#I like analyzing or talking about KH related things

[fisherrprince]

*Shuffles closer just an inch too close* Tell me your Vanitas Thoughts(tm). Your hopes and dreams for him in relation to the series, and what your Expectations are for in to contrast

I think I’ve talked so much abt vanitas I spat out like 29489385 words about what I think might happen and what I hope does RIGHT HERE right here I found it but TEE EL DEE AR worst case scenario: vanitas becomes mephiles (I don’t know sonic lore) and goes full evil cackling I’ve been darkness the whoooole tiiime (scarily likely but I want to BELIEVE the themes of kh remain intact about personhood). BEST case scenario to ME he and Ven have to work together to defeat Darkness because vanitas goes thru another self-identity crisis while trapped in (……….???) Sora’s? Ven’s heart? Somewhere? His heart grew too much to be dissolved back into nothing again. And he gets a wallet chain and a spiked collar. My TEMPERED expectations are something like,,, either he’s gone. we’re done with him, he’s dead. OR. He like… shows up as a villain and then either we have to beat him again or he defects at the last minute. There’s so much that has to do with having a will and making choices and friendship and and and AND on to ad infinitum in this video game. I want him here but if he’s gonna have a bad arc I want him gone. However I want him here so bad. And knowing kh none of this will happen he’s gonna like, go on a space adventure with yozora and pleakley or something

AND ALSO because you asked for Thoughts and then asked for the second thing here’s my first thought about vanitas make him meaner when you analyze him and in that vein if you want to give ME a little treat you’ll make badlands ven a little nervous prick too. People are too nice about vanitas because he’s the outcast emo kid and you all were outcast emo kids but vanitas in the actual game (not like. When you take a blorbo out of the game im of the opinion that you can do whatever you want with him and I do whatever I want all the time. Do you know how many soft sappy vani fics are in my ao3. do you know how many. I cherish each and every ONE of them) BUT IN THE GAME he hates. So so so strongly. I’ve also said this before but he’s so angry that the anger spills over. He’s vindictive and rash and desperate and a big meanie bully. AFFECTIONATE!!!!! He wants to be alive but not like this, this alive is the wrong kind of alive. He wants to crawl inside Ven’s heart and feel the warmth of the blood there. He didn’t ask to be made and if his unversed wants a big boot to hide in he’s going to give it a big boot

[violethowler]

The Elephant in the Room

In my previous essays, I have covered how the Kingdom Hearts narrative follows Maureen Murdock’s template of the Heroine’s Journey, as well as how various characters and story elements tie in with the overarching themes of the framework. Before I can continue to dig further into other themes and archetypes, there is something I need to address first. While I have avoided directly touching on the topic in my previous essays, I have now reached the point where it is no longer possible to talk about the Heroine’s Journey in full without acknowledging the elephant in the room: 

Romance.

In ongoing serialized stories such as TV shows and video games, conversations about potential relationships in canon are often treated as inconsequential to the overall story. Something that is separate from the main plot. At worst, I have seen fans who openly center a ship in their analysis and theories be dismissed and criticized as biased - or worse, delusional. They are treated as being so obsessed with their pairing that they try to make everything about their ship and jump on any excuse to declare that it’s viable in canon. 

Among the Kingdom Hearts fandom in particular, this has often taken the form of someone trying to dismiss other fans’ hope for a ship to be canon by saying that the series is about friendship, not romance.

While friendship is absolutely an important theme in the Kingdom Hearts series, to insist that this is mutually exclusive from depicting the development of romantic relationships ignores the continued presence of canon Disney romances in almost every game in the series. In each “main” game where Sora is playable, he has directly or indirectly been involved in getting those Disney couples together in the KH universe. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility for the series to turn the tables and give some attention to his romantic interests for a change. 

A story having other major themes is not mutually exclusive from showcasing the development of a romantic relationship. There are many popular movies, shows, books, comics, and video games in which a romantic relationship plays a central role in the narrative but there are still other plotlines going on that are equally as important as the romance. This is especially true for Disney and Square Enix.

The reason why it’s impossible to fully talk about the Heroine’s Journey without acknowledging romance elements is best encapsulated by this quote from She-Ra showrunner Noelle Stevenson about her show’s endgame pairing in an i09 interview after the release of the final season:

“The show’s not a romance show. It is about a lot of things. It’s about choice, destiny, fighting, tyrants, you know, all of these other things. I grew up with so many stories—like sci-fi and fantasy—that I was so passionate about. And it would be considered no big deal to have the hero get the girl and to have a kiss at the end, without it suddenly becoming a romance or ‘Oh, the shippers got what they wanted.’ It was just a part of the story. And to actually see it be a central part of the plot and to fulfill the arcs of the characters in a way that felt satisfying. I really want to take it beyond ‘Oh, the shippers got what they want.’ Like, it’s not just a ship for me. It is a plot point. It is the necessary conclusion of each character’s arc, separate and together.[1]”

While not every story known to follow the Heroine's Journey features a romance for the main protagonist, those that do make the romance an integral part of the narrative. It’s not something thrown in at the end to please shippers, but a central component of the story. Therefore, when analyzing a Heroine’s Journey story, it is vital to acknowledge and discuss textual support for potential romantic relationships in order to have a full understanding of the narrative.

Even if one is not aware of the Heroine’s Journey, Sora’s repeated interactions with Disney romances indicate that there is a high probability that he will be in a romantic relationship himself by the end of the series. Every story I know of that follows the Heroine’s Journey broadly adheres to a pattern in regards to how the romantic relationships of a main character are set up.

By examining the series through these patterns, we can narrow down who Sora’s endgame romantic partner will be. 

Because the themes and character dynamics emphasize resolving internal conflict through balance, the Heroine’s Journey lends itself extremely well to Beauty-and-the-Beast, rivals-to-lovers, and enemies-to-lovers relationship dynamics. A major component of the Heroine’s Journey is the main character learning to accept themselves, and since the Animus as a Shadow figure can represent the parts of themselves that they haven’t accepted yet, it is simpler to symbolize that self-acceptance via a romance with the Animus rather than attempting to build a separate relationship on top of the existing story framework.

For these reasons, the Animus is more often than not the main character’s endgame love interest, their feelings for each other made into critical aspects of their respective character arcs. The only Heroine’s Journey stories with romance that I know of where this wasn’t the case are ones where executive meddling resulted in the finale being rewritten to kill off the Animus despite established narrative set up for them to have a happy ending together[2], while the protagonist was either forced into a relationship with a different character or left single.

And like I said in previous essays, the one character in the series who fulfills all criteria for the Animus role within this storytelling framework…. 

Is Riku.

[Image Description: Sora supporting Riku as they walk toward the ocean on the Dark Margin at the end of Kingdom Hearts II. End Description.]

