#and AQUA SAVING THEM BOTH??? HER MAGIC IS SO POWERFUL IT LITERALLY STOPPED HOW MANY KEYBLADES THAT WERE GOING FULL FORCE

[rhythmmortis]

kh lovessss making the girls interesting anf giving them major potential only to push that all aside and do almost nothing with them. WE NEED A FEMINIST RETELLING OF KINGDOM HEARTS ‼️

the game we deserved

[anolyso]

Utena thoughts...about 2 weeks later

I've been putting it off for way too long and so most of my thoughts stopped being fresh. On top of watching way too many analysis vids post-watch, but still I do at least want to put my 2cents of Revolutionary Girl Utena out there for the world.

Utena is perhaps one of the most famous "magical girl"/shoujo action shows out there for not only it's transgressive themes of relationship abuse and low-key pretty much being the poster girl for like actual feminist perspective on/in anime...but also just doing it all in both a heavily allegorical and understated, yet super over-the-top stylish fashion

But that's it's reputation preceding itself, is Utena worth while all these years? The answer is Yes, but it also really shows it's age and budget in pacing and repetition, tho as an appreciator for "behind the scenes" compromises in art, it's more showcasing Ikuhara's talent in working around both taboo and long-form budget constraints with just well-thought out and iconic imagery that - while episodic and formulaic - is just very good at filling the 39 eps with feasts for the eyes.

Utena broadly is about tomboy Utena with memories long ago after her parents died being "saved" by a princely figure like a princess...except she's so enthralled by the nostalgia that instead she becomes a full on Prince herself and receives a dueling ring to fight in the Ohtori Acadamy secret duels for "engagement" to Rose Bride Himemiya Anthy.

Utena is divided between 4 arcs, only the first and last being Manga adapted from hearsay:

1: Student Council Saga

2: Black Rose Saga

3: Akio Ohtori Saga

4: Apocalypse

From back to forth I'd say that Akio + Apoc is more just escalation into the finale while Black Rose being anime original comes off as a glorified side-character study which while complementing the secondary cast, feels like one of those Anime movies that has to say "but if you don't watch this part, it's pretty much optional for the main plot" despite it also actually introducing the most important antagonist within it's margins.

More importantly, it's the Student Council (arc and the actual people) that lay the foundation but also a large part of the show's focus which ironically puts Utena in the background until like almost the finale and some in-between developments, so it's less "Utena (and Anthy Himemiya)'s story" until the very end, but more like a showcase of how fucked up the system at large is (pin in that).

By the Council themselves is:

Kyouichi Saionji: The biggest jobber, like actually introduced as the most despicable loser ep 1 and proceeds to be a complete arrogant joke for the rest of the show. Honestly in another shojo "love" story, they'd find some way to redeem him but semi-compellingly they turn him into like an Aqua-lad type pathetic brat with an inferiority complex to the actual Student head

Miki Kaoru: the naive "nice, non-threatening soft boy" that also just never actually listens to the girls around him. Probably adds more complexity to the whole patriarchal idea on analytic reflection since yeah, the whole "nice guy finishes last" plays up better when the kid comes off as that "ally" energy of wanting to save Himemiya from being the Rose Bride but also low-key won't actually not just do the duels and win her cuz he's that sorta wishy-washy hypocrite. Arguably the least hateable guy in the cast (minus mascot Chu-Chu)

Juri Arisugawa: TRAGIC LESBIAN TRIANGLE LOVE. Probably the biggest point to of both "not-explicitly homosexual" but also really freaking obvious since her entire story is her girlfriend stealing her "boy crush" when actually she was crushing on her and being pretty much frustrated throughout her story as pining most of it. It's quaint by today's standards but also like damn girl, get over her she was like the worst back stabbing bitch (literally if Black Rose counts)

Nanami Kiryuu: SPEAKING OF QUEEN BITCH, it's been a long time since I've watched a High School girl bully and honestly it's kinda refreshing. If Miki is "soft-boy uwu" Nanami is a brat that gets her come-uppance often, featured prominently as an anime only with the MOST filler/comedic episodes but also not low-key, being the most out-spoken actual brother complex ironically spins perhaps the biggest twist and ironic relationships of "I love my brother but not-like-that but also like-that" by the end. Mostly comedic relief but I find her inclusion to actually add a lot more to juxtapose...

Touga Kiryuu: Big Student Council Prez himself, the first arc antagonist and also a strong foil to Saionji and later a stepping stone for Akio. Touga is THE image of a Princely Playboy Heart-Throb that in any other Shoujo romance would have the main girl win him over from all those "other girls" despite him being apathetic if not outright manipulative of them. Good thing Utena is better than that and really puts a spotlight on just not-actually-ok his power hunger for "the power to bring the world revolution" that leads him to heavily objectify Anthy, arguably even more than Misogynist Trophy Girlfriend beater Saionji, since he doesn't even see her as more than a means to an end despite professing and looking the Prince part but lacking all the actual virtues.

The Student council matters more since they're characters and subsequent tragic flaws are the ACTUAL meat of the show and on second rumination actual shows more how fucked up the system/gender dynamic/power hierarchy is since - while it blatantly fucks over Juri who can't just outright say who she likes - also show almost it's own sub-text of Masculine failings: Saionji desperately clinging to being TOXIC MASCULINE™ and completely falling short underneath Touga; Miki's "nice boy" act belying him trying to replace his low-key nostalgia for his sister (also a bitch, but apparently was more like Nanami in the manga); and best yet Touga being the quintessential "Prince in all but actual behavior" by emulating a cutthroat and Machiavellian world view but coming up empty because well, he's just an illusion of a prince...but that leads in way more to the big finale piece where I'll reintroduce the actual story's main trio

Utena Tenjou: Tomboy Prince with brain empty except for lesbian thoughts. Honestly probably what every western "STRONG INDEPENDENT WOMAN" archetype wishes they were since while having very tomboyish personality in athletics, blunt speaking and also VERY oblivious to the actual plot for REAL DRAMATIC IRONY, but also never actually demeaning her being feminine partially due to her love of an childhood prince and how she maintains her relationship with both her friend Wakaba and later Anthy. Honestly mostly a plot device after S1 until she gets ACTUAL development by the very end and instead kinda bumbles her way into undoing the entire REVOLUTION OF THE WORLD. I kinda wish she felt either more cognizant or at least felt like she was developing/properly rebuking the rest of the cast's power obsessions but I guess that's for the movie.

Anthy Himemiya: Actual Trophy Wife with a dark secret (darker than ski- wait no that's terrible scratch that). Set-up very much as an immediate princess in distress while also being the most femme Yamato Nadeshiko, Anthy being the Rose Bride as a literal prize who acts and behaves as whom she's "engaged" with desires while otherwise being quiet, wry, mysterious and noticably submissive, by the end it actually plays up into THE BIG REVEALS of just how abused she's been into a hopeless acceptance...like y'know actual abuse victims.

Akio Ohtori: Grade A Antagonist, probably the most insidious I've seen a villain in a while, Akio is notable for, back in 1997, being perhaps the big go-to of actual deconstructing the facade of a whole shoujo genre's "hots for a teacher/sexy man putting the moves" and highlighting how actually exploitative and abusive a person like that really is. Being Himemiya's brother (somewhat justified in the manga by both being a weird Sailor Moon-esque reincarnation of gods/godesses of Dios), despite how much of his motives are runing the background and how the entire back story is  uh...brought up in like barely in the last arc with little lead up (some scenes feel like they'd be a full melodrama season and they just have like 1 scene in the final arc episodes) he manages to one-up Touga (in the plot as well) by instead of "just" objectifying girls, not-just-flat out saying Utena looks best as a princess, but y'know the fact that he is implicitly yet constantly exploiting and victim-blaming Anthy for her own suffering for "the power of Dios/Revolution of the world" turns it on its head

I've spent all this time on characters but in truth a lot of the meat of the show relies again on the Council Members fleshing out the issues of system leading to outright divorcing "being a Prince" (heroic altruistic virtues) and "being a man" (considering like all but maybe the comedic relief have some deliberately misogynistic behavior) and beyond just the plot (or rather character) synopsis, the talent goes far more in how it's framed, the symbolic/allegorical shots, the repetition adding a good episode formula flow to character showcases, probably the most "tasteful" allusion to uh...*ahem* sexual abuse that so many other edgier/prentious shows fumble. Both in how intimidating yet understated it's foreshadowing is until they hard-reveal it despite never explicitly naming it even tho it sends Nanami into hysterics

Really it's both a massive blessing and reason for it's cult beloved status for it's aesthetics but also it's burden, for being a full 39 episodic season by season character development study of everyone BUT the main trio except for snippets and the very end that makes it greatly appreciable as a legitimate work of art.

What I wanted more to say however (long overdue) is that a large part of following is, visibly at least, western feminist critiques and yes while it almost seems like Utena fits the "deconstructing patriarchy" story like a glove...it's weird how almost none of them actually can give a good historical account of actual Japanese female/gender/sexuality norms nor Anime contemporaries actually were. Like Tenchi Muyo and Berserk came out the same year (Cardcaptor Sakura the next) and despite how you can "feel" the influence in lots of modern shows like SHAFT's signature visual imagery cuts or many WESETERN shows having straight scene references to Utena....almost no one has a similar feel to Utena until like Princess Tutu comes out.

Really tho probably should've watched Utena and then Tutu because while it's undeniable that Utena is a major pillar of shoujo re-codification - what with everyone before Utena was saying they thought it'd be like a Rose of Versaille or Lady Knight rip-off...whose laughing now? - it's almost like there's a missing link between it and it's major western fanbase (probably with what few anime did get overseas, this one probably rose to the top), or how very noticeable there IS an influence on it's genre in Japan

Almost none of the big analyst fans actually know A) it's not "a deconstruction of Magical Girls" since despite Ikuhara working on Sailor Moon just before this, almost none of the tropes line up and instead more with Shoujo genre as a whole. or  one of the major inspirations was Takarazuka theater.

And this is not to dismiss how inspirational it is to it's western fandom, but while I am notably cynical towards placing things on pedestals, there's probably something about cultivating the whole pop-culture feminist reading commune with people making weird time-loop theories while kinda most of it is just filling in a mad-lib mostly thanks to Ikuhara just keeping things on the vague and letting the audience take away their own perspective.

Again, most of the show is completely sub-textual or visually/symbolically depicted and never stated nor properly defines it's weird key words (End of the World, Revolutionize the World, Power of Dios, Rose Bride, all things said constantly but never really said what they "mean". But that's also perhaps its charm, in it's allegory and very Death of the Author approach, it has definitely allowed it's fan theorizing and appreciation to flourish so there's something there for that.

Ultimately I'd say Utena the TV series is great more so for what it isn't...or rather I should say it's great for not just subverting Shoujo tropes and archetypes for the Japanese audience but also that despite dealing with some very serious and heavy subjects in obtuse and perhaps understated ways for the time, people have allowed it to be put on it's pedestal because they can easily fit it in themselves.

Honestly though, not that a more "straight forward" approach wouldn't detract from Utena but I will say that the movie, Adolescence of Utena, is very much the best encapsulation of what Utena strives to be (for another big blog post) and while the TV series has plenty of time and flexes it's directorial muscles with budget constraints and season pacing UNrestrained, the movie will trim a lot of the fat

[the-dumb-smart-friend]

I spent way too long on this so please give it attention

So my one friend and I have been working on the same rp for ~2 1/2 years, and right now we’ve been on a big break because of the whole quarantine thing, and inconsistent scheduling.

LET ME TELL YOU,

So many characters have changed so much in my mind over the break that I’m going to need to look through my logs of the characters before the break. I have plans for the story that can have it continue for multiple years into the future.

I have so much planned character development and minor conflict planned, not to mention the scandalous temptation of corruption arcs. My friend’s main character has literally murdered/hurt/threatened one of my characters on many occasions, and now they’re going to have to work together in order to save both their friends, family, lovers, and the entire concept of a continuous timeline before the winter solstice.

Meanwhile, the main villain has gone from pretty much an unstoppable god mary sue character to a touch starved twink with bad intentions and an attack dog evil scientist.

Every single character believes that what they’re doing is good, even if they know deep down that what they’re doing will have awful consequences.

And I’m not even done. I finally made a concrete reason to the timelines constantly looping, and the whole revival problem, as before I just had a loose idea. The two main gods that have been hinted at to be evil and really powerful and awful and stuff (despite one helping out the protagonists and the other being neutral/evil leaning) actually worked together thousands of years ago to do this really powerful spell thing so that every time this select group of really powerful people died (along with everyone that knew them, it was often one big catastrophic event), they would all be revived in the most recent year, over and over again until they found out how to break the “curse”.

The timelines will loop over and over again until the characters all find out how to stop it, which is to somehow keep magic (one of the key building blocks that’s holding life and the world as we know it together) from completely disappearing and dying out.

So the god of magic power was like “Dudes I’m gonna die if we don’t do something to keep magic from dying out.” and all the other high ranking gods were like “Bro no, last time we intervened with something on the mortal plane, we killed all the dinosaurs.” so then the magic god was all like “Fine, but you guys are all pricks.”.

