#but if anything i think he liked her even more than he liked roxas.

[catboygirljoker]

Dealer's Choice Ask - share one or more fact headcanon or similar about a character that you want to share but no one's asked the question for!

i often see people talk about xigbar [of course im talking about xigbar] like he's a bitter misanthrope, someone who's angry all the time and doesn't like people, and i've never really understood that. obviously there are times in the series when he gets angry, and he says mean things when he is angry, but the vast majority of the time he delivers all his lines with the same unshakeable smug grin.

i realized, though, that im pretty sure people think he's an angry misanthrope because hes an asshole. and folks don't really consider that people can be assholes without personally disliking the people they're assholes to!

like...larxene, for example, [who to be 100% clear i love and support,] strikes me as someone who's an asshole because she personally dislikes everyone around her and is constantly irritated because of it. she treats roxas like shit because she's offended to be burdened with babysitting duty. she's hotheaded, snaps at people, insults them.

even so—she's horribly mean to sora in CoM, and i dont get the vibe at all that she personally dislikes him. i think shes mean to him because, she can be? because she has no heart, no conscience to tell her to treat him any differently, and because she gets personal enjoyment out of being mean to him.

i think thats similar to why xigbar is an asshole. xigbar doesn't hate the people he teases and prods and provokes and says wacky mysterious shit to. in my mind, xigbar's been alive a really long time, seen a lot of shit, is pretty jaded, doesn't really care whether people like him or not. in most situations, he holds all the information and has the upper hand, and enjoys lording that over people and watching them squirm. it's less about his personal feelings towards individuals and more about getting to feel in control and above other people.

he ribs roxas a lot in Days, but thats really what it reads to me as: ribbing. teasing, poking fun. xigbar doesnt dislike roxas—in fact i think he likes roxas (whether or not he actually cares for or wants what's best for roxas is a different discussion)—xigbar's just. a dick! he's mean not in a hateful angry way, but in an over-familiar way, like your second-least-favorite uncle who's never forgotten that time you tripped and fell flat on your face when you were six. [fuck you, uncle mark.] [salem blake may or may not have an uncle mark.]

being over-familiar, reveling in knowing more than everyone else, wanting to feel like he's in control and above others—to me, all of that maps perfectly onto someone who has seen a lot of death and lost a lot of people, all in pursuit of a goal he doesn't entirely understand, and who is no longer willing to try connecting sincerely with people. or no longer capable of it.

[cinnabeat]

rememebred everyones kh3 outfits and now im annoyed again

[dreamsy990]

you know i used to think it was weird how sora and roxas have such different personalities for supposedly being 'the same person' but after playing a few games i sort of realized that they do have similar personalities, because roxas acts how sora does when he's under extreme stress.

compare roxas to sora in, say, kh1. that's where a lot of peoples idea of sora's personality comes from. sora is generally very upbeat and optimistic in that game. not very similar to roxas, right?

but let's switch the game and talk about a game where sora is ABSOLUTELY GOING THROUGH IT. chain of memories.

sora's resting state is melancholy in com. he only ever cheers up in short bursts, usually when he's joking around with friends. just like roxas.

he's quick to anger, and tends to lash out at the organization members. best example of this is when larxene makes him 'remember' namine, and he swings at her repeatedly, even after she's gone. he only stops when jiminy is able to snap him out of it.

you know what scene that resembles?

sora, while a bit more on the angry side and less sad, continues to act like this in kh2 when he's in stressful situations. (he also has a tendancy to insult people which, while it's not very related to the point, is very funny and sora saying 'gonna cry?' to xigbar is great.) i cant comment any further than that about kh2 off the top of my head.

so, roxas acts like sora does when he's stressed, right? but why is roxas always acting like that? to which i say, he isnt!

he only ever acts like that when he's also in fucked up and stressful situations, which happens to be a CONSTANT in his life. but when he's hanging out with axel and xion, a decidedly NOT stressful situation, he's a lot more like sora. he's teasing his friends and insulting his coworkers and joking around and acting like a normal kid. not really important, but unless i misremembered some sora lines which is VERY possible, both roxas and sora respond to friendly insults with "oh thanks!" a lot. just a funny little detail that felt relevant.

the biggest differences between roxas and sora boil down to environment and... i dont know how to put it besides volume? roxas is very quiet and tends to keep most of his thoughts to himself, while sora is very loud and expressive in comparison.

there is one other huge difference i noticed, which is less character based and more story. sora wanted to get off destiny islands and explore with his friends, but roxas just wanted routine. sora wants adventure, and roxas wants things to stay the same, for days where he gets off work and eats ice cream with his friends to last forever, to keep having conversations about nothing and watching the sunset. roxas wants normalcy, sora wants excitement. it's just interesting seeing their contrast.

not sure if this is very well said or anything i just wanted to talk about my boys

[reunionatdawn]

The beauty of Axel's original character arc

"I thought a lot about that. Should I leave him as he was or should I bring him back again? However, when I considered the people that Lea wants to bring back, his existence plays a big role. I think Lea has successively become a key character." (Tetsuya Nomura)

Nomura said that he debated whether to bring Axel back to life, or to leave him as he was. The fact that he wasn't sure meant that his KH2 character arc must have felt complete somehow. So, I'd like to take a look back at Axel's original storyline in KH2 and why I liked it so much. I thought his death worked very well as a beautiful and satisfying (albeit more bittersweet) ending to his story. In many ways, I found it to be much more poignant than his storyline in KH3.

“Is that how to treat a best friend on coming back from completing a long mission!” “I don’t recall becoming your best friend.” (Another Report: Roxas—Somewhere in Time)

Roxas was closer to Axel than any of the other Organization members. But he obviously yearned to have best friends his own age. That is why he was best friends with Hayner in his dream world, even though he didn't know them in real life. And he didn't even remember Axel. In other words, Roxas and Axel were not really best friends. In the short story that was included with the Japanese version of KH2FM+, Axel was the one who was insistent on using that label.

Hayner: Well, I doubt we can be together forever. But isn't that what growing up's all about? What's important isn't how often we see each other, but how often we think about each other. Right?

The whole concept behind Nobodies was that they had no hearts, but they still had their memories from the time when they did. So, the writers undoubtedly had some idea of what each member's backstory was like. In the original KH2, the writers chose not to explicitly tell us anything about Axel's past. But based on his behavior, we would be able to ascertain that he probably had a best friend when he was still a human. However, he was already a grown up. His summer vacation must've ended a long time ago. He could no longer be with his best friend, and he needed Roxas to fill that void.

Roxas: Organization XIII… they're a bad group. Naminé: Bad or good, I don't know. They're a group of incomplete people who wish to be whole. To that end, they're desperately searching for something.

One of the biggest themes in KH2 is that of duality. In Hinduism, the universe is said to be made up of two complementary opposite forces called Shiva and Shakti. Shiva is the masculine force and is known as the destroyer or transformer. He is associated with chaos, darkness, and the element of fire, which symbolizes purification. Shakti represents light, order, and the feminine nurturing aspects of the universe, giving birth to new life. She is associated the element of wind, which symbolizes life energy and creation.

Axel's moniker is "おどる火の風". It translates to "Wind of the Dancing Fire" or "Dancing Fire's Wind". This is my theory of what the deeper meaning was. One of the most famous depictions of Shiva is that of him dancing in a ring of fire. This version of him is known as known as Nataraja. The rhythmic movements of the dance are said to cause storms and destruction. And there's a backstory to the dance.