As mentioned in my earlier analysis, this narrative framework emphasizes the importance of balancing contrasting attributes, which fits in extremely well with Kingdom Hearts’ focus on balance between light and darkness. For stories that follow the Heroine’s Journey in a visual medium, that dichotomy is often incorporated into the characters’ look. Height differences are common, while their color schemes and outfits are designed to make them complement each other. Further adding to the focus on balance between light and darkness, the visuals of the story frame the romantic leads with imagery associating each one with light or darkness to create Yin-Yang symbolism when they are finally in balance. 

In Re: Chain of Memories, Vexen openly calls Riku the “Hero of Darkness[3]” as a counterpart to Sora’s role as the “Hero of Light”, and their combination attack in Kingdom Hearts II utilizes moves that reflect both elements. In the Ultimania for the original game, Tetsuya Nomura said that Riku’s look was intentionally designed to balance Sora’s[4], and the contrast between their respective color schemes is maintained in each of their new outfits. In Kingdom Hearts II and Dream Drop Distance, Riku wears white and blue, while Sora in those same games wears black and red. Two different pairs of contrasting colors. Kingdom Hearts III has them both in outfits that are primarily black and grey, but still emphasize the blue and red that have been part of their respective outfits since the first game. 

In a Heroine’s Journey, the love interest is typically an active character in the story and usually serves as the deuteragonist. This fits with Riku having been a mandatory playable character in multiple games since 2004. In addition, series producer Shinji Hashimoto said before the release of the HD 1.5 Remix collection[5] that the main focus of the series is how Sora and Riku develop both as individuals and as a pair, which fits with how the central conflict of the Heroine’s Journey revolves around the dynamic between the Protagonist and their Animus. 

A common viewpoint held by many fans of the series is that Kairi is Sora’s love interest, and it’s not hard to see why people get that impression. He has sacrificed himself to save her in two separate games now. He’s charged enemies head on in order to rescue her whenever she’s been captured. He even got down on his knees and begged for her freedom when Saix demanded he show how important she was to him. Multiple characters have talked about how special she is to him, and Roxas refers to her as “that girl he(Sora) likes.” 

However, there are multiple elements in the narrative that point to them not being the endgame romance. Kingdom Hearts III foreshadows the final shot of them sitting on the paopu together at the end of the game with Sora disappearing from the cover of the 100 Acre Wood storybook, textually framing Winnie the Pooh as a parallel to Kairi. While many fans regarded their sharing paopu fruits in the base game as the beginning of a relationship between them, he still only refers to her as a friend in Re:Mind, and even compares his bond with her to the bond between Ventus and Chirithy. 

Sora also does not treat his promises to her with the seriousness he would if they were going to end up together. The promises to return her lucky charm and to come back to her that he makes in the first game are never treated as anything urgent when he awakens in Kingdom Hearts II. Instead, he declines the opportunity to return to the islands and check in with her in favor of searching for Riku. When Kairi says in The World That Never Was that they’ll be together every day, Sora agrees, yet he was content to spend the rest of his life on the dark beach at the end of the game as long as he was with Riku. 

Meanwhile, the most consistent theme regarding Kairi in relation to the Destiny Islands trio is the idea of childhood friends drifting apart as they get older[6][7]. This is particularly highlighted in Kingdom Hearts III, with Kairi writing letters to Sora that she never sends, thereby keeping her thoughts to herself. Merlin also emphasizes this when he talks about forging new connections after Sora’s visit to 100 Acre Wood. This parallel frames the ending of Re:Mind as the two of them recognizing they’ve drifted apart and choosing to put in the effort to renew their friendship by spending time together.

On a structural level, her portrayal does not fit with how love interests are typically depicted in the Heroine’s Journey, both as an individual and in relation to the main protagonist. There is no contrast between her and Sora’s designs or roles the way there is between his and Riku’s. Her color scheme is predominantly pink, which does not have the same contrast with Sora’s red as Riku’s blue. Because she’s a Princess of Heart, there is no dark and light contrast, and the combination attack she shares with Sora in Re:Mind only utilizes light-based moves. It took 17 years after her first appearance in the series for her to be made a playable character, and even then, playing as her is not mandatory. They are never portrayed as equals, and she is not an active force in his emotional growth. 

The Heroine’s Journey was crafted for narratives revolving around identities that have been Othered by society for one reason or another. Murdock designed her template as a tool to help women deal with being shamed by society for expressing and pursuing their desires. In a similar way, LGBTQ+ people also face stigma from society for expressing and pursuing their desires. So it makes perfect sense that a framework for narratives of people overcoming internalized stigma against important parts of themselves would be ripe for stories featuring LGBTQ+ protagonists of any gender.

As mentioned in previous essays, stories that follow the Heroine’s Journey challenge the biases and blind spots of the audience. A relationship between Kairi and Sora does not challenge anything because she has largely been regarded as the endgame love interest by default since the beginning. Meanwhile, a romantic relationship between Sora and Riku challenges players to recognize heteronormativity within themselves and in the media around them. It challenges people to examine the lens through which they perceive the story and rethink how they look at what’s happening in the narrative.

In summary, the portrayal of Kairi and her bond with Sora is not consistent with how love interests are commonly depicted in the Heroine’s Journey, while the portrayal of Riku and his bond with Sora is. If Sora’s story is going to continue on this storytelling formula to the end, the structure of the Heroine’s Journey narrative leaves Riku as the only thematically viable candidate for the role of endgame love interest. 

Now, as some people bring up in conversations about Soriku, there is a potential obstacle in the form of corporate executives. It is entirely possible that Disney will drag their heels and try to force the development team to downplay or remove any open same-sex relationship the series may try to depict. They do not have a strong track record of LGBTQ+ representation that isn’t a minor character who only appears for one scene. Given that their last IP to follow the Heroine’s Journey - the Star Wars sequel trilogy - crashed and burned at the end, executive meddling is my greatest fear for this franchise.

But the thing to keep in mind is that Tetsuya Nomura is stubborn as hell. One of the reasons the long gap between Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts III was because he was holding out for permission to include Pixar movies in the game, outright refusing to start work on KH3 until they were given that go ahead[8]. If you want further proof of how stubborn he can be, this is how he described the meeting where he first pitched the series to Disney in a 2012 interview with the late president of Nintendo[9]:

Iwata: Their ideas were different from yours, naturally…

Nomura: Yes. They appeared to believe that we would make whatever they wanted us to make and came up with rather specific requests such as, "We'd like the game to feature this character." They were really excited, explaining their ideas... To be honest, though, I wasn't really interested in any of them. (laughs) 

Both: (laughter)

Iwata: You wanted to borrow Disney's characters in order to make a new game that could compete with Mario 64, and you already had a vision of what this game would look like. I suppose their ideas didn't fit in with this vision.

