#Riku’s dark past is something I think about a lot

[starfiresky]

“If the world is made of light and dark… we’ll be the darkness”

[lilyginnyblackv2]

I don't think I've ever seen anyone talk about this Utada Hikaru quote in regards to both Hikari and Passion before:

In an interview, Utada said, "It's like... as if 'Hikari' was the dawn, and 'Passion' has a concluding or 'dusk' feeling to it. The lyrics of 'Passion' show how phases of the past, present and future of the character in my song relate to each other."

This came from the KH Fandom Wiki, which I'll link below in the comments. I've seen the Nomura quote mentioned all the time about how Passion is about Sora and Riku's reunion, but I think a part of Nomura's quote that often gets overlooked is when he states:

I wrote stuff like "An image of a reunion, a happy moment in a way" and "Like a Hikari 2" in there.

Italicized part by me for emphasis and the main thing I want to talk about here. The quote from Nomura can be found over at Kingdom Hearts Insider (which I will also link below in the comments).

We have Utada mentioning how Hikari is like the dawn and Passion is like the concluding dusk, thus connecting the two songs to each other in a sequel like way, just like Nomura mentions in his interview when he states that Passion is "Like a Hikari 2." So, in my mind, since Nomura states that "Passion is about Sora and Riku's reunion" and Utada uses the phrasing of dawn, as well as how the song highlights how past, present, and future relate to each other for the character in the song...I think it's pretty safe to say that Hikari is about Sora and Riku as well.

That seems to be what both Nomura and Utada are implying with their answers here. Now, I know that some people really like to say that Simple & Clean and Sanctuary are their own songs, which they are. The lyrics are different. But the thematic elements are still the same and there are still similar through lines (like the backward lyrics being the same in both Passion and Sanctuary for instance).

The lyrics of Hikari really fit Riku's views on Sora and the bond they have/had - the desire for it to remain unchanged. The person they are singing about being their light (Sora being Riku's light, something we know Riku views Sora as via things like the DDD Novel Side Riku). Simple & Clean's lyrics definitely fit Sora as a character and his voice more.

With Passion and Sanctuary it almost seems like this is reversed though. The English version, Sanctuary, has more lyrics that fit Riku and his perspective on Sora and their reunion. Meanwhile, Passion's lyrics fit Sora a lot more. The line: "I heard my old crush is having a baby in the wintertime" is quite interesting in various ways. The whole last set of lyrics in Passion aren't really directly related to KH, but more to general ideas of things that denote changes and passages of time (people having children, getting New Years cards, etc.).

It's also so interesting that Hikari is mentioned as being the Dawn (the time of day associated with Riku) and Passion the Dusk (the time of day that is often associated with Kairi). In KH2 is when we start to see a shift in Sora's feelings and interactions with Kairi (distance, drifting apart, change) and a reconnection happen with Sora and Riku (reunion, airing out feelings, better communication, reinforcing their friendship and bonds to each other, etc.).

We get games that focus more on Sora and Riku's bonds (Re-coded, BBB when they are little kids, and DDD) and Kairi is sadly neglected by the narrative and both Sora and Riku in a way. Something that we see her taking note of in KH3, more obviously through the novelization.

I don't know. To me these quotes just make me think it is very obvious that both Hikari/Simple & Clean and Passion/Sanctuary are all songs about Sora and Riku and their bond with each other. Of course, since KH3 is meant to be a conclusion to the Dark Seeker Saga, of which KH1 and KH2 are both a part of, it would make sense that Oath and Don't Think Twice are about them too.

Sadly, we don't really have anything remotely official to really solidify that interpretation though, not that official recognition of things like this are necessary - they aren't - but they do add more validity to interpretations and theories. Maybe some day we'll get a comment about Oath / Don't Think Twice from either Nomura or Utada. But until then...I'm still going to think that those songs are about Sora and Riku.

Anyway, these are just rambling thoughts on a topic I've talked about before (the KH themes like Oath / Don't Think Twice and their connection to Sora and Riku). But I was thinking about this all again with the new Hikari re-recording by Utada that came out recently. It's a beautiful re-recording that I definitely suggest every KH fan check out. I'll link that in the comments as well, lol. Also, feel free to add this via reblogs or in the comments! I might not respond right away, but I'll read everything that gets commented, added, etc.

[mythicalartistx]

"It's so annoying that I want to fall asleep clinging to you every day"

I need more needy Riku like PLEASE GIVE ME Riku just wanting Sora so much and he feels annoyed that he wants that

I'd literally go insane if in game he references Chikai

I honestly don't get how people think it's not from his POV??

And it doesn't even have to be inherently romantic.... Well some lines are

Actually yeah it's kinda gay

Like a LOT. His whole character is after all

Discussing the meaning of Chikai again but this time on how it is about Riku

Starting with these stanzas,

He never cared for destiny. Destiny tried to screw him over. He lost the kingdom key something he was supposed to have.

But we come to the next stanzas where he ask if you're happy with me?

All his fears and doubts and insecurities throughout the series are shown here. In the second game he couldn't believe Sora wanted him to come back.

He had this understanding with Sora in the dark realm and when he says don't get my hopes up too much.

He just can't believe he would still want to be his friend/remain with him.

Eternal vow, he made a promise to protect his precious friend or it could be relating to necklace theory.

He mentions rings of same color. Man he wants to kiss him. I love you Riku you're so silly

And he wants to fall asleep clinging to him.

He doesn't make promises because they can be broken and wants a vow something eternal.

Then we have the line rings will be the color of sunrise. Riku walks the road of dawn, he is the light.

And finally we have these lines. "Lay your heartbeat on mine" More needy Riku. I love it, so cute.

Then let's celebrate we live in the moment could honestly be any time where Riku is with Sora. Like when they're okay because they're together such as in the dark realm.

Now we will talk about this stanza. It shows him crying of the past.

Like he regrets the past and what he did. He's crying because of it. These stanzas I cannot see who else would ever believe that besides Riku.

A light stream from open door, he's literally the light. It could also refer to him walking by Sora's side to the door of light.

Riku often worried about Sora and wants him as his friend or even something more.

Finally we have the final stanzas.

Riku wants Sora to kiss him. And once isn't enough. He says please give me you, he wants him. Chikai translated lyrics are just so much.

And the last line sound of sunrise, could also be him referencing the dawn again. Side to Side they're together laying on the beach. They've done it in the past and they done in several times.

Like several lines is just cute lines, but some of the line is about him. Especially the one about the past. Like that's not about Sora it's not about Kairi. Some people think it's her POV.

Like she doesn't remember the past and doesn't have feelings towards it.

[daylighteclipsed]

@generatedreflection Hope you don’t mind if I respond to your tags this way, since my og post is already kind of long! So running on the assumption that KH is a video game, or at least fiction/a story, in-universe and the characters are waking up and changing when they’re not “supposed” to…

I guess it depends on when the initial divergence from fate/the narrative/the program happened and how much it affected. Was Riku supposed to be our player character? If so, did Sora and Riku only swap physical places/external roles, or did their writing or programming adjust their personalities to fit their new places in the story/game so as to keep the narrative from diverging too much? Is this the first run through the story, or have there been multiple past loops we’re not privy to and that the characters don’t consciously remember but which still affect their hearts?

I’m thinking of ReCoded specifically, when Data Sora and Data Riku go on this whole adventure that’s similar to KH1 but different enough to shape them into their own people. Even after they’re reset to follow what’s written in the Journal, we know those memories remain in their hearts and in the hearts of their newfound Disney friends from the ‘real’ world, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. So data KH1 will never truly reflect KH1 as we know it.

