#his partner was roxas instead

[storm-driver]

hi im storm and i write essays in my tags

[f-o-r-g-e-t-m-e-n-0-t]

Not sure what kind of prompts would be best but, here's some?? 🥰🥰

Distance

Wedding

Bow

Inebriated

Feminine

"Why wasn't I enough?"

"We should probably stop this"

"So you choose them over me?"

“Why wasn’t I enough?”

It was ironic, for him to ask that now. There was divine comedy in the question, and Roxas would have to laugh at it all - if he weren’t the pathetic butt of the joke.

“Why wasn’t I enough?”

They’d met at a wedding. Roxas was working entertainment while Axel was best man.

Roxas had slipped out the back door after his gig for a bit of air and quiet, only to find Axel had done very much the same. But, where Roxas was simply looking for a small reprieve Axel was looking… worse for wear.

He’d been drinking all night - everyone had - and Axel cradled his latest glass of liquor in one hand. The other ran through disheveled red hair, wayward strands framing a flushed face and red-rimmed eyes.

He’d been crying.

And not that joyful, flushed with emotion and affection crying more typical of weddings. Far, far from it.

Roxas could have let him be. Could have quietly slipped back inside and left the poor man to his solitude. But, instead, Roxas had joined him on the curb.

Axel was in love with the groom. Had been, he said, for years. Always pining, always hoping the other man would look his way. Would see Axel the way Axel saw him. That didn’t happen, obviously, and Axel - poor Axel - had to put on a brave face as he played best man in his friend’s wedding.

“Why wasn’t I enough?” he’d asked Roxas, and Roxas didn’t have an answer.

Roxas did the best he could to comfort the stranger, awkward and clumsy as he was. He did manage to make Axel laugh and smile a couple times - and oh that smile was lovely, despite everything.

They kept in touch afterwards. Exchanged numbers at the end of the evening. Roxas had fully expected to never hear from the beautiful redhead again, and was surprised when Axel texted him days later. Not merely to thank him, but just to… talk.

And they talked a lot. Texts at first, then in-person hangouts.

Axel was… fascinating.

He was funny and witty. He could make Roxas laugh until he cried, and he could just sit and talk about all manner of things until the wee hours of the morning.

Slowly, but surely, their lives intermingled more and more. Axel became a fundamental part of Roxas’ world.

And Roxas fell in love.

Deeply, madly, pathetically in love.

He found himself gazing at Axel more and more. Flushing when their hands brushed or when the other man ruffled his hair. His heart racing when they were alone.

And surely, he thought, surely Axel must feel the same. With how much time he dedicated to Roxas. With how he smiled at Roxas. How those green eyes watched him so closely. With how Axel cared for Roxas, went out of his way for Roxas in ways he didn’t for others. Surely…

It was a slap in the face when, one day, Axel showed up to a party with a new partner.

Roxas felt his stomach drop. His head felt light and his whole body burned hot with shame. No one was even looking at him and yet he felt the kind of spotlighted humiliation one does when embarrassing themself in front of their peers.

He left the party early. Slipped out the back door without even saying goodbye, and did his best not to cry on the train ride home. He ignored texts from worried friends - from Axel.

Roxas wasn’t like Axel. Couldn’t smile through it to support his friend, like Axel had. Couldn’t hide his hurt for the sake of the person he loved. Roxas was wretched and wild and the sludge of heartbreak inside him pooled up and erupted from him like a flooded sewer.

Of course, Axel showed up to check on him after a couple of days. Roxas didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. His chest ached with fondness for how, even now, Axel wanted to look out for him. And yet it hurt all the same. Because of what it meant. Because of what it didn’t mean at all.

Roxas couldn’t hide what was wrong. Couldn’t play it off as sickness or wrap up on a smile. Axel saw right through him. Of course he did.

And Axel pressed and pressed until all of it, every wretched emotion, every fragment of heartbreak came spilling back out. How he loved Axel. How he adored him. How Roxas had thought surely they had something!

“Why..? I don’t understand, Axel…” he asked at the end of it all, broken and weak. “Why wasn’t I enough?”

[holly-natnicole]

Sora's Heart Hotel as DigiDestineds:

Sora Caelum has the Crests of Hope (coz he's good at giving people hope &, before Xehanort finally succeeds in shattering Sora, the enbe's good at hoping for a nice future) and Wrath (he loses themself in rage many times, but learns to channel it constructively). Her Digimon partner's nickname is Sky (in honour of Sora's biological mum Skye Caelum née Rangi). Sky's digivolution line consists of: Botamon; Wanyamon; Liollmon; Leomon or Rukamon/Dolphmon; ViciousMeicrackmon (when digivolving from Leomon) or Mermaimon (when digivolving from Rukamon/Dolphmon); ClavisAngemon (when matrix digivolving with Sora). Whenever Sky digivolves, the Crest of Hope or the Crest of Wrath (depending on which trait the duo emotionally connected over at the time) appears on the screen of Sora's digivice; whenever a digivolution fails due to the partners not being in sync with each other or having issues they haven't even tried to resolve, nothing happens.

Naminé Caelum has the Crests of Knowledge (coz they is good at using their knowledge of others to their advantage and gladly shares their information on various things with other people) and Envy (coz their jealousy over others' friendships, fuelled by loneliness & being abused, prompts them to make some cruel decisions before they redeems themself). Naminé's Digimon partner's nickname is Kioku. Kioku's digivolution line consists of: Dokimon; Budmon; Diarimon; Sorcerimon/Sorcermon; Fantomon/Phantomon; Gokumon/Reapermon.

Roxas Takirua has the Crests of Knowledge (coz he always wants to learn things, to understand both how stuff works and why other people make the decisions they do) and Wrath (coz he has a hot temper that bursts out whenever he's confused and especially when someone is being cruel to him or his friends). His Digimon partners' nicknames are Hikari & Yami. Hikari's digivolution line consists of: YukimiBotamon; Nyaromon; Plotmon/Salamon; Tailmon/Gatomon; Angewomon; Mastemon. Yami's consists of: Botamon; Nyaromon; Shalamon (which doesn't exist in canon); BlackTailmon/BlackGatomon; LadyDevimon; Mastemon. Hikari & Yami are twins who jogress digivolve (a.k.a. fusion of two Digimon, in this case done as Angewomon & LadyDevimon respectively) to reach their Mega form, neither of them matrix digivolving with Roxas; whereas all of the others' Digimon partners reach Mega by fusing with their respective human partners. Mastemon is the strongest of the six Mega Level Digimon, due to being the result of two Ultimates combining their power.

Shion Takirua (formerly Xion, originally No.i) has the Crests of Courage (coz she does what she believes is right despite feeling scared) and Pride (her tendency to make a decision on other people's behalf, although well-intentioned, is arrogant as she – before eventually growing out of it – believes her solution is best for everyone instead of asking others what they want to do). Her Digimon partner's nickname is Pūmahara. Pūmahara's digivolution line consists of: Botamon; Tsumemon; Copipemon; NoirSistermon (called Sistermon Noir in canon); ChoHakkaimon (called Cho-Hakkaimon in canon); Ofanimon/Ophanimon.

Vanitas Ducimus has the Crests of Sincerity (coz ze's always honest, though ze does sometimes say genuine things whilst knowing other people will accidentally misinterpret zir words as zir choice of words was specifically done to manipulate them) and Greed (ze wants a lot of things, willing to steal and even kill to get them). Zir Digimon partner's nickname is Dusk. Dusk's digivolution line consists of: Cocomon/Conomon; Chocomon/Kokomon; Lopmon; Wendimon; Baalmon; Murmukusmon. Dusk is Dawn's twin.

Ventus "Ven" Aurora has the Crests of Kindness (coz he's a nice person who wants to help other people – random strangers included – and is loyal to his friends along with learning eventually to be reliable) and Sloth (one of the things Ven learns during his adventures is that trying to avoid thinking 'bout bad things by slacking off with new acquintances & leaving responsibilities for other people to take care of is selfish). Ven's Digimon partner's nickname is Dawn. Dawn's digivolution line consists of: Zerimon; Gummymon; Terriermon; Darcmon; PriestHolyAngemon (called HolyAngemon Priest/MagnaAngemon Priest in canon); FatedDestinyRapidmon (called Golden Rapidmon X in canon). Dawn is Dusk's twin.

(This is all in a Digimon-Kingdom Hearts Crossover version of my Digimon Alternate Multiverse timelines and my Kingdom Hearts Alternate Multiverse timeline [Yes, Digimon has many timelines whereas K.H. only has one].)

[karla-the-elemental-dreamer]

🪢 KH-OC Week 2024 🪢 - Day 3 Package

Prompt: Would You Rather: Riku vs. Terra edition

With there being two dream guides from Kingdom Hearts, and the fact that both (but especially Terra) played an integral role in making a home for me, Dinh-Yu suggested a variation of the 'Would You Rather' game. But instead of picking two different scenarios, a scenario is given, and I'd have to choose if I'd prefer to do it with Riku or Terra... Tough choices!

---

Q1: Go skateboarding in Twilight Town with...

