#a keyblade but it’s actually like a bunch of smaller keys

[plum-pitt]

Babe wake up new keyblade design inspo just dropped

[eternal-reverie]

*drumroll*

notes of a kh au of both evil plans successfully getting a sora puppet!!

some context, this is a canon divergence idea inspired by this thing I drew a while ago.

ok im absolutely thriving with this fic idea but first, there was a painful hurdle in thinking about how to rework the Chain of Memories plot for Naminé to go along with Marluxia’s plan completely, and that naturally would change a lot of things. Especially regarding Riku’s story plus Axel’s role and a bunch of other characters. It’s actually so intimidating with all these characters and their conspiracies clashing with each other, scooping all that up to transform that into a (hopefully) coherent sequence of events;; in comparison, Days was pretty simple to deal with the change. 

Anyway what I have so far is this:

Roughly decided that Marluxia, Namine, Sora, and Xion are the main characters. Riku and Roxas are in comatose states but still influence the story. Xemnas is the main antagonist naturally. Aqua and Ven become key players towards the end. Saix, Axel, Zexion, and Xigbar are also important. Larxene will be a surprise element. Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and DiZ are there for the most part too.

The original event that pushed Naminé to tell Sora the whole truth was Axel letting her go meet Sora. So for this plot divergence to work, someone has to intervene here. I mulled it over and decided Larxene should be the one to to do it, resulting in her attacking Axel. They argue in the midst of the fray on who’s the real “traitor.” Sora arrives and defeats them both. Larxene learns of Saix’s plot before she fades. Axel then tells Sora to trust his instincts and to fight off Marluxia’s schemes, before cryptically telling him to not forget their appointment on the clocktower for ice cream. Axel then “fades” away.

Namine becomes more convinced with going through the deception (though not completely) due to interacting with the Angelic looking Specter. She encounters this figure and is given some revelation into some of Marluxia’s motives. i’ll have to think a lot about Namine and how her desire to end her loneliness comes into conflict with her integrity, in addition to how she is manipulated. She consistently guides so many characters through the series with her insight, so that’s a trait i want her to grow into. I think she’ll be the one pulling the strings in the end..

One of the biggest changes is Riku’s reverse/rebirth story. Originally, Riku doesn’t fall into Zexion’s trap due to Namine’s influence and advice dealing with darkness. However, in this AU, Naminé is going ahead with tricking Sora, being absent for Riku. So Riku would lose to Zexion, who’s desperate to use him as a counter to Marluxia’s command of Sora. Though it won’t work out for Zexion in the end because Ansem would finally be able to possess Riku fully...

Which has got me thinking there would be a clash between Ansem and Marluxia in the castle. I think it would be interesting for two of these characters who have a guardian behind them to fight!? Somehow Marluxia wins, adding to his arrogance when it comes to Xemnas.

DiZ is now stumbling over what to do and the mouse would get sad at these turn of events; both heroes of the keyblade now compromised...which leads to Mickey thinking, wait there’s someone in the realm of darkness!!! this is now a secret mickey redemption story

That will lead to Aqua returning to Castle Oblivion to do pest control and finds Axel and Zexion scrambling about trying to find the Chamber of Waking. She promptly decides that Ven is no longer safe there and gets him out. She finds Riku replica and recruits him (might change this detail, forgot to say that Marluxia told Naminé to power him down prior. Aqua finding a replica could be interesting, lest Axel or Zexion gets to him first,,)

Also forgot to mention that Riku is now the one placed in the pod for him to sleep and not turn back into Ansem. (role reversal with sora woo!!)

Sora goes happily along with Naminé but despite all the memory rearranging is still wary of Marluxia in charge (thanks Axel). Something that’s interesting in CoM was how Marluxia told Naminé to destroy Sora’s heart, finding this last resort a shame and rather having preferred him unmarred. So this AU is just that, the plan with Sora’s uninjured heart (but perhaps...breaking his heart could be point reached...in regards to Ven’s heart hidden in there..)

Mar’s character is actually one of the harder things to address. So I need to think more but I want this story to touch upon his hidden memories as so many things will remind him of the old plight of losing a loved one. Mainly observing the interactions between Naminé and Sora, Aqua and Ven, and maybe Xion??? I want Saix’s search for Subject X aka Skuld to be relevant to this too. there’s!!! so!!! many!! examples!?!?!

As he remembers more, the specter haunting him becomes more smaller and human-like. The specter will talk to Namine more for the most part. This will influence Naminé to turn the tables against Marluxia; so you could say she will manipulate and influence him with her memory powers along with her insight.

Will he gain a sibling-esque affection for Sora and Naminé? Yes. Vaguely... I think Sora’s going to lose against Xion... so Marluxia’s going to have to take up the protective role much to his displeasure. Being around Sora’s and Namine’s hearts for an extended amount of time will be a factor in his memory returning and regaining a heart.

Much of his story is taking control back of his destiny vs finding what his true purpose is and what method he choses. I feel like his time as a union leader could contribute to him feeling qualified taking over the organization. Plus him having a strong feeling that Xemnas’s plan is b.s. which is of course, spot on. Does Marluxia become a good guy in the end? im not sure yet, but I want to say no for the most part. (oh the appeal of tragic villain protagonists) who’s to say he wouldn’t sacrifice or destroy anything to recover what he’s lost?

in regards to Xion, I think she’ll be the one in most pain oh boy. Roxas was asleep through the Castle Oblivion events and Xion left seashells at his bedside during that time. The discarded Sora memories, as a result of Naminé’s interference, will pour directly into her mostly.  Xemnas sees this plan working and once Roxas wakes, forces him and Xion to clash resulting in Xion successfully absorbing Roxas and becoming the perfect sora puppet. sorta 

Xion is at this point, still in confusion on who she is. Everything in her tells her she’s Sora, but the dearest memories of her own life so far is of Roxas taking her up on the clocktower for ice cream, and she holds on to that. Xion also has the discarded C.O. memories including Axel’s last remarks to Sora. I want Xion and Repliku to meet in this story.