In Hindu mythology, Sati immolated herself out of intense devotion to her husband Shiva when her father insulted him. When Shiva learned of Sati's death, he was overcome with grief, sorrow, and uncontrollable rage. Shiva carried Sati's lifeless body on his shoulders and began to perform the cosmic dance of destruction.

In KH1, the reports mentioned how Ansem amplified "storms" in the subjects of his experiments on the darkness of the heart. The kanji used (嵐) can refer to a literal storm or it can also be used metaphorically to describe an intense emotional state. I suspect that the original idea in KH2 was that Axel's best friend was killed during an experiment. And this event caused Axel's heart fall to darkness, turning him into a Nobody. It's probably the reason why Axel was so delighted to assassinate Vexen by setting him on fire.

Axel: Let's meet again in the next life. Roxas: Yeah. I'll be waiting. Axel: Silly. Just because you have a next life…

The imagery of Shiva dancing within a circle of flames represents the eternal cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Shiva performs the dance and destroys the universe, but this destruction is eventually followed by rebirth. His lover Sati was reborn as the goddess Parvati and reunited with Shiva as his other half. Their combined form represents unity in duality and cosmic balance. In KH2, Axel did not think he was going to be reborn. And that was the basis of his storyline.

Naminé: We may not have homes. But there is someplace I want to go… And someone I want to see… Axel: Same here.

Nobodies had a strong thematic association with death and the afterlife. In KH2, Naminé was the ghost girl living in the haunted mansion. In KH3, she was an incorporeal star in the Final World, the metaphysical place where people go when they have strong attachments and cannot pass on to the other side.

A Nobody was the spirit that went on even as its body faded from existence. They were very similar to the Unsent from FFX, which was another game written by Kazushige Nojima. Axel was created because his human-self had strong sentiments. He desperately wanted to be with his best friend forever. And this unfulfilled dream, ironically, kept his body and soul tethered to the realm of light.

Kairi: Maybe…waiting isn't good enough. Axel: My thoughts exactly! If you have a dream, don't wait. Act. One of life's little rules. Got it memorized?

When Axel asked Kairi if she wanted to "see" Sora, he was referring to her meeting him in the afterlife because he was planning to kill them both. A similar form of wordplay was also used in the Japanese dialogue. His intentions were made apparent by his outstretched hand. He wanted Sora to become a Heartless again. So, he probably planned to accomplish that the same way he became a Heartless.

(Japanese Translation) Axel: We're quite similar, aren't we? Both of us want to meet our important friends. Don't you think we're like comrades?

In the KH universe, when a person dies, their heart returns to the light of Kingdom Hearts. Since Axel didn't think he had a heart, he thought there would be nothing left of him to live on after his empty vessel was destroyed. Even if he wanted to die and be reborn to meet his best friend, he couldn't. He was driven by intense loneliness.

Some Kingdom Hearts fans think there's something romantic between Axel and Roxas and that Disney stopped that from being made explicit. Is that true? Have there been things Disney have stopped you from doing? Nomura: In terms of the relationship between Axel and Roxas, we never intended anything like this and this is actually the first time I ever heard of it! We don't want to openly negate how the fans have come to enjoy the characters, but it was not something the creative team intended. Axel and Roxas are the best of friends and that's their primary relationship. 

Axel's intense yearning to see Roxas once more made fans question his orientation even back in 2005. Akuroku was quite a popular ship back in the day and many players saw romantic subtext on Axel's part. I do agree that Axel is easily read as queer. But the creative team was not trying to imply that he was in love with Roxas. I think it was his human best friend that he was really in love with, and Roxas just reminded Axel of him. When he was with Roxas, he felt like he was with his best friend. And that's why he wanted to die by his side.

(Japanese Translation) Axel: When I was with him, it felt like I had a heart too. That kind of feeling... I feel it with you too... The same...

When Axel said, "the same", he was referring to how Sora reminded him of Roxas. But I believe that we were invited to read between the lines and wonder if he was also referring to a human best friend that had already passed on. Ultimately, Axel's original KH2 arc was not about being together with Roxas forever. Roxas merged with his other half and became whole. He would live on within Sora.

In some Hindu traditions, "Sati" also refers to the act of a widow willingly participating in a self-immolation ritual on her deceased husband's funeral pyre. It was seen as an expression of devotion and loyalty and also an act of peerless piety which was said to purge her of all her sins. The widow would achieve spiritual liberation (moksha) not only for herself but also for her deceased husband. This meant that both would be freed from the cycle of death and rebirth (samsara). The widow was thought to be reunited with her husband in the afterlife, enjoying an eternal spiritual existence with him.

To help Sora reunite with Kairi, Axel self-immolated. After he died, Nojima probably envisioned that he would meet his dead best friend again, who was waiting for him on the other side. He had attained moksha, which represents the final goal of human existence in Hinduism, where the soul is liberated from the cycle of samsara. And that's probably why Nomura wasn't sure whether it was better to bring him back to life or to just leave him as he was.

"I never thought he would grow as much as he has. We originally planned to have him exit upon being defeated by Roxas during the opening of KHII, but all the staff, myself included, were strongly inclined to have him keep playing an active role after that. It's possible he will have things to do in the future, too. I tried to put that into his 'see you' line in KH2 FM+." (Tetsuya Nomura)

When KH2 was written, the writers probably had not envisioned a preexisting relationship between Saïx and Axel. But after its success, they decided to expand on the Organization's backstories, and came up with that idea. Isa was based on the original concept that was implied in KH2. Axel did have a human best friend, and that loss had a profound influence on his relationship with Roxas.

If Axel's human best friend was supposed to be literally dead in KH2, then him only being Norted is a major retcon, yes. But it was a retcon that would allow for the eventual reunion of Axel with his best friend in the physical life. Like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, he could resurrect him from the dead. And that was the underlying idea of making Lea a Keyblade wielder in the first place.

Lea and Isa's backstory is one of the missing links of the KH series. By all means, it should have been depicted many years ago, in the defunct Birth by Sleep Volume II. This is a shame because it left their relationship extremely underdeveloped, and their reunion was largely glossed over in KH3 as a result. Because of this, I thought Axel's storyline in KH3 fell flat, and I thought that his ending in KH2 was more impactful. But I may change my mind if we finally get to see more of Axel's long overdue backstory in Missing Link.

[ocegion]

The age-old question: do Kingdom Hearts characters know what sex is? (disregarding the fact that I do not believe sexuality is a thing that exists in this universe but anyway)

Sora: He has some vague awareness that there is a special sort of friendship that involves occasionally holding hands. He's been trying to figure it out for some years now.

Kairi: By virtue of having gone to high school, she knows kissing is a thing that exists, and so considers she knows all about romance. Her knowledge is otherwise the same as Sora's.

Riku: If Kairi or Sora asked him anything about it, he would just give a smug/knowing smile and change the subject. Then he will discreetly go google what 'sex' is supposed to be. The resulting shock will send him on another years-long reflective journey.

Roxas: He is, mentally speaking, like Sora but with even less lived experience. He has no idea what it is, but he does know that does exist because he once overheard it from other organization members.

Xion: She didn't overhear it, but Roxas did bring it up to her wondering if she had any idea. She then proceeded to find out the truth, but wisely decided to keep it to herself up to this day.

Naminé: She knows, in the way she simply Knows Things. One of the many secrets she has been carrying.

