally did, and I was eager to see where it went, as they both seemed to be in relatively good places, but no once again forbid the writers to stop House from being self-destructive and another ship I had waited years was ruined.

01. Terrence "Terry" Graham Grandchester x Candice "Candy" White Adley (Candy Candy): And this is still my most important ship of the decade, I was forever bitter they never ended together and that their authors decided to make them suffer so much, but then Final Story came and all clues were pointing that aha they did found the other again and ended together as they were supposed to be, and before anyone says shizz, I did manage to read the novel and I do believe all hints were there to let us all know the identity of her husband was Terry and I am so happy.

And there it is, all the ships of the decade for me lol. Next stop, I should maybe make a list of mythos ships I like lmao.

#(;;blogger talks)#(;;blogger words)#(;;shipping and more)

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crackinwise · 5 years

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Yeah, Axel was so much better in CoM, in KH2 he practically wasn't the same character. But I have a question, did you ever obsess over a teen? I doubt it.

Idk i saw the same char. Smart, cunning, ruthless, sarcastic af, working for the org but against them at the same time. But you have to remember he’d known Roxas for like a week before the events of CoM. By the time we see him in KH2 he’s grown a heart or most of one. Despite this he’s still straight up ready to kidnap one teen and “kill” another to get Roxas back. That’s not badass? Kairi got away from him because she’s Kairi, dude. KH2 is one of the only bits of agency she’s been given. She fought Saix with fists then poofed her own keyblade too. Axel losing a determined girl, who he wasn’t planning to hurt or kill, with the power of Pure Light on her side speaks to her strength rather than Axel’s weakness. (Another person brought up the EU manga/novel story that Axel went two rounds with Saix to get Kairi back. The Org didn’t care about getting Roxas back, so Axel said fuck you to the Org.) Axel giving up everything so at least some part of Roxas will live is another badass play in my book. Axel doesn’t just save our main protagonist, he saves WORLDS with this move. You see exactly how much of his heart grew since CoM in the extra Final Mix scene (never played it; saw vid) where he cries after saying goodbye to Roxas.

And idk why you’re still coming at this like it’s real life. You’re playing a fantasy game, so think in fantasy terms. Picture a guy who hasn’t had a heart or feelings in, at most, a decade. He’s around people he either hates, fears or tolerates. His past friend isn’t even a friend anymore and barely acknowledges they ever were. He’s sent on jobs to kill and spy and sabotage while trying not to get punished so hard he gets turned into a mindless drone. Suddenly another guy, Roxas comes along who, even acting like a zombie due to memory wipes, makes Axel fond of him. They hang out nearly every day, Rox develops a personality and is a badass fighter too, they have fun, they grow hearts. Roxas leaves because he’s sick of the lies and Org secrets, and for the first time you see Axel emotionally broken. He’d miss this one person when he never once missed anyone in Castle Oblivion.

The next time he sees Roxas is in a digital cage with zero memory of who Axel is. The one person who Axel cares about can no longer care about him. Dude, i’d be devastated. Not being devastated doesn’t make you stronger or admirable. Imagine not feeling empty for months after (for Axel) an entire existence of emptiness, then that fullness is ripped away from you. When Roxas finally does remember, anger and frustration has already built so much it’s “too late”. But the strongest character against keyblades is still gonna lose to keyblades. The next time Axel sees Roxas he’s not Roxas. The guy who gave him a heart is now stuck in another person’s heart or gone completely for all Axel knows. (After Axel dies, Roxas goes ballistic in Sora’s heart, so we know he cared about Axel just as much.) Everyone in this game is allowed to obsess because they love. Riku doesn’t seem to have a life outside Sora. Sora’s entire goal started with finding his friends and he keeps that goal in KH2. Axel is allowed to obsess over someone he loves too. I’m lost as to what you miss about CoM Axel you can’t find ramped up to 11 in KH2.

Man, i was 17 when KH1 came out and 21 when KH2 did. You think i didn’t obsess over these fictional teenagers? Including Axel who we all thought was anywhere from 17-19. (Srsly, Nomura has said nothing, Flynn no care, we don’t know what age he turned and “Nobody’s don’t age” but retcons, and wtf is going on.) I still obsess over fictional teenagers. Korra is my wife and she was a teenager to start. I tag Moana posts calling her Pa'ipunahele. Real teens? No, not since i was a teen. I mean, i obsessed over 30/40/50yr olds as a teen too. There’s no age limit backwards or forwards. Then again, we’re not discussing real teens, we’re discussing fake fantasy anime-lookin video game teens with adult heroic world changing responsibilities fighting monsters for a living. Axel and Roxas weren’t even fictional HUMANS to begin with until later. Comparing KH with real world parallels is silly.

#axel #kh axel #roxas #kh2 #kingdom hearts #Anonymous

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bluerosesburnblue · 5 years

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This very nearly became a Kingdom Key Only run because I like challenge runs like that but honestly I never felt like sticking to the Kingdom Key was ever really a hindrance

...so let’s talk about that ending, from the start of the Keyblade Graveyard to the credits, yeah?

I cannot BELIEVE that Nomura gave us the Beach Party Ending we were all hoping for just to rip Sora away at the last second. Good GOD, man, who spit in your coffee?

So I guess we should get the elephant in the room out of the way, first. I’m actually not... that upset by the ending? Like, yes, I find it extremely ironic that the game that made me love Sora more than any other character in the game would essentially kill him off, but... okay, when Nomura said that the ending would be “hard to swallow” I had two worst case scenarios in mind. And I mean “worst case” in the “Nonononono he’d better not do that if he does I’m done” way

Scenario 1: Xehanort unlocks Kingdom Hearts. Either he’s stopped or he succeeds, but either way the damage is done and he’s too far along to stop and the universe is reset. All of the heroes are alright, they survive the ending, but the world of the game is changed irreversibly, forever. It’s all one World again, the Disney worlds are gone, or they’re there but they’ve been forced together in a weird jigsaw-puzzle way. The details don’t really matter, I just didn’t want a status-quo shakeup like that that gets passed off as a happy/bittersweet ending because the heroes survived

Scenario 2: Xehanort unlocks Kingdom Hearts. Either he’s defeated but whatever he started can’t be stopped, or Kingdom Hearts is the only thing that can defeat him. Either way, Sora has to use the power of Kingdom Hearts. He keeps the world exactly as it was, but has to give up his own physical existence to do so. After all, he who opens the door will become a god in the next world. Maybe he persists as a “force” that watches over his friends, but Sora is gone for good

What we ended up getting was... very similar to that second scenario, but it differs just enough to save it for me. At the very least, knowing that Sora and Kairi are connected and that Sora’s in Shibuya in the Secret Movie gives me enough hope that he can and will come back. Which, when compared to what I was afraid we were gonna get, leaves me weirdly optimistic. I still cried a lot (NOMURA I AM TAKING CUSTODY OF YOUR SON THAT’S MY SWEET BABY BROTHER NOW FIGHT ME) but I’m nowhere near as emotionally devastated as I could’ve been

And here’s the big thing, I liked most of the scenes in the Final Battle sequence. As scenes they were (mostly) fine. The reunions were heartwrenching (even if Sora is just kind of... there for most of them), the KHUx stuff was incredible (Ephemeeeeeer <3<3<3), the locales and concepts were all interesting. My problem was actually the order events happen in

So, first off, everyone dies way too fast. WAY too fast. It’s one of the two scenes I have a problem with. Everyone arrives at the Graveyard and fights a swarm of Heartless. They walk down a crevice and see Terra. A surprising amount of people get knocked out or injured trying to take care of just Terra-Xehanort? Then another big wave of Heartless shows up and everyone just... dies? Like, the second big scene in what is a very long finale and everyone dies? Hell, Aqua just gives up!

They also blew the KHUx Union X attack WAY too early. A set piece like that (it’s SUCH A GOOD CONCEPT AND THE SCENE WAS BEAUTIFUL) and you waste it on a big cloud of Heartless at the start of the final battle? Guys... guys that’s some last minute “all hope is lost, so here’s unexpected help” stuff, you shouldn’t just have that happen that soon

And the thing is... both of those scenes would be so much more impactful if they had happened later in the finale. Ideally, picture this:

The team takes care of the first swarm of Heartless. (You could have moments in that fight where you get a different guest Keyblade wielder, one at a time, in a callback to the KH2 Battle of 1000 Heartless with the FF characters). They’re feeling pretty good about it. They just all worked as a team for the first time together and they did alright. Maybe a little shaky. After all, most of them don’t really know each other that well. They can’t know each other’s styles or predict each others’ moves. Their teamwork is shaky, but they managed and that gives them some confidence. Maybe they can do this if they work together

Then Xehanort shows up. We can’t be having any of this “friendship” and “teamwork” nonsense. He throws up the labyrinth to try and separate everybody and pair off the Darknesses each to 1-2 Lights so that they clash, but the Darknesses are at a clear advantage. Unlike in the actual game, the labyrinth is crawling with Heartless to break up the tedium of the boss rush a bit. (I liked the idea of having to choose who to rescue first in the actual game, but it didn’t actually effect anything except which order you took the fights in.) While running through the Labyrinth you encounter different friends in different sections to help you fight off Heartless, and their boss fight is at the end of their section. That would give everyone just a bit more time to bond with each other. Maybe put in a few puzzles or something that make use of them creatively, like Ven and Aqua using wind and barriers to traverse their section of the Labyrinth. Just... everyone needs more time together. Some things about the fights and reunions would need to be changed, though. I wouldn’t be adverse to changing it up just slightly so that Lingering Will shows up as a guest for the Terranort + Vanitas fight, and it takes both Lingering Will and The Guardian to wrest Terra’s body back (instead of having Lingering Will only show up for Attempt 2 of the Terranort and Heartless Tornado Kill Everyone scene and then fuck off somewhere? Never seen again?) The Saix and Xion fight is also changed up. Roxas doesn’t just... appear from nowhere, and while this seems to be Xion... something’s off. It’s not really Xion, just a puppet made to look like her using data from the finale of 358/2 Days that had, miraculously, survived. This Xion is like the second Replica Riku (and can I just say thank GOD it’s not the “Riku from the past when he was controlled by Ansem” like they thought for the longest time because that was SILLY. Though I’m slightly disappointed that it wasn’t Data-Riku’s digital heart shoved into a Replica body like I’d theorized based on the trailers). This Replica gets purged, too, leaving two Replica bodies conveniently wearing Organization coats behind at the Keyblade Graveyard. We’ll get back to that

(Also, and this is just me, but I actually like how unrepentant Vanitas is. I think a lot of people forget that his sympathetic traits and background of abuse were novel-only things and the novel canon isn’t game canon in the same way that the Harry Potter movies aren’t book canon. Game!Vanitas has never been anything other than a completely unrepentant jackass, and Sora and Ven still gave him a chance to redeem himself. He just refused to take it, and I like that. It’s refreshing to have a character in KH not even try to justify their evil. He’s evil because he wants to be. It’s as simple as that.)