Xemnas discovering comatose Ven will be a main thing eventually. Which led me to this image of Xion!Sora thinking Ven is Roxas ;-;

Up to this point, I still need to address how real Sora and Xion!Sora clash. It’ll probably be in the throne room, not unlike what happens at the climax in ddd. the moment I’m most excited for is Marluxia’s humiliation at these turn of events LOL that’s why i drew that joke comic for the most part! someone commented on the post with ‘GET OFF THE STAGE MARLUXIA’ and i was GONE LMAO

there’s more stuff (from my 10 pages of notes i made yesterday. it’s a small square sketchbook so it’s probably more like 5 pages) but i think this summarizes the majority of my ideas. Idk if I’ll get this off the ground promptly since the scope is so big 😵 but it’s a start!

Here’s some sketches! lol i couldn’t resist.

sorry if there some gaps or holes since this wasn’t an outline, i just jumped around with ideas. now to think about this more meanwhile i have other responsibilities to attend to @_@

[mimiplaysgames]

Strength to Protect the Things That Matter (Ch. 19)

Pairing: Terra/Aqua (eventually) Rating: T Other characters: Noctis, Garnet, Hope, Riku, Rydia Word Count: 4,742

AO3         FF.net

A/N: An obligatory world-building chapter. Since I’m creating something a bit more original here, I have to define who all the key characters are going to be. It’s been such an arduous, long, and tedious process, but it’s so rewarding to get into at the same time. The draft that has become the Traverse Town subplot is nothing like the original. It’s the one area in my entire outline that has changed the most. For example, Riku was never meant to show up - Terra was originally supposed to do it all by himself. But these intense changes have all been for the better. If I was writing a publishable novel, I would care more about the pacing, but we gotta go, Terra. We gotta move. I did cut this chapter in unequal parts. I am trying to manage my word counts, but I really couldn’t stand to name either of these parts a different title. This entire chapter is really supposed to carry the title of “Hope.” I will try hard to release the plus-one and the next chapters next week so that I keep up with my weekly schedule and not do delays.

Hope, pt. 1

“I’ll show you to your room.” Noctis opens the window that hovers just above the fire escape and ducks into it. He helps Garnet do the same, who has to hoist herself up, and they start down the top floor.

Terra is the last to go through. “I guess taking the stairs isn’t your M.O.?”

“Unless I want to be interrupted every ten seconds by someone who needs my attention,” Noctis says nonchalantly as he waves his arm in a dismissive way. “A guy needs a break every now and then.”

Garnet daintily brings a hand to her chin. “Break,” she mumbles. If Terra doesn’t know any better, he supposes that she is trying to understand what the word means. Noctis looks down at her, smiling and shaking his head.

He stops at a door and opens it, allowing Terra to walk through first. The walls are painted a deep, dark blue. The duvet on the bed depicts a pattern of waves, varying in teal shades, with white sheets. There are dark green lamps that are placed on the bedside table, the dresser, and the vanity. On the wall opposite the bed is a painting of dolphins. just under the surface of the ocean under a bright sky. The room is large enough to have its own lounge space, where the  loveseats bear the same colors as the duvet, with a smaller round table and chairs. Along with a sizeable closet, there is a mini-fridge all to himself.

It’s larger than his room back in the academy. Some may consider the castle luxurious, but it’s home. This place though...

“We hope you find it hospitable,” he hears Garnet say to him as he ventures towards the window, donned in white curtains. It overlooks the second district, where people are hurriedly going in and out of stores. He can clearly see the clock tower from where he stands.

He turns to her, letting out a nervous chuckle. “You’re spoiling me.”

“This floor is reserved only for Keyblade wielders.” Noctis shrugs his concerns aside. “Better get used to it. You’re free to do whatever you want, although we want you ready by nine tonight.”

Terra takes one more glance at the clock tower. It’s past six. “Well, I guess I’ll just kill time and investigate. I wanted to start with the clock tower.”

“The clock tower?” While Noctis usually maintains a casual manner of speaking, he gets more assertive - although he sounds a bit unnatural doing so. “It’s off limits. We’ve sealed all the entrances to it.”

Terra attempts to maintain his breathing, and makes sure his voice isn’t shaky. “Can I ask why?”

“We can’t have anyone messing with it. Kefka is... punctual.” Noctis crosses his arms, and there is an obvious contempt in the tone of his voice when addressing Kefka. “We need it to run properly. Besides, there are always a bunch of Heartless in there. Their numbers never stop.”

Garnet drapes her arm across her stomach, holding her side as though she is also trying to keep it together. 

Terra’s heart takes a jump. Noctis continues on about how it’s safer for everyone if no one enters the clock tower, but his mind wanders into all the possibilities of what he will find if he searches it. If there are hordes of Heartless swarming in there, then surely that must mean his dream is correct.

“You’re the boss,” Terra says, keeping up appearances of respectful obedience. “Forget I asked. Cloud did say the two of you were trustworthy.”

Noctis lets out a transparent, sarcastic scoff. “Mr. Soldier actually said that about me? I never would have guessed. I’m going to give him a hard time the next time I see him around.” He rubs his eyes with two of his fingers, and Garnet gently holds her hand to her mouth and laughs.

“Anyway,” he continues, “break’s over. I’ve got people waiting on me.” He pats Terra on the bicep. “Make yourself at home.” He then leaves the hotel room, although Garnet doesn’t initially follow him.

“Cloud was distant at first, but he has been an irreplaceable ally to us,” she says. “It does surprise me that he holds Noctis with such high esteem... considering how often they’ve disagreed with each other.” She folds her hands into a prayer stance. She’s so much shorter than Terra that she has to crane her neck in order to look up at him. “Leon and Lightning have always supported every need we’ve asked of them, and we’re so grateful you’ve come.”

“You ever met them?” Terra asks.

She shakes her head. “Not yet, anyway. Please, allow yourself to be comfortable.” She gently squeezes his forearm and then exits the hotel room.

