#champion sora tag

[aesthetically-meme]

Kieran gives you a Applin when trading so… 😳

EEEEXAAACTTLLYYYY. AND MY TRAINER IS FROM GALAR SO LIKE... 😳

Whether or not Kieran is aware is so funny. I think they'd trade an Applin as well.

[socialmediasora]

@kay_rpg and I met up with a friend of mine today to check out the @wwe Tag Team Championship! 💪

We had a ton of fun cheering on the competitors. 📣 Riku and I tried to enter the tournament to show off our tag-team wrestling skills, but they wouldn't let us into the ring… 😭

[barblaz-arts]

Barblaz's Wenclair AU's masterpost

*NOTE: This is sorted by order of chronological events. If you want to see them by date posted, make sure you're in my blog before clicking on the name of the AU in the tags if ur on mobile. If ur on desktop, click on my blog's name first then click on the tag for the AU. Have fun backreading mwah!

Inuyasha AU - AU based on the anime Inusyasha. For the youngsters unfamiliar with it, it's an old anime about a modern Japanese teenager named Kagome who gets magicked to a feudal Japan that is terrorized by demons. She accidentally awakens a half-demon named Inuyasha(literally means demon dog) who was sealed frozen in time by Kagome's ancestor and Inuyasha's first love, Kikyo

Wednesday meets the half-demon Enid

Familiar faces

Kitty the Manticore

Pokemon AU - name speaks for itself i think.

Hex Maniac Wednesday and Cute Trainer Enid want to battle!(over a Mimikyu?)

Cover art

Getting to know Wednesday and Enid's Pokemons

List of Gym Leaders, Elite Four and the Champions

The Balcony Talk: Pokemon AU Edition

The boys awakening some "green-eyed monsters"

Challenging Champions Morticia and Gomez Addams(warning: it's still a WIP)

When you're part of their team...

Fanart by @enidtendo64

"Wenclair in my moot's styles" drawing meme by @kris-6758

Fanfics inspired by this AU by IntrusiveCreativity on AO3

Next Gen Nevermore AU - Wednesday and Enid as wives with a daughter named Vega

Meet Vega Addams

She has (both) her mothers' eyes

Mothers and daughter

Enid the wildlife rescuer

Baby's first wolf out

Vega's love for the extraterrestrial

Domestic Addamses

Full Moon nights are Family Nights

Finding the right 'do

The Heroes of Nevermore

Height Difference

Enrollment

SkyWolf

SkyWolf Meet Cute

Meet Sora Toriyama

Clowning each other like an old married couple

Principal Barclay

Clingy wolf

Family Day

Meeting Mrs. and Mrs. Addams

Full Moon Nights are Family Nights(ft. Sora)

Vega's favorite place: Sora's shoulder

Vega's Uncle Pugsley and his diverse children

Vega's Uncle Pubert, bane of her existence

Pubert fucks around and finds out

Happy Halloween

Regine Ottinger

Voices for Vega, Sora, Regine, and Pubert(ask)

The Mystery Missfits

Get to know Vega's cousins

Sora and Regine's parents

Bonus Vega fanfics by other authors:

Enid and Wednesday have a very important conversation with their daughter (by @eggplant-crusader)

Sora visits the Addamses (by TheVeryGayLouvio on AO3)

The aftermath of Vega's first wolf out by @whitebeltwriter

Vega and Sora's misadventures by @whitebeltwriter

Meet the Addamses AU - based on the movie Meet the Robinsons. Due a magical mishap, Vega Addams accidentally brings teen Enid Sinclair into the future and desperately tries to hide from Enid that the Addamses are the family she will eventually marry into.

Wednesday's daughter is full of woe(and stressed as FUCKK)

Addamses of the future

Enid Addams

See you later

Witchcraft Baby AU - loosely inspired by Lilo and Stitch. Wednesday is a witch who used Enid's blood to make a homunculus. The consequences are dire as their creation is taboo and Wednesday used the blood of a Sinclair to do it. Wednesday wants everyone to leave her and her creation alone, meanwhile all Enid sees is a chance for family.

A deal is made(fic)

Wednesday backstory(fic)

Vega the Homunculus (art)

Jailbreak (art)

[daylighteclipsed]

@generatedreflection Hope you don’t mind if I respond to your tags this way, since my og post is already kind of long! So running on the assumption that KH is a video game, or at least fiction/a story, in-universe and the characters are waking up and changing when they’re not “supposed” to…

I guess it depends on when the initial divergence from fate/the narrative/the program happened and how much it affected. Was Riku supposed to be our player character? If so, did Sora and Riku only swap physical places/external roles, or did their writing or programming adjust their personalities to fit their new places in the story/game so as to keep the narrative from diverging too much? Is this the first run through the story, or have there been multiple past loops we’re not privy to and that the characters don’t consciously remember but which still affect their hearts?

I’m thinking of ReCoded specifically, when Data Sora and Data Riku go on this whole adventure that’s similar to KH1 but different enough to shape them into their own people. Even after they’re reset to follow what’s written in the Journal, we know those memories remain in their hearts and in the hearts of their newfound Disney friends from the ‘real’ world, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. So data KH1 will never truly reflect KH1 as we know it.

If ReCoded is spelling the big picture out for us, do Sora and Riku only start awakening during the one run of KH1 that we play… or have they been waking up because of one or more resets before that we haven’t seen? Is fate, destiny, the narrative, the program trying really hard to make this story play out the way it’s “supposed” to, but the boys keep swerving, developing more awareness and free will with every reset? Or is this the first run where things are different because of something the Master of Masters most likely set in motion? Or maybe what he set in motion has taken all these resets to come to fruition?

It’s a lot to think about. And I don’t have any answers. Certainly it’s interesting to consider all the different ways the story could go/is maybe “supposed” to go… If Sora and Riku’s roles are supposed to be flipped, with Riku as the champion of light and Sora as the one who falls to darkness… then it’s kind of ironic that they seem to be circling back to that now. Like rather than completely changing or swapping destinies, they just took a detour. They took the long way around, but the road still leads to the same place. Fate is fighting to correct course.