So, anyway, we have the labyrinth stuff. The team is worn down. NOW is where you place everyone dying. I don’t care if you keep it the same, or the Heartless Tornado is controlled by Ansem, or even just Ansem, Xemnas, and Young Nort pick everyone off because they’re all the same person, so of course their teamwork is stronger. You all weren’t good enough friends. You couldn’t have won, because none of you had fought together before, so your friendship was a detriment as you stumbled over each other and just assumed you’d be okay. Sora is left alone. And then he’s gone, too.

And here’s where you place the Final World. I think there was a big opportunity missed here. We get Namine separated from Kairi here. So here’s what I propose: remember all the talk throughout the game about the hearts within Sora’s melding with his, but they might be able to be saved if their memories and the parts of themselves were placed in the right boxes? Fffffffuckingggg... HAVE NAMINE AS A GUEST HERE and have it be just as much about putting Sora back together as it is separating the pieces of Roxas and Xion from him. Once you meet up with Namine’s star (or just have her have a physical form, too, since she’d be tethered to Kairi, too?) she helps out because now that Sora’s in pieces, it’s just a simple matter of sorting those pieces. Putting the scattered links in the chains of memories in different chains, back where they belong. Two hearts are released, now to find everyone else’s. Chirithy is still there, just give Nami some more time

(Also, add a colored tint to the stars or something that goes away after talking to them they were so hard to see)

Anyway. Dives. Lich. I don’t hate this section, I just think the Lich fights could’ve been a little more interesting? Also uhh... maybe have the characters hearts be found in worlds that actually, like... mean something to the character thematically? I guess Aqua in the Caribbean makes sense because water but it would make more sense to have her in Arendelle because ice is also water and she’s basically Ven’s big sis and there are quite a few parallels between the two relationships? The hell does Axel have to do with San Fransokyo? And since Terra would theoretically be there in the rewrite, we’ll need an extra world so place Axel in Twilight Town. Then I dunno. Donald in the Caribbean because he’s canonically a sailor. Ven in Corona because his isolation by Eraqus has parallels to Rapunzel only a bit less evil in intent. Terra in Olympus because that was the world he learned he could be a true hero and beat the darkness. Goofy in Monstropolis because out of all the characters he’s the funniest and they use laugh energy. Mickey in Toy Box because he’s the face of a major franchise and has so many toys based off of him you have no idea. That would place Riku in San Fransokyo where his Norted Replica counterpart was and also poetically make him and Kairi the last ones saved

SO EVERYONE’S ALIVE. We return to the land of the living. There’s no weird... like, time repeats or anything. The last four Norts are... kind of shocked! But also laughing it up because Sora just abused the Power of Waking to hell and back and they know what that means. Also, the lights are still at exactly the same disadvantage they were before they got revived. Or so they think until two bright lights emerge from the labyrinth behind them. That’s right, Roxas and Xion are here, having had their hearts freed from Sora’s in The Final World and taking the abandoned Replica bodies from the Labyrinth. Now we have the Sea-Salt reunion, sans the stuff with Isa because why the hell should Roxas and Xion just be sympathetic to Saix? Save that for a scene in the finale. Doesn’t even have to be spoken, just make it seem like Saix, Roxas, and Xion are trying to come to an understanding but still awkward around each other

After that I’m a little shakier, admittedly. I know you leave Ephemer’s appearance to summon the ancient Keyblades until the very end. I’d also have given him some line like “You remind me of an old friend” or something. Just... slight reference to Player

I have no idea how to work around the Kairi getting killed stuff and still get the ending Nomura wants! That’s the second scene I have a problem with. Sora doesn’t “need” motivation, he’s already prepped to bash the old man’s face in. I dunno... maybe opening Kingdom Hearts messes up Kairi’s light or something and that’s why she disappears? I dunno, there were better ways to do that if you HAD to kill Kairi, and better scenes if you didn’t, tbh

So in summary, I like the pieces of the ending, just not how they were put together. There was a lot of cool stuff in theory, it just wasn’t executed as well as it could’ve been for a more satisfying and emotional finale. The ending’s fine, and I honestly expected it to be a bit rushed considering how much they had to wrap up in this game, but I think it was a low point in what was otherwise a really fun and enjoyable finale to the story arc

I mean... I think that’s all I have to say about the ending, so here’s some assorted thoughts:

I think it was a missed opportunity to not have a Max Goof cameo at the end when the Disney trio is reunited with their loved ones and Goofy just stands there with Jiminy. Max wouldn’t even have been voiced. Just let him show up

I’m torn as to characters’ outfits in the Final Battle. On the one hand, I like how in the end all of the trios are wearing outfits that match the other members of their respective trios. On the other hand, I would’ve killed for EVERYONE to have had a new outfit with the black and plaid/gingham theme to show that they’re not just disjointed trios that happened to come together, but a big group of companions. Everyone is a Team, it’s not just a Team made of Everyone. They made excuses for Mickey’s shirt and Lingering Will’s cape. They could totally have done some “oh weird I guess getting brought back from the dead changed our clothes isn’t that convenient” thing

Why did they “break” Lea’s Keyblade only to have it be just fine when they needed to lock Kingdom Hearts? Why was that there?

I heard someone once say that KH3 was an “obligation.” And I can see where they’re coming from. While I loved the game overall and can feel the work and love put into it, between the sheer amount of sequel hooks and the rushed resolution, it does feel like Nomura just wanted to move on to the stuff he’d thought of in KHUx but had to wrap up the ongoing arc first. I’ve been spoiled on SOME of the Secret Reports, not all of them, but the Subject X stuff and Luxu’s true role with the box could’ve easily been put elsewhere. Maybe in a game in the next arc. That would’ve freed up some time in this game for a few more things, like giving Dark Aqua more screentime (she’s defeated in the same scene she’s introduced? Really?) and just in general spread the original plot stuff out more. As it is now, I feel the sequel hooks just distract from the current plot arc

I appreciate that they tried to give reasons for the Organization members to be in different worlds, but I don’t think it was executed that well. Yeah, we get explanations, like in some they’re performing more experiments on the heart and in others they’re searching for the New Lights, but they never do anything with what they accomplish in them. I was so sure they were going to do something with Data-Sora or Data-Riku because of the “digital heart” stuff in San Fransokyo, and NOTHING came of it. Here’s an idea: Data-Sora in Xion’s place among the Norts and Data-Riku in the Riku Replica’s place. Have Data-Sora look like Xion or act like her before the reveal. I dunno, just do SOMETHING with them. Have the Norts reference the Lights they found in the final battle or something. Just don’t drop them once the world is done

That being said, the worlds themselves were amazing, I really liked the original plots in Toy Box, Monstropolis, and San Fransokyo. The character interactions in Corona and Arendelle were delightful. I also loved the design for the Ice Labyrinth in Arendelle and Galaxy Toys in Toy Box. Would’ve loved to have seen more of the town in Corona but loved what we did get to see of it. The Caribbean was... alright, but did contain my favorite party member: a shambling pile of crabs that were gifted sapience by an ocean goddess so that Sora could free her, only for her to get freed by someone else offscreen

Funny enough I actually didn’t care much for The Caribbean and San Fransokyo, but for opposite reasons. The Caribbean was FAR too open for its own good (I am NOT an open-world person and bad at navigating, so the ship, while interesting in concept, was a nightmare) and San Fransokyo was too scripted (I felt like I was locked in Hiro’s garage). I didn’t hate them, but I also 100% completed every other world and decided that with those two, it just wasn’t worth doing before beating the game. I didn’t hate either of them, and my feelings may change when I go back for treasures and lucky emblems

I absolutely killed Davy Jones with the Pirate Ship attraction. Pass up the opportunity to summon a neon pirate ship on top of a hyper-realistic pirate ship during a climactic battle? Who do you think I am?

I love how Ephemer’s name in the journal is just “???” because that’s an accurate representation of Sora’s reaction. “Who is this guy? Why is he here? Huh???” But I know. I know who the best dandelion boy is. So typical of him to swoop in at the last minute to save you and then disappear to who knows where

I ADORE that the final battle is Sora, Donald, and Goofy together and that the final attack is Trinity Limit. Sora coming back on his own from no health just for Trinity Limit was AWESOME and such a perfect end to the series, gameplay-wise

And finally, I am a little sad that the one theory I had throughout the game was wrong. I’d thought that, since Young Xehanort and Eraqus are always shown in in Scala ad Caelum, that it wasn’t a flashback but simply their spirits playing a metaphorical chess game in the afterlife. Their dialogue after the final battle seems to indicate that that isn’t the case

Also, and this is just for me, but my final death count was 5

Once to the Tornado Titan due to having a poor grasp of Airstepping and NO grasp of Rage Form, killed myself thanks to spamming Riskcharge

TWICE to the electric arena trap in Verum Rex because I am SO BAD at shooters and ejected myself directly into the Death Pit twice

Once during the ship battle portion of the Zombie Kraken fight

Once during the Union X Keyblade summoning because I was too busy reading the list of names to notice the text on the screen that said “HEY IDIOT DODGE ATTACKS DON’T JUST SIT THERE WHAT ARE YOU DOING”

But for now, I think I’m out of stuff to say about KH3. I’m sure I’ll find more once I’ve processed everything, but for now...

now we’ve just got to wait for Sora to come home

#liz's shenanigans #kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts 3 #kh3 #kingdom hearts 3 spoilers #kh3 spoilers #kingdom hearts iii spoilers #khiii spoilers #i should mention that this isn't ONLY final battle stuff #i threw some opinions from other parts of the game in there #it's just primarily about the finale

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themattress · 5 years

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Wow. Tomoko Kanemaki SUCKS!