Axel: He knows what sex is, and even knows technical details. He won't share it with Roxas or Xion, though. He thinks icecream sounds neater anyway.

Aqua: She has extensive biological knowledge of the process and purpose of sexual intercourse. She only learned it for academic purposes, however, and thinks it is only an anecdotical event that sometimes happens.

Terra: Absolutely no idea whatsoever, and if he was presented with evidence, it would somehow slide right off his psyche.

Ven: In his current state of awareness? No, not at all. He does know about handholding, and suspects kissing might be a thing but has no concrete evidence.

Vanitas: He pretends to know more about sex than he actually does. To him, it's all a very elaborate joke to mock people with, with the vague unexplored awareness that there is actual truth to it all.

Xehanort: As a young man? Definitely and smugly knows what sex is, probably when poking around things he wasn't yet supposed to know. As an old man? He has had sex.

Eraqus: This is the man Xehanort has had sex with.

Ephemer: Strictly and canonically speaking, this man has had sex and produced offspring. The details of why and how are yet to be disclosed.

Skuld: I feel that she knows what it is from having heard about it somewhere. It doesn't bother her, but if asked, she will pretend absolute naivety on the matter.

Brain: Just like Naminé, sex is among the things he Just Knows. Maybe he read about it in the book of prophecies, but I suspect he had previous knowledge.

Lauriam: He gives the vibe of having knowledge of sex and maybe even having some technical experience. However, the truth is much less clear, as he has never actually discussed it.

Strelitzia: In Daybreak Town, she had no awareness of the concept even existing. In Quadratum, however, she has social media which she mostly uses for fandom, so she has detailed knowledge of sex as an exclusively fictional concept.

[cosmosnout]

KH OC WEEK 20204

Day 3: connections

This took a bit longer than meant, but with the amount of things I wanted to include, it felt important to take my time.

Shiro’s part focusses a lot more on the relationships between them and the canon characters, while Aiko’s, Merin’s, Viktor's, and Tähti’s parts focus on the relationship they have with each other. (And some additional canon characters.)

Also there’s a lot of text here so sorry about any spelling mistakes haha.

Shiro

Xehanort (young)

Helped Shiro to get out of the realm of darkness and is helping them to recover their memory.

I am a firm believer that despite his cold demeanor, Xehanort has the capability of expressing other emotions outside of being a snarky jerk. He just needs to be around the right kind of people to bring that side of him out, and Eraqus and Shiro are exactly the sorts of people to make his brain cells die. /pos

Xehanort’s interest in becoming Shiro’s friend is due to his dreams as a boy of a mysterious child who he believes to be Shiro. (Some lost childish part of him does genuinely wish to be their friend, but he is also quite interested in Shiro’s connection to the keyblade war.)

They spent a couple years peacefully as friends attempting to recover Shiro’s memories, before Shiro uncovered Xehanort's true plans and the two ended up parting ways to fight on the opposite sides. They’re so divorced LMAO

Shiro feels quite betrayed and thinks their friendship was just a plot to get information out of them, while in reality their friendship was still genuine despite Xehanort's hidden motives.

They have a very bittersweet relationship.

Like when you just have that one person who sees right through you and you could just sit in complete silence for forever and still have a good time.

But oh my god do they also just bring out the worst in each other LMAO.

Xehanort is still a snarky bastard 99% of the time, and Shiro is so ready to throw his snarkiness back at him. It is remarkable if they get through a conversation without one of them trying to piss off the other one.

Anyhow they are so doomed by the narrative.

I’ve had a difficult time defining the relationship between these two, but in recent years since becoming aware of my own feelings as an aroace person, I feel like queerplatonic is a really good way to put it. I think that there can be strong emotions and love held between two people without it necessarily having to be romantic, and that’s just as wonderful as any other relationship.

Aqua

The first person Shiro came across once they emerged in the realm of darkness.

Shiro has a lot of admiration towards her and hopes to meet her again!

Shrio definitely has a little crush on her haha

Roxas and Xion

Shiro’s keyblade apprentices!

adopted little siblings

Shiro fought relentlessly to keep both of them safe but ended up failing as they both returned to Sora.

Losing them was a big wake up call to the organization's true nature and Xehanort's sinister plans.

Namine

Little sister<<3

Shiro took one look at her and was like “yup anything happens to her and I’ll make everyone's life a living nightmare”

Got Namine her crayons and sketchbook

Was very devastated when she had to return to Kairi.

Axel/Lea

Pyromaniac besties

Co-paretning Roxas and Xion (platonic)

They became good friends during their time in the organization, and they made an oath to bring Roxas and Xion back after Axel’s recompletion.

Shiro tutors him and Kairi on keyblade wielding, during their time in The Secret Forest.

Ephemer and Skuld

Childhood Bestfriend

Shiro has foggy dreams and visions of the both of them. (They truly haunt Shiro’s life like it’s a full time job)

Even once called Sora “Ephemer” by mistake. They were both extremely confused.

Shiro is actively trying to find them.

Aiko and Merin

The two start off on a bad foot due to a misunderstanding that led to Aiko and Viktor leaving their homeworld. Aiko thought Merin was the one to invade their world with darkness and ended up chasing after her through a dark corridor. In reality, Merin and Tähti were running away from Ansem (SOD) and happened to pass through their world.

Aiko and Merin ended up becoming separated from Viktor and Tähti and end up begrudgingly teaming up to find their families .

During their time together, they end up eventually becoming friends and even end up getting into a relationship together later on.

Their opposite personalities seemed like an issue when they first met, but they grew to love and learn from those differences and they’ve really helped each other to grow as people.

Viktor and Tähti

Viktor was at first very frustrated to be left to babysit a child, but switched into big brother mode pretty much subconsciously.

They’re a funny little duo since they’re both terrible fighters and are pretty much constantly just running for their lives.

Viktor appreciates Tähti’s quiet personality and knows to be patient with them.

Tähti also didn’t care too much about Viktor at first, but seeing him make an effort to keep them safe reminded them a lot of Merin.

Other friends!

Tähti, Namine and Xion!

Tähti met Namine during one of her visits to Ansem’s lab, and after some encouragement from the others, Tähti manages to strike up a conversation with her.

The two have a shared interest in art and like sharing their work with each other!

Tähti also got introduced to Xion through Namine, and despite Tähti’s antisocial nature, the two ended up quickly becoming good friends. (Nothing is as strong as the bond between two neurodivergent teenagers)

I like to think Kairi hangs out with them occasionally, but also she’s kinda busy trying to find Sora :’)

Viktor and Ienzo

Met post kh3 and became quick friends over their similar personalities and shared interest in tech.

Everyone around them was very excited that they were finally making friends. (Ansem and Aiko wiping a tear out of the corner of their eye)

Merin and Vanitas

Weird little brother creature thingy kinda

They met briefly while Merin and Aiko visited the realm of darkness.

They had a short confrontation where they fought with Merin winning.

Didn’t have the chance to talk much outside of that, but I think they have a secret mutual respect for each other due to being similar beings.

Merin and Isa

Got introduced post kh3 and ended up befriending each other as Viktor was spending more time with the apprentices.

They match each other’s tired energy

They like to just kinda sit back and watch as their friends mingle.

@khoc-week

[ihave-83-protons]

3 and 4 for Roxas in the KH character asks!

3 - Do you like how canon treats them?

HHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGHHHH okay little mindless blond is born and wakes up in A Place and gets pulled into a cult my Mr. "I can Give You Purpose" and doesn't know that you're supposed to open treasure chests and looks up at Mr Fire truck like "okay I found it"

little blond boy hear "we're Nobodies"

"well that's not very nice :/"

little blond boy has One Person be nice to him. feed little blond boy ice cream. little blond boy has pupils in his eyes now. he has friend.

red hair friend die??? gone??? I'm not supposed to have feelings but I'm sad??? kaplewie my other is in a flower pod now I sleep too

new kid? her first word is his name? now he has two friend. thats double the friend. he feed her ice cream. maybe......... they can all have ice cream.......

I wake up why are there seashells on my bed?? :0 friend got then for me??? friend!!

oh. other friend dead. :[ I thought...... we could all have ice cream togethe- :OOOOO YOU'RE ALIVE??!!!!!! FRIEND!! ALIVE!!! WE MUST HAVE ICE CREAM TOGETHER WITH OTHER FRIEND BECAUSE THAT IS HOW I SAY I LOVE YOU!!!!

we're all friends now! I hope it stays this way :]

oh no angst :[ borrow my keyblade!! my friend is so smart and im happy I can help others friend!!

scribble scribble I have a diary

one plot later-

what the fuck. what the fuck is everyone talking about. I'm just trying to live. I'm trying to enjoy what I can, I'm trying to make sense of everything around me and I've only let it all slide for this long because I wanted to focus on the people I care about.

now the person I've defended is being evasive. I don't know what I did wrong. I'm terrified i hurt her.

and the other? the one that showed me what a friend is? the first person to show me compassion? the first to treat me as more than a number? a person I trusted?? has been lying through his teeth to me about our best friend?

I don't know who to trust. I don't Know anything. how is that fair? how?

I don't even know who I am. I have a right. to know who I am. he knows the answer. he's the one person who's supposed to Be there for me, that's what friends Do.

...who am I kidding? where did I think I could go?

I'm leaving. I'm leaving everything I've ever known to try and get some semblance of an answer to Anything.

what a joke.

...

at least... I still have my other friend. even if I've hurt her and she's been avoiding me. I don't know why. I want to make things right. but she offered me our usual. that means... we're at least still going to be there for each other.

at least I still have Someone to trust.

...why are you talking like that?

you don't sound like yourself.

I thought I was confused before.

why are we fighting? why... why is it that even your face isn't the same?

you're so important to me, you're all I have, I...

...

you're hurt. you-... who are you...? why... do I feel like my chest is folding in on itself?

I'm cradling you in my arms as I listen to your dying wish. you're familiar. you feel like home. but I don't know your name.

I'm willing to die, too, if it means getting you back. if it means fulfilling your last wish. because I can't think of any other way to live, I was wrong to cast aside the other that meant so much to me, I want the three of us to go to the beach like we promised, I want to live, i-

why? why, why, why? who's this New person? why are you trying to stop me? can't you see this is all I have?

why should I give everything up when I've lost so much for this stupid boy that's the reason for Everything? all the suffering, the heartache- I'm not even supposed to have a heart.

get out of my way. im pleading through my teeth just-

fuck you. how many times to I have to knock you into the ground? how many times do I have to beat you?

7 days left to go before summer vacation is over! I can't Wait to spend it with the people I care about most. maybe today we'll finally go to the beach! oh, and exploring things in our town we thought were mundane-

...i love my friends. I'm lucky to be happy with my life.

but why do I feel like I'm going crazy? I'm... seeing things other people don't.

who are you? you seem to have some answers. hi! this is weird, do-

what's happened to everything I've loved and adored?

...i was never meant to exist? what the hell is Wrong with you? how could you say that? even if it is true?

what do you mean it's all a lie?

lies, lies, more lies-

I Just Want To Live.

why don't I have that right?

why do I have to give Everything up for this Stupid boy I've never met? that's somehow the reason for all this?

what the hell have I done to deserve this?? I Deserve to Live. what gives any of you the right time take that from me?

...

what Was real?? any of it?? none of it?

look at that face. I guess... he did nothing to deserve whatever's going on, either. and he still has... people who care about him.

not like I can say the same.

not like I have anyone or anything left.

...youre lucky. looks like my summer vacation's over.

4) do you like how fandom treats them?

hehehe sweet baby emo boy 🖤 poor thing :[ emo baby!! 🖤

thanks for the ask!!!! ❤

[tonberry-yoda]

[Kingdom Hearts Request] How about S/O sharing a Paopu fruit with Roxas, Axel, Ventus, Terra, and Riku if you don't mind? I know Riku knows the whole legend with the fruit, but it'd be so cute with the others not really knowing and then finding out

Sharing a Paopu Fruit with Roxas, Axel, Ventus, Terra, and Riku

notes - I LOVE KINGDOM HEARTS! I don't often get KH requests, so to get this was a delight! Like this whole idea is super sweet and I am more than happy to do it for you, especially as a Terra and Axel simp :) thanks so much anon and I hope you enjoy!!! <3

Roxas

when I tell you that this lil guy's jaw was hanging open when you told him

and like, he started getting all stuttery and saying that he isn't worth being all connected to you and stuff

what a doll

and you were just giggling while he was panicking

though he is more than happy to have life shared with you like that

he didn't even think he would find anyone that wants to share a destiny with him especially since he's just a confused lump of a boy, so he is more than happy

Axel

he was SUPER hungry

so you convinced him to share this fruit with you

you were giggling and holding back laughter the whole time, but he really didn't care considering the dude was hungry as hell

once he put that thing away, you finally told him

and let me tell you, he was BAFFLED

at first, he laughed at you, thinking that you were joking

and once you told him that you weren't, he went silent

and then got a little teary

he quickly wiped said tears though and just looked at you, tilting his head and asking, "you really want our hearts to be connected, y/n? even if I don't have one?"

you just told him, "everyone has a heart, Axel. Even you."

and omg he fell in love

Ventus

you wanted to share the fruit with him so bad, but you wanted to tell him the conditions first

when you did, he agreed SO FAST

he wants to be there to protect you and be there for you your whole life, so to have a destiny that goes hand in hand is a dream come true

he wants to go through everything with you and eating that fruit in the sunset was amazing for you two

Terra

you and him have talked about the fruit before, you've explained it to him and the two of you have even joked about sharing one

but once you actually got one and showed Terra, the man was BLUSHING

"you really wanna do this y/n?"

"of course I do, dummy! what? you don't wanna do it or something?"

