#and kairi remembering the wayfinder!!!

[rhythmmortis]

i want to headcanon that aqua showed kairi her wayfinder in bbs and thats why kairis good luck charm looks like one. So mad that this didnt happen in bbs cuz literally its perfect . Whatever...

in bbs aqua mentions that she made the wayfinders look like that because of the paopu fruit and kairi's good luck charm was meant to be an old sailor's superstition (but i also like headcanoning that it was also from the paopu fruit tree, like it changes to in com) which is a fun connection between them both but like. kairi remembering aqua through that small detail, her linking good luck to aqua who saved her in bbs is so fucking adorable i am absolutely going to take that headcanon in and let it sit in my brain. forever and ever

i also find it kinda funny that any time a good luck charm is given to a character their life IMMEDIATELY becomes fucking cursed fdkhdfkjh the literal day after the wayfinders get theirs is when shit falls apart, same with sora, and the good luck charm is constantly used to taunt sora in com. their asses are NOT blessed with good luck

[goldenchocobo]

I started this before the gigaleak happened, haha

Wayfinder Trio (+Plus Vanitas) and their aces

Honestly, these aren't as deep as the other mix-and-match themes I've done for KH characters; more so based on vibes and the Pokemons' type and temperament than anything deeply lore related. However...

Vanitas' Grimsnarl honestly came to me before any other Pokemon- even when I laid eyes on it, I knew it'd be a Vanitas Pokemon (I even named my own Grimsnarl Vanitas lol) Something about it being what's essentially a 'fairy tale monster' and Vanitas kind of being that as well.

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The Togetic Ventus has is something that was not my own, but @rosie-kairi 's idea- one that I thought fit him so, so, so very well. A little kid who has no friends, having a friendship-based evolution line- as well as an egg Pokemon representing his young age and growing up into his potential. Perfection.

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For Terra, I searched up Ground Types on Bulbapedia hoping to strike something; I wanted a Ground/Dark type, but only found Krookodile. Then I remembered that Tyrannitar was what I was looking for with its Rock/Dark typing and pseudo-legendary status, since Terra probably single-handedly the strongest Keybarer alive currently (not accounting Luxu).

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I tried to avoid starters for their Pokemon, but honestly, I felt Primarina was perfect for Aqua. A Water/Fairy type with a graceful look. If not for Primarina, I would have given Aqua a Gardevoir as her ace instead. Though she still probably has one on her team.

[yoroshiu]

Thinking about Kingdom Hearts' narrative with communication.

As with a lot of conflicts in story and real life, much of the most heart wrenching stuff in this series stems from a lack of communication or a severe misunderstanding between characters.

The Foretellers fall apart due to mistrust that was bred in between them, as according to the Master of Master's plan, and a lot of their interactions are full of deceit and witholding information. In an effort for most of them to do what MoM says while simultaneously realizing that they could go against his word to save the world, it inevitably leads to war.

Baldr, in his grief, is kept separate from his friends, alone until the darkness overtakes him and he ends up being consumed by it. As a result, everyone is taken by surprise and there's already too many bodies piled up by the time he's dealt with. Even when Hoder appears before him, they are unable to meet in the middle and turn on each other. He ends up killing many friends and plants a seed into what Xehanort becomes.

The basis of the Wayfinders and Eraqus is that they constantly don't talk to each other properly, pushing each other away until their tragedy becomes inescapable. Eraqus not telling his students about anything Xehanort has done, for instilling such an unforgiving view of Light and Darkness, for not telling Ventus the truth until it was too late. Terra, Aqua, and Ventus not being able to talk or clear things up until Xehanort is already beyond knees deep into his plans, and despite having their love for each other go beyond any possible discord, it is not enough to prevent unfortunate fates that befall them.

The Destiny Trio, especially Riku earlier on, suffers from a lack of communication. While not as turbulent as the other trios, it's Riku's tendency to hide away and lash out that builds the conflict between him and Sora. For one reason or another, a quite literal and physical reason for Kairi, they were unable to talk which goes on and on until RIku gets possessed. And it his shame that pushes him to hide for such a long time in the second game as well. Sora has also picked up on not saying anything, deciding to perish without letting anyone know beforehand, and the full-on effects of that have yet to be explored.

The Sea Salt Trio was built on miscommunication. Secrets, unknowns, caring so much that you believe that it'd be much better to fade away without a word than to burden someone with the pain of truth and knowledge. It drives a wedge between Roxas, Axel, and Xion at multiple points. Axel, who was stuck between loyalties, kept information to himself and ended up driving Roxas and Xion away at one point and another. Xion, who found out the truth and also made big decisions without fully explaining to the other two, also inevitably leaves a grief that digs into them even when they don't remember her. And Roxas, who was the probably the biggest victim of not being told anything, ends up barrelling forward, trust broken up until the pieces finally fell in place and he had to accept his fate in tired resignation.

But it's when love overcomes the lies, clearing them away that these groups of friends can come together and start again.

A lot of the emotional turmoil that Kingdom Hearts displays often comes from the very human act of communication with others and how often we fail to do so. The fragility that comes with one kept secret, or one mispoken phrase. How badly people get torn apart when no one says anything. Yet, it also shows how it can potentially be overcome with enough love and determination to recover what was lost, and even if it's not the same as before, there's potential to make things better.

TLDR; Connections are the basis of Kingdom Hearts. Communication is a foundation of connection. The highs and lows of communication is something that Kingdom Hearts explores extensively in the stories of its characters, and that has resonated with me so heavily that I stay up thinking about it.

[hollowwhisperings]

Kairi the Character: The Future of a Grounded Star

The creators of the KH series have emphasized that, going forward, the series will focus on Sora and Riku. They also repeated that KH3 was the story of "childhood friends who drift apart as they grow up" & that change can be sad but is necessary, that people can always re-conect in new ways.

Essentially, the KH team marks KH3 as the "end" of Kairi's Story with Sora & Riku: the end of an age of Childhood Promises, of resisting "Change"... and of growing up "together".

Going forth, the "Destiny Trio" hyped up in marketing & the fandom consciousness is firmly "retired": KH3 ends with Riku's connection to Sora is stronger than ever, Sora on the cusp of a Realization pertaining to Riku being Sora's "Light"... and, as of Melody of Memory, Kairi knows that "following" her two childhood friends is not conducive to helping them nor to herself.

This post will examine the many ways Kairi has "functioned" within the greater narrative of Kingdom Hearts & its themes. It dips into Kairi's Resistance to Change being her greatest inhibitor in taking an active role within the series, how and why her first attempts were met with failure (spoiler: copying your friend's homework can only ever get you so far), why Kairi's "Staying Behind" (Home) is where her own story begins & the importance of Kairi's Distancing herself from the main story of Kingdom Hearts. Kairi's Story has never been the one shared by Sora & Riku: Kairi's Story is found in the wide cast of characters, "crossed-over" and original, and interwoven with the setting's many Mysteries. Kairi, independently of either of KH's protagonists, but together with Others "Left Behind" is a crucial lynchpin to unravelling so many spools of thread: threads held separately by many hands... each confused, in their isolation. Kairi can play a Key Part in "sorting" these threads, in enabling Different Characters to Meet (& so see their Common Threads), and in doing so "consolidate" them all within a "Wider Picture". Mostly, however, I'll be contextualizing Kairi in Themes of "Home" and as "Light".

Kairi the "Starcrossed"

Kairi has spent the KH series thus far in a pattern of "staying behind" and "chasing after her friends". While the former is not actually a bad thing (indeed, it was a Key Element in games past & likely in future too), the latter has lead to immense "disappointment".

Disappointment in fans of Kairi, who believe Kairi is suffering from "Chickification" (demoting a female character to love interest & subsequently removing every aspect of her character to better enable "romance" that better resembles a female acting as an Emotional Support Human). Disappointment from fans of the mysteries in KH's worldbuilding & lore, who find Kairi an inherently Mysterious Character connected to most every Subplot on either side of "Reality".

Disappointment from Kairi herself, who initially mimicked her friend in footstels both literal & figurative only to find that what "strengthens" Sora (or Riku) does not strengthen her. Kairi's desperate efforts to cling to childhood has greatly hindered her personal growth, as most harshly evidenced by her almost-death in KH3 & Sora's disappeatance thereafter. In Melody of Memory, Kairi takes her self-growth more seriously: she wants to reunite with Sora, to renew the closeness they had so recently (for her) yet so seemingly long ago (for us, for Sora himself). By the end of Melody, Kairi "fails" again: this failure was not for naught. Kairi's Failure "demoted" her from the Assumed Role she has long held (in & out-of-universe) of "Designated Love Interest [to Sora]" & Sora's Hypothetical "Prince[ss] Charming".

At the end of Melody, Kairi makes her first true act of personal agency in the series: she requests to train under Master Aqua, a woman who rescued her once in childhood (though Kairi may not remember) & who acted as the "Lynchpin" to the safe returns of the "Wayfinder Trio".