If ReCoded is spelling the big picture out for us, do Sora and Riku only start awakening during the one run of KH1 that we play… or have they been waking up because of one or more resets before that we haven’t seen? Is fate, destiny, the narrative, the program trying really hard to make this story play out the way it’s “supposed” to, but the boys keep swerving, developing more awareness and free will with every reset? Or is this the first run where things are different because of something the Master of Masters most likely set in motion? Or maybe what he set in motion has taken all these resets to come to fruition?

It’s a lot to think about. And I don’t have any answers. Certainly it’s interesting to consider all the different ways the story could go/is maybe “supposed” to go… If Sora and Riku’s roles are supposed to be flipped, with Riku as the champion of light and Sora as the one who falls to darkness… then it’s kind of ironic that they seem to be circling back to that now. Like rather than completely changing or swapping destinies, they just took a detour. They took the long way around, but the road still leads to the same place. Fate is fighting to correct course.

But I also think, you know, Sora could’ve always been meant to be the Hero and embody that archetype even if the Keyblade was not “supposed” to be his. I don’t think the one who wields Kingdom Key Light is synonymous necessarily with the Hero of the story or even the main protagonist. It’s also possible for Riku to pass on the Keyblade to Sora without falling to darkness.

Either way, the idea of Riku giving his crown/destiny to Sora, rewriting the story and essentially acting as the narrative for Sora in this sense, usurping fate, is interesting. Especially when you compare this to Data Riku’s role in ReCoded. He’s the vessel for the Journals, for the entire digital universe they create, and he protects it. He protects Sora’s story, the one we see in the games, which plays out how it does because Riku gives Sora the Keyblade.

The one thing I feel for sure — a lot of this, the story changing and characters waking up/coming alive, comes back to Riku. From what we see of him as a little kid, Riku’s always been more “awake,” it seems, than his peers. Always questioning things and possessing a wisdom beyond his years. It’s like he almost knows (or remembers) things he shouldn’t. As Sora puts it, Riku says “some weird stuff sometimes.” And I think Riku is the one who starts waking Sora up. He encourages Sora to think about things that it doesn’t seem Sora would think about on his own. To ask questions. To see their world differently. And to consider worlds beyond their own.

I think he’s why Sora’s first line in the series is about awakening. “I’ve been having these weird thoughts lately. Like — Is any of this for real or not?” And I think Riku’s why Sora’s able to connect with and awaken/bring to life so many characters in the story. That might even be canon, actually, if Riku encouraging Sora to open his heart to Ventus when they’re little kids is what teaches Sora how to... By empowering Sora, Riku is the catalyst for a ripple effect of change that defies destiny and universal law. And it culminates in his KH3 sacrifice which allows Sora to rewrite how the Book of Prophecies ends.

I think that’s what Riku has always represented: Awakening. Truth. The outside world — whether that means adulthood, reality, new perspectives, or lands yet untraveled. He makes the darkness conscious by bringing it to light. Especially for Sora. Riku quite literally wakes Sora up after CoM and in DDD, and his light pulls forgotten/repressed memories up from the depths. Riku’s often associated with the sun — the kind of bright, harsh light that hurts to look at. That makes it hard, if not impossible, to fall back asleep.

Riku’s the sudden light in your eyes that has you groaning and rolling away when someone has to get you out of bed in the morning lol He’s the rude awakening. The truth is often not pleasant or easy. It often hurts. But inevitably, it becomes known. Inevitably, the sun rises and illuminates the dark. Dawn breaks, and the day and all its challenges must be faced. No slacking off. Chop, chop. It’s time to wake up, Sora. Destati!

Even Data Riku in ReCoded is the one who lifts the curtain for Data Sora and ‘reveals the matrix’ so to speak. “It’s time for you to learn the truth.” Riku offers the truth, perhaps quite literally sometimes if that’s what his iconic outstretched hand gesture represents — and it definitely seems to given how KH3’s tutorial/awakening parallels Sora’s dream in the KH1 opening. But it’s up to Sora to accept the truth. To face it. To take Riku’s hand and awaken. It’s Sora’s choice.

Anyway. Whether Riku is “supposed” to be the Hero or was always meant to be the Rival, he’s not supposed to love Sora as much as he does, and certainly not in the romantic way the games suggest he does… I understand your hesitation about gay intent in KH… But it really feels like the “missing”/unspoken piece here that makes so many people scratch their heads over Riku’s character arc. For Sora, it’s less clear (especially in English), but I do think Riku is in love with him. And I truly believe so much of “destiny” changing and characters awakening, Sora awakening, comes back to that.

Destiny in this case would be the typical formula of Disney fairy tales and the expectations of our heteronormative society. And awakening would be developing awareness of these limitations and smashing them… Perhaps reflected through Riku and Sora exposing the flaws in the Light and Dark binary that’s dictated Keyblade society and caused many of the problems their generation has to contend with.

Perhaps the door to the light, to truth, to awakening IS the closet door, then (insert joke here about Riku literally being the gay awakening)… But it’s a lot of other things as well. Awakening is discovering any truth. Every truth. It’s knowledge of the systems that limit and control you, of any unseen force that holds you back. It’s power to see through illusions and lies, distortions and distractions. It’s free will and independent thought. It’s self-actualization and true freedom. After all, you cannot break free of chains you don’t know are there.

That certainly makes the Master of Masters an interesting fellow… It seems like he wants change. He wants the characters to deviate from the script, to awaken, to develop free will… But at the same time, he’s pulling all the strings. He’s the eye always watching them... Does he truly want freedom, or does he want to be the one who decides what freedom looks like?

[soriikai]

Just thoughts i wana write down..

Riku is the chosen one in much the same way Xehanort was. However Xehanort started out good and ended up doing some bad things which caused a lot of pain to a lot of people. Riku on the other hand started out doing something bad (letting the darkness in and losing the islands and Kairi's heart) which is what causes Sora to obtain the keyblade and gives them all the ability to fight the darkness. Sets things in motion in a positive light but he still spends the rest of his time trying to atone for what he did. I like to think about what Xehanort was missing, and how he could have turned out differently. We see at the end of KH3 he still had his love for Eraqus, despite killing him 10 years prior. He feels bad for what he did to Ventus. He has his humanity but his conviction is just stronger. He really believes he's doing something so important it's worth it all. Seeing how traumatic his childhood was though, how much death he witnessed, it's understandable. There was no reason for their deaths. I dunno what I'm getting at here i just think the parallels between xehanort and riku are neat. Riku refuses to let his friends fall, his conviction is stronger. He only cares about Sora and Kairi (and later his other friends) he would sacrifice himself for them time and again. Riku feels awful for what Ansem TW and him did to Roxas. (And Xion but he doesn't remember) but it was the only way he could save Sora, it's fucked up! (+ It's so damn evil what Ansem TW did and how he treated roxas and namine I hate him so so so so so fucking much i swear he is the most evil guy in all of KH i want him dead forever and ever fuck that guy), uhh anyway it would've been cool if Riku got to learn about Xehanort's past is all I'm really trying to say. They have no idea.

[justmeinabigolworld]

Kingdom Hearts Canon Divergence AU Fic Announcement Post!

So...

I've said this before, but I have a KH fanfic in the works, one that isn't just crack. I figured cringe culture is stupid, so why not?

The idea is somewhat based on a dream I had, and it involves a divergence around the end of BBS that affects everything to come. Just to warn you, it's hella fucked up, and some unpleasant things happen to characters you may have come to like. Also, though I've read and enjoyed Vanitas redemption fics in the past, this isn't one of them.