Nomura: They didn't, no. In the end, I actually stopped a presentation halfway through. We didn't have that much time, and it looked like it was all going to get taken up by various Disney presentations. So, I interrupted them and told them the conclusion by saying, "I won't make such games."

Talk about nerves of steel. This man basically said “we do this my way, or we don’t do it at all” TO MOTHERFORKING DISNEY, AND. HE. WON. If there is any human being with enough force of will to make the Mouse House cave in and allow the depiction of an openly LGBTQ+ relationship in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is Tetsuya Nomura.

I cannot say with 100% certainty how things will go. But everything I know about storytelling patterns and narrative structure is telling me that Kingdom Hearts is a textbook Heroine’s Journey with a romance between Sora and Riku at its core. A relationship between the protagonist and the Animus does not truly begin until the “Integration” stage at the end of the Journey, and we are rapidly approaching the point in the narrative where the two leads traditionally become aware of and acknowledge their feelings in order to be on the same page for the finale.

Sources: 

[1] “She-Ra's Noelle Stevenson Tells Us How Difficult It Was to Bring Adora and Catra Home” May 18, 2020

https://io9.gizmodo.com/she-ras-noelle-stevenson-tells-us-how-difficult-it-was-1843419358

[2] “Death of a Dark Youth, Desecration of the Animus”; December 20, 2018. https://www.teampurplelion.com/death-of-a-dark-youth/

[3] Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories. Square Enix, 2007. 

[4] “A Look Back: Kingdom Hearts Ultimania Gallery Comments Part 1″; August 30, 2019;

https://www.khinsider.com/news/A-Look-Back-KINGDOM-HEARTS-Ultimania-Gallery-Comments-Part-1-15519

[5] “How Kingdom Hearts III Will Grow Up With Its Players;” September 24, 2013.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/25/how-kingdom-hearts-iii-will-grow-up-with-its-players.

[6] “E3 2018: Tetsuya Nomura on If Kingdom Hearts 3 Is the End of Sora's Story”; June 14, 2018.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/06/14/e3-2018-tetsuya-nomura-on-if-kingdom-hearts-3-is-the-end-of-soras-story

[7] “Character’s Report Vol. 1 Translations”; Jul 16, 2014

https://www.khinsider.com/forums/index.php?threads/characters-report-vol-1-translations.195560/

[8] “Edge Magazine Features Kingdom Hearts III Cover Story”; January 9, 2019. https://www.khinsider.com/news/Edge-Magazine-Features-Kingdom-Hearts-III-Cover-Story-14331

[9] “Iwata Asks: Nintendo 3DS: Third Party Game Developers, Volume 12: Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance], Part 2: It’ll definitely be fun”; April 2012. 

https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/creators/11/1

[yenrz1314]

Is Xion Necessary In Kingdom Hearts?(Roxas character analysis)

Yeah weird title, I know. A title focused on Xion about a blog that's pretty much 95% about Roxas :v

So let's dive right into the question.

Some claim that if she wasn’t created (in the story, not as a character in the narrative) Sora would have never woken up. Others say that her presence is entirely superficial and twisted something that already worked. Regardless, the answer to this question is tied to the answering of another question:

Would Roxas have left the organization on his own?

The answer is surprisingly ambiguous in nature. Also keep in mind that this is just my interpretation of Roxas’s character. You can go believe he’s a gay, pretty boy that’s into dabbing and ping pong for all I care.

Not to mention this has been really bugging me slightly for years to get this out about Roxas and how he isn’t just some edgelord that went through an existential crisis.

The only way to answer the former question is to analyze Roxas’s character as well as his motivations. So let’s break down the character into two pieces:

Pre-Days Roxas

and Post-Days Roxas

Also this gif is so wholesome I cri 。ﾟ(ﾟﾉД｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡

To clarify, please don’t get this mixed up. Mind you, we’re talking about Roxas before and after the release of the game 358/2 Days respectively. Not Roxas before and after the events of 358/2 days. I guess one could also call it KH2 Roxas and 358/2 days Roxas but not quite and nnnnngggaahhh this is getting confusing let's move on.

So let's start with Pre-Days Roxas. His past was definitely mysterious, and his personality was semi-hidden behind a curtain since we didn't have all that much access to said mysteeeerious past. All we know is that he had Axel as a pal and that he betrayed the organization.

That asides, we also know he's a big fan of friendship since we also see him tearing up in front of his pals inside Sora. And seeing him go through the tragic struggle of trying to exist, but knowing how futile that fight is, is definitely a relatable one and its presentation is executed rather well. He's different from Sora in that when he hits his low points, he can really lash out. He's less reverent for sure.

You would be definitely correct to say that Pre-Days Roxas already had an explanation for abandoning the Organization, that being that he was fed up with the mystery and was questioning his own existence. So in this case, Xion has no necessity in this paradigm.

However, let's look at Post-Days Roxas. Under the magnifying glass, you'll find that Pre-Days and Post-Days Roxas are subtly different in character. Post-Days Roxas really came across as more docile and less rowdy, which makes sense since most of the game he isn't going through a tumultuous existential crisis like we see in in KH2.

He’s definitely also shown to have the patience of a gosh darned saint, with his friends exclusively of course. Also, to the very end, he always seemed to be more of the type of guy that just wanted to be with his friends and didn’t care much about anything else. He can be smart and hotheaded like Pre-Days Roxas with the same amount of agency, but when given the choice he would rather keep the peace as long as he had his friends. His personal matters come second to his friends. Well, that’s at least how I interpreted that.

Post-Days Roxas’s differences in character subtly, but wholly change the paradigm. There are scenes in Days when he watched the Twilight town trio, where he voiced his opinion saying that he would much rather live a mundane, peaceful life with friends. That alone really makes me believe that if Xion wasn’t in the equation, Roxas would have dealt with whatever shade that the Org. threw his way for the sake of keeping the peace and keeping the only happiness he would had ever known: his friendship with Axel. Riku would probably eventually intervene if that were to happen, but that’s another story.

At this point, the only explanation for Post-Days Roxas’s desertion of and eventual attempt to eliminate the organization could only be, in fact, Xion. His friendgroup was already falling apart, but her death was the last straw. He had no more stability or source of happiness to cling to, and the mystery behind his existence was just more fuel to the fire.

Either way, he says it himself when battling Riku.

“I'll set Kingdom Hearts free, then everything will be back the way it was! She'll come back... and the three of us can be together again!"

"I want Xion back! I want my life back!"

No mention about his identity or existence. The closest one we get is:

“Why did the Keyblade choose me? I have to know”

Which doesn’t undermine my point here, as this can definitely still be one of his motives for leaving alongside the ones I've just stated/established. Just not the main one.