With Master Aqua as Kairi's new mentor, let us return to the subject of "Home" & how "staying behind" (as Kairi consistently chooses to do) is not actually a bad thing.

Kairi's "Homes"

"Home" can be different things to different people. To Sora, homes can be made whenever he connects with new places & friends. Sora also considers the Destiny Islands, especially the "play island" where he spent so many years growing up with Riku & Kairi, to be a "home". To Riku, "home" is wherever Sora is. To Kairi? Home is a much more complicated creature to an amnesiac girl who became a Literal Shooting Star.

The first "home" (that we know of) Kairi had is one she claims to no longer remember: Radiant Garden. This is where Kairi lived prior to the Destiny Islands, the place where the errant Master Aqua met a 4th Princess of Heart and bestowed upon her a [protective blessing/charm] (likely enabling Kairi's safely ending up at the Destiny Islands rather than Traverse Town or even Quadratum). Radiant Garden is also where we met Kairi's Mysteriously Well-Informed "Grandmother", someone whose Stories Kairi remembers even when she (claims) to be otherwise amnesiac of her life prior to "The Meteor Shower".

Other characters from Radiant Garden include Cid, Squall Leonhart, Aerith, Yuffie & Merlin (whom Kairi first met in KH1, in Traverse Town, and who seem Mutually Oblivious as to their Shared Heritage). It was also the home of characters Foreshadowed to be Involved with the "Bloodlines" plotlines of Phase 2 of KH: Ansem, Ienzo (a character whose origins are possibly More Mysterious than Kairi's), Apprentice Xehanort ("Terra-Nort"), "Braig" (the latest Host of Master Luxu), Isa & Axel (friends of the Mysterious "Subject X".

In studying with Master Aqua, Kairi will take her first step in acknowledging her Past & seeking to recover it: that step was made easier, perhaps, by Kairi's befriending fellow keyblade wielder Axel. Axel, like Kairi, is originally from Radiant Garden but has found a "new" Home. Axel's Home is with Isa, Roxas & Xion in Twilight Town: Kairi's Home has long embraced the Destiny Islands as her Home.

Kairi's continued, sometimes stubborn attachment to the Destiny Islands makes Sense: whether she Remembered it or not, the memories immediately prior to her "debut" as a Literal Shooting Star would have been of her being the latest Test Subject of Xehanort. If her memories of Xehanort were not stolen safely away by her young age, Repression or the traumas of Crashlanding into an ocean (possibly featuring a bit of Drowning? between Aqua's Magic & Kairi's Own, hopefully this was one trauma young Kairi was Spared from)... Kairi has Good Reason to disassociate with Radiant Garden & its labs. That Kairi willingly submitted herself to be studied in sleep by Ansem & his reformed Apprentices for a year? That in itself was an act of Remarkable Bravery and True Desperation. "Survivor's Guilt" is one of many potential "Darknesses" that Kairi, a Princess of Light, may need to Accept into herself to "grow" beyond that role & into young adulthood (as all other Original Princesses of Heart did). It is a subject Familiar to Kairi's Peers, the Princesses & those "left behind".

Yet Kairi is not someone "left behind" by the narrative: Kairi is someone who Chooses to Stay Home. This "passive" choice of Kairi's, to be a person to Return To and a Representation of "Home" has been the most plot-relevant aspect of her character since KH1 & continued to be her Key Narrative Function... right until "the power of childhood promises" was brutally, thoroughly Proven Insufficent. Childhood Promises were Kairi's "theme": with each timeskip, each near-death experience, Kairi's friends had Grown Up & Apart from her. "Promises" could not be as carelessly, made as meaningfully fulfilled in the Stakes of young adulthood & War: KH3 forces Sora, Kairi & players to recognise that "promises are for children"¹.

That is not to say that Kairi's Choices to "Stay Home" are bad: Kairi is not weaker for seeking the security of a fixed "home". Kairi has lost every Home she has ever had. That she clung to the "idea" of the Destiny Islands, once the world was restored, is consistent with how Kairi has been shaped by her own Traumas (well before & then in opposition to Sora and Riku, who found "Home" in each other more than once).

Kairi & "Safe Return"

Recall now the Wayfinding Charm Kairi made for herself & her friends as her "contribution" to their Raft Project: thalassa shells set in a starfruit's shape, a Sailor's Promise of "finding their way home". Unlike Riku "the Reverse-Little Mermaid" or Sora "the Adventurer", Kairi only worked on the Raft so her friends wouldn't leave her behind. Kairi was genuinely worried of being lost at sea, something she was miraculously spared from when she crashed into the waters of Destiny Islands.

In KH2, Kairi sends a "message in a bottle": while how sizable its role really was in providing a "Door to Light" for the stranded Sora & Riku is ~vague~ due to its "Timing" (right after a Heart-to-Heart between two uniquely "bright" Keyblade wielders), Kairi's "wish" in bottle-form certainly helped in said Door's directly opening to the Destiny Islands specifically.

Kairi & "Geography"

Then there is KH3's "Tunnel of Light" sequence. While players may Expect that the Abrupt Deus Ex Machina as "GPS Princess Kairi Saves The Day Offscreen, Again"... the sequence is Deliberately Misleading.

Sora's initial recognition of his "Light" as Riku's Light is correct: Riku, now and always, is the "Light" Sora knows best. Riku is also Found At The Tunnel's End: Kairi, however, was with Sora the whole time. Kairi was Geographically Incapable of being Sora's "Light" because she was right next to him, following Sora as he was lead by Riku's Light.

The entire "Light Tunnel" scene in KH3 is referential to the Infamous Meteor Shower event recalled by Sora & Riku in CoM.

Sora and Riku both recall watching a Meteor Shower with Someone Very Important to Their Heart(s). During this Meteor Shower, the person Naminé replaces feared that a Meteor (a Shooting Star) would strike the Destiny Islands: Sora or Riku then promised to [always protect] the Person Naminé Replaces in this Shared Memory. It is Naminé's placing herself within This Memory that prompts the Drastic Increase in [Devotion] from both Sora AND Riku['s Replica]. Due to Naminé's previously inserting herself into either boy's memories in Kairi's place, players "expected" that the True Memory & the Promises of Protection must have "also" been With Kairi.

...except that Kairi could not have exchanged anything with anyone during That Meteor Shower: Kairi was the Meteor Shower, one of its meteors & its most Significant Shooting Star. The promises that both boys recall making were made to each other: they exchanged tokens by the light of a Shooting Star.

Ascertaining Kairi's "Relative Geography" is the Vital Clue to many of her Weirder Moments throughout the series: in Sora & Riku's Shared Memory of a Meteor Shower, Kairi was a Meteor; in the Tunnel of Light sequence, Kairi was inside the Tunnel & not at its End; when Sora & Riku find themselves stranded in Another Side of Reality, as they once were in the depths of the Realm of Darkness, Kairi will be their Connection Home.

Kairi the "Lighthouse Keeper"

Kairi, through imagery & Choices, has made herself into a "Guiding Star". She is no longer a "starcrossed meteor" of Sora's: Kairi is the Fixed Point of "Home", her Home.

Kairi has become not a Lighthouse but its Keeper: she "tends the hearth" that is her own Heart, one that shines its light from the Destiny Islands where she "stays behind". As a Princess of Light, Kairi can act as the "Keeper" of her own Light: she can determine where it shines brightest ("home" in the Destiny Islands), who it guides (those Lost in Darkness, friends)... amongst other things.

This role of "Hearthkeeper" or "Lighthouse" will not give Kairi any dramatic rise in martial prowess, magical or otherwise. Kairi is Not Sora & she's Not Riku either: their strengths are theirs and Kairi has yet to even consider that her own strengths could be entirely different (& helpful for entirely separate situations). Narratively, making Kairi a "magical powerhouse" is unproductive: other characters are Experienced Battle Mages, their skills & prowess Well Established as Terrifying Extremely Competent.

Rather tham becoming Yet Another War Mage, I would speculate that Kairi's role is something more "unique" to her person & something sorely needed on This Side of Reality: an "Illuminator" not only of pressing dangers and safer shores but of the setting's Mysteries, old and "new". Kairi is already capable of acting in this role: she just hasn't had the opportunity to realise it yet.

Kairi the "Illuminator"

As a Princess of Light, Kairi connects any & all Disney princess past or future: the Princesses are "Torchbearers", their Hearts host to the still-burning remnants of the Ancient X-Blade's Light. These seven individuals are essential to the stability of the Realm of Light, in the absence of Kingdom Hearts. Their endangerment in KH1 was apocalyptic for all Known Worlds: finding the successors of Kairi's Peers in KH3 was a subplot "dropped" upon the miraculous recovering of Master Aqua & her lost friends thereafter. By "staying behind", Kairi's story as a Princess is possible to explore without the risk of her being assumed to be Sora's Princess (or, heavens forbid, Riku's).