"n-no! it's not like that I just... are you sure?"

of course you were sure, so you cut that thing in half and handed it to him

he was hesitant, as he didn't want you getting involved in anything dangerous in the future, but you were so sure that you wanted to share this life with him and he was more than grateful <3

Riku

when i tell you that you got this man BLUSHING

he wanted to share the fruit with Kairi YEARS AGO, but it never worked out because it was meant for her and Sora, so when you offered to share it with him after everything that had happened in the events of KH2, he couldn't believe you

of course he agreed though, you two had been through so much and you fought so hard that he knew that it was perfect that you two were to share this fruit

it was also perfect because you were back on Destiny Islands smiling and having the time of your life <3

~~~~~

kingdom hearts masterlist | pinned post

2023 @tonberry-yoda – do not repost or claim ANY of my work as your own! likes, reblogs, and comments are not only welcome, but appreciated

~~~~~

[firestorm09890]

Something of a sequel to the big Nobody headcanon post but this one’s less sciency and philosophical and more “it’s not canon but it’d be sick as hell if it was.” that being said I think it’d be sick as hell if all the human-looking Nobodies had strange passive effects relating to their elements that happen when they’re in the vicinity

Xemnas - Nothingness - a deep, deep sense that something is wrong. no elaboration

Xigbar - Space - enclosed spaces seem a bit too cramped, and open spaces seem a bit too open. the intense pressure of claustrophobia, and the vertigo of acrophobia. no matter what, you’re always acutely aware that there’s an awkward distance between you and anything else around

Xaldin - Wind - there’s a draft in the area and you’re never gonna find where it’s coming from

Vexen - Ice - very chilly hands. why am I cold it’s not a cold day today

Lexaeus - Earth - he takes a step. the earth seems to tremor just a little. is it an earthquake? does anyone else feel that??? pull out the seismometer. nothing. huh

Zexion - Illusion - something’s wrong with the lights in the room... feels a little too dark. like when you go inside after being in bright sunlight outdoors and your vision hasn’t adjusted, but it doesn’t ever adjust. He himself is always an inch or two away from where he appears to be, and is generally hard to focus your eyes on. It’s worth noting this is intentionally the only visual effect

Saïx - Moon - looking in his eyes causes a sense of nausea and instability that gets worse the longer the eye contact lasts. your sanity might be slipping. this was blatantly ripped off of Reisen from Touhou. he also radiates power when in the moonlight

Axel - Fire - why am I warm it’s not a warm day today

Demyx - Water - okay please i can’t come up with anything other than “damn it feels humid today” and that’s gross so if anyone can come up with anything better please-

Luxord - Time - time seems to move either too quickly or too slowly. what do you mean it’s already been an hour? what do you mean only 2 minutes have passed? this one goes out to my homies with time blindness who get to experience this one already

Marluxia - Flowers - huh. allergies seem to be acting up. don’t have seasonal allergies? you do now, apparently. why does it smell like flowers everywhere

Larxene - Lightning - everything seems to have a static aura to it, but the shock never comes. contact with her directly does give a shock, though

Roxas - Light - y’know, for some reason, this kid seems, like, really trustworthy? I don’t know what it is but he seems like a good kid :)

Naminé - Memory - being around her... there’s something in the corner of your mind. an old memory you’d forgotten about. this all reminds you of something but you can’t grasp what it is

--

Each of these effects lies in perception and emotion alone. They’d be completely impossible to measure, even if it seems like they should be measurable. There are no temperature differences, in reality. No time dilatation. There is no light breeze blowing through the room there are no allergens in the air there’s nothing wrong with the lights there’s nothing. It all just seems that way. Just like Nobodies, and just like The World That Never Was. They seem human-- very convincingly. But there’s something missing. It seems like a city, but though the lights are on, no one lives in those buildings. It’s all for the sake of seeming. Feels real enough, and can have an impact, but there’s no true substance behind it.

Also only kinda related but I think if you look in the eyes of any Nobody you get a sense of wrongness. It’s different for all of them-- might be a manic look, might be a glimpse into unknowably dark depths, etc-- but ultimately you look in the eyes of a Nobody and go “oh there is something wrong with this person”. The eyes are the window to the soul (or the heart), after all. Following that logic, the more a Nobody’s heart grows, the more that effect goes away. The main elemental one doesn’t though. stay uncomfortably warm around Axel forever

And while I’m here

Xemnas, Saïx, and Xigbar all have somewhat catlike eyes. It’s most obvious with Xigbar. This includes the reflective eyes in the dark

those three also have pointy ears but so does Xaldin??? I don’t know why? it’s just.... a thing??? so in a similar vein, I think all the norts + a couple others should get sharp teeth. no there’s not a pattern. but it has to be characters who can actually pull off the look, for the rule of cool

Ienzo always had keen senses but becoming a Nobody sharpened them even more. ALL of them. Everything’s a little too much all the time. it sharpened everyone’s senses but it was worst for him

I think it’s a given that Vexen Lexaeus and Zexion had Nobodies of a specific class based on them and we just never got to see it but I think Naminé deserves to have special guys too. Though I bet if she did, Marluxia and Larxene wouldn’t have let her do anything with them and then DiZ would’ve been like “get those things out of my sight” :(

thinking about the greater Nobodies having physical traits that link them to their respective lessers but I don’t actually have any ideas, I just think the concept would be neat

[daily-rikukingdomhearts]

I AM SUPER SORRY FOR BOTHERING YOU im trying to get back into Kingdom hearts (your art is really cute btw) im trying to make an AU but i have no fucking idea where Kairi's body went when she lost her heart in KH1 when her heart's with Sora later Riku finds her body and he has it WHERE DID HER BODY GO? i saw a reddit post where somebody said Maleficent found her body and her body probably went to hollow bastion because that was radiant garden BUT HOW DID HER BODY GET THERE?? i forgot a lot of things maybe i can figure it out myself? but if you have an answer that would help me

I love asks ☝️🫵 you are not a bother! And thank you for the compliment. As customary, I have to post a Riku photo due to the nature of this blog:

As for your question:

I truly have no fucking clue 😬 I looked and looked and I couldn't find anything!!!! I looked in the manga, light novel, the wiki, and cross referenced with other kh experts but didn't come up with anything canon. Here's a BEST LOGICAL GUESS...:

Since Maleficent is collecting the princesses of heart she most definitely found Kairi

If it was in Hollow Bastion or Neverland, I don't know. Hollow Bastion used to be Radiant Garden and Kairi is from there so she probably ended up there like Riku did at the beginning of kh1 because, remember, Riku didn't end up in Traverse Town like Sora. The reason I'm thinking Neverland is so Maleficent can manipulate Riku. Again, she's gathering the princesses of heart, Riku wants his friends back together, he's been manipulated into thinking that Sora has replaced him, and he just had a major blow to the ego in Traverse Town. It's possible that Maleficent tells Riku that Kairi is in Neverland so he can play hero and save her, that way he can be more easily controlled. Those are two options.

It's just ... Hard to say. Because they don't really care about Kairi. The only people who care are Shiro Amano (the manga author) and half of the fandom. They really just halfheartedly throw her in the dumpster in every game which is a shame! She could be a great character.

As for how her body got there! I dunno! Kingdom Hearts is weird. Like here's a flow chart that my experts and I discussed:

Both Kairi and Sora are the only people who could keep living along side their nobodies. However when their nobodies "woke up" they were in completely different places than expected, Naminé being at Castle Oblivion and Roxas being in Twilight Town.

Personally! And just personally! I think it has something to do with your heart like how much dark and light it has in it, etc. Depending on that factor, that's where you get spit out. I could be 100% wrong though.

The nice part about AUs is that you can kinda do whatever the fuck you want... I have an AU where I kept the world system and keyblades and changed everything else cause no one can stop me. If you want Kairi in Hollow Bastion, slay! If you want her in Neverland, cool! If you want to ignore this post, even better! Do what you want! I hope you get back into kingdom hearts!

[derekscorner]

Kingdom Hearts: Recompletion Tangent

Intro

It's been a while since I had an actual KH Tangent barring my mad ravings about the cosmology. It was more about the random things I think about rather than an actual tangent.

Although both that post and this one have spun off from a literal shower thought. Anyone who has been through my tags before also knows that I've had issues with how the Nobodies were handled for a long time.

They're something that I truly consider better on paper than in execution. It may even be something that's near impossible to put into practice entirely.