He was just a guy that wanted to be with his friends and didn’t care much about anything else, but due to circumstance he was torn from his happiness and forced to play a role he didn’t want.

All the more tragic, don’t you think?

Something about this kind of Roxas, compared to Pre-Days Roxas, a simple story of a deserter with a devil may care attitude becoming self aware of the futility of his existence, is more appealing and complex to me. It might be the nostalgia goggles talking, but I definitely prefer Post-Days over Pre-Days Roxas. He seems more personable, more human. And this ties into the fact that he was a nobody that was able to grow a heart.

You can like what you like, however, because my preferences don't invalidate yours. This is especially apparent because of the following:

He is definitely congruous with Pre-Days Roxas, so there are no retcons here. All of these ‘changes’ do not contradict what was established with Pre-Days Roxas, as his character was written with open ends for future games to work with. These are more like additions to his character, rather than changes. The presentation of Days, although neglecting to put him in the spotlight narratively, develops his character quite well from the fragments of what we got in KH2 if you take into account my interpretation. It’s nothing major, but it’s something that has substance. Basically Roxas’ character was developed in Days. Like adding some needed salt to an already pretty tasty dish.

I’m sorry

Not to mention Xion's death and the following wipe of everyone's memory helps these additions fit in nicely. I have to also say, however, that this memory wipe could never excuse retcons. And I'm grateful that the writers didn’t do this, which is a pleasant surprise considering that most of the time they don’t pull off this smooth of a job.

Now let's go back to answering the question: Is Xion necessary?

We can now say that she definitely is, when taking into account Post-Days Roxas’s character. Meanwhile, she isn't when only considering Pre-Days Roxas. However, these two points are not contradictory to one another because of the nature of Xion's death.

With all that in mind, Days was written pretty well in this aspect, as this new recontextualization of Roxas's character is actually really satisfying to see pulled off. And because of that, I have to give props to the writing team.

Also another reason to check off my list as to why Roxas is the best character in Kingdom Hearts ever.

But everything changed when DDD attacked, recontextualizing everything in the worst way possible, turning things into a “Xehanort planned ALL of this ALL ALONG” sort of thing.

Narratively, I can’t help but find that sort of boring, and I think most of the KH fandom didn’t really like how time travel went and pseudo-retconned everything.

But once again, that’s another story.

[echoheart0324]

*chugs drink and slams hand on table* I never thought I’d go to such a crazy extent, but I got sick of hearing people talk about Blaine in a negative light, so I guess I’m gonna have to pour my whole soul into this, and this might as well be my final big post before I disappear into the void.

I kinda got tired of people saying we know nothing about Blaine, which is kinda true to some extent. However, if you dig around for details and tiny actions, there might be small hints pointing at what might’ve happened. AKA I got a bit carried away about Blaine, since y’all keep pointing out his actions are shady and evil, so I’ll do the exact opposite and attempt to fill in the gaps (or widen them, I dunno. I’ve just been craving to analyze something for ages.).

Anyways this is gonna be kinda long (and a bit repetitive, cuz this is speculation mixed in with my rambling, featuring analysis at it’s finest) and really up to how you interpret his words/actions/how you exactly look at these translations, so all of this is just a very thin stretch (ready to snap or break at a moment’s notice). Who knows, I might be off the mark completely and he may be a villain after all (in which then you can all stab me if you want), but I wanted to at least provide this before my (possible) hiatus day:

()()()

Possible Backstory/Background/Personality Traits/Whatever Else Falls into this Category:

By the look of it, Blaine is well-educated and loves his studies (most likely in the science department if the Dream Eaters are anything to go by, along with his love for books). The name Brain also means ‘noble/son of the judge’ possibly hinting at a high and wealthy status as well. His speech patterns are laid-back and casual, which kinda contradicts his name meaning, but he can also be quite serious and observant (as seen with his explanation about the Player character linking to Strelitzia somehow, his comparison of Skuld to Lady Ava, thoughtfully choosing the Spirits as their first task to help them out in the long run, and figuring out Ephemera as the leader type) if he desires to. His impatience (with Lauriam's arrival and the meeting dragging on) could prove that he's not used to waiting around for things either, though it’s minor and nothing too overboard.

Now this is where the lines start blurring, since the details are kinda all over the place. When Ephemera, Skuld, and Ven are all talking about having friends, Blaine interrupts with, "Friends. Cool." I'm still not sure what the intention was, but he had a smile on his face when saying this, but he never brings up the topic of “friends” ever again. He also reacted quite positively to Ephemera’s teasing aimed at Skuld (while Ven didn’t react at all), which could indicate this type of friendship is familiar to him, but his smile quickly turned into a frown when the topic of lying popped into play. It's a reach for sure, but I don't think Blaine had a good relationship with his friends in the very end. To prove this, Blaine's trust issue with Ava stems off of his morals of honesty, which his friends might've lacked based off his reaction and harsh choice of words. He also seems to avoid a lot of contact with the other leaders, instead focusing on his books and purposely isolating himself as the outsider.

Y'know...maybe Blaine can recognize the leader-spirit in Ephemera because he used to be a leader of something himself (especially judging by how he picked out their first task by himself). Maybe a leader of a party/his friend group? A handful of his personality traits seems suited to such position, such as how blunt he can be, his honesty, his observative behavior, his support (”I trust you’ll lead us down the right path.” -to Ephemera), and quick-decision making backed up with reasonable evidence. Adding onto this, his blunt speech and his quick decision-making might indicate that he's used to serious discussions, and after watching the custcenes a few times, Blaine never seems to argue back at the others’ decisions. He disagrees with the others often, yes, but a heated argument never occurs, since Blaine either decides to go along and accept that he’s not gonna get his way (though unhappy) or the others outnumber him/he gets what he wants. Not once have we seen him angry (I mean maybe we have? It’s kinda really hard to tell with the lack of eyes. He just sorta opens his mouth when he’s upset, but the same sprite is also used when he’s surprised, so??? Let my boy get more original expressive sprites please???). Whatever led to the downfall of his group, might be linked to this (or Blaine’s just a really nice guy. Or both. Both work too), so a heavy verbal argument may have been the key.

This could be why Blaine seems to be pushing Ephemera to the position of their leader, since Blaine regrets (to a certain degree) whatever he couldn't accomplish and wants to guide him on the right path to prevent a similar downfall or the same mistakes he made.

Though it's odd that Blaine was alright with PvP, since it's "just a competition", so I assume there's a competitive nature to him as well, and he received no relative trauma to Keyblade wielders clashing with each other. He also seems to respects privacy to a certain degree (based on his "let's not pry" about Lauriam) and some of his members may have turned to him for comfort, if his friendly brother-like behavior is anything to go by. (No seriously, who says, “You guys are going on a scavenger hunt,” if they’re an incredibly serious person??? Pfft...)