But I also think, you know, Sora could’ve always been meant to be the Hero and embody that archetype even if the Keyblade was not “supposed” to be his. I don’t think the one who wields Kingdom Key Light is synonymous necessarily with the Hero of the story or even the main protagonist. It’s also possible for Riku to pass on the Keyblade to Sora without falling to darkness.

Either way, the idea of Riku giving his crown/destiny to Sora, rewriting the story and essentially acting as the narrative for Sora in this sense, usurping fate, is interesting. Especially when you compare this to Data Riku’s role in ReCoded. He’s the vessel for the Journals, for the entire digital universe they create, and he protects it. He protects Sora’s story, the one we see in the games, which plays out how it does because Riku gives Sora the Keyblade.

The one thing I feel for sure — a lot of this, the story changing and characters waking up/coming alive, comes back to Riku. From what we see of him as a little kid, Riku’s always been more “awake,” it seems, than his peers. Always questioning things and possessing a wisdom beyond his years. It’s like he almost knows (or remembers) things he shouldn’t. As Sora puts it, Riku says “some weird stuff sometimes.” And I think Riku is the one who starts waking Sora up. He encourages Sora to think about things that it doesn’t seem Sora would think about on his own. To ask questions. To see their world differently. And to consider worlds beyond their own.

I think he’s why Sora’s first line in the series is about awakening. “I’ve been having these weird thoughts lately. Like — Is any of this for real or not?” And I think Riku’s why Sora’s able to connect with and awaken/bring to life so many characters in the story. That might even be canon, actually, if Riku encouraging Sora to open his heart to Ventus when they’re little kids is what teaches Sora how to... By empowering Sora, Riku is the catalyst for a ripple effect of change that defies destiny and universal law. And it culminates in his KH3 sacrifice which allows Sora to rewrite how the Book of Prophecies ends.

I think that’s what Riku has always represented: Awakening. Truth. The outside world — whether that means adulthood, reality, new perspectives, or lands yet untraveled. He makes the darkness conscious by bringing it to light. Especially for Sora. Riku quite literally wakes Sora up after CoM and in DDD, and his light pulls forgotten/repressed memories up from the depths. Riku’s often associated with the sun — the kind of bright, harsh light that hurts to look at. That makes it hard, if not impossible, to fall back asleep.

Riku’s the sudden light in your eyes that has you groaning and rolling away when someone has to get you out of bed in the morning lol He’s the rude awakening. The truth is often not pleasant or easy. It often hurts. But inevitably, it becomes known. Inevitably, the sun rises and illuminates the dark. Dawn breaks, and the day and all its challenges must be faced. No slacking off. Chop, chop. It’s time to wake up, Sora. Destati!

Even Data Riku in ReCoded is the one who lifts the curtain for Data Sora and ‘reveals the matrix’ so to speak. “It’s time for you to learn the truth.” Riku offers the truth, perhaps quite literally sometimes if that’s what his iconic outstretched hand gesture represents — and it definitely seems to given how KH3’s tutorial/awakening parallels Sora’s dream in the KH1 opening. But it’s up to Sora to accept the truth. To face it. To take Riku’s hand and awaken. It’s Sora’s choice.

Anyway. Whether Riku is “supposed” to be the Hero or was always meant to be the Rival, he’s not supposed to love Sora as much as he does, and certainly not in the romantic way the games suggest he does… I understand your hesitation about gay intent in KH… But it really feels like the “missing”/unspoken piece here that makes so many people scratch their heads over Riku’s character arc. For Sora, it’s less clear (especially in English), but I do think Riku is in love with him. And I truly believe so much of “destiny” changing and characters awakening, Sora awakening, comes back to that.

Destiny in this case would be the typical formula of Disney fairy tales and the expectations of our heteronormative society. And awakening would be developing awareness of these limitations and smashing them… Perhaps reflected through Riku and Sora exposing the flaws in the Light and Dark binary that’s dictated Keyblade society and caused many of the problems their generation has to contend with.

Perhaps the door to the light, to truth, to awakening IS the closet door, then (insert joke here about Riku literally being the gay awakening)… But it’s a lot of other things as well. Awakening is discovering any truth. Every truth. It’s knowledge of the systems that limit and control you, of any unseen force that holds you back. It’s power to see through illusions and lies, distortions and distractions. It’s free will and independent thought. It’s self-actualization and true freedom. After all, you cannot break free of chains you don’t know are there.

That certainly makes the Master of Masters an interesting fellow… It seems like he wants change. He wants the characters to deviate from the script, to awaken, to develop free will… But at the same time, he’s pulling all the strings. He’s the eye always watching them... Does he truly want freedom, or does he want to be the one who decides what freedom looks like?

[solradguy]

Dengeki PlayStation F2, April Special Issue, Volume 19 ( April 10, 1996)

Archive.org upload w/webview .PDF and .ZIP of the full resolution scans: archive.org/details/dengeki-play-station-f2-vol19

I bought this magazine for the Guilty Gear beta article (which I hope to translate soon), but it's absolutely loaded with interesting early fighting game reviews/previews as well as a decent Final Fantasy 7 preview article.

Translation of the table of contents with the English title in brackets (where applicable):

[LEFT COLUMN] Dengeki [electric shock/attack] PlayStation April Special Issue F2 SPECIAL REPORT - A volley of big titles! ● Exclusive screenshots of the hottest new wave of fighting games! GUILTY GEAR….8 ● The latest information on the PS version of the latest popular Neo-Geo title!

[SNK Special] The King of Fighters '95….13 Samurai Spirits: Zankoro Musouken [Samurai Shodown III]….14 Real Bout Garou Densetsu [Real Bout Fatal Fury]….15

● Super latest information on very big titles that we can't wait until December FFVII [Final Fantasy 7]….148 ● The latest RPG from the tag team of SCE and MediaVision Wild Arms….154 ● Simulation romance in which a vampire protagonist plays an active role in high school life BLOODY BRIDE ~Imadoki no Vampire~ [Today's Vampire: Bloody Bride]….158

Kiokusoshi [(computer) storage element] F2 Strategy and data of fighting games post-release Street Fighter Zero….74 Toushinden 2 [Battle Arena Toshinden 2]….84 Suikoden….90 Goukouji Clan 2….94 Fire Pro Wrestling: Iron Slam ‘96….98 Don't Lose! Magic Kendo 2 [Kendo Rage 2]….100 Sora Ninku….102 Champion Wrestler: Jikkyou Live….103 …and more―

[RIGHT COLUMN] Unrivaled Lightning Combat! The hottest hand-picked PlayStation fighters of today.