They're too Human

The main reason for this is the corner it puts you in as a writer. These are supposed to be beings born lacking a heart, the core of what they were as a person. Their very emotions and connection to the world.

Back in the day the story went with this notion that the human nobodies act human based on memory. They can't feel emotion but they can remember having them.

For what reason they did so was more or less left up to your interpretation. What was made clear is that they're desperate to become "whole".

The reason for that is because they are slowly fading away. Even in the modern KH era I think that rule stands. Their black coats and crusade for Kingdom Hearts was to avoid fading back into the void.

A fate that Yen Sid brings up in KH2 when explaining the nobodies to Sora.

As far as execution goes the lesser nobodies do it perfectly. They move in otherworldly ways, come in a variety of shapes based on how strong their heart was as a person, and we see them speak yet we can't actually hear the voice. (when the dusk talks to Roxas)

Where the concept hits a hitch and finds itself in that writing corner I mentioned is with the human variants. You are stuck between portraying them as they're described which would be boring narratively due to lack of emotion.

They simply wouldn't react to anything.

So you're stuck having to make them act human which then pokes a hole in the concept. You could excuse Roxas and Namine since their "somebody" still existed. That connection was there and even before Days or DDD you see it affecting Roxas in Kh2 as well as Sora in CoM whether it's the GBA or PS2 version.

Likewise, Namine's face, powers and desire to belong in someone's heart is her connection to both Sora and Kairi at play.

"How is that a problem????"

Quite frankly my reader it's not. At least it wasn't back then. As I type this I may have to reconsider my initial stance and say that Nobodies as a concept work well when used once because it's the expansion that's the issue.

I say this specifically in regards to KH DDD, KH3, and beyond. We not only get the Organization back either in human form or nobody but how they act is all over the place.

Ienzo, Dilan, and Aeleus come back both human and supposedly remorseful. We don't see much of it since Dilan and Aeleus don't talk while Ienzo is far more sociable than he is feeling guilt.

Even is revealed to have became a nobody again yet the guilt he felt upon awakening human and chose to be a double agent of sorts.

This raises a lot of issues to me personally.

Firstly, they can just go between nobody and human. I'm not saying it's an easy process but it is exploitable. Not only did the memories carry over as if the nobody was just revived with a Phoenix Down but apparently emotion was too.

Secondly, it highlights how pointless having nobodies return was because they're acting the same as they were prior in KH2 but also the same as they would if human. There is no distinction between the human and the nobody.

Barring have-to examples like Xemnas or Ansem there is no reason to do what they did. Worse, someone like Xigbar not only can exploit this mechanic but he does.

Being the current host of Luxu means that Xigbar can not only reclaim his long lost keyblade (Xehanort's No Name) but still freely use the powers you gain as a nobody.

Luxu now has his heart, his weapon, a potential legion of nobodies, and other dark powers to more freely as he wises with dark corridors and his manipulation of space. (his own unique nobody power)

This also makes the whole weight of nobodies being able to develop a heart of their own feel cheap to me.

Them gaining a heart of their own makes the whole nobody concept cheap for me to be fair but it is a KH stable that anything can have a heart so I'll begrudgingly accept it.

But to just jump between man and monster without seemingly losing anything as it's portrayed in KH3 just irks me. It makes the decision to become a nobody again feel without risk.

Given the nature of Luxu you could ignore it once but for Even to just carry over everything when becoming Vexen 2.0 is a step too far.

I also ponder why nobodies would even obey the revived Organization because while emotionless the lesser nobodies are not mindless.

Seeing this makes me question why they weren't questioning their superiors. They can think, plan, and surely more than a few can spot bullsh*t when they see it.

My Point

By now you likely wonder what my point with all of this is. If you've read this blog before you likely expect me to offer a solution or rewrite.

That's the maddening thing my patient reader, I don't have to offer such a thing because my friend @blackosprey did years ago.

And it ties back into the other new mechanic introduced after KH2, recompletion.

See, when a heartless is destroyed in the right way the heart will be freed. The two ways we know of so far are using a keyblade or the light of Kingdom Hearts.

Once that heart is freed it'll find it's vanished body and if that body has become a nobody it'll wait until the nobody meets it's end.

In that moment the original person is revived. On the surface that can make the nobody concept feel cheaper because it's essentially a "get out of jail card" for dying.

A mechanic that Luxu is fully capable of abusing in the current narrative btw.

But here's the crazy thing. Osprey just occam razored the whole issue and I have never forgotten it.

Her idea? Just make that nobodies death permanent in some way.

For example, lets say that you recomplete Marluxia. In this amazing idea you'd still get Lauriam back but the ego that was "Marluxia" is gone.

Lauriam would revive without his memories of Marluxia.

It's the most perfect solution to every gripe I have about nobodies ever told to me. It almost angers me that this isn't a thing!

Yes, that's right, you're not reading me tear down Kingdom Hearts to vent or talk about how bad it is. I'm not going to claim I can do this better than Nomura.

No no. What you're reading is me losing my sh*t because I think about this often. Just imagine how much that adds to the story, this idea of Osprey's.

The Potential was There

Not only do you keep all the stuff added to nobodies after KH2 but you keep the weight of their ephemeral existence.

Hell, it makes their existences more tragic because they'd eventually gain hearts to feel the dread of such a death. Knowing full well they "as themselves" would vanish for the original to return.

Those outbursts of emotion in defeat, the desperation to claim Kingdom Hearts, it all just flows so much better.

Sure, you still have Luxu abusing this human to nobody system but that'd just be one person out of 13. (no I didn't count Xion since she's a replica)

Sure, Vexen's role in KH3 would need a tweak or two but that's easy to do. You could even add that to his motives because he not only "ceased to exist" but comes back to see what he couldn't finish in his research.

Or you can spin it so that Even actually is remorseful upon seeing Vexen's research.

The potential there is endless and I can't help but think about it often. I'm going to go scream about it into the void now.

GAHHHh (bye~)

[palizinhas]

Namixi 34?

Found out randomly that there were prompt asks I never answered and you know what? Why not. I missed writing KH.

...to pretend

Xion wasn’t an idiot.

She was well aware that there was more going on, more behind Riku - his best friend - going after her, telling her that everything would be fine soon.

Xion was a mistake, Riku knew that, and there was a reason she was stuck in this white house that he claimed would be the perfect place to hide from the Organization.

And in the middle of all that, there was also Naminé.

She felt… different. Xion was sure she was Kairi’s Nobody (though no one had told her that) but obviously she wasn’t Kairi, just like Roxas didn’t in any way resemble the boy in her memories.

The entire time she was there, Naminé was next to her. Drawing memories Xion knew, memories that later she went over to the drawing of them and realized she couldn’t recognize the scene anymore.

Naminé was taking Sora’s memories from her, bit by bit. It was obvious, even if no one said so, even if DiZ and Riku seemed to buy that Xion didn’t know that.

And Xion was made of memories. It wasn’t difficult to figure out what would happen to her once Naminé was done - perhaps the doll she started out as would be left, but Xion was Xion in her entirety, so she doubted even that would remain.

Maybe the most complicated part of all of it was how much she liked Naminé. How she laughed at Xion’s poorly done jokes, seemed to enjoy being next to her. There wasn’t anyone else in all the worlds that could understand Naminé like Xion did, which meant she could understand that what was happening hurt her too.

“If you could go anywhere, in all the worlds, where would it be?” Xion felt more and more tired as the days passed, her energy never fully coming back even when she slept a lot more hours than she would be allowed to in the Organization. She had her head against Naminé’s shoulder while she watched her draw when Naminé’s question registered to her.

