#I just wish we got to see more scenes with Aqua and Terra

[yzafre]

The thing about Ventus as we're introduced to him in BBS is, for me, that he has a lot of right instincts and feelings, but not (yet) the maturity to properly communicate and act on them.

Because if you look at what he says in the game - hey something bad's coming, we should stay together, we should support each other, we should not spy on each other and mess with other's agency at an outsider's behest - I mean... he's right! He is, in fact, right about that!

I very firmly believe that if they'd stuck together a lot of the issues in BBS would have been either avoided or mitigated. Like imagine if you had this unshakeable understanding of what's going wrong and what you need to do to fix it but no one will listen to you. Without experience and maturity guiding you on how to handle it, I can see why he gets very yell-y and snappish and impulsive.

The problem, of course, is that just because it's understandable does not mean it's a good way to handle things. It's still an immature course of action! I know there's been people that find him very whiny, and on top of that, uh, telling Aqua she's awful was not the best look, Ven, what the heck.

I think another aspect of this is he's still filtering these things he instinctively knows through a rather... self-centered? Point of view. He's more focused on how their actions are making him feel, rather than understanding why Terra and Aqua are acting the way they are, why they don't see the truths he does.

We joke a lot about "your experience is not universal" but honestly I think realizing that is a huge stepping stone in a person's path of growth. Looking outside yourself to realize other people are have their own internal worlds guiding them.

That's why the "What you are is Darkness?" scene in KH3 hits so well for him! He's both finally able to communicate why he finds his and Vanitas' situation so awful rather than just yelling a lot, but also he understands and acknowledges Vanitas' point of view, even if he probably still knows/feels its not the best one.

[themelodicenigma]

You know, I was thinking about how Kairi was a little bit of a tomboy in KH1, and how in the later games she became more feminine over time. And I'm probably overthinking things, but I think part of the reason was that up until the events of KH1 she probably spent most of her time with Sora and Riku. Later when she was separated from them it seems she spent more time with her female friends, or at least Selphie. Again, I could be overthinking this.

Hmm, maybe? Or to me, she's really just the same—it's more that as the games she's involved in go on, we get more opportunity to see her character growth and personality spectrum. Just more as we get more.

In KH1, we get she works well in her friendship with two males, not only counting them off to race, but even joins them (though is too slow). She spends her time making trinkets, which according to Terra, is a "girly" thing to do. XD She dresses with feminine attributes, and I wouldn't exactly say her personality is "masculine" or anything. She has a strong will and courage to protect, as shown in Sora's "death" scene and when she covers him from other Heartless. She even wanted to join Sora for the final bout in the Final World. Romance-wise, she straight up sees that Sora drew the Paopu Fruit. We wish we could've gotten more out of her, but it was a foundation for everything that follows.

Her being more involved = more of the above, essentially. More of what we already know.

We see she still has that same courage and desire to be involved—in KH2 she takes this more into her own hands as she goes to look for Sora. Literally goes into a weird, Dark Corridor, which even Axel commends her for having the guts to do. She jumps off a ledge and doesn't even break her ankle, kicks Heartless butt, gets a Keyblade, has a very nice interaction with Riku, with Namine and the Twilight trio, and if circumstantially she and everyone else [besides Sora and Riku] weren't separated, she'd been wanting to square up with Xemnas too at the end. XD We get just a small taste of "adventure" Kairi.

Feminine-wise, yeah she let her hair grow out (which I believe long hair is typically thought of as more "feminine" by people??), and she's still wearing a skirt—so really still roughly the same. Except now instead of just another trinket, we see she wrote that letter for Sora + is completely unfazed by the idea of being "the girl he likes" and that her journey to find him is a "romantic/wonderful story". lol Not to mention that conversation with Roxas and Namine—"We'll be together every day". Of course romance isn't REALLY just a feminine thing, but we could say the writing has it more direct than it was in the first game.

And then in KH3, well, same principle. She's the same, but just more opportunity...eh kind of. We REALLY should've gotten more from her training with Lea/Axel, I honestly was looking forward to that being it's own segment where we could play as her, similar to what we did for Riku. Could've saved it even for just one time, like what Kairi was talking about with her and Lea/Axel "meeting in the ring" as they were apparently going to spar each other. It's great that this was made up for in Re:Mind playable-wise, AND in MoM, that she got her VERY OWN action cutscene in her skirmish with Xehanort—a full on 1vs1 battle cutscene. KAIRI has one. That's pretty sweet. But still, that training segment still would've been great.

Now we know she's going to be training even more, BUT she's also going to be with Aqua, someone who also is designed to be a very feminine, strong character. If the games take from the novel, maybe the game (or the inevitable novel) will show Aqua showing Kairi how to bake, and even better ways to make the trinket charms (sorry Kairi, but Aqua's have a little more quality lol).

[miss-tc-nova]

Riku’s Christmas Wish - Riku x Reader

I’ve had this scene for a while now and recently dug it up to polish because I think it’s cute. 

~~~~~

              Snow crunches beneath my boots—fresh, crisp, unmarred, and it continues to build as the storm rages on. In the distance, I can see the dim lights of the castle towards which I press. It feels like an eternity before I finally arrive at the massive doors and push my way in.

              Immediately, warmth washes across my chilly skin and the smell of fresh cookies floats in the air. Filled with swelling relief, I lean against the wall with a smile.

              Only days ago, we received an urgent mission call from Yen Sid. After much deliberation among the keyblade wielders, it was agreed that I was best suited for the job. As much as I wanted to protest, I accepted my responsibility and prepared for the mission that was likely to take me several days—including Christmas.

              Before I left, the others offered to hold off on the festivities. I really didn’t want that guilt—I knew how excited everyone was for our first Christmas all together again. At least it was supposed to be. The worst of it was facing Riku. Between his words of affirmation, I could see the disappointment in his eyes. Not only was this supposed to be everyone’s first Christmas together, but it was the first Christmas Riku and I were supposed to share as a couple. Still, as much as it killed me to give up this holiday with him, I couldn’t bring myself to get his hopes up and told him to enjoy his time with the others. Even as I was on my way out, I gave him a kiss and bid he have fun.

              I don’t know how or which of the gods was watching out for me, but I managed to finish my mission ahead of schedule. It spurred the wishful thinking I’d tried so hard to douse and, even as I neared my destination, I couldn’t admit that I had made it on time.

              But I did. It was late into the day, but I made it to the Land of Departure on Christmas.

              Eyes snap open when I hear my name. Two of my friends—one with red hair and one with blue—rush down the stairs to greet me.

              “You made it!” Kairi exclaims.

              Aqua, on the other hand, is a bit more prudent. “What happened to your mission?”

              “All done,” I hum.

              Her eyes widen. “You weren’t supposed to finish until after Christmas.”

              Understanding her surprise, I smile. “Guess I got lucky. Where’s everyone else?”

              “In the study; we’re about to start the next game.” She smiles softly. “Riku’s gonna be so happy you made it.”

              Then Kairi also grins. I’m not entirely sure I love that glint in her eyes. “Perhaps we should make some changes to our plans. Wait here.”

              I tilt my head, but Kairi drags Aqua back up the stairs. As much as I want to see Riku, I’d like to not upset the fiery red-head so I wait in the foyer as I’m told. When the two come back, Kairi’s got a bowl full of paper and, based on her matching smirk, Aqua is fully onboard with whatever’s going on.

              “Okay,” Kairi starts, leading us towards the study. “We’re gonna play a game but you’re going to wait out here until one of us comes to get you.”

              “But—”

              Aqua cuts me off. “You’re gonna love it. Just wait like ten more minutes and you can have Riku for the rest of the day.”

              “As if we’ll be able to pry them apart afterwards,” Kairi scoffs.

              Aqua giggles her agreement and the two abandon me in the hall. Miffed and impatient, I eavesdrop through the cracked door. My gaze immediately sticks to Riku who doesn’t seem as enthused as everyone else. Still, the girls have a plan and so my hands are tied.

              And finally, Kairi announces her game.

              "Okay, so we're going to draw names out of the bowl and the person who draws has to guess who it is by touch. If you guess wrong, you play truth or dare." An accusing gaze sweeps the group. "Keep it clean or you’ll be sleeping in the blizzard tonight. Let's start with Axel."

              "Alright.” He hops off the sofa.

              He’s blindfolded and then draws Terra. Though not pleased, he guesses correctly. Terra draw Kairi who then draws Ven. Admittedly, it looks fun and I can see where this plan is going; even I’m getting excited.

              The game continued until Aqua draws Riku. He seems unsure of the game and not nearly as amused at the antics, but plays anyways. Sora and Roxas crack jokes as he puts on the blindfold, but he does as he’s told and draws a paper to give Aqua. However, instead of Aqua looking at it, Kairi rushes back to the door that she nearly rips off the hinges. There’s gasps and grins as she drags me in by the arm but Aqua shushes them.

              He can hear the shenanigans going on, but Riku stands there as awkwardly as I’d expect anyone to. I give the schemers a glance, seeing them wave me on. Trying to calm my nerves, I take a deep breath and take his hands.

              “This is weird,” he mutters to himself. I would agree, but then I’d be beaten for ruining the fun. Still, Riku plays along as his fingers explore mine before sliding along my arms. Here, we find the first discrepancy.

              His brow furrows. “Pretty sure changing clothes is cheating.” His fingers pinch at my jacket. Only some of our friends wore shirts with long sleeves, but definitely nothing like my winter wear.

              “Nobody’s changing clothes,” Kairi goads. “Do you have a guess yet?”

              “No...” Hands to my shoulders, he assesses my height before moving higher. “Seriously? Nobody was wearing a scarf.”

              I literally bite my lip but everyone else has free reign to laugh.

              “Either guess or keep playing,” Aqua tells him.

              Groaning, he continues. His fingers snake into my hair. It takes everything I have not to let out a content sigh; even so, I feel the goosebumps prickling on my skin. However, he meets the hat I’d been using to protect my ears.

              Pulling it from my head, he growls, “Alright, very funny, guys. You could at least play fair.”

              "Come on, Riku. Just guess!" Sora shouts.

              "Guess! Guess! Guess!" Xion and Ven starts chanting. Getting everyone else to join in. Not gaining any ground, Riku presses his hands to either side of my face, running his thumbs across my cheeks—likely crossing out all the voices he’s hearing.

              "I don't know," he mutters, frustrated and definitely over this hazing. "Xion?"

              "Wrong! Truth or dare?!" Kairi demands.

              He sighs, dropping his hands and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Truth."

              "What do you want most for Christmas?"

              "Oh come on," he grumbles. I feel a little mean now.

              She doesn’t let up. "Answer the question."

              He growls under his breath, but gives in with a sigh and utters my name.

              “What was that?” Sometimes I forget how cruel Kairi can be.

              Much more clearly, he blurts out, “I wish _____ was here.”

              Jaw dropping, my hands press to my mouth and several people awe. In one swift motion, Kairi pulls the blindfold from his face.

              I don’t know if the heckling was worth the expression of shock but all I really know is that I’m madly in love with this man. He flinches as if he’s been struck. At first, he stares in disbelief, but the second my fingers graze his arm, he jerks me into his arms in a crushing embrace. I giggle beneath his relentless kisses, absolutely thrilled to have Riku in my arms again.

              Aqua ushers us away from the game and we plop onto the sofa, entangled in each other. Refusing to let me go, Riku continues pressing kisses against my skin.

              “Riku,” I protest. “Riku, let me take off my coat.”

              Huffing, he grips my coat and rips the thing down my arms before pulling me flush against him once again.

              "What are you doing here?" he asks, burying his face in my shoulder.

              “Oh come on. You know I would’ve done anything not to miss this, don’t you?” Fingers glide through his hair.

              His arms tighten. “I didn’t wanna get my hopes up.”

              I give a breathy laugh. “Me too.”

              Though I missed half the day, there were still plenty of celebrations to go around. Besides, it’s not like I could begrudge my lost time, not after finding out Riku’s Christmas wish. Knowing that, I couldn’t help but beam at him each chance I got—it also helped that a faint dust of pink graced his cheeks every time he caught me staring. So what I thought would be a lost holiday became one that I’ll never forget.

~~~~~

Nova’s Kingdom Hearts Masterlist

[phoenix-downer]

Melody of Memory Thoughts

I finished the game yesterday and have a lot of thoughts on it, so I thought I’d stick them all in one megapost. Contains spoilers, for obvious reasons. 

So, going into the game, I knew the plot choices would be questionable/disappointing because a few friends warned me, but I didn’t know the exact details. I was actually relieved things weren’t as bad as I feared they might be—I was worried Kairi would be going back to sleep or going back to Destiny Islands to patiently wait, so at least we did not get that. I think knowing what I was getting into beforehand helped prepare me for the plot points we did get. 

Gameplay

I’ll talk about the gameplay first because that’s easier to summarize. I had a lot of fun with it, and the trip down memory lane with all the familiar music was wonderful. I played with Sora, Donald, Goofy, and then Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, and it was really satisfying in particular to play as the latter three because I always wanted to see them fighting as a team more often. I need to try out the other teams; perhaps I will soon. 

I loved the attention to detail with the character animations and the little loading screens. The main menu scenes were adorable too, and it was nice seeing the characters chatting to each other. Riku’s scene with the Dream Eaters was precious. 

I played the songs on various difficulties, depending on the extra challenges. One thing I did notice is that the difficulty was variable even for the same level. Some Proud mode songs I was able to complete, others I really struggled with and gave up on for the time being. I can imagine it was difficult to create a consistent standard of difficulty when the music itself varies so much. I noticed that battle songs, songs with strong downbeats, and songs with syncopation translated better into rhythm games. The slower songs did not, and for a couple of songs I noticed that the buttons were not matching up with the rhythm, which threw me through a loop. Overall though, most of the music matches the timing of the buttons much better than in previous KH games, so I appreciated the improvement there. 

The Memory Dive and Boss Battle system is different from the Field Battle system, so there was a learning curve for me there. KH3 features more Memory Dive segments though, probably to show off the nicer graphics and to prepare you for the final battle. By the time I got the hang of the Memory Dive system, I was enjoying myself a lot. I still wish KH3 songs had featured more, but perhaps they’re planning on a Melody of Memory Volume 2 or some DLC or something. 

Pretty much all of the character themes have to be unlocked. I’ve done Kairi’s, Naminé’s, and Sora’s so far, and the videos accompanying them are really nice. I honestly wish I could watch someone play so I can pay attention to the videos because the glimpses I catch are lovely.