The only sounds he hears are the chatter of the shoppers down at the street below. He goes back to the window and stares at the tower. He can always break in by himself, but it’s not worth destroying their trust right away. And it’s just an idea, nothing to get desperate over.

But what is the point of doing nothing right now? Terra decides he is hungry, instead of calling it boredom, and leaves his room, venturing downstairs. He arrives at the second floor which features several ballrooms and conference rooms. They look to be about the appropriate size to host events such as weddings and small lounge concerts, although now they all serve the purposes of storing supplies and weapons. Some are sectioned off as wards for patients with injuries and illnesses. People speed down the hallway and bump into him, and they scurry off with barely an apology.

He stops himself, standing in the middle of a hallway. I don’t actually know if the dream means anything. I don’t know that I can find her here, or if the clock tower holds any special purpose.

He continues through a large lounge room that houses several tables, all of which are topped with boxes. He stops again, closes his eyes, and holds his hand to his chin. But I can’t ignore what I’m feeling. I’m actually excited. It feels like I’m getting close to discovering something huge... I’ll ask Riku about it when he gets here.

He steps forward and hits something. There is a loud clang and he grips his thigh because the pain is sharp and massive. When he comes to, he notices that he walked into a proud, standing piano. “These things are the bane of my existence.” He doesn’t know why he said that out loud. It’s not like he has any desire to talk to Xehanort.

The pain on his leg fades away slowly, but what doesn’t leave is a desire to play. He gently touches the keys. It’s not that he doesn’t like music - he considers the guitar really interesting. And yet, he admits the piano creates a beautiful sound. To think that a conniving monster like Xehanort can create beauty that others would enjoy almost makes him ill.

On top of the piano are a few notebooks that include sheet music. Terra cannot hear the music in his head when he reads them, but he knows which musical notes the written bars refer to. He picks a random song that doesn’t seem too difficult to follow. I wonder if this is something I can take from him. I can summon his Keyblade after all... maybe I can access other information as well.

He sits on the bench, and prepares his hands on the keyboard. Aqua really loves music. Maybe playing for her would make her happy. 

He hits a random set of keys towards the middle of the piano slowly, to get a feel for them. Making sure his fingers are strumming the right ones according to the sheet music is the hardest part. He glances back and forth between the paper and the keys. Accessing the same information Xehanort has doesn’t come with any of the perks of imitating his skill immediately, and it’s a wonder how the monster has learned to play so well.

Terra compares the keys on the piano and the sheet music enough to start to memorize which ones should be played in which order. He plays the higher notes  - slowly at first, until he can follow the melody faster and faster. Then the left hand strikes the bass notes on the furthest left, and it’s like starting all over.

It’s surprising just how much coordination is necessary to do it, and it sounds so bad that no one will want to hear the catastrophe he is making. Except for a a fluffy, white cat, who stands on her hind legs and meows at him. She jumps onto one of his thighs and purrs as she makes herself comfortable. Three kittens also attempt to jump onto the bench, and Terra can’t help but to pick up the little white one (so damn cute), which has a pink bow tied into her fur. She’s smaller than the size of his hand, her meow a tiny squeak.

“Are you learning to play the piano?” Terra looks up to see a young boy with stark white hair and green, wide eyes. He wears an orange frock and a blue scarf, and has a gas mask strapped on top of his head. The boy is holding one of the books on potion-making that Tifa was reading - one of the things that Terra delivered. “You’re Terra, right?” he asks with a tone that tells Terra it’s full of awe. “I’m Hope, it’s nice to meet you.”

Hope leans over to read the sheet music with a bit of eagerness, and notices the cats. “I see that Duchess has taken a liking to you,” he says, pointing to the mother who is sprawled out on Terra’s lap. “They make the best companions when you’re practicing.”

He grips the book tighter, as if he’s lowly in the presence of a Keyblade wielder, and Terra makes some space so that he can sit. Hope takes a moment before saying anything, and points at the sheet music with his finger. “This is a good song to practice with,” he says. “It’s a very simple melody without any serious chords.” His voice shakes with nervousness.

“I’ll appreciate any lesson you can give me.” Something about the thought of taking lessons feels exhilarating. He tells himself that he’s feeling his own emotions, and that it’s a decision that is his and his alone. But what demands his attention more is the gas mask, since it’s ill-fitting for a boy. “How old are you?”

“I’m thirteen.” Hope’s voice is polite. A bit uncertain of himself, perhaps, but that’s understandable. He’s younger than Ventus.

At this point, the black kitten is climbing on one of Terra’s legs. Hope groans a Toulouse... why? as the orange one climbs up his back. He grabs the kitten, places him on top of the piano, and plays some of the same keys that Terra was practicing with ease. Hope talks about the song as he teaches Terra how to play it. It is apparently written by a woman who dreamed of releasing all the horses in her ranch and running off with them. The white stallion who leads the group apparently jumps off a cliff and flies away into some vision of paradise, leaving the other horses and the woman behind to fend for themselves. The song has such a dreamlike quality, and it focuses so much on the higher notes that it sounds like it can teach an animal to float.

“I guess we all want to have a better life,” Hope says in reflection as Terra plays the lower notes with more confidence. Toulouse walks around the keyboard, sometimes smacking a key with his paw, adding a shrill annoyance that sometimes stops Terra’s ability to play.

The statement strikes Terra a little odd, and he wonders why Hope is in the hotel in the first place. “What do you do around here, Hope?”

The clock tower strikes seven, and he can feel the tension in every muscle in Hope’s body. He sees the boy take a swallow as they wait out the chimes.

When it’s over, Hope swallows again before saying, “I make potions and fix random trinkets, actually. Were you given a tour of this place?”

He grabs his book of potion-making from the top of the piano and walks down the same direction that Terra originally headed. All of the cats follow.

“The room by Cid’s computer on the first floor,” Hope begins, “usually serves as a place for Keyblade wielders and the upper staffmen to hold meetings. Noct likes to sleep there a lot.”

