#and Sora is 4 when we meet him in Destiny Islands

[rosie-kairi]

You know watching that clip of Roxas wanting to know the truth of his origins I can't help but laugh nervously like oh Roxas sweetheart honeybun trust me you do not want to know because the truth is so much worse than he thinks in canon.

Cause you think it's pretty simple right? Sora gives up his heart thus Roxas is born. Oh but he looks like Ven? Well makes sense Ven was released alongside Sora's heart and made its way to Roxas. But then we have to get to the how and why they ended up like that in the first place. Cause if you think about it too long like I did you realize jesus christ the road to Roxas creation was paved with blood and mass murder O_O

In order for Roxas to be born Ventus has to be in the future (present? whatever time travel is wonky) and he has to end up alone in the keyblade graveyard and be abused for a year by xehanort and then get dumped on the destiny islands to die. But before that we have to go back to the age of fairy tales when Ven is a union leader traps an original Darkness within himself nearly dying in the process and everyone figures out that MoM essentially is using them as live bait to trap the other darkness' and leave the dandelions to die. But before we get to that we have to go back a year to when MoM purposefully sowed the seeds of discord amongst his apprentices so their friendship would fracture and the fissures would go to the unions causing everyone to turn on each other. Tensions start rising and before we know it a full blown war breaks out and thousands of children are sacrificed as they cut each other down and MoM is just off to the side watching all this like, "yeah this is an acceptable turn of events I am absolutely okay instigating the slaughter of thousands of innocent children and destruction of the world to defeat darkness this is indeed a worthwhile and good plan :)"

But before even that we have to go to like 10 minutes before (well 2 years and 10 minutes before I guess) because Strelitzia was meant to be a union leader but she was obsessed with player and wanted to save them from the keyblade war, and Darkness chose her to be a necessary sacrifice by taking advantage of a little boy's pain and loneliness and swapping their places. Had they not done that Ven likely would've died in the keyblade war meaning none of the following events post war would've played out the way it needed to for Roxas to exist.

So going back to Sora his heart joins with a traumatized and dying Ven as a newborn saving him. Then 4 years go by and Ven seeks sanctuary with Sora after almost dying again. This puts Sora within Xehanort's path and Sora's world eventually falls. His love and conviction for his friends keeps him going but he ends up having to fight his best friend seemingly to the death and has to essentially kill himself to wake up the love of his life not even sure if he'll survive what he's about to do. So before he dies he gives one last big grin and prepares to meet his fate like Ven has before him. And it is the release of Kairi and Ven's wounded heart that leads to Roxas being born.

All it took was a megalomaniac keyblade master deciding yeah the painful death of thousands of children and countless worlds plus the death of a few hundred is absolutely worth trapping darkness but his plan goes a bit sideways and the union leaders escape and manage to build back some of the world that inevitably leads Xehanort to his own crazy scheme and the egging on of the hidden 6th apprentice also manipulating things behind the scenes and destroying the innocence and lives of two innocent boys who only ever wanted to be with their friends and live their lives with them. And we still haven't fully touched on Vanitas which is a different can of worms. If even one bad thing deviated or didn't happen no Roxas. So everything had to go perfectly wrong for everyone for him to be here.

So yeah Roxas are you sure you wanna know where you came from or why? Are you sure you want to burden the full knowledge when even the one's who paid the price currently don't? Is it really worth it Roxas? Is it?

The sheer amount of events in the Kingdom Hearts timeline that exists solely due to an insane domino effect the likes of which humanity has never before seen is frankly ridiculous.

What if Baldr never succumbed to darkness and killed every single one of his friends except Xehanort and Eraqus (and BragiLuxu)? Xeha and Eraqus would've never had their views of Darkness vs Light twisted so much that they became extreme extremists. Without Xehanort doing his. thing. the entire plot of "current day" Kingdom Hearts would not have happened. Same thing goes for the what-if of Xehanort never leaving Destiny Islands.

Similarly, what would've happened if the Destiny trio never left Destiny Islands/DI never fell to darkness in KH1?

What if Strelitzia never died and got replaced by Ven? Or, what if one of the other Union Leaders was killed by darkness? What if the Foretellers never fought each other?

Of course, this all leads back to "what if the Master of Masters wasn't who he is as a person."

Roxas is the culmination of hundreds, if not thousands of years of bloodshed and interfered destiny all represented by a singular teenage nobody who eats a lot of ice cream and cares a lot about a lot of different things (most of all, his friends)

[missingmywing]

Me: /sees today's yesterday's prompt

Me: /maniacal cackling

Me: YOU FOOL, YOU’VE ACTIVATED MY TRAP CARD

aka AUs, Time Travel, and identity shenanigans are my biggest interests in any fandom at all so KH drew me in for a reason. This will be fun. Enjoy or suffer through my rambling about my main AU. I apologize for the length, but there’s a reason I had the immediate reaction I did.

Also sorry it’s a day late, yesterday was thesis presentations and then I was dragged out to drinks and karaoke after by my classmates so I didn’t have time to finish this.

@khoc-week Day 4: Alternate Universes

Hahahaha my first KH au I made when I was 15 and then spiraled WILDLY out of control after KHUX finished and DR happened.

So this au started as one of those “what if someone from our world died and reincarnated as a main character” fics that were so popular in the 2010’s, but over time it changed significantly. The main premise is still the same, girl from our world dies to a Heartless that really shouldn’t have been there and her heart makes a conveniently timed connection with Ven, and then reincarnates as Sora. Except it’s not quite as convenient as it seems because Kingdom Hearts itself is meddling.

Because her heart was actually Etheria’s.

This is my biggest KH au that’s lasted almost ten years now, it’s extremely self-indulgent and I keep making adjustments to it as we get new info, but I think I have it plotted out solidly. It’s also the one that’s technically canon to my keykids.

So, KHUX happens as it does, no real changes beyond Etheria and Ephemera finishing up Game Central Station together and coming back to Daybreak Town in time to trigger the finale. Etheria traps the darknesses in the tunnel, they wound her fatally, she dies holding Chirithy, etc.

The change comes with what’s next. Because Nomura BAITED US and I had an entire year to sit on my plans before the Dark Road finale dropped and ruined them all, and I decided “screw it, I can work around this”. And kind of. Threw out canon to a degree.

Yiskah is reincarnated after the Keyblade War as the Missing Link protag, so whatever reveals we get there will be his story. Etheria reincarnates as Xehanort, because I had PLANS NOMURA. So ML happens, Yiskah takes Xehanort to Destiny Islands, all of this will probably follow canon pretty closely. Dark Road also happens as canon, Xehanort having Etheria’s heart doesn’t really change much because these events “need” to happen. Whether it’s Darkness pulling the strings or KH itself… who knows. But DR happens pretty much as canon, and the post-events are where we get our first major split into AU territory.

When Xehanort goes on his lonesome trip around the worlds, trying to gain perspective, it starts as canon with him meeting MoM. But afterwards, when he returns to the Keyblade Graveyard, it’s not the Master of Masters that’s waiting for him but our single unaccounted for Darkness. His trip through the worlds was supposed to make him fall to darkness, make him decide to recreate the war, but because he has Etheria’s heart he… doesn’t. So Darkness takes matters into its own hands and tries to take him over. Naturally he fights back, refuses to let it, so it decides the more optimal route would be to simply remove that problematically light heart and simply claim his body for itself and pretend to be him.

So that happens. He dies, and it’s Darkness in his body who returns to Scala to take the Mark of Mastery with Eraqus, and kick off the next phase of canon.

Etheria/Xehanort’s heart ends reincarnating as a girl on a sort of… reflection of our world, losing their memories upon reincarnating as is supposed to happen, and growing up to be a fan of a certain video game series until dying to a Heartless who was drawn specifically to their heart because Events Are Happening (Ven just got his heart broken and Kingdom Hearts needs someone to go fix it, and who better than an old friend and its valiant champion? Etheria surviving the Keyblade War and her heart touching KH directly in the process was not a good thing for her, just to point that out.) So her heart comes in contact with Ven, shares part of it to fix his, and in the process kind of breaks the usual reincarnation rules so she keeps her memories of this past life, and the thus the memories of the Kingdom Hearts game series.

So at this point: Alana becomes Sora and knows absolutely nothing about being Etheria or Xehanort, but does remember being from “our world”. The Xehanort of this AU is just Darkeness using his identity to push the plot it read in the Book, because that’s What’s Supposed To Happen. For the sake of ~Drama~ I’m going to say she’s caught up to canon for everything except the Final Update of KHUX. To everyone who remembers that cliffhanger they did between the first half of the finale and the second… yeah. Imagine dying and reincarnating into that universe missing HALF THE FINALE OF KHUX and over half of Dark Road. It is endlessly frustrating to them, Ven, and Vani. 

From here canon… happens similarly, but also different.

KH1 has Riku being possessed much earlier because Sora convinces him to come back, and Maleficent and Ansem SoD don't like that. Kairi and Ven are both awake and helping, so there's that. Kairi is part of the final battle as an active keyblade wielder, even if she gets pulled home after.

CoM happens very differently because Vanitas is awake with Ven gone in Roxas, so he's Solana's companion while Namine can see Alana's memories and knows far more than she should because of it. She finds so many loopholes to allow Alana to keep memories of CoM, even if Sora's have to be broken later.

KH2 has Xion and Roxas awake and joining Ven and Vani, and things get loud. Roxas takes every chance to try to fight the Organization, drive forms are between the Heart Hotel rather than Donald and Goofy, and Kairi joins the party halfway through after kicking Axel through a wall. She joins them for the final fight against Xemnas too, and then opens the portal for them home.

Solana is busy having a guilt-induced breakdown about their parents never coming back from the islands falling to darkness to participate in Re:Coded, but they do meet the apprentices and start making peace between them and the Restoration Committee when they show back up. They and Ienzo get along... really really well, to their surprise.

DDD is a mess, because the dream world gives the Heart Hotels bodies and they are actively participating in the Mark of Mastery along with Sora, Riku, and Kairi. Ienzo was paranoid enough to make a secondary link with Solana before it started, so when Yen Sid lost contact with them Ienzo could make link so they could see everything happening. Canon happens and it SUCKS. Solana has much trauma from YMX.

KH3 is wildly different, because People Know Things, and Death Deities Are Weird Around Solana (aka Hades and Persephone are closer to their myth forms, and make a deal with Solana about nine death avoidances for a favor, so they only use the power of waking once at the end rather than to save everyone), and Aqua and Ven are rescued before Arendelle so they've got half the game to catch their breath before the war.

And because Darkness is Xehanort, the scene with Eraqus is very different because Solana flat out steals the keyblade from Xehanort at the end of their battle - the same way Riku does from Sora in KH1 - and stabs him with it. No soft scene here, just murder. Eraqus does show up, reassuring Aqua and Terra, but Kairi and Ven swapped places in this AU as the sacrificial being of Pure Light, so... it's much rougher on the Wayfinder Trio. Solana gets him back, though, ala canon, but that's the tenth revival after the first nine so they will disappear eventually, it just won't be immediate since they only did it once. Gives them time to hang out, get Ienzo to put some cameras in the Graveyard to catch the Foreteller meetup, do a heart dive to figure out their weird dreams and accidentally get their memories of KHUX and DR both back to the shock and horror of everyone, and then disappear.

I want you to know that this is the short version, because the longer version accidentally turned into a plot outline.

[kingdomcarrots]

So whatcha think of that khdr ending 👀

Okay, beware everybody SPOILERS TIME.

Ngl I expected the worst sooo the ending was fine to me! I expected everyone to die except our chessboys but maybe not that ruthlessly. Thanks gods there was this long waiting so my heart was in peace. I don’t think I’d have been that calm if they had released the chapter one by one like before fjgkfkf

Baldr was no a surprise too. How a clingy baby boy like him could have coped so easily the lost of his sister? Nice move Darkness!

I’m happy that Nomura says that he want to tell more about the upperclassmen in another media ‘cause…

THEY ALL PERFECT. WE SEE SO FEW OF THEM BUT I LOVE THEM VERY MUCH AAAA

ESPECIALLY YOU HELGI.

Do you sense that strong himbo energy? AH! DELICIOUS.

Very fond of Claude Vidar too. The Pre-Xehanort! Heart too soft to go this far for summoning Kingdom Hearts, you tried babe! So, that’s why he shares some features with Xehanort? Dark skin, almost gold eyes…? Eh. [shrug]

I’m glad we know who was the mysterious dude on DI, raising a child by their own one a tiny island (btw, didn’t DI has MAIN ISLANDS? I know “to protect from Darkness“ blabla but srly? It’s a PLAYGROUND FOR KIDS. So then -gasp- the caban and so on were their doing and not Sora and co… omg it gonna be meta again. We built OUR PLAYGROUND) buuuut I’m also a bit disappointed haha I liked the “WE WERE XEHANORT ALL ALONG“ thing 8D

Thinking that I was joking about that very page in the Ultimania book back then “aww what a nice family portrait!” L O L Thanks Nomura for the hint. Now, BRING US MORE ABOUT ERAQUS TOO. He’s like what he says: There’s more to light than meets the eye. I knooooow iiiiiit.

Pretty sad about Xehanort hearing “you’re the Child of the Destiny“ “you’re the Chosen One“ to realize that no, you’re not, it’s Sora the Chosen One. And thus, bequeath the X-blade to him at the end of KH3. You’ve followed the dark road sweety, thinking it would be the only way. Maybe you could have been that Child following the other way… Like Anakin and Luke. The father failed but the son succeeded. The son was the real hope. …father and son… [shakes her head to get the idea out of her brain]

AND WHAT ABOUT THE HAIR?

Well, headcanon the Dark road made him bald still lives for me but with the help of a razor LOL What a dramaking.

That sadness in Eraqus’ eyes [fist clinched] The sadness of a man knowing what he must do. No one can stop me thinking that he’s somehow worst than Xehanort cause he trained and sacrificed his apprentices to stop his ex-husband. The true Champion of Light. Who can make sacrifice for the commun good. Speaking of Light…

POINT FOR VANITAS. It struck me back then after my second or third run of KH3 which coincided with the end of KHUX. When you defeat Vanitas he does this gloomy talk about I’m Darkness blabla yeah yeah I get it poor little emo meow meow. But he IS LITERALLY DARKNESS. Then, Xehanort truly saved Ventus by draging out them of Ventus’ heart to defeat him without hurting Ven (well he tried at least thus giving him to Eraqus to heal him) cause… he’s one of the friends he used to dream about.

Could Sora be able to do that with the Lost Masters too? To save them and annihilate the Darkness at the same time? We all know he will do that.

OMG I ALMOST FORGOT THE RAT.

Well. I knew it. Damn you Luxu LOL

Ok, one last question remains… If we break the Internet, will the 4 trapped Darkness release? _(:3 」∠)_

[gently hold those tiny old men on my heart]

[synergysilhouette]

Changes I'd make to Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts 1

Allow Sora chances to unlock flashbacks in the game that show BBS and KHUX. Not everything, but enough to know a bit about the keyblade war, the Wayfinder Trio's failure, and his ties to Vanitas (secretly his shadow).

Put more weight on the Princesses of Heart, and explain that there are several pure hearts of light, but that the PoH were the first ones found.

Replace Alice with Ariel as a princess of heart. Just makes more sense to me.

Allow Kairi's keyblade to manifest when Sora becomes a heartless.

Touch more on SoRiKai's childhood together; the island they live on is never visited or seen much.

Have Ansem manipulate Riku more than Maleficent; if the series still moves on from Disney in favor of original stories and characters, it makes more sense.

Erase CoM and Days

Kingdom Hearts 2 1. Allow time for Roxas to gain some memories of "Days," showing a more sympathetic side to the Organization. 2. Let Sora retain his memories at Castle Oblivion, except for Namine. It's mentioned that he was searching for Riku and defeated Organization members, but doesn't recall much else. 3. Have Kairi fight off O13 members, scouring the Place that Never Was instead of being a prisoner. We'd also get hints at Xion when Kairi and Namine meet. 4. Give more credit to Namine's "witch" powers of memory. She'd be able to inform Roxas of his lost memories, as well as inform the Destiny Islands Trio of the organization's origins. 5. Alter the "Riku looks like Ansem" subplot. Maybe make it so Ansem, now tied to Riku, shares a body with him, their hearts intertwined, and Riku fears the loss of control. It's better than "I avoided everyone because using darkness makes me look like our enemy" since it doesn't really move the story along. 6. Have Kairi battle with Sora and Riku against Xemnas. 7. Before Xemnas' defeat, he reveals the destruction of his own body has made them one step closer to Xehanort being revived. Xemnas lies and says that to prevent Xehanort's revival, Sora would have to defeat Ansem--and kill Riku in the process. Riku forces Sora to fight him, but Kairi realizes at the last minute that the defeat will only help Xehanort reunify. Using her powers of light, Kairi manages to separate their hearts so Ansem is defeated without killing Riku.