Quick Summary: Anyways, to throw this out there and sum it up, I believe Blaine may have once been a leader of a (hard)core party. His teasing nature shows that he did once have close friends to bond with, but things went downhill, based on his more serious side of his personality and fair distance from the others. The downfall of his leadership/party probably doesn't relate to Keyblade wielders turning their blade against each other, but maybe something more verbally and misunderstandings stacking on top of each other (with lying being involved somehow), where they say things they can't take back. Though based on his position of becoming a Dandelion, I’m assuming the party disbanded early on, since most people became Lux-thirsty once the war came around. Due to his lack of reaction to PvP, I assume he never saw Keyblade wielders fight for Lux in Daybreak Town often, so he must’ve just spending his days inside and reading/running experiments.

()()()

So why are Blaine’s eyes hidden from view on his sprite, but present clearly on his official artwork? After pondering for a bit, I decided to dig in a little deeper to see what I can find. Some sources I found stated that gray eyes could symbolize in for “leadership”, so that could squeeze in for above. On the other hand, the covering of his eyes could symbolize a secret he’s hiding from the other leaders. Note that Blaine has spoken nothing of his personal life, unlike the others. Ven says he’s always been a loner, Lauriam talks about his sister and his relationship with her, Skuld states she and Ephemera were once in the same party. Why is this such a big deal exactly??? There seems to be a connection to having a point where each leader seemed to be alone:

Ephemera: Was the one who left (both Skuld and Player).

Skuld: Was the one who got left behind (by Ephemera).

Ven: Was always alone, so left since the beginning.

Blaine: ???

Lauriam: ??? (I don’t want to jump to conclusions just yet, but I’m going to say...maybe he was the one got left behind...?)

Strelitzia: Had friends, but they constantly left and kept being replaced. Based off of what Elrena says, it seems like she sorta isolated herself, so maybe was the one who left?

Also, Skuld and Strelitzia both seem to have friends who are alive, at least by canon confirmation. After all, Skuld talked about her Dandelion friends a few times, right before she left the Player in KH X. Meanwhile, Strelitzia says things about her friends during her introduction.

Anyways, if this is anything to go by Blaine could fall into one of these categories (the one who left or the one who was left), but it’s kinda difficult to tell since Ven throws things off. Either that, or nothing bad ever happened to his friends, so maybe he never had a lonely period in his life.

()()()

*puts up glasses* So what was all the background dump about? Well, honestly, I just wanted to ramble about Blaine, but *shoves that aside* we’re also here to discuss his innocence and why I think Blaine wouldn’t have the heart to kill Strelitzia:

(Er...skip this “point”, or at least just read what I highlighted in bold and move on. This isn’t even a point, I just got pissed off of the lack of evidence and love for my boy.) Blaine being “just plain old suspicious” is an excuse way too tired out for everyone’s sake. This is why I tried to fill in some gaps with the background details above as well to at least provide some insight into his actions/words. None of his character traits can be seen as evil exactly. Honestly, he portrays a type of kid that’s tired out and wants nothing more but to mind his own personal matters. The gaps I filled in seem like stretches, I understand that, but we all thought the same for Lauriam as well when he was first ushered on stage. Blaine’s been one of our main suspects for ages and his introduction was barely even brushed upon by the fandom when the story update launched. (On a personal note, I think I stumbled upon maybe 3 or 4 pieces of fanart of him on launch day??? I got interested in him to some extent, but my love for him that y’all see today, just came crashing down naturally over time) I saw more people bashing him, cuz “fucking damn it, it’s another dude, but he’s a cowboy” was all that stretched on for miles. Either that or “is that Ienzo cosplaying Ardyn???”. Those were dark times...very dark times indeed. *cough* Back on track, anyways Blaine’s been quite the unnoticed character compared to the other leaders (especially when compared to the other three that came after him), so why make him the killer when he never hit off for the JP and NA fanbase? Nomura heavily values his twists, especially with KHUX, so there’d be nothing of interest if the murderer was just a generic evil-looking cowboy that’s not even that popular with the fans in the first place. Blaine’s also a lot less developed than the other leaders, since he was unfortunately shoved to the side for the sake of filler right after he joined the cast. To a casual (yet devoted, based on how far they shoved aside filler hell) player, Blaine’s just a random kiddo that has no development, motives, and personality (unless you’re highly bored and decide to go on a analysis spree like I am right now). In all honesty, Nomura seems to be pushing us to believe Blaine did it, since he refuses to give Blaine the development he so desperately needs, to give him the ominous and sketchy vibes to make him an easy culprit.

I’m aware that the latest story update shows Blaine as a smart-ass, seeing how he was able to connect Strelitzia and “the person she’s interested in”’s supposed fate so easily. This puts the spotlight of suspicion on him, correct? Well, I’ve read my fair share of speculation posts for the past few days and everyone just naturally assumes it’s Gula that did the dirty work. I already posted an ask earlier on this topic and I’m not in the proper position to argue such a point all day, but I also don’t think Blaine could possibly be Gula either, or that Gula committed the murder himself. 

*plops onto chair* So while I clean off Blaine’s plate, I’ll clean off Gula’s too...so I realize that y’all naturally assume it’s him due to the rather convenient timing and his ominous quote after defeating him in battle. If you do believe in this theory, may I ask you: “Then why didn’t Gula attack Skuld and/or Player (evidence is provided below)? Also, how would you explain the sudden change in sprite?” If you pause right before Gula steps outta the shadows to fully reveal himself, we have his blacked-out silhouette, which heavily differs from ‘Darkness’ + the sprite we saw at the warehouse when Strelitzia was killed. I also doubt that Gula would change outta his robes at that exact moment, minutes before Strelitzia’s arrival (since we now have confirmation that their talk occurred before Strelitzia came along a little bit later), especially since we see him again in the same outfit at the war (when everyone’s getting prepared to fight). Lord Gula also questioned if they came inside the warehouse to search for Ava, since they’re skipping out on collecting Lux, clearly aware of the Dandelions. *cough*

Anyways, as I was saying about Blaine, I believe he’s genuinely trying to help Lauriam find Strelitzia. His morals stand that he despises lying with a whole passion, still holding up as he doesn’t seem to hesitate to speak his thoughts to the others, so I doubt he’d lie to cover up his tracks.

Though, on the other side, there’s one thing that’s holding me back to say he’s innocent completely:

To contradict myself, there was someone that pointed out that Blaine called the Foretellers’ Chambers, the Master’s room instead, having a similar tone to ‘Darkness’ calling the Master of the Masters, just ‘Master’. I dunno either...I just hope he’s innocent, but that’s just wistful thinking at this point.