It’s normal to see every room in the hotel brightly lit, but they pass by one ballroom that is dim, illuminated only by candles. “What about this room?” Terra asks.

Hope stops, and cradles the book. He stands with particular distance away from the entrance to that room, and doesn’t bother to peek inside it or show Terra the way. “You can call that,” he says slowly, “something like our own room of remembrance.” 

Terra gives a half-smile, on some level in an attempt to make it less awkward. “What does that mean?”

Hope points with two fingers ahead of him, in Terra’s direction. “On that far wall is our memorial.” The word has a weight to it. Hope then points with his thumb in the direction behind him. “This wall is where we put up prayers for return.” He chuckles a bit. “I don’t think Sora was supposed to say anything, but apparently anyone who has turned into a Heartless has a chance to come back. So we pass on our wishes to them.”

Terra gestures to the room as a way to ask permission to enter, and Hope lets him know that he will wait for him outside. It’s a smaller ballroom, and the opposite walls are absolutely littered in photos, with long desks in front of them donning flowers, letters, and lit candles. Terra at first stands in front of the wall that features people who have turned into Heartless. Some of them are portraits, others are group photos. It’s hard to count them all, and Terra stops at sixty.

One of them features Noctis with three other men - all of them dressed completely in black as though they are part of a club. They have smiles in the photo, and are standing in front of a field like they have been camping. He wonders if they went to sleep all at once, or if Kefka picked them off one by one.

There is a photo of Garnet with a man slightly taller than her, dressed in a full suit of armor. Being taller than her doesn’t mean much, and he is severe in the photo, contrasting with her warm smile.

It’s not a wonder why these people are called missing - it’s easier to accept the reality that way, considering that perhaps some of them have attacked their loved ones later on.

On the opposite wall is the memorial. The amount of photos here is twice as numerous. Terra has noticed that Heartless in particular aren’t deadly, but if Kefka is growing to be something of a legendary darkness, then yes - it will get fatal.

He spots Hope in one of the photos, with two adults. His parents maybe. So he’s alone.

He finds Hope standing in the same spot in the hallway. The boy forces a smile and leads him to a small storeroom, like a walk-in closet. There are shelves which are mostly empty except for a number of potions. Open books are sprawled out on a desk opposite the shelves, along with elaborate chemistry sets. It makes sense, since Hope sounds like he is book smart.

By the desk is a large container filled with mechanical toys and other objects. Terra eyes a tiny box that is decorated in vine-like mesh and dons navy blue gems. A music box.

“Welcome to my workroom. I spend all of my time in here,” Hope says with a tense chuckle. He sits at his desk, and Terra notices the two rare potions that Xehanort made along with his notes.

“Are you attempting to re-create those?” Terra points to the potions with his free hand, the other holding the music box.

Hope takes another hard swallow. “We kind of need them to keep people calm during the...” He fumbles through the notes. “I can read these pretty well. If there is something I don’t understand, I can learn it.” He holds up the new book amidst all the others.

It’s the idea that Hope is teaching himself how to work like Xehanort that impresses Terra the most. He’s nothing like Ven at all. 

Cid walks by the room directing a cart on wheels, asking the kiddo specifically if there is anything to take to Lulu’s. Hope points to the container, and Terra places the music box back as Cid picks it up and wanders off.

“Anyway,” Hope says, “I really should be getting back to work. We’ve been very low on potions and you saved us.” He pulls the gas mask in front of his face and places his focus right into one of the chemistry sets. The mask muffles his voice enough that it hides how shaky it sounds. ”But no harm in making some more.”

Hope then faces Terra quickly, and without removing the gas mask, extends his hand. “It’s been such an honor meeting you, Terra. I think Keyblade wielders are amazing.”

It doesn’t feel so amazing since there doesn’t seem to be enough of them to help everyone in need. He grips Hope’s hand firmly, hoping that the shake gives the boy a sincere message which says how appreciated his admiration is. Hope then suggests that Terra should get a sandwich from the cart outside if he’s hungry. It seems wrong to leave the boy alone, but Hope assures him the cats are always there for him. So Terra, albeit reluctantly, exits the hotel.

The sun is setting further, and slowly people are leaving the streets. Lights, both on the streets and from homes, are being turned on, and this is where Traverse Town begins to look spectacular. There is a vibrancy to the town that simply doesn’t exist in the sunlight otherwise.

He hears Riku’s name being spoken, and he sees Garnet reaching her hands out - he has just arrived, and Garnet welcomes him in such a way that speaks volumes about how much she values life and reunions in general. She acts as though he’s been gone for such a long while, despite that he was there two nights ago. He can hear them talk about Sora, and she eyes Terra from afar. Maybe she is being told that Terra is the replacement for tonight.

“You’ve been briefed about what’s going on?” Riku asks Terra as they meet.

“A bit. I know Kefka is very ritualistic.” He pauses for a moment, and continues with a question to ask the both of them. “What exactly does it want? Who does it target?”

“It is attracted to magic,” Garnet says with a gentle nod. She says it with a seriousness, but she keeps a pleasantness to her demeanor. “Of course, strictly speaking, it wants mages. We believe it targets Noctis the most often.”

“Why him?”

“From my understanding, his magic is passed down to him from his lineage. It’s incredibly old and powerful, and it’s quite unique. I’m sure you’ll notice that Kefka will follow him.” Garnet begins to walk down the pathway in front of the hotel, leading them to a certain destination.

“But how do you know it targets him?” Terra asks from behind her.

“It always appears where he is. Thus, he’s never alone as a result. He and I arrived together on the same ferry, actually.” Her voice gets a little quiet for a while, but she retains her regency. “Our worlds fell on the same day, and we were collected by Balthier and Fran, who travel to falling worlds to save people. He had friends with him, who were all very lovely people. They’ve comforted me in ways that my own guardian failed to do.”