Kingdom Hearts: 3D 1. Essentially the same, but Kairi joins the exams. Riku is still the only one who passes, though. 2. Mention that the new 7 hearts have passed along their powers, except for Kairi. 3. Remove young Xehanort, Xemnas, and Ansem as the members of the new O13, replacing them with corrupted Aqua, Demyx, and Vexen--though the latter two defect. Plus corrupted Aqua reveals Ventus' location, allowing Vanitas access to his body, but finds out his heart is missing.

Kingdom Hearts 3 1. Give more KHUX flashbacks for Larxene and Marluxia, as well as giving us moments to look into O13's psyche as a whole. 2. Give us more worlds and the other hearts of light. I'm thinking Tiana, Pocahontas, and Moana are PoH, joining Anna, Elsa, Rapunzel, and Kairi. And their purpose isn't to fill in for the fighters, but to form the x-blade passively, similar to the original PoH being kidnapped in KH1 to form Kingdom Hearts. 3. Have the villains defeated at different points of the game. Riku would beat Xigbar, Dark Riku, Terra-Xehanort, and Aqua. Sora would defeat Venitas (who is created when Sora gives Ventus his heart back), Larxene, Marluxia, and Xehanort. Kairi would beat Xion and Luxord, and Lea would beat Isa. Aqua and Venitas' defeat would allow them to become guardians of light. 4. Have the villains make minimal appearances to the heroes outside of boss fights. The game kind of gave me "racing to the end" vibes and less appearances by the villains would make the war kind of a surprise attack without it feeling rushed. We as the audience would still get to see the organization members interact with each other, though.

[phoenix-downer]

The Princess of Light Chapter 5: A Grieving Prince

~1840 words. Angst, Romance, Fluff, Fairy Tales. For SoKai Week 2021, Day 5.

Summary: Princess Kairi is cursed to be without love when she is a baby. She grows up cold and without a heart to help her understand other people’s feelings, no matter how hard her parents try to help her. One day, however, she meets a mysterious prince from a faraway world, and he just might hold the key to breaking her curse.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

Fairies age much more slowly than humans, so when the king and queen met with the Violet Fairy about what was happening, she hardly looked a day older than she had at Princess Kairi’s christening. They were in her little house at the edge of the castle town, which was surrounded by the prettiest violets and forget-me-nots you’d ever seen. Most fairies preferred seclusion, but the Violet Fairy liked living near people and letting children play in her garden. 

Right now, however, the garden was full of royal guards. The Violet Fairy set dainty tea cups containing her famous violet tea out for her royal guests. Nothing helps a difficult conversation like some nice, warm tea, a principle the fairy lived and swore by. Once the king and queen were sipping their tea and the guards also each had a cup, she sat down to discuss why they had come.

“To answer your question, Your Majesties,” she began, “I suspect the light is draining from the pool because the Heart of the World has been injured.”

This news alarmed the king. If the Heart of the World was injured, the very world itself might die, and as its guardian and ruler, he had to do something about it. 

“But how?” the queen asked. “The Heart is buried deep underground and has a series of enchantments protecting it from harm.” 

“That may be,” the Violet Fairy said, “but the very strongest, wickedest types of dark magic might have found a way around those protections. Otherwise the pool wouldn’t be draining.” At this she turned to the king. “Fairies are forbidden from learning such magic because it would corrupt us like it has corrupted your sister, so I cannot say what has happened exactly, but that is my best guess.”

“Maleficent,” the king spat. “Of course. This has to be her doing. She despises Kairi and always has.”

The queen nodded. “We think she’s jealous of Kairi because Kairi will be queen someday. No matter how far we banish Maleficent, she keeps tormenting us.”

“My advice to you would be to find the Heart of the World as soon as possible,” the Violet Fairy said. “See if it is indeed wounded. If so, then you must search for some way to save it, or the very world will die, along with your daughter.”

The king and queen sent a group of soldiers to check on the Heart of the World in its cavern underground. When they reached it, the Violet Fairy’s hunch proved to be true: the Heart of the World was indeed smaller and less vibrant than it had been before, and that only happens if it has been wounded. So the king and queen ordered for every inch of Radiant Garden to be searched for a way to restore it. In the end a group of children found the answer, as it had washed up on the shore of Radiant Garden’s only sea. It was a small lucky charm, and it was made up of five thalassa shells. A curious sight indeed, for thalassa shells were native to Destiny Islands, not Radiant Garden.

On the lucky charm was engraved the following: 

Should the Heart of the World beat slow

And the light of the earth cease to flow

There is only one way to make things right

A young man must pour out his light 

Pour and pour till his heart beats no more

Only then will light flow from river to shore

The words of the lucky charm made the king and queen very sad. They didn’t want to ask anyone to die, but the world was doomed if they did not, and Kairi would surely die as well. The king wanted to offer himself up, but he didn’t fit the description, and neither did the queen. 

So it was with heavy hearts they made the announcement and sent the proclamation throughout Radiant Garden. A day went by, and not a single person volunteered. Two days, and Kairi’s condition took a turn for the worse. On the third day, the king retreated to the woods where the royal family owned a cottage to think about what to do. 

Now, Prince Sora had gone home to speak to his parents about how to help Princess Kairi. He was shocked to return to Radiant Garden to find the entire world in a state of mourning as the light pool shrank to a puddle while the hole in Kairi’s chest grew bigger and bigger and her skin colder and colder. 

He went to the inn where he’d stayed the first time, and on the door he saw the proclamation from the king and queen. With trembling hands he pulled it down and wandered into his room as if in a daze. No matter how many times he read the proclamation, his mind still spun and his heart pounded in his chest.

“I can’t let her die. If she dies, life is hardly worth living. But if I die,” at this Sora’s voice cracked a little, for he saw no way out of it; till his heart beats no more seemed rather clear, “she, along with the rest of the people of this world, will be saved.” His hand curled around the proclamation. “I’ve made up my mind, then. I’ll talk to her parents about being the sacrifice.”

This was how Sora ended up at the king’s cottage in the woods after the sun had set. The autumn breeze made him shiver after experiencing the warmth of his home world, but he steeled his nerves and knocked on the wooden door.

“Who goes there?” the king asked, rather irritably, for anything that wasn’t helping him solve his daughter’s dire state was a nuisance at best. 

When he opened the door, he was quite surprised to see a young man waiting just outside. Sora bowed low, as was proper when greeting a king. In fact he bowed as low as a servant would bow. He lowered himself to his hands and knees and bent his head, for he wanted to show how serious he was about saving Princess Kairi.

“Your Majesty, my name is Sora, and I have an offer to make.” 

At this, Sora fell silent, and a few agonizing moments ticked by till the king groaned. “Stop being cryptic and come out with it,” he said at last, pulling Sora to his feet. “My daughter is dying, the world’s in danger, and I haven’t got all day.” 

“Your dying daughter is why I’m here,” Sora said quietly. “I heard you need someone to restore the Heart of the World.”

“Are you offering?” the king asked, raising an eyebrow.

“On one condition.”

The king nearly lost his temper completely, for he couldn’t understand why Sora wouldn’t just put out all of his terms at once when the circumstances were so dire. “Out with it, boy!”

“I’d like Princess Kairi to keep me company as I give up my light.”

The king’s eyes widened; this was not the sort of request he’d been expecting. Bold of the boy to ask, but his voice was unwavering, and he refused to look away.

“And if it’s not too much to ask,” Sora continued, his voice growing stronger with every word, “I’d like her to tend to me when I’m hungry and thirsty. I want to make sure I… survive long enough to complete the ritual.” 

Restoring the Heart of the World sounded like it would be a very grueling task, because Sora knew the Heart must be much larger than his own. Would his light be enough, or would he fail? There was only one way to find out, and he wanted to make sure he made enough preparations to see this through.

“That can be arranged,” the king said, for he was not about to turn away his one shot at saving his daughter and his kingdom. “We can send food and drink down into the cavern where the Heart of the World is. After you begin the ritual, Kairi will feel better, and she can tend to you as you’ve requested. I doubt she’ll have any objections.” 

“Oh, I think she’d rather be in her light pool,” Sora said with a rueful smile. “But if you ask her to keep me company, I think she’ll say yes. She thinks very highly of you and of her mother the queen.”

Now, you mustn’t fault Sora for despairing a little, as it is a bitter thing indeed to die for someone you know doesn’t love you back. Sora was ready and willing to do so, but a part of him still wished Kairi would return his affection. Could return his affection. He remembered that night he tried to explain to her what love was, how she seemed so curious and eager to understand, how she just couldn’t grasp it.

“I know it’s because of her curse,” Sora said, his voice low and his heart heavy, “but I wish… ah, nevermind. I’d die without her, but she’ll live happily without me. That’s just… how things are.”

The king thought he saw tears shining in Sora’s eyes, though he couldn’t say for sure. He’d been silent up till now because he was beginning to grasp why Sora would be willing to do this when no one else would, and the thought of sending this poor young man to die… 

Then he thought of Kairi’s cold, stiff form as his sister’s curse ate away at her. Thought about leaving her to die to spare this young man. Sora himself had said he’d rather die than let that happen, so the king could hardly stop him. Nor did he want to if it meant Sora’s sacrifice would save his daughter.

“Thank you for doing this for her,” he said to Sora. “For all of us.”

Sora nodded. “I’ll go to the cavern tomorrow morning.”

The king returned to his wife and daughter and explained that someone had volunteered to save Kairi. She perked up for the first time in days when she heard that the light would be returned to her pool. She was so sick that she didn’t register that it would be due to another person giving up his light; all she could think about was feeling better. The king and queen were relieved too, relieved that their daughter would be spared and the world saved.

Sora felt the opposite of relieved and slept very poorly, but he was driven by a quiet determination to see this through. He awoke the next morning and put on his best clothes, clothes befitting a prince, for if he was going to die, he wanted to die like a king.

With that, he set out for the cave where the Heart of the World was located. When he reached it, he took one last look at the world around him. One last look at the sun and clouds and sky. Then he took a deep breath and lowered himself into the cavern.

[violethowler]

Mixed Signals

As we near the end of this series of essays, I’d like to take the time to talk about something that I’ve been wanting to discuss in relation to the Kingdom Hearts series for a while. I briefly mentioned it in my previous essays but never went into detail because I figured some corners of the fandom would be unreceptive to discussion if I brought it up. But given how many times I have seen Kingdom Hearts fans praise this series for its lack of negative male stereotypes, I think it worthwhile to explore how the series handles gender norms in relation to the Heroine’s Journey. 

Maureen Murdock developed her template while working as a therapist with women in their 30s who had pursued careers in heavily male-dominated fields only to find themselves feeling burnt out and unfulfilled once they achieved their goals. A significant part of her inspiration for the Heroine’s Journey came from her patients describing how they had set out trying to achieve success in these environments by emulating the men in their life such as their fathers, while pushing away the influence of their mothers[1]. As such, deep down the themes of the Heroine’s Journey reflect on the struggles of someone who doesn’t meet the ideals of what society tells them a person of their gender is supposed to be and critique those gender norms. 

On a meta level, Kingdom Hearts represents a fusion of cultures, made from a collaboration between an American and a Japanese company. While there are a few places where the two cultures overlap in terms of gender norms, it isn’t a 1:1 comparison. Therefore, the gender norms of both cultures should be taken into account when analyzing how the portrayal of the two leads in Kingdom Hearts aligns with the critique of gender roles presented by the Heroine’s Journey. 

In terms of Japanese cultural norms, Sora’s emotional openness, compassion, optimism, and ability to easily form connections with others are fairly standard for male protagonists in Shonen stories[2]. However, following the first game in the series, the narrative begins to deconstruct this archetype over the course of Sora’s character arc. From KH2 onward we see him use his cheerfulness and optimism to hide his own insecurities and self-doubt. Our first introduction to his life on Destiny Islands depicts him competing with Riku in physical challenges, while the other kids talk about how much stronger than him Riku is, setting him up for a disproportionate focus on physical ability over emotional. This leads him to believe that he has no strength on his own and must rely on the power of his friends in order to be worthy of recognition and praise. 

Related to Sora’s insecurities about his own strength, one archetype found in both Japanese and American culture is that of the masculine protector. The idea that a man must be ready and able to physically defend the people he cares about from harm, often to the point of self-sacrifice. In fiction, this trope is most frequently employed with a character’s friends, siblings, or romantic partner. The gender of the protectee can vary depending on the story and their relation to the protagonist, but male heroes protecting female love interests is one of the most common ways I’ve seen this trope be expressed. 

Failure to uphold this ideal is commonly used as a source of angst for the male protagonist. Heroes who fit this mould are known to brood heavily if harm comes to their loved ones that they are unable to protect them from, and in some stories may be ridiculed or shamed by others around them. There are also variations where the hero’s inability to protect them is used as a source of angst for the protectee in addition to the main character. Common in stories where the one being protected is a friend, sibling, or love interest, some narratives will have the protectee react to the hero’s inability to protect them by deciding to “toughen up” so that they don’t need protection. 

As mentioned in my first essay, the protagonist of a Heroine’s Journey and their Animus are frequently depicted as two sides of the same coin, with shared core character traits that manifest in contrasting ways because of their different circumstances. At the start of the Kingdom Hearts series, both Sora and Riku have built their sense of self-worth around their ability to live up to this idealized protector archetype. Their insecurities stem from their perceived failure to adhere to that role, with each of them coming at it from a different direction. 

Being the older of the two, Riku is presented as physically stronger than Sora, something which the other kids on Destiny Islands make note of in the first game. Tidus talking about how, despite getting stronger, Sora is “still no match for Riku[3]” and that Kairi “can always count on him(Riku)[3]” frames Sora’s insecurity about wanting to be on equal footing with his Animus as being rooted in his perceived inability to fulfill social expectations.  

When they meet again in Traverse Town, Riku’s first on-screen reaction to how Sora has changed since they last saw each other is surprise and confusion at Sora being able to defeat threats like the Heartless on his own, indicating that the root of Riku’s insecurities - which Maleficent of course exploits - is his belief that the value Sora places on their bond is conditional on Riku being needed as a protector. If Sora can fill that role himself, then what purpose does Riku have? 

In keeping with how protagonists are usually depicted fulfilling this role to the point of self-sacrifice, Sora and Riku have both shown a tendency towards throwing themselves in front of an enemy attack to protect someone they care about, such as when Riku leaps in front of Xemnas’s aerial blade to defend Sora in the final boss fight of Kingdom Hearts II, or when Sora puts himself between Kairi and Terranort. Xigbar even comments on this tendency when he talks about how he doesn’t admire “one guy leaping into danger if it means someone else might have to jump in to save him.[4]” 

From the western perspective, one of the things that many English-speaking fans have praised the series for is its avoidance of negative stereotypes in the writing of its male characters. A common cultural attitude in the United States holds that a man must always be stoic and aloof with everyone but his romantic partner. That a man who is open with his emotions, especially if it involves crying, is weak and unmanly. That engaging in activities that society associates with women and femininity makes one less of a man. 

But Kingdom Hearts, from the point of view of western fans, rejects all of that. The writing of the series allows its male characters to express the full range and depth of their emotions and not once does the narrative ever frame them as weak or pathetic for it. None of the male leads are ever made fun of for crying or expressing vulnerability, and they never reject doing something simply for being “girly”. Not only that, but the arc being set up for Sora to learn to acknowledge and work through his insecurities and self doubts instead of hiding them as an allegory works as a direct rebuke of the idea that showing emotional vulnerability is somehow unmanly. 

On another layer, Sora’s arc can also be seen as a critique of the Japanese concept of Honne and tatemae. Tatemae (literal meaning: “built in front” or “facade”) is the behavior and attitude one presents to the public that conforms to the expectations of society in addition to the individual’s station and circumstances, while Honne (literal meaning: “true sound”) represents a person’s true opinions, which are kept hidden except from close friends and may or may not match their tatemae[5]. This can sometimes be used on a more interpersonal level to evade confrontation and avoid hurting others’ feelings, such as when someone says “we should hang out sometime” with no intention of doing but not wanting to hurt the other person’s feelings by admitting that they aren’t interested. 

The idea of keeping one’s true feelings separate from what one says in public fits with how characters in the Kingdom Hearts universe have been shown to hide their own inner darkness and in some cases deny that it’s there, which Xehanort took note of in his conversation with the Master of Masters in Re:Mind. We also have Donald and Goofy’s talk in the beginning about how the Gummi Ship “runs on happy faces[3]” instilling in Sora - despite their good intentions - the idea that his negative feelings about the destruction of his home are a burden to the trio’s ability to complete their mission. As a result, Sora continues to downplay his own sadness and other similar emotions across subsequent games. As a contrast to this, Esmeralda tells Riku in Dream Drop Distance that everyone keeps things locked inside sometimes and that it’s okay to keep some things separate from the world at large until they’ve had time to figure out their feelings for themselves. In this context, the version of tatemae that Donald and Goofy present ultimately causes more damage in the long run, while Esmeralda offers a healthier model of the concept. 

So from a Japanese perspective, the Kingdom Hearts story is deconstructing two common archetypes found in coming of age narratives aimed at pre-teen and teenage boys and at the same time offering a critique of a common cultural attitude about individual expression. Meanwhile from a western perspective, the series defies conventional norms of masculinity and male characters in fiction while also critiquing elements of those views at the same time. 

