#And Xion. Who dies in her same game and is forgotten from existence.

[transpanda-1]

📐Kingdom Hearts has very terminal "No multiple instances of diversity" in it's character design. So you'll often get groups, no matter how large, with basically a single pale woman in it, and maybe a dark skinned man if you're lucky.

[nadziejastar]

That moment, a ball rolled up and bumped into Roxas’ foot.

“Scuse me!” A boy came running up.

“Hayner, not again!”

Behind him, a girl came running, and then following her, a slightly chubby boy.

Roxas picked up the ball at his feet, and threw the ball back to the boy and his friends. The three dipped their heads in a bow, and ran away again with the ball.

“—They’d be around the same age as me, wouldn’t they,” Roxas muttered.

“Huh?” Axel asked, and Roxas wondered if he hadn’t caught it.

“Nothing.” Roxas shook his head slightly and started walking. Roxas turned to watch the pigeons in front take flight.

Thank you for another interesting video. The Youtuber said that RAX just eating ice cream didn’t really make them feel that close. He said it could have worked if being in the organization seemed REALLY that bad and ice cream was the only thing they had in life to give them pleasure. I actually did get the impression that ice cream was all they had. But I think the little short story “Roxas: Somewhere in Time” did a better job showing just how bored and unhappy Roxas was with the monotony of his organization life. That’s how I think they originally intended the Axel/Roxas friendship to be before they came up with the idea of Xion.

“I wonder whether it’d be fun to fly like that.”

“—It’d be fun, I guess,” Axel replied, taking a bite of his ice cream.

“I wonder how long it’ll be okay to do this.”

Axel stared at Roxas. Maybe Roxas is feeling the build up of doing the same kind of missions day after day. Every day, Roxas was given the same mission, to subdue heartless. But it couldn’t be helped, Axel thought. Roxas was special. To the Organisation, and to Axel. Just like how the Organisation can’t let Roxas know anything, I don’t think I’ll let him know anything myself.

This is betraying Roxas, isn’t it?

“We might not always be able to be together,” murmured Axel, without realising.

“Huh?” This time, it was Roxas who looked at Axel.

“What’s with you, don’t make such a scary face.”

Axel turned his face away from Roxas, and bit his ice cream. Roxas didn’t know of Axel’s unrest. And, Axel didn’t know of Roxas’ unrest.

This story takes place the day after Axel comes back from Castle Oblivion. Roxas sees Hayner, Pence, and Olette playing ball and then wonders just how long he can keep doing what he’s doing. He’d rather play with them–kids his own age. Axel knew that. He knew Roxas was unhappy. He was lying to Roxas so he wouldn’t leave. He knew if Roxas had the choice, he would leave him. Their friendship was not strong enough for Roxas to stick around just for him. Axel ALSO knew that their arrangement was living on borrowed time. He and Roxas simply weren’t gonna be together forever and there would come a time when they’d go their separate ways. They friendship wasn’t super cuddly or cutesy, nor was it particularly intimate. But it was interesting.

I actually should not exist. I was just a doll. I chose to disappear because I did not want to become what Xemnas had planned for me. Therefore, I had no regrets. I remember disappearing in front of the clock tower while Roxas held me. Roxas also went to sleep afterwards, leaving Axel alone. The person who probably suffered the most was Axel. Because he’s the one who forgot the most. Being forgotten and forgetting, they’re both painful. I am a bit uncertain whether I should actually exist or not. Sometimes, even if for a fleeting moment, I feel that I truly should not be here.

To address his point about Xion: I was honestly fine with the fact that Xion felt like a living plot device and that she felt like just another version of Kairi. I don’t think she was supposed to feel distinct from Kairi. That defeats the point. He also said that she needed more inner conflict about helping Sora wake up because it made her death scene less effective. I disagree with all this.

I think Xion wasn’t supposed to feel completely “human”. Because she’s wasn’t. She was the embodiment of Sora’s memories of Kairi. She’s not really supposed to exist. Even in her Character File story, she doesn’t sound convinced she should really exist. When she disappeared, it was supposed to feel right and natural, like she went back to where she truly belonged. After beating the game, you weren’t supposed to come away with the idea that she was supposed to return and live happily ever after with Roxas and Axel. And that’s how I felt. I was 100% okay with her disappearing at the end and never coming back. Her death scene was beautiful, IMO. When she came back in KH3, it felt tacky and cheapened her whole character.

I completely agree that it is very disappointing that we never got to see the other members’ backstories. KHUX is NOT the right place to explore Marluxia’s past IMO. But I don’t think Days was the right place, either. Many of the members died too quickly (though more could have been done with Demyx and Luxord). I think BBSV2 was meant to be that game he wanted 358/2 Days to be. I’m sure that the Days timeline would be covered in BBSV2. But 358/2 Days was supposed to be about Roxas’s “blank period” in the organization. So, I am okay with it focusing on mostly RAX and, to a lesser extent, Axel/Saix. The rest of the organization’s past required a separate game to do them justice.

“Let’s eat some ice cream. We are best friends. You are right. Ha-ha-ha.”

I loved the part where he did the robot voice making fun of the dialogue in the game. There’s a lot of truth to how forced it was.