So the he asked his sister (the goddess of time, memory, and significant events/holidays) to help out, and so they created the time loop idea. They cast a really old, really forbidden, semi-DIY’d spell with all their power, but because of the great crime they committed, the more powerful gods cast them out, and took all of their memories, condemning them to the surface for the rest of time.

oooh, looks like you’re interested, nice.

Also I’m on new meds, so sorry if this is confusing.

(TW for death, mentions of gore w/o graphic descriptions, mentions of kidnapping, hints at abuse, dissociation, cursing/verbal aggression, grief)

So the two ex-gods gave themselves new names, and decided to wander around, trying to find out who they were. The two had some moral conflicts and decided to part ways. Time Goddess, who now gave herself the name Raestress (pronounced Rye-stress) eventually stumbled upon one of the mortals that she and her brother cursed for the rest of time, and decided to stick with said mortal for a while, and by that, I mean kinda stalking said mortal.

Because Raestress wasn’t the one to come up with the time loop idea, and was the one that told the other gods, she was allowed to keep some of her powers, however she had absolutely no clue how to use them.

This next pert gets a little fuzzy, and I still need to iron out the details of it, but it ends with Raestress sacrificing both her life and all her power to the mortal, but because of her punishment from the other gods, was cursed to stay as a sort of ghost or spirit that follows the mortal (Remi) she just helped, only able to talk though/to her.

The sacrifice of Raestress’ powers to Remi led to Remi being able to remember all the past timelines she’s lived through, and all the other people that were chosen to live and die over and over again, and decides that she needs to be the one to bring them all together.

Back to modern day, Remi has amnesia for unknown reasons, and makes a bunch of new friends in this little north island town she lives in. One day, a random new math teacher shows up at her highschool, then one of her friends goes missing, then her friend’s sister goes missing and is later found dead, completely torn to pieces. Then she and some friends are about to take a little walk through the forest, when one of her friends is shot with a crossbow, and dies. Sure, they’ve gotten plenty of threats before, but they all just thought it was just some kids trying to pull a prank, but now Alice is dead.

The group try to compose themselves as they wait for the police to arrive, looking up through the trees as to where the crossbow could’ve been fired from, but everything is completely obscured by a swishing sea of branches and leaves. Remi looks up through the leaves, watching them spin and swirl, growing darker as her body seems to float back and fourth in an invisible ocean.

Her vision goes completely black for a moment, but she then sees herself, standing still and looking down at her friends, who have gone from hysterics to almost silent. The world seemed to have washed itself in a shade of periwinkle, swaying like the ocean, any sounds coming out as muffled and distant. Remi watched as her body began to shudder, shoulders bouncing up and down. She watched as her body laughed completely out of her control, quickly pushed against a tree and drowned out by muffled yelling and screaming from one of her friends, Aqua.

The others tried to hold Aqua back, but despite her small frame, she could fight like a 6′ brickhouse. Remi couldn’t do anything. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t explain, or shout “That isn’t me! I’m right here!”. All she could do is watch as her body’s eyes shifted from bottle green to a sharp, brassy yellow, somehow untouched by the blueish haze that blanketed the rest of the world.

Still, her body laughed, going on and on about something that Remi couldn’t hear, no matter how much she strained to.

The rest of the day seemed to continue in a blur. the police arrived, taking all the standard procedures, but it was hard to pay attention to anything but Alice’s body being carried away in a bag. Nobody really knew what happened.

Remi was still trapped outside of her body by the time they got home that night. Whatever or whoever was controlling her was managing to get under everyone’s skin without completely shattering the illusion of Remi still being in complete control. Guess those are the consequences of being known as the one who laughs at horror movies.

As soon as they both stepped inside, Aqua had thrown Remi against a wall, holding her by the collar of her shirt.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” she screamed, voice breaking before she could finish her sentence.

Remi’s body chuckled with squinted eyes, playfully glaring down at Aqua, boring into her skull.

“I should be asking you the same thing, sweetheart.”

Finally at that moment did the rest of the group realize that whoever was piloting Remi’s body definitely wasn’t her, because whatever spoke was using a voice that didn’t match in the slightest.

It’s voice sounded like it could’ve been either a young man or an older woman, familiar and welcoming yet cold and sharp as ice, sharp enough to cut through whatever was muffling the voices from wherever Remi was stuck.

Aqua dropped whoever this person was, taking shaky steps backward, clearly trying to say something, but no sound came out.

This strange person took a step forward, bowing and swishing their arm with a flourish.

“Though I can’t explain everything now, I’m sure that your dear friend Remi will.” They purred, staring through the veil and directly into Remi’s eyes.

“Who are you?” Aqua shuddered, invisible hands trailing cold fingers up her spine.

“A nobody, a somebody. A friend, an enemy. Nobody really knows when or where I’ll come or go, but if you were to call me anything, feel free to call me Crow.”

Something about that name just didn’t sit right, it seemed to send an imaginary bullet through Remi’s head, swimming through her thoughts and flipping every switch in her brain. Something, somewhere, was screaming at her, remember, remember. The already strange world started to get stranger, dark figures appearing all around Remi, reaching out and covering her eyes, ears, mouth, nose, everything until all she could sense was a dark void.

Crow smiled, kneeling down to meet Aqua’s new level on the floor.

“Right now, I’m serving as nothing more than a distraction, and maybe just a little something to get this story going” they said,

Aqua again tried to respond, but her voice had seemed to just disappear at the most crucial moments.

“I do hope we meet again.” Crow ruffled Aqua’s hair just as all the lights flickered out, leaving complete silence and confusion, after all, what was there to say?

Minutes passed, though nobody was keeping count. Nobody moved, and instead just stood wherever they were, trying desperately to process all of today.

When the lights finally flickered back on, Remi was passed out on the floor, but after everything that just happened, it took everyone a while to notice. Nobody said anything.

Will had carried Remi upstairs to her room, hoping that maybe staying by her side could make a nice distraction. Aqua had stayed sitting on the floor, back to back with the couch, head in her hands. Everyone decided to keep to themselves for the rest of the night.

By the next morning, Remi still hadn’t woken up. Sure, not quite unusual, but right now what everyone needed was an explanation, or one of her sarcastic jokes at the very least. It was at noon when everyone had started to worry. 

It had reached 5PM when she finally jolted awake, catching her breath and running her hands through her hair.

“I remember...” She whispered,

“I remember everything.” She said again, quickly standing up and rummaging through her desk, despite Will telling her to take it easy.

“My notebooks, they’re all gone!”

“Remi, please,” Will tried to step forward and calm her down, but she pressed on.

“Don’t call me that.” She demanded, mumbling something afterward, “Just call me Rei.”

Alrighty so I might finish this at some point, idk, but the explanation/TL;DR is pretty much that BBEG had tried to kill Aqua, the main thing holding him back from achieving his goal, but Alice had jumped in the way and sacrificed herself.

Rei was then pushed out of her own body by a mysterious deity known only as Crow, who by the way is not Raestress, I just didn’t know how to quickly explain everything. Both Crow and Raestress had somehow managed to together give Rei back all her memories of the past timelines, but because of Crow’s distraction, the BBEG was able to steal all of Rei’s logs of strange dreams and little songs, all of which can be pieced together into an encrypted spell that has the ability to bring back the dead, a spell that has long since been completely banned and erased from the world.

When Rei was trapped outside of her body, she was actually pushed out into limbo/the spirit world, and all the dark figures were different versions of her from her past, though that was never really specified in the original story either, I just left it up to debate.

There is still very little known about Crow, but we know that they’re a sort of grim reaper character, have a past with Rei, and that they’re working for the BBEG for some unspecified reason.

The reason Rei doesn’t like being called Remi is because the letter M is considered evil and bad luck to her and others that are enemies of/know the atrocities or the BBEG and his family. Also because she prefers to distance herself from her past with Crow as much as possible.

Will, who was mentioned at the end, is actually Rei’s girlfriend.

Aqua is my friend’s main character, who is kinda really hotheaded, and is later tricked into killing one of my characters.

BBEG and his siblings are all children of the god of magic that was mentioned earlier.

If anything is confusing, or if you want more of the story, let me know, and I’ll try to add more.

[bombshellsandbluebells]

1, 2, 3 and 5 for the female characters top fives?

Thank you!! Okay, listed in no particular order and with short rant included because I couldn’t help myself. So this is long, prepare yourself!

1 - Protagonists

Elizabeth Swann (Pirates of the Caribbean) - 

I love her so much. She’s so stubborn and won’t put up with anyone’s shit and is ruthless and is more of a pirate than Jack Sparrow. I love that she longed for the sea and learned about pirates in secret as a kid and then got her own ship and crew and became Pirate King!! And that her story was always about freedom and she got it in the end. I love that Elizabeth doesn’t wait around for Will to save her, but goes out and saves herself and makes her own destiny.

Tohru Honda (Fruits Basket) - 

Tohru’s proof that kind/compassionate characters are not boring or less complex. Tohru feels so real; the way she ignores her trauma and grief and hides her issues to try to always appear perfectly selfless and happy is so human and relatable and her journey is really, really interesting. She’s so kind but still has so much room to grow and I honestly see a lot of myself in her.

Emori (The 100) - 

I mean most of you already know how much I love Emori, but I LOVE EMORI. She’s such a fun, interesting, unique character with a really interesting backstory and unique challenges to face. I love how smart and manipulative and conniving she is. I love how she doesn’t know how to trust people and has to slowly learn how to be part of a group. I love how insanely loyal she is once she’s found that group. I love that being one part of a romance story didn’t fix all her issues, but finding community and acceptance helped her grow even further. I love that she still loves herself despite what society says about her. I love her look even if the shape and size of her tattoo keeps magically changing.

Annie Edison (Community) -

I love how Annie is ruthless, and I love how that contrasts with the sweet/innocent/naive stereotype she appears to be at first. The more you see of her the more you realize that Annie Edison will steamroller over literally anyone in her path to get what she wants, Jeff included. The hints we get about her backstory and family life are also really intersting, even if the show never really goes into it - probably because it wouldn’t really stay comedic. 

Lucretia (The Adventure Zone: Balance) - 

It is my mission to get more people to give TAZ a try. It has so many great characters and Lucretia is one of the best. She’s so complicated. Your outlook on her constantly changes. She goes from being a mentor archetype to possibly the antagonist to a tragic hero. She did something terrible to the main characters for good reason and you see the awful affects of it but it’s also made clear why she did it and just how awful she feels about it. She’s such a tragic character and every time I relisten my heart breaks for her more and I just love her. 

Also she has some amazing lines like “Hot diggity dog, that is a baller cookie” so how could you not love her.

2 - Villains

A.L.I.E. (The 100) - 

She’s probably my favorite villain ever. Every season I want them to bring her back. I’m still bummed s5 didn’t take the PERFECT opportunity they were given. She would be my one weakness to start watching the show again.

Azula (ATLA) - 

Azula’s far more threatening than Ozai ever is, and she’s so flawed in such interesting ways. One of my favorite moments of her is the scene where she says, “Are the tides the captain of this ship?” because at first it seems like such a badass, in-control moment, but it honestly reveals just how much Azula’s pride and arrogance hinder her. That’s such a foolish, reckless thing to think, that what you want is above the forces of nature, but Azula is foolish, prideful, and arrogant, even if she is incredibly talented and smart. I think it’s also really interesting how they parallel her decline with Zuko overcoming his trauma, because for most of the series it seemed that Azula only benefited from their upbringing, and then you realize she’s just as messed up from it, just in different ways.

Bellatrix LeStrange (Harry Potter) -

I don’t have a rant for her, she’s really not that complex, she’s just such a fun, terrifying villain and Helena Bohamn Carter plays her to perfection.

Dolores Umbridge (Harry Potter) -

I mean I don’t like her at ALL but we all collectively DESPISED her and that’s just proof of what a great villain she is. When she showed up again in Deathly Hollows I remember just feeling rage as I read it. I was like, her??? AGAIN???

Last one below the cut because major spoilers for Fruits Basket!!!

3 - Superheroes

Nebula (MCU) -

I really love her journey in the MCU from villain to hero. The best parts of Endgame were getting to see her find a group of her own that supported her and learn to have fun and smile.

Natasha Romanoff (MCU) - 

I don’t always love how the MCU handled her, but I do like the character the MCU ultimately created, if that makes sense. She’s snarky and kind of dorky and it’s such a contrast from the shallow femme fatale cliche she started as and is usually portrayed as. I love that we get to see some of her weaknesses and fears over the series. I think they screwed up with her narrative a LOT, but I still enjoy the character they ultimately created.

Pepper Potts (MCU) -

Badass business lady turned occasional badass superhero when her husband’s in trouble. I really love her visceral fear of the superhero business and her hatred of it for most of the movies. It makes sense and makes her human that she doesn’t just go along with it. 

Raven (Teen Titans) -

Raven was one of my favorite characters as a kid. Apparently I like characters who are isolated but crave community and slowly learn to love others and let that love and acceptance in, because that’s part of what I love about her. 

Carol Danvers (616) -

I don’t like Carol in the MCU because of writing/directing reasons, but I love Carol in the comics. I love her “fuck you” attitude that is so at odds with most superheroes and her stubborness and her tendency to punch first, talk later, even when it gets her into trouble. I love that she named her cat after Star Wars and makes really corny jokes.