As her Grandmother's [lorekeeper] & as a keyblade wielder herself, Kairi is connected to the mythology of the Keyblade Wars of the Ancient Past: the Master of Masters, the Foretellers & how history has seemed Doomed to Repeat. Kairi's placement as "student of Aqua" puts her (& her grandmother's stories) in proximity to Ventus, an amnesiac whose history lies hidden within such stories. That Ven too is "pure of heart" (albeit artificially) is another means of consolidating story threads: how similar is Ven, post-Xehanort, to Kairi the Princess of Heart? How are their Hearts different from each other's & why was Riku's ability to meld his Darkness to his Light so seemingly unprecedented? Is "lack of darkness" holding Kairi back, as a keyblade wielder? Or will Kairi (& Ven) be used by the likes of the Foretellers as "precedent" for all to follow?

As a Wayward Daughter of Radiant Garden, any explorations into Kairi's Life prior to her stint as a Shooting Star opens the world's history to Other Interested Parties: Kairi's hypothetical birth family, for one, and the Concerned Friends of "Subject X". It also requires an Addressing of Xehanort's Time apprenticed to Ansem the Wise... and Questions on how, exactly, he & Ansem "acquired" their Test Subjects in the first place. The technology used to send Kairi from Radiant Garden bears Remarkable Resemblance (in function, if not "form") to that used by the Dandelions. Was there, perhaps, some "reverse-engineering" in play? From Whomst couldst Xehanort Possibly Findeth Such An Arc, one of So Very Few?

Oh, Hi There, Ventus the Secret Dandelion: have you seen the Other, Long-term Human Test Subject? No, not Kairi. One escaped from [our setting]'s Other Resident [Evil] Scientist? Ansem the Wise?

...I May or May Not Harbour Deep Mistrust & Plentiful Suspicions regarding the man formerly known as "DiZ" (for example: did Master Yen Sid ever hear about Ansem's misappropriating his name, just as Xehanort did with Ansem's own?).

That aside, let us continue exploring how Kairi's "staying behind" is much more interesting than putting her back into Sora's Coming Of Age Story for No Actual Narrative Purpose (except to continue in her past role of "Being Conveniently Female"?).

Kairi the "Supporting Character"

Kairi's "Potential" has been Unexplored for nearly the entire series: her resistance to Change, to "leaving Home" & her Seeking Security in Familiar Things has kept Kairi from involving herself in anything "unrelated" to Sora & Riku. Being the series' protagonists, Sora & Riku have been Out Of The Loop on the wider mysteries of their setting: mysteries that Kairi (willingly or otherwise) is intrinsically connected to.

By again Choosing to "Stay", Kairi is able to act as the Fixed Point of Reality's "worldbuilding": Kairi is the connecting character for keyblade wielders to Disney Princesses, the point of reference to clarify "past" from "present" (this is more speculative, contingent to Kairi or Any of the Seven Lights existing as "fixed points" in Reality), and the Meeting Ground of characters (& plot points) old & "new".

Kairi's adjacency to Every Worldbuilding Subplot on This Side of "Reality" makes her an extremely useful Supporting Character. By departing from the "main" story of KH (that of Sora & Riku's "Comimg Of Age"), Kairi is free to support characters in their "shared" stories. Many of these "shared stories" all end up featuring Kairi, as a reference point or otherwise "Key" figure.

As a Supporting Character to Literally Anyone Other than Sora or Riku, Kairi is in great demand (see Speculations Above).

To her Childhood Friends, as they enter Their Arc on Sora's Darkness & the Continued Explorations of the many ways Hearts "Combine"?

The best way that Kairi can help her friends is by doing what she always has (now with other characters supporting her): being a "Fixed Point" in their Reality.

Kairi is no longer Sora's "Starcrossed" Meteor: her role, in his story & Riku's, is to now be that Beacon that Guides Travelers in Dark Seas, the "Lighthouse Keeper" keeping ships mindful of the shoreline & directing sailors to Safe Harbour. When Sora & Riku, weary from whatever Quadratum demands of them, would seek passage through death & dream to Another Side of Reality? Kairi will be There for them, a friend whose life has continued in their absence, ready to welcome them "home".

Conclusion

Kairi was a Reluctant Protagonist and an Absent Love Interest: that was Intentional, as evidenced by the Thematic (& Literal) "Geography" of Key Points in Sora & Riku's Coming of Age story being impossible for Kairi to have actually been "there" to fulfil such roles. Kairi's biggest strength, thus far, was her Faith & Innocent Love enabling her Friends to Find Their Way Home.

Kairi is strong: Sora tells her as much, in the Actual Text of the Tunnel Sequence. Kairi has, however, been "stagnant" in her strength. She can only truly become "stronger" when she needs not constantly compare herself to Riku or Sora (whose strengths are their own, not Kairi's: she has ever been mimicking their footsteps, never able to fill their shoes nor willing to consider getting different shoes for herself to wear instead).

As Kairi grows up & apart from "Childhood", Kairi can make new friends & find new "purpose". Rather than finding herself a "poor subsitute" for Riku or Sora, Kairi can seek the training they never had an opportunity to have & do so in ways neither boy may have "preferred" but Kairi would. Limiting herself to "one-of-three" (a Destiny "Trio") has never made Kairi Stronger, not in the way it has for Other Trios in the series: the "Destiny Trio" was never of the same nature as subsequent trios, the recurring & contrastingly "equilateral" dynamics being KH's means of indicating that, often in life, the friend groups you start out with aren't meant to last. People change and so does the ways they can or would want to relate to each other: is KH to is the story's method of showing the different friendships we can or "used to" have, some friendships remaining unchanged for life & others changing along with its members. to truly grow up, Kairi had to let go the "forever friends" of her childhood. They have been growing up: now Kairi will too.

Footnotes

¹An existing exploration of KH3's distinctions between "childhood promises" & "Oaths" can be found here, on Youtube. It includes a line-by-line analysis of KH's "thesis" on this Theme, Utada Hikaru's "Chikai". My only addition to said video essay is on how its structure acts as a Callback to KH3's immediately preceding title, Dream Drop Distance.

"Chikai" exists distinctly & complementary to the song that shares its melody, "Don't Think Twice". The songs, like the entire premise of Dream Drop, are two perspectives of a shared experience: this is Foreshadowing, specifically pertaining to the concepts of Mirrored Realities & the different ways Hearts can be Combined.

That last theme is especially pertinent given the Various Ways that artificially "combining hearts" has already been used to form or summon the eponymous Kingdom Hearts. This will be the Bloodlines Arc, afterall: "blood" will be Explored, in ways both Literal (ancestry, familial inheritance, generational keyblade violence) & Figurative (keyblades as a concept, Darkness as the "bleeding" of a Heart, the "oldblood" versus the "new"). That any & all depictions of blood will be censored into Water or as "Darkness" is par for the course.

²Kairi, Sora & Riku were never "a family" [trauma-bonded] to each other in the ways of the "Wayfinder" or "Seasalt" Trios. Kairi & Sora are only one (1) year younger than Riku: that means a lot, as a kid, but matters less & less the older you become. Axel's success in his role as "life coach" & "cool older brother" to the [newborn] teens Roxas & Xion highlights the difference that Age & aging has in one's friendship dynamics: Axel was the age of his friends when he "joined" Organization XIII and can thusly prepare them for what they will experience. Upon Isa's "resurrection", Axel keeps his childhood best friend with him: the changes this would prompt in the "Seasalt Trio" have inspired many an "Axel the No Longer Single Dad" joke, if not with that specific wording.

My Elaboration on Relative Age in the Dynamics of KH's Iconic Trios got, uh, Longer Than intended: its elaborated form has been Squirrel'd Away for "Later, Maybe".

[mythicalartistx]

Sea Salt Trio is the best Trio and here's why

The three trios are compared constantly and Sea Salt Trio is the one that work the best as the whole, but before we get into why it's why the others don't work as well.

As stated in my previous post, Destiny Island trio failed since the three never rarely interact much as a whole and are often in duos and Kairi and Riku barely interact as it is. Kairi and Sora seem awkward, while Riku and Sora seem to have the strongest relationship of the trio. And they also don't hate each other, none of the people in the trios really hate each other and all seem to be good friends.

Now Wayfinder Trio is much better however what makes it not work as well is the miscommunication. In Birth By Sleep they constantly mistrust one another and it's what lead to their ultimate demise.

However, I will say they all seemingly care for each other. All their actions come from a place of worry and care. In Kingdom Hearts 3, when they finally reunited they cried tears of joy and we're glad to have each other again. It's such a good scene. And unlike the Destiny Trio they still talk to each other and care.

And finally the Sea Salt Trio. The reason why this one works is that they all have a strong friendship. They start off as zombie like beings and form an unlikely friendship with Axel. The trio discuss silly things like being friends and identities while eating Sea Salt Ice Cream. They all also want the best for each other.