“The biggest problem with the friendship between Roxas, Axel, and Xion is how stilted it feels. More often than not, the game just TELLS us what the characters are feeling, instead of letting it be revealed through their actions. We’re continually TOLD how great the trio’s friendship is, yet the only evidence of that is them smiling while eating ice cream.”

This is a quote from the video. I can understand why he feels like this. And to an extent, I agree. But I only agree because I think most of the fandom fundamentally missed what Nomura was trying to do with the sea-salt trio and KH3 didn’t even bother to follow through with the original idea. 

“Well, Roxas—why do the three of us eat ice cream together every day in that place?”

“….Huh?” I don’t really get what he’s trying to say.

“I have no use in doing that either, do I? If you think about it, it’s troublesome, right? Do you want me to tell you?”

Roxas looked at Axel, and waited for his answer.

“It’s because we are best friends.”

At least for Axel, the game DIDN’T tell you what he was really feeling. You DID have to look at his actions and read between the lines. That’s what I loved so much about the story. 

In KH2, Axel and Roxas were so-called “best friends”. And this is the reason the story of 358/2 Days pushes the idea of “best friends” in such a forced and artificial way. Even in Days, Axel first called them best friends, not spontaneously, but in response to being incredibly hurt by Saix and also from remembering some specific incident from his past.

He wasn’t really supposed to be “best friends” with Roxas and Xion, though (cute as they are). I mean, he’s a GROWN ASS MAN, for crying out loud. Naturally, it’s embarrassing for an adult to be best friends with two kids.

Pathik: The fourth chakra is located in the heart. It deals with love and is blocked by grief. Lay all your grief out in front of you. You have indeed felt a great loss. But love is a form of energy, and it swirls all around us. The Air Nomads’ love for you has not left this world. It is still inside of your heart, and is reborn in the form of new love.

I’m sure a lot of KH fans have seen ATLA. The way Axel/Roxas/Xion was handled really reminded me of how Aang/Katara was handled. I think the audience misunderstood the Aang/Katara relationship and saw it more cutesy and simplistically than it was intended to be. Aang did genuinely love her, just as Axel genuinely loved Roxas and Xion. But at the same time, he was completely obsessed with her, just as Axel was obsessed with Roxas in KH2. Aang was just a kid. In his mind, Katara was his “forever girl” and they were gonna be together forever and ever. He was quite pushy about it at times, just as Axel is quite pushy about how Roxas is his “best friend” in KH2.

Aang: On stage, when you said I was just like a … brother to you, and you didn’t have feelings for me.

Katara: I didn’t say that. An actor said that.

Aang: But it’s true, isn’t it? We kissed at the Invasion, and I thought we were gonna be together. But we’re not.

Katara: Aang, I don’t know.

Aang was infatuated with her from the moment he laid eyes on her. On top of that, he met her just after he ran away from home to avoid his entire life changing and losing everything he knew and everyone he loved. And he wakes up in her arms to find out that all his people were completely wiped out because of that decision. He was all alone in the world and deeply traumatized. And he clung to Katara to avoid facing that loss. Axel also lost everything, including the one person he couldn’t bear to lose. Roxas and Xion were the first people he got close to after his life changed. And he starts realizing how much Saix changed and he can’t cope with the enormity of that loss. He hides all of those feelings, and later becomes obsessed with Roxas to avoid facing them. Very similar idea.

Aang loves Katara but not in the way he should, as it was based on replacing the absence of the Air Nomads, and Guru Pathik believes he never learned what it meant to “let go” of her.

Aang and Katara are not on the same wavelength as there are many times where Katara attempts to shelter him from the harsh realities of life - which creates a chasm between them. Katara discovers she can communicate so much more easily with Zuko, and he with her.

Aang finds out that some of his people were alive all along and just hiding; living their lives for the past hundred years without him. His love for Katara grew from the love of the Air Nomads, so what if his people came back? Would he realize that his love for her was not as genuine as he once thought?

--ATLA cancelled Book 4 plot

Katara never seemed to reciprocate Aang’s romantic feelings. Though only a few years older than him, she was VERY mature for her age. She felt more like his mom than his girlfriend, just like how Axel seemed more like R&X’s dad than their best friend. There was a chasm between them. Katara couldn’t communicate with Aang on her level or confide in him about her own pain, just like how Axel could never communicate with R&X on his level or confide in them about his pain. They were too immature. Aang relied on Katara and took her for granted, and Roxas took Axel for granted. When Aang lost Appa he took all his anger out on Katara, just like how Roxas took all his anger over losing Xion out on Axel. 

Aang and Katara had a very wonderful and realistic dynamic, which I liked a lot. It just…wasn’t believable as romantic. And Axel/Xion/Roxas had a very interesting dynamic I liked a lot. But they were just not believable as best friends. They weren’t on the same wavelength and Axel sheltered Roxas from the harsh realities of life, creating a chasm between them. Aang needed to find out his people were still alive in order to cope with his pain and “let go” of Katara. Axel needed to find out that the Isa he remembered was still alive in order to cope with his grief and let go of Roxas.

“He seemed a tiny bit startled as he scanned the room, and his eyes fell on a particular drawing. “This is…me? And that guy Axel…?”

It was Naminé’s drawing of Roxas and Axel, standing side by side.