A1: This is a hard one. Riku would likely be better at it, but I wouldn't want us bumping into Roxas and therefore witnessing those two having issues... IF they haven't already sorted it out. Terra may not be as good, but would provide a more stress-free experience. Skillwise, Riku. Because imagine if I needed to be taught how to ride it in the first place.

---

Q2: Opening the mysterious book in Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden with...

A2: Terra. Because not only would we get access to 100 Acre Woods, but I could participate in Command Board challenges with him (and Aqua and Ventus if present). However, I think Riku deserves to have fun with Pooh and friends some day.

Leaning more towards Terra.

---

Q3: Trapped in Castle Oblivion with...

A3: I can't give a definitive answer for this one. Riku has vast experience from KH-CoM, but do I want to deal with Ansem and the Replica? And with DiZ catching me up in his occasional psy-ops towards Riku? Come to think about it, either Xehanort or Maleficent would torment Terra in the castle and make him succumb there if not in BBS. So maybe Riku, because again, more experience, and he's over his darkness ark.

Terra does get over it, but later in the KH timeline.

---

Q4: Participate in a musical in Atlantica with...

A4: Okay, so apparently Terra can't sing, but he really needs to improve his confidence, especially in himself. Cue him also being quite repressed and silent for most of my 2024. He needs to come out of his shell, pardon the pun... This conversation got recorded in real-time when Terra found out about this decision:

Terra: "Aww, noooo!".

Riku: "Well, it looks like she's chosen you, Terra".

Terra: "What the hell am I going to do in a musical?".

---

Q5: Have a dance at the Royal Ball (Castle of Dreams) with...

A5: Terra as he’s got a sweet and charming character. If he was insecure and shy around girls, it may not work out to begin with. But once he gets his confidence on the dance-floor, or he already knows the girl well, he’d be an excellent dance partner, especially if it were to some sort of classical or slow music. And with the way Terra has been looking after and looking over me since late 2021, he wouldn’t say no to dance with me and may rather be thrilled. Additionally, he knows the Castle of Dreams really well due to his KH-BBS stint, so he may even bump into Cinderella again and THIS TIME be able to have a dance with her as well.

---

Q6: Go snow sledding in Arendelle with...

A6: Sledding is different to skateboarding/skiing. It’s sitting and you don’t really have to be taught anything except if you’re the one driving the sled. It’d be a more cozy experience with Terra and it would also be funny to see his reaction if we fell off the sled and into the snow. May end up in a snowball fight.

---

Q7: Traverse the Sleeping Worlds with...

A7: On initial thought, I’d choose Riku as he obviously went through the whole of KH-DDD and made it out ‘alive’, also ending up as a Keyblade Master. So he’s like the expert of sleeping worlds and would be able to safely escort me through them and intervene swiftly if there was trouble, knowing the tricks and turns of any infiltrators. But I am curious to see how Terra would function in the sleeping worlds. If it were pre-BBS, I’d be a bit concerned about this combo. But if it were post-BBS, or how Terra was in 2022/2023 as a dream guide, I say he’d be quite skilled at navigating me through, but still not as much as Riku IMO.

---

And with August 3 rolling around, it's Terra's birthday (what he's disclosed)! Here is a pic from last year's celebrations. As he apparently doesn't like too many sweets, he just got a cupcake:

---

And here's another part of the puzzle that just got revealed to me TODAY, as to why Terra's connection might be under stress this year. Terra didn't get an organic pair of teddies as it were. At the start, he was only there for Riku but became interested and started to integrate himself into my life. He wasn't going to get 'mentors', rather, he got 'friends' from the teddy High School Peer Mentorship program to be his companions and increase his confidence, but maybe they're not skilled enough to identify when things get challenging and intervene in a sense

And here's the thing I've just recently realised. Nasha (ESFP) and Sibella (ESTJ) DO NOT get along. ESFP is like the most free, laisses-faire of Carl Jung's MBTIs, whereas ESTJ is almost the polar opposite (not letterwise). So think of someone like Vanitas or Demyx, and Eraqus or Donald working together. Nasha and Sibella focus more on each other rather than their relationship with Terra, even though they do respond to him and are courteous with him. Additionally, whereas Selvian and Sierra seem to go where situations take them, Nasha and Sibella have not left the Land of Departure ever since they were sent out back in Year 10 with Terra. And tend to remain in the closet as it were.

Nasha and Sibella had their first official problem-solving instance earlier this week (convo recorded in my writing book), but it didn't seem to end well. Instead of Sibella making Terra feel better, she unfortunately started to blame him in a sense. Nasha called her out for not being nice but then the two girls got into a fight and Terra passively backed away. So that was an interesting tidbit that was revealed to me.

Snippet of convo from 31/07/24:

---

Sibella (ESTJ): "Then do you think she's maybe going through it again? Like being energetically suffocated?".

Terra (INFP): "I don't know... I've been out of touch with her for so long that I don't know what's going on, and I don't know what to say to her".

Sibella: "That's just it, Terra. You're too scared to start the conversation. And because YOU left it for so long, you don't know where to begin".

Terra: "She said she needed more time to go after Cricket".

Sibella: "He looks pretty stable to me now".

Nasha (ESFP): "Oh my God. Stop being so mean Sibella".

Sibella: "What? Just because my accent sounds like a Spanish b****, I'm not being nasty to him. I'm simply getting to the point as to why he can't reach out to Karla".

Nasha: "But you're making everything sound like it's his fault".

Sibella: "Well then what do you have to say to him, Nasha?".

Nasha: "What you said makes sense, Sibella. Just word it nicer".

Selvian (INFJ): "Okay who called? And why aren't you two cooperating? Sibella seems to know what's going on and so she has an onus to tell Terra so that he knows what to do from here on out".

Nasha: "But she's just being mean to him and has gone from identifying THE problem to identifying his problems. Like that is sooo uncool".

Selvian: "I agree with Nasha in this case. And this is why I'm here. Now so we don't send Terra into a breakdown for nothing, I'm going to sort this one out with him".

-- Continued in book --

Selvian again cleaning up everyone's messes 😂😂😂

I think that's why Selvian and Riku get along so well and have found something in common to bond over.

---

Oh gosh, I found a sketch just now from 2023 that exposes them XD

[twilight-town-zombies]

Bookshop AU + almost kiss 🥰🫣🫶

Cute 🥰

There wasn’t a ship so I am writing about akuroku because of course I am.

Axel and Roxas first meet at a college New Year’s party. Roxas knows a couple people and Axel seems to know everybody but when midnight comes around, and it seems like everyone else is kissing their partner, Axel and Roxas both find themselves tucked against the same porch door as the fireworks go off outside.

They look at each other and Axel raises an eyebrow. “Do you want to be my New Year’s kiss?”

And for a moment Roxas considers it but he doesn’t know the first thing about this guy and he has the kind of voice where anything he says seems to be a joke, so Roxas laughs instead and they toast and drink together, chat for a while and then go their separate ways.

Until. Roxas takes on a new job at the local indie bookshop, and lo and behold, who does he have assigned to train him on day one but Axel. Roxas recognizes him immediately, but other than being friendly, which he seems to be with everyone, he shows no sign of recognizing Roxas from the party and Roxas assumes Axel has near kisses and not so near kisses all the time and he’s nothing special.

They hit it off on their first shift, squabbling over the merits of some books but bonding over others. Toward the end of the shift, Roxas asks if it’s too soon to use his employee discount and Axel shrugs and reassures him they’ll make it work. And then punk Roxas comes up straight faced with a Jane Austen novel. Axel raises a brow, “That for class?”

And Roxas replies, “Jane is a bad ass.”

And Axel laughs and says, “I knew I should have kissed you at that New Year’s party.”

And Roxas asks if he believes in second chances.

Then an actual customer comes in.

[forthedancingandthethriving]

The SMGs

SMG-1 & SMG-2

Statues: Retired

Former Avatar: Juliano

The first SMGs ever created, the Prototypes. Created by Admin Byte, it wasn't for the purpose of guarding universes and keeping the meme cycle going, but for the Admin's own gain to mess with universes.

This failed, however, as SMG-1&-2 were kindhearted Guardians to their Avatar, Juliano. However, after an attack on their world, their Avatar died, and they were promoted to Admins. They are now known as Domain and Forum, respectively.

SMG0 & Niles

Statuses: Deactivated

Former Avatar: Fred

In the video game Mage, there was originally only a single SMG for the universe as Admin Byte intentionally didn't tell Admin Lag that two SMGs were needed for balance. However, this wasn't for long, as the God Box created Niles, a false SMG to pair with SMG0.

However, this wasn't to last, as after an attempt to repair his imperfect code, Niles went insane due to the God Box and killed his Avatar, Fred. Following a forced fusion between him and SMG0, creating SMGØ, a being hellbent on finding another Avatar and remaking the fallen universe.

The duo were put to rest by the combined efforts of Avatar Mario, his Guardians, and Fierce Deity Melony.

SMG1 & SMG2

Statuses: Semi-retired/Active

Former Avatar: Spudnick

While they lived in peace with their Avatar for many years, this was eventually broken when SMGØ landed in their universe, intent on shaping Spudnick to be a new Avatar. However, this failed, causing Spudnick's death and the destruction of their universe.

They now reside in the SM64 universe, being mentors to SMG3 and SMG4, and generally doing what they can to help out.