Tekken 2 Tekken 2 for PS is here, with numerous special modes and amazing high quality CG movies, far surpassing the arcade version! Really useful in-depth strategy, Part 1….18

● The PS version of "Tekken 2" has finally been released with a reputation as the best bishoujo fighting game! Advanced V.G. [Variable Geo]….34 ● The latest information on this title that all PS users have been waiting for! Vampire [Darkstalkers]….46 ● Easy controls and a variety of action! A very promising title in the bishoujo fighting genre!! Asuka 120% Special….56 Galaxy Fight….62 Mobile Suit Gundam Ver.2.0….66 Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Super S. [Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon SuperS: All Members!! Championship Contest]….68

Arcade Special: The arcade wave is sweeping over the PS… ● Report on the entertainment system trade show, which will occupy the entire game scene in the future. AOU Show Reported '96….116 ● A preview of the latest installment in the classic and very popular series. Street Fighter ZERO 2….122 ● The latest arcade fighter on the System 11 board. As expected, a PS port for… Soul Edge….124

[BROWN LOWER BOX] New software schedule….6 [Manga] Tekken 2: Hajimete Monogatari [The First Legend/Story]….106 [Patient Corner] F's Servants….110 Readers' Survey….114 Dengeki Soft Station….127 Software Maker Question Box F2….144 Dengeki News Station….146 Dengeki PS extra issue preview….160 Next issue preview + Game Index….161

[justinther0ck]

Why Eijun Sawamura getting his Ace tag is the most cathartic moment in sports anime history: Essay

Background

The Diamond No Ace manga has been serialising since 2006 and it has taken the sports anime industry by storm. The longevity of this manga comes from a time where manga from this genre would go on for a very long time, with examples such as Ahiru No Sora and Dear Boys. Modern sports manga would dictate such that it's a lot shorter than its older counterparts, with Haikyuu ending at 403 chapters and Kuroko ending at 275 chapters. Diamond No Ace however, uses long term story telling akin to series such as One Piece to pay off some of its narrative high points.

A typical high school sports anime has a template as such: Team plays the inter high => loses to a strong team => tries again with the next nation-wide tournament => qualifies for the national tournament. It's a tried and true formula which has been proven to work many times. What does it mean for Diamond No Ace? It's not typical whatsoever.

Many sports anime would feature an underdog team but Diamond No Ace does the opposite: It features a powerhouse team in the strongest baseball region in Japan. Seido High School has been well renowned as one of the strongest schools in the Tokyo region, with many Koshien (national tournament) appearances before the main plotline takes place. Players that join the school for baseball have an exceptional skill and talent for it, and usually have been playing the sport for many years. In this case, what's so interesting about a team that's already developed? The main character: Eijun Sawamura!

Eijun Sawamura was basically from the boonies, the countryside and played baseball for fun with his childhood friends as a pitcher. He was seen with promise and potential by a Seido scout and made a difficult decision to move to Tokyo and pursue his dreams of becoming a pro baseball player. However, he found himself inferior to many of the players. Mainly, Furuya.

The importance of an ace tag

Furuya Satoru was another 1st Year player scouted to play for Seido as a pitcher. His relationship with Sawamura is akin to other sports anime duos such as Kageyama and Hinata and Rukawa and Sakuragi. From the very beginning, Satoru was labelled as the better pitcher. What did this mean?

He was in the way of Sawamura becoming the Ace of Seido High School. After being told that he was filled with promise and potential, as well as moving away from his family, friends and his entire life, Sawamura instead found himself playing second, nay third fiddle to the ace of the school. It was at this moment he knew the hard work that he had to put in to put the school on his back as the future ace.

The ace tag, the number 1 on the back of the players, is only given to pitchers who have shown great talent and aptitude in breaking down the defense of their opposing team's batting order. Throughout the series, it was emphasised that the reason why Seido wasn't a top tier team was because they lacked the indomitable ace that was present in other powerhouse teams like Inashiro. The appearance of Furuya and Sawamura would inevitably begin the battle of who would become Seido's ace and lead the team to become the National Champions.

Losses and heartbreak

The first challenge for Seido was the Summer Koshien tournament. Seido usually makes it very far into the bracket as they are a powerhouse team. However, since Tokyo is one of the biggest and most competitive regions in Japan, it's split into East and West Tokyo. This meant that only one team from each split would make it to the Summer Koshien with the other teams in the nation. Seido undoubtedly blasts through the entire bracket until the finals where they face off against long time rivals: Inashiro High School.

The long time winners of the West Tokyo wing of the Koshien qualifiers, they were the undisputed champions of the region. With an unstoppable batting roster, they were already one of the best teams in Japan. What puts the cherry on top? Their ace, Narumiya Mei.

He was everything Seido was looking for to become the best team in Japan. The pitcher that could put his team on his back and lead them to victory. It was a battle of ideals akin to Shiratorizawa Vs Karasuno from Haikyuu. The heartbreaking thing was: Seido lost. Without a pitcher that could match Narumiya Mei, they just couldn't close out the game with their lead. We said goodbye to the Seido third years and this of course led to Sawamura feeling distraught and putting the blame on himself.

Yips

For the following months, Sawamura found himself in a state of despair. He wasn't able to pitch and improve like he was prior due to his mental failing. When someone like Sawamura puts the weight of the loss entirely on their own shoulder, it's bound to have consequences. However with the help of his teammates and coaches, Sawamura bounces back and slowly makes a recovery on the way to the Fall Koshien

A second try

After finding himself back on his feet, Seido had to go through a rebuilding phase to prepare for the next Summer Koshien: The Fall Koshien. Unlike other sports anime with a second chance, the Fall Koshien fulfills a criteria:

The third years aren't able to play, so no such thing as a Winter Cup or any cop out of such form

It ultimately doesn't have the same prestige as the Summer Koshien tournament.