I decided to be masochistic and read back through the KH2 novels by Tomoko Kanemaki. And I just have to say: that there are actually people out there who like her writing and consider it to be in as good or superior to the games astounds me. These books are awful.

When they just straight-up adapt the game to text like the KH novels and the COM novels (except for the R/R one, but R/R sucks anyway), it’s fine. They even do the visits to Land of Dragons, Beast’s Castle and Olympus Coliseum better than the KH2 manga does, plus swaps in Agrabah for the far more important Port Royal. But that’s the only good thing I can say about them. In literally every other regard, the game and manga are infinitely superior.

The main problem is simple to sum up: Kanemaki is a fanfic writer. A pretty stereotypical KH fangirl. This in of itself wouldn’t be a problem if she weren’t adapting the games, but she is, and when she combines the game adaptations with her own fanfic based on what she wants to see, there is inevitably going to be a clash between them. The story written by Kazushige Nojima that she is adapting to novel form does not gel at all with what she writes, and as a result she has to either change that story (to the detriment of both it and its characters) or she neglects to change it even when it directly contradicts her own writing. This happens so much that it really makes for an excruciating reading experience. So let me list all of my problems with these novels point by point, to clarify just why Kanemaki’s writing fails so hard.

- I’ll get the biggest one out of the way right off the bat: Kanemaki is obsessed - and I mean obsessed - with the existential plight of the Nobodies, which includes the Draco in Leather Pants treatment to Organization XIII (”Is it really wrong to seek what you’ve lost?” is asked at one point, as though it’s a profound question. Um, when you’re doing so by inflicting that exact same loss upon millions of innocent people, yes it is!) The worst part is that characters (usually Namine, but Axel, Riku, Saix, Xemnas and even Ansem the Wise get on it at some points) are constantly repeating the exact same angsty inner monologues and internal (and sometime external) quasi-philosophical debates about Nobodies. I’m not kidding, it’s usually word-for-word. “Is it right for Nobodies to exist?” “Nobodies have nowhere to go or call home”. “Do Nobodies really lack hearts?” “What defines a heart?” “If Nobodies don’t have hearts, then why do they feel such-and-such?” “Why were Nobodies even born?” “Nobodies aren’t meant to exist, but does that still mean...?” And so on and so on, blah, blah, BLAH. Hearing this over and over and over and OVER again throughout my reading of the novels doesn’t make me more sympathetic of the Nobodies, it actually makes me less sympathetic and want them to go away so I don’t have to keep reading the same damn woe-is-me grade school-level existentialism! I want to keep reading about Sora, Donald and Goofy, damn it!

- Three characters who were mostly on the sidelines in KH2 somehow get a majority of time and focus here: Riku, Axel and Namine. They are even forced into an apocryphal trio together. They are basically treated as the de-facto secondary main characters next to Sora, Donald and Goofy, with their actions and development being given equal importance. Actually, that’s a lie - Riku, Axel and Namine are honestly given more importance. There is so much wrong about this - not only does the trio not feel organic and reek of bad fanfic, but each character in it isn’t well portrayed at all compared to the game or even the manga.

- Riku had the most potential, since he’s always a major character and a more talented writer could’ve come up with more feasible things for him to have been doing off-screen during KH2. But what Kanemaki has him do is ridiculous. If it’s not just stalking Sora, Donald and Goofy as a silent protector (which is the least interesting thing you could do with him), it’s bullshit with Axel and Namine, or fighting Saix midway through even though Kanemaki still keeps Saix’s later line of “Didn’t Roxas take care of you?”, or having him fight Xemnas in the Old Mansion only for Ansem the Wise to show up and Xemnas then just...retreat for no reason, letting Ansem live and thus ensuring the later destruction of his Kingdom Hearts like a dumbass! And through all of this, she frequently makes Riku default back into snarky, arrogant asshole mode, which doesn’t fit his character at this point at all. Also, while I saw no deliberate yaoi bait in the writing of the KH2 game, it’s definitely present in these novels.

- Axel. Oh my God. Anyone who hates what was done with him as Lea in the games, you should blame Kanemaki, since she actually ran with that kind of writing and characterization for him in these novels long before that happened in the games. He is treated as a totally trustworthy good guy who is a great friend to Roxas, Riku and Namine. The one dick move Kanemaki has him make is quickly backtracked on and then swept under the rug. His whole villainous role is whitewashed at every turn, from both what he intended with Roxas (legit deciding to kill him is changed to attempting a murder/suicide so that he can die with his best friend) to everything concerning Kairi (no, he didn’t kidnap her at all, that point is hammered in frequently, he was going to take her to Namine and they’d then see Sora together! And he didn’t want to turn Sora into a Heartless, that was a wrongful assumption on Saix’s part! And Saix summoned those Dusks on Destiny Islands, not Axel! Axel is chivalrous and heroic and does everything possible to protect and save Kairi! Gag me.) It’s so obnoxious, and beyond removing all of the character’s edge, it’s a blatant case of giving a character a major role in a story that they aren’t supposed to have one in just because he’s a favorite of the writer.

- Namine is an equally blatant case of this, but her case might be even worse. Not only is she THE source of the repetitive woe-is-me existential Nobody monologues and debates, with her whole character arc being changed to revolve around this which honestly makes her unintentionally unsympathetic and annoying, but this portrayal of her has a negative effect on her in both fandom and canon. In terms of fandom, a cult of bad apples (usually yaoi fangirls who already hated Kairi) arose around Namine following KH2, declaring her as superior to Kairi in every way and worthy of being the real main heroine of the KH series. Not only is this false, but it arguably got started because of these novels (translations of which had made their way online long before they were localized), where a character who literally only got 10 minutes of screentime in the game literally gets transformed into the main heroine and one of the most frequently appearing characters in general, even if her “character development” is horribly written and amounts to her being a mouthpiece for Kanemaki’s views. Then again, maybe they just projected onto Namine due to her introverted, fond-of-drawing nature, and Kanemaki was just one of them and thus produced something that kept them going. It’s a Chicken/Egg type of thing, I guess. But whatever the case, what it did in canon was worse. Kanemaki was the first to write for Namine after KH2, in 358/2 Days, and her characterization of her translated in game form to the stagnant caricatured plot device that Nomura then realized was easy to write for and convenient for making other convoluted plot turns happen.

- Come to think of it, Kanemaki’s partnering up with Nomura for Days probably did a lot more harm than just with Namine. Because her obsession with the “What Measure is a Non-Human?” trope never truly leaves the series after Days. It doesn’t pop up in BBS, since that was being worked on before Days, but everything afterwards is sure to feature it in some abysmal way or another, whether it be Nobodies, replicas, data copies or beings of pure darkness. The “Nobodies have hearts after all” comes straight from her writing (even if she had it as a needless overcomplication of the original idea that strong hearts can share feelings with those without it and thus serve as a heart for them too, while Nomura’s retcon is just “Nah, the body can regrow a heart, Xemnas lied”.) A lot of KH3′s worst writing might have not existed had Nomura not picked up on Kanemaki’s fixation with woobified “non-beings”.

- Sora honestly feels like an afterthought for Kanemaki. She’s so eager to write new fanficcy material for other characters, but not for the actual main protagonist, who only gets straight-up game adaptation. Oh, except that some of his lines that were “mean” to the Nobodies (and thus “OOC”, as both KH2-hating anon and Kanemaki seem to think) are changed or cut out.

- Y’know how the KH2 manga made Kairi even better than her game portrayal? Yeah, well this novel makes her far worse. First off, her defiant “you’re not acting very friendly!” to Axel is cut because Axel is whitewashed in that moment (he even readies himself to defend Kairi from the Dusks which Saix summons). Later, she does not get away from Axel because he was never kidnapping her to begin with here. She then realizes that he’s really a good person before Saix kidnaps her, with Axel desperately trying to protect her. She then only shows up toward the end when Axel once again comes to be her hero (again thwarted by that dastardly Saix), with her moping about how she can do nothing to help the brave, noble Axel. (I feel sick just typing this...) In the finale, not only does Kanemaki not take advantage of the potential Kairi development that the game relegated to optional text boxes, but she actually destroys Kairi’s entire arc long before BBS did by making one of her few additions to Kairi be an inner monologue she has on the shore of Destiny Islands alongside Mickey, Donald and Goofy just before Sora and Riku make it back, where she’s just wishing with all her heart that they’ll come back because “We’re here waiting for you. We’ll always wait for you.” BULL-FUCKING-SHIT. Kanemaki, just like Nomura and Oka, clearly has no interest in Kairi as a character on her own. She is used here as a plot device for the character development of Axel and Namine, characters she is interested in, even though Kairi had more significance and screentime than them by far in the actual KH2 game. Geez, even Nojima tried with her!

- Roxas is written just fine during the prologue, since his scenes are just lifted from the game. But when he resurfaces in the final novel, added material make Axel be the most important thing on his mind. Even his final thoughts as he makes the full merging with Sora is that he hopes to meet Axel again. More deliberate yaoi-baiting, and more shoving Axel down our throats. Hell, that last novel is even named “Anthem - Meet Again / Axel Last Stand”. God damn it, Kanemaki, Axel was not important to KH2. It’s not his story. Get over it already!

- Hey, remember how in the game DiZ/ Ansem the Wise did a total character 180 due to offscreen reasons when he came back after the prologue? That was dumb. The novels add new scenes for him, so Kanemaki could actually rectify this issue....OR she just repeats it, since the first new scene she gives him also has him in 180 mode due to offscreen reasons!