SMG3 & SMG4

Statuses: Active

Avatar: Mario

Their activation has been dubbed the Worst To Ever Happen. Several things went wrong, including the inclusion of SMGØ and SMGs 1&2. There have been many incidents regarding their universe, but they've always come out on top for their Avatar and friends, so they're typically left to handle themselves. They're remarkably close with their Admins, Forum and Domain.

SMG5 (Penta Knight) & SMG6

Statuses: Active

Introduced here!

Avatar: Kirby

SMG6 is a wandering comedian, and Penta Knight is an admirable warrior.

SMG7 & SMG10

Statuses: Active

Introduced here!

Avatar: Tulip

There was an accident when Guardians were being assigned, and SMG8 accidentally went to SMG9. To rectify this (it was already too late to switch it back), SMG7 was partnered to SMG10.

SMG10 is actually the more calm one of the duo, with SMG7 displaying the more energetic qualities of an even-numbered SMG.

SMG8 & SMG9

Statuses: Active

Introduced here!

Avatar: Nimbus

They're a bit more overprotective of Nimbus, as their first memory after landing was Lumiere kidnapping Nimbus.

SMG11 & SM12 (belongs to @duckapus )

Statuses: Active

Introduced here!

Avatar: Tune

They're the first SMG duo thus far to have an SMG (SMG12) fall in love with someone who wasn't their SMG partner.

SMGXIII (13) & SMGXIV (14)

Statuses: Active

Avatar: Sora

Due to certain quirks of the Kingdom Hearts universe, his SMGs have turned out looking like recolors of Roxas and Xion instead of him.

SMG15 & SMG16

Statuses: Active

Avatar: Frenzy

Currently working to help Frenzy work through his issues and repair all the damage he's caused by being a part of the Union of Scorned Avatars.

SMG17 & SMG18

Statuses: Unknown

Avatar: Barry the Blook

Introduced here!

Their current statues are unknown due to the state their universe has been left in following Avatar Barry's departure.

SMG19 & SMG20

Statues: Actice

Avatar: Red the Angry Bird

Not much is known about them, but it's reasonable to assume they were glad to have their Avatar return home following the events of the Legacy Arc.

SMG21 (Kira Nadja) & SMG22

Statuses: Active

Avatar: Arle Nadja/Doppelganger Arle

SMG21/Kira Nadja is the second known SMG to not go by her assigned name (the other being Penta Knight). It's clear she prefers this one.

SMG23 & SMG24

Statuses: Active

Avatar: Laharl

It's pretty reasonable to assume that they do their best to help Laharl any understand the way he acts.

SMG25 & SMG26

Statuses: Unknown

Avatar: Lord Ramagog

Their current statuses are unknown due to Lord Ramagog's deserting of his universe.

SMG27 & SMG28

Statuses: Active

Avatar: Shantae

They probably tease her a fair bit about the time she sat on a freshly painted bench.

SMG29 & SMG30

Statuses: Active

Avatar: Ash Ketchum

Introduced here!

Their activation was rocky due to the interference of Avatar Barry, which was an attempt to stop the universe from coming online. However, it did end up happening, and SMG29 is actually trans.

SMG31 & SMG32

Statuses: Active

Avatar: Captain Olimar

SMG32 always somehow finds ways to incorporate the Pikmin into memes.

HMG1 ("Vee" Haltmann) & HMG2 ("Hex" Haltmann) (belongs to Duckapus)

Statuses: Active/Anamolies

Avatar: Elanore Haltmann

Introduced here!

They are False Guardians, as they were not made by the Guardian System, but instead Susie Haltmann. Originally intended to replace SMG3&4, they now live peacefully alongside them, even if some craziness is bound to happen.

SMG33 & SMG34 (belongs to Duckapus)

Statuses: Active

Avatars: Sally 13 and Cole

Introduced here!

Following Garyboy messing with the universe files, the two universes merged, and now the two SMGs work together. SMG33 is a recolor of Sally, and SMG34 is based on Cole.

SMG35 & SMG36

Statuses: Active

Avatar: Irene

Introduced here!

SMG35 was bold enough to sass a god for not being in the right realm when she first landed. SMG36 just about had a heart attack when she heard that.

[snowflake-of-destruction]

Akuroku- with the title of "chasing the flames"

Axel loves his life now, and he acknowledges that all his experiences, even the bad, even when he was bad and not for a lack of knowing better (He may not have had a heart for a time as a Nobody, but he did still have his memories), are important to embrace as part of what shaped him. 

He can't help but sometimes mourn the Lea who died though, and who he could have been. He finds himself wondering about the life he could have lead. 

He'd never trade meeting Roxas though.

When he confesses all this to Roxas however, his boyfriend assures him that there wouldn't need to be a trade.

They are soulmates, meant to be. A universe where they both exist in any form is a universe where they find each other and are together. Roxas plays pretend with Axel and tells him how it would have been.

Lea escapes Radiant Garden, but ends up on Twilight Town and builds a life. Years later he finds Roxas at the old.mansion before Xemnas can pick him up, gives him a place to stay, and they become friends, then something more. When the Organization comes searching for Roxas, both Roxas and Lea manifest keyblades, ready to fight to the death to protect each other.

Maybe Roxas is still taken in by Organization Thirteen and partnered with the fearsome replacement number eight, Noxel the Lord of Lions--a terrible mentor, too gloomy and not inclined toward ice cream eating and sunset watching.  While on mission one day though, Noxel and Roxas witness a struggle match between Seifer and Lea and cupid strikes. They don't call what happens next stalking, but, rather, recognizance. The Organization eventually ends up with two hostages, but, almost as quickly, it ends up with two defectors instead.

But then maybe Lea was never on Twilight Town to begin with. Perhaps Lea was on Traverse Town with Aerith, Cid, and the others, only to return to Radiant Garden when its heart is sealed. Maybe he heads the Restoration Committee and blows off steam at the Olympus Coliseum in his free time. Maybe he and Roxas meet in battle and he makes the blonde a bet that, if he beats him,  he doesn’t just get the cup but he gets a date too.

Or Roxas could be born early. Ventus isn’t able to take refuge in Sora’s heart while sleeping for long before the stress of it causes splintered pieces. Roxas rises out of those pieces and follows vague memories left from the part of him that is Ventus to Radiant Garden and to Lea. Lea might mistake him for Ventus at first, but it could only be Roxas he falls in love with. They escape Radiant Garden together when it falls. Wherever they end up they are happy.

There is no reality where Roxas doesn’t chase the flame that lights his heart down, and there is no world where the flame doesn’t warm for his blonde.

If happened how it was supposed to happen, but, if Lea had lived, one part of his destiny would have been the same. There’s no worry about that.

GIVE ME A TITLE AND A SHIP/SOME CHARACTERS AND I'LL WRITE A SUMMARY FOR A FIC I'LL TOTALLY IF EVEN ONE PERSON SHOWS EXCITEMENT NEVER WRITE

[xxxmasterkali]

Axel Flynn

Basic Info Name: Axel Lea Flynn Birthday: August 8th, 1987 Age: 29 Address: San Myshuno VA: Quinton Flynn Sexual Orientation: Straight Astrological Sign: Leo Aspiration: Popularity Favorite Color: Orange Sim Characteristics: Funny, High Energy, Optimistic, Rascals Likes: Comedy, DJ Mixing, Dancing, Fitness, Guitar, Mischief, Mixology, Video Gaming, Wellness Dislikes: Cooking, Gardening, Painting, Programming, Writing Fears: Clowns Traits: Child of the Sun, Self Assured, Daredevil, Competitive, Outgoing, Party Animal, Practiced Host, Smug, Heat Acclimation, High Strung, Salty, Short Tempered, Authentic Prankster, Dauntless, Aspiring Party Planner, Jester, Gregarious Lifestyles: Adrenaline Seeker, Energetic, People Person Self Image: Positive Self Image

NSFW Traits Virgin: No Alcohol: Yes Cigarette Smoker: Yes Drugs: Cannabis, Ecstasy (HU), Shrooms (HU) Wicked Attributes: Dominant, Odaxelagnia

Physical & Mental Health Physical: Migraines Mental: Bipolar Disorder

Milestones Teen: Adopted a Pet, New Sibling, First Kiss, First Woohoo, Did Keg Stand, Smoked Tobacco, Smoked Cannabis, Got Drunk, Graduated High School

Young Adult: Got a Job, Did Ecstasy, Started a Relationship, Did Shrooms, Earned College Degree, Had a Baby, Got Engaged, Got Married

Family Parents: Jewel & Kaiden Flynn (Married) Siblings: Valeria (Little Sister) Family Pets: Dean (Dog) Financial Status: Average Axel & Skuld's Pets: Jim (Cat), Brook (Dog) Children: Sylas Flynn

High School High School: Destati High Grade: B Student Popularity: Popular Social Group: Rebel Rousers Affinity: Cares About Popularity

College College: Hikari University Major: Physics Earned Degree in Physics

Work Previous Job: Fast Food (Part Time) Career: Agency Clerk

Friends Best Friends: Roxas McCartney, Xion Stoner, Isa Thornton & Skuld Cross Close Friends: Kairi Panettiere

Romance Relationship Status: Married to Skuld Flynn (Cross) First Kiss: Hanna Eggleston Crush/Partner: Skuld Cross Ex Relationships: Hanna Eggleston, Becca Clarke, Lilith Pleasant Sexual Partners: Becca Clarke, Lilith Pleasant, Skuld Cross

Destati High Axel worries about his image, & enjoys being the center of attention. He loves to have cool stories to tell that impress people. He has a casual sexual relationship with Lilith Pleasant. When he notices Skuld hooking up with her ex, Adriel, he gets jealous & after a party one night, he realizes he has feelings for Skuld & breaks the casual relationship off with Lilith. However, he has yet to make a move with Skuld.