“You’re best friends,” she said. Right. Those two had been friends—well, Axel believed they still were. Roxas was his only friend and his best. And Axel was the same for Roxas—probably.

I like this passage from the novel. It’s the very first time Axel and Roxas being best friends is mentioned in KH2. Roxas is Axel’s best and only friend. And Naminé figures that Roxas feels the same way… well, probably. What made Axel such an interesting character was that his feelings toward Roxas were one-sided, just like Aang’s feelings for Katara were one-sided. Seeing Roxas again was the only thing that gave his life any meaning. The thing is, Roxas didn’t feel the same way. He cared about Axel, yes. But Roxas would have been VERY uncomfortable and creeped out by Axel’s obsession with him. This is a big problem that NEVER gets addressed or resolved. 

On the sofa opposite him, Naminé spoke up instead. “Sora and Riku are best friends.”

Axel’s eyes crinkled as he remembered his own best friend—the only friend he’d ever had, in fact.

“If your best friend goes away, you’re sad, and if you get to be with them, you’re happy,” Naminé added. “Isn’t that how it is, Axel?”

“…That’s about the size of it.” Axel nodded and sat down on the remaining empty sofa, staring at the sea-salt ice cream he held.

“So you are capable of sincerity,” said Riku.

Axel only shrugged at the jab and finished his ice cream pop.

Like Aang, Axel suffered a great loss; the loss of someone he couldn’t bear to lose. And he never dealt with it. Why does Axel feel the need to assert over and over that Roxas is his only friend and his best friend? Because he was using Roxas as a replacement for Isa–his actual best friend. Axel was desperate to fill the void of that intimacy with another best friend.

“Finally awake, huh?” 

Roxas looked up. “Axel…” 

His only good friend—his best friend—Axel had arrived with two sea-salt ice cream pops.

Roxas is pretty casual saying goodbye in KH2FM. He’s just like like “take care, okay?” He’s smiling and not visibly emotional or anything like he was with Xion. Axel, on the other hand, is reduced to tears. He is most definitely NOT okay.  IMO, the problem was not that 358/2 Days didn’t do a good enough job making Axel/Xion/Roxas feel like best friends. The problem is that KH3 still went with the notion that they ever really were best friends to begin with.

[khtrinityftw]

Part 3: Xarmy Use

The character of Xion is a deconstructive take on a Mary Sue that somehow crossed the line back into being a genuine Mary Sue. It's actually kind of amazing.

The first problem apparent with Xion is that she exists in the period of time before KH2, yet there was no reference to her in KH2. And so there's a plot device where after she dies, she gets forgotten and all traces of her erased from the world. Except of course until every game that came after Days, where suddenly she's being remembered again and traces of her keep popping up. It's about as inorganic as you can possibly get.

The second problem is the sheer redundancy of the character. She joins the Organization as its newest member, who has no memory of her past and who can wield the Keyblade, soon starts questioning the work that she's doing and wondering about her past and why she can wield the Keyblade, and then she betrays the Organization, learns of her secret connection to Sora and how her existence is keeping him from waking up, and she has to disappear in order to set things right. Yeah, that's the exact same character bio as Roxas. And this redundancy means that Roxas ends up just going through the same motions as Xion in response to her doing it, cheapening his story as it was told in KH2 considerably.

Xion also looks exactly like Kairi but isn't her...just like Namine. But she can fight with a Keyblade...just like Kairi does by the end of KH2. And she's a replica who has an identity crisis that ultimately leads to her death in Twilight Town...just like the Riku Replica. And she's Roxas' best friend who ends up fighting him...just like Axel. And she's part of Xemnas' master plan to collect hearts and complete Kingdom Hearts...just like Sora AND Roxas. 

Xion might just be the least original KH-original character there is!  Her creation did nothing for the series except needlessly over-complicate it. If I were in charge, I'd just combine Xion and Roxas into one character....named Roxas. Things are simpler that way.

The third problem is her personality. If I was asked to describe the KH girls’ personalities, I’d answer this way:

Kairi? She’s spunky and sassy but concealing insecurities and anxiety about her life changing and her friends being separated from her stemming from a traumatic past, feelings that she ultimately learns to cope with through her journey within Sora’s heart. She’s also brave and headstrong: when she’s able to take action, she does so without hesitation. And she is extremely kind and caring, easy to make friends with and very loyal to her friends in turn.

Namine? She’s shy and withdrawn due to being abused since her creation, only doing things that other people tell her to do. But she has a strong conscience, and when she uses her powers to hurt someone, the guilt it causes her motivates her to step up and defy her abusers in order to make things right, and in the process of doing so develops a lot more confidence. This allows Namine to do things that she wants to do and finally feel at peace with herself.

Aqua? She’s dutiful and studious, absorbing all her master’s teachings like a sponge and becoming his golden child, with a strong sense of justice and desire to help people. She also cares deeply for her friends, even though she ends up in conflict with them when her other sensibilities clash with her friendship with them. She takes failure particularly hard and falls into depression when her heroic self-image is shattered, but is strong enough to endure it.

Larxene? She’s a sadist who acts with a very calculated childishly spiteful and gleefully antagonistic attitude, doing whatever she can to push people’s buttons, get under their skin, and make them hurt in any way possible. Seeing others suffer is the only way Larxene can truly feel anything, as it’s implied she was the one who got hurt as a full person with a heart, thus this is a twisted kind of catharsis. She’s also got a short fuse and is quick to anger.