Xion wants to be with her friends. She likes being with them. And then she goes to run off for the sake of Roxas. She doesn't want him to get destroyed/ lose his powers. When Xion is weak Axel comes up with a plan so Saïx doesn't find out. Xion dies so she won't steal more of Roxas and hopes Kingdom Hearts is also destroyed.

The three of plan to go to the beach one day together. And their trio is from the simple moments of them talking every day after their missions until they realize bad things, but that's not initially their own fault. Axel want things to stay the same and cherish those moments, Roxas wants answers but cherish his friends, Xion is similar to Roxas.

Then after in 2, Axel keeps clinging onto those moments — the friendship between them (even Xion but he doesn't quite remember it was her, this is shown through the novel).

He liked how they made him be able to feel again.

Then he ends up sacrificing himself for Sora since he in some sense is part of Roxas and he knows he'll do a good thing. In KH3 while training with Kairi, he remembers Xion again. His eyes cry because of what his heart remembers. Kairi reminds himself of Xion, when he gets Ice Cream on the day before the battle he gets three which Saïx teases him for.

He remembers both of them and he wants them back. They are important and are his friends. And his whole reunion and even the battle before is bittersweet. Just like the Wayfinder Trio their reunion is really great.

And I just want to point out that none of these characters hate each other. Literally they don't. I've made posts in the past about some misconceptions are that Riku and Kairi hate each other/ don't like the other and that Axel and Xion apparently do? But they don't. There is literally in game and novel content that disproves this.

But this is why Sea Salt Trio works the best, but that doesn't mean the others are bad. Like I enjoy Riku and Sora moments and I strongly wish for Kairi to do more and make other friends. And I love the Wayfinders. This is why I think it works the best and it's not necessary my favorite.

And I have to say I've seen some amazing fanon comics or things of the trios that made them even better like Destiny Trio for example.

My favorite Trio actually isn't a canon trio and it's all from fanon— that's right shout out to the Lost Trio where some of them don't even interact in game.

(I need more lost trio content actually though, they're just so silly and funny to me)

[xekutozoren]

My version of Aqua x Sephiroth (explanation rant updated with mush)

Felt like explaining how I got into it. It's interesting how Tumblr seems to support it quite a bit but Pinterest is like ??? to it.

I guess I initially just wanted a character that wasn't really involved in the main KH story to appreciate Aqua for who she is and what she does. Aqua seems to give a lot to others to the point where she sacrifices her own ideals and herself. And the in-game characters don't do much for her imo.

I do still support Terraqua so it's Sephqua in a universe where Terra never ends up reciprocating her feelings. I can't deny how many times I got annoyed at Terra for not really showing he cares about Aqua like, at all.

And then KH3 happened and a lot of stuff in it made me annoyed too. Examples include no apologies happening between her and the Wayfinder trio, Ven not showing much appreciation for her, her getting tossed around after vamping her up and bringing her back, the game shifting the focus onto Riku when she was finally pouring out her feelings, Sora and Kairi not even remembering her etc. I get that a lot of these things could have happened offscreen/isn't really justified but it still made me feel the game just kind of abandoned her/treated her as a plot device.

After seeing some fanmade content about Sephqua I tried exploring it myself. I admit that I haven't actually played/watched FF7 so I really only know Sephiroth based off his wiki page and existing Sephqua content. My interpretation of him is also a bit loose and more working off his KH2 almost non-existent screen time as an excuse for doing what I want with his character. At this point he would be similar to his pre-Nibelheim self with a touch of snark. He sees visions sometimes of his canon-verse self but hasn't gone through all of that in this universe and is still capable of redemption. He's merely "the darkness of Cloud" as the KH verse called it, trying to find his purpose in my makeshift universe. His age would be more ambiguous to make the pairing work better (though Aqua being stuck down there for 12 years makes up for the difference anyway)

And one of the biggest things was ANGST COMFORT FOR AQUA'S PAIN.

I like the idea of him meeting her in the Realm of Darkness, intrigued why she refuses to give up despite no one seeming to really care about her, etc. At first, he'd just treat her as something to pass the time and not really care about her well-being but that changes eventually. >w> He is also drawn to her strength both physically and mentally.

I imagine she would be guarded towards him at first but eventually let her walls down a tinsy bit. But then she'd be furious with herself for going against Master Eraqus' ideologies and being worried what he might think of her being acquainted with someone who's full of darkness. But she eventually learns to go after what she wants, not what someone else expects of her. I like that dynamic of Sephiroth teaching her to be more selfish and her helping him find his light again.

In the AU, I'd like to see something play out that didn't in KH, which was Aqua being saved after the others. Though it wouldn't really make sense how they'd reach Ven first but it would be satisfying to see the other two do something for her for once. Sephiroth would be with her getting out of there and have to earn the trust of the keyblade gang/get over the fact that he's with warriors of light. His god complex eventually fades overtime as his feelings develop for her.

I like the idea of the two of them learning each other's vulnerabilities overtime as well as how to trust each other. It would be really interesting to see Aqua helping Sephiroth uncover the truth behind his biological parents too.

Sephiroth's need for comfort with the lack of a proper motherly figure and Aqua's need for someone to properly appreciate and acknowledge her. They love each other for who they are, not who they're expected to be.

Another big thing for me is how their interactions would go.

At the beginning, Sephiroth would be awkward and Aqua would be the more affectionate one - he's a broken man after all and scarred by lies and betrayals. Aqua will heal those wounds one by one. c:

I'm a simple woman and like banter in relationships. > w < After he's more comfortable and settled in, Sephiroth would tease her a lot and Aqua would get embarrassed easily.

That and I notice Aqua likes physical affection like hand holding and head patting in the games so it would be nice to have someone like Sephiroth who I imagine would be more hands on with her after he learns to trust again.

Not sure if anything I wrote here made sense. I typed this up pretty late. Gonna leave it there with one more doodle.

Refs are from Positively Yours, hana and a username that I don't really want to type publicly ^^;

Thanks for reading my spam! ; A ;

[alphascorpiixx]

Please do spill the tea about how certain people are wrong about Xion's sacrifice no longer mattering after she was brought back

(Hi anon I'm so sorry it took me forever to answer this ask! I was trying to find that one interview from Nomura, couldn't find it, and then forgot about this ask 😅)

Thank you anon for giving me the opportunity to talk about Xion my beloved

I don't see what the issue is with Xion (plus Nami and Roxas) returning. I don't think I've ever seen anyone claim that the wayfinders shouldn't have come back, so why can't that extend to RNX? I explained in a previous post why it is so important for them to be considered their own people separate from Sora and Kairi. And this is far from the first time we've had a character sacrifice themself only for them to be brought back later

Goofy died Sora stabbed himself to free Kairi's heart from his but five minutes later he's returned to life because of the power of his dear friend:

Sora: "I was lost in the darkness. I couldn't find my way. As I stumbled through the dark, I started forgetting things—my friends, who I was. The darkness almost swallowed me. But then I heard a voice—your voice. You brought me back."

And in KH3:

Sora: "It's all right! You can stop now! It's all right . . ."

Roxas: "Xion."

Both Sora and Xion were lost, but Kairi and Roxas called them back. Sora's sacrifice happened in the very first game. This isn't just fan wish fulfillment giving us beloved characters back. KH1 set the precedent: when we lose ourselves, our bonds with our friends can help us find the way again.

As for the memory loss: why are Xion, Roxas, and Naminé even characters anyway? Because Sora's sacrifice had consequences that were explored for several games. This wasn't just an immediate reversal where Sora dying was never brought up again. And similarly Xion's death isn't the only possible way a sacrifice can be explored, and Xion's return doesn't negate the fact that there were still consequences from her death.

The consequences from Xion's sacrifice have mostly been explored in—guess what—Re:Coded! The game everyone claimed was skippable before KH3 came out! Data Sora may not be regular Sora but we get to see how all these other hearts inside his are influencing the pain he feels. It's not a perfect exploration of Xion's pain and I wish that we could have had Xion actually appear and talk to Data Sora like Data Roxas did. DDD later showed glimpses of Xion and Sora again feeling hers and Roxas's pain. A character being returned to life doesn't just automatically erase the pain of that sacrifice. The parts of Recoded and DDD that show us her pain don't just become irrelevant now that Xion is back. (Just replay the KH2 prologue with the ending scene from Days in mind. Hurts so much more)

I think what some people don't like about Xion's return is that she's remembered, everything's been wrapped up neatly, it's like there are no consequences anymore. Once her name is said and her hood is off, Axel remembers her pretty instantly, and Roxas doesn't seem to have any memory issues when he shows up. Unfortunately KH3 had so many things to cover and not enough time to fully explore everything that Xion's return does feel a bit easy. And for future games, there so many other characters that are more connected to The Larger Plot that Xion's story might be pushed to the side right now. So while yes, the story absolutely could give more focus on the long term effects of being forgotten, there is rightful criticism to say that Xion's return happened too quickly at the very end of KH3 when everyone else also needed to return at the same time, which is just going to make everything feel rushed.