This means that the loss against Inashiro still had weight and consequences and showed that Seido still had to move on with whatever they had left. Sawamura took this opportunity and ran with it as much as he could. In matches such as the Yakushi and Hakuryuu ones, Sawamura proved to be a skilled and amazing pitcher in his own right.

His biggest plus compared to Furuya was that he has variety in his pitches while Furuya mainly had speed. Sawamura diligently put in the effort but still played second fiddle to Furuya, who had become the new ace after the third years retired. This however did not affect Sawamura's journey and ambition as he and the rest of Seido moved forward through the Fall Koshien. Doing pretty well for themselves, they beat Yakushi in the finals of the qualifiers and made it to the quarter finals of the Fall Koshien before losing to the favourites, Komaidai Fujimaki.

The Ace Tag

After concluding their Fall Koshien journey, Seido found themselves in a new year with new first year students. This meant that there was a need to form a brand new roster with the new members and such. After the Fall Koshien, Furuya found himself in a rut. He was unable to pitch at such a high level consistently due to his godlike performance in the match against Komaidai Fujimaki. Furuya was still great don't get me wrong, but a certain someone was waiting in the shadows and showing off his new weapons and skill.

After a year in the plot and FIFTEEN YEARS IN REAL TIME, it was the moment everyone had been waiting for. The new year began with Sawamura pitching for Seido in practice matches. He had formed an amazing chemistry with the catcher, Miyuki. Sawamura developed new pitches that had a high level of consistency and variety. As a result, most teams that played against Sawamura had no idea what to do as they tried to predict his next move. Sawamura had become the rock of Seido.

His skill, improvements and consistency had proven to be an invaluable asset to the team and as a result, he was ultimately chosen to become the Ace of Seido, representing the entire team to once again take on the Summer Koshien.

Conclusion

Whatever I have touched on was just the tip of the iceberg of the brilliant storytelling that is Diamond No Ace. The other narrative threads such as the third years retiring, Miyuki's story arc and Chris' back story has a comparable amount of emotional weight but this particular thread had one thing that shines from the rest: Long term storytelling. It was a story that was 15 years in the making, every page, every drawing and every word in the manga led to this moment where Sawamura achieves his first big milestone as a baseball player. The story is far from over as Seido has yet to win the Summer Koshien and I am excited to see what's next in possibly Act III of Diamond no Ace.

With all this being said, Sawamura getting his ace tag is the most cathartic moment in Sports manga history. (My opinion LOL)

[wilygryphon]

ML AU Masterpost

Adding all of my AUs to the "Unpenned AUs" section of my primary masterpost would make it too bulky, so I'm listing the concepts here. I will list the names and short descriptions. If these AUs have tags, I will link them; if they are single posts, I will link to the post.

Miraculous Ladybug Rewrite

How I would redo the story of Miraculous Ladybug if I were to do so. Notable details would be: Chloé gets a redemption that sticks; Gabriel is more consistent in terms of his standards and what he is willing to do for his goal; Season 3 finale identity reveal; and Adrigaminette endgame. Here

The Key to the Miraculous (KH + ML Crossover)

Sora winds up in the Miraculous Ladybug universe after the events of KH3, and he ends up befriending the cast and joining forces with Ladybug and Chat Noir. Here

Unforgotten - ML Oblivio AU

Ladybug and Chat Noir do not lose their memories between getting hit by Oblivio and the Miraculous Cure, so they remember learning each other's identities and falling in love. How things deviate from canon with them knowing each other and dating from that point. Here

Lacewing and Blue Peacock

The Black Cat and Ladybug Miraculouses are in the hands of two separate villains—Gabriel Agreste and Martina Rossi—who go at each other's throats trying to claim the other's Miraculous. To combat this, Master Fu gives the Butterfly Miraculous to Marinette and the Peacock Miraculous to Adrien. As Lacewing and Blue Peacock, the young Holders empower civilians as Champions and grant support Sentimonsters to help them with their problems and to prevent Shadow Panther and Coccinella from destroying the city in their conflict. Here

Double Bug (Miraculous Ladybug AU)

Marinette successfully passes the Ladybug earrings to Alya, who becomes Scarabella, but Alya learns what happens and convinces Marinette to tag-team the role of Ladybug hero. Here

Deadlybug

Ladybug and Chat Noir confront Monarch, but Monarch sends out a Megakuma to Akumatize Chat Noir. Fearing a Chat Blanc repeat, Ladybug intercepts the Akuma, becoming Akumatized in the process. Here

Ladybug of Light, Cat of Darkness

Kingdom Hearts/Miraculous Ladybug Fusion. Childhood friends Marinette, Adrien and Chloé are separated when their island homeworld is consumed by the Heartless and Akumas. As Ladybug and Chat Noir, Marinette and Adrien meet up in Traverse Town, but they do not know who the other really is, even as they journey together with Donald and Goofy to fight the forces of Darkness and search for Chloé. Here

Guardian Cheng AU

Another Guardian survived the temple's destruction, and Sabine Cheng is the current keeper of that Guardian's Miracle Box. Here

Akumaclass Harem AU

Marinette has a crush (whether she yet knows it or not) on all of her classmates, and when she kisses their Akuma forms (either as Ladybug or as Marinette), their Akumas’ connection to Hawk Moth severs and they regain their normal minds and are able to switch between civilian and Akuma modes. Here

Grew Up in Shanghai AU

Marinette (or rather, Meiyun, here) grew up in Shanghai and moved to Paris a year before the plot kicks into gear. Here

Miraculous Fantasy AU

Miraculous Ladybug done like a Final Fantasy game. Here

Yellowjacket AU

Instead of joining Hawk Moth in Heart Hunter/Miracle Queen, Chloé rebels and is sent by the villain through a portal into the middle of nowhere and replaced with a Sentimonster. She struggles to survive for half a year before returning to Paris as a vigilante called Yellowjacket. Here

[ladyyatexel]

1. She-Ra - Entrapta

2. Steven Universe - Peridot

3. Babylon 5 - Londo Mollari

4. ST: DS9 - Elim Garak

5. Slayers - Xelloss

6. Classic Doctor Who - Turlough

7. Sailor Moon - Sailor Star Healer

YuGiOh Subsection:

DM - Ryou Bakura

GX - Austin O'Brien

Zexal - Vector

Arc V - Sora Shiunin

Vrains - Ai

@sturionic tagged me to list 10 fandoms with a blorbo from each and the temptation to list more than one was staggering. Mostly it is favorite blorbo but in some places it is 'little guy I love and champion because no one else is'

I.... could not think of ten whole fandoms??? I do not know why, I feel like there should be more?? But the YuGiOh subsection takes care of us. I could not choose among all those little freaks.