5 - Queens/Empresses/Royalty

Apparently I don’t watch a lot of shows with queens/royalty, so I’m going to do a grab bag of five other great female characters that come to mind.

Aqua (Kingdom Hearts) -

KH isn’t great at handling it’s female characters, but she’s the one exception. She’s a keyblade master who tried to keep her friends safe and stop the main villain, and she failed! She sacrificed herself trying to save one of her friends, letting herself get trapped in the Realm of Darkness, and the tragic part is that she didn’t even save him. So then she wanders the RoD for 10+ years, alone, being haunted by her fears and doubts and regrets, slowly losing herself. She eventually gets saved and gets a happy ending, but the part of the series exploring her endless wandering is so interesting. She’s a protagonist of a series aimed for kids, but she fails, and she has flaws and doubts and she has parts of herself she doesn’t want to face, and she’s just cool.

Echo (The 100) -

Because I didn’t list her in protagonists. I really fell in love with Echo in s4 when we saw her internal struggle between what was right/just and what was required to protect her clan. She was a great antagonist because we still saw so much of her humanity and now she’s a great protagonist with flaws and desires and self-doubt. And she’s a badass.

Riza Hawkeye (Fullmetal Alchemist) -

Another really interesting, flawed, complex lady. Riza is a soldier who fought in war and her actions during it still haunt her and drive her to push for a better world and country, even if she fully expects and accepts that a better world will punish her for her actions. She’s so interesting.

Judy & Jen (Dead to Me) - 

They’re by no means favorite characters of all time, but I do really love both of these characters. They’re just well written and interesting and the conflict between them is really interesting and I just want to include them for being cool female characters.

Furiosa (Mad Max: Fury Road) - 

What an awesome character. Her design is cool. Her actress is amazing. Her risking her life to get the wives to safety is fantastic. The way the movie slowly humanizes her more and chips away at her harsh exterior to show the emotions underneath is so good. She’s got a disability and fights around it. She’s great.

Villains (Cont.) below the cut ; spoilers for Fruits Basket

Akito (Fruits Basket) -

I put this under the cut because people are just starting to get into Fruits Basket for the first time and the fact that Akito is even a woman is a major spoiler, because she was raised as male her entire life because she was head of the family. Akito is so unlikeable at first and so awful and manipulative. She takes joy in hurting other people. She has a hand in most of the other characters’ trauma. And then you start learning more and more about her and realize she’s a traumatized, lonely, hurt person and is lashing out. It doesn’t forgive what she’s done, but it humanizes her. She’s a great parallel of Tohru in that they went through very similar trauma and experiences but Tohru had a loving mother who taught her the importance of love and kindness and Akito’s mother was awful and abusive and she learned that the only thing that mattered was power and control. She’s a really interesting character and I honestly still don’t know to feel about her most of the time.

[chessdaze]

Day 3 of my @khoc-week​ catch up!

  Friends or Lovers? Show and tell who your OC is familiar with! Any friends? A Significant Other? Or maybe an enemy? Draw a picture of them with their best friend(s), enemy, or special someone! Or write a one shot about them interacting or going on a mission together. 

OH BOY I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY ABOUT THIS. But I wanted to focus on two relationships in particular with Atlas - that with his mentor/father figure Wynter and that with his two best friends Kei and Quest (who were briefly shown in yesterday’s prompt!). family figures weren’t really in the prompt but I went with it anyways because I HAVE to talk about Wynter. 

Wynter is the reason that heartsmiths exist, he’s an incredibly powerful magic user. He’s also the reason Atlas is even alive, so of course he’s an important figure in Atlas’s life. Including Atlas’s wonderland background which he doesn’t recall, Wynter is the only father figure he’s ever had. Atlas loves Wynter. However, there was a big strain on their relationship during the time leading up to the keyblade war.

Readmore time

Wynter is a keyblade user. I’ve done a piece of him with his keyblade here, besides probably MoM, he’s probably the eldest keyblade wielder in Daybreak Town. However he doesn’t use his keyblade for fighting heartless  on a normal basis as it has a very specific trait. It can freeze someone’s heart in time. Thus the name ‘hand of time’. A theme of Wynter’s character is that he’s stuck in time and not able to move forward and his keyblade and it’s power are a reflection of that and how his heart is stagnant - which is like a punch to the gut when MoM is explaining all of this to him (MoM and Wynter are like old buds).

As the keyblade war draws closer it becomes clear why Wynter was given this particular keyblade with this particular power. He aims to have Atlas survive the keyblade war through freezing his heart and body in time. He knows of the dandelions via Quest (who was chosen to be apart of the dandelions - but more on that when i get to him and kei), and wants to freeze Atlas in time and then let the dandelions/Ava know of his location so after the danger has passed they can retrieve him. But things never go as planned. 

Atlas refused, almost violently so, when the idea was brought up. In the end. Quest and Kei had to hold Atlas down while Wynter stabbed him with his keyblade. Hence the below picture (which was like one of the first i drew with atlas ever - and of wynter’s keyblade it’s changed a bit since this look):

As one can imagine, this wasn’t great on their relationship. In Atlas’s main story, he ends up drifting with the heartsmith’s shop/forge in the space between (being a ‘mini world’ in its own right), Wynter’s notes being scattered to the worlds (like ansem’s reports - and his notes on heartsmithing is a precursor to keyblade armor being made, but that’s an entirely different ramble), and doesn’t awake until the guardians of light find him 1000+ years later. 

After awaking he has so many mixed emotions about his mentor. He’s angry that Wynter took the opportunity for him to help wielders away, he’s angry that he was pretty much forced to have a keyblade he never wanted (in stabbing atlas with the keyblade, atlas pretty much became the successor to it), and being left all alone without his friends or his family was just...sad. He blamed Wynter and his two best friends for the longest time.

REWIND A SEC AND I’LL TALK ABOUT ATLAS, KEI, AND QUEST. 

I have dubbed them the ‘ribbon trio’ as their design all involve ribbons. my sister has also affectionally called them the ‘rose buds’ because of this picture below and thinking on it, it fits because of Atlas’s past with wonderland, Quest being from Beast’s Castle, and Kei’s family being florists.

here’s another one because they’re cute

As mentioned above, Quest is from Beast’s Castle. His parents died during the plague and he had been having a rough childhood when he was given the power of the keyblade and was able to go to daybreak town and join a union. Considering the state he was in (practically skin and bones), Gula was surprised when he appeared and wanted to join Leopardos. He had to be nursed back to a fighting health but when he was able he became a party leader and lead the party the Chevaliers (I did a photoset of them here).

Kei is from daybreak town and her family are the local florists (see a picture of her and her sibs here). She was the only one gifted with the power of the keyblade and felt the need to become stronger and stronger so she could protect her family - and so she joined Ursus. She’s known as a ‘party hopper’ because as soon as she thought she learned all she could from a party - or if she became the most powerful one in a party - she left in search of new challenges.

They both met Atlas via the heartsmith shop, and while kei and quest didn’t quite see eye to eye at first - Atlas was the glue that kept them together and eventually they became closer and could consider eachother friends aswell. 

Leading up to the keyblade war, the one chosen to become a dandelion was Quest. He was extremely torn over it, not sure what to say or what to do. Some dandelions mentioned that it might be useful to have a heartsmith with them because ‘who knows what could happen’ so Quest asked Ava about Atlas joining. However only keyblade wielders could join - so Quest left to ask Wynter if he planned to pass his keyblade onto Atlas, if he became a wielder then he could become a dandelion. 

He was explaining this to Atlas when Kei suddenly appeared and started an argument about Quest picking Atlas over her- and why she wasn’t chosen to be in this special group of wielders. This caused a huge rift between the three. Atlas became too busy with wielders flooding into the heartsmiths shop for repairs and upgrades before the war to really tackle the issue - but Kei and Quest were at odds for quite some time. Eventually they came to terms with eachother and the problem at hand -- and they both quit their unions to become heartsmiths instead. 

pictured in the main photo at the bottom is sort of what directly came after that - Wynter stating his plan to freeze Atlas in time and Atlas retaliating. Quest and Kei both agreed it was for the best, and that they would do their best to become even half the heartsmith that Atlas was. But of course Atlas still wasn’t having it - and to save their friend from the war they held him down in a chair while Wynter stabbed him with the keyblade.

The two of them then had a crash course of how to be a heartsmith and not long after the war happened. 

I feel like I should say it doesn’t end well for any of them. 

Wynter dies before the war even begins. He uses the last of his strength from non stop weeks of working to send the heartsmith shop into the space between after Kei and Quest leave - has enough time to reach his twin sister Crystal (who is the local baker), then dies in her arms. 

Kei and Quest both die on the battle field - Kei dies protecting Quest dies protecting a wielder (I’ve plotted it out with friends that he protects the player character pretty much and it’s the reason that the dandelions are able to reach them in time). Kei and Quest’s hearts however find themselves at the heartsmith shop in the space between - and for those 1000 + years, they protect Atlas.

However they get corrupted over time and become phantoms which is where the darkling like designs i made come into play. When the guardians of light reach the shop - they have to fight passed Kei and Quest to get to atlas because they’re still trying to protect Atlas even if they’ve been lost to the darkness. 

Kei and Quest are freed from the darkness after they are defeated, and they stay long enough to see atlas being awoken before vanishing from sight. 

So as you can tell ATLAS HAS A LOT OF FEELINGS AFTER WAKING UP/HIS TIME BEGINNING AGAIN. And I just....love his dynamic with his friends/mentor so much okay.

And as a fun fact - since trios sometimes have an object that’s related to them. Besides ribbons TM Atlas, Quest, and Kei all have actual keys and armbands that are personalized to them. Kei has a flower design on her key, Quest has a star design, and Atlas has a heart design. Wynter made these all from them - and they’re literally all keys to the heartsmtih shop. Atlas was given one at first but when it was clear how close he was to Quest and Kei, Wynter made the other two keys by hand and gave them to the two. Kei suggested the armbands and Quest found them and atlas fashioned the chains they all hang off of. 

Now I’ve rambled enough about that ONTO CANON CHARACTERS.

Sadly the above picture took me forever and I don’t have the energy to draw much else but here’s a small comic I made for a friend when we were plotting things together - because of course Atlas knows Ventus and they probably have a deep connection even if Ven doesn’t remember him. Sadly I never finished this comic but maybe one day....

and honestly I could ramble for hours about how Atlas would mesh well with a lot of the canon KH characters. He’s literally a therapist, it’s his job to talk to people and help them through problems AND BOY DO WE KNOW THE CANON KH PEEPS GOT SOME TRAUMA. and he’d want to help all of them the best he could. I can see him and Riku getting close especially. And he would definitely want to talk with Aqua after all of her time in the realm of darkness. 

as a small bonus have the first picture I ever drew of the ribbon trio+ wynter together! Their designs haven’t changed much since this - aside from a few small things. I think the major things that changed is that atlas doesn’t wear his glasses on a normal basis and both Quest’s and Wynter’s hair is longer. 

[crazynekochan]

Kingdom Hearts au prt1: Kyosuke, Chisa and Juzo were keyblade masters/the Hope trio when Junko came and try to acquire the darkness. Her power proved to be too strong for them when she used the forbidden keyblade of despair which secured their victory. Chisa was banished to the realm of darkness where Aqua once was, Juzo was split into 3 with his body used to serve Junko and his mind taking control of his armour as it tries to find Kyosuke, Chisa, his heart and Junko who was the start of it all.

Kingdom Hearts au prt2: His heart meanwhile acted as Kyosuke’s shield when Junko made him go into a coma. This proved to be a problem for Junko as no matter what she does Juzo’s heart won’t let go blocking her out from her source of power, Kyosuke’s abnormal power of magic. So she puts them both under constant pain until Juzo’s heart’s weak enough to let go. She then recruited her forces which were the remnants of despair including the Future trio Hajime, Chiaki and Nagito.

Kingdom Hearts au prt3: Chiaki’s a spy in order to find out what happened to the Hope trio and along the way she befriended all the remnants of despair. She was later found out by Junko when she found Kyosuke’s comatosed state causing her to be executed. This sent all the remnants into despair which was just what Junko needed as Hajime got split in 2, 1 half with no memories searching for Chiaki, the other becoming Izuru to which Junko tasked with breaking Juzo’s heart to access Kyosuke’s power.

Kingdom Hearts au prt4: Little did Junko knew that Chisa, Juzo and Kyosuke gifted the ability to wield the keyblade to 3 people: Chiaki, Kaito and Naegi. Chiaki was still alive, just split apart like Juzo as the Truth trio, Shuichi, Kaede and Kaito try to find a way to fix her while in training. King Jin and Koichi we’re searching for Chisa when they saw her as darkness which was not good. Koichi escapes but Jin remained trapped fighting Chisa much to Koichi’s regret.

Kingdom Hearts au prt5: Then came the NewHope Trio, Naegi Togami and Kyoko. They’re new keyblade masters who’re tasked with helping Naegi get the power of waking as Koichi tries to find a way to save Jin. Naegi=Sora as he encountered the Remnants of despair and fought them. Only Nagito helped them cuz he knew that Chiaki was alive and that if they could bring her and Hajime back the remnants would changed sides. They soon encountered Juzo’s mind residing in his armour.