Olette? She’s the sensible one in her group of friends, able to keep the overactive Hayner and underachieving Pence in line. She’s kind and supportive, and a hard worker even if she doesn’t like the work. She’s also something of a romantic, and can even be kind of ditzy.

Xion? Um….she’s…a nice girl who loves her friends. And that’s about it until she has her identity crisis and we get several moments of her being sad about it, but it all seems very by-the-numbers and doesn’t really go anywhere before she decides to embrace her Too Good For This Sinful Earth nature and ultimately dies a sparkling death in Roxas’ arms. Apparently she was going to go in a more interesting direction where her anger became the focus and she would lash out in earnest, but in the final product we only really see her angry once (her loss to Riku), and when it comes time to fight Roxas, she’s faking it so that Roxas will kill her.

For a character who is so omni-present within Days, Xion is bland. She really feels like Days scenario writer Tomoko Kanemaki’s wish fulfillment Mary Sue OC: given a basic “good girl” personality that is easy to project onto, while getting to be besties with the incredibly fangirl-popular Roxas and Axel and interact with other fangirl-popular characters like Riku and Namine, be a central part of their lives and development, and essentially take over the story that was allegedly meant to be Roxas’, all while exploring those angsty “What Measure is a Non-Human?” themes Kanemaki loves so much that make it that much easier for players to project great depth onto her when she’s really about as shallow as a puddle. I honestly think there were more scenes of characters talking about Xion than there were scenes of Xion herself! 

And yet due to the inexplicable popularity of both Days and Xion, especially in Japan, we never saw or heard the end of her, with the internal rules of canon bending over backward to make it so. By the time of Kingdom Hearts III, Kairi, the original heroine of the original KH Trinity, was actively being screwed over in favor of giving this copycat more of the spotlight. 

If Xion absolutely had to exist, then the last we ever saw and heard of her should have been "No! Xion! Who else will I have ice cream with?"  I'd honestly feel a lot more positively toward her then!

[nobodies-png]

Since it’s Headcanon Monday and I don’t have any other headcanons waiting to be posted in the askbox, here’s o n e (1) long ass headcanon from yours truly to keep the blog somewhat alive ! 

Spoiler (?) warnings for KHX and KHUX 

All, if not most of the lesser Nobodies (Dusks, Sorcerers, Dragoons, Snipers, Ninjas, Samurais etc) are the Nobodies of all those children and young keyblade wielders who died during the keyblade war in KHX (chi) - those who didn’t make it into Foreteller Ava’s Dandelions, and therefore died before KHux.

Their will was strong enough to linger and become those creatures we fight throughout the main games, stronger than the average Dusk. But since they essentially died fighting each other fOR STUPID REASONS THAT STILL MAKE ME CRY TO THIS DAY  and were plagued with darkness (rather than accepting it as a power like the Organization or being too fucking pure to be affected like Sora), none was able to truly become a fully human and conscious Nobody. 

 The only argument I have to back this up is that Nobodies are the only creatures/enemies in KH that actively and obediently follow orders for no fucking reason. Like it’s just in their nature.

Heartless (both Emblems and Purebloods) and Dream Eaters (Spirits and Nightmares) can be controlled. But only to a limited extent.

Cause Heartless are beings of darkness, therefore extremely unpredictable and chaotic. They can easily posess, overpower or turn against the ones they obey should they lose control - even Maleficent has trouble controlling the Heartless near the realm of darkness, since they’re w a y more powerful. Basically a solid 2/10 in loyalty.

And since we’re talking about loyalty and darkness, let me bring up the Unversed - these fuckers can’t even make it into this category/rant because they’re all extensions of Vanitas, who is just a fucking wild card. Unversed exist because Vanitas exists and has Depression (tm), therefore cannot be controlled by anyone but himself.

BUT ANYWAY

On the other hand, we have the Dream Eaters who were created in the Age of Fairy Tales (KHx/KHux)  The first Dream Eaters were Spirits named Chirithy, created to HELP keyblade wielders from all Unions and GUIDE them down the right path - though they still retain a sense of individuality. They’re more of a friend than a servant. But if the keyblade wielder they follow falls into the darkness, the Chirithy is affected too and becomes a Nightmare Chirithy - who apparently like to show kids a lot of nightmares and bad things to “server” the link between them and be free.  Spirit Chirithy and Nigthmare Chirithy’s dynamic can be applied to the common Dream Eaters we see in Dream Drop Distance.  Sprits are benevolent in nature and gladly lend their power to Sora but unlike Nobodies, having a Spirit is like having a cute fluffy Lisa Frank themed pet who can be a cute magical cat or a giant ass fucking elephant. Aka they help you because you give them the good pets. Meanwhile Nightmares are just feral and strive to be independent assholes.

So my headcanon is : Dusks are the Nobodies of the children who were yet to obtain a keyblade or just common citizens of this realm, but died during/after the Keyblade War. In the games, we just learn that Dusks are a clear indication that the Organization is near, since they’re the only ones they obey. But in the manga and novels, we learn that Dusks have a rather human side to them, despite being simple minded creatures - they often can be found pranking Roxas and Demyx. They get scolded by Saix for their antics. They befriend Xion when she’s kind to them. In retrospect, they all have a rather childish behaviour.