[moved-to-void-kissed]

💜+aqua because i dont really know anything about kh and your tag is really pretty!

Aww, thank you, Sea! I’m really glad you like it - and I’ll do my best to explain things, but sorry if it takes a lot of rambling, haha ^-^

(question source: this post by tuff-and-fluff)

Send me a 💜 + an F/O and I’ll tell you how I came up with my ship tag name for them! - so, the name of my selfship with Aqua as featured in the selfship tag is “survivors of the dark”, and this is because of something that happens as part of the story. To cut a very long story somewhat short, Aqua deliberately allowed herself to fall into the realm of darkness, a horrible and desolate place filled with Heartless (creatures formed from darkness or from people’s hearts consumed by darkness), in order to prevent her close friend and fellow Keyblade wielder Terra from falling in there himself. She sacrifices her armour and glider in order to try and save him, so she doesn’t even have any proper protection from the dark.

Shortly after falling into the realm of darkness, Aqua is attacked by a powerful collection of Heartless called a Demon Tide, but she unexpectedly ends up being saved from it by another Keyblade wielder. This is Aria, my self-insert, who has been trapped inside the realm of darkness since the ancient age of fairytales, many hundreds of years prior. (For context, time doesn’t pass properly in the realm of darkness compared to the realm of light - the games say time doesn’t pass at all, but I like to think it does, just on a much more shortened and relative scale.)

Aqua initially doesn’t trust Aria much, given that it’s clear she uses the power of darkness, and in Aqua’s experience that has only ever meant bad things. However, Aria proves to her that she is not a bad person even in spite of all that she is, and she does all she can to help protect Aqua from the many threats that face them both in the darkness. The two end up becoming very close, given that they only have each other to talk to or confide in.

Eventually, during the events of KH3, after about twelve years have passed in the realm of light, Aqua is finally rescued from the realm of darkness by her fellow Keyblade wielders, but Aria ends up getting left behind in the process (you can read my writing about this here if you’d like to know more). However, all is not lost for her - once Aqua has finally saved her own friends and their ultimate opponent, Master Xehanort, is finally defeated, she goes back into the realm of darkness to bring Aria out as well. The tow of them are finally able to rest and are returned to Aqua’s home, the Land of Departure - a key world where light and darkness exist in balance.

To summarise: Aqua is Aria’s guiding light, and Aria is Aqua’s protective shade.

to help her survive the dark.

I hope that this was alright - sorry it got pretty long! Thank you very much again for sending this in ^-^ (If there’s anything else you want me to explain, I’m always more than happy to, so please don’t hesitate to ask!!~)

[bluerosesburnblue]

Hi, so I was reading your tags on Phoenix-downer’s post about the Mark of Mastery exam, and in it you said you didn’t think Sora, Riku or Aqua had the makings of a Keyblade master, and I was wondering what you would consider that to look like? Obviously, Eraqus and Yen Sid were going off of different criteria (Eraqus very much appreciated Aqua’s strict adherence to the light dogma) so I do agree that, if we’re going on knowledge we are aware of now, Aqua at the beginning of BBS didn’t really deserve the mark. But I think Riku especially earned it after all he went through with both light AND dark in DDD? So I’m curious to know why you don’t think any of them were worthy of being master.

Really, I think the biggest issue that I have with the whole thing is that there is no standardized criteria for what constitutes a Master in canon. What does being a Keyblade Master even mean? Combat ability? That's essentially all we've seen it being judged by, anyway, barring Eraqus's "use darkness and fail instantly" metrics, but the title of Keyblade Master is treated with more gravitas than just “can hit Heartless good.” They become community leaders, teachers, and are expected to be the best of the best of what Keyblade Wielders have to offer, and yet none of this is reflected in the tests we see

Take another series, like Pokemon, as an example. Usually the goal is to become the Pokemon Champion. This has very specific criteria! You have to prove yourself to the eight Gym Leaders (or local equivalent, like the Alolan Island Trial Captains/Kahunas), local masters of their chosen elemental type, then you're challenged to defeat the four strongest battlers in the region and any current holder of the Champion title all in a row, with no breaks. Even the Gyms all have specific criteria to pass and claim your mastery over them, and care is (usually) taken to ensure that the task you’re given challenges your knowledge of that specific Gym's featured elemental type. Thus, you could say that a Pokemon Champion is one who has displayed mastery over all of the Pokemon types, who has excellent tactical and leadership skills, who has good endurance, and who has knowledge of the region’s local fauna and their abilities in order to put together a competent team

But "Keyblade Master" has nothing backing it as a title. Therefore, I have to come to my own conclusions about what should constitute "mastery." What criteria shows an all-encompassing knowledge of the art of Keyblade wielding and the skill at executing it, as well as demonstrating qualities that befit the societal role that a Keyblade Master must uphold?

What I've come up with, based on what we've seen a Keyblade Master's duties to include in canon, are these:

Combat Ability: As in canon, I do agree that this is important to test, but I don't feel that either test goes as far with this as they need to. Obviously they have to be proficient with high-level magic and sword techniques, but the Keyblade isn't just a sword. It has unique properties that set it apart. Being able to transform it should be a mandatory technique to learn and test - it's so useful! As is knowing how to utilize its ability to return to the wielder's hand. Honestly, they should all at least be able to perform some sort of Strike Raid. How can you call yourself a Master if you don't know how to use even the most basic skills that come packaged in?