There is so much potential to explore and we've only had a brief bit of MOM and part of Remind that shows us what is happening after KH3. There is still opportunities to show how the consequences are still affecting Xion even after her return. Do Axel and Roxas remember her perfectly now? How does Xion feel about the natural memory loss that just happens with life? I think the reason why people say her sacrifice didn't matter is because so far the games released after KH3 have been prequels/midquels that fill in backstory before BBS and those questions haven't been answered (yet, hopefully)

But to say her sacrifice didn't matter isn't understanding that KH is a story where people get second chances. People who are lost can be found again.

(And its not like every single character ever gets returned to life. Repliku is probably not returning and Vanitas's fate is still up in the air imo (though personally I would not mind if they both returned). DR and UX also have loads of characters who died brutal deaths and probably aren't coming back if you want that angst. I understand that what makes Xion in particular so compelling is how much time is spent developing her character compared to DRUX's dead characters. But its something)

(and to anyone about to say "but that Nomura interview where he said he changed his mind about RNX returning" please link to the interview and I will be happy to discuss it)

(also I recognize kh3's flaws but this is NOT an invitation for anyone to rant on my post about how bad you think the game may be)

[starcharmfunzies]

Hello, I am new around however, I watched kh lore and bbs along with 2.8, first congratulations for your work I have seen much of it wholesome, your headcanons supporting the ship, just having a gut feeling, would like to ask headcanon venqua development even subtle , Wayfinder friendship in lost master arc due to ΒIG involvement for Ventus honestly and the trials going to suddenly mature him, as well the antagonists that will go personal with him and trio, believing it will be very interesting

Thank you so much for the kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed my venqua content uwu

As for headcanons of what is to come for the ship, I don't remember where exactly but I do recall that Nomura mentioned that after KH3 it'd be unlikely to focus on ALL characters since it's a large cast. I'm holding out hope we'll still see some of Aqua because she's training Kairi, and Ven too because of his connection to the past. So with this in mind I'm thinking we might see at the very least some concern from Aqua's side towards Ven because of his involvement with the war.

[generatedreflection]

...I just realized something I probably really should have before

A lot of the discussion around the paopu has been fixated on it as a sign of commitment

But I just realized that basically every time it's been deliberately invoked, it's associated with anxiety about a relationship

Riku tossing it to Sora in KH1--a low-risk way to try and understand Sora's feelings

The cave drawing--Riku had just "threatened" to share it with Kairi first (and everyone else on the island is saying stuff like "you better do it first or Riku will beat you to it!") In the novels, he's thinking "If I could just beat Riku at something..." rather than making a statement of commitment

Oathkeeper--Kairi is worried about Sora and uses the charm as reassurance he'll come back

The Wayfinders--the night before the exam, Aqua makes these. She expresses frequent anxiety about their bond all through the game, and while we don't get as much context of their bond before this, I do think the tension had already been there.

The KH3 Scene--Kairi is concerned about their battle tomorrow, so she wants to ensure they won't be separated again. After her unsent letter to Sora and general absence in KH3 up to that point, I think she actually might be worried about her relationship to him as a whole.

Kairi returning the cave drawing at the end of KH1 is really the only time that isn't motivated by worry, but it's more of a response than an invokation (which she already did earlier)

There's a lot of talk about 1 vs 2 paopus and romantic vs platonic invokations, but I just think it's really interesting how so far it's something people only seem to bring up when they're worried about something breaking. And they're usually right about the impending separation, with an eventual reunion at the end of it.

There's not really a point to this. Personally, I think of the paopu as more of a symbol and self-fulfilling prophecy rather than something magical (which might be stupid in a series like KH, but eh I've been wrong before). It's a way to say 'hey I care about you and I don't want to lose you,' which is something that both people will remember, to hopefully hold onto that relationship. (This is like. Constant with the Wayfinder trio.)

I just think it's interesting that despite being introduced in a way that gets us thinking of it as a kind of vow, so far it's felt more like a panic button?

[airawisteria]

Following on from what I've rambled about Kairi, Sora is not a ton of fun to draw (fuck your hair Sora, it might be very you, but fuck that hair), but he is a ton of fun to analyse like most characters in KH. Sora is pretty insecure, like Kairi. It's probably something to do with a mixture of constantly losing to KH1 Riku (the jerk) and the way KH constantly shows you that Sora is just an average good guy that is very stubborn, sweet and overall just good, but again, he's just that, he's not more or less, he wasn't chosen nor was he given a moment like Riku or Kairi with the Wayfinder Trio to make the keyblade choose him—the most he has is Ven taking residence in his heart, but I don't think that would have mattered too much when it comes to the keyblade choosing him. He's a normal guy. And that takes a toll on you when everyone else around you isn't.

In KH1, we're introduced to Sora, Kairi and Riku, but mainly through Sora's perspective. They're both his best friends, but while Kairi is shown in a primarily positive light (the only 'negative' thing she's done is do nothing to help with the raft and try and hide that fact), if I'm remembering correctly, Riku isn't. Yes, Sora cares about Riku, but you also see Sora's annoyance and competitiveness shine with Riku. The race against Riku, for a new player, will almost always end with a loss and the fact that Sora is the one keeping score makes it hurt all the more because it implies that Riku doesn't care as much as Sora—that this is effortless to him. Which, by the way, it probably is, but it's also probably what makes Riku want to protect Sora so much. Through this race, we learn that Riku and Sora are very competitive, that Sora feels at least somewhat inferior to Riku while Riku feels a need to be superior to some extent and that Sora is the one that normally loses since he's the one counting.

Then, Destiny Islands falls to darkness and Kairi's heart takes residence with Ven in his heart while Riku is straight up consumed by darkness, just about too far for Sora to reach. It's only here that we get the keyblade, since Riku has fallen to darkness and Sora is the only candidate left. Sora, of course, doesn't know this and just thinks he's got a cool, new weapon. When Donald and Goofy meet him and are like "join us on our Gummi Ship!! We can (not really) look for your friends!". Through all the worlds we see Sora's amazement and his want to help everyone. Then, Riku, all of a sudden appears. And, the second Sora sees him, he's—obviously—over the moon but Donald's like 'not enough room' and that leads to Riku's further fall to darkness and Sora is pretty conflicted but goes with it, since, he doesn't want his friend to be in danger. Then, Riku does what any angsty teen does and broods. Maleficent uses this to her advantage and we have Riku and Sora properly fighting, not the joke fights they've had before. And, it's here we both see Sora's past annoyance emerge and his loyalty to his friends. And, then, Riku gets the keyblade and Sora is abandoned by his friends, left with only the wooden sword Riku chucks at him.

This sucks. I mean, Sora, who has befriended Donald and Goofy throughout the course of the game, just fucking loses them all cause Riku's like 'haha, take that, Sora! I am better than you'. But, even still, Sora perseveres, pushing his own hurt and insecurities aside to help Beast. This is what eventually leads to Sora standing up against Riku and Donald and Goofy joining Sora, again. Though, it's this moment that I think plants the seed of 'my friends are my power' and his insecurities with being powerless without his friends. Sora is powerless, after all, and he is basically going up against a guy with the keyblade with a fucking wooden sword, ain't no way he's gonna win that unless he's the best swordsman in the world.

It's through this moment where only once Donald and Goofy have rejoined him that he gets the keyblade back which, to me, would make him think 'yeah, my friends are the only reason I have this, without them, I'm nothing'. I mean, think about it, Donald and Goofy have literally just joined him and then bam! There's a keyblade in his hands and not Riku's. The real reason he has it is because his will was stronger than Riku's (cause Riku's really a guy who has a superiority complex but ultimately cares about his friends, so he doesn't want to fight Sora), but Sora probably sees it as only when his friends were around was it that he could do anything.

After that, there's the whole Ansem taking ahold of Riku's body and Kairi's heart being inside him ("Kairi's... inside me? *surprised pika face*"). Then, Sora sacrifices himself for Kairi and becomes a heartless to help her and while that's a very sweet thing to do, why was that answer so easy to do for him? Sure, we'd all like to think that we'd do the same thing, but would you really do the same thing without fucking hours of debating whether or not this is a good idea. Or, at least, most people would think about it for a good ten minutes before being like 'yeah, this is the only way'. But, nah, Sora smiles and pierces his heart with Ansem-Riku's weapon. If that isn't a clear sign of a tendency to self-sacrifice for others, then I don't fucking know what is. This plants the idea of Sora being both a good friend and a self-sacrificial person—he puts others before himself, and as such, sees them to be more important than him. Of course, they're all equal from a moral standpoint, but from a plot standpoint, a guy that can use the darkness and a princess of light are more important. They're more useful and while Riku can't control the darkness as of yet, he was still the first choice and someone who Sora sees as better than him, so it does make sense why he's fine with this act of self-sacrifice.