And higher ranking Nobodies like Samurais, Dancers, Snipers etc are the Nobodies of the young keyblade wielders from KHux, the ones who fought in the Keyblade War. Each type of high ranking Nobody seems to be obey one specific member of the Organization, who has the ability to summon and boss them around - similar to the Foretellers and their respective Unions. 

Like, in Daybreak Town, we BARELY get to see any adults.  The only adults we know are the majority of the Foretellers - Luxu (?), Invi, Ira and Aced - plus the Master of Masters. So considering how KH handles families, it’s not too weird for all these fucking kids running around with big ass keyblades to be straight up orphans. Like, when it comes to families in the entire saga, we literally have three examples : Sora and his mom (wHO JUST GOT STRAIGHT UP FORGOTTEN AFTER KH1), Kairi and her grandma and finally, Lauriam and Strelitzia. SO IT’S NOT TOO FARFETCHED TO THINK THE FORETELLERS JUST KINDA ADOPTED OVER A THOUSAND KIDS OR AT THE VERY LEAST CREATED A SAFE HAVEN FOR THEM.

It would also explain why all of these kids look up to the Foretellers and why they’re ready to literally throw hands for them and their Unions. The Foretellers and their fellow Union members are the only sense of family they have. A bond that only abandoned or orphaned children can have - of sticking to others who are just as lonely as you. 

And who else fits that description better than Actual Nobodies ? The beings rejected by both Light and Darkness, plagued with the same uncertainty, the same lack of heart, the same goal of becoming whole.

Lesser Nobodies could absolutely go feral and become an entirely separate category of enemies that act on their own accord just like Heartless. Maybe just dick around, do nothing and slap their nuts all day. But they don’t. They get treated kinda like ass sometimes, but they still remain.

Because in the end, they’re still just children trying to find guidance, a group of ducklings blindly following their guardians around.

[levyowl]

How Epic Mickey could fit into the Kingdom Hearts Universe so Oswald can get the Love and Attention he Deserves: The Text Post

Ok, so it’s been confirmed that Nomura really wants to add our favorite lucky rabbit into the KH universe, but for some reason, Disney told him getting the rights to Oswald would be ‘difficult’ for whatever reason. I know Oswald used to be owned by another party, but when Epic Mickey was being pitched, Disney bought back the rights, so they now own him fully. I’m not sure why Disney wouldn’t just let Nomura use him, seeing as they’re sure as hell aren’t.

As you can imagine, this is pretty sad. A surprising amount of people love Oswald, including myself. But it honestly got me thinking about how Epic Mickey could fit into Kingdom Hearts. They have some vague similarities, seeing as a lot of the older characters, such as Horace the Horse, make an appearance in both games, EM has some talk of hearts, but obviously, the rules of what a heart is is different in both games, etc.

So, as you can imagine, this was a bit of a challenge for me to think of, and this is going to be a long post. But I’ve been seriously reflecting on this topic for a while, so much so that I wrote this post on a Google Doc so I could properly get my thoughts together before I posted this.

Also, you never know if Disney could change their minds or Nomura goes through all the possible legal stuff and get Oswald into the game, so all of this could just me pointlessly screaming into the void, but I don’t care; I’m making this post. And keep in mind that this is what I personally would do with it. I am in no way a professional game director like Nomura, and if Oswald does make it into a KH game, it will probably be done better than my idea. Though keep in mind, my idea is kinda convoluted just like the rest of KH’s plot OOOOO lol jk. With all of that said:

All of this takes place between the events of BBS and KH1.

Disney Town and the world of EM are the same. Sorta (this will have to do with why Disney Castle is more pronounced in the overworld art in the timeline after BBS).

All the residents in EM live in DT.

Oswald is the Mayor of DT (Or at least the small town area we see in BBS).

We presumably don’t see him in BBS because he was too busy running the town in the background. Queen Minnie and Duchess Daisy were there to oversee the Dream Festival for him.

Oswald is personal best friends with King Mickey. Like, everyone jokes about them being brothers all the time.

After the events of BBS, we see Pete be freed from his prison by Maleficent. Right after this, Pete asks for help for immediate revenge on the residents.

Maleficent decides to completely destroy the world as you do.

More specifically, she wants to make the world fall to darkness and wipe the world and its residents from the minds of others (think of it like Xion’s disappearance)

Firstly, to get Pete further indebted to her so he’ll go along with her plans without question.

Second, if everyone forgets about Donald, Goofy, Minnie, and Mickey after they were to fall to darkness, then that’s several enemies she wouldn’t have to worry about anymore.

Thirdly, she could use the hearts of the residents to create a powerful army of Heartless.

The fourth reason was she was feeling particularly bitchy that day.

All the while, Yen Sid senses the sudden spike in darkness in DT.

He warns Mickey about Pete and Maleficent, but orders Mickey to stand back and observe for now, as he only just became a Keyblade Master and Yen Sid isn’t sure if he can take her on by himself.

But ofc Mickey goes back to DT with Yen Sid’s Star Shard to confront Maleficent anyway.

However, he’s too late; Maleficent’s already started the spell.