The story is called Outgrown Such Childish Things, and the summary goes like this:

Destiny is never left to chance, except when it is.

Xehanort may be dead for good, and much earlier than expected, but a scapegoat is still needed, and so Vanitas finds himself rescued from oblivion.  Seeking a reunion with his light, his search brings him to Destiny Islands, where he meets a young boy with his face — the boy who is hiding Ventus’s heart.  Vanitas takes Sora away through a dark corridor, with Riku in hot pursuit.  

Through the years of utter hell under Vanitas’s “care” that follow, Sora can only keep himself together by thinking of his and Riku’s promise to one day escape and see the worlds together, just as they’d dreamed of before everything started.  

Even so, promises are fragile things, empty more often than not, and the innocent intentions of children can only exist for so long before they become something else entirely.

Chapter one is coming...when I'm finished with it. I'm planning on posting the fic on Ao3 and FFNet. Just to warn you, I'm not good at finishing what I've started, but I've made an outline of sorts with extensive notes, particularly about the beginning part, so maybe things will be different this time around. Then again, maybe they won't.

Either way, I'm excited to share my plot bunnies with you! I've come up with ideas for new Disney/Pixar worlds, different takes on characters (due to changes in the timeline), and lots and lots of trauma...

Update: here it is!

[thefinalboss387]

Xehanort is a character that I have... complicated feelings about.

I truly want to love him, and on paper he has a lot of qualities that I typically like in villain characters. Buuuuuuut...

(This a long and spoilery post, so it’s under the cut!)

In a lot of ways, Xehanort is very similar to the character of Palpatine from Star Wars. I just recently posted a very long, rambly, half-coherant post about how much I love Palpatine and how he checks all the right boxes for me in what I love in a character. I actually just now, a few minutes before typing this, realized that Death Battle even did a Palpatine vs. Xehanort episode... which is pretty cool. I’ve compared the two in my mind for a long time... but, in my opinion, Palpatine is Xehanort done RIGHT.

Don’t worry - this post will NOT be a comparison between the two characters, I only bring this up because a lot of the positives I’m about to highlight are also positives I see in the character of Palpatine, one of my favorite characters of all time. So despite any negatives I’m about to talk about, the potential is most definitely there for Xehanort to blow me away and become one of my all-time faves.

If you are a fan of Xehanort, please don’t come at me with hate or anything like that. Honestly, I want to like Xehanort. There is a reason I’m posting this in his tags - I’m not trying to hate on the character or say he is bad, I’m just laying out my issues (AND the things I like about him!) and why I think he could have been done SO much better. So if you have reasons for loving him, or have respectful counter-arguments to my points, I would love to hear them. Maybe, and hopefully, you can change my mind and make me love the character again.

Xehanort’s past is given to us very slowly, bit by bit, layer by layer, which I actually rather liked. With each game, you learned more about where he came from, what he was up to, what he wanted. Xehanort’s story is one loaded with manipulating everyone around him, finding young people to mentor before slowly corrupting and possessing their bodies, remorselessly discarding people that no longer serve any use to him... all qualities that I LOVED about Palpatine, and his status as a manipulative mastermind type of villain. Xehanort is the one personally responsible for pretty much all of the events of the Kingdom Hearts series.

I love characters, especially villains, that take on mentorship roles. Mentoring youth is a topic that carries a lot of weight and personal relevance to me, and I find it fun to explore all facets of that, even with villainous characters that inject toxicity to those relationships. Exploring how those types of relationships can go so wrong, or even exploring the good that may come out of otherwise irredeemable sociopaths through their mentoring. And Xehanort has a lot of these.

Xehanort manipulates Terra into believing he is the only one on his side, acting caring and supportive, only to eventually possess his body. He takes on Ventus as a pupil, and when Ventus proves to be too soft for what Xehanort has in store, he unlocks his dark side in Vanitas and takes him in as a pupil instead, manipulating the two boys to eventually clash for his benefit. He begins to offer guidance and support to Riku, only to possess his body as well. He takes on disciples in the form of Organization XIII, misinforms and practically brainwashes them all into doing his bidding, and begins a process to eventually - you guessed it - possess all of their bodies as well. He manipulates all of these people, and every iteration of Xehanort is campy, dramatic, and fun to watch. He even eventually makes plans to turn Sora, the hero of the story and his greatest enemy, into one of his pawns and new bodies.

All of that is AMAZING, and lays the groundwork for a really compelling villain.

It’s also worth noting that Xehanort DOES have something I love that Palpatine does not; the ability to transform into cool final boss forms. The final boss sequences of Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, and the crazy forms that Ansem and Xemnas take on, are highlights of the entire series for me. Even Kingdom Hearts III’s final boss sequence kiiiiiiiiind of counts I guess, though I found it disappointing compared to the others. Give me giant monstrous dragon-esque forms over a suit of armor any day!!

My main issue is.... there’s a point where Xehanort stops feeling like an actual character, and starts feeling more like a lifeless plot device?

Throughout the series, we meet many different iterations of Xehanort. At first, most of them pop up one at a time and that’s fine. But then, as the series goes on and time travel becomes a thing, all of these iterations start showing up all at once, all doing different things and all effectively acting as their own unique characters.

If we take out the Organization XIII members that are far along on their “getting possessed” journey and just have some Xehanort influence on their own personalities, and JUST count the different iterations of Xehanort himself, we haaaaaave....

Young Xehanort, who is Master Xehanort as a youth. This is the iteration that introduces time travel and starts all of these iterations acting independently and existing all at the same time.

Master Xehanort, Xehanort’s “true” form and an old man.

Terra-Xehanort, Master Xehanort possessing Terra’s body. He gains amnesia and begins acting as Ansem’s lab assistant, but it is speculated (but not decisively answered) whether he actually has amnesia or if it’s a ruse.

Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, Terra-Xehanort’s Heartless, who goes on to possess Riku’s body. He also steals the real Ansem’s name to make things just a little more plot twist-y and convoluted.

Xemnas, Terra-Xehanort’s Nobody. Honestly, I’ve come to think of him as probably my favorite of Xehanort’s iterations - he shows so much manipulation in his dealings with Organization XIII, he fights by flinging freakin’ BUILDINGS at you, he has two red lightsabers to REALLY cement the Palpatine comparisons, HE is the iteration that gets closure on Xehanort’s history with Ansem the Wise... Of all of these iterations, Xemnas is the one that, to me, feels the most like Xehanort’s successor in the overall narrative.

For most of the games of the series, only one iteration of Xehanort showed up at a time. Ansem and Xemnas existed at the same time due to the nature of Heartless and Nobodies, but they are met and dealt with completely independently in different games. No big deal. But when time travel becomes a thing, and five different, unique Xehanorts are running around with personalities and relationships of their own, not to mention all of the other characters with a piece of Xehanort inside of them that are beginning to adopt his ambitions and philosophies, things start to feel really muddled. And that’s not even counting things like his secret “No Heart” armored boss fight and things like that.

Can Xehanort be considered a character if he is actually somehow multiple faces, multiple personalities, multiple identities, multiple characters at once? You have to go through so many character pages on the Kingdom Hearts Wiki just to get this one character’s full story and history.