Kingdom hearts au continuation6: Thinking that it was Mukuro+Junko holding Kyosuke hostage Mind!Juzo lashed out and the NewHope trio barely defeated him. Seeing as how they weren’t them Mind!Juzo just moved along, mumbling how he’ll find them. Koichi meanwhile was fighting Chisa and trying to save a defeated Jin when the half of Hajime appears in the realm due to being drawn to Chisa’s familiar power. Seeing this opportunity, Koichi teams up with Hajime and defeats Chisa.

Kingdom hearts au continuation7: They all escapes and Chisa was put to Mitarai’s care to take out the despair in her. He later questions Hajime only to find nothing about him and only that he was searching for Chiaki. Surprised, he took him to where the Truth Trio and Chihiro were as they try and fix Chiaki by giving her a replica to reside in. Hajime suddenly got flashbacks of his friends which made him pass out. Nagito meanwhile was investing and due to his luck, he found Kyosuke.

Kingdom hearts au con7: He then saw Izuru being fascinated by how Juzo’s heart haven’t weaken no matter what he did but it didn’t take long until he noticed him. Nagito unashamedly came out and Izuru let’s him be cuz he thought it would be interesting also Nagito’s luck powers. Naegi still hasn’t gotten the power of waking but then discovered Juzo’s body wandering around. Naegi got beaten up badly as the other 2 assist him but they couldn’t escape, he was out to kill him under Junko’s orders.

Kingdom hearts au cont8: They fight but they were no match and by some miracle Chisa came in to cease the fighting. Seeing as how she’s not worthy of a pawn, Body!Juzo flees to tell Junko of Chisa. Seeing as how she’s still alive Junko orders Kaz to make a machine to kill them, much to Gundham’s discomfort. He noticed Kaz trying everything to get others’ attention and it was worrying to him. Chiaki was then restored and told everyone of what’s happening.

Kingdom hearts au cont9: Enraged, Chisa nearly stormed off only to be stopped by Jin who successfully reasoned with her. They then planned out their course of action, the Truth Trio and Koichi would create a distraction as Chiaki and Hajime would lead the NewHope trio, Jin and Chisa in. Naegi was unsure since he still doesn’t have the power but Jin assured him that it’ll be fine, they just need to get Kyosuke and Heart!Juzo out. Koichi also pointed out that Juzo’s body was with Junko

Kingdom hearts au cont10: and that his mind was also missing which was a problem. Kyoko pointed out that they might’ve encountered Mind!Juzo and so took everyone there. Seeing as how Kaito felt a connection towards the armour, they’re right on the mark as Chisa convinced Mind!Juzo to go save his love which was more than enough to get him to comply. They storm the place, got caught by Nagito who’s happy to see Chiaki but confused to see Hajime and lead them to where Kyosuke was.

KH au cont11: They then bump into Gundham who’s surprised+happy to see Chiaki alive but tells them of the weapon Kaz was creating and quickly helped to guide them to Kyosuke. They successfully rescued him and escaped with Gundham acting as their spy. But they couldn’t extract Juzo’s heart since he’d fused it with Kyosuke’s to protect him. That’s Dangan Hearts 1 I hope you enjoyed this new change of pace sry if it’s long and tell me if some parts didn’t send u can take a break from asks if u want

Mod: Now this is long, but very well written. Partly because Kingdom Hearts and Danganronpa are two of the best games there are x)

You really put much thought into this and made all the characters fit in well, especially considering their backstories. I also have to admit that I love the idea of the Remnants being “Organisation XIII” x)

It’s perfectly fitting that Chisa fell into darkness like Aqua did, since she was the one who fell into despair first and was never known to be a Remnants aside from a few selected few, just like only one person knew that Aqua was trapped in the Darkness. The same with Juzo taking Terra’s role, since in canon he is after all Junko’s pawn because she uses Kyosuke against him. Plus the fact that it’s also canon that Juzo would literally do anything for him, no matter what happens, including dying. So it would so happen that he would still protect him even if he literally has no body or mind left. (Damn that sounds dramatic. I like it)

The part with the future trio is well thought up and fits perfectly into the lore, without sounding out of place. Though now that I am writing, I am wondering: Would that mean that some of the DR2 cast were living in “Radiant Garden” before the fall into darkness while the others were originally from “Daybreak Town” without remembering it?

That Makoto is a perfect Sora is a given. They are both the protags and both are very similar of character. (They are also both quite tiny in comparison, just saying x) Not to mention that both don’t really feel like they are deserving of their role, as in Makoto feeling out of place in Hope’s Peak and Sora feeling like he doesn’t deserve the Kingdom Keyblade, while turning out to be the one who saves everyone again and again

Jin taking on the role of the king is perfect. Especially considering that both are characters who try their best to do what is right, but do huge mistakes due to bad judgement. Jin leaving his daughter behind without explanation and not seeing Junko as who she is which led to the death of him and many more of the students he tried to protect, while King Mickey left Aqua in the Realm of Darkness for ages and never told anyone to not distract of the current missions while partly leading to Riku’s transformation into Ansem and the many hardships he had to go through to protect Sora

Now with the last part. I love the implications that Chiaki, as well as Gundham take on the role of Axel/Lea, by being the spy within the Remnants, only at different times and at the end working for the good side. Though does that mean that Kazuichi takes on a Saix/Isa role, considering that he is now working directly under Junko’s orders to kill everyone like a brainwashed pawn? (It would be a funny coincidence, since Kaz is my fave in DR and Saix/Isa in KH)

[flynn-science]

Ryan Reacts to Kingdom Hearts 3

Okay, so this is a mix of live reactions and post-world reactions. Lot of live reactions in the beginning and end, more sporadic in between. You can probably guess what I’m reacting to most of the time from the sequence of events.