Maybe it’s because I marathoned the game, but it does start to feel grind-y after several hours of playing. It’s the kind of grinding I enjoy doing, but by the time I unlocked BBS and DDD, I stopped trying to complete the extra challenges because I wanted to get to the plot. Speaking of the plot, by the way, all of the new stuff is at the end of the game. Everything up till then is just a summary of what’s come before. I do understand why Nomura went with that, but it does make it a little tiring to get to the new plot because of the sheer number of songs you have to get through first. 

Now that we’re discussing story, though...

Story

I. The Good

1. Kairi is playable (well, this is more gameplay, but it also ties into story). 

I know a lot of people watched videos that cut out the gameplay, but she does get a couple of segments of her own where she is playable and you get to do a Memory Dive-esque segment. The first instance is set to “Stranded Beyond,” the music that plays in the Final World. The second instance is set to the music box version of her theme I believe it was as she gathers pieces of her heart. She did get a render for the game, so I was expecting her to be playable at some point, and I was happy she was. 

2. Kairi puts up a darn good fight against Xehanort. I wish we could have played through this part, but she kept attacking and didn't let him grabbing her Keyblade deter her. She's clearly improved even since the Keyblade Graveyard. 

3. Sora showing up to help her is really sweet, as was her thanking him. 

It would've been nice if we got to do that fight as the two of them or as Kairi herself (and more on that later), but the romance of it all was nice. The boy's not even in the real world anymore, and he still shows up to help when Kairi’s is in danger. At first I thought she'd managed to summon his Keyblade, which is awesome and shows how connected they are, and then he appeared and I was like woah okay guess their hearts really are connected thanks to the paopu fruit. 

 4. Kairi’s going to train with Aqua! Yes! 

The fans have been clamoring for this for years and it's finally happening! And she chose it for herself. Leave it to her to try to make the best of the short end of the stick. 

5. Letting Riku go alone takes a lot of trust on her end. Yeah, it would've been nice if she got to go, but she's also realistic about her own abilities, and that is in line with how she's been in previous games. I think especially after her failures led to Sora disappearing, she'd be hesitant to rush into danger if she's worried she'd be a liability.

6. It was a pleasant surprise that the Nameless Star was the third key (with Kairi and Riku being the other two) and not Yozora. I thought for sure he would be, so I’m glad Nameless Star gets to be instead. She seems like a kind soul and I like her a lot already. 

7. It was nice hearing Kairi's thoughts on Sora's sacrifice for her in KH1. I also love the implication that everyone’s told Kairi their stories, hence why she’s able to tell them to us. The BBS segments especially sound as if she spoke to Aqua in particular about what happened, which ties in nicely to how Aqua’s going to train her at the end. 

8. Alyson upped her voice acting game in this, props to her. Her lines when Kairi was facing off against Xehanort were great, and her voice was very soothing to listen to for the narration. 

III. The Bad

1. Kairi should've been playable in that last battle. I can see why Nomura had Sora show up though; he's the hero and people want to see him, etc. The same issue happened with Riku getting sidelined in KH3, so it's hardly unique to Kairi; it just seems worse because of Kairi’s past treatment. Sora showing up was a cool moment and looked neat visually, but it would’ve been better if he and Kairi had fought together or if he’d encouraged her and then she’d done the fighting herself. Sadly, Sora winds up shining more in this game than Kairi does as a result, and the advertising feels like a huge bait-and-switch. Again. 

I'm honestly beginning to wonder if part of the story for ReMind was written after Melody of Memory, because Melody of Memory seems to follow more directly from KH3 whereas ReMind almost feels like it was written... in reaction to the fanbase being upset about how Kairi was treated? I think Nomura must’ve had his heart set on certain plot points for the story post-KH3, and instead of letting his characters guide him, he’s forcing his decisions on the characters. Which leads me to the next point: 

2. Kairi staying behind does feel like a character regression. It made sense in KH1 and during Blank Points I suppose, but it's disappointing she didn't go with Riku this time. I guess it's realistic though, and so the whole plot point is a mixed bag. It's hard for me to make a final judgment call on this until we see more of the story. Is she training with Aqua so she can be shunted aside, or is she going to be in a game with Terra, Aqua, and Ven that delves into Ven's past or something? Until we know more, I’m not sure how to feel. 

3. If I had to guess, the next game(s) will have Riku, Yozora, and Mickey be playable. Possibly Sora too because Nomura can't help himself lol. This is... about what I expected. I figured Riku would be the one in Yozora's world just based on the secret ending of KH3. I wonder how all of this is going to go down (I know Square has several KH teams now, so multiple games are probably in development right now). 

4. I don’t know how I feel about us possibly getting DDD the Redux + Yozora for the 20th anniversary in 2022. Having another DDD-esque game would not be treading any new ground, and it feels like Nomura wants to do Versus XIII at all costs, the main plot of KH be hanged (hi Foretellers and Luxu, we miss you, you were disappointingly absent in this game). But I do think the Yozora game is next in the cards, and then maybe there will be another game focused on Mickey going to Scala ad Caelum. I really hope it's not just Mickey by himself in that game... And I’d really like a game about the Wayfinder Trio + Kairi...

5. Riku's character is getting worse and worse. His entire character has become about saving Sora, and saving Sora isn't any different than his role in DDD. Feels like a rehash of past plot points, much like Kairi having to train feels like a rehash of past plot points. And at this point it just feels like he’s taking away screentime and agency from other characters, Kairi in particular. David also kind of phoned in the voice acting again on this game. To be fair, he only had a handful of lines, but some of his lines in KH3 also sounded tired and bored. 

6. There’s only a passing mention to Roxas, Naminé, Xion, Axel, etc., and not even by name (they’re just lumped together as the others in Twilight Town or something along those lines). It would've been nice to know what they've been up to; they feel strangely uninvolved in the plot. At least we know Kairi will be training with Aqua, so there's that. 

7. I really wish Kairi had argued with Riku more about going. She did briefly, but it's sad that she gives up so easily and that Riku doesn't really trust her. It's such a huge contrast to how Sora treats her; whereas he believes in her and raises her up, Riku is like, "Nah, you should stay behind, you're not good enough yet, let me handle this." Riku still coddles her too much and treats her like she’s a doll on a shelf whereas Sora invites her to fight alongside him in ReMind and comes to her aid when she needs it. Riku comes out of this looking like a jerk, which I doubt was intended by Nomura, but it is what it is. Especially because Mickey is really worried about him going alone later on. 

8. Kairi's backstory being used only to forward the plot instead of delving into her feelings more is a missed opportunity. Also features retcons galore with Xehanort apparently sending her away to save Radiant Garden all along? That part confused me. And the meta implication that Riku is getting to go on the journey she was originally meant to go on... It makes me wonder if Nomura thinks the implications of his writing through. Riku is literally stealing her role and her plotline now, and neither of them react like two people in such a situation would. I hope Nomura’s going somewhere with this and that it's not just completely unintended bad implications, or worse, fully intended bad implications...

III. Miscellaneous Thoughts

1. It's hard to know how to feel about this game without knowing the next chapters of the story. It does feel like it leads directly from KH3, but it feels like a regression character-wise from ReMind. 

2. I hope Kairi going to train with Aqua isn't just an excuse to sideline her from the plot... again. I have some serious caveats about her role going forward, but I'm relieved she didn't go to sleep again or go back home to Destiny Islands. That was my worst fear, and thank goodness she is taking her fate into her own hands in the small ways she can. I wonder if this is Nomura trying to continue a plot point from BBS Volume 2 that had to be scrapped or something. Let's hope Aqua can actually teach her competently, unlike Merlin...

3. Mickey getting a Melody of Memory render confuses me. He wasn't playable, was he? I didn't 100% the game so I have no idea. Maybe he is playable somewhere in the game and I haven’t gotten to it yet. Or maybe he really will be playable in a future game as a main character. 

4. No one will ever be able to claim Kairi is a Mary Sue lol. She's had an (almost disappointingly realistic) learning curve when it comes to fighting, especially in comparison to the other characters. I hope that by the time KH4 rolls around, Nomura will let her be fully competent/fully trained. It's frustrating that pretty much all of the other characters get to learn as they go, but she is relegated to more training.

5. This game almost makes me more impatient for the next chapter of the story when I was feeling pretty content after ReMind. I guess the game has done its job in that case, but while I feel better than I did after KH3, I feel slightly worse than I did after ReMind. I wish Nomura wasn't so fixated on maintaining the status quo and would stop rehashing past plot points. But again, it'll be hard to judge all this until we get more material, which probably won't be till 2022 at the earliest if I had to guess.

6. The Yozora stuff wasn't as hackneyed as I feared it would be, but I still can't shake the feeling that that whole plot point is sucking up precious screentime from other characters. I think Nomura's going to spread himself too thin again and have trouble wrapping all of this up in KH4. Because now we have the Riku-going-to-Yozora's-world plotline, the Mickey-going-to-Scala-ad-Caelum plotline, the Kairi-training-with-Aqua plotline, the overall-rescuing-Sora plotline, the Luxu-Foretellers-MoM plotline, the Subject X plotline... how on earth are all these plotlines supposed to be connected to each other and resolved in a satisfying fashion?

7. My guess is that the switch to Kairi being narrator instead of Chirithy happened late into development of the game, perhaps because Nomura saw how much the fanbase does appreciate Kairi and wanted to throw us a bone. Unfortunately, what resulted is a bait-and-switch that made us hope we'd get a Kairi-focused game, only for it to... end the way it does. Ironically, I think it might've been less disappointing if Chirithy had remained the narrator. I'm glad Kairi got to be the narrator, don't get me wrong, but I think the way Nomura handled things set us up for disappointment again. I just hope whatever comes next makes this game feel better in hindsight.

8. I’m not entirely sure what to make of the whole “unreality”/fictional worlds thing. I guess I’m having an easier time accepting it than I thought I might, but it still feels like the whole plotline was introduced just to shove Versus XIII into the KH universe. I sympathize with Nomura for having his baby taken away from him in the first place, but I worry both it and KH will suffer as a result of combining the two. 

IV. Future Speculation

1. If I had to guess, Kairi is probably not going to be very involved in the Yozora game(s). It'll be focused on Riku, Yozora, and possibly Mickey and Sora too. Yozora and Nameless Star will probably be instrumental in bringing Sora back "to the real world,” and then Sora will come home just in time to have to face off against the Foretellers and the Master of Masters in KH4 (which, I'm gonna make a wild guess and assume we'll get in 2025 or 2026 at the earliest).

2. I do hope Kairi plays some role in bringing Sora back, and honestly, I think it's possible she will. Nomura, I would imagine, is setting up her reunion with Sora to be Big and Important™️, so it wouldn't surprise me if he wants to save it for KH4. I think a part of Sora’s heart might be inside Kairi or linked to Kairi, and that will be the final key to bringing him back. The whole scene where Sora appeared reminded me of when Ven briefly manifested when Sora was facing off against Vanitas, and Ven was inside Sora’s heart at the time. 

3. We know from past covers that the current cover actually foreshadows future events in the story. KH3's cover depicts parts of Tokyo and then Sora wakes up there (oh excuse me "Quadratum" lol nice one SQUARE), the KH2 Final Mix cover depicted The Final World, so maybe MoM's cover is meant to depict future events as well.

4. Sora being unable to speak in Kairi’s dream when he faces off against Xehanort has me intrigued. Why can’t he speak? Is it because his heart is in the unreality? All I can think about is The Little Mermaid when Ariel lost her voice because of Ursula’s curse “deal” with her. 

5. I don’t think the person Kairi and Sora actually fought was Xehanort. Why would a dead Xehanort care about where Sora is? It would make more sense to me if it was the Master of Masters (hinted at by the acronym for the title, MoM), and that he was using Xehanort’s image (and then Xemnas’s, and then Ansem SOD’s, and then Apprentice Xehanort...) to manipulate Kairi. It would fit his whole “puppetmaster behind the scenes” vibe I get from him and his previous manipulation of Xehanort. I think he was trying to locate Sora’s heart in this game, and Sora stepping in to help Kairi allowed him to pinpoint Sora’s location. Now he seems to know where Sora’s heart is, so mission accomplished, I guess? Ooooph, Sora walked right into that trap if that’s the case.

V. Final Thoughts

Fun if uneven gameplay and some questionable story choices dragging down the good stuff. I’ll hold my full judgment till we see what happens next though. 

Congrats if you made it all the way to the end of this, haha. I’d be happy to hear your thoughts! 

[storm-driver]

*jumps into here* Alright, uhhhhh "Number 3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)" I am curious and want to give you one of those questions. PS. I love you 💙

(ilu2 fluffles <3)

oh god there’s plenty of these, but because this is a fandom blog, ill stick to KH ones

I want to recapture that entire sequence where Sora goes to save Aqua and Ventus in KH3. ‘Cause I had ideas for the structure of that whole sequence that might help that emotional impact and pacing feel way better. 

Below the cut because I got a “little” extensive about it 

First of all, the beginning of KH3 is so fuckin’ misleading when it says someone that’s close to Aqua would have to be the one to take the dive and save her. Because that ends up not happening at all, and Sora just does it himself when the plot calls for it. You can argue that it was Ventus’ heart inside Sora that made that possible, but there was zero indication that Ventus had next to any impact on that whole sequence. If he did anything, he was the one that was initially pushing Sora to go to the Realm of Darkness in the first place. But that’s the extent of Ventus’ intervention in Aqua’s situation. 

I initially thought that Sora was going to take the Master’s Defender (Eraqus’ Keyblade) to Castle Oblivion and get Ventus out himself. At least, that’s what I believed when I started playing and remembered the scene from the first ever KH3 trailer where Sora found that old Keyblade on the beach. But that Keyblade was instead used to find Aqua (don’t know...how or why he needed that Keyblade to get to Aqua when all he was missing was a way to get to the Realm of Darkness, but whatever). 

I think towards the end of development, when the writers were done with the Disney worlds and were ready to finalize all the end-game stuff, they might’ve been rushing it. Because the amount of padding out there is in the Disney worlds compared to how little padding there is at the end of KH3 is an EXTREME difference. It’s a mistake that happens often in video game development, especially with big, hyped up titles like this one that have undergone delays and various system changes over the years. 

(In case anyone didn’t know, KH3 was more than likely being developed on Square Enix’s Crystal Tool engine back during 2010-2013, which was proved to be a poor choice when FFXIV crashed and burned using that engine. Which is more than likely why the game was switched to a new engine and development seemed to slog on. This is also the reason FFv13 got so heavily delayed and then switched to a new engine, as well.) 