It took a moment to answer, feeling like the place she wanted to say didn’t exist in her memories anymore. Naminé noticed her confusion, but didn’t say anything.

���I think I’d like to stay here, kinda. Twilight Town is beautiful, and it’s been over a month since I’ve been outside,” Xion eventually settled on, the memories of being underwater with a mermaid at her grasp, but she couldn’t remember enough about the place to actually say it.

“Maybe we could go soon,” Naminé offered, making Xion have to bite back what she wanted to ask. If it would be the last wish she’d get granted before Naminé fully erased her from existence.

“The sunset is beautiful from the clocktower, I want to show you,” Xion said. If it was a last wish… she knew how she wanted it to be. “Promise me, Naminé.”

“Ok,” Naminé agreed, and the smile that appeared in Xion’s face wasn’t remotely fake. “I’ll go with you, as soon as we can.”

That promise made, Xion decided to go a bit further.

“I think it would be nice… to do more with you,” it was almost a confession, because it didn’t make sense for her to like a girl that was destroying her as much as she did. But Naminé was a bird in a cage, much like Xion. They were the same, and that was why…

“I could be with you forever,” Naminé whispered back, in the same tone, the same feeling.

Xion looked around to make sure DiZ and Riku wouldn’t show up any time soon, and stole a kiss from Naminé.

The first of many, at least in her mind.

(she knew that wasn’t true, but in the middle of everything, it was nice to tell herself a lie)

[strayheartless]

Well here’s a series I thought I had grown out of…

Welcome back (albeit on a new account) to Flo copes! A series where I channel what I’ve just been through into my faves because I’m incapable of dealing with strong emotions on my own!

Todays topic? Panic attacks! And how each character deals with them!:

Sora: simply put, he doesn’t. Sora is incapable of recognising when he needs to stop and breath. Nine times out of ten he thinks a panic attack is his body finally giving up the ghost and he makes himself worse. It usually hits him randomly and any little moments of panic he locks down until it mounts up and makes him cry and throw up and then cry again.

Kairi: Kairi good at managing her emotional well-being, and regularly takes brakes to ensure she’s doing okay. But when it does hit her it usually manifests itself as uncontrollable crying. Usually her panic attacks are more drawn out, their like an all day thing. She will wake up feeling terrible, spend breakfast fighting tears, cry by lunch, then get set off by small stuff like music that sounds sad, cry again around bedtime and end up going off to look for someone to help her calm down (usually Aqua or Axel because they give the best hugs.)

Riku: ah yes, my boy is hyper aware of panic attacks and the minute one presents itself he takes himself off -like a dog in distress- and deals with it alone. It manifests it’s self as intense nausea, swimming vision and shortness of breath. He’s thrown up more times than he hasn’t, and nobody except Ienzo and Even have ever seen him have one.

Roxas: this kid don’t have the time nor the inclination to deal with panic attacks. He knows what they are and that he has them, he just simply refuses to let them rule him. If one starts he goes and plonks himself between Axel, Xion and Isa and stays there until it stops. It usually feels like a overthinking spiral that leads to shortness of breath but he’s never let it get far enough to know if there’s anything else.

Axel: Axel tends to get explosive when he’s having a panic attack -in the emotional sense (although fire has been known to happen too.). He snaps at everyone and starts to get an intense feeling in his chest until he can’t cope and starts yelling in panic. It’s kind of scary to watch him go through it.

Xion: my poor girl shuts all the way down. It’s more like a PTSD episode. She gets this far off look in her eyes and she’ll stay in the same position for a while as her heart races and she tries to focus on coming back. Touching her is not a good idea because she is likely to lash out and then get upset that she’s done it. Which invariably ends in tears.

Ventus: here’s another little fellow who simply shuts down. His ears start to ring, his heart Jack hammers and then he’s somewhere he didn’t remember going and being told he just clocked out. It’s scary because he generally doesn’t know where the time in the middle goes.

Aqua: like sora, she doesn’t realise it’s happening and then it’s on her and she can’t escape. She ends up throwing up a lot of the time, and quite often panic will grip her FAST and then she’s incapacitated by it. Unlike sora however, she doesn’t put it off or try to push it down. She lets it happen and lets people take care of her when it does.

Terra: cries. Uncontrollable, heaving, body wracking sobs, shaking violently, doesn’t know what’s happening, vision goes blurry, the whole nine yards. Terras panic attacks happen frequently and with an intensity that shocks everyone. He ends up feeling literally everything all at once and sometimes he’s been known to start laughing out of sheer fear. Nobody. Likes. Watching. It. Happen.

[agentperezbian]

tell us your top 5 Saw traps and top 5 fictional characters for the ask game <3

Top 5 Saw traps, with 1 being my favorite:

5. Eyeball Vacuum. This one shot up pretty high in my personal ranking even though it's a dream sequence, purely because of the atmosphere of the scene. I love the way it's shot, I love John's tape speech full of jokes, I love the way this scene really makes the VIEWER feel trapped and suffocated. It's just so well done in my opinion and it's my favorite in Saw X for sure. Also the music is so good.

4. Water Cube. I just think the practical effects are neat. They really made Scott Patterson do all that. They pourt wader on him. The visual of Strahm's head in the box in the darkness is so cool to me and I just love that he "cheats" the trap depending on where you stand on Hoffman leaving the pen there on purpose. I think players should be allowed to cheat more in Saw it's enriching (for me.)

3. Shotgun Collar. There's yuri. There's tension. Lynn's trap is such a fun one even if it's totally not rigged in her favor. I really like the traps where they aren't just some 60 second one-and-done. And if Lynn had survived this one, her scars would be more mental than physical. Much like Amanda really! Cut a guy open to stop your head from exploding, sounds a lot like Mandy's trap but with a lot more work involved.

2. SHOTGUN CAROUSEL <3 It's the fun, it's the whimsy, it's making the guy who chooses who lives and dies... do that. It's the tension between William Easton and his employees. It's the realization of the last guy to die when the second woman is saved. Shotgun carousel I love you forever.

1. The bathroom. The original. Classic. Simple. Sexy. I like slow burn traps which is why the carousel is so high. I need everyone involved to truly absorb the situation they're in and eat each other alive trying to get out. Or maybe... they fall in love. Anything can happen in these kinds of traps. Beautiful. They got married on that disgusting tile.

Top 5 fictional characters:

5. Aerith. FFVII.

4. Roxas. Kingdom Hearts.

3. Amanda Young. Saw.

2. Lightning Farron. FFXIII.

1. Cloud Strife. FFVII.

I was going to write long explanations for why they're all my favorite but I've already written too much. My favorite characters can rotate and change sometimes, but Cloud gets the top spot considering he's the character that got me into FF as a series. Roxas has taken Axel's place as my favorite KH character, and Aerith and Tifa are always fighting for my favorite female FFVII character but right now I'm feeling Aerith. Lightning is of course a close second to Cloud. And Amanda my beloved.

[kessielrg]

Writing Bingo: Shopping Trip

Kingdom Hearts. AU. Originally suggested by @human-nxture with the DisneyKnight!Ventus AU as she didn't really specify which AU in particular at the time, but that was the more recent one of mine. In which Sabrina takes a regretful Xion on a personalized shopping trip for new clothes. Full story under the Read More cut. 670 words.

Feel free to send an empty space as a prompt through my ask here: link

Could Nobodies feel regret?