Hikari University During the 3 year time gap, Axel & Skuld try ecstasy, & they end up having sex. Skuld freaks out when Axel tells her, he likes her. She tells him she doesn't feel the same & that it can never happen again. Axel pretends it doesn't upset him, & instead he starts to hook up with multiple girls on campus, while Skuld does the same. With their friendship on the rocks, they taunt each other for the first couple of months until Axel tells her, he just wants to be her friend. They end up sleeping together again & decide to keep it casual. Shortly after, Axel tells Skuld he wants more with her & wants to be in a relationship with her. Skuld says no, & cuts off being casual partners with him. After talking to Xion & Strelitzia, & Xion telling her that Axel cares a lot about her, she finally decides to begin a relationship with Axel.

Lifelines A year after Hikari University; Axel & Skuld have moved in together but Skuld worries Axel can't handle the responsibility of being an adult & questions their future together. Eventually, Skuld finds out she's pregnant & is unsure if she wants the baby & doesn't believe Axel is ready to be a father. Axel finally begins to take their relationship & future more seriously & tells Skuld he wants to keep the baby. They have a son & name him Sylas. Namine is able to get everyone their memories back, & Axel begins training again alongside their other friends. A few months after Sylas is born, they are warned a new enemy is approaching & wants all of the guardians lineage, therefore they are forced to escape to a secret realm where they can't be reached. They live in this realm for six years, & raise their son & Axel & Skuld get married during this time.

Photo Album

Shout out to the wonderful modders & content creators out there! Most of the information here I was able to add to each character courtesy of Radiophobe, Heleane, BasementalCC, TurboDriver, Chingyu, Kuttoe, YourFalseHope, adeepindigo, & littlemssam. Hairstyles were also created by racoonium! Link below for the Mods/CC/Sets/Animations that I have used in my KH Sims videos!

Mods/CC/Animation/Sets

Character Bios for Destati High & Hikari University

[mushroom-winners-proof]

God your art now has me thinking about demyx and luxord in this au… i replied with a bunch of my thoughts for luxord on the art but also. Corporate Espionage duo.

Demyx is a disgraced business mogul, one of the original investors in the master of masters shady corporation, however due to arguing with the plan of the school and being suspected of being the mole that got the feds on moms back he got exiled and blacklisted from the world of business, only keeping his many connections and instead making a living as a busker living under the radar, and due to his discretion and connections, he became a sort of messenger across shell companies and partners of Darkness Inc since he could talk to whoever without affecting their stock prices too much.

Luxord as someone who has a job in every place, always at the right time taking a shift (i put a bunch of my thoughts under the art so i won’t repeat myself lmao) but who was similarly involved with the Master of Master’s company, maybe the bar the higher ups frequent for unsavory deals, but went in with Demyx to break into the corporate worlds more official side, still hearing the secrets locked away under three stiff whiskeys.

They live together as roommates and are perpetual gossips, but no one can quite place any of the gossip as real except one time, where an intern Roxas over heard them gossiping about Xion and talking about how the incident was Riku’s fault, and that being the moment when Roxas went feral.

i remember a bit ago someone proposed axel and xigbar also dabbling in espionage and those two make sense ngl but now im just thinking of all the snakes in these damn companies like yall need pest control fr fr

demyx needa look into a Wilson Wilson Utopia approach and just wipe himself from the internet

@kitkat-the-muffin: "I imagine Luxord just swaps between buildings instantly, like Larry from TAWOG (if you don't know, Larry has 1000 jobs and is that one character who works everywhere as an excuse to not have to invent more characters for other job occupations)"

"In the comic with Riku using Ansem's cape as a blanket you had heartless using dark passages (probably artificial heartless based on the AU rules) so I'd imagine buildings and every one in a while he wears the wrong uniform and shows up to Darkness Inc in his Nobody Uniform lol Maybe that's what Darkness Inc does, make Dark Passages XD"

big fan of the consensus that luxord IS a wild card and he's just. EVERYWHERE doing his own thing trying to make bank i love characters who do just has a roulette of jobs for no explicable reason. speaking of Inexplicable Things ansem just got portals and demon kids, totally normal thing for a CEO to have innit

[imagine-organization-xiii]

How clingy are our org members with a s/o?

Another one from Sam who did this when shE SHOULD HAVE BEEN SLEEPING

-

Xemnas - In the public eye, Xemnas does not enjoy mundane physical displays of affection minus the occasional touch. But that does not mean that he isn’t clingy. In fact, Xemnas prefers to have his S/O in his sight at all times. He doesn’t like losing sight of them. And when you’re home alone, he quite likes allowing you to rest your head in his lap and running his fingers through your hair and massage your scalp.

Xigbar - Oh man if you are within grabbing distance, Xigbar's hands will be all over you. Around your waist, over your shoulder, on your ass, don't worry those grubby mitts get around. As much as Xigbar likes acting like a big man on the block with a pretty thing on his arm, there is also something about having the physical touch that he longs for. Not that he would ever admit it.

Xaldin - He is not aloof, but Xaldin often is not a ‘clingy’ type of partner during the day. He often had a busy schedule planned out including completing his missions and actively training in his off time. And while you sometimes were welcome to join, this was often a solo activity. But after a hot shower to wash away the grime of his day, Xaldin quite loves curling into a soft bed with his partner and holding them close under the blankets. It is a very quiet affair, often involving Xaldin resting his head on your chest or stomach while you read a book and stroke his cheek with a free hand, but it is certainly your favorite part of the day.

Vexen - Vexen is, if anything, entirely self sufficient in this regard. He does not feel the need to cling to his S/O. He trusts you, and knows that you are not going to wonder too far, in fact, he almost encourages you to wander off if he is particularly engrossed in his work. However, in the few off hours where he is not in his lab, Vexen likes to try and make up for his aloofness with small acts of affection like rubbing your shoulders or scratching your head.

Lexaeus - At first, you thought that Lexaeus with his deep silence, was fairly independent and wasn’t much for clinging. But as you grew closer and more intimate, you started to notice how often Lexaeus liked being in the same room as you when he wasn’t off on his own duties. He commonly would appear in the Kitchen or common room some time after you were already there and use the space in some capacity. Sometimes you conversed, sometimes not, but no matter the situation, you tended to really like when Lexaeus appeared to make your day a little brighter. It wasn’t until one conversation with Saix that you found out how often Lexaeus would return from a mission and immediately ask where you likely would be. When you brought it up to him, he didn’t say anything at first other than his face flushing red but admitted to how much he longed to spend his free time with you but didn’t want to be a burden. From that moment on, you both agreed to just plan where to meet at the end of the day, and it was wonderful.

Zexion - Growing up in a castle full of very busy adults, Zexion is usually fine with being on his own. If he has a good book or a task to complete, he usually has no problems. However, he also has found that completing these tasks with you by his side is immensely more enjoyable than doing them alone. So more often than not, Zexion likes to ask for your company while doing chores around the castle or simply when he retreats to the library to read. Does he need you there, lest he stop breathing? Well, no. But he has certainly grown spoiled to the great joy he feels when he is with you, even in utter silence.

Saix- Saix is not a man of physical affection in the presence of others, but also is possibly the most clingy of the organization. The man almost refuses to allow you out of his sight if he can help it, and when you are away, he becomes incredibly irritable and on-edge until you return. He also is one for leaving love bites visible so others see that you are spoken for.

Axel - Oh man you know this boy loves throwing his long-ass arms over his S/Os shoulders!! Walking through Twilight Town is always a treat with his arm pulling you close into his side as you step through the busy streets. Sometimes you even like to bump into him with your hips and it quickly devolves into a hip checking contest, or you end up sneaking a hand around to jab him in his ticklish sides. Everything seems to become a game of some sort, and most of the others just think this sickening sweetness is gross.

Demyx - Oh man, this boy.. Demyx is not one for traditional boyfriend clinginess, like draping his arm over your shoulders, or PDA. No no. Instead, Demyx often is found running to you like you are his mother hen, crying out to you for help or for a moment of your attention. “Y/N!! Check out this new song I’ve been working on!” “Y/N! Please explain to Roxas that cereal is a SOUP.” “Y/N!! Xigbar keeps shooting me!!!” Needless to say, it’s never a dull moment!

Luxord - Luxord LOVES toting you around as his beloved love, bringing you to different corners of the universe and showing you everything each world has to offer. And when you are amidst your travels, Luxord tends to make sure you never leave his gaze for fear of anything that can happen to you. But when you are in the safety of the castle, Luxord is much more at ease and clings to you less than he would in other circumstances, though he quite loves delivering surprise pinches to your bum when you’re not looking. Wherever you may be in all the worlds, that is something he never tires of.