Both of these are perfectly in tune with how the Heroine’s Journey structure provides social commentary on gender and cultural norms.

The fact that the series challenges the audience's perception of gendered narrative archetypes and social norms from multiple perspectives is also reflected in how it mixes the symbolism associated with its two lead characters. For example, the series repeatedly presents canon Disney Princess romances as parallels to Sora and Riku, but which of the two corresponds to the Disney Prince and which one is the Princess varies from one game to the next: 

Sora acknowledges in the first game that like Ariel, he wants to explore the outside world. The same game also presents Ursula tricking Ariel into helping her as a parallel to Maleficent’s manipulation of Riku. 

Kingdom Hearts I presents the Beast as a parallel to Sora through their shared refusal to give up after being laid low by Riku upon their arrival at Hollow Bastion. Meanwhile in Kingdom Hearts II, the Beast is presented as a parallel to Riku, as mentioned in my previous essay. 

The first game parallels Sora to Aladdin through similar shots of the two calling out for Riku and Jasmine respectively as they are forced to flee the location of a boss fight (the Cave of Wonders for Aladdin, Monstro’s stomach for Sora). Kingdom Hearts II uses Aladdin avoiding Jasmine at the start of Sora’s first visit to Agrabah to parallel Riku avoiding Sora throughout KH2 as a whole. 

While not considered an *official* Disney Prince (he’s still unofficially marketed as one), Kingdom Hearts III connects Hercules diving into the River Styx to save Megara’s soul with Riku’s sacrifice for Sora at the Keyblade Graveyard. Meanwhile in KH2, Hercules’s attempts to hide how exhausted he is trying to meet everyone’s expectations greatly resembles Sora hiding his doubts and insecurities. 

The fluidity of which one corresponds to the Disney Prince and which one is the Princess in these parallels also carries over to other narrative symbols. In visual mediums, the protagonist and Animus of a Heroine’s Journey are frequently depicted with a Yin and Yang motif - light and dark in balance with each other. In visual depictions of the concept of Yin and Yang, Yin is the black side - representing darkness and associated with femininity - while Yang is the white side - representing light and associated with masculinity[6]. Visual depictions of Yin and Yang use the Moon to symbolize Yin and the sun to represent Yang. Many visuals include an opposite color dot in the middle of each side, representing how the two forces balance each other out - there is darkness within light and light within darkness, so to speak. 

The depiction of Yin as darkness with an inner light aligns with Riku’s character arc over the course of the series, but Sora is the one associated with moon imagery. Meanwhile, Yang being the light with a bit of darkness inside matches how Sora is on the path toward learning to acknowledge the darkness in his own heart, but Riku, who walks the “Road to Dawn[7].” is the one visually connected to the sun. Even in other pairs that have narrative parallels to Sora and Riku, the Yin-Yang motif differs from conventional depictions. Instead of the typical male Yang and female Yin, Yozora and Nameless star’s Yin-Yang motif has the gendered colors reversed. Nameless star is dressed all in white with dark hair, while Yozora wears dark clothes and has lighter hair. 

This kind of fluidity in terms of symbolism and narrative parallels is perfect for a Heroine’s Journey. Many stories that follow the formula symbolically associate the male love interest with the archetypal damsel in distress, with the female protagonist being cast as the knight in shining armor heroically storming the castle in order to free them. But in the context of a Heroine’s Journey that is setting up a same-gender romance with two male leads, it adds an additional layer of meaning: 

A well known stereotype involving same-sex couples is that their roles in the relationship will be exactly the same as the roles that society associates with an opposite-sex pair, with one always corresponding to the “female” role and the other to the “male” one. The Uke/Seme trope common in fanfiction from the early 2000s is a notable example of this. By presenting a romantic relationship between two male leads where the symbolism and narrative parallels are framed in a way that depicts the implied gender roles as constantly being in flux, the narrative sends a message that people are too complicated and flexible for every romantic relationship to fit into the same rigidly defined roles.

In conclusion, the depiction of Sora and Riku both as individuals and as a developing romantic relationship is consistent with how the Heroine’s Journey challenges gender and cultural norms from the perspective of two different cultures. By following this narrative framework, the Kingdom Hearts series deconstructs gendered narrative archetypes from both Japan and the United States, reflecting its origins as a crossover between franchises popular in each country. 

Sources:

[1] The Heroine’s Journey; Maureen Murdock; 1990. 

[2] TV Tropes; Stock Shonen Hero; https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StockShonenHero

[3] Kingdom Hearts; Square Enix; 2002. 

[4] Kingdom Hearts III; Square Enix; 2019. 

[5] Wikipedia - Honne and tatemae https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honne_and_tatemae

[6] Wikipedia; Yin and Yang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_and_yang

[7] Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories; Square Enix; 2004. 

[sourcherrybomb]

SoKai Week 2020 - Day 2 - For ____ Eyes Only

Synopsis: During the time period Kairi was within Sora’s heart, she kept a handy mental diary of all the places and people she encountered. Let’s take a peek at it, shall we?

Sneak Peek: I’ve been in Sora’s heart for a little bit as of now. It’s a nice kind of… warm, if that makes sense. Like a perfect sunny day on the Islands. Knowing what kind of person Sora is, it’s unsurprising.

Tags: Light Romance, Adventure, Comedy, All Ages, F/M

Prompt for the Day: First Meeting / Unseen Adventures

Words: 3.5k

Fanart By: @softpinkbee​

Entry 1: Welcome to Sora’s Heart. Population: 1 (I think)

Sooo… This is a thing that’s happening. All because of a stupid, literal world ending storm.

Oh wait, aren’t I supposed to start with “Dear Diary”? Not like I’m physically writing in a journal since I don’t have a body anymore… Ugh, Sora and Riku would probably poke fun at me if they found out that I kept one. Well sorry that I like to be sentimental and have a way of remembering and planning our future adventures, lazy bums.

I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I? I’ll do this once to get it over with.

Hello there (mental) diary, my name is Kairi! I’m 14 years old and I lived on the Destiny Islands before I somehow ended up in Sora’s (my BFF and lazy bum #1) heart. That little mishap took place right after I met this weird old guy in brown robes in our Secret Place. I don’t know where Riku (my other BFF and lazy bum #2) ended up, but somehow Sora got sucked into a black hole that sent him… Or is it us? To another world called Traverse Town.

I mean the boys and I always planned to travel to other worlds, just not like this. We were supposed to travel by raft, I was supposed to have a body, and it was going to be all three of us… Okay maybe I asked Sora if he wanted to go alone with me, only to end up chickening out at the last moment, but this current situation is not what I had in mind!

Apparently these monsters called the Heartless destroyed our world, sending us to Traverse Town. I feel bad. 

Sora was lost and alone. I knew because I felt it in his heart.

Luckily, Sora has met a lot of new people since arriving. There were these two girls, Aerith and Yuffie, that I would have loved to talk and meet with. Selphie definitely would have loved to meet Aerith, she was so pretty! Besides them, Sora also met this edgy guy named Leon (who kicked his butt) and a cranky old mechanic named Cid. More importantly, Sora met this talking duck and dog named Donald and Goofy. They’re pretty entertaining, so I hope they can keep Sora company since I can’t speak to him and we lost Riku.

I’ve been in Sora’s heart for a little bit as of now. It’s a nice kind of… warm, if that makes sense. Like a perfect sunny day on the Islands. Knowing what kind of person Sora is, it's unsurprising.

I just can’t shake off the feeling that there’s something… no, someone else in here.

Entry 2: Topsy? Turvy? Definitely Crazy.

Is it possible to have an out-of-body experience and a fever dream at the same time? Because that’s what Wonderland feels like.

Geez, where do I even start with this one? I guess with the talking rabbit entering the talking doorknob? Granted that rabbit was kind of cute, if not panicky. I could get used to that. Sora shrinking and entering a place full of playing card soldiers and a cat with a decapitated head (I think? He reattached it) are things that are going to take a bit to get used to.

Gosh, that feels like the understatement of the century.

I knew other worlds would be different than the islands. It’s just that going from a quiet city to a place where gravity is bonkers and playing cards can kill a person makes a girl really question what’s out there.

I wish I could take pictures so people would believe my words. Luckily this cricket named Jiminy has a journal where he keeps track of Sora’s journey. He stays safe inside Sora’s hood, so it’s sort of like we’re neighbors and journal buddies! I’d love to give him my point of view on things once I get my body back.

Oh one other thing before I forget, there was this one girl named Alice. I don’t know why, but she was giving off this really familiar aura. I couldn’t help but feel oddly drawn to her.

I feel like this won’t be the first time we come into contact with her.

Entry 3: Anyone else hear horns?

Like seriously, Sora and I both hear horns coming from this world, but neither of us have any idea as to where they’re coming from. This (extremely small) world is the Olympus Coliseum.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy got thrown into some challenges and ended up fighting waves of Heartless. Really makes me think about how I should have tried sword fighting with Sora and Riku. Sure, I’ve picked up some things by just watching them, but I think actually practicing with them would have helped me in the long run. I mean, I totally could have fought off that weird guy in the brown robes.

Ugh, just thinking about him gives me bad vibes. 

Going back to the challenges, Sora totally got his butt handed to him by this guy, Cloud. It was way worse than the loss Sora took against Leon, I don’t think Cloud was holding back. 

I’m thankful he didn’t finish Sora off. Partly because he’s my best friend, but also because if Sora bites the dust, then I’m also gone. It was rough seeing Sora lose again, but watching him take out a giant three-headed dog right after certainly was a sight. Although I swear I heard Hercules whisper to his little red friend, Phil, next to him that he weakened the monster. 

Maybe. But since it felt like I was fighting alongside him, I’m not ready to count Sora out just yet. He’s grown so much stronger day after day.

Entry 4: Note to Self, Never Let Sora Drive

You know, if the three of us did leave on that raft as planned, I always had a feeling that Sora might fight with Riku over where to take us. Sora’s never been one for his directional skills, that was always more Riku’s forte. Because of this, I always mentally prepared myself for the event where Sora would get us super lost.

WHAT I DIDN’T MENTALLY PREPARE MYSELF WAS FOR SORA TO CAUSE A GIANT SPACESHIP TO CRASH BECAUSE HE ARGUED WITH A TALKING DUCK!!!

That’s not even where it ends! This Deep Jungle is nuts! There’s a leopard that’ll attack you like every five steps, there was a giant Heartless that turned invisible, and Sora even got a gun fired at it! Granted that last one was because of some hunter jerk with a stupid mustache, but if he’s from this world, he’s part of the problem.

The only saving grace was the fact that there are giant tree trunks that act like slides and as many vines to swing on as I wanted to. Tarzan has got to give me some tips when I have the chance to meet him, it was like he was flying through the trees! I’d honestly enjoy the chance to talk to Jane myself as well. She seems so smart and would have so much to talk about. I think she’d make pleasant conversation. That being said, when she showed Sora a picture of a castle in the slideshow, I couldn’t shake this sense of… familiarity. Like I had seen it or something like it before. But where…?

Even though this world and I got off on the wrong foot, once I get my body back, I’m definitely making Sora bring me here so I can do all that!

Although I still have no idea how that’s gonna happen.

Entry 5: I don’t know why, but this place feels oddly familiar

Today may have just been one of the best days I’ve had since I’ve been living in Hotel Sora’s Heart, over here!

For starters, dogs. Sooooo many dogs! Leon told Sora about all of these Dalmatian puppies that got scattered across the various worlds. They’ve been taking the time to rescue all 101 of them, and they’re absolutely adorable! Ahhhhhh, I can only imagine playing with everyone one of them.

Secondly, I’m finding Traverse Town a lot more comforting than I originally did. Something about the tall building walls makes me feel nostalgic. I never was from the Islands to begin with, but where I originally came from is a mystery to me. I don’t think it was Traverse Town, but maybe it was another city. I’m sure that in travelling to other worlds, I might be able to remember more!

Today I even got to talk to Sora a little bit, albeit by accident, when he and his friends wandered into this old tower. I looked around and said to myself that it reminds me of the Secret Place, all dark and surrounded by stone. I never expected Sora to hear or see me! I had so much more to say, but when this wizard guy showed up, Sora couldn’t hear me anymore.

But that’s not even the best news: Right after, Sora ended up running into Riku! He’s safe! It was brief, Riku ended up disappearing moments after, but now we know he’s out there and can protect himself. Sora was even able to protect Riku from one of the Heartless!

Never thought I’d see that day where the roles were switched. It suits Sora.

Entry 6: I hate sand.

I may find not having a body to be a major inconvenience, but for once I’m quite pleased at the fact considering Agrabah, the world Sora and his friends just left, was full of sand.

At its worst, sand was rough, coarse, and irritating. It already got into my clothes back on the Islands, but around here I’d imagine it gets everywhere.

That being said, this world has got to be one of the most adventurous we’ve been to so far! Desert temples filled with treasure, magical genies, all in a faraway kingdom? It’s like all the games Sora, Riku, and I used to play when we were younger. If only Riku joined with Sora back in Traverse Town, he would have loved this!

One odd thing though, we ran into another woman, Princess Jasmine, who gave me the same vibes as Alice! Turns out she’s more than just a regular old princess, but one with special powers. I wonder what it could all mean...

Entry 7: Did you know that the stomach would eat itself without the mucus lining its walls? 

Back on the Islands when Sora, Riku, and I made plans to leave on the raft, we always wondered what kind of animals we’d see. The one that would always pop into our minds was a whale since they might be big enough to swallow us whole.

We always laughed it off and went back to working or playing, so actually getting swallowed whole by one feels very ironic. It’s a lot grosser than I thought it would be. Smells like fish everywhere you go, so I really hope Sora, Donald, and Goofy take some showers once they leave.

This whale named Monstro even swallowed this old man and his son, Gepetto and Pinnochio. The latter is somehow a walking, talking puppet!

But what’s even crazier is that out of all the worlds, Riku shows up here, only to kidnap Pinnochio! And not just that, I think he knows where my body is. Geez, Riku was being a real jerk about it, though. Said that Sora was fooling around and not helping, when I know for a fact that he’s doing more that Riku has! I mean, I’m in the guy’s heart, that’s gotta count for something!

I wish I could tell Riku that all this time, Sora has been protecting me. I know I give him a hard time every now and then, but out of all the people in the world, I’m really glad I ended up in his heart.

Entry 8: Rival Redhead Acquired

I know that my last entries make me seem like a jealous person, but mental diary, trust me when I say that I’m not usually one to be envious of others.

Until now.

Being in Sora’s heart, I sort of get a feel for his emotions. By all means, even without being inside him, Sora is pretty much an open book to begin with. It’s just that in being directly connected to his heart, I can feel almost every emotion he has. That includes the mess of emotions he felt when he came into contact with this mermaid named Ariel.

Yup, a mermaid. Atlantica is full of them.

It’s a pretty cool world! There are sunken pirate ships, an underwater kingdom, even a giant sea witch that Sora defeated! But nope, the thing that makes Sora’s heart flutter is another red head when he already has one right here! Ughhh, I’m really glad this diary isn’t physical, I might die if Sora or Riku ever found out I think stuff like this.

Still, Ariel isn’t a bad person so it’s not that I dislike her. She also loves adventure and wants to see other worlds. Moving past my jealousy, I think I’d love to be friends with her some day. Ariel and I are similar, but I think I at least have something over her.

Sometimes when Sora talks about me, he gets this squeezing feeling in his heart. Now I’m not gonna let Sora or Riku tease me over my feelings, I’m sure gonna tease Sora about his once I get my body back.

Entry 9: A lot more tricks than treats!

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. I enjoy going around to houses and getting candy, but I enjoy scaring Sora even more so. I mean, I definitely did that outside of Halloween, it’s just that the holiday made it feel special.

Needless to say, Sora finding a world exclusively dedicated to it is probably one of the best things I’ve ever found out! When Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrived, they even got special outfits to blend in! With Sora being a vampire, I could see Riku being a werewolf, but when it comes to me, I can’t choose between being a witch or a scarecrow.

There are even monsters! There was a talking skeleton who was surprisingly nice, a mad doctor, and a giant living sack of bugs! (It was super gross when he was defeated.) Sora got a bit squirmy when he died, so I really wish I was there to double down and make Sora sora yell out loud!

I definitely want to go to Halloween Town when all of this is said and done.

Entry 10: I miss candy…

So Halloween Town was fun for the thrills and chills, but felt severely lacking in candy. I may be a disembodied heart without a body, but my heart aches for something sweet! Which is why the 100 Acre Wood was torture for me.

Pooh Bear and I would get along. He loves honey, I love candy, it’s like we’re two peas in a pod. I too would probably get myself stuck inside a tree if I was desperate enough for a sweet snack. 

Pooh’s other animal friends are all so cuddly and adorable! Out of the cutest, I’d have trouble choosing between Piglet or Roo. Tigger reminds me of the stuffed animals I keep in my room. Part of me really wants to hold onto him and see if he can bounce around with me on it, like a pogo stick! When it comes to Eeyore, in all honesty I kind of just want to give him a hug...