In all honesty, I was going to go into full depth into how Blaine could be innocent, but the lack of information surrounding Blaine makes things a lot more difficult than it should be, and I kinda grew tired of trying to piece together things for hours. Maybe one day I’ll make a Part 2, but I just wanted to dish this out there, before KHUX updates and does the opposite of what I just said.

Feel free to add on, I’m just tired and rambling at this point!

[zdbztumble]

Final Thoughts: KH III (Spoilers)

OK, the nice stuff’s over with.

And, in the spirit of Kingdom Hearts, here’s a menu to unceremoniously dump all the necessary information on you to follow this post:

Rave Zero

A Minor Rant

More Ranting

Botching Backwards and Forwards

But What About Kairi

Build a Better Prequel

Penultima Raving

The Positives

Now then...

Writing critiques like this is usually fun for me. I like thinking about and analyzing narratives, as mental exercise and relaxation, and because I find it helpful as a writer struggling to make fiction my profession. Finding the good and bad in a piece, understanding why something works or doesn’t, and putting myself in the shoes of a writer - particularly one in the middle of an ongoing series - improves my own craft and gives me more empathy and sympathy for creatives who come under fire.

In this case, though, I can’t say that I have much in the way of sympathy or empathy. I cannot understand how any head of story could come up with something like this and decide that it was ready for prime time. I can’t understand how writers brought in to do the actual scripting wouldn’t speak up about its issues. I can’t understand how editors, producers, and executives would sign off on this. And by “this,” I mean the finale of KH III. I haven’t loved the story turns this series has taken since the end of II, and I’ve struggled to make sense of all the convoluted turns the plot has taken, but this - or, to be specific, one moment in particular - is completely beyond my ability to understand, relate to, or tolerate.

Before getting to that one moment, though, there are other issues with this finale. One of those is the problem of paying off too large a cast: it’s almost impossible to do while giving every character a satisfying conclusion. By the time the game comes to its conclusion, most of the characters have either hit dead ends in their arcs, petered out, or been demonstrated to be entirely superfluous to this game’s plot. To wit:

- Maleficent and Pete could have been cut entirely and nothing would have been lost. Cutting them would even improve the pacing of the Olympus world slightly. Their whole goal amounts to nothing but a tease for an item that might become important in a potential future game. Luxord’s quest for a “chest,” presumably the same Black Box, has the same problem, but at least Luxord is a part of the Organization and so has some reason for being in the story.

- Ansem the Wise is ultimately on-hand just to tease more potential future events and characters, in the form of allusions to a mysterious girl who I thought might be Kairi, then thought was Xion, but is apparently some other character never before mentioned (thank you @themattress.) I bought KH III to play and know the story of KH III; if I wanted an extended trailer for a future game that may not even get made, I’d pay for one.

- Those members of the Organization who don’t defect, and who commanded quite a bit of screen time in this game (more than the damn tritagonist did) are virtually unchanged from their previous appearances, still serve as glorified henchmen, and meet largely identical ends. The attempts at pathos with them, particularly with Larxene, ring hollow, and the idea that the recompletion gimmick might let them appear again some day in a new form is...unpleasant.

- Did you really need Ienzo and Vexen both? Take either one of them out, and the other could have cooked up the necessary replicas. 

- Axel’s never-seen training with a Keyblade amounts to almost as little as Kairi’s, as he ultimately doesn’t do much but serve as an impetus for the return of Roxas and the defection of Xion. And once those two are back on the scene, they don’t have all that much to do but point their keys at whatever the group needs them to. Their presence takes us over the required number of seven, so they are quite literally unnecessary.

- Vanitas and his quest to assimilate Ven ultimately amounts to nothing, for how important it was in BbS and his continued seeking it here. He becomes just another boss battle, destined to fade away.

- Aside from filling out the full seven, Aqua and Ven don’t get all that much to do in the battle. Terra and Sora do the heavy lifting in getting Terra liberated, and by the end, Eraqus tells Terra to be the one to look out for the group. Not Aqua, the master who spent most of BbS trying to set things to right - Terra, the impulsive quasi-Anakin Skywalker who ended up possessed by the villain.

- Riku and Mickey are the exception to this, as I think carrying them through as Sora’s battle partners in the showdown with the three young Xehanorts, and giving them the bulk of the dialogue in the final cutscenes, gives them a meaningful role to play in the finale.

But since Eraqus has been mentioned...that leads us to the next problem. Because I still don’t understand how Eraqus managed to hide his heart inside of Terra’s (and yes, I have seen the BbS cutscene.) But setting aside the mechanics; the idea that Eraqus has been alive this whole time, that he can stop Xehanort with a gentle talking-to, and extending the metaphor of their chess game in their youth this far, makes everything that happens feel so much smaller. And giving Xehanort - a villain who was made, in looks and personality, more evil from BbS on - is a baffling choice. He isn’t the first villain to have a less-than-convincing redemption in this series, of course. And, were it done better, I might be more tolerant of it. But it isn’t.

And having that about-face brought about by Eraqus lessens Sora’s part in the finale. His brave venture after Xehanort, Donald and Goofy by his side, makes for a nice boss battle. It’s less impressive than the one in KH I IMO, but I do like that Donald and Goofy are with him for nearly the entire thing. The Trinity revival at the end of it is a great touch, though I would’ve preferred some sort of beam struggle to cap it off. But one of Sora’s qualities - one that this game, and DDD, loved to spell out as blatantly as possible - is his ability to reach and connect with people. Outsourcing that to another character, leaving Sora as the brute force in the conflict with Xehanort, leaves him and one of his most defining and positive character traits sidelined at the crucial moment. I grant you that Sora probably isn’t all that well disposed to the man who killed Kairi, but you would think he’d have some function beyond swinging his blade and holding a key.

But in the end, the apocalypse is averted, and Sora leaves his friends behind to try and save Kairi. Cue the closing cutscene, with happy endings aplenty. Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Yen Sid, Chip, and Dale get a warm welcome home in Disney Castle. Terra, Aqua, and Ven get their home back, and Ven gets his little cat thing that he apparently had once. Axel, Roxas, and Xion get their sea salt ice cream again, reunite with Hayner, Pence, and Olette, and it turns out that even Saix is on-hand (because, y’know, that bond he had with Axel was so organic and essential to pay off.) Namine is brought back (according to a recent interview, this is possible because her heart was released from Kairi’s when Kairi was killed), and Riku turns up to take her to a big party on Destiny Islands. With literally everyone on-hand, Donald is the first to notice Sora and Kairi sitting on the paopu tree together, holding hands. Kairi looks up at Sora, smiles, and starts to cry. Sora then fades away, leaving Kairi alone.