Marluxia - Marluxia, though you may not expect it, is actually pretty independent when it comes to clinging to his S/O. He knows not to possess them and fully trusts his S/O wherever they may be. And on top of that, he knows that you have important things to take care of as well. But of course, when you come back to him, whether it be from a long time away or even after not seeing each other all day, Marluxia makes sure that your reunion is sweeter than any other pleasure on his earth. The moment you return back to his sights, his gaze softens immediately. And the moment he pulls you into his embrace, you feel as though you could fall into his arms and melt into him; as if his being and your own melded into one. Like two halves into a whole.

Larxene - When in public, Larxene tries extremely hard to not cling to her partner. She is independent. She doesn’t need anyone. In fact, the only time she may cling to you in the presence of others is literally to show off. Once you two are alone, however, she still tries to act like she doesn’t need you, but certainly follows you around, waiting for you to get close to her. But if you bring it up at all, she will vehemently deny it. But if you just come up to her without a word and just hold her? She will absolutely melt into you and love every second of it, just never bring it up, or she will punch you.

Roxas - At the beginning stages of your relationship, Roxas will likely avoid clinging to you too much to give you your space and not seem overbearing. But as you two grow closer and closer together, small displays of affection like holding hands and gently hugs become more and more common. So common in fact, that other members ( Xigbar) will start to tease Roxas for always being your shadow. And you don’t mind that! But you tell Xigbar to fuck off anyway.

Xion - oh man Xion loves to cling to her S/O. She just adores being close to them, and the feeling of having someone she loves in her grasp. She often is found wrapping her arms around her S/O by the waist and pressing her face into their back or shoulder or just holding their hand in hers. Its just.. NICE to be held. And she loves every second of it.

[atomic-taco-muffin]

Can you please make KH boys x reader? When the reader is kissing some other boy. (The reader doesn’t know that KH boys like them.)

KH Boys Reacting To You Kissing Someone Else

Warnings: angst(our poor bby’s), GN!Reader, this isn’t headcanons like the other one’s 

Sora: 

Sora has had the biggest crush on you since he first met you. You had no idea that he had a crush on you but everyone else did. They kept telling him to confess to you, but he was so shy. Until one day, he summoned up the courage and went to your apartment. But when he got there he saw you kissing someone else. He felt his heart shatter and ran back home crying.

“Why? Why didn’t I tell them sooner?” he sobbed into his pillow. 

Riku: 

Riku and you were doing a mission together in Twilight Town. He wanted to tell you how he felt but there was something that was stopping him. He thought that now was the perfect time, but you saw your partner and ran up to them to kiss them. He felt his heart break, but was happy to know that you found someone that could make you smile. 

“I wish I could make you smile like that. But I’m happy that you found someone who could.” 

Vanitas: (this one broke my heart)

You and Vanitas have always had a kind of Love-Hate relationship. Vanitas wanted to love somebody like you, but was reminded that he was darkness and couldn’t feel love. Until one day he had enough. He stormed over to Radiant Garden to confess to you but saw you kissing Ven instead. He felt his chest throb in pain, like he felt his unversed are destroyed. 

“I guess I really am a monster. I wish you could’ve seen the other side of me.” 

Terra: 

Aqua knew that Terra has had a huge puppy crush on you but she also knew that you were in love with someone else. But she didn’t want to break his heart. One day, Terra was going to your place preparing a speech on how he felt, but when he got there, he saw you kissing your partner. He felt tears form in his eyes and walked back home, hiding himself in his room. 

“Why didn’t I know sooner?” 

Ventus: 

Since Ven is our shy little bby, he’s been struggling with how to tell you how he feels. Thankfully, he had help from his friends. Once he prepared what he wanted to tell you, he went to go find you except that when he did find you, you were kissing someone else. He ran back home crying and locking himself in his room. 

“I’m so stupid. Why didn’t I notice it before?” 

Axel: 

You and Axel have been friends since you first joined the Organization. During your time there, Axel developed a huge crush that only his other friends know. When you two were re-completed, he ran to go find you and confess but he was too late. He saw you kissing someone else passionately.

“Guess I should’ve confessed when we were nobodies. Take care of (Y/N) for me.”

Roxas:

Roxas felt so confused when he realized that he was in love with you. It was impossible for nobodies to feel love yet here he was. He was about to confess to you until he saw you kissing someone else. He was so angry with himself that when he was alone, he went into a rampage.

“Why?! Why wasn’t it me?! They were supposed to be mine!”

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #852: Date Night at Home (Kingdom Hearts)

7:34 p.m. at Seasalt Family's Apartment.......

Lea: (Sitting On The Dining Room With Isa Table While Wearing a Black Turtle Neck Sleeve Shirt, Dress Pants, and a Ponytail and Giving him a Seductive Smirk) Gotta say, Isa: You look rather presentable in this time of evening~

Isa: I wouldn't exactly say a button shirt and dress jeans is anything to write home about really. (Smiles a Little) If anything, I'd say you look more presentable than I do right now.

Lea: (Smiles Brightly at his Boyfriend) Appreciate the compliment, man. I was gonna you to that Bistrot restaurant for the rest of the night, till I found out that all of the seats were taken in the last minute. So I hope you don't mind having our date here.

Isa: I don't mind it at all. Though, we could've went to the Bar for our date night instead.

Lea: (Starts Rubbing the Back of his Head Back and Forth) Yeah....But I didn't want the place to remind you too much of work. 'Specially some the customers that kept irritating you and Barrett.

Isa: (Thought About What Lea Said Before Nodding in Understanding) Fair point. I wonder what we're going to be eating this evening......(Turns to Lea) Do you have any suggestions?

Lea: Well.....

'Door Open'

Roxas: (Walks Inside the Apartment While Carrying Two Boxes of Pizzas and a Bag on Top of Them) Your meals have arrived, gentlemen!

Xion: (Follows Behind Roxas While Holding a Bottle of Soda) Along with Grape Sodaaa!~ (Closes the Door Behind Her)

Isa: (Gives Lea a Deadpinned Look on his Face) We're having pizza for dinner?

Lea: Yep. From Tony's. Heard they have the best pizzas in town......Annnnnnd the most expensive one of the bunch.

Roxas: (Places One Pizza Box on the Dining Table) Yeah. No kidding. Did you know they sell peppermint candies for six dollars a piece?

Lea: (Eyes Widened in Complete Shock) Six dollars!?

Isa: That....seems like an awfully high price for a piece of mint candy.

Xion: ('Sigh') That's what we were thinking.... (Starts Taking the Lid Off of the Soda While Pouring Some into Lea and Isa's Wine Glasses) But I guessing that's mostly because the place is also a restaurant as well.

Isa: I see.....Well, if that's the case, I think it will be best that we don't order their pizza for a while.

Lea: Agreed. I rather not pay a crap ton of money for a pizza like that again honestly.....

Roxas/Xion: (Nodded in Agreement) 'Kay.

Xion: (Smiles Brightly at the Couple) In the meantime, we hope you boys enjoy your little date night together~ (Makes Her Way to the Living Room While Carrying the Other Pizza Box in her Hand) We'll be in the living room if you need us!~

Roxas: (Follows Xion to the Living Room While Pointing at the Couple) Don't do anything I wouldn't do in there!

Lea: We'll try!

Isa: I'll make sure Lea behaves himself!

Lea: (Glares at Isa) Seriously?

Isa: Seriously. Now let's starting eating before our pizza gets more cold.

Lea: ('Sigh') Fine. (Opens their Box of Pizza and Takes a Slice Out of There) So how's work been treating you as of late? (Takes a Bite of the Slice Pizza)

Isa: (Takes Another Slice Out of the Box as Well) It's been decent for the most part. Not a lot of customers giving us trouble as of late. So I'm thankful for that. (Takes a Sip of his Grape Soda) Also, Tifa has a recent haircut as of late?

Lea: ('Gulps') Really? What's it look like?

Isa: (Takes Out his Phone, Search For the Picture of Tifa's New Cut and Shows it to Lea)

Lea: Huh. Not gonna lie: The short hair actually looks good on her.

Isa: I agree. It represents her growth as a person fairly well. (Puts his Phone Back in his Pocket) It kind of reminds me of Aqua's usual hairstyle in a way. Speaking of which.....(Takes a Bite of his Slice Pizza Before Using a Napkin to Wipe a Few Crumbs Off his Lips) How's your daily keyblade training has been going for you as of late?

Lea: (Shrugs) It's going alright. We did a crap ton of push-ups today...(Takes Another Bite of his Pizza) Which kind of sucks by the way.

Isa: Is that so? How much did you do?

Lea: Twenty and a half. I did all of mines while Aqua sat on my back the whole time. (Takes a Sip of his Grape Soda) She's says it was supposed to improve my endurance and strength or whatever. Meanwhile, Terra was able to do fifty of them in a freaking handstand! It was crazy!

Isa: Can't say I'm too surprised by the outcome. Terra is a lot stronger than people have him credit for. He's also a worthy sparring partner.

Lea: I can tell. You guys are completely jacked. I always wondered how you managed to get like that.