Honestly this place is a nice change of pace. No Heartless to be found, it’s always a clear and sunny day out. When it’s night time there aren’t any clouds so you can see all the stars in the sky. I remember all the stories that Sora used to tell me about the constellations instead of learning how to find his way with them. That was more Riku’s job.

I’m glad to know that what I’m feeling when I look up at the sky, Sora is feeling the same. Take your time and relax, you’ve earned it.

Entry 11: It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s Sora, Donald, and Goofy!

Forget swinging through trees, forget playing with countless puppies, and forget scaring Sora, when I get my body back, I’m making Sora take me to Neverland so I can fly up high in the skies!

Wait no Kairi, focus, there are more pressing things at matter. Mainly, Riku has become a full on jerk, has sided with the Heartless, and is dragging my lifeless body around with him! I mean, my eyes were open, but my body was basically a ragdoll without me in it. I mean on the brightside, Sora was absolutely brimming with joy when he realized my body was safe.

That may or may not have made me feel an indescribable amount of joy and embarrassment, mind you.

I mentioned having an out of body experience in Wonderland, but having a literal one felt even weirder. When Sora got close enough it was possible for me to twitch my hand a little, sort of like I was reconnecting with my body. Sucks that it ended up being dragged away, I was this close to getting it back. What sucks even more is that Riku ended up fleeing to this Hollow Bastion place with it.

Still it wasn’t all bad. Body or not, I was still able to fly around with Sora. He doubted that I’d believe him if he told me.

I don’t think he’d believe me if I told him what I’ve been up to in his heart.

Entry 12: Riku…

I’m back in my body. I wish it was as simple as Sora making contact with it, but things took a turn for the worse this time around.

I need to start from the beginning.

Right before we reached Hollow Bastion, Sora was able to connect with me. He awoke a memory of mine that I’d long forgotten since I came to the island: my favorite story that my grandmother would always tell me. Remembering it gave me this warm feeling, one that intensified when we arrived at Hollow Bastion. 

Only to have that feeling crushed when Riku took the Keyblade from Sora.

I’m glad Sora was able to get it back and knock some sense into Riku, but for a moment Sora really felt at his lowest. Sora was able to become his old self again, but deep in his heart was so much hurt at the fact that he lost Riku to the darkness. Not just any darkness, but from this man named Ansem. He was the one who revealed I was inside Sora’s  heart. Sora was able to beat the possessed Riku, but in the end he made a sacrifice I don’t think I could ever pay him back for.

Losing Sora in my arms made me feel even more useless than I did while I was inside his heart. Interestingly enough, when my heart left Sora’s body, I felt another leave as well. It wasn’t like Sora’s heart, but certainly had similar vibes to it.

Regardless, somehow I was able to bring him back from being a Heartless, but the feeling of losing him in my arms like that is something I don’t want to experience again.

We ended up leaving Hollow Bastion shortly after that. When Sora and I were alone, I was finally able to tell Sora that I was with him the entire time. I had so much I wanted to tell him, but there wasn’t enough time in the world. Not to mention all the unfinished business we had back at Hollow Bastion. I wanted to come with Sora, but he was right. It is dangerous, and as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I didn’t really have any ways to protect myself...

I gave Sora my lucky charm. Wherever he goes, I’ll be there with him.

At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

Entry 13: For Our Eyes Only

Hi there diary, this might be the last time I update this formerly mental journal. 

Sora’s gone off on another adventure to save Riku. He saved all of the worlds, but wasn’t able to save his best friend. If I was in Sora’s shoes, which I might as well have been, I would have done the same thing for either of them. As for me, I’m back on the islands safe and sound. Part of me wanted to jump across the darkness and into Sora’s arms once more. But after fighting for so long to keep me safe, I think the best I can do for Sora is to let this one wish come true.

I know he’ll come back for me. After all, he still needs to give me back my lucky charm. And when he does, I’ll make sure to give him this handwritten diary to help him understand just exactly what I went through on this adventure. No…

Our adventure.

---

When I started this fic, I was honestly thinking about dropping it and starting from scratch with a new idea. Quite frankly, I’m glad I decided to keep at it. I’m pretty proud of the result and feel that I’ve made a somewhat creative little oneshot!

Once again, thank you to the Sokai: Destined Oath Discord server for introducing me to SoKai Week 2020! Special thanks to the server member Gee for acting as my Beta Reader.

Thanks for Reading!

[khhcfi]

KH: Melody of Memory [In-Depth Review]

Here’s the Tumblr version of my website post at Weebly, where I give an in-n-depth review of my thoughts and ideas for Melody of Memory.

You can also view this at my website:

https://dreamywrites.weebly.com/

Warning; very long post

News Update Review The past couple of days have been busy with updates on the new installments in the Kingdom Hearts series. We first have Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road confirmed to be released on June 22, 2020 as a mobile game. We will finally know what happened in the past to have Xehanort become a Keyblade Master of Darkness, not light. With five new characters confirmed to be present in the game in addition to Eqarues and Xehanort, we're super excited for the story.

The second news has everyone on the edge with Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, especially as it's confirmed to be a rhythm game. Before the confirmation on June 16, a lot of people and myself included were curious yet dreading if it was going to a rhythm game using the same or similar mechanics like in Atlantica (KH2) and/or the Melody Catcher Reality Shift in Symphony of Sorcery (KH: DDD). I looked on the brighter side of things and thought of how the game would work involving interacting with music. The use of Unreal Engines for the graphics, Yoko Shimomura compositions as either classics or varied renditions of the classics, including the Kingdom Hearts: Orchestra Concert music, and the story revolving (mostly) around Kairi on her journey to find Sora. The 2020 Trailer showcased what Melody of Memory will look like and how it will function, better - maybe beyond better- than I and other fans initially theorized.

[Source: Google Images]

When I first read the word "melody" in the title, I thought it had relations to music; thus a rhythm game. It reminds me the Fantasia (1940) world called "Symphony of Sorcery" in Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance. The concept of "Sound Idea" to "dispel the darkness" (Mickey, KH:DDD) from the tainted musical score inspired another idea that I will explain later in the post. ​[Idea 4]

The mechanics are vastly different than the previous games, which makes it more exciting! The story of the game remained unknown until the trailer released today. Fans theorized Kairi would finally get her own game where she traverses inside her Heart to find any clue on how and where to find Sora. That seems to be the case as she has more screen time in the trailer.

Flashbacks This brings up the next and most important news. After confirming Melody of Memory as a rhythm game, it transitions into a static disruption that leads to cinematic cutscenes of what to expect and flashbacks. Fans already guessed the flashbacks belong to Kairi because her memories of Radiant Garden in Birth by Sleep were hazy.

[Screenshot Source: YouTube SQUARE ENIX]

The following 4 screenshots are most talked about because it visualizes what both the Kingdom Hearts Light Novel and Ansem Report 11 talked about.

In the Light Novel, there's a few pages where Apprentice Xehanort (really Terranort) asked where "the girl" was. Aeleus, one of the Apprentices of Ansem the Wise and a Palace Guard, told him she's sleeping in the "pod".

Personal Note: I thought the "pod" was referred to the Memory Pods in The Old Mansion in Twilight Town. The same pods that Sora. Donald, and Goofy slept for a year for Namine to completely restore the damage she caused in their memories in Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories. Sora's pod was bigger, resembling a white flower that when open, it's a blossomed flower. Since Terranort was examining her, I thought they used a pod like Sora's. Donald and Goofy pods are simpler and smaller. That would make sense for them to use since she was a child at the time of these experiments.

[Source: Google Images]

In the Report: “I have chosen one special girl. I do not know if she possesses a power like that of the Princesses. But, there is a chance, and this is an experiment. She may lead me to the place where the one holding the key is… I shall send her off to the ocean of other worlds.” ​ [source: Kingdom Hearts Wiki - Ansem Reports] Kairi was a child, 4 years old in Birth by Sleep. One year later after Terranort was given refuge in Radiant Garden under the Answem the Wise's apprenticeship, Darkness took over the world. Kairi, 5 years old, was sent to Destiny Islands. There was a meteor shower happening and Kairi fell from the sky onto the shores, where she was discovered by Sora [depicted in Kingdom Hearts Manga]. When she awoke, she had amnesia. With only her name remember, she didn't know where she came from, how she arrived on the Islands, what happened to her home and family. Five years worth of memory were "gone". In the KH universe, the memories are hidden than forgotten. Kairi claims to not know about her past in the original Kingdom Hearts game, but later states those memories are hazy for her when Aqua brought up their meeting in the Radiant Garden. My personal thought is that Kairi did have amnesia for awhile with the exception of her name. It's likely that over time she has flashbacks or visions or dreams so muddled and hazy that she can't find the truth. Another personal thought revolves around the ability of her Nobody, Namine, aka "The Witch". She's a unique Nobody born from both Sora and Kairi's Hearts after the events of the original Kingdom Hearts game. She has the ability to alter, destroy, and restore memories of Sora and those around him. Considering her abilities, I suspect she could uncover hidden memories buried deep within one's Heart. In Re:Mind, Riku states she's currently with the Twilight Gang - Lea, Isa, Roxas, Xion, Hayner, Pence, and Olette - looking for clues in Roxas's and Xion's memories. If given a chance, perhaps she can work with Kairi to fully unlock her hidden memories even though the latter is experiencing some flashbacks.

The Ark ​ Speaking of flashbacks, the picture below is also the talk in the fandom

[Sceenshot taken from YouTube SQUARE ENIX] It's machine that has made its appearance before.

[Image found on Google Images] This is the machine Sora and gang finds in a room in Hollow Bastion. At the time, we couldn't interact with it. We just entered this room and see this machine, fight enemies that appeared, and get a chest.

[Image found on Google Images] Later in Kingdom Hearts Union X (KHUx), we see Malificent in a room where the machine is. The name of machine is called The Ark. Next, we see Lauriam, who is the original person of Marluxio (Nobody), enter and tells her to leave. When she refused, he summons his keyblade and proceeds to attack her. In a different cutscene, Lauriam wakes up in a now damaged room, including the machine. Injured, he proceeds to exit the room with a limp. Given The Ark was damaged and later made its appearance in Kingdom Hearts and in the Trailer, I wonder if they're exactly the same machine? If so, that means that Radiant Garden is a section of the once Daybreak Town. Scala ad Caelum was built on top of Daybreak Town, as seen when Sora and the gang fought Armored Xehanort underwater. Or were two machines made - 1 in Daybreak Town (KHUx) and 1 in Radiant Garden (KH, Trailer)? Could it have been the Master of Masters who built them? Who knows?

Stars and Ideas

[Screenshots taken from YouTube SQUARE ENIX]

The following photos bring up other ideas I have.

Here we see Kairi and Riku in The Final World.

Idea 1: What if this portion is at the start of Melody of Memory like in KH3 as the opening cinematic cutscenes?

Tetsuya Nomura told the public the Final World and Dive to the Heart takes place at the end of the game's plot. So what if these screenshot are actually scenes that happen at the end or towards the end of the game, but are brought to the start of the game as an opening?

Idea 2: What if Kairi and Riku go to The Final World in the middle of the game because it's the hardest place to reach? Chirithy explained in KH3 that in order for someone to reach this place, they would have to either enter a very deep sleep that's near Death or actually die. Since Kairi has been sleeping for a year an Riku has been having strange dreams, they both enter the world by going under a very deep slumber that it takes there. Sora has done it countless times before, but he didn't realize it until Chirithy explained it to him.

Idea 3: After the duo arrives, they're encountered by a group of Stars

I have two options for this idea:

Option 1: The Stars gathered because they were drawn towards Kairi, a Princess of Heart.

Option 2: The Stars were waiting for them because Sora told about them. In the Secret Ending, Sora defeated Yozora (Good Ending) and was brought back to The Final World with him looking up at the sky then walking away. A year has passed, which leads to the events in Re:Mind, so Sora has been there all that time. I'm sure the Stars were there to unintentionally give him company and a sense of comfort inspite of the situation. He'd tell them about himself, friends, and journey to pass the time as well as training. Maybe some of the Stars made a promise to keep an eye for his friends should they arrive. Sora went off somewhere in the World.

Idea 4: This supports my “Personal Note” from earlier. Remembering this is a confirmed rhythm game and I mentioned the concept of "Sound Idea" being used, what if the Stars are gathered as a guide to help the duo through Kairi's Heart Memories that resided in Sora's Heart during the events of the original Kingdom Hearts game?

Remembering the gameplay screenshots and action in the Trailer, we play as Sora. If this is a Kairi game, or a Kairi-focused game, why are we playing as Sora with his original appearance from KH? I suspect it's because when Kairi's Heart resided in Sora's during the first game, her Heart contains Memories that Sora endured in his original clothing.

If that's the case, then it makes why we're playing as Sora accompanied with other characters to assist him. I'm sure we'll play as Kairi and the other characters soon after, but it's an interesting observation.

Similar to how Riku basically contolled Data Sora to fight against Data Organization  XIII in Re:Mind, I theorized it's similar for Kairi. The rhythm "game" could serve as a memory guidance for Kairi and the others. Bringing in the KHDDD Sound Idea from Symphony of Sorcery, what if they need to collect multiple Sound Ideas like from each world the rhythm has to offer to find Sora? If that's the case, then I wonder what song will be played if they harmonized all of the Sound Ideas together?

What if the clues she looking for is somewhere in the worlds Sora visited while she was inside his heart? I know Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are searching every world Sora's visited in reality but what if the clues are only something that can be seen or uncovered through the Heart...like through Princess of Heart?

@phoenixmiko: "The sound idea combined could form the Dearly Beloved for KHMoM or KH3's version."

A very good plausible! I can imagine Yoko Shimomura and her team playing a new rendition of the song!

Mentioned in: 

https://khhcfi.tumblr.com/post/621112208886284288

https://khhcfi.tumblr.com/post/621112566752690176

Kairi's Heart Fragments

Mentioned in my earlier tumblr posts: 

https://khhcfi.tumblr.com/post/621128405097775104/kairis-heart-fragments-in-kh3-remind-sora-had

[Screenshot Source: YouTube SQUARE ENIX]

One thing I’d like to add is that you can see Sora’s smile as he’s holding one of Kairi’s Pink Lights. I suppose he’s nostalgic of his brief quest to find all 7 Fragments and/or he’s comforted by the familiar presence.

 Other Observations

Something struck me when I looked back at The Secret Reports in Kingdom Hearts 3.

KH3 secret report 3:

Experiments of the Heart Notes on Subject X, Excerpt 1--

Subject was found in the central square shortly after dawn. Female, approximately fifteen years old. After seven days' observation, she spoke her first words, but could not provide a name. Subject exhibits signs of profound amnesia, and displays concern about which world this is. Her words suggest that she departed her home world with others, though she cannot recall the names of her erstwhile companions. All efforts to explore those memories have met with a rejection response.

After his initial experiments on me, Ansem the Wise ceased his research into the heart, his hand stayed by some fear I cannot fathom. Yet this new subject is like me: devoid of memories. She is the perfect sample upon which to continue my master's work. She, too, could benefit from it: by traversing the heart, we have a direct path into memory. I myself have begun to reclaim my lost past thanks to these very experiments.

Who is she? Whence has she come? These are questions no scientist could ignore. And the words she muttered, "May your heart be your guiding key"...

—Xehanort

[Source: Kingdom Hearts Wiki - The Secret Reports (KH3)]

Yes, I'm very aware that Xehanort is referring to Subject X - Skuld.

However, the bold section of the report really struck me odd in an interesting way.

"devoid of memories" = Subject X had amnesia upon arriving this world. The same thing that happened to Terra- Xehanort hybrid (Terranort) after Aqua saved him from falling into the Realm of Darkness. The same thing happened to Kairi upon arriving to Destiny Islands.

I don't know what Xehanort meant by "my master's work" specifically, though it may have to do with studying the Hearts, Light and Darkness, and unlocking The Door (Radiant Garden's Door)

"traversing the heart, we have a direct path into memory" = this is the most interesting aspect because we've seen this before. Recall the events of Re:CoM, Namine's first display of memory alteration to Sora and Riku by interfering with the chains in their Hearts. In KH2, Namine is restoring Sora's memories by correcting the chain links that greatly affect the others connected to him.

Xehanort reclaimed his "lost past thanks to these very experiments". As to which lost past he's referring to is most likely Master Xehanort's. Terra's memories may be (relatively) from his body-roommate after they merged.

Kairi is asleep for a year with Ansem the Wise and his Apprentices overseeing the process while using their knowledge about the Heart.

She believes her Heart holds clues to finding Sora. In doing so, it appears the memories hidden from her are resurfacing as flashbacks, bit-by-bit.

She's traversing her Heart to not only have a direct path to Sora, but also a path to her hidden memories.

She's traversing the memories stored in her Heart during her time spent in Sora's Heart.

Perhaps a reason why Terranort didn't recall much after waking up except for Xehanort's name is because the amount of memories the old master had was overwhelming Terra's mind. Paired with the strong powerful Darkness that amplified his own, it overpowered him to have amnesia for a while.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

I’m half-awake, so now might not be the best time to do this. But I’m doing it, anyway. I’m trying to think of all the Sora and Kairi parallels in Kingdom Hearts. And if you guys have any that I missed, be sure to add them here:)

But there’s Sora and Kairi drawing giving each other paopus. 