Keyblade Knowledge: Unironically, I think there should be a portion of the exam dedicated to just... Keyblade trivia? Things like "how do you perform a bequeathing?" and "how are Keychains created/utilized?" You should know the basic functioning of it. Now that they've added things like upgrading Keyblades to the series, I would also argue that Keyblade Masters should be tested on that, as well, though I'd hardly judge our canonical candidates for not showing this during their tests since it was only introduced as a concept in KHx/KHUx and KH3. I'd also be open to removing it as a piece of criteria if they introduced some split between "Keyblade Combat Masters" and "Keyblade Forging Masters" the way there's a difference between master swordfighters and master swordsmiths, but until then, I think that a Keyblade Master should have master-level knowledge of all things Keyblade

Community Interaction: This is where I might start getting contentious, but it's actually based on Yen Sid's exam. What are we always shown Keyblade wielders doing? Going out into communities to defend them from Heartless/Unversed/Nobodies. As far as we can tell, this is their primary function. Therefore, all Keyblade wielders should be able to interact amicably with locals of any flavor, adapt to any environment, and manage combat without negatively impacting the locale and civilians. Keyblade Masters should be able to uphold this to a high degree

Leadership Skill: Also a possibly contentious one, but Keyblade Masters are usually expected to take on apprentices and are looked up to as authority figures, so a prospective Keyblade Master should be able to take charge, make good decisions (sometimes in the moment), and command a team to an effective outcome

The above four points should together demonstrate an all-encompassing knowledge of the Keyblade, both its combat techniques and non-combat uses, as well as the skill necessary to accomplish the shown role that Keyblade Masters occupy in the worldbuilding. So how do our three Masters and prospective Master stand up?

Aqua is barely tested on her combat abilities. While she probably does reach Master-level abilities by the end of the game (or 0.2 at the latest), she absolutely does not have them when she’s tested. I believe the only transformation we see her use is the Glider, which I’ll give her is a start, but I don’t think it shows Master-level use of the skill. It’s hard to test her on knowledge because we’re never really shown the extent of what she knows. Community Interaction-wise, she vacillates wildly. You can see excellent diplomacy skills at play with the Grand Councilwoman, but she also planned to fight a non-magical civilian family because she sensed darkness in them without properly vetting their threat level because of her strict adherence to Eraqus’s “darkness is evil” teachings. And her leadership skills are also hard to judge given that we almost exclusively see her work alone, and I’m again mixed on them. Her diplomacy with the Grand Councilwoman would suggest good leadership skills, but the way that she deals with Ven and Terra and can’t get either of them to follow her lead (and in places actively puts Terra off by acting accusatory) says otherwise

Final Verdict: Failure on combat until 0.2, inconclusive on knowledge, community interaction, and leadership skills

Terra, too, is barely tested on his combat ability, and I think we all agree that failing him for using darkness is unfair. Like Aqua, he shows the ability to transform his blade and if we include Lingering Will, passes her in skill with this by the end of BBS. This is especially true by KH2/KH3 with the various transformations the Lingering Will utilizes. While it’s also hard to judge Terra on Keyblade knowledge, I’d say that his usage of a proper bequeathing puts him ahead of Aqua (at least for our judging). His ability to interact with people and adapt to a new world is actually one of the aspects I think is most overlooked about Terra; he doesn’t make snap judgements about residents and has the good judgement to observe and play things by ear. You can see the way that he handles the Evil Queen and Captain Hook for proof. He’s able to get on decently well with heroes and villains alike. The one strike against this is Maleficent manipulating him, displaying a lack of wariness early on that he grows out of by the end of the game. As for leadership skill, that’s hard to say as he’s never really in a situation to display it that I can recall

Final Verdict: Failure on combat until the end of BBS, inconclusive but veering towards passable knowledge, above average community interaction skills, inconclusive leadership skills. Better than Aqua in most regards, but still not passing on all fronts and especially not when tested

Sora is, I would say, the one most advanced in his combat abilities at the time of testing. He shows a high level of skill in a variety of techniques, and the one thing he really lacks is knowledge of Keyblade transformation uses, which is quickly remedied in KH3, where he demonstrates the greatest variety of any character to date save possibly the Lingering Will. He probably rates low on knowledge, though (and can you really blame him? He’s self-taught and Yen Sid sure as hell won’t help him). I’d like to give him points for knowing how to upgrade Keyblades or Keychain creation with Ultima Weapon, but these are presented as services offered by the Moogles and not something Sora knows. Community interaction is one of his most demonstrated skills, and the one thing I think you can fault him on is being a little loose-lipped in regards to other worlds (though I didn’t acknowledge secrecy as one of my criteria, so I’ll let it pass). Sora can befriend nearly anyone, gather information on his surroundings through them, and generally adapts once he has local information at hand. Leadership skills can also be seen in the way that he handles Donald, Goofy, and any additional party members, though he does sometimes fold when at odds with someone who outranks him in the Keyblade hierarchy

Final verdict: High marks on combat (if not during DDD then at least by KH3), potential failure on knowledge, high marks on community interaction (potentially brought down by a lack of wariness, much like Terra, if DDD’s interaction with Young Xehanort and Xigbar are an indication), and passable-to-high marks on leadership. An excellent showing, but he still fails one of my categories, though not through any fault of his own

Riku is the big one that I think people might fight me on, but hopefully my explanation will make sense. He does have high combat skill, that’s true, and even has an edge due to his unique usage of darkness skills, but he lacks knowledge of certain Keyblade-exclusive abilities, like transformation. His level of knowledge is inconclusive as he’s also self-taught, though I may give him some credit for knowing how a bequeathing works assuming he can remember the specific details of how it was done to him. Community interaction can be pretty clearly demonstrated in DDD. He’s very much passable and doesn’t give away as much as Sora, but is hardly incredible at it. He’s not as outwardly personable, but is fairly observant of his surroundings. It’s a different type of information-gathering than Sora, though no less effective. His real problem is a level of social unawareness that can make it hard to gather allies in a pinch. Which leads to the next point: Leadership. This is where I give Riku a big failure. I don’t feel that he shows any notable leadership qualities. He lacks any charisma to get others to follow his orders, nor does he seem to particularly care to place himself into a leadership position. What has he ever ordered around, Dream Eaters? They’re not exactly known for being particularly hard to work with. What does he do in KH3 now that he’s a Master? ...whatever Mickey and Yen Sid tell him to. The one time I think he’s taken a leader-like role was telling Kairi she can’t come to Quadratum, but then he immediately leaves on his own with no backup or foreknowledge, which is stupid. He doesn’t make leader-like decisions, he will choose to work solo or with a single partner wherever he can, and I can’t even say that he shows any diplomacy like Aqua does