Now we’re at that moment.

I was so confused the first time I saw this scene, and watching it in the theater menu a few times didn’t help. Talking with @echidnapower about it helped me puzzle together that Sora must have paid the price for abusing the Power of Waking. It was hard to track those warnings amidst all the other pretentious monologuing and schoolyard taunting that the Organization did, and amidst all the other plot threads in this game - but, fair enough. That was some clear foreshadowing. And, just like with Kairi’s death, I can’t object to the idea out of hand. KH I ended on a shocking bittersweet note, after all. Ending the Xehanort saga, and possibly the series, with the main character failing to heed all warnings and losing his own life while managing to save the person he cares most about, is a bold idea. Pulled off properly, I’d be in tears while writing my review, but I’d be applauding the guts and skill of the creative team.

But is Sora’s quest to find Kairi made into a final stage, or even a cutscene? No. Is his final misuse of the Power of Waking shown? No. Is it even clear whether Kairi reappeared at the same time as Sora, or if she’d been there on the beach with everyone else before he turned up? No. And is any of this, in any way, made a central element of the final scene? No. The possibly permanent death of our protagonist, caused by his final solo quest to save Kairi, is such an afterthought at the end that not a single aspect of the journey to that moment merits any screen time.

And don’t tell me that this might be something covered in the DLC, or that it could be setting up for another game. If they wanted to leave Sora and Kairi’s fate more open-ended, and a potential hook into a future game, they should have been left out of the final scene altogether. The Power of Waking, Sora’s shaky control of it, and its dangers were meant to be relevant to this story. Sora and Kairi’s bond being stretched to the point that one or both of them could permanently die was meant to be a major factor in this story. I’m all for leaving certain things off-screen, open-ended, or open to interpretation, but if anything should merit some degree of resolution within this game itself, to say nothing of a goddamn cutscene, it’s the potentially final fate of our fucking hero.

It feels like such an afterthought that I’m forced to wonder why Sora was ever retained as the protagonist past KH II.  One solution to the current crop of issues with Kingdom Hearts, as I’ve already gone into, would have been to simplify; fewer titles between console releases and a much less convoluted story that stayed focused on the actual leads. But it’s almost impossible not to come away from the post-II games feeling that most of the staff’s passion has drifted to other characters and elements. Axel, Roxas, and Xion; Terra, Aqua, and Ven; all the convoluted plotting and betraying and cryptic messages of Organization XIII; and now all this X business; it seems clear that that’s where the focus is now. Square Enix is no stranger to cyclic and anthology series; there was more than enough precedent to retire Sora and friends and continue Kingdom Hearts with new protagonists. Those who enjoy all these elements could have them unadulterated, and those of us who prefer Sora’s story could be content with three great games. Hell, Kingdom Hearts as a whole could’ve been retired at II, with the characters and elements most favored forming the foundation for an original series; the staff still seems jazzed to cross over with Disney, but they’ve become increasingly unable to meaningfully connect those worlds to the larger story, excepting a handful of characters from Disney Castle. An original series wouldn’t have to worry about that.

Instead, an ultimately untenable path was trod, trying to keep all of these things to play, the ultimate price being a final game to the saga that leaves every single storyline feeling less than it could be. Kairi may get the worst of it blow by blow, but I would say that Sora - the protagonist - is the second-worst hit, and that I cannot comprehend as a writer.

When I first got the feeling that something bad might happen to either Sora or Kairi, or both, I was prepared to be sad at the end of this game, but I expected to be sad the same way I was at the end of KH I - in an ultimately positive way, having been sincerely and surprisingly moved by a story I came to love. At the end of KH III, I’m sad in another way entirely; I’m sad because I feel nearly all my enthusiasm for this series evaporated along with Sora. I was planning to buy copies of I, CoM, and II to replace the ones I had to sell years ago; if I end up doing that when I have the money, it’ll be as an effort to get back to what first charmed me about the series.

Hopefully, I can still find that charm there, but I don’t know what would make me excited for future releases. What reason do I have to hope that the flaws of the recent games, culminating in III, will be corrected or even recognized as flaws? The Epilogue and Secret Movie certainly don’t give any hope. For all the talk about III being the finale to the Dark Seeker saga, the convoluted Keyblade War lore it spawned and at least one of its more annoying characters seem set to continue on. The Nameless Star and that girl alluded to by Ansem (who I hope for simplicity's sake are the same person) represent yet another new character shoved into the mix. And the Secret Movie may give some people hope for Sora, but it just left me numb.

I’ll go ahead and predict what the next game of the series, if there is one, will be, based on those two scenes: either the game is ostensibly about what Sora went through to save Kairi, with a retcon pulled to suck Riku into the mix; or, it’s set after the final scene of KH III, with Riku - not Kairi, but Riku - going in search of Sora. Either way, in practice the game’s plot will be taken up by a mess of a plot concerning the Black Box and/or the Book of Prophecies and all that crap from Kingdom Hearts X: Back Cover (a movie I could not bring myself to finish, I was so bored), all the while taking any chance it can get to salvage as much of the aborted Final Fantasy Versus XIII as possible. Kairi will be lucky to get a cameo, the Disney worlds will barely have any relevance, Maleficent will get elbowed off to the sides, and if Sora comes back to life and remains the hero, he’ll still be relegated to a spectator and an afterthought to make room for all the things that the team really cares about.

Cynical, you say? Bitter, perhaps? You’re not wrong. And I’d love for another Kingdom Hearts game to come out and make me eat crow. But for whatever joy Kingdom Hearts III brought me as a game, it’s been a truly painful experience as a story. With no pleasure, I can honestly say that in terms of a failed narrative; in terms of completely missing the mark on where the focus should lie; and in terms of feeling like an almost deliberate insult or dismissal of what made these characters and this series wonderful to begin with; no narrative with the Disney name on it, or perhaps at all, has left me so upset since Maleficent. And for me to be saying that, is saying something.

[regalia-of-wisdom]

Why Vanitas and Marluxia can come back if they want to and Nomura didn’t retcon.

‪Ok so on twitter I said that I wasn’t gonna write this bc I didn’t wanna be called a KH3 apologist but then my friends were like “you’re a kh3 apologist anyways just do it” so I did it. I love KH and theorizing and analyzing everything and it’s great, but also it’s 2 am, and also Nomura really needs to consider writing these things down somewhere before releasing these games. Also stop recycling villains, dammit.

Sorry that I can’t line break. I’m writing on mobile rn :/ it’s a long post.