And how Kairi’s journey through the secret place at the end of KH1 is just like Sora’s at the end of KH2.

Actually, Kairi’s journey in the cave at the end of KH1 is also a bit like Sora’s movements in there at the start of KH1, too.

And credit goes to this one video that used to be on YouTube for pointing some of these out (like this one), but the camera movement when Sora is first surrounded by Heartless in KH1 (zooming in), is the same one that’s used when Kairi’s first surrounded by Heartless in KH2. 1:12-1:13 of this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPPYDk8Qmf4 compared with this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taZudWzTxwg (1:28-1:29)

There’s also the fact that Kairi gets her Keyblade like Sora got Riku’s (that later became his). There’s all this darkness around him, and then a light and Sora has Riku’s Keyblade (later his) via the “Delivery Boy Principle). Kairi’s surrounded by darkness--Heartless--and there’s a light, and Riku has her Keyblade (via the Delivery Boy Principle), but since Kairi’s right beside him... Riku’s easily to give her Keyblade back to her.

Sora and Kairi are both dog piled by Heartless when they see each other again in KH2.

Sora and Kairi, in KH2, both refer to the other as someone who means more to them than anything. Sora says this to Saïx when he asks him, “Is she that important to you?” and Sora replies, “Yeah, more than anything.” And Saïx says to Kairi: “I’ll take you to see Sora... you don’t want that?” Kairi - “I do. More than anything. But not with you around!”

Sora has a line in KH2 where he says, “Kairi, where are you?” I think it’s when he’s in the Realm of Darkness after Maleficent saves him. And Kairi also says “Sora, where are you?” when Xemnas pulls him into a fight at a fake Memory’s Skyscraper or something.

Usually, Sora says “Riku! Kairi!”, but there are actually a few moments in KH2 where he instead says, “Kairi! Riku!”, and Kairi always goes, “Sora! Riku!” in KH2.

Both Sora and Kairi say “what is this place?” when they reach Betwixt and Between in KH2.

There’s a shot of Sora’s feet at the edge of the water in a text bubble scene in Chain of Memories (when he’s on Destiny Islands), that matches Kairi’s feet at the water at the beginning of KH1. Likewise, we see Kairi’s feet touching the turf during her first scene in KH2 (when she’s about to send Sora her letter). And we see Sora’s feet touching the ocean at the Dark Margin at the end of KH2 (when he’s about to get her letter).

Some could argue that Sora meeting Naminé and Kairi meeting Roxas are similar.

TV Tropes talks about how Kairi’s attempted journey (in KH2) to find someone dear to her that she doesn’t fully remember, is like Sora’s quest to find Naminé (who Sora was basically brainwashed into thinking was Kairi) in CoM.

There’s the fact that Kairi, like Sora, is the only Other who’s ever wanted to save their Nobody. They also wanted each other’s Nobody to be saved, too.

Neither Sora nor Kairi were chosen to be Keyblade wielders. Sora wasn’t chosen at all, and Aqua chose Kairi by accident.

Kairi, in Re:Mind, waking up when Sora calls her name, reminds me of when Sora “wakes up”, when Kairi pulls him out of the darkness by calling his name in KH1.

Kairi catching Sora in KH3 is like when he caught her at the end of KH1.

Kairi has now gone to sleep for a year like Sora did. And Kairi’s doing it to get Sora back, and he did that to at least get his memories of her back: because he didn’t want to live without them.

I think Sora telling Kairi he’ll give her “a hint” about his name in KH2, is a reference on how Kairi would be like “I guess I can give you a hint” about where Sora could find things on the Island in KH1.

Them both getting stopped by Xemnas in Re:Mind is a parallel.

Kairi sitting where Sora usually does on the paopu tree at the end of KHIII is a parallel.

Their hugs are sort of parallels to each other. In KH1, Sora hugs Kairi and she doesn’t hug him back (because of her shock). In KH2, Kairi hugs Sora and he at first doesn’t hug her back because he’s all surprised and guilty feeling. And since you could argue that Kairi at first is more enthusiastic about their hug in KH2 (since Sora doesn’t think he deserves it), Sora’s the one hyped to see Kairi from the get-go in Re:Mind (partly because she was asleep at first). And then they sort of reach for each other at the same time. But before that, in KH3, when Sora’s saving Kairi from Terranort, he’s the one hugging her again, while it takes her a minute to respond.

Sora saving Kairi at the end of KH3 has shades of, “She did this for me. I’m going to do the same for her.” Especially since both are acts of true love.

This one may not be intentional... but Kairi taking Sora aback with some of her words on the dock in KH1, may be called back when Kairi’s confused by Sora at first in Re:Mind. Sora - “Kairi, are you ready for this?” Kairi - “Huh? ...Yes.”

Kairi’s now on an adventure to save Sora, like he’s always been for her.

Likewise, Kairi’s now in the Final World trying to find Sora--seemingly succeeding--like he earlier was for her.

And there maaaaaaay, in Melody of Memory, being a parallel to Sora finding Kairi’s heart fragments in Re:Mind. Is Kairi sending Sora hear heart fragments so she can track his location and find him or something? We’ll see.

You could arguably say how they both wanted to see other worlds, but were less gung-ho about it than Riku was and always want to come home, really.

Edit: Perhaps both of them forgiven Axel for his kidnapping Kairi. And how they forgave Riku and both held his hand in KH2? Them both being best friends with Riku (and Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka). They both forgive Isa, too.

And oh! When they’re both nodding at Riku, that he has friends like them.

Edit 2: Them both having temporarily forgotten each other because of memory shenanigans, but them still remembering each other, deep down or trying to hold onto the memory of the other hard.

Edit 3: The two of them having Nobodies. And the parallel scene of Roxas returning to Sora and Naminé returning to Kairi at the end of KH2.

Edit 4: And while not a scene, Kairi having her paopu fruit in the Re:Mind menu art parallels Sora having his in the KH3 menu art. Sora and Kairi in crowns in KH3 art for him and Melody of Memory art for her.

Edit 5: Sora wielding Kairi’s lucky charm on his Keyblade when he uses Oathkeeper, and Kairi’s Keyblade has a king chess piece on it--connected by a red thread--that represents Sora. Also, a paopu.

Edit 6: Kairi in Re:Mind having attacks that look a lot like Sora’s.

Edit 7: How could I forget the “Wherever you go, I’m always with you” parallel? -sobs-

Edit 8: Sora and Kairi--in the KH3 opening movie--Sora nor Kairi summoning their Keyblade against Master Xehanort until Riku, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy show up.

Edit 9: Sora and Kairi smiling at each other, and Roxas and Naminé smiling at each other through them.

Edit 10: Sora and Kairi both throwing their fists into the air when they think they’ve defeated Xemnas.

Edit 11: Sora and Kairi pretty much have the same personality, tbh.

Edit 12: Both of them seeing Xion.

Edit 13: This probably wasn’t intentional... but Kairi and Naminé holding hands, and Sora and Roxas holding hands. And both Sora and Kairi holding Naminé’s hand.

Edit 14: Kairi leading Donald and Goofy for five seconds in KH1, like Sora usually leads them.

Edit 15: Merlin and Yen Sid teaching Kairi like they did Sora.

Edit 16: Sora and Kairi’s friendships with Hayner, Pence, and Olette.

Edit 17: The Restoration Committee looking after Sora, and then looking after Kairi for a little bit in KH1.

Edit 18: Ansem Seeker of Darkness, Xemnas, and Master Xehanort treating both Sora and Kairi like crap.

Edit 19: Sora of course helps protect Ven and Aqua. But Kairi does too, in KH3, when she tells them not to go on a suicide mission.

Edit 20: Sora and Kairi--and many of the other people she meets--is what keeps Aqua from giving up.

Edit 21: Sora now believes in Kairi, like she always has in him.

Edit 22: A really minor thing, but they’re both also friends with Mickey, of course. They both also know Pluto... and arguably Jiminy, and maybe the Fairy Godmother now?

Edit 23: Them drawing each other’s faces when they were young!

Edit 24: This is more a thing they have in common, but they arguably both dance. That, and the fact they both wear necklaces.

Edit 25: The getting separated and reaching for each other thing.

Edit 26: They’ve both sent kingstagram posts to each other now:)

Edit 27: According to Riku, they’re both lazy.

Edit 28: Kairi maybe remembers everything Sora does from his first journey. And is now maybe learning all of his memories in Melody of Memory, and other people’s too?

Edit 29: They have a similar stance when the stars are returning to the sky at the end of KH1.

Edit 30: Kairi has the same battle stance as Sora. 

Edit 30.5--more art stuff--Kairi, on the KH3 cover, is holding her Keyblade like Sora did in that one KH1 image.

Edit 31: Sort of these shots of them at 1:22-1:23 in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZWhr7Bmv50.

Edit 32: Sora and arguably Kairi both saw Riku get locked behind the Door.

Edit 33: Probably not really a parallel, but Kairi doesn’t run towards Sora--as he runs towards her--at the end of KHII. But in the KHIII opening that recreated that event, she does.

Edit 34: Probably not really a parallel, tbh, but Kairi flipping her hair after she fights for the first time and showing off towards Sora, could be like him showing-off(?) in coming to help her and Axel in KHIII.

Edit 35: In Melody of Memory, is Kairi seeing Sora’s memory and he seeing hers?

Edit 36: In the Melody of Memory trailer, when Kairi says things are far from over because Sora was dead, reminds me of when Mickey says “it’s finally over”, but Sora says “no” because Kairi’s dead.

Edit 37: Sora and Kairi both raising their head in the KHII openings.

Edit 38: Some of the poetry in KH may be some of Sora’s writing to Kairi, like she writes to him?

[blackasteriia]

🔥 story structure bih

Feed the Fires of my Salt

I jumped into Kingdom Hearts right after KH3 came out. I had the privilege of watching the series’ cutscenes from beginning-to-end, starting with the KHUX back cover and ending in KH3. This is a very confusing way to enter Kingdom Hearts. The start of the story is in KHUX and the beginning is in KH1. It’s KH1 that introduces the core mechanics, themes, and principles of the story. Yet, the story starts in KHuX, which is a mobile game. The KHuX itself is a baffling mess with too many twists for me to even bother tracking it. For the purpose of this essay I’ll focus on Sora’s story, he’s the protagonist after all. 

Kingdom Hearts 1 begins medias res, ‘into the middle of things.’ It doesn’t know that. It thinks it’s a straightforward story and probably the best told one in all of Kingdom Hearts. Sora and his friends live a normal life. He has a call to action when his island falls into darkness and he losses his friends. To find his friends he must travel through several worlds. On the course of this journey he learns of Kingdom Hearts. He then meets Ansem, the antagonist who believes that all people and things belong to the darkness. Sora takes all that he has learned to confront Ansem. Ansem is defeated and Sora’s journey comes to a close. It’s a simple story but it is effective, charming, and fun. 

Then, Sora loses all his memories in a random castle through an event that he does not remember, he wakes-up after sleeping a full year, and we go into Kingdom Hearts 2. 

Kingdom Hearts 2, is another hero’s journey. Sora seeks guidance from the wise Yen Sid, a mentor archetype we most often find in stories of this type. Yen Sid informs Sora that he must defeat Organization 13, an insidious group seeking to obtain Kingdom Hearts. This bunch isn’t as straightforward as Ansem was. They’re manipulative, and also, very human, with their own quirks and personalities, some even befriending Sora. The series delves into a more mature grey than the pure black and white of KH1. Sora learns that light and dark aren’t clear-cut concepts, but to accept the complexity of himself, and others. Sora defeats Xemnas and returns to Destiny Island with his friends, concluding his journey. 

In Dream Drop Distance, Sora and Riku undergo training by Yen Sid to become keyblade masters, which is very important. Sora must unlock the power of waking by *shuffles notes* freeing seven sleeping keyholes, in the realm of sleep. Okay, yeah, anyway he does that. Then this Xehanort guy --who the hell is this guy? He was in Birth by Sleep. Wait, what?-- kidnaps him and tries to possess him so he can fill out the ranks of Organization 13-- Didn’t we kill all of them in the last game? No, they came back. Then why bother killing them off?-- But he’s saved by Axel --who died in the last game-- and Riku. Anyway, this is apparently grounds for failure and Sora does not become a keyblade master. 

In Kingdom Hearts 3, Sora embarks on an adventure to unlock the power of waking by traveling through the worlds and training to become stronger. Didn’t he already beat like, three series antagonists by now why does he need to grow stronger??? Sora is confronted by the members of the Real Organization 13, who taunt him as he travels. Sora gathers the Seven Guardians of Lights and defeats Xehanort and the Real Organization 13. He returns to Destiny Island with his friends and concludes his story by vanishing into a burst of light.

And that, from beginning to end, is Sora’s journey through the Kingdom Hearts series. I skipped a lot of details. I didn’t include side games. I told it as Sora experienced it. Here’s a few things I noticed:

1). There’s a lot of start and stops. The series has three endings. The end of Kingdom Hearts 1, Kingdom Hearts 2, and Kingdom Hearts 3, are all satisfying stop-points for the series. This makes sense, as Nomura, for the most part, intended them to be endings. Of course, he leaves some running threads to intrigue and hint at another game. It means that Sora has his powers reset twice and he begins another hero journey three times. The goals never change: train, grow stronger, beat-up bad guy, go home. Sora never grows past the dumb kid that picked-up a giant key in KH1 and started swinging, or any growth he does develop is reset. 

2). The side games are useless. I can tell Sora’s story without Birth by Sleep. I can do it without 358/2 Days, Chain of Memories, Re:Coded, and I bet I could kick-out Dream Drop Distance too. Xehanort is the sole character that you need. He is by far the worst antagonist. He shows-up without fanfare and is defeated with little trouble. Ansem and Xemnas both had something to contrast to Sora, some sort’ve dynamic, a personal stake. Xehanort is just a jerk and he needs to be beaten-up.

3). Xehanort is a terrible antagonist. An antagonist is the character that opposes the protagonist. It is the antagonist who the protagonist must overcome in order to complete their journey. Ansem and Sora jostle over the very nature of humans, idealism vs cynicism. Xemnas forced Sora to recognize the complexity of the human condition. Xehanort-- bullies Sora until Sora kicks his ass. Never mind untangling how unbelievably complicated the relationship between Xehanort, Ansem, and Xemnas are. You’d believe that Xehanort would be some culmination of Sora’s journey-- but I’d argue that it’d complete the Sea Salt Trio’s story more to defeat Xehanort, than it does for Sora to do it. 

4). Final Fantasy and Disney are window dressing. This game series is supposed to be a crossover between Disney and Final Fantasy. If you read my synopsis, you would not know this. Maleficent in KH1 is the sole character I feel I could’ve added. None of the Final Fantasy characters are on the list or come close to deserving mention. Why do we have the fiftieth Xehanort clone, and not Sephiroth, or anyone else, as a main antagonist? When I watched this series for the first time I did not watch a single Disney World, and I lost nothing for it. About 60-70% of this entire game series is useless, poorly written filler. This becomes worse as it drags on too. There’s some neat character study in KH1 but by KH3, it’s all crap. Instead of using the Disney World’s for character exploration and building plot, they’re usually charmless retellings of the original movie. 

5). There are so many useless characters. We don’t need Roxas. Get rid of Xion. Namine, who? Xehanort just needs to go. You can remove Kairi after KH1. Maybe we keep the BBS-trio because we have to have someone fill-out the Guardians of Light in KH3, but I think Terra is expendable. All of the Union Cross cast, gone. After KH2, all of the Organization members are wasted screen time. These characters do not contribute to the main plot and they have no satisfactory, useful, or good character arcs. They’re just here, repeating what we already heard. Axel finished his story in KH2, why is he still here? The entirety of Chain of Memories, 358/2 Days and Re:coded can be removed, and you would lose absolutely nothing. If I was Nomura’s editor, I’d be making judicious use of a red pen on his scripts. Characters that die don’t stay dead, characters that finish their arcs just hang around taking-up space, and characters that shouldn’t be added, are added. Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, trim this down to like, 2-3 games, tops, and you’d have a powerful story. Not a long overwritten piece of absurdity that’s wheezing like a pneumonic horse on its last legs. 

6). Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts 3 are the worst. Sora sets out to complete one task: become a keyblade master, and, he fails. He doesn’t even finish his secondary task, master the power of waking. Kingdom Hearts 3 has no tension, it’s so cut-and-dry, you need about... an hour of the game to know what happened in it. Sora defeated Xehanort, the all important villain, introduced in DDD. It then ends on a stupid cliff hanger. Also, goes to show that Re:Mind was stupid and didn’t help anything or anyone. KH3 had one job, complete all the character arcs introduced in the series in a satisfying way, and it failed on every single account. 