He, of course, returns to his human body and is no longer a heartless, but y'know how he gets there? The whole thing with Kairi realising who he is, hugging him and then, bam! He's back. Well, I don't think it went that quickly, but the two events were definitely connected. And, since the whole seed of 'my friends are the only reason I have any power/worth' had been planted before, Sora's belief in himself weakens and his belief that he is nothing without his friends strengthens. In the end, Sora and Riku both close the gate and all three of them are separated.

Then, CoM happens. I've not got as many memories in CoM that I can refer to but, if I'm remembering correctly, we see that Sora and Riku have always been at least somewhat competitive. This is pretty obvious with the way that Sora's immediate reaction to Repliku's, like, insistence on being against Sora is 'let's fight!!'. However, in those memories, from BBS we can see that Sora and Riku seem to be good friends that aren't really affected by what happens whenever they're competing (prolly cause they're like 5 or something, but y'know) which implies that before Kairi's arrival on Destiny Islands the two's competitivity was pretty healthy and didn't really affect either's outlook on who they are and stuff.

Even then, in CoM, I recall Naminé needing to return Sora's memories to their original, uh, form? Sure, their original form. This places Sora in the role of the 'helpless one', again, since he's the only one who really needs his memories to be so thoroughly gone through. He might smile about it and promise Naminé that he and she will be friends afterwards, but that could reinforce the idea that he is helpless without his friends. This is supported by Riku's involvement. Sure, Sora doesn't know Riku's helping him, but the players do and they get the idea that, yeah, Riku is being a good friend but that Sora can't do shit. It adds to the fact that without Riku, Sora wouldn't be able to wake up (even though, that isn't his fault).

Then, in KH2, Sora is constantly looking for Riku. Though he holds his own for most of it, he's not able to save Kairi—Riku is. And after her rescue, he requires her help. Sora was overwhelmed with emotions the second he realised who Riku was (as most would be) and immediately goes to Riku's side after, I think it was, Ansem's last ditch effort to stop Xemnas. This so obviously shows how terrified he is to lose him again, he lost Riku twice, ain't no way Sora's letting that happen again. Then, after that, he and Riku fight Xemnas together and say something along the lines of, 'you and I are besties, so I wouldn't mind staying here forever'. But, they also address Sora and Riku's rivalry here.

As gay as the two of them are, the fact that it took being trapped in darkness to open up to one another says a fucking lot. But, still, the two do open up and admit that they both saw Riku as the superior one but they also admit that the best thing that neither of them could ever imitate would be their friendship—and, mate, the fact that it takes Sora a whole ass pause to be like 'I have something you can't imitate too'. Like, I don't know how else to show you that he was so clearly taken aback by the statement and needed to process it so he didn't misunderstand anything. The fact that there's a pause at all says a lot about Sora's self-esteem, in my opinion. They get Kairi's letter and return to the Realm of Light (hand in hand, obviously).

Blah, blah, blah, DDD happens and Sora straight up falls to darkness and is powerless again. He even says to, I think, Xigbar that his friends are his power which while sweet also implies that Sora doesn't think he has any power without his friends. This is reinforced by Riku rescuing him with the others. Then, after that, Yen Sid has Riku pass (as he should with all the shit he's been through) and Sora fails since he fell to darkness. While it makes sense from a character and plot standpoint, it also feels almost as if the game itself is telling you 'yeah, Sora's just a normal, good guy who can fall to darkness, unlike Kairi, and, unlike Riku, can't harness it like it's some kinda weapon'. It's reminding us that Riku and Kairi are very much on a different level and standing to Sora. But, through it all, Sora smiles and congratulates his best friend like the good guy he is.

Then KH3 happens and we get to see Sora truly reach a point where his ego and confidence are so shaken that Yen Sid's criticisms/run-through of DDD are enough to physically affect Sora as well as emotionally. Up until now, all we've really seen of Sora is confidence (especially when you defeat all those heartless in KH2) and laidbackness and now, Sora's once confident posture is hit with each of Yen Sid's words.

And, then, there's the fact that Sora is actually affected up by Maleficent and Pete's dismissal of him. Donald and Goofy tease Sora but instead of the light-hearted annoyance that we almost always see with Sora and his dads friends, we see Sora actually being hurt by this. And, then, Riku's off to the Realm of Darkness with Mickey and Sora's more than worried. He tells Riku to not be reckless and to call him the second anything goes wrong and that, my friends, is the effect of Riku disappearing without a trace. Sora's worried because he doesn't want to lose Riku, and later, he gets all irritated with Donald and Goofy when they find out that Riku might be in danger—he so clearly doesn't want to lose him. So, being the self-sacrificial dumbass that he is, he immediately heads over there and helps Riku. And, at that moment, he is Riku's power but he doesn't realise that, not yet.

Afterwards, we have the whole Keyblade Graveyard thing where he loses everyone. And it's here we finally see Sora admit the true meaning behind his 'my friends are my power!'—it's that he's powerless without his friends. It takes Riku saying, 'Sora, I believe in you. Don't give up/you can't give up' and fucking sacrificing himself for Sora to get out of his self-loathing and try to do something with the powers he has once he gets to the Final World.

He saves everyone and the timeline changes, but he still loses Kairi. So, being the self-sacrificial, good guy we've known since KH1, he saves her, I think. Then, he wakes up in Quadratum.

All this to say, my view on Sora is that his self-esteem is really, really low and he needs some serious reassurance from the people in his life. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

With my rambling about Sora over, I must say I didn't think I'd have this much to say about him, but here we are. I could go on and on about how much his constant damseling affects him (just as it affects Kairi) and how much all the events have affected him and his self-esteem, but yeah. I probably forgot a bunch of stuff that I might ramble more about... at some point, but yeah. It's cool if you don't agree with me on this, I'm just one of the many people who played KH, but yeah, that's what I think.

[jangmo-othewarrior]

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to...

Random Headcannons about Specfic Character's Heartless Stemming from an AU I have Never Posted About!

(This is under the notion that, for some inexplicable reason, a special Heartless is capable of amplifying any darkness found within someone's heart, so that those with even a little bit of darkness would still create a strong Heartless. Also none of them are explicitly darklings because I like myself some symbolic, abstract monster designs.)

*taps mic*

Sora (who is here and alive btw) has those eldritch horror tentacles he had in that one section of Xehanort's boss fight sprouting out of his back. I just think they're neat.

Roxas is very nobody-like, surprisingly. It makes sense once you consider the fact that replica bodies can't create nobodies. Xion is in the same boat, their bodies are kinda just layin there.

Aqua is constantly melting and dissolving into puddles on the floor, appearing as a large spot of black-blue. She can also move incredibly fast like this. However, it also seems to cause her Heartless... pain.

Lea is really spiky. And on fire, but that was obvious. One noticeable thing is the tear tracks constantly running down his face, which never seem to stop.

Riku is a large bat-dragon-thing. He also has shackles and broken chains on his ankles and wrists. The chains have been mending themselves, however. Whenever he notices, he attacked them relentlessly until they appear beyond repair. The cycle begins anew afterward.

Terra obviously has some elements of the Guardian in his design, but just making him the Guardian again sounds boring to me so obviously I need to give him more trauma.

Kairi evades becomign a hearless due to her heart having no darkness, but she just can’t get what she did for Sora at the end of KH1 work for any of them, and this just makes her feel even more useless.

Xion is a puppet, literally. Her final boss form from the end of Days gets a darker recolor while being held up by strings connected to one of those wooden-puppet-control-thingies. Roxas doesn't like to look at her.

Riku is technically a Heartless and a Nightmare? None of them are Emblem Heartless but he's got the Nightmare symbol between his wings.

Lea is the second largest of the bunch, and has two chakram-looking things circling him at all times. Xion and Roxas fit neatly under him, and like to hide under there.

Aqua gets as much trauma as Terra because the Wayfinder Trio is my favorite so I put them through pain. Her color scheme is very Anti-Aqua :)

Sora is very fast, and he skitters around like a cat. He is also very spiky.

Ven may not of had his heart dragged out of him by the weird heartless, but he is definitely not having a good time. He didn't even recognize Terra and Aqua.... at first. (I swear I love the Wayfinder Trio with all of my heart)

Roxas resembles a... weasel? Ferret? Something like that; no one can put a finger on it. He also has samurai swords, because yes.

Terra is seemingly made up of rock and soil, and it is primarily held together by the bandages left behind from his Guardian form. He is also the largest out of all of them, a little over half the size of that one really big KH2 Heartless boss in the Pridelands. (I can't remember it's name.)