Mmm dat orchestral Don’t Think Twice Needed a minute on the menu. Finally seeing it say KH3 was A Lot. HOLY FUCK WHAT A COOL INTRO The speed is the same as 0.2, with that sprint that kicks in. Will take some getting used to. The stained glass looks gorgeous though Nice touch of KH1 Sora’s jump animation changing to KH2 Sora’s Making choices again like the original. Vitality is probably health, Wisdom is probably magic, and Balance is, well, balanced. I’ll go balanced. (I’m on Proud, btw) Guardian, Warrior, Mystic. Same as the weapons in KH1. In that case, I’ll make the same choice I do there: Guardian. SORA HAS AN IDLE ANIMATION OH MY GOD BLOCK AND DODGE FROM THE START! Also this sky place is new for a Dive to the Heart (AND THOSE HOOOORNS, LISTEN TO THEM) The water looks great A four-hit combo instead of the usual three? Huh Scan from the start too Nice detail of Sora’s head angling towards the locked on target All this music sounds SO GOOD I’MMA NEED THIS SOUNDTRACK ONCE I’M DONE Ahhh that little soft version of Sora’s theme WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS KINGDOM HEARTS II.9 SHIT These Instagram-style posts on loading screens are adorable Oh damn, we get a LOT of abilities from the start. And this is on Proud! Dodge Roll, Air Slide, Aerial Dodge (formerly a Master Form ability), plus all the Flowmotion stuff Wow, THREE shortcut menus! 12 total! Wow, and a LOT more control over how allies use items. That can be very useful! Sweet, synthesis materials are back! Water is an interesting new spell. And being able to reorder the Magic menu is nice (though I only use shortcuts). Kinda glad the item art has stayed the same. Also hey, Wellspring is from BBS. And first AP Boost of course goes into Sora, as will they all. WOW USING THOSE IS WAY FASTER NOW Yooo that Underworld music with the Titans’ appearance Take a shot every time someone says “Sora, Donald, Goofy” Sora, Donald, Goofy counter: 1 HERCULES HAS JOINED THE PARTY “Team Effort: Always start battles with a team attack command.” Damn, what are those that this ability is FIFTY AP?! (Are team attacks that move we saw Sora and Goofy do in a trailer? The throw?) I like that tutorials are playable at any time Also I was worried Save Points might not return with that auto save message at the start ALSO THIS IS NIGHT OF FATE PLAYING IN THE COMBAT TUTORIAL Ooh, Panacea art is nice. (Panacea has only appeared as a command in games like BBS and re:coded, so it hasn’t had art before) *reads Ability Ring* Damn, if 10 AP is a SMALL boost, I can’t imagine how expensive abilities are gonna get (well, Herc does have that one 50 AP ability) Ultima Weapon returns, looks like Synthesis recipes are based more on collector’s goals than finding them. Looks like there’s 60 synthesis materials, sounds about right. Ooh, synthesis item rarities, types: soothing and pulsing are from BBS, writhing, betwixt, sinister are new. Looks like everything goes in Shards, Stones, and Gems. Ooh that’s a lot of Heartless. Hey when is Jiminy gonna show up? Gonna need to complete that Journal again. Oooh battle music has bits of the old Coliseum battle music. Sora, Donald, Goofy counter: 2 Environmental fire damage followed by Sora’s butt on fire limiting my actions. Neat. Okay, these have been live reactions so far, but I’m gonna stop doing that because it’s slowing my progress. “What the heck is Rage Form?” “OH. OH THAT’S A THING.” I keep seeing hidden Mickeys, I bet those are gonna be a thing with the camera once I get it. Also damn are they giving me a lot of ingredients for the cooking minigame I can’t play yet. So the biggest thing I’ve noticed about the new combat is that because they give you so many really powerful abilities (grand magic at higher levels, formchanges, attractions, team attacks) that are all basically free (are you hitting things with your keyblade or magic? Can you hit this specific enemy once? Can you wait for your teammate to give you a prompt?), the number of enemies in each fight seems to have SIGNIFICANTLY increased from previous entries. KH2’s level design this is NOT. Lots more nooks and crannies to search. Me approaching the gates of Olympus: “Is this Anor Londo?” Yay nostalgic Coliseum music! And oooh little environmental puzzles are back! Like from KH1! I forged Goofy a new shield! Aaaand playable Riku. I have no idea why they were so dodgy about the second playable character. This is only the third time Riku’s been playable. Anyway, gotta fight the Demon Tower again. Damn, Riku is WAY stronger than Sora right now. Wish I could have read his abilities (and moved shortcuts). Nice emulation of the death screen. Also hot damn, is that Repliku talking??? I guess Riku’s “other me” really could be Repliku. Awwwww yeah, Lea’s getting new clothes too! YEAH JIMINY! “Dream Heartbinder” So Heartbinders must be this game’s summon gems, and this one lets me use Dream Eaters. SORA’S THEME IS THE RINGTONE!!! Ienzo’s here, with a bit of OrgXIII music from CoM. HOLY SHIT THE GUMMI SHIP IS THE BEST IT’S EVER BEEN UPGRADEABLE KEYBLADES?! I guess that makes sense, considering they all have different formchanges. They want all of them to stay viable throughout the game. OH MY GOD, DEMON TIDE HAS SO MUCH HEALTH I guess the bosses have to with all these powerful attacks I have Does Hayner have a new voice? Olette sounds different too. Checked the wiki, all three have different actors. Pence sounds closest to his original though. So judging by the Dusks and Snipers, no more enemy-specific reaction commands. The Ducklings sell Gummi blocks now?? Huh. Whoa wait, the road out of Twilight Town’s Tram Common leads back to the world map? Can I NOT go to the clock tower in this game?? Man, Twilight Town felt really small. Hope the remaining worlds don’t, though they’ve certainly seemed significantly larger than the two I’ve been to so far. Also, totally called the Lucky Emblems, though I’m gonna keep calling them hidden Mickeys. I think Tou Story is my favorite world. Granted, I’ve only been to three, but still. The Gigas are super fun, Woody and Buzz look amazing, and I can’t stop whistling/humming along! AHHH CREEPY DOLL Lol, the Verum Nox poster even has a Square Enix logo. First death, the Gigas battle in the video game. GOD DAMN! WOODY dropping an amazing “The Reason You Suck” speech to Xehanort! “Unless you’re in the ~real~ Organization too? Good for you!” Damn, Sora! Also love hearing that music from Chain of Memories every so often Glad flowmotion’s jump isn’t as level-breaking as it was in DDD. Same goes for the attacks. Wow, so Rapunzel permanently leaves the party. Was wondering they’d just give her a different moveset like with Mulan/“Ping”. This is the first time a character permanently leaves your party. And of course, Marluxia. Who I didn’t think could or would return. And Vexen who rejoined willingly, which is, man. Not something I’d have done. Both Norted of course. And was Saïx missing his scar? Maybe he’s just Isa now. I could tell it was Unversed, and Flood specifically, in that first Monstropolis cutscene just from the sound of them spawning. That’s how I know I’ve put a lot of hours into this series. Monstropolis feels the most linear so far. Arendelle’s ice labyrinth is awesome, the level design gives me some light Dark Souls vibes. I like how there’s zero explanation for Sora, Donald, and Goofy being able to breathe underwater in The Caribbean. And by that I mean I would have liked even just one line to explain it. The ship combat isn’t as good as AC3’s and AC4’s, but it’s still pretty good for a one-world mechanic! The ship is a LOT more responsive than the AC ones. And damn, is this world open. Okay, San Fransokyo is gonna be a pain to search for chests and Mickeys. PRESS TRIANGLE TO SORA IS THE BEST REACTION COMMAND I HAVE EVER SEEN Jiminy telling people about summaries on the gummiphone is Square Enix saying “IF YOU DIDN’T PLAY THE GAMES, READ THE FUCKING SUMMARIES” Giant battle at the start of Keyblade Graveyard was cool, but hurt the frames, especially on the fake shadows. And just as I was getting hyped at the possibility of having Riku and Aqua as party members. Oh hey, just realized Riku’s keyblade has a Mickey keychain now too. “And so, as legend foretold, darkness prevailed and light expired...” “Your hearts will be torn from your bodies” “To move through time, you must leave your body behind.” THE FINAL WORLD?! Wait, Sora’s been here MULTIPLE times?? Okay, so the star talking about the person who’d miss them, whose heart has been taken by another’s? Strelitzia? Talking about Lauriam? Love and hate? Going back for fight after fight? Hm. Cloud or Sephiroth maybe? (Longshot, but it doesn’t sound like a khux character, or anyone else) Identical pair? There’s no twins in this series. Like walking alongside a mirror... maybe it’s not an literal identical nature? Same clothes, same food, maybe Xion?? “Nothing left to teach you”? Damn, that’s not much to go on. Maybe Eraqus’ and Xehanort’s master?? “Just friends... stepped back” Skuld maybe? “I’m gone... they’ve added another member” Could that be Xion? Wait, no, how could Xion be here, she’s still within Sora’s heart. Are these actual named characters we’ve met before? Or not? The one who was defeated and supposed to fade... Repliku?? But he’s with Riku now... Someone searching for their Papa??? Most of the characters in this series don’t have parents at all, so my only guess here is Pinocchio?? No way a Disney character ends up here though. I don’t think all of these are characters we know. Someone holding onto a sliver of memory, and a servant?? Yeah, these could all just have been ordinary people. Naminé?! What happened to Kairi??? Okay, so the darkness split them. KAIRI IS KEEPING SORA FROM FADING AWAY OH MY HEART “GO TO HER” SHE SAYS "That's not the official thank-you!" Lol Damn, this area is fuckin huge, why is it so huge?? A PORTAL?! A DDD PORTAL HERE?! Well this place is rad. I better see that weird Darkside at some point here OOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH OH IT ROTATES THAT'S FUCKIN SICK God damn, this game's got some of the best level design of the series! Is... is this OUR Chirithy? “He doesn’t remember the past”? Although I guess it could be Marluxia/Luxord/Demyx’s too. Or Ven’s. My bet is that it’s Ven’s. DID SORA JUST TIME JUMP BACK A FEW MINUTES??? Aaaand did nothing different. So now we’re world-hopping like we did back in End of the World. OH WHAT IS THIS DIVING INTO STATIONS TO PICK A WORLD?!?! YOOOOOOOO Just Kairi and Lea are left. Haven’t hit San Fransokyo or Twilight Town yet. Guess they must be in those two. Last one is San Fransokyo. Lea must be here. Kairi’s probably gonna be the last. “Traversing hearts to reach worlds” That must be what I’ve been doing here. Not jumping between worlds, jumping between HEARTS. Was Sora just considering telling her he loves her? He should have. Wait, am I back in time? This already happened... OH SHIT! THE LINGERING WILL IS HERE! EPHEMER! OHHHHHHH HO HO WOW! OHHHHHH FUCK! YOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Congrats to all the lucky people who got their names in the game! PRESS TRIANGLE TO UNION X GIANT SHADOW MASTER XEHANORT IS TERRIFYING I like how Axel is holding his keyblade by the guard instead of the handle OH SHIT MASTER YEN SID! YOOOOOO! Okay KH3, I want to fight thirteen bosses now, you hear me? DAMN that Ancient Light finisher on Starlight’s Second Form is STRONG YOOOOOOO THREE BOSSES AT ONCE??? (I really hope this is as tough as they were before, but seeing as Xemnas was harder in 1 than in 2, doubt it) Went to help Mickey first, so I’m taking on Marluxia, Luxord, and Larxene Oh come ooooon, I barely got to fight them! Luxord’s out, 12 to go OH SHIT THE OTHER TWO Larxene’s done, 11 to go. With XI conveniently up next. Marluxia’s defeated once again. 10 left. Hey whatever happened with that comment of their ancient keyblade legacy...? Xigbar... might be gone? So maybe 9 left. Dark Repliku is defeated, and light Repliku gave himself up so the Replica could be used for Namine. That’s sweet. 8 left. YO actual time of day change! I like the door switches. Nice having little environmental things like this. Hm, Kairi and Lea one way, Aqua and Ven the other. Well that’s no contest, gotta go back up my girl Kairi! Mysterious new hooded figure??? Oh. Oh no. I think it’s Xion. D: Yeah. It’s her. *Xion stops Xemnas “YEYEYEYEYEYEYEYEYEYYE YEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH” *Roxas shows up “OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH FUCK” THE WHOLE GANG’S HERE YOOOOOOOOOOO Shout outs to Ienzo, Ansem, Vexen, and Demyx for helping Roxas return! WHY THE FUCK IS KAIRI GETTING KIDNAPPED A-FUCKING-GAIN, NOMURA WHY WAS SHE EVEN TRAINING, FUCK Okay, so Kairi and Lea/Axel are out, BUT ROXAS AND XION ARE IN OH HOLY SHIT, SORA SQUAD FORM UP!!!! I HAD TO STOP AND LISTEN TO THE MUSIC FOR A MINUTE It’s all three of their themes! (Plus a bit of Another Side) THIS IS THE HYPEST SHIT Aww, Saix’s death mirrors Xion’s. AND THE SEA-SALT TRIO REUNITE! Saix is out, 7 left. Xion turned, 6 left. Vanitas fades again, 5 left. I know some people had hoped for a heel-face turn, but I knew it wasn’t likely. WHAT TERRA’S HEART WAS IN ANSEM’S GUARDIAN THIS WHOLE TIME. THAT THEORY WAS RIGHT! Terra-nort’s back to just Terra. 4 left. Just wanna say, I love that it’s Sora who gets to turn the tides of all these fights. Who’s dull and ordinary NOW, huh?? AND he’s still going! Oh boy, time for a triple Xehanort fight! UMMM NINE KEYS (but why are they No Name and not the X-blade?) OOOOOOOHHHHHHH THIS BLEND OF ANSEM, XEMNAS, AND YOUNG XEHANORT'S THEMES Guardando Nel Buio, Darkness of the Unknown, and Impeto l’Oscurito 1V3 ME, I'LL TAKE YOU ALL ON Young Xehanort returns to his time. 3 left. I like how we all agree to pause the fight whenever someone falls. Xemnas fades. 2 left. Ansem as well. Just 1 darkness left. WHAT THE FUCK, KAIRI NOOOOOOOOOOOO AH SHIT HE’S GOT THE X-BLADE AH SHIT HE’S GOT KINGDOM HEARTS Oh hey, everyone’s caught up. Donald: “You can’t do anything without us, Sora.” Me: “Donald, shut the FUCK UP.” Xion: “Kairi will be alright.” Me: “OH THANK GOD” Scala ad Caelum. Stairway to Heaven. It looks like a proto-Land of Departure. But the music is Case of the Foretellers from X Back Cover. Could this place and Land of Departure once have been Daybreak Town? Damn, Dark Kingdom Hearts is over the ENTIRE Keyblade Graveyard now Spooky twelve figures are spooky Why do they have the Organization’s weapons?! I love this return of Destati though They all had a shared HP bar? Scala ad Caelum’s world icon is kinda shaped like a heart Oh wow, full Inception Weird hearing Rage Awakened without the Lingering Will here “There is one sky, one destiny!” “DEEEESTAAAATI!” Ohhhhh shit Shout out to the heart in the floor design though And the figure in the middle has 7 points Classic Xehanort pose from the KH2 secret ending Aaaaand now he’s got ANOTHER Kingdom Hearts! GREAT WHOA HE FORCED ME INTO RAGE FORM DESTATI IN FULL FORCE WHAT A RAD FINISHING BLOW! The canon death screen, the heartbeat, Donald and Goofy calling from my controller! ONE BIG BLAST! So Xehanort sees himself as some sort of white knight? A templar to guide the masses with an iron fist? Yeah, no dice dude. Sora’s right, not your choice to make, and destiny is beyond your control. So Eraqus really WAS with Terra all this time. MARK HAMILL IS BACK!!! Xehanort just hands it over, huh? Wow, closure between Eraqus and his apprentices after all these years Eraqus and Xehanort mimic Sora and Riku from KH2, and pass on. Go get her, Sora. HIKARI ORCHESTRAL Ven met his Chirithy! Lea’s finally wearing his new outfit. Aw, Xion looks good too! And Isa’s here! Naminé is back too! And I bet the Namine/Riku shippers are happy! AWWW They’re all hanging out at Destiny Islands! Look at them all being friends!!! THERE THEY ARE! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT

Epilogue: XIGBAR HAS BEEN LUXU THIS WHOLE TIME?! WHAT WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?! You know while watching Back Cover I was like “Man, the Master of Masters really talks like Xigbar for some reason.” BOY DOES THAT MAKE SENSE NOW So what was it about Ava’s role with the Dandelions that led to her absence here? AND WHAT’S IN THE GODDAMN BOX Is it a Book of Prophecies? Something else entirely? In any case, I doubt Maleficent and Pete would be able to get it away from them all. Secret Ending, “Yozora”: Ooh, “Another Side, Another Story” vibes right off the bat. SORA! And... Riku? Well this is just Japan. Wait, the guy from Verum Rex? And a black coat, who’s probably Xigbar/Luxu or the Master of Masters? After watching, a friend informed me that Riku is in Verum Rex. And Sora’s dead. Cause he’s in TWEWY’s version of Shibuya, since that one building said “104.” But which one is the black coat in? It could be the Master of Masters dead, in Sora’s world. Or Xigbar/Luxu, still watching things.

I have no idea what comes next. But I am excited.

[themattress]

Everything wrong with the series heroines’ scenes in Kingdom Hearts III

Because it is legit fascinating how horrendously sexist this game’s writing is.

SCENE: Kairi and Lea, post-Twilight Town

- "I'm training to become a Keyblade wielder like you".  Right off the bat, we have something wrong. Kairi apparently needs formal Keyblade training in order to be a “real Keyblade wielder’ like Sora and Riku. Except that Sora and Riku didn’t receive formal Keyblade training - it was just fine and dandy for them to pick up a Keyblade, start slinging it, and become a master at it through their adventures. But a GIRL doing the same? Oh no, we can’t have that!

- "That's right. No more waiting for you to come back from your adventures. I want to get out there and do my part to help."  This is bullshit, because this was a development that Kairi already made in KH2! Seriously, talk to her before entering the door to Kingdom Hearts and she outright said “I’m tired of waiting, from now on where one of us goes the other follows!” and the epilogue is framed as if Sora, Riku and Kairi will be going on an adventure together now. But then Nomura and Oka decided “NAAAAH!”, retconned this in BBS’ secret ending by having Kairi meekly agree to just wait behind for Sora and Riku again, and are continuing this degradation of her character here, where she only steps up when Yen Sid calls for her to.

- "I'll admit I was a little scared of him at first, but I've gotten to know him better. All he ever wanted was to help his friend. Honestly, it's hard not to like him." Fuck this. Axel didn’t want to help his friend, Axel wanted to help himself. Roxas, the friend he betrayed, made him feel like he had a heart. Axel wanted that feeling back, and was willing to harm Kairi and Sora to get it back. He was a selfish bastard, and this whitewashing of his character in order to pander to his popularity is disgusting, especially when at the expense of his past victim. The line given to her of “It’s hard not to like him” is especially wretch-inducing. I sure as Hell don’t like him!

- "It won't be easy, but I hope you'll remain the happy and cheerful Sora I know. There's no heart your smile can't reach." Schmaltzy, forced SoKai crap right here. Remember how good and subtle the writing in the original KH was? Where all Kairi needed to say was “Sora, don’t ever change” and that said SO MUCH about her character and her relationship with him?

- "But I won't send it. It's more for me. I just like talking to Sora, even if it's on paper." OK, now you’re just making Kairi and her feelings for Sora look pathetic. In KH2, when she couldn’t remember Sora, she still sent him a letter in a bottle that she wrote, having faith that it would reach him. And now I’m expected to believe she’s too shy to send a letter to Sora now?

- "You're sweat, Lea." God, I think I’m going to be sick!

- "Don't hold back, Lea. Promise?" A contrived line in order to use Kairi for Xion-related angst for Lea to go through. By that same token, Xion is also being used for a man’s development.

- "Call me Axel from now on."  This is so fucked up! A girl tells the older man who once kidnapped her that she’s not comfortable with his constant apologies. The man doesn’t respectfully stop, he instead tells his former kidnap victim that he’ll only stop doing this thing that makes her uncomfortable “one one condition” - that she begin calling him by the name she knew him by when he kidnapped her! WTF!? In what universe is this appropriate!?

SCENE: Aqua and the two Ansems, post-Monstropolis

- "Don't need it!" And thus begins Aqua’s degradation into a joke in this game - she attacks a powerful Heartless without her Keyblade, and shockingly is owned in two seconds flat and turned into a Darkling. There’s being brave, and then there’s being dumb. This...is dumb.