But getting into the actual writing portion, I’ll put a disclaimer saying I don’t consider myself to be a better writer than KH’s team. I write for self-indulgence and entertainment purposes, and definitely not for continuity or even logical reasons. 

So while I disagree with the writing team’s decision to backend all of the story into the final quarter of KH3′s playtime, I’m not gonna change that in this situation. For instance, I feel the story would’ve flowed better if Aqua was saved sooner, between Disney worlds. And then Ventus was saved just a little sooner than canon, before the final Disney worlds. And then they all went to war after the completion of the final Disney worlds. 

BUT, I’m not changing that. Consider everything that’s happened up to the end of San Fransokyo to be the same in this scenario. 

So how would I have tackled it? Oh, so you’re approaching me?

Sora finds the Master’s Defender on the beach, where Aqua left it a year ago when she fell back into the Realm of Darkness. Something snaps in him and he recognizes it to be Master Eraqus’ Keyblade, despite never meeting the guy. 

He takes it back to Yen Sid’s tower and asks what that could all mean. Yen Sid informs Sora that it is indeed Eraqus’ Keyblade. Theorizing that if it didn’t disappear along with Eraqus, it may mean that it was in Aqua’s possession after he was struck down. And so it could very well be a means to save her and Ventus. 

Sora isn’t really sure what to do after that, but he has this Keyblade now. And he feels a very strong connection towards it and the possibility of saving Aqua and Ventus. It’s almost like his heart is tugging on his sleeve and telling him to go somewhere. Like there’s a voice, muffled and distant, screaming at him to get up and get moving. Aqua’s in danger without something to defend herself. We have to go save her now. 

He stands up after a moment of silent contemplation, on the steps outside Yen Sid’s tower. Just like the sleeping boy did over a decade ago, he raises the Keyblade and opens a gateway to another world. Donald and Goofy ask Sora what he’s doing and how he even managed that. But Sora doesn’t respond and bolts inside, leaving them to chase after him. 

He finds Castle Oblivion on the other side, but doesn’t recognize it. He laments that this place doesn’t look like it used to, before Donald and Goofy drag him out of his daze and ask what this place is. Sora says he doesn’t really know, but he feels something important dragged him here. That muffled voice in the back of his head starts to get a little more clear. But he still can’t tell who it is.

As he walks in the castle doors, the voice gets louder and he starts to see things that never happened to him. Much like Roxas had experienced when he first stepped into Castle Oblivion, one of the hearts inside Sora is starting to react. He sees memories of Terra and Aqua. Of Vanitas and Xehanort. People he’s seen before but long before he ever met them. At first, Donald and Goofy try to get him out of the castle. But Sora stubbornly refuses to leave and starts plowing towards the doors at the end of the hall. He’s about to shove the doors open when that voice is finally clear enough to hear. And it’s asking him to use the Keyblade. 

The memories start to subside and he realizes that they’re Ventus’ memories. He raises the Master’s Defender to the doors in front of him, unlocking the castle’s hidden door and revealing what Axel had been searching for: the Chamber of Waking.

(Side note, this was another minor disappointment I had, with the Chamber of Repose and Chamber of Waking hardly mattering in the final stretch of KH3 and post-game story. I really wished it have been more relevant rather than just a storage room for a body and some broken armor+Keyblade).

He paces around the throne, staring at Ventus’ sleeping body and the strange design of the room. He comments that Ventus looks exactly like Roxas, maybe Donald and Goofy can ask about that, too. But before he can openly query about it all any longer, the Keyhole on the back of the throne begins to light up. And Sora raises the Master’s Defender to the lock. 

The white walls of Castle Oblivion have vanished and now the Land of Departure stands where it once stood, broken windows and crumbling pillars, dilapidated walls and rusted chains strewn across the environment. But it’s a castle that Sora feels he can recognize. That Ventus must be able to recognize. 

Sora stares at Ventus’ sleeping body and wonders what he could even do to help, not yet realizing that he never lost his Power of Waking. But taking him back to Yen Sid would be better than leaving him in the castle, now exposed for other people to find him. Sora starts to pick up Ventus’ body, pulling him over his shoulder with Donald and Goofy’s help to get him to safety. 

They don’t even get past the stairs of the thrones before someone waltzes in the front door and openly remarks that this is where Ventus had been hiding the whole time. Vanitas takes advantage of the unfavorable predicament and immediately starts attacking. Sora, carrying Ven’s limp body, is completely unable to defend himself and the two are sent sprawling across the throne room. Before Vanitas can go in for another strike, Donald and Goofy jump to Sora’s defense and start yelling at him to get up. 

Sora, as he was in Monstropolis, is crippled by Vanitas’ presence and how Ventus’ heart is reacting to him. He still tries to get up and fight, but is significantly weaker than expected. He rushes past Donald and Goofy, Keyblade dragging across the floor in his hands, and haphazardly swings it out at Vanitas. But Vanitas easily backsteps and strikes Sora again, putting him on defense and leaving him helpless. 

He’s still desperately trying to attack Vanitas, feeling some anguish and anger towards the boy, despite these feelings not originating from Sora himself. But he’s still too weak, too encapsulated by this utter rage, to put forth a real fight and gets knocked back again. He’s struck hard enough to send his body hurtling across the room and crashing back down into the floors, sliding to a stop in front of the thrones. 

Sora can’t get back up. He’s too weak, but he’s desperately trying to grab his Keyblade again. All he can see through blurry eyes is Donald and Goofy trying to fend off Vanitas. He reaches out for them, telling them to run. But the image of Vanitas hurting them, hurting his friends, is too much. Combined with the severe pain from Ventus’ heart, Sora passes out with a loud thump from his heart.

He can hear a voice talking to him, saying that they have to wake up. Sora asks what he can do, to which the voice responds to use the Power of Waking. Sora laments that he never got it back, but the voice, Ventus, reassures him that he never lost it. He remarks that Sora never lost his power, it just needed some time to find its way back to him. Bolstered by this vote of confidence, Sora appears above his own Station of Awakening, finding Ventus’ heart hidden beneath it. And he uses his Keyblade to awaken Ventus’ heart. 

Vanitas has easily beaten Donald and Goofy, and he’s standing over Sora’s exhausted body. Ventus’ heart resting inside, ready for Vanitas to take back. Vanitas, all too eager to reclaim what he knows is his, prepares to stab Sora with the Keyblade. 

But something feels different. He looks down at Sora, realizing he can’t feel that light inside him. There’s traces of it, but Ventus isn’t there anymore. He’s staring at Sora, confused. Ventus was just there, what could’ve-

There’s hardly a second to react before someone is screeching Sora’s name. Vanitas whips his head around to catch sight of Keyblade hurtling towards him, barely managing to guard the hit from Ventus’ weapon, the child holding it staring at him drenched in rage. The powerful burst of energy from both halves of Ventus’ heart clashing sends shock-waves across the throne room. Donald and Goofy, both tossed to the side by Vanitas, marvel at the sight. 

Ventus skids back across the floor, still on his feet, standing in front of Sora’s body. Vanitas is still standing as well, the two staring at each other. It’s a long, uncomfortable moment, neither daring to move lest the other react and punish for it. But then Vanitas breaks away and starts running towards the entrance to the castle. 

Ventus yells at him to get back here, ready to chase after, before he’s pulled away by the sounds of Sora stirring on the ground behind him. The anger melts away completely and Ventus turns back to Sora, watching him slowly sit up. Donald and Goofy rush past Ventus to help their friend and heal him. Ventus stares at Sora, recognizing his face.

Sora looks up at makes eye contact with Ventus. They’re caught staring at each other, each wondering why the other looks the way they do. But Ventus breaks the silence and asks if Sora is okay. Sora says yes. Ventus feels relieved and holds out a hand to pull Sora back up, and the two greet each other for the first time. 

They can hear the doors to the castle opening, remembering who they’re letting get away. The four run after Vanitas out into the broken courtyard, finding the world mauled from the dark storm and a dark corridor that Vanitas must’ve escaped through. Ventus is distraught to find that his home was destroyed, only fueling his anger more towards Vanitas and Xehanort. In further blind anger, he rushes through the dark portal to follow Vanitas. Sora panics and runs after him, but the corridor closes before Donald and Goofy can follow. 

The portal leads them to the Dark Margin, where Vanitas finds himself unprepared to find another Guardian of Light, Riku, fighting a mass of Heartless. Sora and Ventus follow just after, both single-track targeting Vanitas.

Riku is still fending off the Heartless and Aqua’s dark form, but finds himself staring at Ventus, recognizing “Roxas” and wondering how Sora managed to get him back.

Sora manages to get one good swing against Vanitas, cracking the helmet’s glass and threatening to reveal his face. But they’re caught unawares when Vanitas baits the Heartless swarm to attack them, too. 

Vanitas takes the moment of panic to slip away through another dark corridor, leaving Ventus, Sora and Riku to fight off the swarm of Heartless. Ventus is only strong enough to provide support, still weak from his decade of sleep. After enough fighting, Riku and Sora use their Keyblades’ strength that they discovered in the Sleeping Realm to destroy the Demon Tower.

Riku is left exhausted from the fight. Ventus goes to his aid, asking if he’s alright, which leaves Riku confused why “Roxas” of all people would care about his well-being. They’re both caught off guard when Aqua, tainted in darkness, appears and starts charging at them both. Ventus is stunted by the image of Aqua alone, completely unable to react aside from muttering her name. 

Sora dashes between them both, holding back Aqua’s Keyblade from striking. Ventus is paralyzed by the image of his friend having fallen to darkness, and the sound of her voice in such pain and despair. Sora fends her off, putting her on guard and buying Riku some time to go save Mickey. Ventus tries reaching out to Aqua, but she only says Ventus shouldn’t get involved. 

Sora and Ventus start to fight her, Ventus mostly providing minimal support, not wanting to hurt Aqua. He’s calling out to her the whole time, slowly drawing Aqua out and urging her to remember himself and Terra. Mickey and Master Eraqus. She’s slowly letting her guard down more and more, muttering things when Ventus keeps telling her about their past. Reminding her of their training sessions, of the Mark of Mastery, how she protected Ventus from Braig and freed him from Vanitas, kept him safe in the castle for over a decade. And she’s finally knocked out of it. 

The darkness lets go of her and she starts sinking into the waters. Without thinking for his own safety, Ventus dives after her, yelling her name and reaching for her hand. She recognizes Ventus and reaches up to meet him, both falling farther into the darkness. But before they can fall any farther, Sora has followed them down as well, and is pulling them both back up to the surface. 

Aqua wakes up on the shores of Destiny Islands, recognizing Sora and Riku. They’re both thankful that she’s okay, and Sora turns around and calls Ventus over. Aqua follows his gaze and sees Ventus running towards her at break-neck speed, practically tackling Aqua in a hug. He’s crying and smiling, clinging to her body and sputtering out how happy he is to see her safe. Aqua’s hugging him back, but she asks how and why the islands are in the Realm of Darkness. Everyone tells her that she’s in the Realm of Light, and she’s free from the darkness. Aqua starts to tear up as well, hugging Ventus tighter and saying thank you to everyone that saved her. 

YOU CAN PROBABLY TELL THIS IS INSANELY AMBITIOUS and very different from what actually happened in KH3. But god, I wanted Aqua and Ventus’ reunion to be so much more than it was. Over a decade apart from each other, I expected so much more emotion and especially some crying. I get that it kinda got saved for when they saved Terra. And the good morning scene was absolutely adorable with Aqua petting Ven’s head. But I just wanted more, y’know?

[i-believe-in-soriku]

Essay Part 1: Riku’s Journey

Riku is undeniably the character who has experienced the greatest evolution throughout the series.

His journey begins in Destiny Islands, when he was just a little kid who wanted to live adventures with his best friend, Sora.

Riku: When we grow up, let's get off this island. We'll go on real adventures, not this kid stuff!

That's that will of discovering the world, and the fact that he was really close to his friend Sora, that lead him to make a promise:

Terra: Is there some reason you're interested in the outside world?

Riku: Yeah. I wanna be strong one day. Like that kid who left. He went to the outside world - I bet he's really strong now. I know it's out there somewhere - the strength that I need.

Terra: Strength for what?

Riku: To protect the things that matter. You know, like my friends.

Riku had a very strong friendship with Sora. The two of them used to fight with wooden swords, explore the islands, and watch the stars together. But then, Kairi came to the Islands and became part of their life. Years passed and their friendship became stronger - but somehow something was missing.

That's when Kingdom Hearts happens. At this time, Riku wanted to explore the other worlds, feeling trapped on Destiny Islands - will he had already expressed ten years before. Riku was jealous of Sora, and probably of Kairi and Sora's growing proximity. Riku felt lonely, as we can see during the game. These dark feelings caused him to be manipulated by Maleficent, and to turn to darkness.

There are also other reasons: he wanted to see the world - which he already wanted as a five years old kid-, he wanted to become stronger in order to protect his friends - even if he did it the wrong way, he didn't forget that goal, as proved by this scene:

Riku: So, Kairi's like a lifeless puppet now?

Maleficent: Precisely.

Riku: And her heart was...

Maleficent: Taken by the Heartless, no doubt.

Riku: Tell me! What can I do?

Maleficent, as the evil witch she is, manipulated him strengthening his feelings of loneliness, jealousy and betrayal.

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, 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.

Ansem, on his side, pretended he knew the way to make him stronger, as Riku was jealous of Sora's strength...

Ansem: The heart that is strong and true shall win the Keyblade.

Riku: What? You're saying my heart's weaker than his?

Ansem: For that instant, it was. However, you can become stronger. You should not fear in stepping through the door to darkness. It held no terror for you. Plunger deeper into the darkness and your heart will grow even stronger.

Riku: What should I do?

Ansem: It's really quite simple. Open yourself to the darkness. That is all. Let your heart, your being, become darkness itself.

... but he used him as a puppet to achieve his goals. The way he asked advices to bad people shows how lost that boy was. However, Riku finished by regain control of himself, and at the end of the game, decided to help Mickey close the Door to Darkness, even if it meant being somehow left behind - a beautiful act of redemption.

But that's only the begining of his story. In Chain of Memories, we follow Riku who has to fight his own darkness, embodied by Ansem (and also Repliku who mocks his fear of darkness). At first, Riku totaly rejects the darkness inside of him, afraid that it might overpower him once again.