Final verdict: I’ll let him pass on combat skills, as while not knowing transformations deducts points, inventing his own darkness-wielding techniques earns them back in my eyes. Potentially passable on knowledge and if not it’s not really his fault, passable on community interaction (although he could step it up a bit), but a failure on leadership

Also, this is just me, but I personally would have rescinded his Master title the second he broke his Keyblade in KH3 and then just ditched it in the Realm of Darkness and replaced it without a second thought. The level of disrespect for that which has allowed you to become what you are is incredible. Aqua somehow managed to survive in there for a decade while keeping the Master Defender from harm, but Riku breaks his in ten minutes? Additionally, if he had the Keyblade knowledge that I listed as one of my criteria, then he would probably know how to fix it

So the way I see it, none of them should really be Masters. Eraqus’s test is completely worthless and I feel like his “youngest prospects in years” thing says less about their skill and more about his exceptionally low standards. Yen Sid’s exam full of simulated worlds is actually a very good starting point that tests combat ability, community interaction skills, and leadership all at once. I could easily see future Mark of Mastery exams utilizing the Datascape in much the same way that Yen Sid used the Sleeping Worlds. He just needs to have a much better monitoring system in place and maybe supplement it with a written exam

It’ll be interesting to see how all of this holds up in a couple of weeks if Dark Road decides to show the exam that Xehanort and Eraqus took. Maybe I’m on the mark with how I judge things, maybe I’m very off the mark. I do think that it’s very important that we establish strict criteria, though, and know that I do consider Riku close to what I would qualify as a Master, the same as Sora. But both of them are very lacking in at least one key area at the time of their tests, and Riku in particular shows no improvement in that area upon being made a Master. Is he adaptable and determined? Yes, absolutely. Can he act authoritatively among others and rally them towards a common cause while respecting their individual skills? Not particularly. Can he teach? He’s never demonstrated the ability to

Riku’s an excellent fighter who’s good at navigating around various worlds and is one of the best Keyblade wielders that they have at this point in time. He’s just not a good fit for the role of a Master and, while I think he can grow into it (maybe by learning some respect for his weapon), he’s not there yet at the time of his testing and still isn’t there by KH3. Well, to me, anyway. Though I do think that my criteria are fair for such a prestigious title and are, ultimately, derived from the roles we see Masters occupy in-game

[autoplaysdigimon]

Pacing in Digimon Adventure

I’ve said it before, but this was a real bugbear of mine with this season.

The main villain of this season, the one whose existence spurs the protagonists into action, who is the cause of everything that happened, is Apocalymon. The fact that Apocalymon exists isn’t made apparent until the end of Episode 52, of a 54-episode long series. We then get one episode to see his power, hear his motivations, and form opinions of him, and then he is defeated a few minutes into the next episode. There is no buildup, no foreshadowing of his situation, or anything - hell, even a mention of the fact that some Digimon don’t survive the Digivolution process before he brings up that he’s where those Digimon go.

Apocalymon’s treatment in this series is pretty bad, but it’s really only a symptom of the pacing issues shown here.

(click for higher quality!)

Here are all of the villains of the series, excluding all of the ones that only show up for a single episode. I’ve also seperated Demidevimon, Myotismon and Venommyotismon, even though they’re only two characters and both allied - Myotismon wasn’t really shown until Episode 26, so I counted up until then as being Demidevimon’s reign. I also didn’t make a seperate row for Metaletemon because I figured it was easy enough to distinguish between him being Etemon and Metaletemon, unlike Venommyotismon who appeared immediately after being killed as Myotismon.

So, it’s an interesting way to look at the series. Myotismon got the same amount of episodes for an arc as the Dark Masters all did put together, and if we count Demidevimon’s arc as part of Myotismon’s reign, he got 17 episodes to cause problems in, whereas the Dark Masters only got 13. The four of them were built up as being super powerful superbeings of evil, and yet only took a couple of episodes each to be killed. Metalseadramon’s small overlap with Puppetmon was only because of the dub, too - his death was moved to the beginning of the next episode.

So, we have this incredibly badass introduction for the Dark Masters, where they display their competence and power in a beautiful way, the Digidestined are all terrified and feeling powerless, and then it only takes a couple of episodes for the first one to be killed. I remember thinking at the time that Puppetmon’s arc felt longer than Metalseadramon’s did as well, and obviously it was, being the longest of the four. And let’s not forget that all four of them were defeated, for the most part, by a single Digimon’s attack - Metalseadramon might have been ganged up on, but he only died when Wargreymon got at his insides. Puppetmon was taken out by Metalgarurumon on his own, Machinedramon by Wargreymon in a single strike, and Piedmon by Magnaangemon’s Instant Win Button. Given that the Digidestined all split up during this time, in which five powerful antagonists were killed, it really puts Venommyotismon’s defeat into contrast, where it took a group effort from the crests being Magical and the rest of the Digimon setting up a cool combo attack with that ball building. Hell, there was a whole-ass prophecy about what it would take to defeat Venommyotismon!

Myotismon’s Final Form took just as much screentime as the entire Big Bad did. Etemon’s big return took the same amount of screentime as Apocalymon. That one Kuwagamon appears about the same amount of time, and I didn’t even bother to give the damn thing a row on the table.

Buuuut the show is more than just its villains. Let’s measure the episodes in a different way!

(again, click for higher quality!)

Here’s each initial Digivolution by episode! Obviously, that first arc was all about them reaching their Champion form before fighting Devimon, so they’re all clustered together. Gatomon’s row is blacked out until her first appearance, not when she joined the group. I’ve also put Patamon’s form changes from when he died and came back on there, as well as when each kid found their crest during the Etemon arc.