It’s where she talks about the worlds falling that her voice maintains a sense of sadness that he hasn’t heard from her before. What would it have felt like, to witness the destruction of her world, knowing exactly how it will all end?

“When we arrived here,” she continues, “there was one Heartless that started to transform. It used to be what you called a Darkball - something very simple and easy to vanquish.” She turns to Riku as she says this, as if to confirm her knowledge. “It turned into a clown’s head that day.”

Riku scoffs. “I’ll never forget that. It evaded so well that was impossible to hit.”

“Now it’s impossible not to miss it. I suppose that old adage of ‘be careful what you wish for‘ applies to our situation,” she says, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“It’s insanely aggressive, and very reactionary,” Riku says with an eye roll. He wears his contempt for it as obviously as Noctis does. “It’s almost like it gets annoyed when it’s hit and seeks revenge for it.”

Riku doesn’t continue with whatever he is going to say next because they arrive at Garnet’s destination. A small food cart, manned by a young woman with bright green hair. She wears a ceremonial headdress on her head, and her green mini-dress has long empire sleeves that grace the ground. By all senses of the word, she looks like an enchantress. A radio is on the cart, playing joyful music that is performed by an accordion.

“Terra, this is Rydia,” Garnet holds her hand up as if to present the woman before her. “She’s our most powerful magic caster.”

Rydia waves meekly at Terra, as if embarrassed by such an introduction. “Not so powerful that I can create munny for myself. What is truly magical,” she says as she shows off the radio, “is how I can use this little... thing, and hear music.”

Terra lets himself go in laughter to be polite. She must be from a world that doesn’t have any technology.

“If the three of you are here,” Rydia continues as she points to everyone, “that must mean at least one of you is hungry. What will it be?”

Garnet asks for a few steak sandwiches, and pays.

Terra hasn’t eaten ham for a while, but Rydia refuses to give it to him when he shows her munny.

“Keyblade wielders don’t pay,” she says, and only reaches out with the food when he puts his munny away.

The clock strikes eight. She pulls the sandwich back close to her, as if shocked by the sound. She struggles to maintain a smile as it continues to ring, everyone else silent as they wait it out. The more it rings, the slower it seems.

When it’s over, she finally hands Terra the food. “I guess that means you’re my last customers tonight,” she says quietly.

She then smiles widely at Riku. “I saved you your favorite.” She holds one of her sleeves away from the cart as she takes a meatball sandwich and hands it to him. “Last one.” Her voice is kind and subtly flirtatious, but it doesn’t seem like Riku notices.

Garnet has her four sandwiches stacked in between her hands, and calls Terra’s name softly. “I ask that you do not speak to Noctis of Kefka,” she says. “It’s not easy on him.“

Rydia closes down her cart, and flashes a concerned look in her face. “I know how easy it is to feel so alone when no one from your world is with you anymore.” Her voice is incredibly sensitive and gentle. “But he still has us. We need each other.” It almost sounds as though she feels rejected, as though she isn’t a good enough friend.

“I can’t believe Noctis sees us as strangers,” Garnet says reassuringly.

“None of us see him that way, so he better not,” Rydia mutters as she drags the cart behind her.

“I beg of you, Rydia,” Garnet says in a way that speaks amusement, “give Noctis a break.” She pronounces every letter in the last word, like it’s an anomaly that she’s completely unfamiliar with. Riku gives a short scoff, mumbling about how ridiculous she sounds.

Rydia leaves with Garnet, the both of them involved in their own conversation - but not without the enchantress waving a good-bye for now. The two Keyblade wielders are on their own with their sandwiches, of which Riku is plowing through.

”She seems pretty cool,” Terra says, expecting his friend to get annoyed by any sort of implications he’s trying to pass along.

Riku waits until he swallows his food before speaking. “She’s incredibly powerful, it’s true. She saved me and Sora multiple times.”

“So she’s pretty invaluable.” Terra tries to suppress a devious grin.

“I think I’d be in pretty big trouble without her, yeah.”

Terra fails to suppress a laugh, which the other Keyblade bearer doesn’t appreciate.

“I know what you’re getting at,” Riku says. “I’m really no good at that kind of stuff. I mean, she’s great and all-”

Terra chuckles just a little more, and Riku rolls his eyes.

“Nevermind,” the teenager says. “You know Garnet is also powerful. She can actually cast protection spells on other people.”

This is interesting information, considering that things like protection and reflection are incredibly difficult to pull off on oneself. But Terra can’t let this slide by, it’s too much fun making Riku squirm. “Are you trying to prove some sort of point?”

“I can compliment someone’s extraordinary fighting ability without it meaning anything.” Riku waves his arm once, and only once. “Be grateful I don’t pick on you over Aqua.”

“Speaking of,” Terra says as his heart jumps, “I think I can reach her from this world.”

Riku stops eating his sandwich, and gives Terra a severe look. “Why would you think that? A vision?”

“No, actually.” Terra chuckles a bit too enthusiastically. “I had a dream of this clock tower. I heard its bells. It sounds a bit crazy, but I know I can find her here.”

“So this world is going to fall,” Riku says with a low voice, and Terra’s stomach sinks. It’s not like he forgot what it meant to reach Aqua. But still, what is wrong with me?

Riku brushes through his hair, shaking his head. “Sora’s going to hate hearing this.” He groans, still unable to touch his sandwich. “You know, this world is a refuge. Almost everyone here is from somewhere else. When a world falls, those who are touched by light or who are close to it will be sent here. But it’s rare. There is a ship that travels around and brings people so more can survive.” He groans louder with disgust. “These people have been through enough.”

Terra doesn’t answer right away. It’s a handful of feelings. On the one hand, shame with himself over his blatant, and rather foreign, disregard for others. On the other, guilt over the thought that he will have to make Aqua wait again. I can’t accept any of this.

“Well, I wanted to search the clock tower. Maybe there is something there that can help these people,” Terra says. It almost sounds unnatural, that dealing with the Realm of Darkness would help anybody.