Riku: All you have been talking about is the darkness. I can only assume you wanna pull me back in... so you can play Puppet Master.

And he doesn't want to hurt people like he did.

But we can see that he's becoming more and more mature, because this game is also about how Riku began to accept the part of darkness inside him as a strength (and I think Mickey helped him to do that). That's what makes him choose the way to Dawn.

Riku: What are you making me choose now?

DiZ: Between the road to light - and the road to darkness.

Riku: Neither suits me. I'm taking the middle road.

DiZ: Do you mean the twilight road to nightfall?

Riku: No. It's the road to dawn.

During 358/2 Days, Riku's will is to make sure that his best friend sleeps in peace - actually, he wants him to recover his memories and wake up. He teams up with Mickey and DiZ/Ansem the Wise to do so. In this game, Riku embraces the darkness in his heart while fighting Roxas...

Riku: I have to release the power in my heart- the dark power that I've been holding back. Even... if it changes me forever.

...a sacrifice made even though he's aware he may not find his own body anymore - which illustrates how Riku has finally accepted that darkness isn't 100% evil. We can also see that he's no longer bitter towards others: he's not even angry against Sora's Nobodies for keeping him away from his friend - just sad.

Xion: So, do you hate me for taking your friend away?

Riku: Nah. I guess... I'm just sad.

Still, in KH2, Riku is ashamed by his appearence and hides himself from Sora, even though he keeps on protecting him at distance. When they finally meet again, he tells this shame calling himself "a castaway from the darkness":

Riku: I'm no one---just a castaway from the darkness.

But he recovers his true self.

KH2 insists on the fact that despite a clear maturation, Riku still has doubts and still feel a little bit lonely. Sora points at:

Sora: Riku... C'mon, man! Why did you try to do so much on your own?You got friends...like us!

He still needs his friends to reassure him and accept him, and still thinks he can't get rid of his own darkness - his shame is still here:

Sora: You're coming back with us, right?

Riku: I had given in to the darkness.

Sora: Riku!

Riku: How'm I gonna face everyone?

Dream Drop Distance is a turning point to Riku's character. During the game, it is underlined that Riku is holding back some stuff inside of him, by four characters including himself.

Riku (to Quasi): Are you sure that's what's stopping you? Because I think something else is holding you back. Ask your heart, Quasimodo. [...] Wish I could take my own advice.

And:

Quasimodo: Master Frollo--he made me live inside the bell tower, but the real walls were the ones I built around my heart. You helped me see that, Riku.

Riku: I was...speaking from...personal experience.

Phoebus: I'd say you still keep a lot locked inside.

He also admits that he feels like his darkness will always follow him:

Riku: I gave in to the darkness once. And ever since, it's chased me around in one form or another.

But the end of the game proves that Riku has achieved a balance (a confidence that we can see in KH3).

Indeed, during the last parts of 3D, Riku is shown as a being of exception, whom heart has light and darkness in balance...

YMX: I don't know how you did it, but you really have found a way to trap darkness inside your heart

...balance which enables him to protect Sora, becoming his Dream Eater - he is able to change his very NATURE and didn't even noticed it.

Riku finally obtains the title of Keyblade Master showing that he is worthy of wielding a Keyblade - which he seemed to doubt at the beginning of the game:

Riku: My Keyblade--it just sort of...popped into my hand when I needed it most.

He has learned how to open his heart throughout his adventures, which can be seen in KH3.

In KH3 his new goals are to save Aqua and, with the others, fight the Seekers of Darkness. During the road, Mickey helps him to realize that he finally has the strenght he was aiming at since the very beginning: to protect the one person that matters.

Riku: I'm in control now. Maybe it's because you're with me this time.

Mickey: It's not me. I think it's because you've finally found inside you that special strength to protect what matters.

And the game lets no doubt: this person is Sora. He sacrifices himself to protect his friend against the Demon Tide in the Keyblade Graveyard.

This is a very brief summary of everything Riku did, but that's enought to come to a conclusion. If you have read carefully, you should have noticed that I didn't spoke about Sora that much. Because, even if Sora is actually what matters the most to Riku, the main reason why he did all those things, Sora is not what defines Riku.

Riku has a developpement that shows that he has to fight his own demons, overcomes his doubts and searches the strenght to protect who he cares about. He has other relationships than his (wonderful) relationship with Sora: for example, his friendship with Mickey.

He faced many things with the King and they share a special bond, just as Sora's with Donald and Goofy. He also shares a link with Terra and somehow Aqua, even though it's not developped that much.

Regarding of those elements, it is completely unfair to say that Riku isn't well written or too much written around Sora. Riku is interesting, relatable and touching, and I hope that he's going to have a good treatment in the future of the series. Watching the end of KH3 and Re:Mind, there's no doubt about the fact that he has an important role to play.

I want to close this part saying that Riku also has a personality. He's determined, selfless, mature, of good advice, a little bit sassy. Riku, even if he has doubts, can be now considered as confident. He is empathetic, cares about others, knows how to confort his friends, especially Sora. There are other important points - like the fact he's smart ~ but I think those are the main elements.

Intro • Part 2

[beanie-on-a-string]

to those people and places I can never go to

So I wanted to get back into the swing of writing and all, and ended up writing this thing about Kairi and Lea immediately after the events of Kingdom Hearts 3. I absolutely loved their friendship and wished they had shown more of it in the game. So, here’s this thing no one asked for...

The past few days on Destiny Islands had been perfect. Sounds of laughter and chatter resounded from the beach. After everyone gathered for the celebration, they figured it wouldn’t hurt to stay on the islands for a little bit. It was just the right amount of hot so that it wouldn’t be stifling, and the ocean was just the right temperature to wade in at any time of the day.

Kairi let the waves lap at her feet as she watched Lea – sorry, Axel - all but drag Isa into the water, the latter halfheartedly protesting as the former flicked water droplets at Isa and teased him, telling him not to ‘die in my arms a second time’. Roxas and Xion were not too far off, giggling as they floated on their backs, each one trying to outlast the other. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around, already knowing who it was.

“Riku,” she said, smiling softly at one of her oldest friends.

He smiled a similar smile in return, hiking up his pants a little as he stepped beside her, letting the ocean run over his feet like she was. The sunset framed his head like a halo, coloring his silver hair shades of pink and orange.

“Beautiful day, huh?” she said, moving a little closer to Riku and nudging his arm. Barely swaying at the contact, he hummed in agreement. There was a sentence left hanging in the air between them that was left unsaid.

it would be better if Sora were here

Kairi leaned a little against the taller boy, who wrapped his arm around her shoulder.  They stayed that way for a while, watching Mickey and Minnie exchanging soft smiles as they talked on the dock, watching Namine drawing them from inconspicuous glances over her sketchbook, watching Axel complaining about his now drenched hair as Isa held back laughter, watching Xion wade over to Roxas to show him a pretty seashell she had found.

A loud quack of irritation startled them both. They turned around to see Donald being held back by Goofy as he squawked about how Ventus ruined his sand statue yet again. The accused stood by the crime scene, flying disc in hand, cheeks pink as Aqua and Terra stifled giggles behind him.

“Oh,” Riku said after a moment, posture a little straighter as if he remembered something. “Ventus and I were playing around with Axel’s discs earlier. Want to join? It’s fun.”

“That’s sweet, Riku, but perhaps tomorrow.” She gave a small apologetic smile.

“Alright, then,” he said, then added, “Everything okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

A little more silence, filled with more questions and answers left unsaid. “Well, I’m going to go back to them, alright?” He raised his eyebrows in an ‘is this okay?’ motion. Kairi nodded, lips quirking up in another smile. He squeezed her shoulder lightly, and then he was gone.

Most everyone had headed back by now, having either gone back to their respective houses or whoever’s house they were staying at for the time being. Kairi stayed behind, the wet sand between her toes feeling more like hardening cement. She didn’t move from her spot by the waves for a while, letting the ocean pull the sand from under her feet over and over. She stepped away when the sun was barely peeking out over the ocean, the sky slowly deepening from its dark orange to something of a dark lavender. She didn’t know where her feet took her from there, exactly, but she wound up at the large, crooked paopu tree she spent so much of her time looking out at their small world on. She stared at it for a moment, then reached out and pushed herself onto the tree, swinging her legs over the thick trunk and sitting down. She watched the sunset for a while, right hand sitting expectantly on the rough surface, like it wanted a hand to hold. His hand to hold.

His name hadn’t left her mind since the Keyblade Graveyard. It was always on her tongue; to the point where she would catch herself almost saying his name instead of what she really intended to say. Often times after that, she’d forget what it was, anyway, and would dismiss herself with a little ‘nothing’ or ‘I forgot’.

She gave a sad, halfhearted smile to the empty space next to her. She thought she had seen him here, with her, a few days ago. She felt the weight of his hand on hers. Maybe he was there. She’d like to believe he was. She’d like to believe he’d appear again. Maybe it was all some sick dream, and he’d show up behind her like nothing ever happened. She squeezed her eyes shut in a desperate attempt to wake up, if she could.

She opened them. Same lavender sky, same waves, same salty air, same lack of a certain someone. Her chest hurt where Xehanort had run her through only a few days earlier. She bowed her head and shut her eyes again, a futile effort to hold back the tears falling down her face and making dark spots on her dress.

“Sora,” she choked out between her sobs. She hid her face in her hands, although there was no one to see her cry.

It could have been a minute, or it could have been an hour, but however long it was, she jumped and a quiet shocked noise escaped her mouth when she heard a twig snap from behind her. She hastily wiped her tears (trying to make it seem like she was rubbing her nose) and turned around.

“Axel.” She looked up at the fiery-haired figure standing behind her. “You’re still here.”

“Oh no, I’d left a while ago,” he said, his ever-present nonchalant air apparent in his speech. “I just came back out since I never saw you head in. I think Riku may have noticed too, but I don’t know if he said anything.” He took a few steps towards the tree, but stopped as a weak ray of sunset shone on her face.

“Oh… kid, were you crying?” He rested both hands on the trunk and leaned forward, concern written plainly on his face.

“It’s nothing. Just… something in my eyes.” Kairi knew he wouldn’t believe that for a second.

“I wonder where I’ve heard that before,” Axel replied simply, but no menace in his voice. Kairi mentally cringed. I knew he wouldn’t buy it. She furrowed her brows and looked down.

“Can I…” Axel gestured to the empty space beside her.

no not there

“Sure,” she replied, scooting over a bit so he could sit down. Her heart gave a barely felt twinge as he shifted on the bark.

Neither of them said anything as the sun sunk below the horizon. Eventually, she felt a light tap on her shoulder, and was met with a blue ice cream bar and the strong smell of sea salt and vanilla filling her nose.

“That’d better not have been in your pocket this time,” she said, a small smile tugging at her lips as she took the ice cream. Her eyes were still damp, yes, but she was already feeling better with Axel around.

“Picky,” he teased as he produced an ice cream for himself. “Everyone forgets that I wrap them after I make ‘em. And besides, I was holding them in my hand. Not my pocket.”

Kairi bit off the corner of her bar. Axel followed suit, and opened his mouth to speak.

“Ah.” Kairi lifted a finger, eyebrows raised. Axel squinted in a mock glare, then swallowed the ice cream, rolling his eyes at her a little. She giggled, thinking back to how she’d always have to remind Sora not to speak with his mouth full.

Sor-

“You know, for a while, I used to not like these,” Axel said, gesturing to the ice cream with his free hand. “When I was a Nobody, anyway. I would eat them all the time – you know, with Isa – when I was younger. But when I was a Nobody, I don’t think I ate any more of this until Roxas came along. I don’t know why, but he wanted ice cream. So I went out to get some, and, remembering how much I used to eat it, I chose the sea-salt. When I tasted it for the first time – well, not really the first time, but you get my idea – it tasted awful. I didn’t know why I used to be so fond of it.” He cringed, as if he were reliving the memory. “I got used to it, though, eventually. I think I ended up getting the recipe myself, somehow.”

Kairi hummed in response, looking at Axel, red hair looking aflame under the fading rays of the sun.

“I didn’t tell you before, but… I like your outfit,” Kairi said, lightly touching the sleeve of Axel’s shirt.

He looked down at it as if he hadn’t realized he was even wearing it, then chuckled in a decidedly Axel-esque way, nudging her lightly. “Thanks, kid. You don’t look so bad yourself, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” Kairi replied, nudging him back. The sky was in that odd transition phase between purple and blue, and right now, it was the color of Sora’s eyes. Kairi smiled at the sky, but it was pained and just brought yet another round of tears to her eyes. She ducked her head quickly, hoping Axel didn’t see. Obviously, he did.

“I know you miss him,” Axel said quietly, tentatively placing a hand on her back. Kairi nodded, too choked up to say anything back. “I’m not happy about it either,” he continued. “Didn’t expect it to happen, you know? Kid had a knack for surviving.”

Kairi nodded again, although she didn’t quite know what she was nodding at. She spoke, voice so quiet she could have been talking to herself. “Sora and I shared a paopu fruit here.” Axel raised his eyebrows in question. “Legends say that when two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They’ll remain a part of each others’ lives, no matter what.” She swiped at her eyes. “When you miss someone, they’re everywhere. They’re in everything you see. It’s unbearable.”

“Yeah,” Axel said. Kairi looked up at him a little, wiping a tear from her chin. He looked vulnerable, just like he did that day when they were training in their little corner of time. “It was the same with Roxas and Xion. It felt like a part of me was missing. A large part. We had spent so much time together, and then… they weren’t. They just weren’t there anymore. While we were training, there were times when I looked at you… and Xion was all I could see.” Kairi could see Axel’s cheeks glistening, although it didn’t seem like he had realized it himself. “It hurt. It hurt so bad.”

“Axel,” Kairi said softly, placing a hand on his arm. He jolted, like he had forgotten she was there. His grip on his half-eaten ice cream stick - which had gotten so tight the wood seemed like it was going to choke – loosened, and he touched his cheek, staring at the tears that came away with his hand.

“Guess we both need those markings under our eyes, huh?” He joked, the delivery halfhearted. Kairi laughed, the sound coming out wet and a little pained. He inched a bit closer to her, his hand moving from the middle of her back to wrapping around her in a one-armed hug.

“You must be cold,” he said simply after a quiet sniff.

“I’m not anymore,” she said, curling up on the branch and leaning into his arm. They stayed that way as the sky turned from its odd blue to indigo, from indigo to navy, from navy to a star-littered sea of black.