All of the Seasalt Trio Heartless have their number somewhere on their bodies (XIII, XIV, etc.), the Wayfinder Trio Heartless have thier armor represented in some fashion, and the Destiny Trio all have a paupo fruit inscribed on themselves somewhere.

And Isa (who dodged the entire encounter by not being a keyboard wielder) is just trying to keep Ven and Kairi safe after all of this shit goes down. He doesn't have the time or the energy to get into how he is feeling right now (and boy howdy, is it nothing good). After all, the three of them were...

...Those that Remain.

[rhythmmortis]

the fact tbat riku says in the limit cut episode that rhe wayfinder trio went to the realm of darkness to look for sora is crazy to me. Like aqua just got out and they made her go back in?@?@*#?÷?#*#*

you reminded me that i made a post about this 2 years ago and that im STILL MAD ABOUT IT. i dont fully agree with everything in that post anymore but i still think a lot of the things in the 1 year timeskip couldve been handled better. also the way they treat 1 year like its nothing always confused me, especially seeing how 1 year was an incredibly important and long amount of time exemplified by days and sora sleeping (and how when sora sleeps for a year everyone's like 'we gotta get him back' and when kairi sleeps for a year she gets a game that isnt even about her. she gets to play 2 songs. and she doesnt even get to fight her own final boss. sorry im still mad about khMoM as well but thats UNRELATED)

however. after the dark road finale it was a VERY interesting decision to me. you know how in dark road all of the students have keyblade armour, much like the ones the wayfinder trio has? and remember how that keyblade armour WASN'T fully effective against darkness as shown by urd and hermod? and they chose to reveal that information after the last we saw of the wayfinder trio was them donning their keyblade armour and setting off into a portal? interesting choices. very interesting. they were called back after khMoM to our knowledge, but who's to say what happened? like i said, 1 year is an awfully long period of time

[wait-still-rendering]

The Strange Case of Kairi Uchida

The final chapter is up!

ao3 link

ffnet link

Kairi Uchida felt as if she were on the precipice of an answer.

The memories did not come flooding back this time, but she knew, somewhere deep down in her heart that Xion was not telling her the complete story.

She swallowed down the rising panic in her throat. The both of them had stopped walking entirely. Somehow, the fog was not as bad here as it was in other chambers of the Underworld.

"Give me the details," Kairi said. "Not about death, but what happened earlier that day, what came after."

Xion stared at their hands, intertwined, a sullen look spreading across her face.

Nothing felt the same. Kairi did not feel the same, but she knew she had to know. She had to remember.

And so, Xion began once more.

.:x:.

Sora and Riku sat in the middle of the living room playing a fighting game while occasionally popping food into their mouths. Xion couldn't quite remember which fighting game it was. Soul something. Soul Sword? She stopped trying to remember and went back to eating her chocolate.

"No fair!" Sora whined. "You've won four times in a row!"

"Well, what can I say? I'm just that good." Riku pretended to flex his muscles.

Xion rolled her eyes. Boys, she thought.

Another piece of chocolate melted on her tongue. "As much as I'd like to continue watching this spectacle, I have places to be." She whipped out her sunglasses and put them on.

"You going to see Kairi?" Sora teased. When he turned to see the blush staining her cheeks he grinned. "You are. "

"It's nothing like that," she explained.

"Yes it is," came Riku's reply.

"What is what?" Selphie flounced into the living room with her own snacks. "Ooo, is this the new one?" she asked, flopping down next to Xion.

The boys nodded.

"We're just talking about Xion and Kairi and how they're such great gal pals." Xion almost threw the spare pillow on the couch at Sora.

Selphie let out a dreamy sigh. "I love romance," she said as she clasped her hands together. "This will be the love story of the century."

Riku chuckled. "Xion better get a move on it if she wants to be there on time."

"Shut up, Riku." Xion chucked the pillow at him instead, leading to Sora's first victory four matches in. "Goodbye, I'll never see any of you ever again."

They laughed, Xion remembered, but she wished she hadn't said goodbye like that.

(Kairi gave no reaction.)

Xion hurried to their meeting place and found Kairi sitting under a tree weaving a new Wayfinder. This one was purple.

"You could start a business selling those."

A soft smile played on Kairi's lips. "I could, but that would take the fun out of it." She placed the half-finished Wayfinder in her bag with the spare thalassa shells.

For a brief moment in time, they stared at each other, neither one moving. Seagulls spread out over the blue sky. Not a single cloud was present. It smelled like spring, but it felt like summer. May was one of those tricky months—a halfway point, a midpoint.

Xion didn't say it, but she felt it in her bones, this was the end. She should've felt giddy with the way Kairi was looking at her, but something was wrong and she didn't know what.

"Ready?" Kairi asked.

"Ready," she echoed back.

(Then, there was the crash itself. Xion skipped over it, noting how Kairi hadn't taken her hands away.

She went on.)

Kairi was in her arms and someone—something—was looming over them. Death. Hades. She couldn't tell and frankly, she didn't care. All she knew was that her friend (more-than-a-friend) was dying and how this wasn't supposed to happen. The driver was panicking and apologizing, but Xion paid no attention to that.

"Please," she said through her tears, "save her. Do something. She can't die. Not yet."

"Death isn't fair," the entity said. "But if you want her to live, you must do something for me in return."

"I'll do anything!" Xion pleaded. "Anything!"

"If you give me your own life-force, I can save her, but no one will remember you. No one will grieve you. Somewhere down the line," the entity warned, "things will not be as they should."

In her desperation, Xion agreed and ignored the fine print.

.:x:.

Within those twisting, winding halls of the Underworld, Kairi remembered.

The universe was trying to right itself. It explained the flickering, the monsters, seeing Xion in the mirror. She recalled how she went to Hollow Bastion on a whim in an attempt to find answers. Answers that were not in Hollow Bastion, but here in the Underworld where she should have been all this time.

"Xion." She looked down at their hands. "You know what has to happen now, right? You can't save me a second time."

"I can try." Xion's voice took on a reckless edge. "You deserve to live."

"And you don't?" Kairi stared at Xion, taking away her hands. "Xion, look at me."

"What am I supposed to do in a world without you? I never got to find out what you were going to tell me."

Kairi cupped Xion's face with both hands. "I was going to tell you that I love you. Not as a friend, but more."

The poem Kairi had been looking at on her phone made sense now. She couldn't quite place when she'd written it or if she even wrote it in the first place, but none of that mattered anymore. They were here, near the gates.

"I love you too, Kairi."

Things were supposed to be different. Kairi was supposed to fall in love with Xion and she did. Their relationship might have started slow. They might have moved fast. She would never know, but they were supposed to grow old together and tell stories to whoever asked and reminisce and smile at each other like they knew a secret no one else would understand.

The real tragedy wasn't death, it was how their story would never be—how it would remain untold.

Kairi Uchida kissed Xion Hikari at the entrance of the Underworld, the taste of peppermint on her lips as they said their last farewell.

.:x:.

The Sun was born and so the Moon rose You were everything to me, I chose The beauty of the stars could not match your own And I'm afraid, darling, that I hadn't known I begged the universe for an answer, a reason But you were gone by the next season I said goodbye yesterday But I'll never regret our final May

[imberincidit-archived]

@galaxywrought || plotted starter with Terra .

Ever since getting out of the Realm of Darkness, even over a year later Aqua will still, occasionally, have bad dreams. Something about flashbacks, visions, sometimes when she tries to go to sleep. Nightmares, about phantom selves, and mirrors, and pitch black seas swallowing her whole. It's never pleasant, reliving those memories — those mistakes — but her mind refuses to let go. And tonight is one of those nights, it seems; she'd fallen asleep at a decent time, after a day spent training Kairi, but...

Sometime just a few hours after having gone to sleep in the first place, Aqua jolts awake, sitting up quickly in her bed in a cold sweat with a scream caught in her throat. Struggling at first to realize just exactly where she is, with her breath coming in ragged pants she glances around quickly in an attempt to gain her bearings before remembering: she is back in her room, in the Land of Departure. She is home. She is safe.

Though she can't tell what time it is exactly, a glance out her window at the star-lit sky above has her guessing it's probably later in the night. How many hours have passed since she fell asleep? Not that it matters; if the keyblade master knows herself by now, she knows that it will be at least a little while until she'll be able to get back to sleep again.

Climbing out of bed with a sigh, Aqua grabs a pale blue cardigan and pulls it on over her pajamas before slipping out of her room — in the meantime careful to be quiet in the hallway, so as not to potentially wake anyone else — and heading down the castle corridors to make her way outside. A walk around the castle grounds will help clear her mind; the cooler air outside will provide a brisk distraction of sorts. Keep her on her toes, so to speak. She's expecting to be alone out here—

She isn't expecting to see Terra sitting on the castle steps, and as she approaches carefully from behind, her footsteps light as they always are, she notices he's staring ahead absently while holding his wayfinder in his hands.

It seems her walk will have to wait.