SCENE: Kairi and Lea, post-The Caribbean.

- "Now that she's a part of me again, I figured all was right. But she can't look at this forest, feel the wind on her face, none of it. And if she could, it would be different for her. Her time was short, but she lived it, and that makes it hers. What right did I have to take those feelings and experiences back? They don't belong to me. Nothing's as it should be. Not for her or Roxas."  FUCK THIS. This pisses me off so much. I loved the happy ending of KH2, including for Roxas and Namine. But now it’s been retconned so that it wasn’t a happy ending, that they didn’t retain their individuality from within Sora and Kairi despite what was clearly said and shown in KH2′s ending, and it’s a terrible fate that they must be “saved” from to end their “hurt”. And Kairi is now blaming herself for it - “what right did I have to take those feelings and experiences back”? Oh, I don’t know - maybe you had a right because Namine wanted it and fucking extended her hand to you so that she could rejoin with you!? Remember that!? I guess not, since otherwise the game would remember that it was said/shown that Namine would still exist and be able to experience things and keep hold of her own feelings and experiences. But that might create lots of bonding scenes between Kairi and Namine, and we can’t have that, can we? This series is all about the MALE bonding!

- "Well, you don't have to worry alone anymore, Axel." GAAAAAAAH!!!

SCENE: Anti-Aqua in the Realm of Darkness

- Just...everything. From Anti-Aqua being treated as a villain that must be defeated rather than reasoned with even when the entire breaking speech she gives to Mickey is objectively true and well-deserved, from Sora needing to beat the shit out of her in order to save her, and from the hollow “you’re home” callback to the KH2 ending, with Sora in place of Kairi (are they going for a Sora/Aqua pedophilia ship tease here?) and Kairi herself nowhere in sight, not being a part of rescuing Aqua despite being allegedly her counterpart in the Destiny Trio. At the end of KH2 and even at the end of this game’s opening FMV, we had Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald and Goofy. Thus, Kairi’s absence is glaring (and not for the last time!)

SCENE: Castle Oblivion becomes Land of Departure again

- "Ven's expecting me. I promised to wake him. Said I'd be right back, but I'm not even close. I'm in for an earful." But Ven’s heart wasn’t in his body when you promised that! Why would he remember that promise or be expecting anything from you!? And the way you’re phrasing it (”in for an earful”) makes it sound as if you’re the child and he’s the adult! What the Hell!?

- "Why? Your heart never found its way home?" Did Sora really not tell her!?

- "Sorry, but you've seen me too weak, too often. Now it's my turn to shine." Where to begin? This notorious line is woodenly delivered right before a fight with Vanitas where Aqua is playable. She is saying it to Sora, basically admitting that this is a matter of ego and that she wants to show off in front of him (again, creepy pedophilic ship vibes here). Also, “you’ve seen me too weak, too often”? He literally just met you, and you were pretty damn strong when fighting him as Anti-Aqua! And after the playable fight is over, Vanitas blasts at Ven, Aqua jumps in front of the blast and has time to deflect it with her Keyblade or barrier magic...but she doesn’t, gets knocked out, and has to be saved by Sora and Ven. Weak!

- "Good morning, Ven." Wow, such an emotional reunion! (That’s sarcasm, btw.)

SCENE: Gathering at Yen Sid's Tower before the final battle

- Again, everything. Aqua and Kairi’s interaction is pathetically brief and only revolves around “Hey, remember when we met in BBS? That was a thing.” Plus bringing up the bullshit retcon of Aqua enchanting Kairi’s necklace, Mickey somehow not having pieced together that the little girl was Kairi until now, Lea whining that this talk is taking time away from him and his narcissistic entitlement complex, and more “Roxas and Namine need to be saved” crap.

SCENE: Land of Departure at night

- "It's like I've been part of some big adventure." This scene features Aqua and Ventus. But it’s only about Ventus, and his X connections. Aqua is nothing but a springboard for him.

SCENE: Paopu Tree on Destiny Islands

- "I want to be a part of your life no matter what. That's all." Except that Kairi already IS a part of Sora’s life no matter what. This has been true since the events of the original KH, where she inhabited his heart. The paopu sharing was never meant to be a literal thing to happen when it was conceived, it was symbolic, it was smart writing. This is dumb, and forced.

- "Let me keep you safe." This line isn’t going to have much payoff. In fact, between this and her dialogue in her letter at the very start, it’s sounding a lot like many a poor unfortunate shonen heroine who will pay lip service to getting stronger and helping the boys, and then ultimately proves useless when it comes down to it. Three guesses as to where this is going.

SCENE: Terranort appears

- EVERYTHING. The sheer incompetence displayed by Aqua and Kairi in this scene must be seen to be believed. Both of them have Keyblades, and neither of them use them. Unreal.

SCENE: Kairi brings Sora back

- "The light in the darkness. It was you. You're the one who kept me from fading away." Get it!? Because it’s like the first KH! Where Kairi was the light in the darkness who kept Sora from fading as a Heartless! And the scenery and music is literally straight from the scene where she showed him the memory of her grandmother’s story! ‘Member that fantastic scene? ‘Member? ‘MEMBER? Isn’t this coming full circle? Isn’t this poignant? (No. It’s not.)

- "I feel strong with you, Kairi." This line right here shows the big problem with Kairi in this game - she has nothing to offer for herself, she only has something to offer Sora. She is used for Sora’s role and development, as he says: to make him strong, all while she stays weak. 

SCENE: The Finale

- EVERY FUCKING THING. Larxene implies she was only part of the Organization because of her feelings for a man.  Aqua gets beaten by Terranort and has to be saved by Terra (which on it’s own wouldn’t be so bad, seeing as Sora and Ven are in the same boat, but it’s her last battle in the game after having lost all the other ones and she loses AGAIN). Kairi, after just half a battle as a party member, gets beaten by Xion and then kidnapped by Xemnas. Xion, who only shows up now, is again used as a prop for Lea, then gets beaten down by Xemnas and needs to be saved by Roxas, and then is a pitifully weak party member in the battle against Saix while Roxas is overpowered. Kairi is fucking killed by Xehanort in order to give Sora “proper motivation” and thus achieve his goal, meaning Kairi was more useful to the villain than to the heroes. Xion does nothing but say an out-of-left-field line about something she shouldn’t possibly know. Aqua is basically told by Eraqus that she shouldn’t have been named Master and that Terra should have (”Take care of them” - Eraqus to Terra about Aqua and Ven). Namine only shows up in the last seconds of the game, without any dialogue. And for the final slap in the face, Kairi is resurrected offscreen, only to lose Sora as a result of it.

Amazing. Literally every scene featuring these girls had something to demean them in it. KH3 is the absolute embodiment of the KH series’ woman problem. Hardcore fans can deny it all they want, they can accuse me of being a stupid hater or a killjoy or an SJW or what-have-you, but they cannot change the truth. And the truth is that Tetsuya Nomura is a sexist hack.

[deeeepsteep]

Alright now that I had like an hour or two to process what actually happened I think I can summarize my thoughts and feelings on Kingdom Hearts III...though it may be all over the place lmao

This is full of spoilers and it’s also very long so take that as a warning

This isn’t new and people have been complaining about it all over the internet but LMAO THEY REALLY DID KAIRI DIRTY DIDN’T THEY?????? She and Lea get this ENTIRE FUCKING UNIVERSE THAT’S ALSO SUSPENDED IN TIME so they can train and meet Riku and Sora’s skill levels but we hardly get to see them do anything lmao plus we don’t even get to play as her even though we briefly got to play as Riku a couple times. Also Nomura really pulled a Luna on Kairi and fucking killed her off for the sake of plot development - which shouldn’t be surprising at all because it’s Nomura we’re talking about and this isn’t the first time he’s given a female character the short end of the stuck but whatever, I guess that means he lied to us after all and KH3 won’t be Sora’s final journey...but maybe this also means that this is the beginning of Kairi’s, and the next game will be about her saving him for once???????? I’d like to think that’s what he’s planning but I can’t keep my hopes up because lol it’s Nomura

Now that I think about it, Namine and Xion were kinda useless too. Aqua’s the only female character out of the main roster who really had an impact on the story and actually did shit in KH3 - and even then, she was kind of in a “damsel in distress” kind of deal where Riku and Sora had to save her. I mean, there’s a good reason why they had to save her, but still. Again, I think Nomura just doesn’t have a fucking clue what he’s doing when it comes to writing for female characters lmao

I don’t necessarily think the Sora/Kairi stuff was forced, but I do feel like it was unconvincing seeing as they barely got any screen time together. It was established from the very first game that the both of them have a special bond - whether it’s romantic or platonic I don’t really care lmao, but I can’t deny there’s a unique closeness between them - and it’s reinforced up until KH3 for some reason. Like...suddenly Sora and Riku kinda just forget they’re best friends with her???? And Riku and Kairi didn’t even talk to each other the entire fucking game!!!! Sure, Kairi pretty much saves Sora from death and it’s obvious she’s the “guiding light” in his life but like...........there’s no substance to that at all. At least not in KH3. I dunno. It just felt very hollow to me. There wasn’t any buildup that made their last scenes together look or feel significant. 

Also, I know Roxas and Namine only briefly interact with each other in KH2 but it’s obvious that they still share a strong bond since they’re reflections of Sora and Kairi - so it was weird not seeing them interact in KH3. They promised they’d meet each other again and that they’re looking forward to seeing each other again, but that never fucking happens. It’s almost like at the end, Nomura suddenly realizes he created way too many fucking characters and he’s overwhelmed with trying to find conclusive, happy endings for all of them so a lot of shit just slipped through the cracks during the writing process.

So in the ending, Kairi’s the one that stays and Sora’s the one who disappears. Does that mean the beach scene is set after Sora goes and rescues her????? Nomura decided to fuck things up further in KH3 when he introduced time and space manipulation so literally anything is fair game at this point. I swear to God though if this is a “there’s multiple dimensions” sort of thing I’m going to fly over to Japan and hunt Nomura down myself

Aside from all of that bullshit, the ending was wholesome. Everyone partying on the beach???? Xion and Namine looking for seashells together????? A frisbee game??????? Ven accidentally breaking Donald’s sand sculpture of himself???? So wholesome!!!

Isa coming back to the light and returning to Lea!!!!!! They can finally be the gays we all knew they were meant to be!!!!!!! And they can raise their children Xion and Roxas in peace!!!!

I hope Aqua keeps Terra chained to a basement or something so he doesn’t run out and do dumb shit ever again - other than that I’m so glad the Wayfinder Trio are finally reunited

Soooooo the secret ending shows Sora and Riku in Shibuya????? At first I thought that they were going back to TWEWY but then I saw that Verum Rex dude so idk...but if that’s the case idk how I feel about it lmao, it’s kinda corny. I’d rather we just see them reunite with Neku and the gang - which reminds me, I should really replay TWEWY lmao

I stopped playing KHX a long time ago because the game got boring really quick, but I quickly read up on it so a few things make a little more sense re: The Dandelions, Ava, the Unions, why Ven hugged Chirithy etc. So is Xigbar gonna be the new bad guy now??? ALSO WE NEVER FUCKING FOUND OUT WHAT WAS IN THAT GODDAMN BOX....guess we gotta wait another 17 years for the next game!!!!!!

I find it weird that Corona and Arendelle were basically just re-hashes of the movies, but all the other worlds had their own original storyline that feels more like an add-on to their original sources. I’m assuming there’s a licensing/legal thing with Disney, but it really doesn’t explain much. I thought Elsa would’ve been a fun ally to have; it would’e been neat to see her ice powers in combat alongside Sora. And it’s lame that you lose Rapunzel as an ally after her hair is cut; that would’ve been avoided if Corona got another storyline so that she could develop abilities outside of her magic hair. Meh. 

Toy Story actually was the worst world for me??? The story dragged on a lot longer than it needed to and I got SO bored with the gigas shit. San Fransokyo was my favourite, not just because BH6 is one of my favourite Disney movies but also because the world was JUST SO BIG and I felt like I could spend forever just roaming around the place. It had an open-world feel to it. 

I actually didn’t mind Arendelle so much lmao, the mountain climbing was kinda fun - but I have bad memories tied to Frozen (I worked at the Disney Store when the movie came out so I was forced to put up with the hype, the annoying children, and their unbearably demanding parents...not to mention I had to listen to Let It Go a billion times a day) so that dampened my experience a bit.

Ok all in all the game was enjoyable for the most part. I loved the actual gameplay; the battle system was great and so delightfully chaotic!!! There were like 3249872 things happening all at once and it was so fun. The attractions were annoying sometimes but they’re a quick fix if you’re in a bind so I quickly got desensitized to them, and they finally (sort of) fixed the camera issue by giving you the option to re-centre the camera on Sora when it moves away which I was eternally grateful for.

This is just a jumbled mess and I know I’m leaving stuff out but I’m sure I’ll complain about them later when I remember lmao

KH3....maybe a 7/10??? Idk that feels a little generous. 6.5???

[asiifisms]

so @duskisms is indulging me and asking me about Xig’s betrayal SO. I’m just gonna ramble for a bit, and you’re gonna have to deal with an essay.