It had been a few days since Xion has been in Wasteland. Riku decided that Xion should spend her time away from the Organization in Wasteland. It was a world that sat so close to darkness, it shockingly felt not too dissimilar to The World That Never Was. Perhaps that was why Riku trusted her here.

That didn’t stop her from hiding in the princess’s room. Going out felt too risky. Roxas and her had several missions here- that meant it was on the Organization's radar.

“Get up, we’re going shopping.”

“Uh, what?” Xion questioned as she broke from her thoughts.

Standing at the end of her bed was the princess of Wasteland herself, Sabrina. In some ways, the princess reminded Xion of Larxene. It was that coldness toward others, verbally tearing them apart when the opportunity struck- and it struck often enough, apparently. But there was something about Sabrina that Larxene didn’t seem to have. A heart was the obvious answer, however something felt a bit deeper than that. Like the light in Sabrina was kept under a dark blanket of fog, whereas Larxene simply had hers purposely extinguished.

“We’re going shopping.” Sabrina repeated, no less irked than before. “I’m not letting you have existential crises in my bed.”

“But the Organization...”

“Hasn’t spotted you out here yet.” she all but snapped at Xion. “They’ll find you even less if we can find you a well fitting outfit and tasteful headscarf. Anything other than that ugly black coat.”

By instinct, Xion pulled her coat a bit tighter to her body.

“But what if I need to travel through the Corridor of Darkness? It wouldn’t be safe otherwise.” the Nobody asked. For this, the princess scrunched her nose in disgust.

“It’s not like we’re getting rid of it,” she said. “Not yet, anyway.”

The assertion did not help in the slightest.

And yet, somehow, Xion soon found herself at Sabrina’s favorite tailor.

“She needs… pop.” Sabrina told the tailor as they looked over Xion, who had taken off the black coat and been given a white smock to be scrutinized in. “Something that gives her a unique figure while keeping it modest. What do you think?”

The tailor nodded their head.

“Yes, yes I can see it now.” they agreed in a thick accent. “Do not worry, princess. Your friend is about to have the best shopping trip of her life!”

Sabrina gave a smile that looked more like a smirk. “Good.”

That was something Xion didn’t quite understand Sabrina. The more she learned about her, the more it all seemed contradictory to who Sabrina really wanted to be. Again, another departure of what made her and Larxene similar.

Sabrina overlooked everything the tailor did to Xion. In the end, they had dressed her in a flowing, dark grey linen blouse and a black corset-styled vest. A long tulle skirt that reached her ankles just barely hit the white ribbon used to adorn the black boots she was now wearing. To complete the look, the tailor had made careful work of the headscarf now wrapped around Xion’s head like a hijab. Xion looked at herself in the mirror and almost didn’t recognize herself.

Sabrina had never looked happier.

The two girls left the tailor with their arms linked. Waiting for them there was Riku. He didn’t look at Xion twice before asking Sabrina;

“Sabrina, where is Xion?” He folded his arms in either annoyance or distress- Xion couldn’t tell which. “I went to your room and she wasn’t there.”

Xion and Sabrina exchanged a glance.

“Riku, you can’t tell?” Xion wondered.

Riku looked her way. Then something clicked in his mind.

“Oh!” he remarked. He happened to look back at Sabrina and the smug cat-like grin on her face. “Oh...”

“See,” Sabrina boastfully told Xion, “If Riku can’t recognize you, Xion, then neither will the Organization.”

Xion looked down at the ground, a small smile on her lips.

“Yeah,” she found herself agreeing, “I guess so.”

[greetings-inferiors]

Roxas is the most tragic character in any piece of media I’ve ever consumed. His story is honestly so well written and so well executed in a series that is so batshit off the walls insane and I marvel that they managed it. If anything could convince you to play kingdom hearts it’s Roxas.

Nobodies are such an interesting concept from a character concept, ESPECIALLY Roxas’ case where his somebody still exists. With Axel, for example, he wants to become a somebody because he wants a heart, then even when he does become a somebody he realises that his time as a nobody was more meaningful than his time as a somebody, and continues to use his nobody name. But there’s no moral dilemma here, he can be either a nobody or a somebody, and both are the same person.

But Roxas and Sora AREN’T the same person. They’re distinct. They are two souls, two hearts, that are separate. Sora’s heartless never was destroyed, it just became Sora, so now there are two separate people that belong in Sora’s body. Who deserves it? Sora, as the “true” somebody? Or Roxas, who is a living feeling person?

From birth, Roxas has no memories (unlike other nobodies) and is constantly told that he is incapable of feeling and his emotions aren’t real. He’s brainwashed into thinking that the friendships he has are fake, so he rationalises his friendship as “people he eats ice cream with”. When one of only two friends he has, one of only two people who have ever truly known or loved him, dies in his arms, he can’t process the grief of her passing or the fact that his friendship is over, so he asks her who he would have ice cream with. Out of context that’s a hilarious line yes, but in context it’s a confused, emotionally stunted child who hasn’t been given the time or space to become a person.

When he finds out why one of his friends has to die and the other is complicit, it’s all about this “sora” person. He learns that his existence is stopping this sora person and he has to die to let this person he’s never met before live. One of his only friends died just to help someone neither he nor she ever knew or even saw. Later, when his memories are wiped AGAIN and his only friends are ripped from him AGAIN and he learns he has to die to let this sora person live AGAIN, he resigns himself to death, and he can’t blame the guy, he did nothing wrong, all he can think about is how lucky sora is. How lucky he gets to wake up, and see his friends, and LIVE. How lucky that his summer vacation is only just about to start (Roxas’ summer vacation line is my favourite line in the whole franchise and it isn’t even close. I tear up just READING it).

And then

AND THEN

He has to watch through someone else’s eyes, their own adventure.

He has to see his friends NOT KNOW WHO HE IS, say “I’ve never known a Roxas in my life”, and he fully realises that the hayner pence and olette he knew were never real to begin with. And he cries. He cries hard enough for Sora to shed a tear.

He then sees his best friend Axel sacrifice himself for Sora. Both of his best friends died for this boy. He gets ANGRY. He tries taking sora over by FORCE.

The Roxas fight is the best fight in the series hands down. I CANNOT BELIEVE it wasn’t in the original and was just a cutscene.

When Roxas is attacking sora and just repeatedly slamming his keyblades on sora’s it’s genuinely the most visceral and brutal moment in the series. All the fight he’s been so skilful and elegant yet here he is just letting out all his anger in one primal bout of RAGE. But the look in sora’s eyes isn’t contempt, but confusion.

Roxas realises that this isn’t sora’s fault. Sora didn’t ask for another person to exist and vie for control.

And sure, all of Roxas’ friends had to die or be forgotten, but Roxas saw firsthand just how many people Sora helped. He understands why Sora’s so special. He knows what could happen if Xemnas isn’t stopped. Whether Roxas likes it or not, he and his friends had to die. For Sora to save everyone else.

Sora is a good other.

Anyway yeah I go between Roxas and Axel being my favourite character in the whole series. They both mean so much to me and are so interesting compelling and utterly tragic.

Even if Kingdom hearts’ story isn’t all that “good”, ROXAS’ story ABSOLUTELY deserves to be known by as many people as possible. It’s a story about identity, coming to terms with who you are, the ethics of two people sharing a body, whose lives are more valuable than others, and what it means to be a person. And it’s the greatest story Nomura has EVER told, and probably will ever be.