I feel like Xehanort - XEHANORT, the big villain of the series and amazing manipulative mastermind extraordinaire - can’t really be a favorite character. He almost feels like a concept. An idea. Each of his individual parts all feel like fully fleshed-out, complete characters worthy of being a favorite, and sure, they do each carry certain traits in common... but they all have completely different personalities, different quirks, different faces, different voice actors, different relationships with different characters, different abilities and strengths, different weapons... is it really fair to say that all of that is just one character? It almost feels like it’s cheating.

For most of the series, all of these different iterations led into each other, mapping out just how deeply Xehanort’s manipulations and possessing went. When you consider each version of Xehanort to be a different chapter of his story, it still worked. But when the last few games messed with time travel and made all of these forms independent of each other and coexisting, each one continuing the relationships and feuds exclusive to each of them, it just starts to feel muddled and confusing. I would have much rather seen one form of Xehanort bouncing around and causing havoc to all of his old adversaries and pawns, having the memories and experiences of all his former selves, to tie all of his iterations together and add to his continuity. Instead, the series decided to add to the continuity of each individual piece of Xehanort and give each of them closure independent of each other, which does a disservice to Xehanort as a whole.

I’m probably overthinking this. I love Kingdom Hearts. A lot of my favorite gaming experiences ever came from the Kingdom Hearts franchise. I have a lot of fond memories of the series and its characters. Roxas and Axel/Lea are particular favorites of mine, and I’ll always love the series for incorporating Disney characters - especially the Disney villains. It just kills me because Xehanort has so many things that, on paper, would guarantee him a spot on my list of favorite characters of all time. I just can’t get over that hurdle of feeling like he is more of a concept than a character at this point. All they had to do, I feel, was give Xehanort one “self” to fuse all of the past Xehanorts together and give the overall character a sense of continuity and closure, instead of reviving all of his past selves separately.

When the final battle of Kingdom Hearts III happens, it feels like we are taking down Master Xehanort, the antagonist of Birth by Sleep, NOT the antagonist that has been plaguing us throughout the entire franchise.

[hallowed-nebulae]

little falling star

Kairi was born in Radiant Garden, but she does not know it. Raised in Destiny Islands, she knows this place more. Or: Kairi, and how she is and is not of Radiant Garden.

on ao3 here, or below the cut; wordcount: 570

She hates it, sometimes.

The dissonance. The difference. The choking feeling it has, sometimes.

Kairi is glad to have grown up in the Destiny Islands. She's glad that she was able to live there, safely, able to grow up with Sora and Riku and Selphie and Tidus and Waka. Glad she got that good education, glad she was always encouraged by her adoptive parents. Glad she had that safe place to live and stay in.

But it doesn't make her feelings and less strong.

Kairi was born in Radiant Garden, and lived there for the first four years of her life. She knows this, now, though she didn't know for a long while. Kairi was a part of a culture of an entirely different place -- even her name reflects the culture, the hard consonants and softer vowels that Radiant Garden favored for young girls when she was born, as Yuffie and Aerith had said. Kairi's got the reddish hair and pale blue-green eyes that are so common, pale freckled skin compared to the darker shades that everyone had on Destiny Islands.

Kairi hates that she has no connection to the culture and place and peoples that she belongs to. No one knew what world she was from, and she can't blame them for that, but she still wishes. Wishes she had been told the stories of Gaia and Lucrecia and Vincent and Rinoa, all the people of folklore and legends. Wishes she had been taught how to cook that same comfort food that Aerith and Tifa cook so often. Wishes she was from Radiant Garden in more than only name.

The worst part is when Sora or Riku ask her something about Radiant Garden -- well-meaningly, she knows, but it still cuts, even if she pretends it doesn't. I don't remember living there. She wants to tell them. I don't remember anything about it. I know less than either of you do.

(She wants to scream at them, sometimes. She doesn't. She just smiles, says nothing, and makes a paper star or two or ten until they talk about something else. Kairi had made a lot of paper stars. The jar on her desk is getting full of them.)

And there's nothing she can do. There's no real way to connect with that past of hers -- not with the Keyblade training, not with the looming threat of the Keyblade War on the horizon, not with the way that Kairi knows there will be danger, soon, and she has to prepare to be strong enough to survive. Not with the way that her roots are so firmly in Destiny Islands, now, the way that she cannot imagine living anything else.

Kairi, at the end of the day, is just. . . lost. Staring out her window. Making paper stars. Wondering about that past she won't ever get to go back to.

(Sometimes, when it's dark out and the stars are barely shining, she thinks that she hates Xehanort. Other times, she hates herself. For not remembering that past. For not wanting to remember. Is it so bad to cling to her life on Destiny Islands? Is it so bad to want to stay where she's safe, stay somewhere that she knows, rather than risk all the danger inherent in being a Keyblade Wielder?

Kairi doesn't know, and that -- that's what scares her the most.

At the end of the day, Kairi is just. . . lost.)

[linagram]

𝚝𝟷 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 + 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚟 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘

okay so UHHHH i know that it would probably make more sense for me to start working on the voice dramas BUT i really wanted to write these. also i'm still kinda getting used to these characters and thinking about their voice dramas is a bit hard for me rn, like i'm still trying to figure out how they would talk or how they would act in certain situations so!! yeah, it's like i'm holding them and going "WHO ARE YOU"

you can read their t1 songs trailer voicelines how tf am i supposed to call those videos and some undercover mv moments with my kids under the cut! (+ there also will be a surprise, hehe <3)

warning: considering that this is, well, milgram, and all of these ocs (except the guards) are murderers, some scenes are pretty disturbing.

T1 Music Trailer Voicelines:

(note: it was a little hard for me to come up with these, because i noticed that in the original trailers, it's like.. you can actually hear some lines in the voice dramas, meanwhile some lines are supposed to say something about the character's past. so i was like "yeah sure, both is good". have fun figuring out which lines are connected to their past/crime and which lines they are going to say in their voice dramas! also, some characters have said their lines in the past AND they're going to say them in their voice dramas. so yeah, if a character gets their voice drama and they don't say their line.. y-yeah, it means it's actually something they said before/during/after their crime.)

Akio: "Question number one".

Aimi: "I'm having so much fun with everyone!"

Shun: "Uh.. which one?"

Naomi: "I thought they would at least say something.."

Kei:"Well, now my plan is ruined.."

Eiko: "If you're the one who comes up with all the punishments, I'll be okay with anything~"

Asahi: "My real mom wouldn't be so cruel to me."

Yurika: "It was self-defense, I swear!"

Riku: "Ah.. so you saw them."

Reina: "Let me finish this."

Undercover MV info.

Where did their murders take place:

(note: i'm adding these since you can see those places in the original mv too when they're showing the prisoners' cards, and also, yay, more hints to their crimes!)

Akio: Basement

Aimi: Amusement park

Shun: Kitchen

Naomi: Street

Kei: His house

Eiko: Living room

Asahi: Dining room

Yurika: Some kind of dark room, the walls seem to be covered in blood

Riku: School rooftop

Reina: Dark alley

Scenes that show their past:

(you know which ones i'm talking about, like, those scenes with everybody's silhouettes, like haruka's room, fuuta taking a picture, etc)

Akio: He's sitting alone in an empty classroom and it looks like he's crying.

Aimi: She's eating her bento all alone while her classmates are talking to each other and having fun.

Shun: He's sleeping on a couch with a phone in his hand.

Naomi: Her books are lying on the floor and she's trying to pick them up.

Kei: He's hanging photos on the wall. Some photos have blood on them.

Eiko: She's lying in her bed with her laptop.

Asahi: He's pointing at an expensive-looking plushie and asking his mom to buy it.

Yurika: She's crying into her pillow.