Mickey fights past Pete but can’t quite make it to Maleficent before she creates a portal in the sky straight to the World of Darkness.

The residents, including Oswald, start to get sucked into the portal. As this happens, Mickey starts to forget some of them. (Like how Roxas’ memories of Xion faded slightly before and after she ‘died’)

Just like Roxas, Mickey gets a bit of a power boost in a desperate attempt to stop Maleficent and remember Oswald.

Before they get completely sucked in, Yen Sid uses his magic to change the destination of the portal and quickly creates a small ‘pocket world’ in his tower within an enchanted scroll on his desk with magic paint and thinner ala the Fantasia world in DDD (I’m sure you can see where this is going).

However, due to the darkness of Maleficent’s spell and the fact he rushed to make it, the world he created was a dark and twisted version of DT.

And since the spell was to make the residents fall to darkness, they all lost their hearts. However, in the world Yen Sid made, time doesn’t exist (just like the WoD), so they don’t become Heartless/Nobodies; they’re stuck in-between the process.

They still have their emotions and memories, but without their hearts, they can’t leave the world.

Besides, even if they could, they would only become Heartless and/or Nobodies.

Mickey manages to use his Star Shard to transport himself, Pete, and Maleficent to the Keyblade Graveyard before she sucks in all the residents, but Oswald and the others who appear in EM are sucked in and forgotten.

Yen Sid, due to the trans-dimensional/spatial and magical properties of his tower, is the only one who remembers.

Considering that not even Maleficent remembers what happened now, she takes Pete and teleports away to do whatever she did between BBS and KH1 plan her revenge.

Mickey, confused as to why he’s suddenly in the Graveyard again, teleports back to the Mysterious Tower.

Yen Sid tells Mickey about what happened, but Mickey can’t help but feel a little detached since he can’t remember any of it.

However, when Yen Sid mentions Oswald, Mickey feels a sadness in his heart that he can’t quite explain. A single heart rolls down his cheek.

Yen Sid tells Mickey how he needs to go into the scroll and fix the world. He tells Mickey that he can’t fix the darkness from the outside, and how he can sense Heartless in the scroll.

Mickey grabs the paintbrush and dips it into the paint.

“What do you mean? Couldn’t we just use the paint and thinner to fix the problem here?”

“Mickey, don’t!”

Mickey, surprised by Yen Sid’s outburst, jumps back.

In the process, he accidentally knocks over the paint and thinner onto the scroll.

OhDearGodWhatHaveIDone.jpg

Mickey tries to wipe up the liquid puddle on the scroll, but it’s too late; Yen Sid tells Mickey that the damage is irreversible here on the outside.

With Mickey’s only option made clear, he jumps into the scroll.

From here, the events of EM play out pretty much the same, with some differences.

The real world references in EM are either completely missing or made a lot more subtle (things like the Walt Disney statue with Oswald are removed while small things in the levels are still there).

The Blotlings are a new type of Heartless instead of just monsters.

The magic paintbrush Mickey brings with him turns into the Epic Masterpiece Keyblade.

The “multiple Petes” in EM are animatronics this time, based off of other personas of the KH Pete (like Captain Justice and Captain Dark)

Characters like Smee who were in KH before while also in EM would just be animatronics.

The Donald, Daisy, and Goofy animatronics were made by Oswald to try and replicate their powers to protect them from the Heartless. This obviously failed.

The Mad Doctor was obsessed with experiments with the heart, like Xehanort before and during EM (tho obviously not as bad or as successful as he was). 

Oswald and the Mad Doctor were working on these animatronics before Maleficent tried to wipe them out (The Donald, Daisy, and Goofy animatronics were incomplete before they were sucked in, hence why they’re so damaged in EM).

Oswald was named King of Wasteland in place of Mickey.

If everyone were to remember the residents, they could possibly get their hearts back.

The hurt and betrayal that Oswald felt in EM are not because Mickey got the spotlight and replaced him; he’s upset because Mickey, who was a brother for him, doesn’t remember him anymore. And even worse, he caused the Thinner Disaster.

At the end of EM, Mickey regains his memories of the residents and especially Oswald.

He wants to bring them out, but they can’t leave without their hearts.

Mickey is torn because he knows the Wastelands, while fixed for now, are still dangerous as the Heartless could possibly come back and the Mad Doctor is still on the loose.

But even if they could leave, bringing them back would possibly bring back everyone’s memories of them, including Maleficent’s, so it’s dangerous either way.

So Mickey does the next best thing he can think of: he bequeaths Oswald.

Since Oswald doesn’t have a heart, he couldn’t summon a Keyblade the natural way, so Mickey hands him the Epic Masterpiece Keyblade.

However, Mickey’s bond with Oswald was so strong that when he handed it to Oswald, his hearts reacts to it even though it’s so far away from Oswald’s body.

Basically, the bond and memories that Mickey shared with Oswald were strong enough to call to Oswald’s heart for the Keyblade to spring from.

It’s called the Lucky Remote Keyblade, (Obviously based off of his remote from EM2).

Mickey leaves Wasteland after promising to tell only those trustworthy about them.

Basically, only Mickey, Yen Sid, Donald, Goofy, Minnie, Daisy, Chip, and Dale remember the residents of Wasteland to any extent. They all keep the secret. (Mickey probably told Ventus, Aqua, Terra and the others about it after KH3.)