- Xemnas and Saix both have their levels of menace neutered thanks to the existential angst of the Nobodies affecting them too, with none of their inner monologues bemoaning their fates really adding up with their actions. The game let you make up your own mind as to whether you found them sympathetic despite their monstrous behavior, but Kanemaki is clearly trying to force the sympathy angle, and it really lessens them, especially Xemnas.

- Really, only Xigbar, Xaldin, Demyx, Luxord, and the trio of Hayner, Pence and Olette were written completely accurately out of the KH-original cast. Nothing felt out of place with them.

- Other nonsensical fanficcy events besides what I’ve already mentioned include bringing stuff from COM (like Repliku) back up frequently instead of keeping focus on the story at hand, a totally different version of how Namine and Axel split from Riku following the prologue (one that continues making Namine unintentionally unsympathetic), Riku having Mickey make the promise after the prologue before Kanemaki’s own 358/2 Days retcons this to happening before it, Riku meeting with Maleficent in Hollow Bastion, Mickey meeting with Axel in Hollow Bastion, Axel being the one to wake Goofy up after his “death”, Axel having a sort of odd friendship with Pluto, Ansem the Wise being the one to provide the box of clues for Riku to give, Axel pretending to betray Riku and Namine so that he gets let back into the Organization and thus be able to rescue Kairi, meetings between the Organization where they talk about totally different and less interesting matters than they did in the game, and having Namine stalk the group throughout the finale as she thinks her last pretentious inner monologues. Also, given its subject matter and how it plays during Days’ opening, I swear to God that Kanemaki created the Axel/Roxas ghost scene that Nomura added to KH2:FM. That it shows up in the last novel, word-for-word, a month before KH2:FM’s release, proves this.

- The misplacement of Disney Castle. This one REALLY bothers me. She places Disney Castle between Beast’s Castle and Port Royal in the third novel. This makes no sense whatsoever, since not only was this meant to be Maleficent’s re-introduction to Sora, Donald and Goofy, but now it comes after Maleficent already made an alliance with Sora and his friends at Hollow Bastion! And then all of a sudden, she’s no longer keeping the Nobodies at bay and is back to self-interested villainy! And there isn’t any dialogue explaining this away or anything! We still have Maleficent saying “If it isn't the wretched Keyblade holder and his pitiful lackeys!” as if she hadn’t agreed to temporarily join forces with said wretched Keyblade holder and his pitiful lackeys! Way to ruin one of the best Disney world visits, Kanemaki!

- The whole finale and especially the ending itself, which were so powerful in both the game and even the manga, has no power in the light novel style of writing Kanemaki uses. Part of that isn’t Kanemaki’s fault, since so much of the finale’s greatness is visual and that obviously can’t be recaptured in text form. And yet she still makes some baffling pacing decisions, with stuff like the aforementioned Namine stalking passages throwing the whole thing off, LOL moments such as Riku himself outright admitting that he has no idea where he got Kairi’s Keyblade also breaking the immersion, character alterations like to Xemnas and Kairi ruining the effectiveness of things they do, and a truly WTF-inducing final chapter where the entire Secret Ansem Report is put before a novelization of both the credits scene where Sora sees Kairi’s drawing in the Secret Place and the epilogue scene where they get the King’s letter.

Overall, these novels just don’t feel like Kingdom Hearts II to me. Even the KH2 manga, the middle of its first half notwithstanding, felt like it. This does not. And that’s because whatever the faults in its narrative, KH2′s story was first and foremost a fun Disney/Square crossover adventure starring Sora, Donald and Goofy, with angsty existentialism merely being one of its themes and meant more for players to think about and discuss rather than the characters. The novels tell a story about angsty existentialism starring characters who think about and discuss it, with Sora, Donald and Goofy’s adventures being a passionless afterthought. That there are people who honestly think that Kanemaki doing this “fleshes out the characters” is shameful. Constant angst and grade school-level philosophical circle-jerking is not character depth. It is pretension of depth, hence the word “pretentious” which fits perfectly here. It takes a lot more than talking and expressing feelings at length to constitute character development. It requires meaningful actions, and it requires some form of growth and change. Kanemaki’s characters are largely static, simplistically characterized beings who spin their wheels in terms of both actions and growth. Riku does not change: you can barely tell he has any kind of depression or has experienced any kind of humbling. Axel does not change: he’s a great guy from the start and has no internal problems to overcome, only the external one of being separated from Roxas. Namine does not change, she goes through the same questioning and angsting over her existence and the existence of other Nobodies until the last minute where the answer just suddenly comes to her (in fact, it was apparently in her all along and she just forgot it. Shades of Sora’s dumbass “Power of Waking” arc in KH3 here...) Any actual development that happens with some characters (like Ansem the Wise) comes straight from the game...and Nojima didn’t write that all too well either! There is just very little that’s enjoyable about the KH2 novels to me, and Tomoko Kanemaki’s writing is to blame for that.

In the words of Lemony Snicket: I highly advise you to not read these books.

#Disney #Square Enix #Kingdom Hearts #Kingdom Hearts II #Anti-Tomoko Kanemaki #Bad Writing #Opinion #Analysis #Truthbomb #This has been a PSA

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dnmeinster · 5 years

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Sorting Through Kingdom Hearts III Part 4 - See You In Shibuya

Link to Part 1

Link to Part 2

Link to Part 3

Kingdom Hearts III almost gives us a happy ending. Almost.

For a split second, all of our heroes are hanging out on the beaches of the Destiny Islands, including both Sora and Kairi, who are sitting together on that well-known tree branch. As they lean in close to each other, suddenly Sora disappears. Um...WHAT?

Why did he disappear? Where did he go? Was he ever really there to begin with? And what about Kairi? Was she really there?

What follows is mostly speculation, but then again, most of the others posts have been just that, though with better evidence.

Let's start with Kairi. Was she really on Destiny Islands along with everyone else? We see her murdered in the Keyblade Graveyard, because unfortunately the series has turned her into the perpetual victim. But, as we already know, the dead don't necessarily stay dead in Kingdom Hearts. Literally all the Guardians of Light are returned to life in this game. Including her.

So Kairi already died once and came back. Did she do it again?

Yes, of course, but with Sora's help. After Master Xehanort is defeated, Sora goes off to rescue Kairi. We'll get to the details of that in a moment, but Kairi's appearance can only mean that Sora was successful.

What else indicates that Kairi was sufficiently rescued? Namine. Her revival in Hollow Bastion is shown, and she is with every else on Destiny Islands. As we know, her heart resided within Kairi since the end of KH2. It only briefly left when Kairi died the first time. Where did it go? The Final World.

"I was in Kairi’s heart, but then we were struck by a powerful darkness...and I woke up here.”

When Kairi died the second time, Namine's heart once again returned to the Final World. And what happened? Exactly what Namine described the first time:

“Kairi is where I came from. So when she’s safe again, Kairi is where I’ll return.”

So, once Sora rescued Kairi (again), Namine's heart returned to Kairi (again) and then her heart was placed into a replica. Namine's existence confirms that Kairi survived. But what did it cost Sora?

Young Master Xehanort warns Sora about diving into the abyss, presumably where he has to go to save Kairi:

"That heartless you’ve been fighting. It’s not like other heartless. It exists to usher hearts down to the depths of darkness. If you chase it, you will condemn your heart to that same abyss...What do you think the power of waking is? It’s for traversing hearts to reach worlds, not for traversing worlds to reach hearts. There’s a high price to pay for wielding such power foolishly...There’s no saving you. You’ve paid the price, and it lies at the bottom of the abyss.”

But Sora goes there anyway and apparently sacrifices himself to bring Kairi back to the World of Light. And that image of him right before the credits roll is probably Kairi's imagination. Sigh.

We don't have any clue to where Sora might have gone to until the secret movie after the credits. Sora is looking pretty realistic (with fingernails!) and, as the world around him is revealed, we see that it's Shibuya from the World Ends With You. The best hanging thread from Dream Drop Distance has finally been pulled. Neku telling Sora “See you in Shibuya” was not just a pleasantry.

So, it's likely that Sora died, but instead of being sent to The Final World, this time he enters the Reaper's game. (Could it be because of Luxord's card?) We might not be getting a direct TWEWY sequel, but this is the next best thing.

Speaking of, the secret movie also includes Riku ending up in another world not dissimilar to our own. It's the world of Ventus Rex, aka FF Versus XIII. Nomura might be cramming both games Square won't let him make into KH3.5. I'm excited for it!

Joining both of them in the secret movie is the Master of Masters, whose apprentices appear in the post-credit epilogue. It seems that they're setting up a Sora vs. Apprentices future. Why? Well, guess you'll have to play Union Cross or watch one of those Youtube summaries if you want a clue. I really don't like how they're tying the mobile game into the main series, given how unbearable I felt playing it was when it came out. But maybe they'll at least give us another movie or release a PS4 version.

Where does the Kingdom Hearts series go from here? Well, we know there's Final Mix DLC coming. And the secret movie hints at where 3.5 or 4 will take us. It seems certain that the Master of Masters will be the primary antagonist going forward, along with at least some of his apprentices. And we're not done with many of the Organization's original members, especially Xigbar. Plus, the Book of Prophecies will undoubtedly come into play, and maybe we'll have boss battles with Maleficent and Pete again when it does.

It could be a while until we get our next KH game, be it a Ventus Rex/TWEWY mash up or an Unchained Key/Union Cross HD upgrade. But it's a safe bet that KH4 will be a PS5/next gen game. Hopefully it won't take 13 years to release. And maybe we'll get Star Wars or MCU worlds this time! (Or even Avatar or something now that the Fox merger is complete.)

I've got one more post left, sorting through Nomura's recent interviews and what I got right and wrong in my previous essays. See you then.