By now, Kairi felt herself drifting off. She didn’t know if Axel had already done that – he was lying back on where the tree bent, his shape curving with the trunk. Kairi was still curled up by him, head resting on his legs. The moonlight was illuminating his face and hair in strange ways, making him look almost alien, but not unpleasant.

Her eyes fluttered. She was going to fall asleep soon enough. “Axel?” She murmured, voice impossibly quiet. No reply. “Axel?” She tried again. “Lea?”

After a moment, a barely audible reply of “Kairi?” came drifting back.

Kairi smiled sadly at the sound, then curled into herself further, finally closing her eyes. “Thank you.”

xxx

[half-up-half-super-depressed]

So, a little while ago...

I got bored. And I began to wonder... when are the birthdays of the Kingdom Hearts characters? I quickly discovered it's impossible to know the exact birthdays of anyone outside their year of birth, other than three. Let's just go through those now:

(quick note: I'll be using Destiny Islands' destruction as a base 0 year, but the calendar won't revolve around it. BID is Before Islands Destruction and AID is After.)

(this will also contain some Dark Road and kind of ReMind spoilers, which I will tag as well. Don't proceed if you don't want them. )

Terra was born 30 BID, we don't have any inclination to a date. However, he is 10 years younger than this biologically. He'll be a year older in ReMind, so 21.

Aqua was born 28 BID, again no idea of the date. She is also 10 years younger than this biologically? She'll be 19 in ReMind.

Ven was born... Well, it isn't confirmed the time between the Age of Fairytales and Dark Road, but he appears to be about 10 in Uχ, and he is biologically 16 in Birth By Sleep. We'll say this is undeterminable for now. He will be biologically 17 in ReMind.

Master Xehanort is anywhere between 80 and 85 in BBS (I believe) , if we go off Nomura's estimate for him. Therefore he's born around 90-95 BID. He's dead, so no advance in age.

Eraqus is most likely a few years younger than Xehanort, considering his appearance is that of someone much younger, still having dark black hair for the most part (unless he's dyeing it lol) and so, with Dark Road, we know that Xehanort is 18-20 after the time skip, so I would say thaw that Eraqus is roughly 3 years younger than him (I wish it was more, but the fact they're such similar heights implies a small gap in age), so Eraqus was most likely 15-16 in the scene at the end of Dark Road Chapter 1, giving him a birth year of roughly 87 BID. He's also dead, so...he's not any older.

Lea and Isa are more than likely the same age as each other, and are most likely Ven's (biological) age in BBS, making them about 26/7 in KH3. Therefore their year of birth is 26 BID, and they'll be 28 ish in ReMind, even if we don't see them.

Riku is a year older than Sora and Kairi, and therefore his birth year is one year before theirs, so 15 BID. He'll be 17 in ReMind.

Kairi is the same age as Sora, so we know her year of birth is 14 BID. She's 16 in ReMind.

If I've missed anyone significant, let me know, but I think that covers the majority of important characters.

There's 3 more that I haven't mentioned, but that's because we either know their full birthday, or we can work it out. These are, of course, Sora, Roxas and Xion.

Thanks to Nomura once again, we know Sora's official birthday is the day of release of Kingdom Hearts 1, or 28th March. Sora is 14 in KH1, so his birth year is 14BID. Therefore his full birth date is 28/3/14BID (I'm Irish so we put the day first).

But what about Roxas and Xion?

Well, let's begin!

We know that Sora is 14 still at the end of Chain of Memories, therefore this must take place before 28/3/0BID.

If we use Days as an estimate for when Roxas is born, we know this is Day 1. We also know Kingdom Hearts 1 ends around Day 16. Therefore Roxas is born roughly 2 weeks before the end of KH1, which means Days ends 2 weeks before a year after this. Xion is "born" (not really, but it's the best time frame to use) a week after that, so 1 week before the end of KH1. Therefore they are both biologically 14 at this point.

This means that when, a year later, they both go back to Sora they are around 15. Roxas goes back to Sora exactly a year after he is born (the 358 days + 7 days from the beginning of KH2 = 365) so he is exactly 15 when he returns in KH3. Xion dies exactly a week before Roxas, meaning she was 2 weeks away from turning 15, as her "birthday" is a week after Roxas'. Therefore the day when she is a year older is actually 1 week delayed in a way, meaning she turns 15 2 weeks after she returns in KH3 (I'm not counting her time in the Organisation as we can't actually determine how long she was there for), and her birthday is (fittingly) 14 days after Roxas post KH3.

Sora turns 15 sometime during his sleep in Days. We see Axel note that Hayner, Pence and Olette have started their summer holidays, and that it is almost over. I believe it is safe to assume that DiZ would have time flow at the same rate in the data Twilight Town, as there are no indications of this not being the case, and therefore the last days of Roxas' holiday are also the same as the real Hayner, Pence and Olette. This means that Roxas goes back to Sora on the last day of the summer holidays, which we already determined was his birthday.

If we take the Japanese system for school holidays for Twilight Town, we know that students go back to school on 1st September, therefore making Roxas' birthday 31st August. Xion's is 2 weeks after this, making hers 14th September.

With this information we can also work out how long KH1 was.

If we look again at Days' timeline, it takes 15 days between Sora's death and the end of the game, meaning that the time in Traverse Town, sealing Hollow Bastion, and completing the End of the World takes about 2 weeks. If we look at the other worlds, we could use the timelines of the films, but the issue with KH1 is that the worlds don't follow the plot of the films. So, instead, we can use this 2 week timeframe to estimate a rough period of time for KH1.

The End of the World takes roughly a week and a half to complete, if we take away the time at Traverse Town and Hollow Bastion. Therefore each world would take roughly a week and a half, or let's say 10-12 days, to complete. We'll use either of these numbers depending on the world, which will include travel time. I'll go through these quickly.

Traverse Town is most likely 12 days.

Wonderland is most likely a day on its own, but with travel time we'll say 10 days.

Olympus is a weird one, probably an anomaly, as we are supposed to go back often, but it most likely equates to around 12 days as well.

Deep Jungle is probably around 10 days.

Agrabah is most likely 10 days as well.

Atlantica is probably 12 days.

Monstro is probably 10 days.

Halloween Town is most likely 12 days

Neverland is again a weird one, but in real flow time would probably only be a couple of days at most, but with travel time we'll bump it up to 10 days as well.

Hollow Bastion is 12 days up to Sora's death.

This adds up to 110 days, or 15.7 weeks, which is around 4 months. As we know Roxas' birthday (and Sora's death day) is 31st August, we can go back these 110 days, we get to the 13th May. Therefore The Destiny Islands are destroyed on 13/5/0AID.

I hope this was interesting for you guys.

Credit for the Days timeline goes to Kingdom Hearts Info Block (I'm not sure of their tag, if anyone knows please tell me).

[cyberramblings]

Kingdom Hearts BBS, DDD Blind Thoughts

Spoilers for Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and earlier titles in the series. Also warning that I have insomnia and these are utter ramblings on the last 24 hours of blindly binging the Kingdom Hearts series as a total newcomer to the series. Haven’t played three yet and just started Dream Drop Distance. With that warning.....

Birth by Sleep was a ton of fun. We ended up needing to grind a little to make Aqua playable, but that ended up forcing me to learn the game mechanics much deeper, and even my friends leveled up their playing of the game! It was really cool to unlock some of the high tier spells like Triple Firaga and Thundaga Shot, although I do wish we had gotten to chance to unlock even more. I should remember how much more fun the game was after some internet research.

It was very satisfying to unlock the true ending so easily. We had only missed 2 of the 12 required Xehanort Reports. The 2 we needed involved grinding the arena for maybe an hour total and then 5 minutes of finding a treasure chest. We were then able to roll smoothly from Aqua’s finish into the final episode.

Aqua’s fight against Braig was laughable easy, but the final fight against Vanitas/Ventus was slightly tougher. The real challenge was fighting Terra/Xehanort but then the REAL challenge was phase 2 of that fight. I got them all on the first try! It was a really enjoyable flex of my gaming skills in front of the friends.

From a story standpoint, Birth By Sleep had my favorite story of any KH game so far, by a huge margin. I liked certain elements of the KH2 ending (Riku and Sora teaming up, Kairi’s keyblade) but BBS has been the only game where I had any sense of purpose or desire to see how it ends. They did a great job of having each of the 3 routes reveal new information even if played out of order (Xehanort taking over Terra, Vanitas having Sora’s face, Aqua taking care of comatose Ventus).

Obviously it helps to have Leonard Nimoy and Mark Hamill join the cast, plus Aqua’s VA absolutely dominates every scene she’s in. Terra’s VA reminds me a lot of Leon’s monotone edgy boy voice acting (David Boreanaz or otherwise). Of course Ventus shares a VA with Roxas, but the twist of Vanitas being Haley Joel Osmont is really great because he sounds so much older. I think it would have been easier to predict that twist if I had recently heard more of HJO’s Sora voice in Dream Drop Distance or KH3.

Aqua is, of course, the great standout character from BBS. From the start, we got attached to her because of her known prevalence in KH3 on top of her cool design, Arrow voice actress, and the fact that we could finally play a girl (plus one with more human proportions than Kairi). It worked out really well how we saved her for last and had to kind of unlock the secrets of her play style by finally mastering the various gameplay systems.

I much prefer the command deck system compared to the gameplay of KH2. To be fair, these are the only two KH games I’ve beaten. I’ve only barely touched KH1 and Chain of Memories. I felt like BBS did a good job of fusing the action gameplay of KH2 with the (potentially) satisfying deck building of CoM.

Re: Coded is a fucking mess. I might actually go back and play it on a DS emulator just to see the gameplay, but god damn the story is a flimsy excuse for a retread. I almost wish we had skipped it entirely, but just watching the opening and ending worked out pretty well. In the end, it’s literally just “Mickey is gonna give Sora the memories of all the other protagonists” which is badass but probably going to be mentioned again before being relevant. I will say that the ending with Riku and Sora being summoned by Yen Sid for the mark of mastery test is fucking badass and elicited quite the reaction from all three of us. The series is finally starting to have that feeling of “the stakes are high and I want to see what happens with these characters”.

This was expressed most fully in the intro to Dream Drop Distance. Step 1: invoke Disney Magic with a silhouette of magician Mickey. Step 2: Orchestral Simple and Clean. Step 3: use entirely new cinematic footage instead of splicing together an AMB. Step 4: show every keyblade wielder standing side by side. Apparently that’s enough to make me actually cry. We all got very excited by this intro, so it was a bit of a let down to start the game and be seemingly replaying KH1 again.

Of course that’s not the whole game, but I’m still not sure what the whole game is. Riku and Sora have to...wake the seven sleeping worlds to earn their mark of mastery? Are they dreaming all of this, or what? Seeing The World Ends With You was cute for like a second before realizing that I know almost nothing about it. Flowmotion is similarly kinda neat at first but quickly becomes annoying, but maybe it will grow on me with time.

Speaking of fun at first but quickly annoying: Dream Eaters. The Pokémon-esque system seems like a time waster that’s perfect for 3DS but maybe not so much for our tourist play through. The Dream Eater designs are cute when they’re on your team, but strike me as a bit annoying when fighting the same ones over and over. Heartless and Nobodies felt more generic, but that made them feel a little less repetitive to fight over and over. I see the same god damn rainbow colored Panda every god damn fight. To be fair, I think each world randomly contains certain types of Dream Eaters every time you visit it.

Speaking of Worlds, I’m not really looking forward to Hunchback of Notre Dame or Pinocchio world, but at least they’re new worlds instead of retreading Halloween Town, Agrabah, Olympus, Neverland for the millionth time. What I am looking forward to is The Grid from Tron Legacy! I don’t think we’ve seen any Disney world that specifically spotlight a sequel to a Disney world we’ve already seen. We revisit Halloween Town, Agrabah, Beast’s Castle, Olympus, Atlantica but only for some minor follow-up fluff. The Tron world in KH2 meant a lot to me having just seen the film. The Lightcycle combat could’ve been a little more true to the original, but the visuals were so faithful plus having Tron’s actual actor was so fucking cool. Sora and gang getting Tron outfits was so cool too. Also would’ve liked to have a disc fight, but the Sark/MCP fight was spot on. Hopefully we can get both of more in DDD!

It’s a perfect excuse to revisit The Grid since Legacy looks so different from the original. Now, The Grid is not a true world in KH2 but instead part of Hollow Bastion’s computer system. I’m curious if The Grid in DDD is a sleeping world or something that exists within another world, or if it is somehow connected to the KH2 Tron world (which would get real weird real quick if that version of the Grid is a copy of the original, but Legacy is supposed to be set in The Grid 30 years later).

Oh, I like that DDD has the command deck system but I don’t like the pets, I don’t like the link system, I don’t like reality shift, and I don’t like flowmotion. It just seems like BBS with all the RPG features crammed into the pet system with a bunch of gimmick infused into the combat system. Admittedly, gimmick is one of the biggest strengths of the KH franchise, but flowmotion just seems silly. Perhaps I’ll like it more when I get used to it and potentially get to customize the moves.

I’m not sure yet how I feel about the drop system, but I do like getting to play as Riku. I think multiple protagonists is a smart way to stretch the assets and tell 2 stories per world. I rather enjoyed the way Aqua, Terra, and Ventus interacted with some of the Disney worlds. Hopefully we get something similar in some of these worlds.

The dive mini game is definitely gimmicky nonsense clearly designed for the 3DS. In general though, all the games in these collections look great and feel great. I suppose that is why Days, Coded, and Back Cover are cutscenes: to keep the average quality of gameplay roughly somewhere in between KH1 and 2 between all the titles. In fact, I think KH1 is easily the worst feeling out of all the ones thus far. I’ve always complained about KH hopping between systems, but now I can’t really complain about that anymore. My complaint still stands about the games being overly complicated. Plus, the games are clearly taking themselves way too seriously, but that’s very clearly part of the charm.

Really, I suppose the games aren’t that complicated if you heavily condense Chain of Memories, cut out Coded, and try not to think too hard about the phone games. Then it just becomes: Sora defeats the heartless, Sora defeats the nobodies, Roxas backstory, Aqua/Terra/Ventus, training/prep montage, then KH3. Oh, and try to forget that somehow the upcoming rhythm game is canon.