Donald treats it just like he treats the Order; if anyone even remotely hints at it, he scolds them like he does Sora.

EM2 is canon; all the previous notes apply. Those events take place before KH1 but obviously waaay after EM1 in the timeline (Ten years is more than enough time for both of these games to happen before KH1).

Well, there you have it! This post is way too long and I’m tired :’)

Maybe I’ll draw the Keyblades and my redesign for a KH! Oswald at some point, but this is more than enough for now.

[nadziejastar]

NO FEAR: IsaLea is still subtly canon (ill take what I’ll get) and Skuld comes and they become a platonic trio. No Isa/Skuld or Lea/Skuld (writers could try to flip it on us). FEAR: Skuld eats up all the attention in the trio. Isa and Lea’s characterization gets reduced to one dimensional fanboys. Skuld paired up with Isa or Lea. We stick in forced pairing hell and there will be ship wars.

NIGHTMARE: The writers make Skuld and either Isa or Lea get married and have a kid. I don’t think push it THAT far. I dunno if they’ll truly go through with a romantic pairing. But I’m gonna lose hope and interest if they do. 

Sora: Kairi, I’ll keep you safe.

Kairi: Let me keep you safe.

Well, if you ask me, Lea and Isa were already reduced to one-dimensional fanboys in KH3. Lea was more of a one-dimensional fanboy for different characters, though. And in future games, he’ll probably continue to be portrayed that way. I’ve already lost interest. The only hope I have left is the sick humor I’ll get watching all the characters get destroyed. Lea and Kairi’s role in the final battle was supposed to be saving Isa from Xehanort’s control. But since that idea was thrown in the trash, they had no real reason to be there anymore. Thus, they became totally irrelevant to the plot. Roxas conveniently arrived just in time to take Lea’s place, while Xion arrived to take Kairi’s place.

Saïx: You’re the fire that feeds Sora’s anger.

Kairi: No… Sora’s in danger because of me…

Kairi wanted to prove herself during her training. She wanted to keep Sora and the others safe for a change. And she does! She becomes a real hero instead of a damsel-in-distress. Psyche! She actually regresses to be an even MORE useless damsel than ever before! 

Her new friend Axel doesn’t even react when she’s kidnapped. Kairi, who? Who cares about her? Roxas Stu and Xion Sue are here! Time for a big snuggly hug! But wait. Now there’s more Guardians of Light than necessary. Kairi is superfluous. How can we make her important? Well, I guess she can motivate Sora again? A-hyuk! How does her fight with Saïx go? Exactly like it did before she could wield a Keyblade, of course! She is simply the fire to fuel Sora’s anger…again.

Kairi: I’m training to become a Keyblade wielder like you. That’s right. No more waiting for you to come back from your adventures.

It’s okay. She still has a happy ending! While everyone else celebrates, she gets to imagine Sora is with her while crying to herself. Sure, everyone starts to worry as she’s hallucinating. But it’s okay. Sora will be back. 

Donald: Kairi, you were great!

Kairi: Oh?

Sora: You are different, Kairi, but I’m just glad you’re here!

Kairi: You and Riku never came home, so I came looking for you.

Any minute now. She’ll just wait right here for him to come back.

Lea: Ah, I’ll catch up with ya in no time flat.

Sora: What? You wanna be a Keyblade Master?

Lea: Yeah. I mean, I came here to learn how to wield one.

Lea wanted to prove himself as a Keyblade wielder as well. He put himself at risk using the D.T.D just to find Mickey. All so he could become a wielder and find Isa. He believes that inside people’s memories, he can live forever. He spends the whole game training with Kairi in preparation for the final battle. Yeah…Lea was a pretty cool character. 

Xigbar: Axel!

Lea: Axel? Please. The name’s Lea. Got it memorized?

Xigbar: You’re not supposed to be here!

Xigbar was right. Lea, you aren’t supposed to be here.

Axel: You kidding? Do you know how popular I am? I got loads of people rootin’ for me. Sorry, boss. No one axes Axel. Got it memorized?

That’s better.

Sora & Riku: YOU!?

Lea: Hey, thanks for the vote of confidence. You know, I was gonna come swooping in, Keyblade in hand! But I just couldn’t get mine to materialize. Must be in the snap of the wrist or something.

For some reason, Lea stopped caring about Isa, and his sole purpose in life became…Roxas…again. A character who he has…no ability to bring back, actually. Not even with his snazzy new Keyblade. So, what now? How can he still be useful?

Lea: You had your perfect little script, but you kinda forgot to write the sequel. Now, let’s find out what happens!

Few people realize that Lea—excuse me, AXEL— was breaking the fourth wall all the way back in KH3D. He knew exactly what would happen!And instead of braving the darkness, rescuing his friend, and becoming a hero…Axel gets benched. Literally. He gets to watch from the bleacher seats.

Lea: Promises to keep. I’ll always be there to get my friends back. What, bad timing? 

Well, whaddaya know? It turns out that getting his ass handed to him was just the magic spark Roxas Stu needed to magically arrive and save the day. Axel fanboys over Roxas Stu’s sheer awesomeness! Roxas Stu smiles at Axel with a cool expression. Roxas Stu is back, so Axel has served his purpose. He tells Axel that his five minutes are up now. It’s HIS turn.