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts 3 #Kingdom Hearts III #kh3 spoilers #KH3 #the world ends with you #ventus rex #sora #namine #kairi #kh #Xehanort

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khantipode · 5 years

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Frequently Asked Questions

Now that I’m getting Antipode back in gear, I figured it’s high time for an FAQ. This post will be where I handle frequently asked questions from this point on. I’ll make sure to link it in the sidebar as well. So, without further delay... Q: What is Antipode? Antipode is an ongoing Kingdom Hearts AU series that asks the ever common question: What would happen if Riku became the Keybearer as fate intended? How would such a cocky, arrogant, teen with his own inner demons fare as the hero of the worlds, and where would that put Sora? While it’s a tried and true what-if scenario, my goal with Antipode was to explore the gradual snowball effect of Sora and Riku’s choices while keeping them true to their canon personalities. Notably, Sora still ends up with Kairi’s heart, while Riku still opens the door to Destiny Islands and dooms his home. While Riku ends up with Donald and Goofy, at first he sees them as little more than a convenient means to see other worlds, while Sora ends up tricked by Maleficent and her cohorts into believing they are outcasts shunned by their worlds who merely wish to save the princesses and the worlds at large. And, as time goes on, the series moves further and further away from the original KH game plots into its own direction. If you want to know more, you can find the entire series here on AO3 or here on Fanfiction.net!

Q: When does this AU diverge from canon? That... is a good question. Technically speaking, there are two main divergence points. The first is during the downfall of Radiant Garden in order to explain why Xemnas is who he is in this AU. The second is at the start of Kingdom Hearts, where Sora reaches Riku on the island much earlier, thus Riku obtains the Keyblade before he can give into the darkness. Naturally, everything from that point on starts to diverge as well. :P Birth by Sleep is more or less the same as canon, though.

Q: What Disney worlds are included in the AU? Oh, lots! The first story features all the worlds from KH1 except for Deep Jungle and Monstro- in exchange, it includes Prankster’s Paradise- called Pleasure Island in the fic, in a much darker take that is faithful to Pinocchio, donkeys and all. As the series goes on, I move toward more and more unique Disney Worlds in addition to familiar locations. Fragmented Truths includes worlds based on The Jungle Book, Sword in the Stone, and The Great Mouse Detective in addition to returning worlds like Agrabah and Halloween Town. Monstro also makes its appearance here. The Year Between features Pocahontas, Monsters Inc., Gargoyles, and Mary Poppins, as well as many, many references to the Disney Afternoon shows and other Disney material. All That’s Left is the current story and includes worlds based on Robin Hood, The Emperor’s New Groove, Wreck-it Ralph, The Incredibles, Treasure Planet, and Frozen with a few other Disney worlds planned in smaller appearances. Olympus Coliseum also has an appearance here, as will Space Paranoids. In general, Antipode is a HUGE love letter to Disney. Even in familiar worlds, like Agrabah, I try to incorporate elements from the films that were cut from the KH games like the Sultan and Rajah. But other worlds like Arendelle will also see similar treatment. Hans, for example, will actually exist in the AU outside of a five second cameo. ;) Q: What about Final Fantasy characters? Other Square Enix properties? While the Restoration Committee and Twilight Town residents return from the original games alongside Cloud, I’ve also added some more Final Fantasy cameos from time to time. Quina, Freya, Steiner, and Beatrix from FFIX make appearances, alongside Cait Sith and Barret from FF7. But perhaps the most significant new Square character is Ringabel from Bravely Default. Though he first debuts in Side Stories (Love’s Vagrant and The Burden of Failure), he has since become a recurring character, along with Grandship serving as a sort of mobile Traverse Town. In the future, I’d like to maybe include characters from The World Ends With You and Chrono Trigger, but that’ll probably have to wait ‘til the next fic.

Q: If Riku’s the Keybearer, does that mean he has a Nobody? Is there a Sora Replica? Does Xion even exist? Since Sora still had Kairi’s heart, ultimately, he still ends up with a Nobody. However, this universe’s Roxas does not wield a Keyblade, initially still keeps the name Sora, and has a set of fake memories shared with Riku’s Replica. He, Riku Replica, and Namine form what I like to call the mirror trio. Riku Replica does later go by the name Xiruk, but that’s mostly so he can match Roxas and stick it to the Organization. As for Xion, she exists with drastically different origins, as she was created by DiZ rather than the Organization. You can learn more about her in The Year Between!

Q: What’s the deal with Kairi? Kairi, while starting off in a similar postion as canon, has a much larger role in this AU! Instead of staying behind, she joins Riku, Donald, and Goofy on their journey and becomes a competent fighter in her own right. A damsel she is not, so if you’re looking for a story that gives Kairi time to shine, you’ve come to the right place. :)

Q: How come Heartless Sora looks like Anti-Form? And why is Ven with him? The key difference with Sora’s Heartless form in this story is that Ansem had told him ahead of time what would happen if he released Kairi’s heart and urged him to embrace the darkness... purely out of curiosity for what would happen if someone so kind dove right in. Sora taking that plunge while clinging to his sense of self, coupled with Ven’s heart sticking with him allowed him to maintain a stronger Heartless form. In this form, he looks similar to Anti-Form but with a more expressive face and sharp teeth. Only those with connections to darkness can hear him speak.

Q: If Ven’s heart is with Sora, why does Roxas still look like him? Due to the shared connection between Sora and Ven, he still looks similar as a side effect.

Q: How come Zexion has so much authority? According to the Days Ultimania, Zexion was slated to be second in command until Axel killed him in Chain of Memories to cut a path to the top for Saix. This did not happen here, so Zexion has a lot more power and authority in the Organization. Saix is still near the top, though, as is Xigbar.

Q: How do you handle Chain of Memories? What about 358/2 Days? Kingdom Hearts II? Simply put, I don’t. While the first story is very close to the original Kingdom Hearts in structure, all the subsequent fics are more of their own stories, borrowing elements from the other games where appropriate. For example, Fragmented Truths takes the Riku Replica and Namine from Chain of Memories as well as elements of the memory plot, but it still features adventures across different worlds as well as the start of the Organization’s meddling in the worlds. The Year Between features elements of 358/2 Days and Coded as well as KH2′s prologue, but spun in a brand new way to suit the story. All That’s Left is thematically the KH2 of the story, but like the other sequels, it’s not a direct adaptation. After all, I’m pretty sure Kingdom Hearts 2 doesn’t have Aqua running around with the heroes. :P

Q: Does your AU include anything from Dream Drop Distance? Sort of. Ultimately, Antipode does acknowledge that Xehanort did want to gather thirteen Seekers of Darkness to battle seven Guardians of Light to do battle and form the χ-blade. However! Antipode’s Xemnas has zero interest in fulfilling this plan, and as a result, the only characters to have been implanted with seeds of Xehanort’s heart are Xigbar and Saix. Young Xehanort is lurking around, and I have plans for him eventually, but suffice it to say, the Xehanort plan introduced in KH3D has been significantly derailed. Thanks, Xemnas.

Q: Hey! How come Xemnas is [SPOILER]? Because Antipode started developing well before Kingdom Hearts 3D came out, and I had Xemnas’ whole schtick carefully planned out. I didn’t want to retcon the entire arc I had planned for him, so I stuck to my guns and decided to simply include an in-universe explanation for why he isn’t out trying to make more Xehanorts. You’ll just have to stay tuned for the full story on that detail. ;)

Q: Will you incorporate the new canon from Kingdom Hearts 3? What about the mobile game? There are many things in Kingdom Hearts 3 that I legit can’t incorporate. For example, the Guardian’s identity goes against some plans I’ve had in place for years, and my backstory with Isa and Lea differs. Keep in mind, this series has been going on since 2012, so I can’t be canon compliant with every new bit of information. I do have some... ideas involving certain reveals from KH-UX, though. We’ll see if I get to ‘em. Q: Will this AU have any ships? Antipode is a story much more focused on friendships and adventure than romance. That being said, there is some extremely slow burn Kairi/Riku and Riku Replica/Namine that’s been developing over the course of several stories. I realize these ain’t the most popular pairings, but I really want to stress that Antipode ain’t about the ships, so even if they aren’t to your liking, I hope that you’ll give these stories a chance! Sora remains extremely important to his friends as well, so no worries about the spiky-haired dork being left out. :) He may not be having a romance with Kairi in this fic, but their friendship remains ever strong. Addendum: ...I guess this is also the part where I admit that years of denial have finally made me crack. Ringabel and Aqua’s chemistry is just too good in this AU. Like the other ships, though, it ain’t a focal point. VenSo is kinda implied, too, if you squint. Both of these were purely by accident.

Q: What’s with the rewrites? To make a long story short, a lot of the earlier works in Antipode were... fairly rushed. While I had a beta or two, I didn’t have a super thorough editor to point out all the plot inconsistencies and issues like I do now. Because my editor pointed out all these faults with the fics, I saw fit to go back and fix them for the sake of my own satisfaction and out of a desire to make the series overall stronger. I have provided changelogs for those who read as the stories originally released, which you can find here.

Q: When do you update? Whenever I have the time and inspiration. I do want to try to get updates out at a more regular basis- at least once a month, but we’ll see what the future holds. I do work a job, and I have my Undertale comic @invertedfate, but Antipode is my baby and I want to see it through to the end. Got another question? Please feel free to send an ask!

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts au #kh au #kh antipode #faq

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mikiri · 5 years

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Braiding Sleeping Hearts

Upon returning to Destiny Islands, Riku and Kairi fell into a new routine. My full piece from the Ties That Bind zine by @novallion and @destiny-islanders

Rating: K Words: 1,449 Ships: Gen, Kairi & Riku Tags: Hair Braiding, Post KH2, Sora Cameo, Fluff,Riku’s Implied Bad Relationship with His Parents

Read on AO3 here

Kairi smiled at the way Riku pushed up into her hands like a cat as she ran her fingers through his hair. Ever since the boys’ return to Destiny Islands, Riku had come to her each morning and let her play with and eventually pull back his hair into whatever style she wanted. There was only one rule about doing Riku’s hair, and that was his bangs had to be left alone.