[nadziejastar]

Imo I just wished the KH-series would give thier characters the freedom to form bonds with other characters outside of thier respective crews (SRK and TAV e.g), instead KH3 had to bring Roxas and Xion back as seperate people from Ventus and Kairi to form RAX again because Fanservice and Lea and Isa being forced into a trio with obviouslySkuld, it's a huge flaw in the series these days.

“Oh, Xehanort. Is your research going well?” Ansem smiled at Xehanort, who was bad at showing his emotions.

“That’s the case, but…”

“Well here, eat an ice cream.” Cutting off Xehanort, who seemed as though he was about to ask something about research, Ansem took an ice cream out of the fridge at his feet, and held it out.

“No, I…”

“We need sugar in order to fuel our thinking in order to research necessarily. Now, are you going to eat a Sea Salt ice cream too?”

Xehanort, upon receipt of the ice cream, reluctantly nibbled a bite on the spot. His brow raised slightly, showing reluctance. But Xehanort, couldn’t hate Sea Salt ice cream.

Me too. That’s one of the things I was looking forward to most. There was so much potential there to form connections outside the trios. I was thinking about how much we missed out on just by not exploring the experiments in Radiant Garden. There’s a lot, so I’ll put in under a cut.

As we saw from Blank Points, Terra was the front personality when he first became an apprentice. There are many parallels between Eraqus and Ansem the Wise. Both are kind father figures who had a sweet tooth. And both were very vigilant about darkness lurking in the heart.

It would have been so nice to see that relationship develop and for Terra to form a bond with Ansem the Wise after all the chaos was over. In KH3, Apprentice Xehanort reunited with Ansem the Wise, and even with Aqua present, it was all about the new mystery girl. There was nothing interesting said about the existing characters or their relationships. It was just used to connect to KHUX.

Kairi got robbed. With Xion and Roxas back, she gets no relationship with Ventus. Her friendship with Lea didn’t matter anymore once Xion was back. She met Aqua, which gets only a passing mention. They’re gonna show her more of her childhood in MoM, but how much are they gonna try and make it revolve around the new KHUX stuff now? I doubt they’re gonna show much of the stuff I’d really like to see.

Kairi, a resident of Radiant Garden over which I had ruled, was one of the Seven Princesses that uphold the realm of light. With no darkness in her heart, Kairi produced no Heartless, and instead of vanishing, her body remained in the realm of light.

I would have liked to see Kairi develop a bond with Terra. Ansem was familiar with her. She and her grandma apparently were regular visitors at the castle, most likely because she was special and Ansem was intrigued by her. So it’s totally believable that Xehanort (back when Terra’s personality was still in control) would have been acquainted with Kairi, too.

I wonder how many other such materials drift through the atmosphere of this tiny world... I wish I could soar off and find out! Could there be uncharted worlds up there? My curiosity never ceases to grow. But I should stop speaking of such unrealistic dreams. For now, there is no way to venture outside this world. My people and I are all but prisoners of this tiny place.

Terra is really sweet. I’m sure Kairi would have liked him. It would have been cute to see her bond with him like a big brother. And since Terra got along so well with other pure-hearted characters (Cinderella and Ven) I’m sure he’d like her, too. Then one day, he changed out of nowhere and became a different person. He horribly abused her and sent her away from her home. And it all started when he began to feel curious about other worlds.

I sit on the sandy beach, looking up at Kairi, who’s standing.

“You ever want to go back?”

“Hmm…Well, I’m happy here —” Kairi stares out at the ocean, her face unreadable. It doesn’t look lonely or sad or even happy, but her face is expressing something. Kairi wears this expression often. “But, you know...I wouldn’t mind going to see it.”

I think Kairi did remember at least some of her past. Like the memory Sora sees of her and her grandma in the castle. Maybe she didn’t remember everything, but enough bits and pieces for her to not wanna talk about it.

I've chosen a girl. I don't know if she holds the princesses' powers, but I will find out. She may lead me to the key bearer.I shall set her free and observe.

Kairi was put inside the ark and “set free”, arriving on Destiny Islands.  

Beyond this world is a place in which darkness reigns. (Details shall be archived in a separate report.)There are many worlds in existence, some of which we know nothing about. The world in which we live. The realm of Darkness. The realm of Light.

I imagine that this ark existed in the realm of darkness, accessible through the computer’s Datascape, the D.T.D.

“Where does the body go when it separates from the heart? If the soul remains within the body, is it still considered to be deceased? When the heart returns to the Heartless, the physical form disappears. But that is merely true in this world. Perhaps the body exists in another form in another world.” 

Inside those pods, the apprentices gave up their hearts, and their Nobodies were reborn in the realm of light.

“While pursuing the truth, I became acquainted with an unusual entity. It is the soul and body left behind when a being loses its heart. When a Heartless is born, this entity disappears from the realm of light to be reborn as an entirely new being in another realm.”

Lea wasn’t an apprentice, but he chose to give up his heart willingly alongside them so he could bring Isa back. The “D.T.D” reminded him of being inside that ark. It’s very possible that Lea and Isa and Kairi all lost their hearts inside that ark at the same time.

Naminé: I was lonely for so long. I just couldn't bear it anymore.

Naminé was Kairi’s shadow, the other side of her heart. She was lonely.

Nomura: I like the scene in KHI, when she watches the sunset with Sora, and tells him not to change. I thought it showed very well her anxiety and loneliness over how as we get older we find a distance growing between us and our close friends.

Kairi was lonely, too. If you actually develop Kairi and explore her hidden loneliness, then suddenly Naminé doesn’t feel like a separate character anymore. She feels like a part of Kairi’s heart. Terra changed into Xehanort and Kairi lost everything in life. She never wanted to go through that pain again. But now, Riku is showing similar traits, being obsessed with other worlds and growing distant. Kairi is scared he’s going to change, too.

Talking to Roxas and Xion always brings back memories of my human life, back when I was a kid. It's a weird sensation. I ought to be able to share all this with Saïx, but I just don't feel like it anymore. It's strange, but I'm content with just missing what's gone. I'm not the one who changed. You did.

Watching the sunset was such a key memory for Kairi because it hinted at her anxiety and loneliness. That pain was meant to be part of her character arc in KH3. She was always so drawn to Sora because she felt like he was the type who would never change. And that was something Kairi had in common with Lea. Lea’s loneliness was also caused by the experiments, when Isa changed into Xehanort.

Axel: We've got something in common, Kairi. You and I both miss someone we care about. Hey, I feel like we're friends already.

If you showed everyone’s FULL backstory in Radiant Garden, you can develop a much, much deeper connection between everyone. If you actually took the time to do this, you wouldn’t need all these separate clones. KH3 brings back all the clones and introduces more KHUX characters, but it doesn’t make up for how shallow everyone felt. 

[thefinalkey16]

KH3 Re:Mind spoilers/Reactions

So Xemnas gave the order?? To find the box?? But why??

So did Xigbar actually lose the box? YOU HAD ONE JOB

Oh we’re starting HERE HUH

I forgot how pretty the graphics are

Why is Riku so pretty???

Nomura really went “this DLC is about SOKAI and I’m gonna make sure you KNOW IT.”

Nomura really cares about his ship and I appreciate it so much

LETS GO SAVE OUR GIRL!

Heck yeah REMIND TIME

I love the music in this game so much

YES WE GET MORE MOM

Why does MOM adopt smol children lol

It bothers me that MOM has no actual face behind the hood. It’s like Ansem’s original form

So Xehanort is where Xemnas’s confusion of the heart comes from lol

OH THIS IS PREMASTER XEHANORT

I’m sorry, Xehanort is more powerful than darkness?

I’m sorry MOM is too scared to take off the coat???

MOM is a psychology teacher who gets exasperated by his dumb students

OH THATS JUST RUDE NOMURA

LEMME KNOW HIS NAME

A lost..Master?

Well we know where Xehanort got the hands behind the back walk from

OOO A NEW THEME

OH I LOVE IT

I’m 100% sure that MOM told him his name was “Noneya,” and it took a few decades before he realized what he actually said

DID THEY TELEPORT TO LOOK COOL ON THE ROCKS

I’m sorry they have holograms??

Did they actually call him Riku Replica lol

Wait they were actually nobodies

XEMNAS AND XEHANORT WERE REPLICAS?

“Why we have assembled here,” because Xemnas and Sora destroyed your sick castle

Poor Terra got possessed TWICE?

Demyx! You get Demyx!

I’m sorry 20??

No. I

Oh so they don’t actually remember Xion

Does.. does Xigbar remember Xion?

Wow they got Vexen just to get his daughter in their gang. How rude

Xehanort fell asleep while they chatted I’m cackling

Crazy old man

Now when do I get to save Kairi? :3c

YAY ITS TIME

YAY ITS CHIRITHY TIME

ITS MY SMOL KITTY

“Back so soon?”=you died again?? You’re lame

Chirithy is a mood

Sora you watched your GF get shattered

Oh so that’s why Sora dies

IS SORA SAILOR PLUTO

Oh my god he’s Sailor Pluto

Lose powers? He’s done that so many times 😂

Getting banned from one world? He had a phone and friends with gummi ships lol

ARE WE GONNA SEE EVERONES HEART STATION??

NOOO VEN That still hurts to watch

AWW SORA TRIED TO CATCH HIM

Wow he’s a ghosty ghost

Oh I love Ven’s heart station so much

Wow Vanitas really said that Ven is Baby

YAS GIMME VANITAS

Also wow Vanitas is protecting Ven’s heart and I love that

OH NO NOT THIS GUY

I beat him by using Meow Wow. meow wow is best boy

Oh no oh no it’s this pet

Gotta love Big Bro Lea

I forgot they call him Axel

ITS THE HUG

It’s Donald’s Safrifice ;-;

Donald Really channeled his inner Molly Weasley and said “Not my son you WITCH.”

WASTED

Also aw Sora got to see what Donald did for the first time

AQUA’S STATION IS SO PRETTY

Poor Aqua ;-; this is the moment where everyone hates her for

Also aww she trusts Kairi to protect them

We love Big Sis Aqua

YES WE GET ANTI AQUA FIGHT AGAIN

NAMINEEEEE

I’m literally screaming and I scared my grandma

Oh my god She lost Kairi and she immediately went to Sora cause she knew she’d be safe there ;-;

Namine’s Really here bringing everyone together

Agsisgsjdg I forgot Terra can do the keyblade whip thing lol

AND the cannon

Wow they’re really fighting in the sky

Anyone else getting Star Wars vibes

AWW HE JUST WANTS TO PROTECT HIS FAMILY

I still hate Terra’s pants

Imagine your heart crushing your body. Like really

NO LINGERING WILL

HECK YEAH SORA YOU KICK THEIR BUTT

Wow Sora you’re so cocky

LINGERING WILL NO

OH MY GOD

I forgot that Marluxia is an Ouran Host Club character

Wait, that Mickey finisher was new, wasn’t it?

Okay but I still have no idea what Xemnas did to Luxord

Cards: *Appear*

Sora: PTSD from watching his friends get destroyed from the cards in the manga

Mickey: *is captured*

Sora: PTSD intensifies

I’m really happy that we get to replay all of the Organization battles, they’re so much fun!

I’m so soft for Replinami ;-;

He loves her so much, and all he wants is for her to be safe and happy ;-;

Ven: we aren’t the same. You’re Edgy. I’m Baby

Aqua when Sora appears: TWO Baby’s :0

“If I’m a traitor, then Kairi’s the trump card.” LEA DRINKS RESPECT KAIRI JUICE

Aww Kairi’s so confused. She doesn’t see how she could be a trump card ;-;

HE STRAIGHT UP FLEXED

AWW XION REMEMBERS

Ohhh Isa’s jealous.

YES THW CHAKRAMS

LETS GO

Jealousy mode has been activated in Isa

WHAT WAS THAT RUN

OH MY GOD THAT SCREAM

YES KAIRI GO

PROTEXT YOUR BRO

“Yup” Kairi really just wants this over with so she can go home 😂

The way Kairi’s face lights up at seeing Sora gives me life.

Wow Xemnas was really hurt by Axel’s betrayal. Frankly? I’m shocked.

XION’S HAND IS SMOKING

HER HAND IS BURNING BECAUSE SHES GRABBING THE BLADE

Xemnas does NOT drink Respect Xion juice

ROXAS KEPT XION’S MEMORIES SAFE INSIDE HIM

AND SHE HAS HER FACE BECAUSE HE GAVE THEM BACK TO HER

Lea cares about the small girls he adopted as his little sisters

AWW THE THREE OF THEIR HEARTS ARE CONNECTED

NO XION ISNT ON HIS HEART ANYMORE

YES KAIRI’S HERE TO KICK BUTT

Wow Nomura really got tired of people dissing Kairi so he amped her up with cool stuff

“Oh? Tired of Kairi not doing anything?” Heres her literally overpowering Xemnas and him having to restrain her with a stop spell and magic to stop her

KAIRI IS THE SCARLET WITCH AND XEMNAS IS THANOS

Oh and in case you think she’s weak? Here’s the same thing for Sora too.

God I love Nomura

Oh my god she’s in so much pain because of the darkness

OH MY GOD SHES IN SO MUCH PAIN BECAUSE OF THE DARKENSS

SORA LITERALLY FAINTED AFTER 2 SECONDS BUT KAIRI’S HOLDING ON OH MY GOD THE STRENGTH

OOOOOOOO ROXAS TIME

The MUSIC

THEIR ATTACK IS CALLED “THINKING OF YOU” BECAUSE THEY REMEMBERED XION I CANT

I can not believe i was forced to relive watching Kairi die

SHE WAS CRYSTALLIZED?? SHES NOT DEAD??

I love Donald and Goofy so much ;-;

They aren’t gonna leave their son alone

Also wow Xehanort was just staring there forever

I FORGOT WE GET TO EXPLORE SCALA :D

KAIRI?!?!

Getting KH1 vibes with this

“The heartless that is radiating light” how is that possible??

Okay but this is such a good parallel to the first game, with him saving Kairi ;-;

Except for the fact that HEARTLESS SORA DIDNT GET BEAT UP

Okay so her heart is a thassala shell. Will we have to collect the pieces to make her wayfinder?

Oh my god I see the thing at the top of the screen. We totally are making her wayfinder ;-;

THAT MEANS SHE LITERALLY GAVE HIM HER HEART SO HE COULS RETURN IT TO HER OH MY GOOOOD

Okay so I love the puzzles they have here

XEHANORT?!

I’m sorry you hid her heart? What are you, five?

What do you MEAN almost out of time?!