Riku: He's standing next to a school desk with a lot of hateful messages written on it, like "You don't belong here", "You know you're not that special, right?", "Who do you think you are?" and "You're just doing this for the attention".

Reina: She seems to be arguing with someone who looks younger than her.

Scenes that show them killing the guards:

(another note: not all scenes here show how exactly they killed their victims and some of them are just here for the symbolism or because it would be basically impossible to describe them. also, them killing a specific guard isn't really that important, like it's not supposed to show their canon t1 verdict or which guard they like/hate the most)

Akio: He's choking Eiji with a rope and smiling.

Aimi: She's dancing with Miki and laughing while holding a knife to her throat.

Shun: He's stabbing Eiji with what seems to be a kitchen knife and crying.

Naomi: She's beating Miki with a school chair. She looks very angry.

Kei: He's standing on Miki's neck and laughing. Miki is also tied up.

Eiko: It's hard to say what's going on, but when you look closer, you notice that she's laughing and holding what seems to be Eiji's head while his other body parts are lying on the floor.

Asahi: It looks like he's trying to make Miki eat something, but she's trying to resist. He's smiling, but when you look closer, you can see a drop of sweat on his face, implying that he's actually just as uncomfortable as her.

Yurika: She's hugging Eiji and smiling, but he looks like he's in pain and he has huge holes in his chest, arms and legs.

Riku: There's a lot going on. He's hugging Miki boy these prisoners sure are affectionate, but it looks like they're falling together and Miki is stabbing him with a knife at the same time.

Reina: She's beating Eiji with something that looks like a "Stop" sign and crying.

Surprise! Congratulations, you unlocked their "canon verdict" voicelines! Basically, this is how these prisoners would react to getting their canon t1 verdicts. All voicelines are in a random order, so good luck figuring out what's gonna happen to them and who's saying which line! Some of them are pretty obvious, but some of them.. not so much.

"Oh, I don't care about her anymore."

"You have such a kind heart.. I wish they were like that too.."

"Ehehe, I knew that you'll forgive me! That's what best friends do!"

"PLEASE, JUST LET ME GO BACK TO MOM!"

"I knew it.. I really am a disappointment.."

"Oh well, looks like this place needs a new king~"

"Haha.. maybe they were right all along.."

"I LITERALLY TOLD YOU THAT I WAS THE VICTIM! OH, YOU JUST WANT TO SEE ME IN PAIN, RIGHT? WELL, I WILL GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WANT!"

".. You two really are stupid."

"You can do anything you want to me. I don't really care."

[irafuwas]

Character ask game: Sora from KH (…do any of them have last names 😂😭)

For this character ask meme!

one aspect about them i love

I love his unwavering belief that no matter who you are, no matter what you’ve been through or what you’ve done, there is still good somewhere deep inside you. And as long as you believe in the goodness that someone has, you can be the light that guides them out of the darkness.

one aspect i wish more people understood about them

I wish people would look past his goofball nature more and see that he actually wrestles a lot with his belief that he is nothing without his friends. The other side of “My friends are my power” is “Alone, I am powerless”, and we especially see this come to a head during the keyblade graveyard scenes in KH 3. I’m thinking KH 4 will delve more into his low self-esteem issues, since he’ll have a chance to express these “negative” emotions away from Donald and Goofy’s (well-meaning, but inappropriate) insistence that he needs to be happy all the time.

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have about this character

Knowing Nomura, I think making Sora be the Child of Destiny is way too obvious a thing for him to do. I like the theory he’s going to pull a fast one on us and have Riku be the Child, but since he fell to Darkness and Sora nabbed his keyblade, then Sora kind of sort of borrowed the title from him? But like they’re both the Child, it’s just Riku was the one prophesized about, and Sora is the one the Child chose to carry out his duties. Idk it was something like that.

one character i love seeing them interact with

Tangled is one of my favorite movies so I adored seeing him interact with Rapunzel!! I always imagined they’d get along well together and I was so happy so see I was right. I know KH worlds stick to movies, but if they ever start doing Disney shows, I think Tangled the Series would be a perfect one considering uhhh *gestures toward Cassandra*.

one character i wish they would interact with/interact with more

I want to see Sora and Kalim and Punzie hang out together and go on adventures and give Riku and Jami and Cass the absolute biggest headaches in the world!!

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have that involve them and one other character

Uhhh I think Riku genuinely does (like I mean I think canonically, like this is nomura’s intent) have romantic feelings towards Sora, but I don’t think Sora reciprocates. I want Soriku to be endgame canon, but I neither feel like it’s going to happen nor do I need it to.

[pretty-weird-ideas]

The Reason Why Xehanort is #12

Can we talk about the way KHDR uses the number 1-13 and how it may possibly correlate to its usage in KH3?

YMX in the Real Organization 13 is number 12. While this clearly is a reference to a clock, something that is this splinter of Xehanort's motif, I think Dark Road makes a much more darker connection to the number 12.

Baldr explicitly numbers Xehanort and Eraqus as numbers 12 and 13 on his hitlist of people he planned to kill to summon kingdom hearts. But there is no respective count on who is supposed to be 12 and who is supposed to be 13. I think Xehanort was Baldr's #12, and YMX renames himself #12 because of that factor. And I think if this correlation is true then it can say a lot about Xehanort as a person.

Dark Road offers a different way to view Xehanort in regards to his clear obsession with opening Kingdom Hearts by implying that his feelings were affected by firm isolation, neglect, and manipulation on the part of those around him both intentional and unintentional. His obsession isn't with opening KH but with convincing himself that all of his trauma had a higher purpose. This unhealthy and misplaced coping also later affects how Xehanort sees those who follow in his footsteps, mainly his treatment of Riku and the Organization as utilitarian subjects of a wider goal. It is not because he sees everyone as below himself, he sees all people, including himself as pawns.

Xehanort chooses to revel in this pain, in the sacrifice, and dig his feet at the idea that the prophecy isn't about him. It's explicitly about the sunk cost fallacy and his existential dread regarding his past. Xehanort feels nostalgia for his trauma. His obsession isn't with him wanting to be the chosen one, it's about him not wanting to feel like he had wasted his time and suffered for no gain. It's because he cannot face the harsh reality that he was harmed and taken advantage of for nothing.

His past, especially what happened with Baldr had affected him harshly. And a large part of his coping seems to be based around inflicting painful moments of his past into his and others' identity by choice or by force. Seeking out mirror images for his own pain and seeking to obtain it. I could argue that Xehanort was chosen as Baldr's number 12 and that is why YMX is given that number. Because of his belief that his suffering and clearly senseless violence and abuse have a higher purpose, a clearly sinister plot to attack and mess with him mentally and physically should be put in high regard. Xehanort has taken the recusants sigil, the name of "Ansem", the title of darkness, all for this intended purpose of reveling in the violent past uncritically. His obsession with ritual and a higher power is what could draw Xehanort to reclaiming not just the number 13, darkness, or Ansem, but to reclaim the number the Baldr gave him when he was going to be sacrificed for Kingdom Hearts. After all, isn't that exactly what he is doing here? Sacrificing himself as #12 to open Kingdom Hearts. Could this be another reclamation that Xehanort has made in regard to his storied and religious past?

In fact, I can argue that Xehanort is meant to be 12 for Baldr.

[themelodicenigma]

I know lots of fans want to see the light vs darkness dichotomy be challenged in KH. But I'm more interested in seeing the simplistic message of "May my heart be my guiding key" be called into question. I want to see characters wonder whether their hearts can and have misguided them at any point, and see a character disregard what they feel, for the greater good. I think the follow your heart theme is cliche but I don't see fans critique it as much. Thoughts?