It was a nice arrangement, and it soothed Kairi’s own worries that the boys had once again left her behind, when she awoke to her father and a very sleepy Riku making breakfast and discussing things like after-school enrichment activities for the Islands. They would eat breakfast and Kairi would distract the pair with whatever gossip she’d heard from Selphie the day before, and the atmosphere would take on that nostalgic dreamlike quality that reminded her of before the Door opened.

The next step of their morning routine included her dad clearing the table as Kairi got out her extensive collection of hair supplies and Riku made himself comfortable sitting slightly hunched in front of the the sofa so she could brush out his hair without having to stretch out awkwardly. She kept the mood light by handing him ridiculous hair ties to choose from as she gently eased the knots out of his long hair. It always amused her, as she worked on his mid-back-length hair, that it was Riku who had ended up with the longest hair of the three of them; people had always assumed she, the only girl of their group, would have taken that position. But no, it was Riku who never bothered with cutting his hair in the two years he was away.

Some time during the brushing of Riku’s hair, her dad would head back upstairs to get ready for work. During that brief timeframe, Riku would tell her stories of the worlds he’d been to and the people he’d met. They weren’t like Sora’s stories, full of adventures and companions and grateful people. No, Riku’s stories were brightdark times, saving people from the shadows, both literal and figurative, or occasionally after a bad night, stories of Maleficent and his time spent with her. She knew he didn’t talk about the worst moments, too scared of her father coming down at the wrong moment, and sometimes he was just too scared of himself. Most of the time, she’d hum in the appropriate places to show she was listening and run her fingers through his hair soothingly under the pretense of considering hairstyles. Riku never mentioned it, but she knew he appreciated the lack of judgement she gave while listening to his stories.

Eventually her dad would come down again, Riku hearing his descent as soon as his foot hit the top of the stairs and changing, often mid-sentence, back to talking about the local drama. Her dad would eventually enter the room, kiss Kairi on the forehead, and playfully threaten Riku to keep her safe, to which Riku always replied with the utmost sincerity that she could take care of herself, but he would do her best when she lapsed. She would shove him gently in the shoulder in joking protest, but she could never hide her wide smile that crept onto her face whenever he expressed his faith in her. Her dad would laugh, but she could see it in his eyes that he knew that Riku was being serious. Her dad then would break the moment by grabbing his briefcase and heading to work, once again leaving her alone with Riku.

In the moment of silence right after her dad left, Kairi would finally actually start styling Riku’s hair. The gentle tugging would on occasion coax him into taking a nap, which she would only realize when she finished and asked for a hair tie, only to be met with absolute silence. The fact that he didn’t jolt awake when she talked to him made her grin at the subconscious show of trust. On days where Riku slept, she would gently pull out the styling she had done and start something more elaborate since he wasn’t awake to protest.

Today, Kairi decided to go all-out as Riku napped, back against the sofa and slightly hunched over. Drawing inspiration from a princess’s hairstyle in a book she was reading, she carefully started weaving the front of Riku’s hair into a braided headband, being careful to leave enough hair for the rest of her plans and to leave his bangs undisturbed. She tied off the end and looped the unbraided section for the aesthetic. Kairi hummed and considered her hair supplies before fishing out a tiny bundle of pink flowers that matched her favorite dress and carefully threaded them into the braid. She sat back, considered her work so far, and giggled as she looked at the contrast between the flowers and Riku’s silver hair, already imagining the ribbing Sora was going to give Riku when they met up later.

Taking a deep breath to resettle herself, she started working on the harder part of her plan. She ran her fingers through the back part of Riku’s hair, thinking, twisting bits into tight spirals and then letting them loose and watching his hair settle. Riku’s hair could be interesting to work with. It was thick overall, with lots of body, but the strands themselves were very fine, which could make it finicky to style. Eventually she pulled out the heavy-duty bobby pins and started styling.

She sectioned off Riku’s hair into four bits, two on each side of his part just behind the headband braid. She twisted each section tightly and secured them down with both actual functional bobby pins and sparkly fascinators. Then she pulled from the base of his head, separating his hair into multiple smaller sections and twisting them up and together causing the free strands to look like a cascading ponytail. Kairi then fished out a delicate hair comb from the pile of hair supplies, one Sora had brought back and given to her, and put it into Riku’s hair, taking great care to avoid all the bobby pins she had just spent so long putting in. The jade hair comb, adorned with delicate pink flowers, slid into Riku’s hair with little resistance. Kairi nodded to herself as she leaned back to take in the whole effect.

Kairi fussed minorly, tucking in stray hairs, then nudged Riku awake with her socked foot. Riku groaned quietly and stretched up and back into her lap, being careful with his head, before slowly climbing to his feet. He shook his head slightly, testing how sturdy his hairstyle was for the day. Kairi looked up at him expectantly. “Feel good?”

Riku frowned slightly. “Needs another couple pins in back, but otherwise fine. Should I expect comments from Sora about my hair today?”

“Of course!” Kairi giggled into her hand, “Now come back down here, you giant, and point out the spots that need help.”

Riku knelt back down and pointed out a couple spots near the edge of the comb. “Here and here.” He paused as she put the pins in before doing a few more test shakes “One more here, and then just the hairspray.”

“You got it!” Kairi agreed and put in the last pin before pulling out the hairspray. Because of Riku’s sensitive nose, they used an unscented, very gel-like spray instead of the traditional aerosol spray that Kairi had normally used previously. A few seconds of spraying later, the pair retreated to their rooms to go get ready for school for the day and Riku finally got to see his fancy hairstyle.

When Kairi got back downstairs, Riku was waiting by the door while Sora bounced up and down in front of him. She heard Sora say in a sing song voice, “You have flowers in your hair, pink ones!”

“I think they look nice. Kairi did a good job.”

Sora rolled his eyes in response to Riku’s flat response, “Of course. Kairi did it, so of course it’s perfect. Jeez, Riku, don’t be so sensitive.”

“I’m a princess. Of course I’m good with hair,” Kairi called from the top of the stairs, “Now let’s get to class before the administration finds more reasons to try to hold you two back.”

Sora jumped, too high to be quite natural. “Shhhh, don’t give the universe ideas, Kairi. My ego couldn’t take being held back again.”

Riku snickered into his hand. “That’s what you get for sleeping for months, you lazy bum.”

Sora put his hands on his hips. “At least I was sleeping! What’s your excuse?”

“Boys, argue and walk, or we’ll never get to school!” Kairi said as she threaded her hands into both of her friend’s hands and pulled them along, unable to hide her smile. They may not know where things were going, but for now they had each other and it was enough.

#kingdom hearts #ties that bind #zine #fanfiction #miki writes

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effervescible · 6 years

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KH2 meta thoughts

Finished Kingdom Hearts 2 in my great series replay today, and I have a bunch of thoughts about narrative and story structure and character bits that I’m gonna slap down. Originally posted on plurk so forgive the rambliness.

Playing KH2 again with the full series knowledge but years removed thanks to fannish hibernation was a really interesting experience. It helped me sort of step back and look at the story as a whole, the game itself and its place in the series, and the structure of it.

The Riku-Sora stuff remains really, really good. I'm not going to say it's perfect but I can't think of anything specific I would change without changing the general story. Since my last jaunt through Disney hell, I've become extremely partial to games that meld gameplay with story and themes, and KH2 does that really well with Riku once he joins the party. I super love that his most frequent reaction command is a shield. Kid evolved from a darkness brat into some kind of paladin protector. And that little fist bump on their limit break, ahh. And all the stuff on the beach is just *chef kisses fingers* No complaints there Oh and storywise, even though we only see Riku's true face at the end and he's absent for so much of the game, his presence is felt throughout so his arc from KH1 to Reverse/Rebirth to KH2 feels really good and continuous

But god, they did the girls dirty. Everyone's written a thousand angry words about Kairi and how she just gets shoved offstage and they are 1000% true (why give her a Keyblade in one scene and do nothing with iiiiiiiit) but right now I'm more asspained about Namine. Her story in Chain of Memories is so good and her promise with Sora to become real friends is this important thing before a break in the story, after which we naturally assume it'll happen in some way and it just doesn't. (Can someone tell me if the scene between Riku and Sora before fighting Xemnas where Sora says he wanted to thank her but couldn't was added for Final Mix or not? It felt new to me but I legit can't recall whether it was there in vanilla KH2 or not.)

On an in-character level, I get why Namine would be focused on Roxas. Holy shit, someone just like her, someone she's very connected to through their births! But it's not good storytelling to just kind of drop things with Sora. Also she doesn't even get to go back to Kairi onscreen! I do like the eerieness of her started to distort through proximity to Kairi. And I like that she gets to face the Organization again but this time she isn't afraid. But goddamn does her story just kind of trickle to a stop. She's low on my list of priorities for Sora needs to save, since I'm most concerned about characters who got actively fucked over and she chose her fate, even if that choice was informed by a lot of emotional abuse. But I really hope she gets something more in KH3 if they're getting the band back together

On that note, (inhales, steeples fingers) Roxas.

Roxas has some of the most amazing moments in the game, even at the end, but his story is also where the game feels really disjointed. Not quite the same as Namine, where her story just sort of fell apart; the pacing is really weird with Roxas-related stuff. Back in the day, I came away from KH2 having enjoyed the game but feeling ultimately disappointed because here was this kid who clearly had an important story and an important friendship and we never learned much about either. I still feel that way to a degree, but having Days in the back of my mind made a big difference. Not so much for the specific events in it, because during most of my playthrough I wasn't really thinking about Xion or the specific happenings of Roxas' year in the Organization at all. But having them in the back of my mind gives him an extra narrative weight that feels lacking looking just at what we know of him in KH2.

I'm not sure if I'm making any sense, but looking only at KH2, it feels like they were writing Roxas with the idea that he'd experienced certain emotions more than that he'd experienced certain events. Which is fine, but it does sort of feel like he's just Sora's foil--a beautifully written foil, but not a full character of his own. But add Days into the mix and even if it doesn't change any of the following story, it feels like there's more heft to it. This kid still suffered a tragic fate, but that tragic fate happened to a person and not just a narrative device.