(TOKOMON SPENT MORE TIME IN THE IN-TRAINING FORM THAN APOCALYMON SPENT ON-SCREEN AT ALL)

This kinda shows my issue with the tags and crests well - I complained at the time that it felt like they were just tripping over the crests accidentally as they wandered randomly around and waited for Plot to Happen, as though the writers just did what they wanted anyway and threw darts to see who got their crests in any given episode. The only ones that mattered were Sora’s being in Datamon’s possession (somehow???) and Tai having his before the whole Skullgreymon thing. (I just realised that I probably should have put Skullgreymon’s Digivolution on the chart, huh. Whoops! It’s episode 16, the same one where Joe got his crest, immediately after Tai got his.)

Also, look at that one Ultimate Digivolution right at the end. That’s hilarious. Poor Patamon.

Anyway! There were 17 Digivolutions Champion and above. If we decided that they all got their own episode to shine in, and added in the first episode’s mass Rookie Digivolution and Patamon’s big comeback against Demidevimon, that’s 19 episode-climax-worthy Digivolutions. (In practice, it was 18, because both Metalgarurumon and Wargreymon were in the same episode.) Sooo would it really have killed them to give the other six Digimon Mega forms? Was there just too much going on at once with the Dark Master arc that they couldn’t do that? (The answer is yes, there was far too much going on then.) So, okay, maybe there wasn’t a Dark Master for each of the last six Digivolutions, and we had one Ultimate show up then, anyway, so it wasn’t entirely missing exciting new forms to look at. Still, it’s hard not to feel like those last few got shafted a bit.

Let’s not even mention Gatomon who only got that Shiny New Form Moment once in the series. This becomes hilarious next season, and I can’t wait to get to talk about that, because it cracks me up every time.

[aesthetically-meme]

What going back in time does to a mf

(There's a reason they're called Aes in the first pic there's a REASON-)

[nellie-dritz-official]

10 Fav Characters from Different Fandoms Challenge!

Tagged by @diaryofomellas. Thanks! Never been tagged in this manner before!

Okay, let’s see if I can do this...

Anevay Darkflare (World of Warcraft - Horde Champion)

Aliana Beniko (Star Wars - The Sith Resurgence)

Sora (Kingdom Hearts)

Drapion (Pokémon)

Luz Noceda (The Owl House)

Nellie (39 Clues)

Wither (Minecraft)

Fluttershy (MLP: Friendship is Magic)

GLaDOS (Portal)

Chihiro (Spirited Away)

Damn, surprised I actually had just 10. Neat!

Tagging @lily-orchard @ms-mikail @sketchy-the-changeling @xain-russell @justmystuffsstuff @loveoflotus3 @telleruniverse @zeverz and of course, anyone else who’d like to join in on the challenge.

Thank you so much Cypher! Nice way to really start the day!

EDIT: I CANT BELIEVE I FORGOT OLIVE FROM TRANSCENDENT THAT ONE TOO.

[randomfandomimagine]

Ficlets Masterlist

KOFI - WATTPAD - AO3

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[kingdom-hearts-fic-writing]

Chapter 9 | Vanitas summons a corridor of darkness. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell the Master or anyone that you tried to escape and sabotage his precious plan.” 

The smaller figure disappears into the corridor. Sora lags behind, peering at the blank mask where Vanitas’ face should be. “Why?”“

Because I enjoyed our game of tag." Sora hears a vicious smile in his voice. "If the Master locks you up, I won’t be able to play with you anymore.”

Summary | Unwillingly drafted into Master Xehanort's new Organization XIII, Sora finds himself leashed to the darkness. Working in the shadows shouldn't come this naturally to a boy who fights for the light. And now, forced to track down the New Seven Hearts with his Organization XIII peers, Sora is unable to stop the war that threatens to lay waste to the universe.

Sora's only hope is realized when Riku and Kairi take his place as the light's champions—even if he must eventually meet them on the battlefield. But Sora's uncontrollable darkness threatens to consume even them. The people he loves cannot be safe until he escapes the Organization and controls the powerful darkness inside himself.

Except—he's not sure he wants to.

An alternate take on KH3, in which Sora is 'Norted at the end of Dream Drop Distance. Soranort fic.

New updates every day in July!

[telluriis]

valorxdrive

♕ -  ”Guess you could say it’s a whole new world of things.” In fact despite being in the mix of the current generation, Sora himself was still hopping and skipping in a attempt to adjust with it all.

So having Terra kind of being a kindred soul in all of this prompted him to pat one of those broad shoulders in a consoling fashion. “But you’re right on the space thing. people and Heartless parade up all within space now days, so I’ll have to show ya some of the roads myself at some point! But uh..” A thoughtful, curious pause follows at that note.

These concepts Terra introduced only scratched at a hollow, faint part of his heart, something within it’s bank of memories finding a echoing familiarity of what he talked about. With Ventus however no longer being a reside, it was destined to stay an itch until he comes to find his own truths. “That’s a first time I heard of any of those..”

”But! Is this Mirage arena place anything like Olympus’s Coliseum? Not sure if you ever been there, if so, then I say we definitely should check out if that place is still running!” There was a natural drive to introduce him to not just the presence, the goal to also see if they could find some of the guy’s old pleasures and joys was another mission Sora found himself invested in. He’d love to make sure that after all the blood, sweat and struggle, he could find some essence of familiarity of the ‘good old days.’

“Only if you let me in on what this Command Board is about! It sounds a tiny bit familiar..”

“A lot has changed in the time I’ve been gone.” A vast understatment to be sure. The last his memories could resurface of the realm of light, the concept of a 'Heartless' was not one he was familiar. At least not within this existence. A soft pitter-patter in his heart illuminated to an idea that another side of him was quite intimate with heartless and their ilk. "But I wouldn't mind tagging along for a few adventures. I'd imagine you've become well traveled over the years."

"Yeah, I've been to the coliseum. Had a brief stint as their 'Undefeated Champion' for a bit but it was a little too easy compared to the things I had seen already." The Coliseum, huh? The memory of that particular place felt like a faraway dream, one he can only scarcely recall with vague details. His last venture was one that he remembered being one that he could pride himself on. A villain had made attempts to prey on the darkness in him to no avail. Strength of heart outshone anything that particular world could throw at him. "If I recall though, the Mirage Arena made the coliseum look like a kiddy park in comparison. I had to get serious on more than one occassion in that place with the kind of stuff those moogles could cook up."

"But if you want a true test in patience and skill, then the command board will definitely put your mettle through its paces."