Ahh, that's an interesting point. I do believe we have a bit of that (and variations), but it's just that terminology (light + darkness + heart) makes it seem all over the place in execution. Haha

The way I see it, most characters are technically letting their hearts be their "guide", but the KH series puts it in relative terms of the heart being the car, where light and darkness are the fuel + navigational systems. Where they say "light/darkness make this person do X", you could also substitute that for "their heart led them to do this". By the amount of light and darkness within their hearts, we see characters making decisions by this and affected by those forces in different ways—e.g. hearts corrupted by darkness, thus leading to misguided decisions. Both Roxas and Xion make decisions for the greater good despite it being a disadvantage to them, but because of their being, it's not exactly put into a "not following their heart" phrasing. So as you point out, it's not really often put into that term/phrase of ALL decision making, and instead "following your heart" or "letting it be your guide" is seen as an ultimate positive thing, without the: "my heart says this, but I need to make another decision".

For example, like with Riku, who is probably the poster child of the series of being misguided and making wrong decisions, and then changing from that. His whole thing was about figuring out the nature of light and darkness within him—he's like THE representative of this duality. Yet, a summation of a part of his development had designated him becoming "more like Sora" and just following his heart, as opposed to trying to meet a certain ideal self. Kind of a "heart vs mind" sort of thing, I suppose.

I feel like the question is, if Riku's understanding of light and darkness within his heart (and how it influenced him) is truly a separate thing from the impact of what he believes comes from "following his heart". I don't think the game puts it plainly, but there's a lot of a mix of the three terms (light, darkness, heart) in how the characters speak, to where these lines can be understood to overlap. Since his heart has found that balance and piece of light and darkness—is the way he is now still the result of him "following his heart", now?

Maybe. Lol

But that's my additive point—the game makes it seem like that the result of this will always produce good results, based on its usage, but has it? Really? Was Xehanort not following his heart? Was Riku, in his past actions, not doing the same? Terra? Were they or were they not affected by what was going on INSIDE of their hearts at the time (which in this case, KH gauges it on the idea of light and darkness within the heart)? Eraqus, too. It's reasonable to surmise that him "following his heart" produced the conflict he faced with his decisions + feelings. Killing Ven and Terra was for his perception of the "greater good", and he must've believed that in his heart, but within is heart was also the feelings/emotions that conflicted with this act. Was it "heart vs mind", or was it really just his heart?

Either he was following his heart, which was conflicted. Or, he was following a conviction for his perceived good—something separate from what his heart was telling him.

It's not well defined, I think, at that point. Lol

I'm with you though. It'd be nice to get that bit of a character doing something they really believed in, only to then realize it's not for the best, and to make the active decision to go against their heart—for it to be in terms of THAT specific phrasing/terminology. But I think there are some definite points in character developments that we can look at that retain these things.

[mythicalartistx]

Sometimes I randomly will think of how they really missed out on having Vanitas and Riku interact...

Like how would he interact if he was there with Sora, Ven, and Vanitas. Like then Vanitas' mask comes off.

Remember when Riku had that bizarre WHAAAAAAAT at the possibility Aqua was another Sora. And at this point everyone knows Sora also had Ven's heart too.

So for him to just see another Sora except he looks much like him bark darker shades, would just have been really interesting.

Like so many missed opportunities, he could honestly rile him up based on his insecurities and how darkness took over him and how he sent the island to darkness.

And he has Sora's face so it's going to be THAT MUCH HARDER.

Also even the fact we didn't see the dark riku on the organization's side interact with Vanitas is another crime itself.

THEY WERE ON THE SAME SIDE SO HOW COME WE DIDN'T SEE THAT!?

Okay to be fair Vanitas didn't interact with much of the others either— which is still a crime...

Don't get me wrong I loved the keyblade graveyard battle scenes and how they fought and trios getting reunited. Vanitas choosing to go and Sora seeing his face was a good scene, but there were a lot of other missed opportunities...

Instead vanilla Riku only dealt with the replicas, and Sora saw the organization Riku (which is Repliku from the past brought to he future).

But Sora got to see both Riku and Vanitas, thought it wasn't the Repliku who stayed with og Riku.

Final notes

Even Sora talking to Repliku would be something because he would be sad that he forgot him.

Sometimes I like Riku angst and the sad things happening. But what if it made him realized he FORGOT SOME STUFF and needs to remember—

That Sora forgot about COM events and Necklace Theory stuff and must regain them??

[prancingintheshadows]

The Appeal of Kingdom Hearts

A few days ago, a friend of mine accused Kingdom Hearts of being nothing but a huge Disney ad. It was nigh impossible to convince him otherwise, but that’s not really the point of this post. The point is that I got thinking, maybe it’s hard for someone outside of KH to understand the appeal. Because what is it known for? Good gameplay sure, but it’s constantly memed up and jokes about the complexity of the plot have followed it for ages. So the question does persist for outsiders, why do people genuinely care about the original characters of Kingdom Hearts? How can people buy into these characters when its constantly surrounded by KH dialogue and needing to reenact Disney plots

Of course, I am a KH fan, so I already know why I am invested in these goofballs. The problem is explaining it to people who’s only exposure are lines like ‘Who else will I have ice cream with?’ with zero context. I’m going to try anyways now that I have time and sorted my thoughts.

The problem is explaining why I care would normally take awhile or lack the payoff it should if I just explain it word by word. I can’t succinctly talk about Riku path from darkness to dawn without losing something. Boiling Days down kinda ruins the slow burn of Roxas’s life falling apart. So instead of talking about something big, let’s go with something familiar

Yes, this legendary exchange.

I know the point is try to talk about KH’s appeal outside of the nonsense, but stick with me. This is an easy to explain situation that doesn’t require too much investment: Riku’s been cloned, Repliku is trying to surpass Riku to become real, and the two have at it.

Simple

More importantly, I think it’s good to use this as a discussion point since it is pretty memey. How can someone take this dialogue seriously?

Because the characters do take it seriously. This exchange is just a small snippet in a larger cutscene. Despite the awkward beginning, the characters keep going, paying it no mind. They take the scene seriously, so the suspension of disbelief is never really broken.

So where does the scene go after this point? Riku defeats Repliku and Repliku begins to fade away. As he does, he questions where a fake like him will end up. Riku being Riku, he answers sincerely. Repliku will likely end up where Riku ends up when he dies. This brings a small smile to the replica’s face. “A faithful copy to the end...” He accepts it as a fate he wouldn’t mind and passes on.

That is the appeal of Kingdom Hearts. It’s weird and awkward but it’s also sincere, so it can keep going past that and manages to say something in its own way. Sora and Roxas using “Hurt” like a noun may frustrate me to no end, but I’ll still think about Sora coming to the conclusion that if his ‘hurt’ can help him understand how Roxas is hurt, then maybe ‘hurt’ isn’t all bad. “Who else will I eat ice cream with?” is probably the worst thing you can say to someone who will disappear but that’s innately the charm of Roxas awkwardly grasping at what little bit of a normal life he has. Characters may espouse the virtues of the heart ad nauseum, but I still listen because Xemnas realizes a heart carries a lot of pain and Sora clarifies that that’s part of being human then this long time antagonist can’t help but admire the strength one needs to just... exist and be human.

Yeah, this series has a lot of Disney nostalgia and meme worthy moments, but there’s a reason people love this series outside of that. It’s got heart.