I will say that this playthrough made me 100% understand why people used to characterize Roxas as being very serious and moody most of the time. Even aside from the serious and moody flashbacks with Riku and Axel, late in the game, when you're doing the Organization boss rush and the references to his time in the Organization are flying fast and furious...I don't know, I just got a very strong sense of melancholy, that his life there wasn't a good one. (Related, Saix asking if Roxas hadn't taken care of Riku really sounds like they meant for Roxas to have done it on Organization orders, but then that doesn't fit with the game's stated timeline of Riku fighting Roxas after he betrayed the Organization. Still, an interesting idea.) But Roxas' story kinda peaks with his fight against Sora and then falls down. He's the elephant in the room the entire game, always in the background of Sora's story and the things Sora hears and feels. And then they never even talk. His last spoken scene should have been with Sora, not Namine.

Again, it makes characterization sense that there would be a bond there, because as far as they know they're the only people like each other that exist. But they were pushing the Sora-Kairi parallel way too hard to the detriment of the storytelling. I mean, it's great that in a way you'll get to see Namine every day, but don't you have anything to say to your other self over here...? The scene in Dream Drop doesn't feel like a fix-it for me, it feels like a narrative conclusion that got lost and resurfaced a few games later. Luckily, it was pretty much note-perfect in my book. But to me it feels like the conclusion of Roxas' KH2 arc, not an addendum. He might have another one depending what happens in KH3, but emotionally, that scene belongs under the same subhead as all of KH2.

Final Mix made a big improvement to things Axel-related. In vanilla KH2, yeah, Roxas does finally get pissed off enough to force a heart fight with Sora after Axel's death, but otherwise you'd almost wonder if their friendship was one-sided, there's so little aftermath. But their final clock tower scene is fantastic and even without knowledge of Days, you get a good sense of what their friendship was like.

It is kind of funny that, once you know that Axel was originally going to die sooner and got more screentime (and more importance, generally) due to popularity, you can really tell. Because there's so much stuff in this game you wouldn't necessarily expect him to have a lot of screen time, but he's absent for a really long time and then shows up without warning and dies immediately. But in all the post-KH2 games, even the prequels, there's definitely a sense of This Is An Important Character.

Overall, coming away from this, I feel like the biggest difference between KH2 and all the games that come after it is that they are building up to something and KH2 is kind of playing in its own sandbox, not really looking ahead to what's coming next. At least until they added the BBS hints. It might be absolute bullshit and they had no idea what they were going to do with the characters until KH3 development began properly, but BBS-Coded-DDD-0.2 all give the impression that there's a road map they're following. Less so for Days, but that they pointedly tie in the fallout of Days to stuff that's going to happen. But KH2 feels like more of an end point.

THESE ARE MY EXTREMELY EARNEST FEELINGS ABOUT THIS DISNEY HELL-GAME, COME TALK TO ME ABOUT THEM or just slink away rolling your eyes, that's cool too.

#kingdom hearts #roxas #riku #axel #namine #kh2 #meta #kh meta #good god jaina do you have this much to say about a disney anime game you are a grown adult #clearly yes i do #i'm in hell and you're all coming with me

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disneydreamlights · 7 years

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So uh, about the exact placement of Strelitzia's scars, let's just say that her canon outfit leaves them exposed, which is basically the in-universe explanation for her changing her outfit (I already told you the out of universe reason). Her first action upon being restored would be to hug Lauriam and cry out of sheer joy at being alive. Lauriam would, in order to keep Strelitzia on his side, hide his disappointment at no longer having two Keyblades to wield.

That’s actually a good explanation for an outfit change though post KH3. Be a completely different outfit I think by that point, and now I could actually see them doing it.

Okay so, the more I think about it, the more trouble I have actually deciding where exactly I want Strelitzia's scars to be. I mean, I know the general area, one on her chest, one on her back, but I honestly can't decide how high on her chest/back the scars would be, which would affect how visible they'd be when she's wearing her sundress. I guess it depends on the angle at which she was stabbed... All I know is that the heart piercing imagery/symbolism would still be there.

Right over the heart. You want direct symbolism, you got right over the heart.

So yeah, Strelitzia's mind is basically shattered and spread thin across the entire Unchained State following her demise, with her barely clinging to consciousness and constantly trying to find some sort of focal point to pull herself together. She becomes more aware when Lauriam, Ven, and the Player ascend. She chooses Lauriam because the Player wouldn't recognize her and she thinks Ventus hates her due to how she used to get on his nerves. He would have been more than happy to help her.

So, I'm not sure if Strelitzia would've chosen differently if she had known Ven didn't hate her or note. I mean, since she told Lauriam that she was a Union Leader, I can see her assuming that Lauriam would be able to tell that something was up if he didn't see her there (again, she'd refuse to believe that her friend would even DREAM of hurting her). On the other, I'm not sure if she'd want to burden Ven with the responsibility of finding and exposing the traitor.

She should’ve chosen Ven honestly that would be a great universe in general in which Ven and Strelitzia are sharing the same heart. Definitely make them more siblings than ship but idrc it’d make for adorable scenes. And prevent Strelitzia from being too mislead.

I think she’d still choose Lauriam though, for the following reasons:

Lauriam is her best friend in this AU. He knows her best friend and she trusts him.

If anybody’s going to help her catch her murderer, she’d assume it’d be him.

She’d want to cooperate with somebody she knows Ava did not give the book She’d have no idea if Ven had one or not, she knew Lauriam did not.

Okay so Strelitzia probably wouldn't admit her crush to the Player for fear of looking creepy/making things awkward between them, while the Player would have learned about her crush during their battle with Lauriam but wouldn't bring it up to her because they don't want to make her uncomfortable. Not quite a "can't spit it out" situation since the Player may or may not reciprocate her feelings, but it would likely end in a "you can read into their relationship however you want" situation.

I’d actually have it more of a “I’m respecting your boundaries thing” since she never told them. Strelitzia would have to bring up the crush on her own, and I think eventually she would. Probably because of Ven being an idiot. XD

Like with before, rest under the read more. (This is basically Strelitzia dump.)

Okay so, after watching the Secret Ending on Destiny Islands in the MMO, you'd be taken to the "Battle Report" Screen, which would depict Strelitzia and the Player setting on the dock at the Play Island, your Pet Spirit sitting in Strelitzia's lap, Chirithy might be sitting in the Player's, with the final Union Rankings being displayed next to the two of them. Returning to Destiny Islands would take you straight to the Battle Report.

...This image honestly sounds adorable. Sounds like it locks you out of viewing the DI scene though in game in the future though.

Strelitzia's decoys wouldn't have revenge values, so there'd be nothing to stop you from stun-locking them. Additionally, all of her decoys would take damage whenever Strelitzia herself does, but Strelitzia has Revenge Values, and all of Strelitzia's doppelgangers would aide Strelitzia in her counterattack when you set it off. During the battle with her in Radiant Garden, Lauriam would automatically destroy her decoys whenever it's his turn.

Lauriam sounds like he would make the battle a little easier just by existing thank fuck.

The thinking or talking about Lauriam wouldn't trigger Strelitzia's PTSD, but it would be enough to make her fall quiet or, depending on on her mood, provoke feelings of extreme anger or sadness, sometimes both. A part of her would always miss the Lauriam she could call a friend.

I don’t think having her truly hate Lauriam would ever be fair. She was in his heart for a while and I think on some level she’d understand he did love her.

I think she’d be mad at him, and hurt, and she’d never forgive him, but she wouldn’t hate him.

I do think thinking about him in the context of what happened though would set her off.

So, KH3 would actually have DLC titled "Spectral X[chi]" which is basically about how Strelitzia became the way she is when Sora meets her for the first time in Corona Kingdom. The tutorial would be Strelitzia looking for the Player, with her Chirithy serving as a guide. The first "real" level after her death would have you exploring the Keyblade Graveyard, chasing phantoms until she meets Lauriam, where she'd be absorbed into his heart, and fight Sora in a symbolic Nightmare Sequence.

After the nightmare sequence, we'd get a cutscene of Strelitzia, Lauriam, and Larxene's Somebody waking up in the woods outside Beast's Castle. From here, Lauriam and, let's call her "Arlene" would be Strelitzia's Party Members. The Beast's Castle arc is parallel to DDD, with our flower trio raiding the Castle and getting into a scuffle with the not yet human Beast before Belle convinces them to leave. Well, she convinces Strelitzia to leave and her "friends" so she'll think she can trust them.

I have no idea how the rest of the DLC would go after that, save that it would end before Strelitzia challenges Sora in Corona Kingdom. Also that Lauriam would have a Link where Divine Rose transforms into a Scythe while he and Strelitzia show off some good old fashioned Teamwork, while Arlene's Link would involve the two using electrically charged attacks somehow. A Corridor of Darkness would be the hub all the other worlds are visited from.

Actually, scratch that, Sora would be the final boss of the Strelitzia DLC. He'd have help from Donald, Goofy, "Flynn", and Rapunzel. You can defeat Sora's party members, but true to the main story, they'd revive eventually. Depleting half of Sora's HP would cause him to activate "Second Form". Bringing him down to one bar of HP would activate the final cutscene of Strelitzia's story. The post credits scene would be Strelitzia arriving in Radiant Garden.

I’m for this if for no other reason than Arlene/Lauriam/Strelitzia all travelling together. I’m a little confused as to how it takes place parallel to 3D if Beast isn’t human since it’s implied that he becomes human a little after KH2. I guess if this takes place during the Realm of Sleep it really doesn’t matter, but still.

So, I imagine that, either during Spectral X or after KH3, Strelitzia would get a haircut, partially to symbolize her new life. I haven't thought much more about it beyond that Strelitzia would either lose or shorten those pig-tails. I imagine that, even if she'd always have a somewhat "cute" look (kinda like Namine and Kairi), Strelitzia herself would visibly look less innocent. Her KH3 outfit would be designed to look ghostly, for example.

Complete hair cut. Like chop off all the hair up to her shoulders, maybe make her go Xion or KH1 Kairi short but like just have her get rid of it all after KH3. She wants to be removed from all that she went through and a change like this is a part of her coping methods.