OH NO KINGDOM HEARTS

Oh no not these guys again

So many keyholes

IM SORRY IS THIS WIZARD OF OZ

Oh my god Lea is so overwhelmed lol

SGAKSSGE ROXAS CAUGHT XION

Okay so for the team ups, I love how all of them were mix and matched from the trio’s

I loved Terra and Riku, the Master and apprentice

I loved Ven, Roxas, and I can’t remember who else was in it. “Thanks Roxas.” “Youre welcome. You’re not too bad yourself.” THAT WAS ADORABLE

Xion, Aqua and Mickey being mages and protecting everyone

Aqua and Lea, him trying to talk and Aqua telling him to shut up and focus

MICKEY’S STRUGGLE TO SAVE HIS FRIENDS BROKE MY HEART

We now present: Kingdom Hearts 3: connect he dots

Connect. Connect the dots. Get it?

KAIRI’S HEART MADE A FLOWER

THE KH2 THING

“SORA :D”

THEIR HUG

HE JUST HOLDS HER CLOSE

TIME FOR PLAYABLE KAIRI BABBYYYYYYY

“I can do this.” YES YOU CAN

I’m sorry you think I want to play as Sora? After waiting my whole life to play Kairi? HA

KAIRI IS THE MOST POWERFUL

Seven wishes saved me in that fight

ONE HEART

THEY HAVE ANGEL WINGS

OKAY YALL HAD YOUR SORIKU ATTACK NOW WE GOT SOKAI :D

Now we just need Rikai and Sorikai and it’ll be complete ^^

AGSKSGSKDGSJS CHIRITHY

“I was trying to give you some privacy” awwww

CHIRITHY IS CRYING

THEYRE GOING ON DATES

Chirithy has my soul and I love it

Every scene with Chirithy adds 7 years to my life

Afsjsgsajg Sora DONT PUSH THE CAT

NAMINE

THEY WERE THERE TO FREE HER HEART

Aaand he’s gone and I’m crying again

LIMITCUT EPISODE TIME BABBYYYY

GAJSGSJDG RIKU AND TERRA ARE TOGETHER

Oh my god Riku and Terra being bro’s are my favorite thing

Wait what are they gonna do

ARE THEY SEALING THE WORLD

OH MY GOD THE ARMOR

HOW DARE THEY NOT SHOW US THE FRONT PARTS

OH they’re going to search for Sora!

IS RIKU IN CHARGE OF THE LAND OF DEPARTURE

ONE YEAR???

Agajsgsjdg MERLINS HOUSE

CLOUD

PRETTY BOY

YUFFFIIEEE

AERIITH

CID

OH MY GOD THE GANGS ALL TOGETHER

THEY WENT TO THE REALM OF DARKNESS WHAT

“The Twilight Town gang” ITS OFFICIAL

OH NO WHAT HAPPENED TO KAIRI

WHY DOES HE LOOK SAD

NO WHATS GOING ON WITH KAIRI

They’re searching her heart?

SHES BEEN ASLEEP FOR A YEAR?!

Riku’s been all ALONE

DATA SORA??

Battalion oh my god lol

I’m mad about Kairi being asleep for a year though

AGSJSGS WE GET TO EXPLORE

Wow. A video game inside of a video game

I spent the rest of the day failing the Data battles and making funny Data Greeting pictures. Hopefully I’ll be better st the battles tomorrow!

[jokahlu]

Kingdom Hearts 3 Ted Talk, Kairi’s Edition (More like rant) (Will contain spoilers)

*Warnings*

While reading the following post you should expect:

*Spoilers are ahead.

*Duality of emotions clashing between love and frustration.

*A certain mouse’s head will be expected in a platter, and he will be the source of the darkness coming out of me.

*Love for a character that deserved way more than what she got.

*Deep disappointment for a forgotten friendship that was non-existent.

*A sailing ship warmed my heart.

*And an ending that shattered it.

…So it’s basically me ranting at how SE treats Kairi.

Also, it’s a pretty long read. I tried to make it short. Oh well.

Enjoy.

*Read at your own discretion*

I’m so wrecked after this game. But don’t get me wrong, I loved it!

The graphics were superb, their expressions on point, the writing and humor, the landscapes and worlds. It was all so precious. Being able to play as the spiked hair little bundle of joy again after so long was truly like coming home.

But as much as I loved it, there are so many things that rubbed me the wrong way. So many things I hoped for, that seemed reasonable and not out of the realm of possibilities, but never happened.

I will not mention all of them here because I could write an entire essay about it. Reason why I’ll try not to get overly excited. Underline try.

This time I will mostly talk about Kairi. 

Let’s do this quick, shall we?

First of all, I need that mouse’s head on a platter.

I wish Aqua would’ve given Mickey a good beating in this game. Don’t get me wrong, I usually like Mickey and his character in the KH franchise is pretty cool. But I hated his disregard to Kairi in this game. It just made me want to scream. Yes, he’s not the only one who doesn’t give a damn about the redhead (more on that lovely subject later), but I felt like he valued other’s life above hers in a blatantly obvious way. There are two scenes where I noticed this and it made me want to crawl up the walls.

The first scene was when Kairi is about to be struck down by Terranort, after him discarding two experienced fighters with a little more than a flick of his wrist, mind you. So, of course she’s scared and paralyzed, like any normal keyblade wielder (with only basic training and no real experience) would be. As Sora is desperately running to shield her with nothing but his body, Mickey uselessly screams “Sora no!”, as Donald and Goofy use their brains (and weapons) and come to the rescue.

What gives Mickey? Is she that unimportant in your mind, that Sora shouldn’t even try to help her? Did you honestly expect Sora to just let her die? Because if Terranort struck her, she was toast.

But I guess the answer is yes, because the other scene that made me want to strangle him was when Sora wants to go and save her and Mickey is trying to convince him not to go. I bet if it was Minnie on the line he would be jumping into lava if it meant to save her. But Kairi? Nah.

I swear I would’ve wanted Minnie to be next to Kairi and both be destroyed by Master Xehanort, just to see if Mickey’s reaction would be any different and if he would also risk it all at the end to save her instead of being like “oh don’t go Sora, you may never come back. Just leave Kairi to die, we can lose her but not you” attitude. Geez.

Love for a character that deserved better.

Oh, I could go one and on, on this one. It’s divided in many categories because the whole rant can be resumed in: she deserved better.

I’ll point out the obvious: I’ve always loved Kairi.

Yeah, she’s underdeveloped, not well written and can’t seem to shake the damsel in distress coat off, but I’ve always liked her. I’ve always felt Sora and Riku’s love for her real and heartwarming, and that’s made me like her so much. She’s also super brave, witty and has a great personality (don’t fight me on this)

I do get why some people might not like her, but I do.

Kingdom Hearts games have always treated her like a plot device and nothing more, and kh3 was the worst of the bunch in my opinion.

No one seems to care about her except for Sora.

When everyone reunites after Kairi dies, the only one who says something to him to reassure and confort Sora, apart from Donald and Goofy, is Xion. The rest are like oh ok she died, what’s next? I was expecting for Axel to be pissed, sad, anything, or anyone commenting something about it, but they just disregarded it like nothing happened.

Even if I understand that Terra, Aqua, Ven, Roxas, even Xion, didn’t know her that well and I didn’t expect it to affect them, at least they should acknowledge their fallen comrade. But ok, they didn’t know her that well. But Axel and Riku virtually not giving a damn? It really made things worse for my already wrecked heart. Those two are her closest friends, aside from Sora..

Even when the final battle is over everyone is like “wohoo we won! it’s all over!” (I’m glaring at you mouse) and even Riku agrees, Sora is the only one who is sad and heartbroken for her dying. Speaking of Riku basically disregarding her death..

Deep disappointment for a forgotten friendship that was basically non-existent.

Saying that I was disappointed in Kairi and Rikus interactions is a mayor understatement. This broke my heart because my highest hope for kh3 was to see Riku and Kairi being friends. Like, real friends.

In kh1 he was all over protecting her, in kh2 he silently looked after her and kept her safe as much as he could, but kh3? Man, in this game they felt like borderline strangers to me. Even faced by her being murdered in front of his face, he just stood there kind of surprised and pissed. Nothing more.

Seriously?

I mean Master Xehanort had just cold-bloodedly killed her right then and there, and he didn’t react as if his childhood friend had just turned into dust. 

And even worse, when the final battle ended he didn’t even offer to go with Sora to save her. What the hell?

If it was Sora who had died, there is no doubt in my mind that he would’ve been fighting his way to save him, consequences be dammed. (And it’s what probably happens when Kairi comes home alone, smh) And that reaction would be right because they’re best friends and that how any of the other characters would react if one of their trio was killed and they had the chance to save them.

So why did it seem like he didn’t care at all? It hurts a lot.

Where is the Riku who’s last worlds for Sora were asking him to keep Kairi safe? The one who helped her escape Axel or shielded her from Saix?

Riku felt off to me in Kingdom Hearts 3, not only because of this, but I’ll leave that for my Riku rant.

Kairi’s performance in the final battle

Not everyone has to kick ass to be valid, and she tried her best to train and help, even when it was not something she was used to. 

I mean, come on! Her first real experiences in battle were in the final battle. Who the hell thought it was a good idea? She had only trained with Axel. So, of course she would freeze when she sees trained/experienced keyblade wielders being thrown all over the place. Even Sora didn’t take out his weapon, trying to save her in the rush of the moment. And even if she did take out her keyblade when Terranort attacked her, she would’ve been smashed against the wall like Axel.

I’ll admit that before kh3 was released, I wished she did become OP and beat some organization XIII butt, but as I advanced in the game I realized how ridiculous that is. If you put kh1 Riku and Sora in that scenario, even at the end of the game with all the experience they had gathered, I bet they wouldn’t have fared very differently.

What I truly want is for her to go on her own adventure and grow powerful at her own pace, so in the next big battle she’ll be fairly prepared. It would be better if that adventure was with Sora and Riku, exploring new worlds together just the three of them, like they dreamed about in kh1.

But I’ll say it again: Not everyone in the game must kick ass to be valid.

A sailing ship warmed my heart. Even if it was poorly written (Unsurprisingly. It involves Kairi so I expected as much)

The Sokai in the game honestly lifted my battered heart.

Sora grows to learn so much more of love in this game: how powerful true love can be, how if you truly believe, love can make miracles happen and that one day is enough if there is true love.. He even admits that he still doesn't know much about it, but as the story goes on we can see that he knows more than he believes.

I loved the paopu scene. I could totally imagine Kairi and Riku planning it beforehand, so that Kairi and Sora would be alone to do so. Key word being “imagine” because at this point, their friendship is only in my imagination.. but that will be saved for Riku’s rant..

I believe that it’s so in character that Kairi initiates the paopu scene, because Sora would never do so. But I loved it, and the way they looked at each other was so.. oh man this game.

The paopu moment did seem to make Sora bolder, touching her more than before and being blunter about how she makes him feel. And it’s so heartwarming and wholesome that the moment when Sora realizes Kairi’s light had been guiding him in the darkness, he remembers the two acts of true love he had witnessed before in the game: Rapunzel’s tear bringing Flynn back to life and Elsa and Ana’s scene as well. I believe that’s the moment when he realizes that she’s his True Love.. 

That moment when he finds her in the darkness, and he makes her shy when he tells her that he felt strong with her, smiling knowingly when she turns away embarrassed. Or holding her hand for longer than necessary when they go back with the others.

It’s amazing that after meeting so many new people, many gorgeous girls and guys, Sora’s heart hasn’t let go of the friend he fell for as kids. He loved her for her personality and heart, which is why their bond is so strong, even if they see each other less than before.. which is a massive understatement if I must say so myself.  

That heart wrenching scream when she was taken into the heartless tornado or his grief-stricken face as he screamed at Master Xehanort “Why”, are proof of just how deep his feelings for her are. How important and invaluable she is in his life.

Adding to this, his utter sacrifice to go save her as soon as possible, not enjoying his victory against Master Xehanort, and not making her wait one more second (his words, not mine) is a statement of his feelings for her, simple and clear (thought I would say clean did ya?)

I mean, come on! His first thought after killing that murderous bald sack of darkness was about her.

And at the end I love how they were holding hands and sitting so close to each other on the paopu tree (They’re definitely a couple now) before he vanished and shattered my heart in a million different pieces.

Speaking of which..

An ending that shattered my heart.

I feel like her dying was very unnecessary. I think that it was only for Sora to embark on a mission alone. Master Xehanort says that he lacks motivation, so he kills her (she’s being used as a plot device again dammit) but Sora clearly was going to fight him either way, motivation or not. 

So, killing Kairi was only for Sora to go alone at the end, leave the story inconclusive and the game, and players, in dire need of a sequel.

Before the secret ending had been added, I was super sad that the only person who truly cared for her had seemingly died, or vanished, but now we know he’s someplace else, looking for a way back to her. I would love for her to save him, but given how SE treats her, I think I’ll temper my expectations for her in the next installments of the games.

This game left me with a super bittersweet feeling, but it was definitely worth it! I won’t let SE and the character’s indifference towards Kairi affect my overall enjoyment of the game.

But let’s hope she gets to shake that damsel in distress title Nomura loves to give her.. I guess I can’t keep my expectations low for her, can I?

Oh well, Sora still need to give her her lucky charm back, which she gave back in Blank Points, so he needs to come back to her to return it.

Please SE let Kairi help save Sora this time, without being a burden. Thank you.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[tapioca-puddingg]

Part 2 of my Re:Mind hot take

Demyx! My boy! There he is, he didn't disappear after all haha. I think this is Riku's first time meeting him as well. This'll bring about an interesting interaction, as you can see Riku ain't havin it. This must be right after Riku and Sora part ways after "defeating" Xigbar and Repliku.

Have we ever seen Riku's heart before??? Can i just say real quick that i love the color scheme? Also interesting that Ansem SoD, Mickey and Naminé are in his heart, but Sora and Kairi are nowhere to be found. "Follow my heart," eh? So he just so happened to follow his heart to Riku's, eh?? Hmmmm.

Aww lookit em. They look so cute and wholesome together. More interaction between them looks like. Well of course it's pretty, it is the land of Sora (sky) and Kairi (sea) after all. Gotta be post-game for sure.

And now here's the biggest takeaway from this trailer: PLAYABLE KAIRI GUYS. We did it. I didn't think we'd see this joyous day. I'm so proud of her. I heard this was trending on Twitter too. Oh and to make it better, Sora's an assist, just like for Riku. ❤ Interesting arena too. Looks like Kingdom Hearts in the background there. I'll enjoy kicking Xehanort's old ass as Kairi.