Riku takes a glance into Terra’s eyes before looking away. His face is unreadable. “There is one entrance that hasn’t been sealed, actually. At the top of the tower. If we find evidence that this world is falling, we need to correct it.”

The teenager finishes his sandwich and walks away, saying that he needs to find a bolt cutter. Yes, they need to correct it. Yes, they need to save these people.

But this is an apology he can’t give Aqua. This is something that Xehanort would mock him over. He has a calling to help others, duties that he must follow if he is ever going to continue a dream of being a Keyblade Master. He has someone he’s dying to save waiting for him, and suffering every moment that he doesn’t take to get to her.

Does the answer have to be so black and white? He bites into his own sandwich, sending off a silent prayer of his own. I don’t think I have the time to pass this up. I’ll find you anyway.

This chapter makes references to The Aristocats (1970). The melody played on the piano I imagined to be similar to Tori Amos’ “Horses.” The song on the radio I imagined to sound like DeVotchka’s “Charlotte Mittnacht (The Fabulous Destiny Of...)”

[gamesception]

KH3 first play through retrospective, part 2

This time, about the core gameplay & combat mechanics (again putting the stickier story stuff off till I have more time).  To avoid burying the lead, KH3 has my second favorite gameplay in the series.  Not quite as good as KH2, but a big step up from the various portable spinoffs that came after.

Edit: sorry, mobile ate the read more break

Right off the bat, magic is back to the KH2 system with mp recharge, cure putting you straight into recharge, customizeable L1 shortcut menu, etc, and to me that’s just a much more engaging system than the various decks and refresh timers of BBS and DDD.  You can even freely work spells into your keyblade combos again, so you could, for instance, open with an aero to collect some enemies, land a few keyblade hits on them, and finish off with an aoe thunder finisher.  The spells themselves aren’t quite as diverse as in KH2.  There’s no reflect equivalent, and aero, this game’s magnet equivalent, isn’t nearly as effective.  But they did bring back some of KH2′s gimmick of enemies sometimes reacting in particular ways to different spells.  For instance, there’s a dandelion monster with fluffy armor that you can blow away with aero, and the game never explicitly tells you this, there’s just a scene where Rapunzel blows some dandelion seeds and the game leaves it to you to make the connection, and that’s kind of cool and clever.  Not as much of that as I would like, and honestly even if you don’t find and exploit these weaknesses most enemies fall quickly and easily enough even on proud mode that you might play through and not even notice them, but it’s cool that those deeper aspects of the spells are there again.

As for just bopping enemies with your keyblade, melee combos are mostly pretty snappy and satisfying, most enemies & even bosses will stagger letting you get in combos if you’re able to land the first few hits.  Air recovery reprisals, dashes & dodges, and blocks, parries, & counters all work well & feel good, though I’m not sure yet if they feel as good as in kh2.  There are fewer keyblades to use in this game, but they can be upgraded so they can all stay relevant to the end, allowing you to use whichever keyblade you like, and they each come with their own shotlocks and, of course, form changes, which was a big part of the hype buildup for the game.

And those keyblade form changes really deliver.  Each keyblade has it’s own form changes that you work up to by landing combos with them, and limits that you can use in their final form change for big damage.  Now, you can just pick a favorite and just exclusively use it, and that’s mostly what I did (my personal favorite being the pirates keyblade with its spear-like transformations), but you can also switch between up to three equipped keyblades at a time, even mid combo, and if you build up the combos to open the forms, you can then bank those forms by switching to a different keyblade for a while, and then when you need the power up you can switch back to a keyblade that has a form change ready to go.  Or you can enter the form and switch keys, and the duration on that form will pause until you switch back.This isn’t something the game tells you or that you ever need to do either, it’s just a neat trick there to reward players who engage with the game’s mechanics.

The keyblade form-changes also change how your magic works.  For instance, the fire spells are by default long range projectiles like they were in KH1, but in the Hammer form of the melee-oriented toy story keyblade fire becomes a close range aoe to punish enemies that crowd around you, like it was in KH2, and this aspect further encourages experimentation with both your keyblades and your spells.

Now, there are some missed opportunities with the keyblade system in KH3.  For instance, dual wielding was a really cool aspect of a few of the drive forms in KH2, and none of the keyblades in KH3 have dual-wielding form changes.  At least, not to my knowledge, there are some hidden keyblades I never unlocked.  Also, there are relatively few returning keyblades from previous games.  The oblivion and Oathkeeper in particular are kind of notable in their absence.

There is one form change that isn’t based on your keyblade - rage form, kh3′s version of kh2′s antiform, which seems to become available based on taking a bunch of damage quickly.  In kh2, antiform was basically a punishment for using drive forms too much, temporarily locking you out of spells, items & reaction commands.  You got powered up physical combos, but loss of reaction commands in particular made it difficult to actually fight in antiform and you mostly just had to ride it out.

Rage form is similar in that you lose spells, items, and situation abilities while using it in exchange for powered up melee combos, but since you have to activate rage form voluntarily, and entering it fully heals you, and situation abilities aren’t critical to combat the way reaction commands were, this is a risk/reward choice rather than just a punishment.  that aspect is enhanced by rage forms own triangle command, risk charge, which ups your damage but cuts your health in half.  activate this three times to unlock the finisher which deals a bunch of aoe damage and ends the form.  Of course, you could just play risky, risk charge three times, and ride out the form’s duration doing stupid melee damage and save the finisher for the end, but since you can’t heal while the form persists doing so is obviously, well, risky.

As a result, where antiform was cool but frustrating, rage form is cool and fun, and I used it almost every opportunity I got, even if doing so did cause me to suffer a few extra deaths along the way.

Keyblades, forms, & magic make up the bulk of your fighting kit, and all are great, making for a very positive overall experience.  There are other tools as well, but they’re a bit more of a mixed bag.