Isa: Trial and Error. Mostly Trials....The stressful ones.

Lea: ('Sigh') Yeah.....The Whole Organization XIII experience was a wide ride for us, wasn't it?

Isa: It has. But at the very least, we left that past behind us and live a better life for ourselves and the kids.

Lea: (Nodded in Agreement) I know that's right.

'A Bit of Silence'

Lea: Hey, Isa?

Isa: Yeah?

Lea: Have I ever told you I love you as of late?

Isa: Sometimes. But I do acknowledge those words from time to time.

Lea: Cool. Cause....(Smiles Softly) I really do love you, man.

Isa: I love you too, Lea. (Smiles Back at Lea) A lot more than you realize.

The couple stare at each other for a brief before reaching out to one another for a kiss, until.....

Roxas: (From the Living Room) DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!

Xion: CHILDREN ARE STILL PRESENT!!~

Lea: ('Groans in a Bit Annoyance') Kids.... Always have to find a way to ruin the moment.

Isa: To be fair, Roxas did kind of warned us not to try anything in here.

Lea: ('Sigh') True..... Doesn't make it any less annoying though.

Isa: Fair point.....You wanna watch TV with them in the living room?

Lea: Yeah, man.

@26shann

@khtext

@keyenuta

@caleb13frede

@cyber-wildcat

@albion-93

@ma-lemons

@kh-hugs

@seasaltcomics

[violethowler]

The Elephant in the Room

In my previous essays, I have covered how the Kingdom Hearts narrative follows Maureen Murdock’s template of the Heroine’s Journey, as well as how various characters and story elements tie in with the overarching themes of the framework. Before I can continue to dig further into other themes and archetypes, there is something I need to address first. While I have avoided directly touching on the topic in my previous essays, I have now reached the point where it is no longer possible to talk about the Heroine’s Journey in full without acknowledging the elephant in the room: 

Romance.

In ongoing serialized stories such as TV shows and video games, conversations about potential relationships in canon are often treated as inconsequential to the overall story. Something that is separate from the main plot. At worst, I have seen fans who openly center a ship in their analysis and theories be dismissed and criticized as biased - or worse, delusional. They are treated as being so obsessed with their pairing that they try to make everything about their ship and jump on any excuse to declare that it’s viable in canon. 

Among the Kingdom Hearts fandom in particular, this has often taken the form of someone trying to dismiss other fans’ hope for a ship to be canon by saying that the series is about friendship, not romance.

While friendship is absolutely an important theme in the Kingdom Hearts series, to insist that this is mutually exclusive from depicting the development of romantic relationships ignores the continued presence of canon Disney romances in almost every game in the series. In each “main” game where Sora is playable, he has directly or indirectly been involved in getting those Disney couples together in the KH universe. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility for the series to turn the tables and give some attention to his romantic interests for a change. 

A story having other major themes is not mutually exclusive from showcasing the development of a romantic relationship. There are many popular movies, shows, books, comics, and video games in which a romantic relationship plays a central role in the narrative but there are still other plotlines going on that are equally as important as the romance. This is especially true for Disney and Square Enix.

The reason why it’s impossible to fully talk about the Heroine’s Journey without acknowledging romance elements is best encapsulated by this quote from She-Ra showrunner Noelle Stevenson about her show’s endgame pairing in an i09 interview after the release of the final season:

“The show’s not a romance show. It is about a lot of things. It’s about choice, destiny, fighting, tyrants, you know, all of these other things. I grew up with so many stories—like sci-fi and fantasy—that I was so passionate about. And it would be considered no big deal to have the hero get the girl and to have a kiss at the end, without it suddenly becoming a romance or ‘Oh, the shippers got what they wanted.’ It was just a part of the story. And to actually see it be a central part of the plot and to fulfill the arcs of the characters in a way that felt satisfying. I really want to take it beyond ‘Oh, the shippers got what they want.’ Like, it’s not just a ship for me. It is a plot point. It is the necessary conclusion of each character’s arc, separate and together.[1]”

While not every story known to follow the Heroine's Journey features a romance for the main protagonist, those that do make the romance an integral part of the narrative. It’s not something thrown in at the end to please shippers, but a central component of the story. Therefore, when analyzing a Heroine’s Journey story, it is vital to acknowledge and discuss textual support for potential romantic relationships in order to have a full understanding of the narrative.

Even if one is not aware of the Heroine’s Journey, Sora’s repeated interactions with Disney romances indicate that there is a high probability that he will be in a romantic relationship himself by the end of the series. Every story I know of that follows the Heroine’s Journey broadly adheres to a pattern in regards to how the romantic relationships of a main character are set up.

By examining the series through these patterns, we can narrow down who Sora’s endgame romantic partner will be. 

Because the themes and character dynamics emphasize resolving internal conflict through balance, the Heroine’s Journey lends itself extremely well to Beauty-and-the-Beast, rivals-to-lovers, and enemies-to-lovers relationship dynamics. A major component of the Heroine’s Journey is the main character learning to accept themselves, and since the Animus as a Shadow figure can represent the parts of themselves that they haven’t accepted yet, it is simpler to symbolize that self-acceptance via a romance with the Animus rather than attempting to build a separate relationship on top of the existing story framework.

For these reasons, the Animus is more often than not the main character’s endgame love interest, their feelings for each other made into critical aspects of their respective character arcs. The only Heroine’s Journey stories with romance that I know of where this wasn’t the case are ones where executive meddling resulted in the finale being rewritten to kill off the Animus despite established narrative set up for them to have a happy ending together[2], while the protagonist was either forced into a relationship with a different character or left single.

And like I said in previous essays, the one character in the series who fulfills all criteria for the Animus role within this storytelling framework…. 

Is Riku.

[Image Description: Sora supporting Riku as they walk toward the ocean on the Dark Margin at the end of Kingdom Hearts II. End Description.]

As mentioned in my earlier analysis, this narrative framework emphasizes the importance of balancing contrasting attributes, which fits in extremely well with Kingdom Hearts’ focus on balance between light and darkness. For stories that follow the Heroine’s Journey in a visual medium, that dichotomy is often incorporated into the characters’ look. Height differences are common, while their color schemes and outfits are designed to make them complement each other. Further adding to the focus on balance between light and darkness, the visuals of the story frame the romantic leads with imagery associating each one with light or darkness to create Yin-Yang symbolism when they are finally in balance. 

In Re: Chain of Memories, Vexen openly calls Riku the “Hero of Darkness[3]” as a counterpart to Sora’s role as the “Hero of Light”, and their combination attack in Kingdom Hearts II utilizes moves that reflect both elements. In the Ultimania for the original game, Tetsuya Nomura said that Riku’s look was intentionally designed to balance Sora’s[4], and the contrast between their respective color schemes is maintained in each of their new outfits. In Kingdom Hearts II and Dream Drop Distance, Riku wears white and blue, while Sora in those same games wears black and red. Two different pairs of contrasting colors. Kingdom Hearts III has them both in outfits that are primarily black and grey, but still emphasize the blue and red that have been part of their respective outfits since the first game. 

In a Heroine’s Journey, the love interest is typically an active character in the story and usually serves as the deuteragonist. This fits with Riku having been a mandatory playable character in multiple games since 2004. In addition, series producer Shinji Hashimoto said before the release of the HD 1.5 Remix collection[5] that the main focus of the series is how Sora and Riku develop both as individuals and as a pair, which fits with how the central conflict of the Heroine’s Journey revolves around the dynamic between the Protagonist and their Animus. 

A common viewpoint held by many fans of the series is that Kairi is Sora’s love interest, and it’s not hard to see why people get that impression. He has sacrificed himself to save her in two separate games now. He’s charged enemies head on in order to rescue her whenever she’s been captured. He even got down on his knees and begged for her freedom when Saix demanded he show how important she was to him. Multiple characters have talked about how special she is to him, and Roxas refers to her as “that girl he(Sora) likes.” 

However, there are multiple elements in the narrative that point to them not being the endgame romance. Kingdom Hearts III foreshadows the final shot of them sitting on the paopu together at the end of the game with Sora disappearing from the cover of the 100 Acre Wood storybook, textually framing Winnie the Pooh as a parallel to Kairi. While many fans regarded their sharing paopu fruits in the base game as the beginning of a relationship between them, he still only refers to her as a friend in Re:Mind, and even compares his bond with her to the bond between Ventus and Chirithy. 

Sora also does not treat his promises to her with the seriousness he would if they were going to end up together. The promises to return her lucky charm and to come back to her that he makes in the first game are never treated as anything urgent when he awakens in Kingdom Hearts II. Instead, he declines the opportunity to return to the islands and check in with her in favor of searching for Riku. When Kairi says in The World That Never Was that they’ll be together every day, Sora agrees, yet he was content to spend the rest of his life on the dark beach at the end of the game as long as he was with Riku. 

Meanwhile, the most consistent theme regarding Kairi in relation to the Destiny Islands trio is the idea of childhood friends drifting apart as they get older[6][7]. This is particularly highlighted in Kingdom Hearts III, with Kairi writing letters to Sora that she never sends, thereby keeping her thoughts to herself. Merlin also emphasizes this when he talks about forging new connections after Sora’s visit to 100 Acre Wood. This parallel frames the ending of Re:Mind as the two of them recognizing they’ve drifted apart and choosing to put in the effort to renew their friendship by spending time together.