Xemnas: Ah, ever the rogue pawn. Knocked from the board early in the game. Utterly useless and forgotten.

Whoa, Xemnas can break the fourth wall, too? He sure called it ahead of time. But it’s okay. He is more than happy about it. He compliments Roxas Stu and Xion Sue for their amazing prowess with the Keyblade! Those two are old pros, unlike him, after all! A-hyuck!

Saïx: Do you know what happens to those who lose their true purpose? Inevitably, they destroy themselves.

This picture is a fairly decent representation of KH3′s Isa. He’s on his knees, alone, being looked down on by everyone. Lea is disgusted with him. He’s lost all sense of purpose…in the story, that is. If you think about Isa’s canon story, he and Lea try to rescue a girl that they barely know, and are not sure even exists. They become apprentices just for her, then get turned into Nobodies. They devote their lives to finding information about this girl, and they conspire to make Saïx Xemnas’ right-hand man. Saïx is so obsessed with this random girl, he drifts apart from Axel and becomes…a sociopath. Yep, that’s all folks. You were expecting a tragic backstory? Nope! There’s no intriguing human experiment plot! Just girl drama.

Maleficent: You see? It’s just as I told you. While you toiled away trying to find your dear friend, he quite simply replaced you with some new companions. Evidently, now he values them far more than he does you. You’re better off without that wretched boy. Now, think no more of him and come with me. I’ll help you find what you’re searching for…

Roxas Stu and Xion Sue observe with pity as Axel’s OLD best friend gets put in his place. As his NEW best friends, they are rewarded with brand-new DLC packs…starring them, of course. They were always special after all. The only Keyblade users in Days. But it wasn’t enough for them to simply steal Axel and Kairi’s first and only fight as wielders. Now they need MORE screen time so we can bask in their glory.

Axel: You let them reduce you to this?

Axel does break the fourth wall a lot in KH3. Well, he was actually doing it here, too. He’s not referring to Organization XIII when he asks this—he was talking about Square Enix and Disney. He’s asking Isa how he let himself get turned into such a pathetic character. And the answer is simple: Axel went off and made other friends. More POPULAR friends. So he got left in the dust. From a narrative standpoint, that’s exactly what happened.

Riku: Take care of her.

Somewhere along the way, Saïx became part-Xehanort. The implication in KH3 was that he willingly became a vessel, since he wasn’t being controlled like Terra was, and Lea was disgusted at how he let himself get reduced to his state. So, he basically sacrificed his humanity JUST to find this random girl. Totally believable actions from a complex and multi-dimensional character, right? Then he became obsessed with power…or something? Meanwhile, Axel makes other friends. Saïx gets jealous and becomes a giant asshole, and now he has to redeem himself by getting replicas for Lea’s NEW bestest friends. 

He then quietly fades away in the background, out of shame. It’s an utterly sad and pathetic story, really. One more fitting for a tragic villain than someone on the side of the good guys. I can’t decide which would be worse. Isa and Skuld actually getting together, and rewarding this horrible characterization…or Isa continuing to degrade himself for her while his feelings go unrequited. I remember how much I despised Riku’s character arc in KH1, and how pissed off I was during his ending scene. I was SO grateful that the future games stepped away from shit like this. But now, it’s back, I guess.

Roxas: You’re me, so you can feel what I felt.

Sora: No. Roxas, you’re you. We’re not the same. I wanted to tell you that. That you deserve as much as I do to be your own person.

Personally I doubt that Isa and Skuld will actually become a couple. I think Isa’s fate is to be the same as the Riku Replica. Naminé brainwashed him, and implanted false memories inside of him to make him think he was in love with her. He became obsessed with a phantom girl to the point where he wanted to kill his childhood friend, Sora. He finds out the truth about how their relationship was a fraud and never existed in the first place. Then he dies.

Then comes back! But…he sacrifices his only chance at having his own life. Like Isa, he did it “all for her”. In a narrative sense, he was sacrificed as a pawn in order to bring back Naminé. She needs the replica more (ie. is more popular) than him. And nobody needs him, since the REAL Riku is already around anyways. A faithful replica until the very end. Isa served the same purpose in KH3. His arc was sacrificed in order to concoct an excuse to bring Roxas and Xion back, and also to put the spotlight on Skuld from now on.

Riku Replica: So…it’s over. Hmph. Death doesn’t frighten me. Good riddance to a phony life. My heart was never real. I’m sure even what I’m feeling now is probably all fake.

Riku: What are you feeling?

Riku Replica: What happens when a fake dies—one like me? Where will my heart go? Does it disappear?

Riku: It’ll go somewhere. Maybe to the same place as mine.

Riku Replica: Tsk. A faithful replica until the very end. That’s…okay.

Riku Replica had a MUCH more dignified death in CoM. He rejected the fake memories he had. He resented the fact that he was a fake replica. He didn’t have to go to the Dark Realm or the afterlife. He was always a part of Riku. So ultimately, he went back to him. They had the same heart—they were the same person. I thought that was a fitting end, and his final words were quite compelling actually. KH3 plays up the fact that replicas are totally unique individuals, yet treats Riku Replica as being even more disposable than before. But it’s okay. He’s happy about it. A-hyuk!