Flowmotion & its related attacks are back from DDD, but, perhaps responding to complaints about flowmotion being overpowered in that game, they seem underwhelming to the point of not really being worth bothering with here.  Maybe I’m missing a trick and further experimentation with the system will show it to be more engaging and rewarding than I’m giving it credit for, but I barely used flowmotion myself, and almost never in combat.

Summons are in a similar boat.  They eat all of your mp - not just putting you into recharge like cure, you can only even use them when your mp bar is full and then they put you straight into recharge.  they fully heal you along the way, but with magic in general being actually fun and good in this game, if not quite as good as in kh2, i never found the summons worth giving up a full bar of spells, and that was me playing as melee oriented a build as possible.  Maybe if they didn’t heal you, but could be used at any mp level?  Or if they used an entire different resource, maybe an alternate use of the shotlock meter?  As it is, I couldn’t be bothered, and the few times I tried them out they seemed to fall woefully short of justifying the resource cost.

speaking of shotlocks, those are back from bbs, and similar to flowmotion they’re much reduced in strength from their debut appearance.  Mostly it’s a way to squeeze in some extra long range damage without burning mp resources, though different keyblades have different shotlocks and some try to be more short range oriented.  I found them good enough to use, but not quite good enough to get excited about.

Shotlocks also have a movement function now, in that you can push square while focusing a shotlock to basically teleport sora to a locked target.  This is used, albeit rarely, to reach some distant platforming target, and also is occasionally used in huge arena fights to teleport up to a distant enemy, though the game is inconsistent about when it lets you do this, and requires you to do this so infrequently that some players will probably forget it’s even a thing during the final boss encounters, which...  hurts.  I’m one of those unlucky players who forgot this was a thing, and you can beat the xehanort fights without it, but it makes things a lot harder.

Of course, the big new combat mechanic - apart from keyblade forms, and even those are mostly just an evolution of drive forms - is the ‘attraction commands’, basically disney world rides as attacks, and I’m sad to say that I mostly don’t like them.  They’re big and slow and long, they have you stopping the engaging combat to play much less engaging minigames, they have their own music which is generally less good and certainly less thematic than whatever battle music they temporarily replace, and they’re generally so strong and powerful that not using them kind of feels like a punishment.  And I feel bad for harping on them, because they look cool and impressive, there was clearly a lot of effort put into them, and for a disney game incorporating the disney world theme park aspect was just a great idea.

I think my problem with them can best be explained by highlighting the two times that they really do work, one towards the start of the game when you use a big flying train attack against the rock titan, and one towards the end of the game when you have a huge fight against an endless swarm of heartless & nobodies with opportunities to use all of the attraction attacks, including the return of that same train.

In these huge spectacle battles, whether against one giant monster or an endless swarm of smaller monsters in a spacious arena the attraction commands really work well.  They add to the spectacle of what was mostly spectacle to begin with, and had attraction attacks been reserved for these sorts of spectacle battles I’d probably really like them.  But they’re not reserved for spectacle battles in huge arenas, they trigger in almost every single fight, regardless of arena size or number or threat level of the enemies and it gets super old and super awkward super fast.  You can choose not to use them, but since they come up as triangle commands it’s easy to use them entirely by mistake

Which segways into the triangle/situation command system, which is similar to 0.2 except that multiple situation commands can arise simultaneously and you can pick the one you want to use by cycling through with L2.  This is mostly fine, but imo too many different kinds of attacks are triggered this way.  Keyblade form changes, keyblade form finishers, ally team attacks, super-spells like in 0.2, attraction commands, and contextual environmental actions like opening chests are all implemented as situation commands that you cycle through with L2 and activate with triangle, and it’s super easy to activate the wrong one by mistake, going into a theme park ride when you just wanted to open a chest or prematurely ending a form change by triggering its finisher when you wanted to use an ally attack.  It’s honestly a little frustrating at times.  I wish at least some of those - say team attacks and form finishers - had just been left in the menu.

The over-use of triangle for all these other mechanics also leads to a sad lack of kh2′s enemy-based reaction commands, which were themselves maybe a little over-used in that game, but still were quite effective in making different enemies feel unique in combat.  As is, the enemy designs are all really cool if you slow down enough to look at them, but in practice they mostly all come and go rather quickly with the same spell blasts and keyblade whacks and overlong theme park rides for massive aoe damage, so they just don’t feel as distinct and memorable.

Boss fights, which do sometimes incorporate reaction commands in some form, are also a little lacking, in that far too many of them are ‘fight against giant flying monster in over-large arena where 3/4 of the challenge is just getting close enough to hit the thing in the first place’.  These big monster fights can be cool, some of them are done well enough when considered in isolation, but some of them can repeat long combat phases if you don’t damage them fast enough which can start to feel redundant and frustrating.

More to the point, there just aren’t enough fights against humanoid foes during the game, whether we’re talking about organization members or disney villains.  At least, not until the end of the game, when there are suddenly arguably too many of these kinds of fights in a row with nothing but cut scenes to break them up.  But that’s again more a story thing, so I’ll talk about it more later.

...

Another thing worth mentioning is that your allies are a lot more useful in this game.  Donald & Goofy seem stronger and smarter in general, they have good support abilities and team attacks, and you can even tell them to reserve healing for sora if you want.  They’ll still spend a fair amount of the time dead, but they’re nowhere near the dead weight they were.  And you don’t have to swap them out for world allies either, you just get bigger parties to fight with when more allies team up.

Donald is especially nice when supporting rage form, as he can heal you after you risk charge a few times, negating the penalty and letting you spend more time beating face with your powered up melee attacks.

...

One issue that is kind of a sticking point gameplay wise is difficulty.  I died a few times in proud mode, which is good, that’s what I was looking for, but I was also rushing through the game and avoiding side content, reaching the end at about level 37 with keyblades mostly at levels 3 and 4.  And I didn’t play well, either, mostly just tanking hist and brute forcing my way through the last bosses with recovery reprisals, cure spells, and healing items loaded up on donald and goofy.  If you do go out of your way to complete side content, collect better gear, and level up your character and keyblades, then some of the later fights that are *supposed* to be difficult narratively might be lacking in punch, even on proud mode.  No-exp for a low level run is an option, but I don’t know yet if it’s a fun one, or just a frustrating chip damage slog, and in any event doing so means missing out on fun abilities and basically amounts to deliberately holding back which doesn’t feel cool to me.