"Terra." Aqua says her friend's name gently to get his attention before taking a seat on the steps to join him. "I didn't realize you were out here, too."

[magpiejay1234]

I suppose we should go over the Limit Cut/Melody of Memory status of the cast.

**So Wayfinder Trio went to Realm of Darkness a year ago, almost immediately after the epilogue of KH3, and have been searching for Sora there, though obviously their actual objective is Vanitas.

**Mickey, Donald, and Goofy have been searching for all past worlds, but Donald, and Goofy are reassigned to Scala ad Caelum, then Underworld in Olympus Coliseum. Their second objective isn't about Sora, but learning about the Keyblade Order, so they can wield their own.

**Twilight Town gang are studying Roxas, and Xion's memories, but outside of Lea, and Isa, none of them know how to use Ansem DiZ's machines (Pence somewhat knows), so their real objective is presumably Subject X.

**Kairi's objective for being asleep for a year ends up being largely useless, outside of the clue of The Final World. Its Riku's dreams about Quadratum is the one that actually matters, and even then only somewhat.

Kairi's final resolve about training under Aqua also confirms Wayfinder Trio didn't find anything, which for the audiences at home is probably meant to be a tease that prime time Vanitas is inside Sora (shocking I know), but it is also a way of keeping Kairi off KH4 until its near end, because that's how people remember KH1 went, and Riku will presumably only appear around mid-game, because again, that's how people remember KH1 went.

The only mysterious situation is with King Mickey I guess, but because of Coded (and its various iterations), your assumption should be that he is also searching for either:

**The recompleted Dandelions, Elrena, and Lauriam. Possibly other NPC ones if they became Nobodies.

**Braig, the only Ansem apprentice that didn't return.

**Vanitas, again.

**The Book of Prophecies (the real one, owned by MoM)

**The black box.

**Pete, and Maleficent, who are seeking those two things.

I guess the only one not mentioned is Naminé, but I sort of joke about her becoming a Keyblade wielder, though the real reason might be that the theory of her being somehow related to Ava is true, and that is her big twist in Lost Masters saga. Ehh.

[invidiatechdemo]

I really do need to write down some of the specific weird 'writing a re:coded sequel version of remind but writing it like it's the novelization of a version that's a game with baffling mechanics related to power scaling/difficulty' situation I have stuck in my damn brain. The thing is the thing requires outlining + specifically outlining vis a vis : worlds visited order and the locations of Specific Plot Beats, and as I think i've mentioned here before writing is my nemesis and makes me ill.

For a super basic plot synopsis without spoilers for some of the specifics the concept was basically uh. (this is actively split up into parts because as it turns out i have a lot to say).

Initial section of story is post3 but pre the timescale of ReMind and MoM, and addresses that the journal still exists and addresses a thing that a lot of fics that remembers them don't (that textually, it's not just data-sora who forgot those events but likely has them etched in heart, the entire thing in many nomura interviews is that Data-Riku forgets in a similar way once the message abt Xion + Wayfinder is conveyed. bottom text.). It specifically actually uses them in a 'hey did you notice/feel anything weird when Sora (irl) disappeared' questioning by Riku and Mickey, and this planting the seed of. Upcoming things, because those bonds are /still/ etched and Data-Riku and Data-Sora would still have the feeling of being friends w/ Mickey and stuff.

ReMind starts with 3 Riku starting the damn boss rush but after a certain point when the computer is unattended, Data-Riku and Sora getting involved, with reasonings for that being those bonds to Mickey and Donald and Goofy still echoing, and a Castle Oblivion style 'I had a feeling that maybe if we came here, we could help' situation.

Hey don't worry that I'm going to keep alluding to KH2 and RE:COM in this metaphor, ok? :)

In Cid's words, the Data True Org stuff's composition is as follows: "This computer, the one in Twilight Town, and the one in the castle are all connected to the same network. They sent me all of their data and I merged it with the stuff I already had".

The castle in this statement is likely Radiant Garden. Later story stuff would actually dig deeper into /where specifically/ all the data is from in terms of where the castle and twilight town got their info, because if you take the Data Greetings serious, Scala Ad Caelum is just. In there, huh.

Data-Riku and/or Data-Sora enter one of the boss arenas, and start fighting. This is a terrible decision. For some. Later things. This being Young Xehanort's boss arena /specifically/.

The overlap of Jiminy's Journal Info (which /already/ has been shown to be able to reveal cutscenes/events that Sora was not there for as a weird world-memory thing (Riku interacting with AnsemSOD after island's fall, Riku at the clock tower in Neverland with Kairi, etc) and the info collected from Cid's vast repository of data results in something /extremely/ bad happening that initially just looks like generalized errors but quickly devolves into Bug Blox, and DS and DR being separated on two different levels.

It's at this point IRL Riku gets back. Bottom text.

Riku basically acting as mission control/the framing device from this point, with other characters coming in as things get worse and worse.

Hey remember the funny messages Data-Riku sent to Mickey. Riku does start getting those, but all they ever say is 'GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT' or 'LEAVE'. This is fine.

As a note, whoever they were fighting in the boss arena has frozen in a single place from the moment that the crashes/errors/bugs started occurring, with the boss arena visually being in the 'hub area' for what this game would be, with the boss arena basically crashed down and half submerged in the weird circuit bg and other miscellaneous debris from various worlds. Visually the hubworld riffing off End Of The World, with it becoming less luttered/chaotic at certain story beats/world completions.

Data-Riku landing in said hub world, with a framing device being Riku and Cid basically gmod prop spawning in a gummiphone so they can see info/data, since the camera is focused on Data-Sora by default. Comedy routine of Data-Riku selfie with a fucking damn frozen data greeting True Organization member. Cutscene dialogue where Riku and Cid talk about what the hell could have happened.

… Oh hey. Where did the player-controlled KH3! Sora go in all of this mess, since Riku was using that initially to interact with the garden of assemblage computer stuff. Oh well, probably got lost in the initial errors. It's fine. Surely.

Meanwhile Data-Sora is doing basic plot progression stuff in Data versions of some of the Disney Worlds, eventually meeting up with Data-Riku in the hub area. In my gamer-brain where I'm treating this as a game with mechanics, hub world meetup point would explain some of the initial base mechanics for people not accustomed to coded, and level selection. The gummi-phone mechanics now being used as a way to detect certain types of errors/bugs/reveal them, as well as for sections of game that are essentially Somniums. Info split between puzzle gameplay tutorials being explained via Data-Riku, and combat-related tutorials explained via Data-Sora, which is why they're split up initially so it's not a bunch of tutorials all at once.

There is a third game mechanic, but we haven't reached it yet. Smile.

Game tutorials and cutscenes slowly revealing something Very Specific about the game-scaling: Data-Riku and Data-Sora... were /not/ ready for this; the two of them are based on the Riku and Sora of /multiple games ago/, they can fight blox and stuff fine, but even the initiating cutscene implies they would have lost /horribly/ if the fight had gone on uninterrupted, and it unclear if if they would have uh. lived. Unlike the kh3 data sora, there's an issue.

Riku wanted them to leave/quit and let him just handle it, Data-Sora and Data-Riku point out that the way Riku was interacting with that data world is gone.

This conversation happens in the Hub World, and specifically mentions how Data-Riku can make portals to and out of the datascape/into other datascapes This is established early on as a thing Data-Riku still can theoretically do, despite the weird errors/glitches; outside of attacking them, whatever is going on with the system cannot intervene with Data-Riku or Data-Sora's programming, very likely because they have hearts alongside them being outside context problems.

Speaking of: yeah, the Bug Blox unlike in the previous game feel /really/ targeted, with lots of instances of stuff showing up specifically to impede progress.

But yeah, instances of true organization difficulty-wise veer into superboss territory, but in many cases they basically stick to their arenas. (some of which have basically collided into the various data worlds, puncturing through them like paper with large empty spaces and indestructible blox leading out to them. It's quite nasty, and there's this weird mixture of standard bug blox textures and the weird gummi-meaty world of chaos textures. This only gets more and more severe in the Radiant Garden and Destiny Islands sections.)

The bosses in question tend to have idle animations if left alone, typically sitting at the edge of a platform and looking out, either out into an endless abyss if one of the ones that hasn't crashed into a data worlds, or actually doing something a little bit more invested, like throwing stuff off their platforms, or straying slightly outside their arena to do something. This turns off immediately when Data-Sora or Riku are in range.

After one or two worlds are done, pretty early into the game but still with some 'game time'/plot stuff... hey so remember that super-duper frozen in place Young Xehanort? The one in the hub world and you likely have hit the 'interact' button on multiple times and probably gotten some dialogue with Data-Riku, Data-Sora, and Riku being a little bit creeped out/upset that there's just like. A dude. Yeah, that guy is gone now. It's completely unclear where he went. "Hey, Riku what do you think-" Data Riku is missing.

This is where the text limit cuts me off so. Mean cliffhanger.