How this series tells story is terrible. It’s done through long-winded exposition that is boring and confusing. Somehow, after watching hours of cutscenes and reading all of the additional side material, I still do not know what Kingdom Hearts is supposed to be. Sometimes, it’s the ‘heart of worlds,’ other times it’s a ‘source of wisdom,’ or it’s a ‘source of power,’ or it can just grant Xemnas’ wish like a star, and it looks like Scala Ad Caelum inside, or its the door to the Realm of Darkness. How can it be the name sake of the series and be so poorly defined? The Metal Gear series is just as convoluted as Kingdom Hearts is, but at least I know what a metal gear is. 

Nomura can structure a plot. He understands the basics of hero’s journey. Every single game is based on that structure, individually. When tied together, however, they make this weird mass  of starts and stops, retcons, wasted time, and poor story telling. I like Sora and I like his story. I would not be here if that was not the case. It’s the same way with Xion. I really like Xion and her story, but she shouldn’t be here. That, or it needs to be written in a way that it matters. This plot stuff isn’t just about the events. It’s about the characters.  What happens to them. What do they do. How do they behave. How do they change? Plot happens when characters act. What a bad plot indicates is bad character motivation and action. These characters don’t matter because Nomura didn’t give them backstories, nuanced motivations, real flaws, or meaningful action. So he crams as most information into the dialogue and pretends that counts as a plot. 

 And it’s not like plot is  complicated, shit happens, that’s it. To add in some RP salt? It bothers me when muns says they’re ‘bad at plotting.’ What do you mean you’re bad at plot? Plot happens when our two muses meet and shit happens. Your muse has encountered a wild Xion, what do you do? > Run > Attack > Talk to > Feed. I’m not writing a passive brick here, ya’ll. I want shit to happen. And when I’m slogging through 13 hours of Kingdom Hearts 2 I want shit to happen, and not watch Sora faff about in a Disney world for forty minutes. Why is that so much to ask for?

[chikoriita]

The Search for Sora Ch.6

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Interlude II: Naminé

Enough was enough. The last 24 hours passed without progress. If this morning did not result in any changes, Naminé swore she would chuck her pencil at them.

“Them” referred to the castle inhabitants: Ansem the Wise and his apprentices. She was not sure who counted in that group anymore.

She arrived this morning, escorted by Cid and Leon upon the King’s orders. Naminé expected a welcome akin to the one she received at her awakening. Tacit acceptance and professional respect. She assumed these grown men were mature enough to face her.

Not at all. Aeleus, the silent stalwart, was kind enough to take her bags to her room and meet her with a small smile. The most Dilan did was allow her into the castle and direct her to the library. Inside sat only Ienzo, nervously shaking his leg. His long hair, messy as always, hung over his eyes.

Naminé barely got one word out when he stood up and quickly blurted, “Welcome to the castle. Here’s your information. Goodbye!”

Before she even blinked, he dropped a file at her feet and shot out of the room. The only sign that he was there was the cup of tea on the table.

If she hadn’t been so shocked by his rudeness, Naminé would have been angry. If anyone should be wary, it was her! She came into this assignment with reservations, considering their shared past. She wanted to work with the Restoration Committee instead, but the King insisted that she take point. The Castle had better connections with the Gummi Network, and Ienzo already worked extensively with Chip and Dale. Ansem the Wise assured the King that she was welcome at the Castle.

After spending the evening alone in her room with only the information in the file and dinner, she felt truly welcome that night. At least Ienzo left her room key in the file. Little favors, she supposed.

Ansem the Wise, DiZ as she knew him, still held a grudge it seemed. Naminé was the loose end he never tied up. That fact alone is why it mystified her that he was the main reason she and Roxas came back. Without him and the other apprentices, it might not have been possible.

Naminé knew when to be grateful. The window for gratitude was quickly closing. Her mission was to help Kairi and Riku find a way to bring Sora back, not deal with these childish antics.

Well, if no one wanted to show her around, she might as well get used to her new headquarters in the lab. Naminé pulled the map out of the file Ienzo gave her and grabbed her bag. The route to the lab was legible and clearly marked. ‘This should be simple enough.’

She tiptoed down the hallway and followed the dim lights to the lift stop at the end. The darkness frightened her just a bit. On one hand, the others would be asleep and not in her way. On the other, she hated being alone. From birth to rebirth, Naminé was alone. She was tired of it. When Riku came to escort her to Destiny Islands, she vowed that she would not allow anymore solitude in her life.

Naminé thought on her promise as she entered the lift stop chamber. The moonlight filtered through the stained glass on the ceiling, reflecting light everywhere. If not for the dead silence in the castle, Naminé may have appreciated the view more. Right then, however, all she wanted was to get to the basement level. She stifled a small giggle; she doubted anyone ever hurried down to the laboratories.

The computers’ soft buzzing welcomed her to the lab. She found multiple stations in various states of disarray. All except one. That one had only one piece of paper.

Welcome Naminé

If the handwriting on her file was any indication, this was Ienzo’s doing. Out of all of the apprentices, he was the mystery. His contradictory actions confused her. First, he meticulously organized a welcome packet for her, then soon after, dropped it and ran away.

She waved away those thoughts. As long as she was here, she add a few personal touches to her workstation. She had already papered the walls at Isa and Lea’s house with her observational drawings. Naminé was determined to leave her mark everywhere now. Never again would she fade into oblivion with nothing to remember her by. Here, she started at her computer.

As she considered which of her drawings to pin first, she heard the soft hiss of the sliding door to the manufactory. Someone else was down here. Gasp. Correction: someone else knew she was down here. She glanced out the door window and saw the glimpse of lavender hair.

She shook her head. “I don’t bite, Ienzo,” Naminé called out to the man hiding behind the door. “You can come in.”

The door slid open once again, and Ienzo poked his head around the corner. She waved him inside, and he slowly shuffled into the lab.

“I did not want to - that is - You are settling? I mean, are you okay?” Ienzo stumbled over his words.

She continued arranging the sketches on her desk and shrugged. “Well enough. Although,” she swiveled toward him on the chair, “I prefer my coworkers not avoiding me.”

He winced. “We deserve that. I deserve that.” He walked slowly toward her and avoided eye contact.

Even now, Naminé could not believe the treatment. He was talking to and still avoiding her. Enough was enough. She laughed harshly. “I expected at least professional courtesy despite our history.”

Ienzo raised a brow, barely visible under his hair. “Despite?”

“I am not just a Replica. I remember everything.” Remembered more than she cared to. Marluxia’s taunts and Larxene’s blows. Her time at Castle Oblivion and the Organization… the less she reminisced, the less it continued to hurt her.

“Don’t you see! That’s why we decided to leave you be.”

His words stalled Namine’s thoughts. “Pardon?” She asked, trying to meet his eyes.

He refused to look at her, instead choosing to pace around the lab. “Ansem the Wise is terrified to see you,” Ienzo started.

She did not predict that sentiment, and knowing it hurt more than she thought possible. It must be due to the new heart. If only data-hearts didn’t hurt as much as the real ones.

“He’s scared? But I don’t even have my powers anymore!” Naminé insisted. “I can’t hurt anyone. I promise.” Tears burned her, trying to escape no matter how hard she held them back.

Ienzo stopped his pacing and mouthed the words she just said.

“Hurt anyone?” He whispered in confusion. He turned to her and saw her crumpled face. “Naminé,” he said softly. Ienzo knelt in front of her. “You don’t believe that, do you?”

She felt the traitorous drops on her hands clenched in her skirt. She nodded.

“The five of us harmed more lives than you can imagine. Even I, who was barely older than Kairi when everything occurred, share the blame. The only way to live the rest of our lives is to repay those we hurt. The Organization’s reach was great, but the greatest sin was their cruelty to you.”

Naminé wiped her eyes and glanced at Ienzo. Standing, he towered over her, same as the rest of the apprentices. Now, he looked like he wanted to shrink into the ground at her feet.

She spoke quietly, just loud enough to rival the hum of the machines.“Aren’t we all here to get over our pasts? How do we move beyond the horrible history we all share?”

He looked up but didn’t answer her. Maybe there wasn’t a clear cut answer. Maybe, just maybe, she and Ienzo and all the other former Nobodies would find meaning in their lives past their darkest phase. Together.

The next morning was a stark difference from the night prior. Instead of a cold dinner and solitude, she found a spread of piping hot breakfast items with a serving of company.

Naminé cleared her throat. “Thank you for the invitation,” she directed to the five men sitting alongside her at the table. Ienzo chose the seat across from her. The others looked down at their meals in silent contemplation. He must have spoken to them after their late night chat. When he found the time, she had no idea.

“Naminé.” Ansem moved from his position at the head of the table toward her. He placed a gift box in her hands with his head bowed. “We wanted to take this moment to officially welcome you to our group. Forgive our misguided actions.”

Even scoffed. “Specify which ones, Master,” he murmured. Ansem turned a sharp eye to his apprentice. He, in return, shrugged it off and continued buttering his toast.

Naminé opened the top to reveal a matching lab coat to the ones Ienzo and Even wore.

“It is our small token of appreciation. We hope you will wear it to welcome Kairi and Riku when they arrive tomorrow.”

“We all owe you thanks.” Naminé raised a brow. Surely Aeleus did not waste his precious words on her? How thoughtful.

Dilan grunted. “Be thankful by allowing her and all of us to eat breakfast, you sap.” He pushed the eggs toward Aeleus with a sharp look.

She chose to return to her food, lest she start crying, and the others followed suit. She doubted any of these men wished to see her bawl over their breakfast at their touching gesture. She glanced around the room and thought of a proper response to their kindness. Her eyes met Ienzo’s across the table. She thought of his words last night, thought of how he mentioned that there was still a debt to be paid.

Naminé cleared her throat to gain their attention and raised her teacup. “You can thank me by helping us find Sora.”

“Aye.” Ienzo responded by raising his as well.

The others raised their various drinks in a toast. “To finding Sora,” Namine whispered with a smile.

[ashenpages]

6 Things That Would Have Saved Kingdom Hearts III

So, I’m a lady gamer, and I loved 80% of this game. The other 20% is deal breaking for me.

Spoilers below the cut:

I know that Kingdom Hearts is a JRPG. Japan isn’t always good to its female characters and they can’t include canon queer content in their games without sacrificing their all ages rating; but I at least expected an open ended happy ending for our Destiny Trio the same way we got for the Wayfinder Trio and the Sea Salt Trio, and I REALLY  expected them to respect their female characters--especially after making Aqua such a big deal in BBS and a Fragmentary Passage.

Since they couldn’t deliver on any of that, here are the six ways I would fix Kingdom Hearts:

1. Have the Destiny Trio share a Papou Fruit.

It’s not inherently romantic, and no matter what you ship you get to be happy about the three of them always being a part of each other’s lives. Yes, the current Papou scene is sweet, but Sora and Kairi don’t know each other anymore. Hell, I would argue that Kairi has spent more time with Lea/Axel than she has with Sora in the last three years. The scene relies heavily on the mirroring the cave wall drawing from KH1 and heterosexual norms of “the guy getting the girl” more than it does any build up to Sora and Kairi actually being close. A pact between the three friends to be part of each others lives and finally getting to move forward together--whatever that might mean for them down the line, including any ship you stan--would do both the characters and the fans a lot more justice.

I’m personally a sorikai shipper, so don’t spam my inbox calling me a Kairi hater. I just think she deserves to fall in love with Sora as he is now instead of being forced into it for plot purposes. And vice versa, and also both of them with Riku. But notice how I’m not saying it should have been a pan-poly free for all. Much as I would love that, it’s just not in the realm of reality for a JRPG affiliated with Disney. Not YET, anyway.

2. Have Kairi meet up with Sora after he’s restored himself in the Final World

So, Sora regains his form, and BOOM: there’s Kairi. We have a sweet scene with her and him flying in light holding hands, and then instead of going back to the real world, they go to save Riku together. Some prime Kairi and Sora ONLY combos ensue, and then Riku is awakened, and sticks with Sora and Kairi to go save everyone else--courtesy of the papou Fruit bond they all shared earlier.

This gives Kairi an active roll in her light powers (instead of continuing to make her a character that could easily be replaced with a vase) and gives the Destiny Trio a minute to hang out, interact, get some party banter, and act as a party--not to mention let Kairi and Riku actually have a conversation.

It also gives us time to see Kairi as the badass magical power tank she deserved to be. You can’t tell me a Princess of Heart with her link to light and a keyblade doesn’t have crazy resilience and fucking devastating magic. Not after how OP Aqua’s magic swordsman shtick was in BBS. Kairi deserved better.

3. Personalized reaction commands for every ally in the Keyblade Graveyard. 

You remember Riku and Sora’s limit from KHII. Make one of those for each person Sora teams up with in the Keyblade Graveyard, and special ones for three person party mechanics.

4. Aqua doesn’t get felled by plot after her fight with Vanitas and something other than another damsel in distress situation is used to pull Ven out of his sleep.

Maybe a rousing speech from Aqua about how her friends are the most important thing to her, and she’ll fight Vanitas over and over again, or something. Mickey says Aqua is like Sora, so let’s see her pull Ven out in true Sora style instead of being forced to lose a fight she could have won in her sleep. Seriously, if I was supposed to lose, that fight should have been harder. But I pounded Vanitas with ease. His patterns haven’t changed since BBS and my girl Aqua has been leveling up and up and up in the realm of darkness, she did NOT deserve to robbed of that victory just because “I don’t drink my respect women juice” Nomura couldn’t think up another way to plot this.

5. Riku makes in-character decision regarding Sora and Kairi.

Riku stood back during the Aqua fight, didn’t hang with his friends on the island, and didn’t offer to go with Sora to find Kairi at the end. For a boy that spent all of the KH franchise either getting chased by Sora, chasing Sora or Kairi, or working for someone to help reawaken Sora, that doesn’t make a lot of sense.

So, instead, let’s have Riku team up with Sora for the Aqua fight. Let’s also have him go with Sora at the end of the game to find Kairi instead of being forcefully paired off with Namine. They can get separated due to plot later (See KH secret ending), but the way it is now, Riku has been plot zombied in order for Nomura to work out his FFXV bitterness. We get it, Nomura, you’re sad you didn’t get to make FFXIII versus, but don’t write my boy out of character just so you can have your way, please.

6. Namine gets to do more than just wake up at the end, and Kairi has a hand in saving her.

Maybe in the diving into everyone’s hearts sequence, we save Namine’s heart too. Or, when Xehenort strikes Kairi to make his 13th key, Kairi uses this an opportunity to guide Namine’s heart into the replica that’s still very much on the battlefield. Then, Namine gets to use her powers to somehow help in the final battle or the aftermath, and Kairi also gets to fulfill one of her missions--again, getting to be an active member instead just an object to force male character growth and action. Also, Namine doesn’t get forcefully paired off with another boy. They did it to her with Roxas, now they’ve done it to her again with Riku--even though it’s Repliku who cared about her. Also, don’t we still have Even? Repliku could have just waited it out in Riku’s heart for another body.

My conclusion:

All in all, I can’t justify giving Square Enix any more of my money based on the way they plotted this game.

Every time a woman picked up a keyblade she lost, got kidnapped, or was used as emotional leverage for male character growth and action. Nomura also seems more interested in working out his Final Fantasy XIII Versus/XV angst than he does in writing Riku realistically anymore. And poor Sora has become a cash cow for crossovers--even if it is going to be a TWEWY cross over.

Given the way both KH3 and FFXV treated their female characters, I can’t in good faith continue to support them as a female gamer. I’m very sad to say it, as both franchises have been very dear to my heart for almost as long as I’ve been playing games, but with awesome fem led, fem respecting, and queer inclusive indie games that could use my dollar more on the market, I will be taking my business elsewhere. 

[mellz117]

Mellz plays KH Re:CoM part 4!

Hi welcome to my text based commentary on Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories on the Playstation 2. Right below are my previous entries

One

Two

Three

Check out the continuation of Sora’s campaign under the read more! 

—I had a bunch of stuff written out in part 3, but tumblr mobile crashed on me and didn’t save it. Here’s my attempt at trying to remember it all. Can I do better than Sora?

I went to the Hollow Bastion. Off to a great start!

Hm something seems off I wonder what it is lol. Lovers’ quarrel? Can’t be that simple. I really appreciate how ready to play hero Sora is. Such a wholesome boy.

I dunno know, there’s a whole-ass community who will happily give their love to you. I myself would appreciate a hug from a fuzzy beasty boy.

—

Isn’t that how you’ve lived most of your life anyway? Books and your dad? Wow that reminds me of Meggie and Mo. I’ve been reading the Inkheart series recently.

I SERIOUSLY don’t remember any of this. Beast’s heart is full of uwu love for Belle so Maleficent wants HIS heart, Belle gets zapped with witchy magic and loses her heart trying to protect the Beast. Oh look at that, she does care. Maleficent tried going two for two and our favorite big dragon lady lost to a 14 year old who’s barely into puberty. I liked the mcguffen card, makes Maleficent too easy.

Belle and Beast are too cute omg

—Time for Vexen to introduce himself to Protagonist

“Who are you?!” Sora’s ready to throw hands with just about anyone at this point isn’t he?

Vex you’re full of shit. So this first fight with him. My death counter was 4? How fitting… The fight got super nerve wracking. I had poor card management and barely won with 3 cards left.