Oh, I just thought of something! You know that necklace Strelitzia wears? What if, in the first game to feature the two of them after the MMO closes, Strelitzia were to give the Player her necklace in a scene that parallels Kairi giving Sora her lucky charm? And it even acts as the Keychain for an angel-themed Keyblade? You know, just something that serves as a heartwarming alternative to "Failed Rescue" (which Sora would receive after Strelitzia is Norted in KH3).

Player/Strelitzia and SoKai parallels I am ALL for that shit. I would love this scene, Player taking something of Strelitzia’s and using it to have her be awesome, it’d be great. owo

I just realized something mildly amusing about the MMO AU. Strelitzia, dresses in white, acts cute, looks like a cinnamon role, would listen to the Shadow the Hedgehog soundtrack unironically, and manages to be that edgy anti-hero most anime seems to have while still looking adorable. Brain/Minerva, dresses in black, is a total rebel, DEFY THE SYSTEM, totally once missed his bus because he was helping an old lady cross the street and is basically a cinnamon roll trying to edgelord.

Strelitzia loves edgelords and is forced into an edgelord position because her story forces her to in this AU but is still a pure cinnamon roll despite how dark her story gets.

Blaine is a cinnamon roll who tries his hardest to not embrace his cinnamon rollness.

In an AU where the two here of this Blaine is just like “Strelitzia next time save some angst for me I wanna be an edgy fuck.”

“I’m supposed to be edgy?”

Strelitzia would feel homesick after her restoration. This would be difficult to take care of, seeing as her hometown was vaporized by an exploding universe thousands of years before the events of KH3. Fortunately, there happens to be a Memory Witch and a very determined family who want nothing more than to make her feel safe and happy, and so her room in the Land of Departure would undergo a makeover to be more like her room from Daybreak Town. Cue tears of joy from Strelitzia.

Namine and Strelitzia interacting would honestly be the best thing this MMO AU could produce. It’d honestly be so sweet of Namine to try to help her like that and she’d probably do other things to help Strelitzia remember her home.

So, you know how the specter's first form vaguely resembles a woman in a white cloak? Strelitzia would dress kinda like that in KH3, with a white coat over her dress, and either leggings or tights under that dress, and would most definitely try to come across as ominous and threatening to Sora, which would be kinda funny at first because she's 12 and therefor smaller than him but kinda sad when you realize it's to mask her fear of her perceived murderer.

The white coat is actually more of a cloak than the black coat the organization wears. As such, it would look more like traditional depictions of red-riding hood's, well, hood, albeit with sleeves and with the intention of looking kinda spectral. You know, because she technically died. I mean once she starts to move past this she'd go for a less threatening look, but until then enjoy the idea of Strelitzia trying to emulate the appearance of a vengeful spirit.

Strelitzia trying to look intimidating when she’s probably like fourteen and still a kid.

Man, this is something I always hate remembering like holy shit all of these guys are still kids. They suffer and they’re like...children. ;w;

Even after learning that Sora wasn't the one responsible for her (first) death, Strelitzia would feel somewhat uncomfortable around him until she can finally accept that Lauriam betrayed her. This would REALLY hurt Sora because he only wants to help this poor kid and yet he's indirectly the source of a lot of her pain. Actually, Sora would go through a huge bout of self-blame in KH3, particularly regarding what happened to Roxas and Xion. Strelitzia would just bring it to the surface.

...Sora’s gonna need a lot of hugs after this because Roxas and XIon and probably Ven too are gonna be causing him a lot of strife and then there’s now Strelitzia on top of all this. ;w;

#MMO Anon #next one's gonna be ''gameplay'' dump just an fyi #Anonymous #Heather Answers

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vowill89 · 6 years

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CHOSEN ONE! ...I’m coming!

Boy, the idea of the chosen one of fate is just a tired old cliche. We get it, fate has decreed that when a great evil looms over the lands, fate’s predetermined chosen hero rises up to vanquish the evil. An excellent tale when it was first introduced, but it has kinda played out it’s welcome.

Though there are times where the chosen one concept gets played around a bit, fleshed out a little, or, in some rare cases, just plain ol’ subverted. I just wanna bring to light some aspects of the chosen one trope being used excellently and on, at least, one occasion where it just cheapens the story.

One of the things I like in the original Kingdom Hearts game, that I think isn’t given enough credit, is the second act twist.

Good boy is good

In the game you play Sora, a young islander boy who hangs out with his friends, primarily Riku, the best friend and rival, and Kairi, best friend and potential lover? ...Eh, KH2 kinda threw a wrench into that pairing.

Anyway, Sora’s home world is soon assaulted by darkness and Shadows

Who are way too cute than an eldritch horror has any right to be.

Soon Sora finds Kairi who vanishes before him and Riku is then swallowed up by the darkness, but not before saying that “The Door has opened.” As soon as Riku peaces out of there, Sora is then granted the main weapon of the game; The Keyblade.

It has the unique ability to go from 1 to ANIME in no time at all.

Soon Sora finds himself in Traverse Town, team up with Donald “please heal me” Duck and Mr. “You gonna kill that guy over there,” Goofy, travel to different Disney worlds, fight bosses, get stronger, and feel pretty good about your journey.

During the course of the game, the villains, a collection of Disney ne’er do wells led by Maleficent, constantly refer to Sora as “The Keyblade’s chosen one”, as though series creator, Tetsuya Nomura, is relying on the tried and true trope of the chosen one. Only he has the power to do what he accomplished, he was chosen by fate! Or so we were led to believe.

Remember that second act twist I mentioned? Remember Riku, the rival? Well it turns out that there was a slight little hiccup in the beginning. Sora isn’t the Keyblade’s chosen one, Riku is. Riku, the rival who is better than Sora. Riku, the best friend who took a much darker path than the character we’ve been playing. Riku is the chosen one, not Sora.

At this moment, the Keyblade abandons Sora in favor of Riku, who leaves Sora a wooden sword to use while Donald and Goofy also leave Sora for Riku, following their king’s orders to follow the key wielder. From this point on Sora can’t use physical attacks to injure the Heartless, only being able to rely on his magic or The Beast, who was bested by Riku.

It’s this moment and the next one that I really like about this game’s story. As soon as Sora meets up with Riku, Sora points out that he doesn’t need the power of the keyblade to go forward, just the power of his heart. Sora’s friendship speech then does, in my opinion, the impossible in the whole chosen one trope; the keyblade switches back from Riku to Sora. The rival who, if you played poorly in the tutorial segment, whoops your butt when given the chance and choose a darker path that goes opposite of the keyblade’s power, loses that weapon and goes back to the carrier boy who carted it from world to world. Riku is no longer the chosen one.

I feel like Nomura is also trying to bring focus on this aspect of the story back to the player’s attention. In Dream Drop Distance Sora mentions that he doesn’t care if he isn’t the Keyblade’s chosen wielder, something that the antagonists of that game have been needling him with. I really like that aspect of Kingdom Hearts and hopefully have brought more attention to it so that others can enjoy it as well.

Another version of the chosen one trope that, when done well so that it works, is Link in The Legend of Zelda series.

Best boy is best.

If you play this series, you all know the basic bullet points;

Ganon bad

Zelda captured

several dungeons

Master Sword

Ganon defeated

Triforce

Skyward Sword comes along and gives us the reason for why it is just those three players, Link, Ganon, and Zelda, who are constantly on center stage for most of the games. Link is the goddess’ chosen hero, bound to the cycle of reincarnation. In the game Skyward Sword, Link is gifted the Goddess Sword and is tasked with increasing it’s power so that it may strike down the big bad of the game, Demise, a Ganondorf-esque character who... is the big bad. Please see a past post on why I think Demise sucks as a villain.

But while Link may be the hero reborn, he still needs to go through a series of trials (dungeons) in order to awaken his heroic spirit. I like that, it shows that while he may be the chosen one, that means little if he doesn’t work to prove that he is. He has to grow as a hero instead of just coasting on the idea of being the chosen one. It also helps to retroactively change the ideas of the dungeons in the other titles. If the dungeons in Skyward Sword were set up by the goddess in order to test him, why not the others? Just sit on that one for a while.

Now, for the idea of the chosen one just being a cheap prop. I’ll make this short because I don’t want to go into FURIOUS RAGE RANT mode. In Michael Bay’s TMNT movie...

...hhhhhhHHHHHHATE...

Sorry, in Michael Bay’s TMNT movie it’s revealed that April O’Neal’s father was a scientist who experimented on Splinter and the Turtles before they mutated. The lab was then caught on fire and April saved Splinter and the Turtles before they could be killed in the flames. Splinter then says that they were fated to meet again after so many years and that April is their... something, but I’ll just use chosen one because that’s pretty much what it is.

Using that cliche as a narrative tool only serves to cheapen the overall relationship between the Turtles and April. The whole reason they meet each other is because of an accident. Their friendship grows because they learn to trust April with their secret which she keeps because she can see that they’re still good people/reptiles/rats/mutants and she wants to help them, which on more than one occasion has come back to hurt her, by way of her apartment building burning down, and yet despite all of that they still remain close friends because the bonds that formed when they first meet have grown that strong. Michael Bay took a cheap narrative idea and used it for convenience.

Anyway, that’s my thoughts on when the idea of the chosen one is used perfectly fine, used in an interesting way, and is used as just a cheap prop. I’ll try to have more posts like this in the future, I’ve been busy with work as of late.

Speaking of which, you like games? You like audiobooks? Do you like Litrpg audiobooks? Then check out Stratus Online: Awakening, written by Drew Cordell, narrated by me. If you don’t know what a Litrpg novel is, this is a good book to check out and get into the Litrpg genre. Your purchasing this book, or other books that I’ve narrated, will help me out in the long run and I may make more posts more frequently if sales go up.

‘Til next time!

#video games #kingdom hearts #legend of zelda #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt #LoZ #KH #audiobooks #audiobook #litrpg #gamelit #novel #book #nintendo #square enix #kh sora

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