(This is going to quickly devolve into a mixture of scene analysis and headcanons, so, this is strictly how my Xig’s handling things, but I do try to stick to canon. I apologise for the word vomit I’m unleashing.)

THIS GOT OUT OF HAND COUNT: 5798 words

TO SAVE TIME, read the ‘plans’ subsection of this ask, ‘cause I’m gonna be referring back to those same scenes a lot, and it’s easier on both of us if I don’t type all that out again.

Long story short, there’s not a ghost of a doubt in my mind that Braigbar’s going to betray ‘Nort. He’s also probably gonna die in the end, but he’s okay with that.

Here’s the thing: He’s not rebelling for himself. He doesn’t really care what happens to him (in fact, he’s planning to die, but, more on that, later). You’ll note that he gives the information that’s likely essential to Xehanort’s fall to Zexion, he said his plans were on track while he was still possessed, but the other apprentices were recompleted, and he keeps himself all but glued to Xehanort’s right hand. Now, I think that the latter is also important to the plan itself, but, again Braig/Xig isn’t rebelling for himself. He’s doing it for the other apprentices - for his friends, the family he never had. If they make it out okay, then, the plan worked.

But let me start at the beginning.

I’m gonna drop a big old bomb on you: Braig was not a bad guy to start off with. Was he kind of an ass? Ab-so-fucking-lutely. Was he a handful? So much so there are no hands in the multiverse big enough to contain him. I know what you’re all thinking: The first time we see him, he’s fighting Terra. Antagonising him, working with Xehanort, all the stops. But, let’s consider the dialogue of that scene. (I talked about it a lot, here, and included a link to the scene on youtube, so, feel free to scope that out)

Specifically, the lines

“I’m just lucky he didn’t steal my heart like Princess– Whatever-It-Was. Heh. That would’ve ruined my week, for sure.”

and 

“So wait- You mean… He’s not the one who stole her heart?”

Braig went into the confrontation(s) with Terra fully believing Terra was stealing peoples’ hearts. We can gather from the entire conversation with Xehanort that he [Braig] has a basic knowledge of what ‘hearts’, in this sense, are - not the literal blood-pumping organ, but, more like a soul, as far as I’ve imagined it. We can also assume he has some idea of what losing it does, since he knows it’s a very bad thing, and he has a basic knowledge of what ‘light’ and ‘dark’ are, in this sense, as well (given that Xehanort speaks as though he expects Braig to understand these concepts, and Braig is in fact able to follow along with the conversation). I’m not entirely sure how much the end of this lil ramble meant, since I can’t pin down how much Braig did or did not know about light, dark, and the nitty-gritty of hearts (in fact, I’d wager BBS is the one game so far he’s utterly clueless in), but, this is a fact that many people (including myself) often gloss over, or don’t realise the impact of.

Braig fought Terra, as I said, believing Terra was ripping peoples’ souls out of their chests. And not just any people, a princess.

Royalty.

So, it follows that Braig, a royal guard, might think, huh, there’s some guy going around with what I understand to be an all-powerful weapon and the ability to cross realities, and he is attacking royalty in a really fucked-up way. I should probably do something about it before he gets at my royalty. 

Whether he [thought he] was protecting King Ansem, or Kairi flexes angst muscles @ kai, or even just the other guards, who would also have had to fight this all-powerful warrior, I can imagine he did a brief calculation and figured someone was going to be a lot safer if he could ‘deal with the problem’ before it got out of hand. So, when the ‘wise old man’ he clearly trusted says ‘We can stop this without involving anyone else, everything will be fine, you’ll be okay’ (’You said I wouldn’t get hurt!’) and, as a bonus if Braig wins, he gets the super weapon and related magic powers, why would he say no? His response would be something along the lines of ‘I’m down. You point, I shoot, man, what’s the plan?’

Like all of the best tragedies, he went into that fight thinking he was the good guy. 

Yeah, he knew he was playing dirty (’not the most polite way to go about it’), but, that didn’t matter, he knew and openly admitted that he wouldn’t be able to beat Terra in a fair fight. He knew the guy was a beast, and that was probably another part of the reason he decided to go with this. From what we’ve seen, Aeleus and Dilan are on door duty at least once in a while. That means. if Terra were to attack RG, those two - Arguably, Braig’s favourite people in the known universe(s) - would be the first to be mowed down by a soul-stealing super soldier. Does Braig think the two of them are strong? ‘Course he does. Does he think they’re keyblade-master strong? He has no idea. For all the little tidbits of info Nort-Report seems to be feeding him, I don’t think Braig really has any idea what a keyblade is actually capable of. He doesn’t know if Aels and Dil would survive an encounter with a keyslinger, and he doesn’t want to run the risk. 

Now, I’m not saying he didn’t have a hand in the pot for his own, selfish reasons.

“All I’m asking is that you hold up your end of the bargain!”

... Definitely implies he thinks he’s getting something, personally, out of this, in my book, and I’ll be damned if he didn’t think he was gonna get a keyblade. (That’s a headcanon I’ve had for years, and I’m sure I’ve explained it over a few posts, but, it’s neither here nor there as to why I think that, right now). But, he absolutely thought he was on the moral end of the scale. He thought he was doing the right thing. After all, Terra was stealing hearts, right?

...

Right?

Now, let’s get into the visuals of the scene, since I think I’ve run the dialogue and such into the ground. (Or, the dialogue relevant to the betrayal point.)

Let’s take a look at visuals. 

I’m lazy as shit with this one, but, look at his face. This is right in the middle of his realisation that Terra wasn’t the one stealing hearts, and look at him. Does he look triumphant to you? Jovial, arrogant, the mildly unnerving Freeshooter we all know and love? No. 

No, to me, he looks angry. He looks visibly upset. That’s not a ‘hell yeah, we did it’ face (even though we could easily argue this is exactly the outcome Xehanort wanted), this is a ‘what the hell have you made me do’ face. And, of course, right before we fade to black, Xehanort grins and chuckles; Braig does not. As I said, I think Braig’s completely clueless for this one game. And he’s just realising that this isn’t what he wanted; This isn’t what he thought it was.

But, hey.

Even Lucifer was an angel before he fell, right? 

The next time we see Braig, he’s antagonising Ven and Aqua, and then fights Aqua, like a good henchman.

But wait, can we get a screen cap comparison?

Well, no, but we can compare icons!

Here’s Braig, right after the Terra fight:

(him so sad ;n;)

Now, let’s get a close-up on his eyes.

Those are his eyes. Big, beautiful, warm puppy-dog brown eyes. 

...

Eye.

Whoop.

But, now, let’s get a look at his face during the Aqua fight:

And, enhance...

Little more...

That’s right, he’s fucking possessed. Braig goes from fighting Terra because he thinks Terra’s the bad guy, to questioning and even openly defying Xehanort, only backing off when threatened with death, to going blithely along with his plans because Xehanort frickin’ body-snatched him.

No, I’m still not over this.

Yes, I’m taking this as further evidence that he’s not on board with Xehanort’s plans. (Yes, I know I’ve used it, before.)

I also wanna go on a brief sidebar here, and say that Braig got ‘Norted before he lost his heart. I believe, aside from Xemnas, he’s the only one we see this happen to. I also think this is why Xigbar and Braig look so different, since in the 2.5 secret ending (link to that clip in the Plans post I mentioned at the top, if you wanna give it a scope), he’s back to himself, mostly, in terms of looks, and then shortly after, he’s Nobody’d again, and back to having long hair, looking older, etc. When he’s recompleted, he’s going back to the form that was just ‘Braig’; Even if he has Xehanort’s heart shoved in his chest, that was his body first. But Xigbar? Xigbar’s form was created from removing the horrific amalgamation of both Braig and Xehanort’s hearts from the same person. When he says he’s ‘half Xehanort’, I don’t think he’s just talking about possession (though he absolutely is at least half Norted), but he means he, as Xigbar, is literally tempered from Braig’s heart and Xehanort’s heart - two halves to make a whole nobody. Like a Steven-Universe style fusion, but like seven times more ungodly than most of them. Or maybe like a more stable Malachite. (Another reason why I think Xig has the potential to be the singlemost terrifying person in the series, if he wanted.)

I’m getting off topic here.

Anyway, back to Braig’s revenge plans. It’s my personal headcanon that Braig’s not really... Lucid, in the beginning stages of the possession. We can see a few bits of this in canon - like, he makes such a big deal about not being collateral damage, then in the Aqua fight seems totally fine with throwing himself into battle with Aqua to buy Xehanort time?? I mean, like I said at the top, this is gonna devolve pretty quickly into headcanon material, and this is about the point where that happens, but, I dunno, he just seems really- Off, to me, from this point on. Way too happy to go along with things, too eager to just run off and isolate himself with Terra/Apprentinort, all that. 

You know when I think we see the ‘real’ Braig again? When he seems to break through the haze of darkness, goes back to the mouthy, but lovable, if not somewhat of a twat, guardsman, when he starts questioning Xehanort, noticing that things aren’t adding up, looking like he’s about to throw down the freaking guantlet and thunderdome it right there?

Right here, when he gets his heart stolen.

More specifically, right before that, when Even and Ienzo are fading. When the other Apprentices got hurt, that seems to snap Braig out from under Xehanort’s thumb enough to try confronting him again (Worth noting that himself getting hurt, ie the fight with Aqua, didn’t do it. It was the others getting drawin into the line of fire that woke him up). Didn’t work, but hell, boy put in a good effort. Another part of my headcanons that are pretty much gospel for this blog and my portrayal of this muse is that Braig loved the other Apprentices more than anything. Even, Aeleus, Dilan, and Ienzo were kind of all he had in the family department - and yeah, he low-key secretly thought of them as family. Did they get on each others’ nerves? Hell yes. Did he do the majority of nerve-trodding? Well, he thinks he did, at least, and he does have a talent for it. But, those four were still his people, and he adores them endlessly. And Xehanort took them from him. Xehanort hurt them (and, as it becomes more clear to him, as his brain adapts to the darkness, he realises, he hurt them, too. This is his fault.)

Also, can we stop here a second, again, so I can talk about something? This scene, right here, is further proof to me that Braig was not a bad person. 

We know what Darkness looks like, in the KH sense, when it’s manifested in its purest form.

It looks like this.

And this.

And also this.

(one of these things is not like the other)

For bonus comparison, I went and looked up what it looks like when someone with a Dark heart gets Keybladed - Maleficent, specifically, since we know she’s steeped in the stuff. (Darkness, I mean. Not Keyblades. ... Maybe Keyblades too. Depends on where in the story you are.)

(three cheers for awful cap quality amirite)

Meanwhile, look what’s happening with Braig when he loses his heart.

Look how bright that is.

Look how much light was in this poor boy’s heart.

Look at how pure and bright and warm and good Braig had the potential to be, how his heart literally shines with this white sort of halo-esque deal, even after being possessed by Xehanort for a good deal of time. I dunno how long, exactly, but I imagine it took a bit of time between Braig’s first intro as a ‘Nort, to Terranort becoming Apprentinort and one of Ansem’s Trusted, to this. 

Look at that, though. There was a beacon in this kid’s chest. He was like a maglight. (I love him so much someone hold him and tell him he’s worthwhile for once in his life)

Anyway. Again, that was a bit off-track, so, back to the facts. 

Braig loves the other Apprentices. Whether you wanna take it as romantic, or platonic (it’s usually platonic, here. Emphasis on usually, though [eyyy Jess B)]), he loves ‘em. And this bright-hearted young man, who, as I said, maybe kinda did want to get something out of it for himself but also wanted to keep his home safe, just realised that he’s destroyed everything he cared about. 

His home is destroyed.

His friends are worse than dead.

And, as far as he’s concerned?

It’s all his fault.

But damn if he’s gonna take this lying down. 

But, he’s learned that openly challenging Xehanort gets him nowhere. The first time he tried? Keyblade to the throat, then possessed. Second time? Keyblade to the chest, heart stolen, homeworld destroyed. Like, how’s your streak going, there, bud? Not good, it seems. And, you know what? He’s not putting those four at risk, again. 

He knows a bit about hearts, and he knows a bit about keyblades. Not a lot, I don’t think; But enough. Probably a bit more than he did to start with, thanks to Ansem and the Apprentices’ research on the subject. All the experiments, and stuff? He had moments of clarity, not enough to realise what was wrong, but, he’s a curious guy, he did some poking around. He also knows that Xehanort will tell him exactly enough to stay useful, and to help the Old Coot’s plans along in the most seamless way possible. As Xehanort’s right hand, he’ll learn as much as he can. As his henchman, his flunkie, his assassin, his loyal tool to use and discard as he sees fit, Xigbar will learn, and be trusted with access to, things he would never be able to get his hands on, otherwise. As a recon and stealth-ops specialist for the Organisation, the same is true. The worlds are his oyster, and damnit if he’s not diving for pearls. 

And, what do you know? He finds one.

A few of them, in fact. 

Most notably, a way that the others can be made whole, again. 

The reason he’s not too torn up about Castle Oblivion? He wanted it to happen. He wanted members 3 through 6 to bite it. That was the plan, that was how they’d go back to being ‘whole’ again. He knew enough to know being whacked around by a keyblade wasn’t too bad, and, he sure as hell couldn’t off them, himself - Too risky. Too many ways it could go wrong. But if they’re ‘gone’, they’re safe from Xehanort, and they’ll be ‘themselves’ again. ... He wouldn’t be too happy if he learned what Axel had done, though. Not happy at all. 