So despite MARLUXIA being dubbed in KH2 “The Graceful Assassin” on his… gravestone? AXEL seems to be the head hunter. He’s told to kill Vexen, sent to get rid of Roxas, I’m pretty sure if memory serves in 358Days he was told to kill Xion? Right? It’s been a while.

I want to run my fingers through Marly’s hair tbh. We got two of the hottest members of Org13 here talking about murdering their colleague, as you do.

—Upon arriving at Twilight Town, Sora tells a story from when he and Namine were little, a meteor shower scared Namine and Sora says he’ll protect her. How cute and wholesome! Too bad it’s more fake than a YouTube apology video! OOOOOOoooHH! Anyway, Twilight Town is my favorite world in this whole series and I WISH KH3 specifically had more to explore!

Next fight with Vexen. Like immediately after the first. How vexing haha. Death Count so far: 4. I’m getting really frustrated and my hatred for him just grows exponentially 

Loading my deck up with 0 value cards to– oh WAIT I DONT HAVE ANY! Because stupid me decided theyre more trouble than theyre worth. OK time to pay the Christmas moogle a visit and kick an old man’s ass!

I died.

That’s 5 so far. Need to grind more! I’m level 41! I don’t remember having such a difficult time before. Then again I remember very little about my experience way back when.

I got further in on the fight though! Vexen even used his ice sword thing out of desperation! It was kind of badass, I like it. Except he beat me again making my death count 6…!

—MY DEATH COUNT ENDED UP BEING 10 IN THIS FIGHT! TEN! GET! FUCKED! IM SO FUCKING PISSED. I LOADED MY DECK WITH FIRE AND CLOUD CARDS, I LEARNED VEXENS WIND UPS AND BECAME A DODGING QUEEN! GET FUCKED!

I felt sorry for Vexen in his death scene but NOT TODAY! NOT TODAY! I can’t recall the last time I was so utterly pissed off at a video game. IM ON STANDARD why was I struggling so much?! I probably just have bad technique tbh. If I struggled this much with Vexen how will I ever stand against Axel again? I’m so done with this game and I still have another campaign to do after this!

—I didn’t even leave Twilight Town before bed. I relished in my victory, Axel finished Vexen off (RiP), Sora got scared, then mad, Axel had a tad bit of existentialism, and I went to bed.

So now Larxene and Marluxia think they can trust Axel. Larxene honest to god thinks, even IF Axel were on their side, they’d have a chance to overthrow XEMNAS, Xigbar, Xaldin, Saix, Demyx, and Luxord together… OK definitely Dexyx but the rest won’t go down so easilly. I don’t remember what Zexion and Lexaeus are doing at Castle Oblivion at this time but that’s irrelevant right now.

LEAVE HER ALONE!

Repliku again. Oh no, he and Sora have the same memory of Namine and the meteor shower! They fight about it.

“You can’t both be right, it doesn’t make sense!” say Donald and Goofy.

“Oh so I’M wrong?!” Sora replies, angry that his friends don’t believe him. Where is that undying faith in one another? Sora wonders, heartbroken.

“Maybe you should take a moment to think things though” Goofy suggests in a ironically frequent moment of clarity.

Sora overreacts to everything he’s told. “So you want me to ABANDON HER?!” Now he’s putting words into his allies’ mouths, like a stupid baby.

—Axel shows he’s a sneaky sneak and not in fact loyal to Bloo- I mean Marluxia, and indirectly tells Namine he’s letting her go like “lmao NO ONE WHO’S CURRENTLY IN THIS ROOM wants to keep you here”. And Namine peaces out.

We now, sorry just Sora now, because Donald and Goofy aren’t with him, go to the Destiny Islands. We meet up with Riku, well not really, just a memory of Riku. An inaccurate memory of Riku because during this time he would NEVER trust Sora to keep a girl safe all by himself. “HER” being not Kairi but Namine because that’s the theme.

Sora fights the Darkside, not from Star Wars but Star Wars + Kingdom Hearts is a cool idea and could be realized. Hop to it, Square Enix! We fight the big Heartless and it was easy. The McGuffen card showed up only near the end so it was pointless.

Namine shows up! But it’s just a memory of Namine.. but wait she was never there it was Kair— Right Sora doesn’t know this! Even if it’s not real the pure joy Sora expresses upon finally getting to see her is so sweet but also super sad.

BUT THEN! A SECOND Namine appears behind Sora! And now the two Namine’s are both talking to him, and he is confused because how is anyone else supposed to even comprehend any of this?

—See you in part 5!!!

[ilovemybirdy]

When Heartbeats Collide Chapter 1

Kairi, a budding pop star is out of luck when her music producer suddenly has to take a leave of absence. But an up and coming producer by the name of Sora could be just what she needs to finish her album (and spice up her life).

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

Chapter 1: A New Partnership

“Click, tap tap, click.” the sounds of my laptop echoed in the small studio room. Often times, I liked to coop up in here whenever inspiration struck; and last night I had been fortunate enough to strike a gold mine of it. I had been re-watching sleeping beauty for the millionth time and upon this particular re-watch the movie had made me think about the implications of love at first sight. Or I guess, in her case love at first sleep. I thought that it might be an interesting metaphor to talk about love from a dream like state of mind or perspective. I wanted to emulate an airy sound and make the listener feel like they were up in the clouds listening to angels.

I had finished the first verse, the chorus, and had settled on doing the song in Bflat minor. As I hummed potential melodies to myself, a sudden knock interrupted my thoughts.

“Come in!” I called. The door clicked open and my assistant Selphie entered.

“Hey Kairi! How’s the song writing going today?” she asked. She gently smiled at me and walked over.

“Well… I’m having trouble thinking of a bridge and a second verse, but other than that I’m making good progress.”

“I’m glad to hear it!” she exclaimed. “I know you’ve been having writer’s block lately, so it’s great you finally un-stuck yourself. Unfortunately, you’ll have to finish working on this later; your meeting starts in 10.” She checked her watch and gave me an apologetic look. I glanced at the time on my phone: 11:50PM. Right on the dot, as Selphie always was.  

“Oh fun,” I groaned. “My favorite part of the month.”

“That’s why I brought you your favorite: iced caramel coffee with a shot of espresso and extra creamer!” I had been so absorbed in my work that I hadn’t yet noticed the coffee in her hand. “I also got you one of those overpriced snack boxes at Papoubucks because I know you forget to eat when you go into these creative frenzies. Seriously! You’ve been in here for hours.” The time had really flown by; we had gotten here around 8 and it was already noon now.

“Thanks Selph. I swear, I don’t know what I’d do without you sometimes.”

“Probably starve to death and go into cardiac arrest from caffeine withdrawal.”

We erupted into a fit of giggles at the snide remark. As I took a much, much needed sip of coffee (my insomnia had been particularly bad lately) Selphie helped me pack up my belongings. On the walk to the conference room I began explaining my new song to her.

“Have you decided on a name yet?” she asked.

“Some contenders I have are dreamy, cloud, and maybe rem? You know, the stage of sleep you have dreams in. Or at least that’s what web MD said.”

“I never like looking up medical problems on there, it just always tells me that I have cancer and that I’m going to die or that I’m pregnant,” she chortled. “Out of those names though I think I like rem the best.”

“Selphie, you’re supposed to take the advice from websites like that with a grain of salt.” I giggled, before continuing. “But yeah, I think I’ll go with rem; it has more meaning behind it than the other names.”

“Look sometimes I get curious and can’t resist looking my symptoms up! Anyway, it sounds like you’re making a really sweet love song! It’s a pretty interesting concept too. I’m sure I’ll love it when you’re done with it.”

Our conversation came to a halt as we arrived at the conference room. We took our seats in the black leather chairs, and unpacked our belongings as members of my team arrived. Selphie readied a pen and notebook to record important points from the meeting. Glancing up, I saw my manager Aqua make her entrance. We made eye contact and she smiled warmly at me; I grinned back. She always wore suits, but today she was sporting a slightly more casual outfit: a navy button up shirt tucked into a pair of black jeans. Her black heels clicked on the tiles and I noticed that she had her sleeves rolled up; probably due to the recent heatwaves. Destiny Islands was famous for having the highest temperatures out of all the worlds, especially during summer.

The rest of my team followed suit behind Aqua: Olette (the head of my PR team), Xion (head of my marketing team), and Marluxia (performance coordinator).  Olette was donning a flowing orange sundress with wedge sandals, Xion was wearing a sleek grey suit, and Marluxia was sporting a pink polo shirt with jeans. Aqua briefly scanned the room to make sure all members of my team were accounted for before starting.

“Alright guys let’s get started. I know I want to take my lunch break just as much as you all,” Aqua said. The room filled with soft laughter at the cheeky comment.

“First things first, let’s check in with you Kairi. How much progress have you made on your album since our last update?”

“Well…” I fidgeted with my pen as I skimmed over my notes. “I have about 5 songs that I finished writing lyrics for. I’m in the process of finish a 6thsong right now. How much time do I have left before the album has to be finalized?”

Aqua paused for a moment and glanced at her laptop.

“I met with Mickey, the head of the department and he said he’d like to have it finalized by September so… that gives you about 4 more months. He also said you needed to have at least 10 songs on the album, if not more.”

“That’s cutting a little bit short but as long as I have Pence to help me finish writing it should be okay. Is he going to be back soon?”

“Well… about that. Pence’s younger brother finally found a kidney donor.”

“Really?! That’s great!” I smiled and clasped my hands. They had been waiting for 6 months at this point. I sighed in relief, things would finally be okay for Pence’s family again.

“I know!” Aqua beamed back at me. “However, because of that he’s decided to take a leave of absence to help out his family back in Twilight Town. Which unfortunately means we have no music producer for you for a while.  However, no need to fear manager Aqua is here! I’ve already recruited some local producers to replace Pence in the meantime. If you don’t click with any, I can always look for more candidates, but it would be easier if you chose one of them for convivence’s sake. I’ll email you their resumes and sample songs for you to look over later. I even took the liberty to schedule interviews with them for this evening so we can get the ball rolling ASAP.”

My anxiety began to flare up at the prospect of interviewing strangers. Writing music was such an emotional and personal process for me; not to mention with someone completely new. Pence had helped me write some of my greatest radio hits and I trusted him so much. It was going to be difficult having to go without him this time.

“Thanks, Aqua, I’ll look over them during lunch. When are the interviews?” I responded, trying to mask the shakiness in my voice. I hid my hands under the table as they shook.

“I have 3 candidates; interviews start at 3PM with 30 minute time blocks for each candidate. Don’t worry, you’ll get out of here no later than 5 today. And with that out of the way, let’s move on to the next topic!”

Chatter broke out into the room and I began munching on my snack. Olette and Selphie discussed some modeling opportunity for ‘Destiny’ magazine, but I was barely paying attention. I breathed slowly, trying to calm down from the anxiety eating away at me until Olette interjected.

“Hey Kairi, have you heard of the Radiant Garden Met Gala? Yuffie is one of the fashion designers for this year; I met her at a networking conference last week. Apparently, she’s a big fan of yours and asked if she could have the honor of designing for you!” She pushed a stray hair behind her ear as she beamed at me excitedly.

The Met Gala was one of the biggest annual fashion events throughout all the worlds. While I never really cared for the press at big events, getting dressed up and admiring all of the designer’s hard work was my favorite thing about red carpet events.

“I’d love to attend, Selphie do I have room in my schedule for it?”

“Mmmmm…” she paused as she flipped through her planner, “Yeah! It is cutting it a bit close to your performance for the Island’s summer fest but definitely doable. Olette, can you give me Yuffie’s email so that I can coordinate the consultation and fitting?”

Olette nodded and began typing away at her laptop. Xion then stepped up to show some new merch designs for the team to look over on the projector. Aqua and I approved some, and requested alterations on others for her team to work on. Marluxia and Selphie then discussed some future performance dates. By the time the meeting was finished, my coffee and snack box were no more. Everyone fled out of the room saying their goodbyes quickly, excited for lunch.

“Hey Kairi, what are you in the mood for? Why don’t you go prepare for those interviews while I go pick up lunch?” Selphie asked.

“How about comfort food? Maybe some pad thai from that Asian place on Shinjitsu street?” I desperately needed something to calm my nerves with how on edge I felt.

“Oh, I love their orange chicken! I’ll head out now, be back in a flash! I wanna take a look at those resumes too when I get back. A new producer, how exciting!” she squealed. Grabbing her purse, she dashed out the door. I quickly packed up and headed back to my studio room. Once there, I made myself comfortable at the desk and pulled up my email.

Hey sweetheart!

Here are the 3 candidates I’ve picked out for you: Hayner, Seifer , and Sora. The first two have worked with some of my other artists I manage, and Sora was a recommendation from Xion herself. Apparently, they went to college together and he works with some of her other merchandise clients. As a reminder, interviews start at 3PM! I’ve told them to just meet you in your studio. Good luck and remember to check in with me tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Aqua

Artist Manager at Destiny Island Records

Deciding it was best to just go in order, I clicked on the first file titled ‘hayner.docx’. Previous artists he’d worked with included big names like Yuna and Paine. Yuna was well known for fast paced hip hop EDM songs and Paine did a lot of alternative rock. At least he was multifaceted, but neither genre was exactly my cup of tea. I clicked on the links to the sample songs listed but was only slightly impressed.

Then, I pulled up Seifer’s resume. Apparently, he’d been behind some of the top hits lately; many that I knew and enjoyed. I didn’t even need to take a listen to the samples; I knew the songs already. However, his style didn’t fit the vibe I was trying to go for on this album.  It was way too… club music-y and sexual. Before I even got a chance to look at the last candidate, Selphie waltzed in.

           “Kairi! I’m back!” the plastic bags crinkled loudly as she set them down on the table. She handed me my food and started to dig into hers before barraging me with questions.

           “So, have you looked at the resumes yet? What do you think so far?”

           “I’ve only looked at two. I’m not particularly interested in Hayner and Seifer is a maybe. I haven’t had a chance to look at this ‘Sora’ guy yet though.” I turned my laptop to her.

           “Wow the first two guys seem pretty accomplished! What’s wrong with the Hayner guy?”

           “His style doesn’t really fit with my vision for this album. I’m also not a punk or rock singer.”

           “Oh, I guess that’s true. Why is Seifer a maybe?”

           “I feel like he has a good track record for making hit singles, but that’s the only reason I’m considering him.”

           “You don’t need a producer to make hits! You have some of the best, no, thebest vocals I’ve ever heard. Don’t go with him just because you think he’s the technically correct choice. Why don’t we take a look at the last guy tog-e-herfmmf?”

           “After I finish my lunch. And Selphie, I love you but please don’t talk with your mouth full of food.”

           “Hey!” she pouted, and her face made me burst into a fit of giggles.

           Selphie scarfed down her lunch in 2 minutes while I ate my pad thai at a reasonable pace. She may have looked tiny and ladylike on the outside, but the girl was a monster when it came to food. There was a reason she didn’t do dinner dates on the first date; I’ve never met anyone with a more bottomless stomach than her.

           “Kairiiiii, I’m trying to be patient but you’re taking so long to eat! Can I just start looking at the Sora guy now?”

           I rolled my eyes. “It’s not my fault you eat at the speed of light. Are you sure you’re human?”

           She smacked my shoulder lightly and pouted.

           “Sorry, sorry. Yeah go ahead. Once Selphie had finished skimming the written portion, she played one of the sample songs. The song was soft and gentle, and a beautiful tenor voice sang over it.

           Don’t get me wrong I love you

           But does that mean I have to meet, your father

           When we are older, you’ll understand what I meant when I said no

           I don’t think, life is quite that simple

I was hooked. It was exactly the tone I was looking for with the added bonus of meaningful lyrics. Selphie noticed my eyes widen and sniggered.

           “There’s more sample songs listed, I’m assuming you want to hear the rest?”            “Yes please.” I immediately answered. She giggled once more at my eagerness.

           A sanctuary, my sanctuary, yeah

           Where fears and lies melt away

           Music in time

           I need more affection than you know

           What’s left of me, what’s left of me

The first song had been a bit more upbeat but this one sounded heavenly and dreamy… which is exactly what I had wanted for the song I was working on this morning. I quickly scarfed down the rest of my food before beckoning Selphie to give the laptop back.

           “Quite the eager beaver we have here huh?”

           “Shut up. I just happen to like these samples okay?”

I wiped my hands off on a napkin before scrolling back to the top of the resume. He had only worked with lesser known artists, and only had two years in the industry under his belt. Experience or not, it was obvious the guy was gifted. I absolutely needed to meet this man.

[twinsky]

KH3 trailers continue to kill me, I’m pretty sure the final battle trailer left me dead. Anyways, here’s a fic inspired by all the wonderful official kh3 content we have gotten as well as this artwork by @destiny-islanders

Chapter 2 should be up within the week, it’s already done but I want to finish chapter 3 before I post it!

-

Title: You know I’ll follow (Be Mine)

Word count: 1.3k

Chapter: 1 of 4

Pairings: Eventual Sorikai

Summary: Sora has always had someone by his side, Kairi and Riku, Goofy and Donald, even the dreameaters when he went to the sleeping worlds for the Mark of Mastery exam. And that's, that's always felt right, his friends are his power so why should he ever fight alone.