On a structural level, her portrayal does not fit with how love interests are typically depicted in the Heroine’s Journey, both as an individual and in relation to the main protagonist. There is no contrast between her and Sora’s designs or roles the way there is between his and Riku’s. Her color scheme is predominantly pink, which does not have the same contrast with Sora’s red as Riku’s blue. Because she’s a Princess of Heart, there is no dark and light contrast, and the combination attack she shares with Sora in Re:Mind only utilizes light-based moves. It took 17 years after her first appearance in the series for her to be made a playable character, and even then, playing as her is not mandatory. They are never portrayed as equals, and she is not an active force in his emotional growth. 

The Heroine’s Journey was crafted for narratives revolving around identities that have been Othered by society for one reason or another. Murdock designed her template as a tool to help women deal with being shamed by society for expressing and pursuing their desires. In a similar way, LGBTQ+ people also face stigma from society for expressing and pursuing their desires. So it makes perfect sense that a framework for narratives of people overcoming internalized stigma against important parts of themselves would be ripe for stories featuring LGBTQ+ protagonists of any gender.

As mentioned in previous essays, stories that follow the Heroine’s Journey challenge the biases and blind spots of the audience. A relationship between Kairi and Sora does not challenge anything because she has largely been regarded as the endgame love interest by default since the beginning. Meanwhile, a romantic relationship between Sora and Riku challenges players to recognize heteronormativity within themselves and in the media around them. It challenges people to examine the lens through which they perceive the story and rethink how they look at what’s happening in the narrative.

In summary, the portrayal of Kairi and her bond with Sora is not consistent with how love interests are commonly depicted in the Heroine’s Journey, while the portrayal of Riku and his bond with Sora is. If Sora’s story is going to continue on this storytelling formula to the end, the structure of the Heroine’s Journey narrative leaves Riku as the only thematically viable candidate for the role of endgame love interest. 

Now, as some people bring up in conversations about Soriku, there is a potential obstacle in the form of corporate executives. It is entirely possible that Disney will drag their heels and try to force the development team to downplay or remove any open same-sex relationship the series may try to depict. They do not have a strong track record of LGBTQ+ representation that isn’t a minor character who only appears for one scene. Given that their last IP to follow the Heroine’s Journey - the Star Wars sequel trilogy - crashed and burned at the end, executive meddling is my greatest fear for this franchise.

But the thing to keep in mind is that Tetsuya Nomura is stubborn as hell. One of the reasons the long gap between Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts III was because he was holding out for permission to include Pixar movies in the game, outright refusing to start work on KH3 until they were given that go ahead[8]. If you want further proof of how stubborn he can be, this is how he described the meeting where he first pitched the series to Disney in a 2012 interview with the late president of Nintendo[9]:

Iwata: Their ideas were different from yours, naturally…

Nomura: Yes. They appeared to believe that we would make whatever they wanted us to make and came up with rather specific requests such as, "We'd like the game to feature this character." They were really excited, explaining their ideas... To be honest, though, I wasn't really interested in any of them. (laughs) 

Both: (laughter)

Iwata: You wanted to borrow Disney's characters in order to make a new game that could compete with Mario 64, and you already had a vision of what this game would look like. I suppose their ideas didn't fit in with this vision.

Nomura: They didn't, no. In the end, I actually stopped a presentation halfway through. We didn't have that much time, and it looked like it was all going to get taken up by various Disney presentations. So, I interrupted them and told them the conclusion by saying, "I won't make such games."

Talk about nerves of steel. This man basically said “we do this my way, or we don’t do it at all” TO MOTHERFORKING DISNEY, AND. HE. WON. If there is any human being with enough force of will to make the Mouse House cave in and allow the depiction of an openly LGBTQ+ relationship in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is Tetsuya Nomura.

I cannot say with 100% certainty how things will go. But everything I know about storytelling patterns and narrative structure is telling me that Kingdom Hearts is a textbook Heroine’s Journey with a romance between Sora and Riku at its core. A relationship between the protagonist and the Animus does not truly begin until the “Integration” stage at the end of the Journey, and we are rapidly approaching the point in the narrative where the two leads traditionally become aware of and acknowledge their feelings in order to be on the same page for the finale.

Sources: 

[1] “She-Ra's Noelle Stevenson Tells Us How Difficult It Was to Bring Adora and Catra Home” May 18, 2020

https://io9.gizmodo.com/she-ras-noelle-stevenson-tells-us-how-difficult-it-was-1843419358

[2] “Death of a Dark Youth, Desecration of the Animus”; December 20, 2018. https://www.teampurplelion.com/death-of-a-dark-youth/

[3] Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories. Square Enix, 2007. 

[4] “A Look Back: Kingdom Hearts Ultimania Gallery Comments Part 1″; August 30, 2019;

https://www.khinsider.com/news/A-Look-Back-KINGDOM-HEARTS-Ultimania-Gallery-Comments-Part-1-15519

[5] “How Kingdom Hearts III Will Grow Up With Its Players;” September 24, 2013.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/25/how-kingdom-hearts-iii-will-grow-up-with-its-players.

[6] “E3 2018: Tetsuya Nomura on If Kingdom Hearts 3 Is the End of Sora's Story”; June 14, 2018.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/06/14/e3-2018-tetsuya-nomura-on-if-kingdom-hearts-3-is-the-end-of-soras-story

[7] “Character’s Report Vol. 1 Translations”; Jul 16, 2014

https://www.khinsider.com/forums/index.php?threads/characters-report-vol-1-translations.195560/

[8] “Edge Magazine Features Kingdom Hearts III Cover Story”; January 9, 2019. https://www.khinsider.com/news/Edge-Magazine-Features-Kingdom-Hearts-III-Cover-Story-14331

[9] “Iwata Asks: Nintendo 3DS: Third Party Game Developers, Volume 12: Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance], Part 2: It’ll definitely be fun”; April 2012. 

https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/creators/11/1

[oveliagirlhaditright]

RokuShi Day Fic 1/Day 1. Prompt: Pining

Chemistry

Xion was jealous of Roxas and Olette... It was silly and dumb—she knew that it was, because they were great together and deserved every happiness—but it was what it was. Though she made certain that her feelings didn’t cloud her judgement and that she became mean to either party.

It had all started when Roxas had suddenly latched onto Olette as the "normal one" in their group of friends. For as much as Roxas loved Hayner, he—like all of them—could get annoyed with his temper when it came to all things Seifer... as well as his hare-brained schemes, that he barely helped out with. And Pence had really been getting into his superstitions lately, which kept him from being “normal”… whatever that word meant.

And as for Xion herself? Well, she'd probably been venting to Roxas too much about how she wasn't sure she wanted Isa in their lives... It was a work and progress, anyway. So Xion understood why Roxas would end up going with Olette, especially since Olette was a constant pillar of light, in helping him—them—from flunking the year.

And then Roxas had gallantly offered to be Olette's date for the dance. And that was when it had really become clear to Xion that she’d never be in Roxas’ heart… at least not in the way she wanted to be.

And ever since that date, Roxas and Olette had been inseparable. And it warmed Xion's heart and broke it at the same time.

At the moment, Xion and Vivi were in science class together. And he was secretly using some of the magic that he apparently had, to get the Bunsen burner cold while they put a pop can on top of it. Xion had told him to do this, as she was pretty sure that that was what their teacher had instructed them to do. But it was hard to remember, because she couldn’t keep her attention from wandering over to Roxas and Olette.

...If she was hearing them at their table correctly, it sounded like Roxas was saying how weird it was, that every young adult book had the intended couple in it as lab partners in it... and Olette was laughing at that jest... Because of course she was. She, like Roxas now, was well read enough to get the joke, it seemed, whereas Xion wasn't… She didn’t know that “lab partner romance” seemed to be a trend.

And it was as Xion was having that depressing thought, that Vivi's words reached her. "Xion, you were wrong! We weren’t supposed to freeze the can and then heat it. We were supposed to do it in the reverse order!”

But it was too late.

Xion had made the mistake of rapidly heating a cold can instead of rapidly cooling a hot one, and the item exploded!

Thankfully, Xion was able to whip out her Keyblade just in time—to use an aero spell, so that the shrapnel  wouldn't rain down on anyone and hurt them.

But her experiment was a failure—and she even had Roxas and Olette's attention now—and she put her head on her desk and dreamed of somehow fazing into it so no one would see her.

...

In the end, Xion actually wasn't in trouble for the experiment gone wrong. Rather, her teacher was impressedthat she'd figured out how to make it explode all on her own, and thus must have greatly been improving in her understanding of Chemistry… though he of course pointed out that she should never do such a thing again. He also seemed moved  by the “phenomenon that had been around her to lessen the blast”. And Xion had had to lie through her teeth to try and think of a convincing answer that had nothing to do with Keyblades, magic, or other worlds.

And once she had miraculously done that, she was happily out the door and heading home.