‪Ok I’m too lazy to go on the wiki or something and re read these but on the very first KH (or maybe it was in the Secret Ansem Reports in KH2...?? ANYWAYS IN ONE OF THOSE) it is stated that, according to the metaphysics of the Kh universe, a person is made up of a body, a heart‬, ‪and a soul. Bc the main lore of kh doesn’t mention it much not many players seem to remember or know what the “soul” is, especially since it’s clearly not supposed to be the same thing that westerners think of as a soul (that would be a heart in KH-metaphysics)‬.

‪So all we ever get in the series is people losing their hearts, which is synonymous to someone going fucking catatonic and emotionless bc they don’t have a soul (think Kairi in KH1), or just overall disappear bc of darkness related hijinks that cause complications.‬

‪Like, Kairi in KH1 was alive, y’all. She had a breathing pattern and open eyes and everything, she just didn’t have a heart. She’s the only example we have of this (unless you want me to include Aurora in BBS lol), because she’s the only one whose body wouldn’t react to darkness related hijinks (Darkness, as you all know, is quite annoying).‬ This means that, clearly, not having a heart doesn’t mean you’re a corpse. It’s probably more like you going in a coma. Nobodies in Org XIII aren’t walking corpses. They’re just ppl without a soul. (AKA a heart). They’re like, psychopaths? Sam in that one season of Supernatural? you know, just a bunch of ppl that don’t have to deal with pesty issues like guilt or ethics.

(If you’re wondering why Kairi’s catatonic body in KH1 isn’t a Nobody it’s bc Nobodies are dependent on Darkness. Only hearts that have turned to heartless (darkness) create Nobodies, and Nobodies are born with the ability to open dark corridors and control heartless and do whatever they want. Like, they technically have access to both light and dark (and. Void? I guess?) but they’re very obviously leaning more towards the side of darkness. Not that they’re inherently dark creatures, but that they are just yet another life form in KH that owes its existence to Darkness. Kairi, as we all will never forget, has no darkness bothering her and complicating her life. Sora’s the one that had enough darkness and body and soul to spare to create two nobodies out of thin air. What the fuck dude.)

Of course if you played DDD you’d be like “uh, but Xemnas said that Nobodies can grow hearts uhhh” and id be like yeah he did and it makes a lot of sense especially if you had watched/Played Re: Coded and payed attention to the juicy lore bits instead of the main plot like I’ve been saying forever. However unimportant the plot is, Re: Coded’s storyline literally exists to say that anything with a Body and a (what KH calls a) Soul (Like, say, the person made out of data that you’re playing as throughout the game) has the ability to grow a heart and become a person. The entirety of Jiminy’s Journal becomes a world a la Winnie the Pooh, obtaining its own heart. Like, it’s a book and it was made and it’s kind of fake but it developed its own sense of self, and developed a heart. Like, it was literally pointed out to us. Data Sora lives beyond his programming (just like, hey, Tron.) bc he developed a sense of self. A personality. A heart. He even makes his own Keyblade, that’s how much heart he mad. With a lesson like that being thrown at us, why wouldn’t the Organization XIII Nobodies eventually be able to develop their own sense of self? To go beyond what they thought their “original” selves were like, and become able to feel? Not to say they do, mind you. I think a lot of them, or all of them, like Axel in the beginning of Days, were so stuck on what they thought their original self was like that they were just following through the motions and doing what a data program would consider its “programming”. Axel only began to grow a heart once he stopped trying to be Saïx’s friend, and started to go beyond what his memories were telling him he should act like and do what he felt like he needed to act like.

Anyways now at this point you’re probably like, “what does this have to do with Villains in KH always coming back…” and I’m gonna get to that jeez hold on a minute, I just felt like I needed to explain what a heart was for this to be clearer to people. What are the functions of a heart, and what it ultimately serves. I needed to explain this, because losing a Heart does not mean you are dead, losing your Soul does.

The Soul in KH should probably be referred to as Spirit, as I think it reflects the idea better, while keeping basically the same word. (Unfortunately we already have things called Spirits in KH, and they’re adorable darkness creatures, so.) It’s supposed to be the energy that makes something move. It’s the Will to Live. The fact that the soul seems to be synonymous with will is important, bc only people with a “Strong Will”, that become heartless, create Nobodies. The Will in this case is clearly the energy source that provides a body with sustenance. With life. Pinocchio was given a soul by the blue fairy so he could move (the heart, I think, he made himself due to Geppetto's own feelings). The love of children give the toys in Toy Story a will to protect, love, and be played with. Terra’s will was so damn strong, it reanimated his armor. Terra’s Will to live makes his armor move on its own. Look, it’s even called The Lingering Will. What does this mean? That only a body and a heart that has lost its soul, that loses its energy source (its lifestream, I suppose) undeniably dies.

No one, absolutely no one in KH, has lots their soul. Ok, not true, obviously there are some exceptions, particularly regarding the Disney villains, but I’m talking abt the story original characters that Nomura loves to recycle so much. No one has lost it bc pretty much almost no one we fight is ever a complete human being. They’re always missing vital parts of themselves. Ansem the Seeker of Darkness was humanoid Heart walking around. Xemnas and the Organization were a few bodies and souls walking around with maybe a mini heart or two. Vanitas is literally the most incomplete being I can think of. He’s literally half a heart, half a body, and half a soul. The dude is a mess. Master Xehanort… MX is clearly using loopholes and luck to keep himself surviving this long. By now, he’s made a complete and utter mess of Terra, who got literally split into 3 entities for 10 years, while he himself is really only a floating heart and a soul ruining everything. Young Xehanort is a complete being that should probably watch out for decapitation or something, but we can certainly rule out that Riku would kill him because I mean. Y’all have met Riku, right? Also he’s just obviously alive lmao.

The fact that these beings are incomplete is important bc the keyblade, our weapon of choice, is a mysterious artifact that serves very specific functions. It opens and locks anything, specifically the hearts to a world and the pathways that lead to other worlds. It seems to exist to bring balance and stability to… anywhere it’s at, really. It’s a magical item with magical intentions. Now, I’m not gonna sit here and say what I’m about to say as if it’s proven fact that I read in an interview or deduced myself or something, I will admit that my next point is in theoretical territory, but that doesn’t make it any less likely or probable. And that is that the Keyblade can not kill people. That is to say, it can not kill a soul. It can only break apart, or reunite parts of a person, but not destroy them. “Killing” heartless restores them to their original state: a heart, and killing nobodies does the same. Xehanort and Sora stabbed themselves to get their hearts out of their bodies and created heartless and nobodies in the process. It’s like the laws of thermodynamics or something. It seems to me that that is the nature of a keyblade.

So, inclusion, nobody has died in KH. The end. This is unnecessarily long but I get like that sometimes. There is one last point that I have to address but I might do that tomorrow, if anyone gives a shit by then. Good night!