Kh2′s final mix critical mode is rightly held up as one of the best ‘hard modes’ in video games generally, and it’s unfortunate that there wasn’t a similar difficulty setting here, one that might encourage me to learn & utilize Sora’s full tool set, including summons, flowmotion, & the like.  Oh, well.

If, on the other hand, you’re looking for less difficulty for whatever reason, there I think you’re pretty well covered.  In addition to normal and easy difficulty settings, there’s also a ‘kupo coin’ system that works like a sort of purchasable extra life, sort of like bottled fairies in zelda games, though you can only carry one at a time.  Some of the minigames that gate story progression - in particular gummi ship missions and the pirate ship combat - might be problematic, as I’m not sure whether the difficulty settings affect minigame content.  In general I’ll talk about minigame stuff in another post.

...

finally, on the much memed subject of ‘floaty’ movement and combos... yeah, motion’s a bit floaty, and it can be a bit of a pain to get back to the ground.  However, combos are mostly quick and enemies, even most bosses, actually stagger, and while you’re in the air you can still use most of your defensive kit - you can block, dodge, heal, and even use items while in the air, so a somewhat floaty descent - while it can be occasionally frustrating if an enemy is out of reach beneath you - isn’t the same problem that it was for some of the portable games.  At least imo.

[woodlandcrone]

Dream time:

The first part of my dream was me failing my french class for not making enough ballet reference (quote: “you should ve said in your text how long it takes to go from flat to en pointe”) even though the text was not about ballet and my gf comforting me and confirming that it was bullshit while i was literally ripping my teachers comment to shreds

Second part of the dream was an hd remake of super mario sunshine (i think) and at the end of a race level there was a weird ship with a million engines and levers to control it; on the top level of the ship there was what i can only describe as a server room (as in internet servers) but served (lol) as the main control room to pilot the ship. So i go and press a bunch of buttons and what do you know, super mario sunshine just turned into super mario grand theft auto because im driving a fucking car into crowds of people but since its a mario game there are no consequences so i just keep going cause its fun as hell. Cut to princess peach who got a v short haircut and whos just chilling in delfino plaza (populated by real ass people); she walks by a peach impersonator whos just singing about dumb stereotypes of peachs life (like getting kidnapped and shit) and the real peach does not stand for this, no siree; she starts singing back and it ends up w the 2 of them going to the beach to chill. Peach and NotPeach get harrassed by dudebros and they try to go swim as far as possible like up to the “this is as far as u go” rope but lilo from lilo and stitch tries to follow but immediately almost drowns because she somehow cant swim; peach lets her float on her stomach while shes swimming on her back and they somehow end up in a cramped bathroom so they just put lilo in the bath so she can still play in the water. Nani shows up and freaks out because apparently shes dead and shes been looking for lilo, whos also dead, so they can move on into the afterlife. Peach says she can help and touches nanis arm to switch bodies w her.

Third part of the dream: i am either nani or alice from alice in wonderland and im recruiting help to find my husband (?) And wake up from a shitty dream im having (meta as hell) so jumba, someone else enroll and 1 alien aswell but they immediately go off to catch a smaller alien that can basically hide in its own mouth. When they come back they put the small alien on their head and it basically hide them in its mouth with only like 4 tentacly arms coming out and whatnot. At some point the 2 in 1 alien turns a corner and gets surrounded by a bunch of pirates (i think) and one woman points a fucking keyblade at their throat(?) And while the leader of the pirates is giving a speech the woman and 2 other pirates briefly get wrapped in bright light and when it goes out its fucking nani-alice and jumba w a different keyblade (psych) and they all run away. They go through a muddy town (or some suburbs) somehow nani-alice gets separated from the group and ends up stuck in an alley with the pirate leader where he gives her another speech but ///seductively/// because that always happens in movies where 2 characters are alone. He shows her an artifact that can help her get home (either a sphere or a pyramid, cant remember) and the 2 in 1 alien finds them and the pirate kills them. That sends nani-alice back a million miles and shes somehow a prisoner in a library now. Shes flipping trhough some books feeling very sad and she hears the 2 in 1 aliens voice sing softly from behind her. Somehow the 2 in 1 alien is humanoid now but can switch to spirit form at will. He spirit follows a guard down in the library basement and finds a key to free nani-alice even though shes not in a cage or anything. When he comes back w the key absorbed in the spirit body, another guard is snarking @ nani because apparently all her friends are dead and shell die in the library. Ex 2 in 1 alien bludgeons the guard on the head and everyone escapes without any other shenanigans. They go through the same suburbs again but this time people are like fusing with each other and some guy fuses with his dog and its very gross. They finally stop at a very bad looking house and theres a crooked tree in front of the door that morphs into 2 dudes on top of each other. One is the pirate leader and the other one is a wizard. 2 in 1 spirit alien boy walks up to the tree and while its trying to ecplain why it murdered them he just starts pulling at the branches and snapping them in half. The pirate man screams at nanialice to make him stop cause hes probably counting on whatever connection they dont have to get out of this situation and nani alice just goes “fuck you” and the tree guy dies thrre in front of the house. When 2 in 1 and alice nani go in, they find a man whos basically gone fucking bonkers because nani was dead this whole time and he couldnt deal with it so he just kept painting her face over and over again and even made a replica of their family with painted lard. Like actual sculpted painted lard. Nani tries to explain that shes not actually dead and that he needs to snap out of this because its creepy as hell but he doesnt listen and keeps painting. Nani decides to just ignore that and starts throwing awaybthe creepier shit lying around the house but the man (husband?) Refuses to let her throw away the lard sculptures and just locks them in a closet.

End dream.