[artirific234-blog]

Ideas for Kingdom Hearts x Disney Chills stories

(warning: very BEEG and tall wall of text and spoilers)

... I kinda once got some weird ideas about some stories of the Disney Chills storybooks with something that could be considered as well strange too, and that is: Kingdom Hearts. 

Now, you may be wondering: What’s sort of thingus have you drank to think of a weird idea like that?! or, what the heck is Disney Chills or Kingdom Hearts?!

And to that i tell you: i did not drank anything except water and milk, and cola... and orange juice, i just thought of the idea because it’s cool and i kinda wanna see it, but before speaking of how, i will tell what exactly both series are about:

Disney Chills is a series of 6 books (7 in the making) made by Vera Strange that mixes the scary spooky storytelling from the Goosebumps series and the classic villainy of Disney’s Animated Villains. The stories are about a random kid (often a middle schooler) being down in the dumps for something that they lack or because they’re ostracized due to having any quirk. Then comes the Disney Villains to help them at the expense of turning their lifes for the worse in the long run, and then the villains wins at the end while the kiddos suffer the consequences for what they did, too bad~!

Kingdom Hearts is a series of videogames made by Tetsuja Nomura, who at first just started as one boy named Sora and his friends Riku and Kairi getting separated from their homeworld Destiny Islands and then Sora masters the keyblade to seek and find his friends from the claws of the Heartless and the Disney Villains who controls them (but there’s a bigger evil than they don’t know about) then became more confusing adding Nobodies, Time Travel, Replicas, and even bigger bad, a keyblade wars and various VARIOUS games that made from going from game 1-2-3 to UX-ML-DR-BBS-0.2-1-CoM-358/2D-2-RC-DDD-3-4. Aka there’s a lot of story spread over multiple games.

Soo, now that you (kinda?) know what those series are about what sort of weird ideas i kinda got into making, since these are too big (even for me) but still, i’m just gonna say what sort of ideas i thought and what sort of villains from the series would fit the best for them, and soo... Let’s dive into the Darkness.

Ansem, Seeker of Darkness:

The very first antagonist from the Kingdom Hearts series. Ansem was created after getting Terra-Xehanort’s heart out when he unlocked it with his keyblade, he then went to the past to help Young Xehanort to go towards his dark road and stayed in there, eventually manipulating Riku into joining the darkness and then eventually taking over his body to become “whole”. He also has a heartless bodyguard that is actually Terra’s Heart. He was eventually defeated by Sora, but still manage to return thanks to Riku’s darkness and eventually Xehanort’s Time Traveling shenanigans.

In a way, a story featuring Ansem would be kinda interesting persay; since the ideas about these sort of stories are about choices or wanting to get something "physical", i imagine that the kingdom hearts-related stories would be more about ourselves as people and how we threat each's others, as well understanding our emotions too. Ansem's Story would be about the Darkness in our hearts due to our own physical and emotional struggles, as well on how we affects others without not noticing at all. 

In this story, we would get a protagonist that feels preety weak and sad because of how much he gets bullied, so one night, he find at some place, he finds Ansem and then he helps him to get strong, by calling to the darkness inside it’s heart and then our protagonist gets courage to be strong, so next mornign, he puts a bully on it’s place, and everything goes, but also, he felt something, like he somehow felt that there were less and less people around the school, and that there were reports of some “shadowy” beings roaming around the streets (these being being pureblood heartless like shadows, neoshadows, possesors, dark balls and dark servants), and then, he finds out that the more he looks at his reflection, he sees himself less and less of a human, and more like a dark silhoutte of what he is. (based on Antisora). So, he decides confront Ansem before things spiral out of control (but sadly, thing spiralled out of control, so now he has to run through a darkness-ized city full of heartless to follow and stop Ansem once and for all.

(bonus points if the protagonist in a way is like Riku but different, and that a sora and kairi-look a likes would be important for the story too.)

(Alternatively, Ansem’s story could also be about Dabbling in the dark arts, like how Dr. Facilier did, albeit, with a few differences since Facilier's Story was about being at the shadow of someone else though. in this idea, it would be that an occultist based character got the help of a “Master of Darkness” that managed to summon the heartless (just some shadows) to prove that the occult itself is real and then get more members for it’s club or what not, only to realise that it might had condeem the entire city to the darkness....)

I kinda thought that the final battle would be on a toy shop, and that the heartless would ended up posessing some toys that would be weirdly-reminesent from the emblem heartless from the game (mostly first and second and maybe third game too) and the near-final obstacle would be Ansem summoning a version of the Phantom Heartless as a “puppet” before being faced at the rooftops. in the end, Ansem would tell that he still has potential in his heart for a greatness and stuff, our protagonist doesn’t believe it but then, a heartless attack one (or two) of his friends, he then succumbs to the darkness and ask Ansem to help them, and Ansem replies, by “returning” our protagonist’s friends’ hearts back, but taking his own.

The idea i thought that at the end (of theses two ideas), our protagonist would then be turned into the Dark Guardian by Ansem (using it’s heartless magic), thanks to the inmerse hatred and darkness it had during the story condeming it to be Ansem’s personal servant and fighter, collecting more darkness for his master to use.

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Xemnas

Xemnas is the main antagonist of Kingdom Hearts II, being the leader of organization XIII and the leader of the nobodies, he was born after terra-xehanort unlocked his heart, leaving him to be his nobody. He then created the organization for his nefarious needs.

Xemnas's Story would be more about the opposite of what most of the stories you made are: Popularity, while in most of the disney chills stories are about any characters trying to be popular and outshine anyone else (Part of your Nightmare and Fiends on the Other Side comes to mind), in this story the protagonist would already start as a popular person, but it would get tired of it and wanted to live a simple life (probably thanks to peer preasure and other stuff like toxic fanbases and stuff too, in a way, it would be like a “kid-friendly” version of Oshi no Ko, and how popularity (As well the internet) can be like a double-edge sword., that's went it's meets Xemnas, and stuff goes on. 

I’m not sure exactly how the plot afterwards would it be but i imagine it having to be similar to Fiends on the Other Side and our protagonist at first embraces the fact he’s no longer picked up but then more and more people start to forget him and he doesn’t know what to do. I also thought of an idea that it would get a bittersweet ending that after the protagonist get’s forgotten by almost everyone, Xemnas comes and then gives him a “second” life with him, afterall, he also found other kids that were forgotten too so he brought then to be part of a “family” (in a way, it would be related to Organization XIII) and that our protagonist was number xii.

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Master Xehanort

Master Xehanort is the antagonist of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, 3 and Dream Drop Distance, as well the overarching antagonist of the series as a whole. he wants to redo the keyblade war to get the X-Blade and unlock Kingdom Hearts, he summoned Vanitas as a copy of Ventus, he manipulated Terra to give into the darkness and took over his body turning it into Terra-Xehanort, and he sent Aqua to the realm of darkness as terra-nort. He also sent himself from the past to get to follow it’s dark road and help his future self to gather the new 13 darknesses to fight agaisnt the guardians of light.

Master Xehanort's Story would be a bit more... "tricky" (since he’s a chessmaster sort of villain sitting in the shadows while everyone else is doing their thing and help him without knowing about it), but since his motives rely on more manipulation from the shadows, he would kinda use the protagonist to help it be the best, only to end up as "the best" as Xehanort himself (Kinda mirroring what happened to Terra in BBS.) yeah, i know it’s simple but it’s kinda what i got.