But, before I get side-tracked again, I do very much think he wanted the others to recomplete. Like I said, his revenge isn’t for himself. Why? Well, there are two reasons, and they kind of go hand-in-hand. 

First, let’s go back to the 2.5 secret ending (also linked in the Plans post, way up there). 

In this scene, all of the boys are recompleted, and I, personally, am so happy for them. With the exception of the littles (Ienzo, Lea, Isa) growing up, they all seem to look like themselves.

Well.

All of them except for Braig.

Because, when we see Braig in this scene, what does he look like?

(Skipping right to the point with a close-up on his eye)

That’s right, even right after recompletion, he’s still possessed. Maybe that’s cause he went and got Norted again, but, I don’t think so. I think it’s because, like I mentioned, earlier, Xigbar was made from Braig’s heart, tainted with Xehanort; So, when he ‘recompletes’, he recompletes as Braig, tainted by Xehanort. There’s no way out, for him. I mean, the good news is, he’s adapting. He’s used to it enough that he can think and act with some degree of freedom, but, he’s still possessed. There is no ‘out’ for him until Xehanort is gone; and Xehanort can’t be ‘gone’ until Braig is, as well. (He thinks so, anyways.) So, his revenge isn’t for himself because he doesn’t think it’s possible for him to escape. He’s doomed to carry a part of the Old Coot with him, potentially forever. 

The second reason his revenge isn’t for himself is because he wants Xehanort gone. He doesn’t care what it takes, he wants the Coot wiped from existence. And despite the fact that I’d argue Xig is one of the most powerful people, magically, in the series (physical reality is his playground, it’s amazing), he knows he doesn’t stand a chance. If he tried ti take the old guy out, he’d be dead. No, he’s come to put a lot of faith in prophecy, these days, one way or another; The Seven Lights have to fight the Thirteen Darknesses for the whole thing to come to an end. And there has to be thirteen of them. If Braig could get out of those ranks, he wouldn’t. Why? Because, as Xehanort’s right hand, not only is he learning things, like I mentioned above, but he’s manipulating things. He’s in the prime position to tug along the puppet strings and make it so the old man falls. If he’s one of the Seekers of Darkness, he can wreck things from the inside, and make sure Xehanort gets taken down - and himself with him, since, again, he carries traces of Xehanort inside his heart, no matter what he does. 

He knows he’s expendable.

It’s one of the only things Xehanort told him that stuck. 

He’s expendable. nobody would miss him if he was gone. They don’t need him, any more. 

That so, old man?

Fine, then. 

He’ll be expendable.

He’ll let himself be cast aside and thrown away, he’ll throw himself under the bus, but he’s dragging you down, with him. He’ll let himself be obliterated, and he’ll cling to that shred of you that leeches off of him, and make sure neither of you ever see the light of day, again. 

If he lets himself be one of the Darknesses, and lets himself be killed, then, Xehanort won’t be able to hurt anyone else, ever again. 

Let me quote two of my favourite musicals, to help sum up Braig’s attitude (because I find lyrics really helpful for getting this sort of thing across):

The entire end-section of ‘Twisted’, from the musical of the same name, by Team Starkid, actually sums Braig up really hecking well:

What remains of a man, when that man is dead and gone? Only memories and stories of his deeds will linger on But if a man's accomplishments aren't in the tale they tell Are the deeds that go unheralded his legacy as well? If a war breaks out tomorrow, we'll all have hell to pay Why protect my reputation? I'm a dead man either way How will they tell my story? How will they tell my tale? Will anybody even care? The question then is whether 'tis nobler in the mind To be well liked but ineffectual, or moral but maligned? I'll never be a hero! All the citizens adore But if I hide to save my life What has my life been for? What has my life been for? The road ahead may twist, but I will never swerve I'll give them all the unsung anti-hero they deserve I've nothing left to lose So the only path to choose is twisted Let them twist my words, let the people scorn me Who cares if no one will ever mourn me? Let them bury the side of the story they'll never learn Let the truth be twisted Let my life be twisted I'll be twisted It's my turn...

But, if you want a shorter one? The start of ‘Dead Girl Walking (Reprise)’ from Heathers also sums it up nicely:

I wanted someone strong who could protect me I let his anger fester and infect me His solution is a lie No one here deserves to die Except for me and the monster I created Yeah! Yeah! Heads up, J.D., I'm a dead girl walking! [ALL BUT VERONICA] Hey, yo, Westerberg! [VERONICA] Can't hide from me, I'm a dead girl walking! [ALL BUT VERONICA] Hey, yo, Westerberg! [VERONICA] And there's your final bell It's one more dance and then farewell Cheek to cheek in hell with a dead girl walkin'!

(The chorus’ lines stricken out ‘cause they’re not relevant)

I mean, the difference here is, Braig didn’t want Xehanort to protect him, he wanted strength himself. But, the rest of it (pronouns/gender/names/etc aside)? That’s Braig to a T as things spiral towards the war. The Darknesses dying is the only way to get rid of Xehanort, and he can only make sure that happens if he’s one of the Darknesses. 

So, sure, he’ll be expendable.

Making him that way was Xehanort’s biggest mistake. 

Because, let’s face it, he took everything from Braig, and I mean everything. He doesn’t have a home, any more - Even if RG is rebuilt, do you really think he could go back? He doesn’t. He doesn’t have anyone who’d want him there - After everything he put them through, how could his friends even look at him again? It was because he was too foolhardy, he didn’t look hard enough, he didn’t do this or that or some other thing that they went through over a decade of Hell, so, they obviously want him gone, right? And his dad? Well, they never got along, even before Xehanort, he’ll probably be happy Braig’s gone (Wrong, Eadric was devastated by his son’s death, but Braig has no way of knowing that). He doesn’t have his own heart, any more. He barely has his own name. And, even if he is recompleted, even if there’s a day he were to wake up with those same brown eyes that melted so many hearts back in the day, he’s never going to even have his own face again. Never. He’s never going to be able to look in a mirror and see anything other than a mistake. The marks of what Xehanort did to him - No, what he did, marks of his own failure, his own damnation, his own idiocy, for lack of a better word, will be forever scarred into his face. 

He will never see ‘Braig’ again. 

He will never be ‘Braig’ again.

And that, you see, was Xehanort’s downfall. 

And before I elaborate on that point any more, let me just say he’s grateful, in a sick, masochistic sense, that at least some of the other Apprentices seem to hate him. Ferret’s Lexaeus, especially, though Zexion, in the cutscene I highlighted in that first ask, seems irritated and eager to get away from him, too. And, again, he’s grateful. 

It’s easier to play the part, that way, to keep the isolation game going and keep them out of the loop, but, beyond that, it stops Xehanort from acting too suspicious. It stops them from looking like collateral. If it looks like he still cares about the others, they could be used against him. Maybe they still will. But it’s a lot less likely if they all look like they don’t... Necessarily want anything to do with each other. (He savoured any moment of companionship he could get out of them, though. It was nice to have someone.) It’s a lot less likely when he gestures to their fallen forms and seemingly offers them up - “Which poor soul will it be?” - Even if, and I’m convinced on this, everything, right down to the gesture itself, was planned to draw attention away from the four of them in the most subtle manner possible. It also makes it easier for him to come to terms with what he needs to do, because, again, they don’t want him back. It;s not like he’ll be disappointing anyone if he stays. 

Remember that post I made, a while back? 

This one, right here? 

At first glance, it seems pretty relatable, huh? I hate waking up, too, Braig, I gotcha. But, no, that’s not it. The problem isn’t ‘Braig’s not a morning person’ (He’s not, but, not the problem). The problem is, he’s not supposed to be able to wake up. He’s not supposed to be alive. 

Like I said above, he planned to die. He didn’t see any future for himself, and he’s basically Xehanort’s horcrux, so, waking up at the end of it all? It doesn’t make sense. He’s supposed to be dead. The plan was that he would be dead. He’s not lucid enough to figure out what’s so wrong about being awake, but, there’s something very bad about it, and when he wakes up fully, he’s gonna be a mess. He’s been sticking to the plans he’s made for over a decade, and now he’s awake, and things aren’t following those plans, and nothing makes sense any more and he’s not even sure who he is, and it’s awful. It’s a really bad time for him. (He’s also just. Not likely to stick around RG after that, at least for a while, but that’s a story for another post.)

This is another sidebar, because I’m bad at staying on one topic for any too long, but I gotta say, recompletion for Braig? It was probably one of the worst physical moments of his life. Would’ve been very difficult for him, since, he didn’t have his whole heart, even as a ‘somebody’. Xehanort took that from him. With Xehanort gone, the hold on his heart is gone, as well (Or, I like to believe so; Braig’s not convinced), so, he’s gotta re-grow the damaged bits, or however that works, before he’s gonna be back to himself. It’s an awful, awful process, and that’s not even considering the Nort Withdrawal, which Aaron and I discussed before, but. I don’t have the post for that, so, just lemme know if that’s a thing people want to hear about.

But!

Back to the plans. 

When I say Xehanort fucked up by taking everything from Braig, I mean it. Way back when, Braig had things keeping him moral. He had things he wanted to protect, and wanted to fight for, and wanted to go back to, but now? Everything is either means to an end, or the end goal. He literally cannot afford to stay ‘good’, either because it would compromise his plans, or because of Xehanort’s influence, or a mix of the two. Usually a mix. To quote one of my favourite The Adventure Zone characters (and I’m not saying which one or which arc, because Erika is reading and I’m not spoiling it for her):

“I don’t care. The world is ending, and I don’t give a shit.”

At this point, he’s given himself to Xehanort. He’s killed. He’s lied, cheated, manipulated, and who only knows what else. And he’s done it all with a smile. Not all of it is playing a part, either; The darkness, the wariness, everything’s been weighing down and crushing him. He’s too broken down to care.

No matter what he does, he doesn’t care. 

All that matters is that his home winds up safe, and his friends/brothers/family go back in one piece. 

It doesn’t matter to him if anyone else gets hurt. He’s taken the phrase ‘you can’t save everyone’ to heart. 

Would it be great if he could get everyone safe? YES. That’d be amazing. He’d love shoving it in the old man’s face. But, he’s making compromises and sacrifices for those four. That’s all that matters. (A nice contrast to Sora, I think, who seems willing to sacrifice himself, but only himself, to save everyone, but, I don’t write him, so feel free to correct me.)

He’s so tired.

He’ll keep going, keep fighting, keep doing his self-given duty, but, the longer it goes on? The more he just wants it all to end. I think, by the end of DDD (especially after the ‘my friends are my power’ scene, that took a tole on him), he’s kind of looking forward to the battle? Just so he can rest. He’s tired.

And, you know what else makes me think he’s planning his own downfall, on top of Xehanort’s?

His most explicit acts of defiance, post BBS, all involve him giving the power to somebody else. Which you could argue is a great show of character growth from the ‘ooh let me have the all-powerful weapon this is good’, but, it’s not the best, ‘cause he’s still stringing people along, playing them all like fiddles, making them do what he wants, etc etc. 

But, when he knows how to find Ventus and Aqua, does he use that knowledge, himself? No, he tells Zexion, so Ienzo can put that knowledge to use, later. He absolutely knew more than he was letting on with Namine’s escape, and he let her go, I’m convinced (and then redirected the attention to Saix, low-key calling him out on the fact that Isa’s probably still in there and/or Saix can’t be trusted). Namine was the key to waking Sora up. Sora, the main protag, the brightest light we know. Also, she was responsible for sending Roxas and Xion* back to Sora’s heart - Getting the two wild-card keyblades away from Xehanort, so they’re left without those very powerful weapons under their control. Kinda nasty way to go about it. IMO (’but what can ya’ do?). He really didn’t put a lot of effort into taking Xion out (I mean, granted, she kicked his ass hard, that wasn’t him playing around, that was actually ‘oh shit, where did she go, OH SHIT WHAT’), but, he never fired a single shot. Axel comments on it, too. 

A: “The old man needs to get his eye checked. She just got away.”

X: “I’ll give him that. Can’t toss the blame around.” 

(That scene is here, by the way.)

All of this is to guide other people into helping and creating the seven lights. Unless you’re Zexion/Ienzo, nine times outta ten, you have zero reason to think Xig’s anything other than a loyal Nort. He wants the lights to form up. He doesn’t want it explicit he’s helping them (unless he has no other choice, a la Chamber of Repose/Chamber of Waking with Zex). He’s guiding along the keyblade war, but he’s making it so the Seekers are going to fail. 

He’s expendable.

This is all his fault. 

And he thinks he knows how to make it right.

(*I will say that his motivation on this one can have a double-meaning, depending on verse/thread. Like if it’s with @lostinmemory‘s Xion? There’s definitely the added bonus of her being safe in Sora’s heart, so they can’t keep doing increasingly fucked up things to the poor girl in the Organisation. ... Not that he remembers, afterwards, but, hey. Thought that counts, right?)

Anyway, this is long enough, so! If there’s any points you want elaborated on more, just hmu. <3