So watching them all get ripped away from him, he can't even begin to think of how he's supposed to keep going. Doesn't know if he can, doesn't know if he wants to.

[first chapter - you are here] / [next chapter]

(ao3 link)

Kiss me Once

“I could only fight because everyone was here! I can’t do this alone…”

-

World saving is a lonely kind of business Sora can’t help but think sometimes. And it’s a weird thought to have, he knows it is. He’s made so many friends traveling throughout the different worlds, and of course, Goofy and Donald are always with him.

But… sometimes, sometimes the infinite space of the world around him feels so overwhelmingly large. Sometimes Sora misses the days where it was just the three of them running around Play Island until their legs burned and Sora’s cheeks hurt from laughing so much.

Well he still has both of those things actually, even if the context is different. Worlds don’t get saved just from sitting around, and the gummy ship still runs on happy faces.

Still, Sora has a feeling somewhere deep inside that the end is approaching. That their final showdown is quickly and finally coming up.

Then they can all go home.

Sora can see the people he cares about most without wondering when it will all be ripped away from him next. When the weight of the keyblade in his hand, a heart he’s been told so often is too big, too forgiving, will make him take a stand once again.

Sora’s sure that soon that will be over.

He’s not sure why that thought doesn’t make him happy. He’s not sure why he can’t help but feel nothing but dread when he does.

 -

 All of that is easy to forget though, every time Sora goes to a new world. He loves meeting new people, loves all the new friends he makes in each world they visit.

Sora’s friends are his power; he’s strong because they’re there with him. He’s strong because he knows who and what he’s fighting for. Sora is strong because of the people who are standing here with him.

(Sometimes he feels like he’s only as strong as the people who support him, who believe in him. And that without them he’s nothing but an empty shell.)

So maybe it’s a bit morbid, considering why he has to do this, but he loves that he gets to travel between worlds closing the keyholes. Revisiting worlds, seeing his old friends, meeting new people and seeing how things have changed. Each world, each star in the sky, is so unique and bright in its own well, and the people in them are the same.

Rapunzel’s world is so full of wonder and light, and so is she despite what’s happened to her. And Eugene, he’s a bit odd but then he sees the two of them together he thinks they’ll both be just fine. He knows it, just how he knows they’ll have his back when they fight. And how no matter what dangers they face in this world that together they can beat it and win. Just like it’s worked in every world before this one, just like it will in any world after it.

He remembers that when he meets Elsa, so powerful, so afraid. She reminds him of someone, she reminds him of a lot of people. And just like all of them, Sora knows she’ll get past this, find the strength she needs be that in herself, or from those dearest to her. Sometimes it’s both –usually it’s both. We find peace in ourselves with the help of the support from others.

Even when things are at their darkest there will always be a light shining bright. And in the darkest night, lights shine the brightest.

(And in the brightest lights, do our shadows grow darkest.)

Every world Sora visits is so special, so unique, a reminder of everything that they’re still fighting for. A reminder of everything they stand to lose should Xehanort win.

And Sora’s not gonna let him win.

He’s fought far too long, and far too hard, for it to all go to hell right at the end.

  -

  The organization member he meets in Twilight Town – Marl, marxi, something with an M, Sora can’t remember for some reason – speaks to him like he knows him. Speaks in low condescending tones that grate on Sora more than they normally would. As if he knows something Sora doesn’t, as if he’s laughing at a joke everyone knows but him. Sora’s confused every time they meet up with him, but beneath all that is something angry. Sora would be inclined to say he almost hates him, which is weird because the only person Sora really thought he hated was Xehanort. And yet him, he seems to reach the same levels just by existing.

When he looks at him, he feels like he’s forgetting something.

Then there’s the one he meets in the Monsters Inc. factory, face covered in a mask and with the odd ability to summon heartless like creatures. Vanitas, he had somehow known, the name so achingly familiar like someone he has known his whole life. He speaks to Sora like he’s not even there, like there’s something or someone else standing in front of him. It’s odd, but sometimes he can almost feel like is really isn’t there, shoved beneath the surface of what makes him, him and then in another second it’s as if it was never even there. Speaking to him makes Sora feel brittle, like there’s something chipping away inside him trying to get out.

When he looks at him, he feels like he’s losing something.

And then there’s the younger Xehanort, who’s been following him since the sleeping worlds. Who led him so easily so deep into the darkness he barely found his way out. Who keeps saying things to him as if there’s a secret both of them are supposed to be in on. Who seems to know just what to say to get under his skin.

When he looks at him, he feels like he’s missing something.

Xehanort’s new Organization XIII is frustrating in a way the original one never was. And it doesn’t help that time Sora feels like he’s playing catch-up, always a few steps behind of whatever it is they have planned.

It’s as if he’s chasing after coattails, always just out of reach. Like any actual progress he’s made is just playing along with what they have planned.

But maybe that’s just paranoia talking. Kairi would tell him that he’s just being silly after what happened in the sleeping worlds. Riku would tell him it wasn’t like him to sweat the small stuff.

And they’d both be right, but still.

But still.

   -

   This is the moment they’ve been waiting for, the moment they’ve been training for. The final battle, and they may not have 7 lights but Xehanort doesn’t have his 13th vessel either. Two incomplete sides, but it’s something. They’re here, and they’re ready.

And this time when they win, it’ll be for good.

All together, one last time.

   -

   It’s almost funny how quickly it all falls apart.

   -

    First Lea, then Donald, Goofy, and Mickey –gone, stolen, by a wave of heartless. Then Kairi, ripped away just as he reaches out to save her.

Then finally, always there, always trying so hard to save him, Riku. Sora doesn’t remember when his legs gave out beneath him, when something cold and dark curled up inside and told him this whole thing was pointless before it even ended.

He doesn’t know any of that, what he knows is that everyone but him and Riku are gone, and Riku’s standing in front of him trying to save him as if he’s worth anything more than he is.

And then he’s gone, everyone’s gone –his friends, the organization. It’s just him and this cold empty world.

The world falls apart, and Sora falls with it.

 (Sora has spent so long relying on other people, of finding all his strength in them, he doesn’t know what to do without them. Doesn’t know if can do anything without them.

If he’s being honest, he’s not even sure if he wants to find out if he can.

He can’t do this alone.

He can’t make himself believe he’s strong enough to do this alone.)

        He’s scared.

[phoenix-downer]

The Princess of Light Chapter 4: Heart of the World

~2290 words. Angst, Romance, Fluff, Fairy Tales. For SoKai Week 2021, Day 4.

Summary: Princess Kairi is cursed to be without love when she is a baby. She grows up cold and without a heart to help her understand other people’s feelings, no matter how hard her parents try to help her. One day, however, she meets a mysterious prince from a faraway world, and he just might hold the key to breaking her curse.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

Prince Sora met with Princess Kairi the next night, and the next, and the next. She thought it was because he liked the light pool too, and he’d also said something about his ship needing repairing. Though all of that played a role, she was blind to the real reason he wanted to see her. This continued for over a month with Kairi none the wiser as to his true intentions, for a girl without a heart cannot understand things the rest of us take for granted.

One pleasant evening in early autumn, the moon shone down on the two of them and the light from the pool shone all around them. Sora thought Kairi looked like an angel as she floated on her back, and she caught him staring at her.

“What is it?” she asked, searching his face. She thought he had a rather pleasant face, all things considered. “I keep catching you staring at me.”

“Don’t you know why?” he replied.

She tilted her head. “Could you explain, please?” 

Sora figured her curse would make any direct confession on his end fall flat. It is also entirely too easy to overdo a romantic confession, resulting in one’s beloved running for the hills, so Sora decided a different approach might be best. Though the thought of Princess Kairi taking off running and creating a miles-long trail of ice behind her after hearing an overplayed, overwrought declaration of passion made him chuckle.

“You’re laughing?” she asked, her face one whole puzzle of perplexion.

“Not at you, at my own silly brain,” he reassured her. “Sometimes I get these really vivid images in my mind, and they make me laugh.”

Kairi gently drifted in the light. “Like stories?” she asked. Not much caught her interest, but stories did. Sora had told her many stories about Destiny Islands, and she always listened quietly and asked him questions afterwards.

“You could call them that, yeah,” he replied. “But I’m getting sidetracked. You asked me why I keep staring at you.” He took a deep breath. “Princess, have you ever… had feelings for someone?”

“Feelings?” She frowned and touched the hole in her chest. “Without a heart, I’m not really sure.” 

“Then let me tell you how it feels.” Sora smiled and rested a hand over his heart. “Like you can’t wait to see that person. Your whole day improves when they’re there. Your heart speeds up when they approach. You feel like you can do anything if you have them by your side. And you would do anything to be with them.” He sighed happily and studied Kairi’s face. “Have you ever felt anything like that at all, Princess?”

“No,” Kairi said after a moment. None of those things sounded like the strange fluttering she sometimes got in her stomach. And none of the rest of it was anything she’d ever experienced.

“Oh,” Sora said, his head drooping. He sank deeper into the light pool. “I’m… sorry to hear that.”

She floated downwards to catch up to him till at last they were both at the bottom of the pool. “Why?” she asked. From here little trickles of light bubbled up from between the rocks, for the pool was some distance above the Heart of the World. 

Sora stared at Kairi, at her face surrounded by light, and despaired over her being so in the dark about what he was trying to tell her.

“Love is the most powerful magic there is,” he finally said, at a loss as to how else to explain it, for it impacted the entire way he experienced the world. “It’s like a light in a dark room that illuminates everything else for me.”

She reached for where her heart should be, but instead the usual empty hole greeted her. Sora’s heart went out to her. She was trying so hard to understand what he meant, but she just couldn’t grasp it. The whole thing reminded him of trying in vain to hold sand in his hand and watching it slip through his fingers.

“I’d like to experience it someday for myself,” she said at last, and he thought he detected a hint of wistfulness in her voice.

“I hope you will,” he replied, his voice breaking on the final word. 

She studied him for a few moments, then said, “Can we fall in again?”

He smiled sadly. This at least was familiar territory. He offered his hand, and she took it. 

“Of course, Princess,” he told her. They fell in several times together, and hearing her laughter, seeing her smile… poor Prince Sora became even more smitten with her. He resolved to help her however he could. It was clear her parents had tried everything they could here on Radiant Garden. But maybe his parents on Destiny Islands could offer their assistance. Maybe there would be some clue or hint as to how to help Princess Kairi. The repairs on his ship had been completed, so he could go back and ask.

When it was time to go home, Sora bowed and said goodbye. Kairi tilted her head, as normally he simply told her goodnight. She looked radiant in the moonlight, with the wind playing with her hair and rippling through the grass beneath her feet, and his heart fluttered in his chest.

“Princess, I’m going home to see if I can find something that might help you,” he said. 

“Oh, okay,” she replied, her voice sounding as if he’d told her he was having a sandwich for lunch tomorrow. He tried not to feel a little stung over her lack of sadness at their parting, but it hurt nonetheless. Still, it drove his resolve to find a way to help her.

“I don’t know when I’ll return,” he said, “but I’ll come back to you, I promise.” His hand curled into an upright fist, a gesture on Destiny Islands that meant you were determined to follow through on your promises. 

Kairi hesitated for a moment, then said, “Okay. Goodnight.” He wondered if she’d understood him at all. What if, in his absence, she thought he’d left her for good and forgot all about him? The truth was that she didn’t have much experience with saying goodbye. The people in her sheltered existence were just always there, and she supposed they always would be.

As she and Sora parted ways, they didn’t notice the strange black bird perched in a nearby tree. Despite what the stories say, spooky black birds can hide in the shadows perfectly well, thank you very much. And this one did its job splendidly and returned to its mistress in her creepy castle and reported what it had seen.

“Diablo, thank you,” Maleficent said, petting its head as it perched on her shoulder. “This is very grave news indeed. You say this foreign prince was flirting with my pathetic excuse for a niece? That he’s searching for a way to help her?” Maleficent shuddered. “That’s not good. That’s not good at all. Suppose she starts to regain her heart. We can’t have that, now can we?” 

Cursing Kairi further would be too obvious. No, Maleficent needed to do something more wicked and depraved than what she’d already done. That’s another problem with being evil. You soon acclimate to lesser evils and need greater and greater ones to give you the same twisted rush of delight.

“You say the princess is always playing in that light pool?” Maleficent said. “And now with that prince too? Well, we’ll have to do something about that, now won’t we?”

She cloaked herself in darkness and used it to travel quickly to the Heart of the World, which was in a cavern deep underground. Now, the Heart of the World is not a heart like you or I have; it is physical, but it is in the shape of a heart that children like to draw on scraps of paper, not the shape of an actual physical heart. At the time of our story, it was not as magnificent as it had been in olden days, but it was still big and red and bright. A single stream of golden light flowed out of it, and from there winded and curved through a series of tunnels and caverns up, up, up to the light pool guarded by the royal family. The whole thing was very beautiful, but to someone like Maleficent, who was twisted by the darkness, it was horrifying. 

Reaching into her cloak, she pulled out a tainted dagger. Tainted objects like this one leave no mark on their victims, who die slowly and in great agony. It was how she had killed her own father, the former king, without getting caught. 

With a cruel glint in her eye, she drew the dagger, strode to her next victim, and plunged her weapon into the Heart of the World. The poor Heart shuddered at the wound, for it is very much a living thing. Maleficent smiled wickedly and yanked the dagger out of the Heart, doing even further damage to it, then tucked it back into her cloak. While she could have used a single curse or spell to completely obliterate the Heart, that would not have satisfied her desire for revenge and petty evil in the slightest. 

No, she wanted the Heart to slowly die and the light pool to slowly dry up. Her smile got bigger as she thought about what would happen next, and that smile turned into a cackle and then into a roaring laugh. 

~~~

When Princess Kairi went to the light pool the next evening, she had two surprises. The first was that Prince Sora was not there to greet her like he usually was. She frowned, but the light pool was too enticing to leave alone for long, so she sat next to it and began removing her shoes and socks.

Now, Kairi had been visiting this pool every evening since her thirteenth birthday. She knew it better than anything else in the worlds. So when she was about to step in, she noticed there was slightly less light in it than there should be. She shrieked and raced the short way to the castle barefoot, leaving a trail of frozen grass behind her. 

“Aqua! Mom! Dad!” she cried as soon as she arrived, panting for breath. 

“Kairi?” Aqua called from a window a few floors above. She spotted the trail of frozen grass behind Kairi that was continuing to spread and yelped. “My lady, your feet!” 

Kairi gasped as she realized what she’d done. Aqua was already to the rescue; she grabbed another pair of enchanted shoes and socks for Kairi and tossed them down. Kairi hurriedly put them on, and by the time she was done, Aqua had joined her and sent for Kairi’s parents.

“What’s wrong?” Aqua asked, for she could tell Kairi was very distressed. 

“The light pool is drying up!” Kairi cried, her eyes wild. “It’s drying up! What am I gonna do?” 

Aqua’s heart thudded in her chest, for if Kairi was right about this, then… 

“Are you sure?” she asked, searching Kairi’s face. 

Kairi nodded and fidgeted with a strand of her hair. “There’s less light than there was before. Aqua, what’s gonna happen to me? If it dries up, will I freeze?”

Aqua didn’t know what to say. They needed to investigate the issue further. But if the light pool dried up, then Kairi would very likely freeze to death. Right now it kept her warm and kept the curse in check, but if it was gone… The light enchanting her clothes would stop working too, and—

Before Aqua could say anything else, however, Kairi’s parents and a few guards arrived. After a brief explanation, Aqua went with her father and the guards to investigate the light pool, leaving Kairi with her mother to await the verdict.

This was any mother’s worst nightmare come true: her daughter in imminent danger. Especially because the queen partly blamed herself for the curse. If only she’d taken her husband's concerns about Maleficent seriously instead of insisting he try to reconcile with her, their daughter might not be in this situation. So while she did her best to soothe Kairi and reassure her, she was very scared herself. Especially when Kairi’s breath caught and she clutched her chest.

“Mom, I think the hole’s getting bigger,” she said. All of the queen’s careful composure fled at Kairi’s words, and tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. What if the hole consumed Kairi? What if it devoured her daughter till there was nothing left? 

This was all her fault. If only she’d protected her daughter better.

Kairi frowned and touched the queen’s face. “Water’s leaking out of your eyes again.”

That just made the queen cry harder. Her poor daughter couldn’t even cry for herself and her fate. All she could do was purse her lips and tilt her head to the side as the queen shed the tears her daughter could not. 

When Aqua, the king, and the guards returned, they confirmed that the light pool did appear to have a little less light in it. The next day, the difference was definitely noticeable. By the third day, the light pool had lost a good foot of depth, and Kairi felt ill. The hole in her chest kept getting bigger, and the enchantments for her clothes had weakened, leaving her colder than usual. 

If the light pool drained completely, everyone feared the worst. While the royal family initially tried to keep what was happening under wraps, word soon spread, and the king and queen knew they would have to take action.

It was time to consult outside help.