(in a way, i thought that by the end of... whatver happened, Xehanort would do the same thing that Ansem did a few characters above, but instead of using it as a heartless, he would use it as a way to get a physical body since he’s technically not a live/he’s a “ghost” of somekind, and after getting to posses it, we get a time skip of Xehanort now using the protagonist’s body as it’s own, ready to relieve a second life to path it’s path to sucess and darkness.)

(in a way, when our protagonist meets Xehanort, he would see it as a cloaked figure that needed help and then, after telling about what happened, he helps the protagonist to become better at the expense of being a pawn for something the protagonist doesn’t know about until the end. his cloaked appearance would look like Ansem’s Cloaked form when he met riku and sora on destiny island, while his possesion of the portagonist at the end would make him look like the protagonst but with white hair and yellow eyes, barley looking like Young Xehanort.)

(I have a feeling that the cloaked figure would fit better with ansem on the occult-based story but changes can happen down the line, i think?)

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The Heartless/Anti Black Coat/Dopperganger.

... Basically, an original idea, now you may be wondering: but why? well... why not? Plus, the Heartless as a whole could be an intereting as they being born from the darkness inside of out heart. In a way, what’s interesting is that they could also be the first villain our protagonist doesn’t know about, but everyone else kinda manages to see it as it’s follow the protagonist’s shadow whetver it’s goes, and then use their inscurities to power themselves more and more to become like the protagonist.

In a way it would first start out as a normal shadow at the ground (both psylosofically and literally, like the kh enemy), then it would evolve into the Neoshadow, and Finally it's become like afusion of the Anti-Black Coat and Shadow Roxas, who, went reveal it's hood out, it's turn like the dark version of our main protagonist, but all black, and after the protagonist falls to his darkness, it’s posses the protagonist to become 1, as well the main personality, erasing the original’s as a whole as he slips into the darkness, to no longer cause any problems at all...

(in a way, if there’s a final battle, i imagine the Shadow Dopperganger cummonig some sort of silhoutte barely reminesnce of the Darkside, or getting it’s hair spiked up and wavy like the darkside too.)

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Ho boy, this ended up being far more longer than i anticipated, but yeah, what do you think of my ideas? are they good or way to far out to be considered anything at all? i may post another idea soon-ish though, but still, i have a feeling i wouldn’t work to deep since i have other projects doing on my own, but i would like to see your own ideas on these ideas i had and see what you can do about them, even if it is the covers for books or which sort of protagonsit deisgn, age, gender and maybe even nacionality could be good too, until then, if you have read up to this end, i’m happy you got time to listen to me. it’s makes me happy.

[oathofpromises]

“I shouldn’t have done that. Can you ever forgive me?” / for Sora

𝕰𝖒𝖊𝖗𝖆𝖑𝖉 𝖔𝖗𝖇𝖘 𝖌𝖑𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊𝖉 𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖆𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖎𝖑𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖍𝖆𝖎𝖗𝖊𝖉 𝖒𝖆𝖑𝖊, 𝖎𝖙 𝖜𝖆𝖘 𝖈𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝕽𝖎𝖐𝖚 𝖍𝖆𝖉 𝖆 𝖑𝖔𝖙 𝖔𝖓 𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖉. 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖇𝖗𝖚𝖓𝖊𝖙𝖙𝖊 𝖈𝖔𝖚𝖑𝖉 𝖙𝖊𝖑𝖑 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖘𝖆𝖞𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖆𝖓𝖞𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌.There’s so much that’s happened over the years, and the two hadn’t gotten a chance to really have a heart-to-heart. Not like their duties as key blade wielders really allowed them to even have any kind of normalcy, which lead to being away from home quite often. Deep down, Sora knew even if he said that nothing had truly hurt him, that Riku would continue to place the blame on his shoulders alone. The younger boy’s hand reached over slowly, landing against the keyblade master's shoulder.

 “Riku, I know you probably won’t believe me when I say this, but I never blamed you. Not once, maybe I was angry a few times at the start but, I was more hurt that things were driving us apart. For years, I tried my hardest to remain the happy boy that you all know. To try and be the support needed, but it seems I failed to reassure you that none of this is your fault. We were kids wishing to see other worlds. I had a feeling something had been bothering you for years, but I never found the words to ask, or, perhaps, I was afraid that Kairi was right. That you had changed. I know over time things will develop and it’s not always in our control, but I am your best friend. I should’ve seen the signs that you were hurting deep down. The pressure that everyone, including me put on your shoulders.” 

Sora’s hand slowly dropped from Riku’s shoulder, turning to glance out at the sea. They hadn’t been home long after returning from Quadratum. There’s a lot that the younger boy had seen and been through, but he hasn’t spoken a word about it to anyone. It felt like it would only drag up things that the others wanted to move past. A burden the brunette wouldn’t wish to put on any of their hearts. Turning, he flashed Riku his trademark grin, attempting to reassure the other that he had nothing against them.  

“Riku..I always believed in you. The only time I felt hurt was hearing you say those words years ago. Delivery boy. That single phrase lingered for a while, adding to how I already felt about myself. I’ve always been a dull, ordinary boy, but I’m okay with that. I wasn’t picked like you and Kairi were, but I am still proud to be a part of this. But I don't hold what you said against you because you were also in pain at the time. After thinking about it, perhaps it did feel like I had replaced you guys. I hated that I was so careless..the whole reason I started searching the worlds was for you both. I can’t tell you not to blame yourself for stuff, all I know is that I don’t. I never did or could. You’ve always had my back,Riku, I never felt afraid of you.”  The fact the boy was willing to fall into darkness with the other should be sign enough how much he cares. Recalling that moment, all Sora could recall was not wanting to lose Riku. He could see how serious the other had been. Sure, the younger boy was worried about Kairi too, but the promise etched into his memory. 

‘ So then if something happens, and Riku is about to get lost—or say, he starts wandering down a dark path alone—you make sure to stay with him and keep him safe. ‘ That night, he could see the darkness slowly started to consume his best friend. How afraid he was to lose one of the few people to actually care about him. Not many did, all they saw Sora as was some bother. Even his own uncle hated his guts, which was saying a lot when the boy was one of the kindest people. Didn’t mean Sora didn’t have his share of regrets and darkness, either. Anti-form and rage form were proof that even in the brightest people, they also held within them shadows. It did scare Sora, how easily his anger could take over. That over the years, the once happy boy started to resent the keyblade in some ways. He was honored to have it, but at the same time it felt like so much responsibility tossed at him. 

Green eyes turned to look back at the ocean, watching as the waves crashed against the sandy shore.  It was a lot to for them to get out, and maybe they would never truly have enough time to convey everything. These moments were enough, though, it didn’t matter what they did, as long as they were together. Kairi, Riku, and him had been separated for far too long. Fate truly could be cruel sometimes, which led the younger boy to believe that maybe he would be stuck doing this for the rest of his life. Helping others was fine, it was the exhaustion slowly creeping up with them, over time. Nothing seemed to be enough for the world; it just kept taking. How much longer until nothing remains? 

Sora winced, his hand shaking slightly. It was clear that his time in the other world left a lasting effect on his body. The painful scar sending large waves of pain throughout his entire body. The agony, was a lot. It was taking so much for him to remain calm, not to show any sign on his face that things were causing him pain. 

“Riku..you’ve been through a lot since this started. I know there are things you probably want to get off your chest. I promise that whatever you say, I won’t judge you. Ever. At this moment, we should try and take time to express things we’ve held within for years” The last thing Sora wanted was for the older boy to feel guilty about things that weren’t his fault. This whole thing started because of adults, yet here they were still trying to clean up the entire mess.