No idea what they're planning here, but I'm glad we're getting more interaction between them. You can probably tell by now, but my biggest wish is just for more character interaction. It doesn't even have to be story related, it can just be a casual conversation between them. They've got a lot of catching up to do anyways. Also Aqua's smile. What a queen she issss ❤❤

(Sorry i hit the 10 image thing again) HO BOI where do I even begin with this. In this scene, Sora looks to be in the Final World but at nighttime, or a night sky if you will. I didn't think the concept of time existed in the Final World normally, if even at all. Anyway, he shouts something and listens for a response. There, Yozora walks up from the distance. And if you guys remember Sora's quote from the first game: "I've been having these weird thoughts lately. Like, is any of this for real or not?". They both quote it and their voices overlap. This 100% makes me think that Yozora is an alternate universe counterpart of Sora. That was a loaded sentence but I hope you understand what I mean. But if that's true, then why does he look like Riku? And why show up at this point in time? And why in the final world of all places? That quote undeniably proves that there's a connection between the 3 of them, and I'm REALLY interested to see what Yozora's role in this story is going forward. His voice sounded kinda like Terra's to me. I really hope it doesn't end up being Ray Chase or something cause that would be a huge slap in the face to FF15.

Okay i think that's all my thoughts for now. Until the next post o/

[eliseliedl]

kh3 is a great ass game and i’m so happy it’s finally here, however i want to list some complaints i have after finishing it because i feel like it’s important to point these things out too.

don’t read unless you are 100% done with the game please, some spoilers i listed are huge.

- some interactions weren’t good enough imo, i know i’m asking too much but i thought that some could have been done better and more emotional, like Kairi and Aqua’s. I really liked the few Sora/Kairi moments tho, the way they held hands... many times UwU

- Riku and Terra didn’t interact at all even tho at the beginning when Riku and Mickey go looking for Aqua Riku talks and thinks about Terra... i wanted to see that interaction so bad and it feels weird that it didn’t happen tbh.

- when Ventus and Roxas see each other they don’t say anything? they just look at each other and that’s it, as if meeting someone who is identical as you isn’t like the rarest/weirdest things??? i know it isn’t super important but that was not a very realistic reaction and i wanted them to adress it, idk.

- some OOC moments i guess. Example: when they meet Terranort at the Keyblade Graveyard for the first time, he rushes and hits Ventus super hard and Aqua is just... staring. It takes a while until she finally says something and idk... Aqua wouldn’t hesitate when something like that happens to one of her best friends. We all know this.

- Sora disappearing at the end... even tho it had a happy ending this hit me really hard, it outshined the happy ending the others had. After all Sora had done, after saving everyone and defeating Xehanort... he disappears.... and Kairi gets to be sad too :( i think it’s pretty unfair and i hope he comes back again somehow... please.

- we didn’t get to see what is in the box. even though it is so important in the end they didn’t show it to us... like we’ve been waiting so many years for this? if you are going to talk so much about the damn box you could at least show what’s in it, or tell us a clue? idk, i feel like everything surrounding the box, Luxu, the foretellers, etc could have been showed in this game.

- also i don’t know if i got it right, so is Braig/Xigbar an actual person possessed by Luxu? or was he Luxu all along, only his appearance changed? i’m not okay having these kinda questions not answered... then again there’s gonna be a secret movie (?) so i hope it doesn’t disappoint me and it adresses some things that should have been adressed.

- mmm everyone except Sora and kinda Riku was pretty much useless on battle. like i do understand that Sora is the protagonist and he is obviously the main focus but like everyone can fight too and may i remind the writers that Aqua is a master? she could and should have done better.

- they did Kairi dirty again. basically her only fight scene is the one we saw on the trailer. what was the point of making her train if she was gonna do barely anything? not to mention that again Sora had to save her bc again she was caught... stop making her the damsel in distress jesus, she can fight now!!!!!

- the girl Saïx talks about, the one who was friends with him and Axel when they were “somebodies” - what i didn’t like is that she has never been mentioned, not even once, in previous games and also the game ended and we didn’t even get her name. I feel like they shouldn’t have left out this “story” now that they randomly mentioned it.

- I was happy to see Ephemera! But why did he suddenly appear? Does he know Sora, somehow? There’s gotta be a reason behind this, i’m sure. And again, it could have been at least mentioned in the game.

- we got to see a very happy ending for almost everyone, but i wish they had showed us what happened to Marluxia, Larxene, Demyx... after they recompleted. They did show us Isa so why not the others?

- Ventus suddenly remembering Chirity and Terra and Aqua not being remotely surprised. Not that i really disliked this because it was cute and i’m happy for Chirity but why did it seem so normal? It shouldn’t....

And i think that’s it, sorry if i sound bitter but well, i’ve been waiting too many years for this game and the fact that it has many negative things... well, i just needed to point it out. The worst thing is that we might have to wait many more years for our questions to be answered in another brand new game... :(

[rxcusant]

one day but im gonna have a nice long think about the kh3 timeline for my soranort au and mainly what hes doing in the disney worlds and write that all out for reference but i was thinking about san fransokyo a little bit earlier

i like to imagine he gets paired off with each worlds respective org member (marluxia in corona, larxene in arendelle, etc) with specific orders in mind (either seek out the new seven hearts or search for the black box) but i feel like san fransokyo would be the one they send him off to alone with very little orders to go off on. probably something like “we need you to investigate the world, do so at your leisure” and he’s just ‘???yeah yall are definitely up to something but like hell im gonna look this gift horse in the mouth’

and then things play out kinda similarly. he arrives on the world, alone, and thinks “i have GOT to tell riku about this!” and then he remembers Oh Yeah. I Cant See Them Right Now :(  (((side note, riku is the one to rescue aqua. it all plays out the same up to the point where hes like “SORA....” and much like aqua when fighting vanitas asked for terra and ven to lend her her strength his keyblade glows and he goes in to STRIKE and yeah you get the idea)))  and thats when baymax and hiro and the team arrive and sora helps them take out the heartless and they go back to garage with the AR Device etc etc etc It plays out pretty much the same. 

then we get to the darkubes. And rikunort appears. sora says he doesnt know WHAT rikunorts doing. (“As if this stupid experiment wasn’t already a hassle.” “Experiment? Riku, what are you talking about? What’s the Organization doing?”) Hiro explains the thing with the red chip and Riku disappears and they punch it again. Riku comes back to take the chip and Sora asks him again to explain himself. It’s less about revealing Time Travel BS and Replicas and more what the Organization is doing and how Baymax’s heart contributes to the Organizations goals. So the conversation kinda skips to ‘To see if we can recreate a heart from data’ and even the ‘that walking balloon has a heart, or thats the nonsense im supposed to believe’ line. Hiro butts in about the chip, Soras still confused with what the Organization wants,  Riku leaves. 

BH6 needs to rest and regroup and back at the garage is when they ask Sora whats the deal with him and Riku cause like... they obviously know each other and wear the same coat. its hella suspicious. Sora really doesnt like to talk about it and he insists he doesnt know what Riku is doing and asks the group to trust him. They may dress the same but Sora doesnt consider himself an ally (“There’s this... group. They don’t fight fair and say things to get under your skin. I don’t like them or agree with that they’re doing. But I can’t just walk away. That was... one of my best friend’s back there-- Riku. I don’t know what they’re making him do but I need help him. It’s my fault they’re coming after you. Let me help you take back Baymax’s heart.”). BH6 is kinda on the fence but Darkubes are attacking so they head out.

they do the ITS NOT THE SUM OF OUR PARTS BUT THE SUM OF OUR HEARTS and Riku literally jumps in and says THE TERROR OF BEING ATTACKED WITHOUT WARNING etc and Sora and BH6 interject and Riku drops the THATS WHY I MADE SURE OUR CREATION FOUGHT YOU / YOURE GOING TO DESTROY HIM IN FRONT OF HIRO lines. its plays out pretty much the same from here with some added Sora like This is why the Organization wanted me to come here! hes not surprised just disappointed he didnt see this coming sooner. Like he anticipated it but not quite to this degree kjhfdkg

but sora and baymax punch dark baymax and all ends well and pretty much the same. although i imagine theres a final scene in the garage where hiro asks if soras going to be alright dealing with that Organization group and riku and sora smiles his usual smile like ‘yeah dont worry i’ll okay! there’s still a lot left i have to do, and everyones counting on me to do it!’ as if thats not one of the major stressors in his life. BUT HES FINE HES OKAY REALLY : ) and hiro and the team wish him well and sora wishes them the same and then he asks to take a baymax with him 

the post-world cutscene is sora like HEY! RIKU. WHAT THE FIZZITYUCK WAS ALL THAT BACK THERE and i dont know rikunort enough to come up with a response but im sure its antagonistic and soras like WELL I KNOW YOU ARE BUT WHAT AM I like the baby he is. but for reals they prob have a brief chat about what the organization wants with creating hearts from data and tricking sora into it and i feel like riku gives some half hearted “How should I know, I just do what they tell me to do so I don’t get beat black and blue like you :/” and walks away. with no answers from riku i dunno if sora would try another member or not cause he knows its not like theyll tell him much else.

but as a little side note im p sure the Anti Aqua stuff happens after this and i know i said earlier that riku is the one to rescue her but when theyre fighting and riku’s like “SORA......” i feel like soras just sitting in his room and feels his heart go like BA-DUMP and he gasps like RIKU?! as he puts his hand over his heart cause KH would do something like that and Then rikus keyblade glows and punches aqua and then saves her and Yeah! cool. 

this got much longer than i anticipated.

[kingdomhearts-and-soriku-trash]

Yay! ok how about Sora reassuring Terra b/c you know that boy has a lot to feel guilty about and needs some of that pure Sora lovin'

Oof you’re right he does feel guilty a lot and I made his guilt be about the KH 3 scene (I’m sorry if you haven’t played it and I just let out a BIG spoiler) where he gets his control back and stops being controlled by Ansem (??? KH is confusing alright) and saves Aqua and Ventus from falling to their deaths. Okay enjoy and if it isn’t good just tell me and I’ll try to rewrite it! Thanks for asking❤️ and I hope you come and ask again soon boo~.

Also, if the information isnt all accurate it’s because KH is confusing as hell and I never know how to explain most of it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Whenever Terra couldn’t sleep at night, he would go outside and look at the stars. He couldn’t sleep because of his guilt. It kept coming back to haunt him. He nearly killed his friends. His friends he would do anything for. He remembers it all so vividly.

Aqua and Ventus had purple chains wrapped around their bodies. They slowly began to lift into the air, and they couldn’t do anything about it. They were unconscious and silent. He had to watch silently and painfully as they lifted into the air and he heard Ventus whisper, “Terra...I kept my promise.”

He still hated how they were lifted into the air and he had to watch. He should’ve done something sooner, he should’ve done something different. But he didn’t. He blamed himself for everything, he hated himself for it, and he couldn’t help but come out here at night and blame himself. Nobody ever followed him, which he felt kinda grateful for. He’d rather be left alone with his thoughts. However, one night was different.

He had been out there for maybe 10 minutes before someone decided to join him. He didn’t notice the quiet footsteps behind him of a curious, teenage boy. Sora had apparently heard him leave since he too couldn’t sleep at night. He had his own problems which he never spoke about to anyone. They wouldn’t remember it anyway. “Terra?” Sora said. Terra suddenly tensed and turned around to see Sora at the door. Fuck. He didn’t want anyone to know he was here.

“You should go back inside. It’s late,” he said, trying to sound like the grownup he was. However, Sora knew when something was wrong. He always did. It was strange to Terra, but he secretly wished for Sora to stay. Sora crossed his arms and sighed. “Not until you do,” he said with a serious tone. Terra never really heard Sora have a serious voice. Only in battle did he have a serious voice. Terra wasn’t ready to go back inside, and if he couldn’t make Sora leave, then he’d have to let him join him. He sighed, “Fine you can come over here,” he finally said. He heard Sora let out a little laugh and knew he was happy with his little victory.

He came to him and sat beside him, facing the Stars. “What’s wrong?” Sora asked. Terra felt like a burden. Sora was just a child and, even though he had seen a lot for his young age, he felt like he didn’t need to deal with an adults problem. “It’s nothing, I just came out here to view the Stars,” he said, not looking at Sora. He felt as if he looked at him he would see Ventus and cry. Sora sighed and turned towards him with a little angry look. “Liar! I know when somethings wrong,” he told him with an angry look, but he still seemed sad more than ever. Terra knew how Sora wanted everyone to be happy, but right now, he didn’t really know how to be happy.

“I don’t know what the problem is, Terra. And I may not be as close to you as Aqua and Ventus are, but I want to help you,” he told him with a concerned look. Terra couldn’t help but sigh and give in to Soras demands. He really was a kind but pushy kid. Terra looked down at his hands and spoke. “Aqua and Terra almost got killed and if I hadn’t have stepped in,” he said with his voice started to choke up. No. No crying. “They would’ve been dead,” he said while closing his hands into fists. Sora looked at his hands and should’ve guessed this was the issue. He had been there to witness it and could see how much Terra missed them and how hard he tried to save them, and he succeeded. But, that didn’t mean the guilt was gone.

“It wasn’t your fault. You were controlled. It wasn’t you, Terra. They know the real you, and know that you would never harm them,” Sora said while trying to make Terra look at him. But he wasn’t budging. “We have all been through some stuff, Terra. But, we have to look towards the future. Learn from our mistakes. We’re both stronger and know how to protect the ones we love.” Sora couldn’t help the little bit of pain in his heart when he said that. He remembered when Riku died and how he couldn’t save him. He died for him. It was Rikus choice, but he couldn’t help the feeling of guilt in his heart. However, he couldn’t tell anyone because no one remembered. So that guilt built up and will continue to build.

He wished he could take his own advice.

Terra let out a sigh and finally looked towards Sora. His guilt wasn’t fully gone, but Sora comforting him made it a little less heavy. Sora had a little smile on his face as Terra smiled back at him. “Come on, its late. We need to get to bed.” Sora laughed and got up so fast, Terra knew he would’ve felt dizzy if he did that. “I’ll race you back inside!” Terra stood up and laughed and patted him on the shoulder. “I’m not up for that right now. But how about in the morning?” Sora laughed and nodded. They both walked back inside with their spirits a little bit higher.

Well, Terras was. And Terra was thankful to have Sora with him and his friends.