“Xion!” Roxas called her name as soon as she began heading in that direction, whilst he hurried down the stairs after her. “Hey, wait up! Don’t you want to walk home together? And, hey… are you okay? What happened with the experiment today? I saw that you… you and Vivi took down the notes right, so-”

Oh, no. Was Roxas reprimanding her in the way that Isa had used to? As that depressing thought and trauma came back to Xion, the best she could do was come up with the best explanation she could think of and try to sound sincere. “S- Sorry, Roxas. I freaked out and forgot what I was doing. I swear I transported back into the girl I was in Organization XIII, who knew nothing of the world… strange.”

“…Do you want to talk about it?” Roxas asked her now, as he ran to her side and dropped his books so he could put a hand on her face. And oh, how that hurt in the best way possible. And Roxas looked so beautiful in the sunlight that Xion wanted to cry. “Xion, you can talk to me about anything. You know that, right? I’m sorry I stopped listening to you about Isa some—you have every right to feel how you do about him—but I just felt torn in the middle, since you were hurt by Isa ,and Le- Axel was singing his praises. But I swear I’m here for you.”

Xion smiled, and even leaned towards Roxas some. She couldn’t help it. Because while this didn’t solve her problem about Roxas loving another… she had felt heartbroken she’d been, that Roxas hadn’t been listening to her about this touchy subject lately. So, she was glad that he was here now.

“Thanks, Roxas!” Xion exclaimed, as she clapped her hands together—taking a page from Kairi and Naminé’s books, probably—“but I- I swear I’m doing better with this now. But let’s celebrate being good friends again! Why don’t we go see a movie… platonically, of course. We’ll get all of our friends together, and-”

“…Will Vivi be there?”

‘Wow. Roxas must really be trying to be certain that Olette wouldn’t get the wrong impression that the two of us like each other’, Xion thought. 'I'd better try and reassure him.' "Of course he will. Vivi is our friend, right? Especially since we found out he's sick... right?"

"Right..."

But Roxas didn’t seem to like something about that answer, because he let Xion walk home alone, after all, as he suddenly seemed to recall that he had a chess club meeting that night… But when had Roxas ever been in the chess club? Xion thought it best to leave that conundrum alone, and bring Axel and Isa the fried ice cream she’d made in home economics, before it spoiled.

…

That night, when they were back home—though Xion had thought that she and Roxas were somewhat thick as thieves again—he didn't say a word to her at dinner (and rather seemed to be promptly ignoring her). And so Xion was left wondering what she'd done wrong…

Xion had gone back to her room pretty miserable then, and had called Vivi on the phone like she often did, and had fun talking to him about their video editing class…

And just when Xion was done talking to him, Roxas suddenly walked into her room and gave her a look, that she was instantly coming up with come back after come back for whatever he was about to say. "Don't you think you should lay back when it comes to Vivi some? He's younger than us, and-"

But what he did say had certainly took the wind out of her sails, so that Xion could only look at him dumbfounded as she knelt on her bed. "…Roxas, he's a year younger than us ,but in our grade because he's a genius who got promoted. Where is this coming from? I thought you wanted me to hangout with Vivi! And at least I'm not like you, pretty much bribing a teacher, to let you go to the next grade so you can stay by Olette’s side!"

And for the first time since Roxas had fallen in love with another, Xion let her envy on full display… and she hated that her beloved had to see her like this. Hadn’t she always tried to be the selfless one?

"Wait... what?!" Roxas asked. He sounded confused; and this got to Xion, because usually when Roxas was upset about something… well, his first reaction was to be angry. So, the fact that he just sounded confusednow must have meant something. And was it Xion... or did his next words have a sympathetic air to them? "Xion, do you think I'm in love with Olette?"

Xion blinked a few times at this, as it all suddenly came together in her heart. But what was one to expect from her? She'd just figured out that the boy she'd loved for so long wasn't with another, after all... and that he'd been afraid that she was.

And it was at this point, that Xion burst out laughing and kicked her legs to and fro, as she completely fell back onto her periwinkle bed.

And Roxas blushed, and rubbed the back of his neck in what looked to be an embarrassed manner. If she had to guess, she would have assumed he’d done the math, too. But right now, she was too amused to put that belief into words. "We've, uh, been pretty dumb here, Xion. Haven't we? I've just been hanging out with Olette because I thought you were with Vivi... and since her family was making fun of her for not having a date to prom. It was a whole thing. But you and Vivi... you've just been friends?"

And Xion rocketed off her bed and ran towards Roxas so fast, that she dove into his arms. It was actually a wonder that her socked feet hadn't caused the rug to catch on fire, honestly… How ironic, that would have been. "Roxas,” Xion giggled, as she held Roxas’ face in her hands this time, “I can only ever just be friends with someone who isn't you. How have you not figured out yet that I love you, when I sacrificed myself for you and so much else?"

If it had been Sora with Kairi, Xion thought, he would've been shocked by this... said he loved Kairi too, or any number of things. But not Roxas, because he wasn't Sora—she wasn't either—and neither was she Kairi.

Instead, Roxas came forward, kissed her passionately for some beautiful seconds, and then grabbed her hand to begin leading her downstairs. "Xion, what do you say we head downstairs, and give Lea and Isa the nightmare that we're dating? I think that will be hella fun. And get back at Isa for how he treated you some, maybe.”"

And while Xion was pretty sure that Axel and Isa must’ve known it was going to go this way for a while, Xion squeezed Roxas' hand—and let him move her, thank you very much—and shouted "Let's!"

And something about the way they moved, did catch the fuzzy steps on fire.

[snowflake-of-destruction]

I feel like Axel’s parents would adore Roxas

“Dad would love you,” Axel declares one afternoon without preamble or prompting. They’re in the Radiant Garden waterways, heading back from another trip to the remains of the dungeons, getting lost despite having made the trip before and Axel’s denials to the contrary.

 Roxas’ clothes are damp and dirty, there’s a crick in his neck still from having been hunched over books in Ansem’s sprawling labyrinth of a library with Axel and Isa until his eyes burned and Axel had dragged him on a jaunt to the dungeons (The waterway dungeons at least, the laboratories elsewhere also held containment cells and outright cages that made Roxas wonder where the line for categorization was drawn, as well as why anyone allowed Ansem the Wise to pretend for more than a second now that his scientific studies had been anything resembling noble before Xehanort showed up and “corrupted” them, as if there hadn’t been rot and darkness spreading long before) to stretch their legs and makeout against walls, his hair is sticking up in odd angles from damp and fingers run through it, he’s tired, he’s disgruntled and discouraged despite recent distractions that they haven’t been able to find any record of existence of Axel and Isa’s old friend, he’s been expressing his mood primarily through mumbled cursing, there’s an ugly blue and purple bruise developing under his right eye from being hit with a Defender’s shield, and, even if the next cure spell cast should take care of the last at least, Roxas hardly feels like he comes across as lovable. Maybe-hopefully--Axel still loves him, but certainly he’s not exactly painting an endearing picture for anyone else. There’s not a trace of irony or mockery in Axel’s words though, and he’s not usually subtle when he’s making fun.

Roxas has already stepped into a nearby bubble and is carried away before he can ask Axel, “How do you figure?” and actually have him hear it, but Axel is right behind him, and when they are reunited again in another near featureless stony gully with waterfalls moving the wrong way, Axel answers without missing a beat, like he sensed Roxas’s question in a fleeting expression before he disappeared or they have bonded beyond the need for physical speech.

“He admired passion,” Axel explains. “He was pretty laid back himself. I guess I take after him in some ways,” the realization verges on melancholy, “Except I’m  not as good at knowing exactly what to say to diffuse situations. He was a born peacemaker. I’m more of a… “ He trails off, knowing better than to start the argument or chain of reassurances that would be triggered by reflecting that he’s more a weapon, sharply honed and unperturbed and so better able to be used against those who lose their ability to think clearly when clouded with turbulent emotion. Roxas knows the unsaid anyway, but holds his tongue, opting instead to just shake his head and twine his fingers possessively in the notches between Axel’s own as if reiterating that they will--they have and Axel started even without him--pull each other into a better life than that. 

“Well, anyway, he was a peacemaker, but not someone who believed there shouldn’t be conflict. He liked people that spoke their minds. Passionate. Opinionated. Fiery.” Axel laughs at his own word choice as more words fight to tumble out now that he’s started. “He had a predilection for fire magic. He’s the one that taught me, but he wasn’t hot tempered. He was warmth and light. He enveloped anyone he met, but he’d especially love you. He’d see I love you and you love me, and he wouldn’t need anything else to be on your side forever and support anything you ranted about or set your mind to.”

“He sounds nice,” Roxas replies and wonders not for the first time why he hasn’t met Axel’s parents yet. He forgets to ask. He doesn’t think much about families usually, ones people are born into at least. Axel and Xion are family. Sora is family, and Roxas long ago stopped trying to deny it. Even Isa is...getting there. Someday. Maybe. Roxas has a hard time remembering and keeping it in his mind that some people--most people, normal people--have more than that.

“He has the biggest heart I know,” Axel says that and no more. 

Roxas has questions, but the sudden way Axel cuts himself off makes him reluctant to ask.

They find their way back to the castle and to town, and Roxas forgets.

“My mother makes the best honey wheat bread,” Axel says a few months later. Roxas tells him to ask her for the recipe.

~@~

“My father read that book.”

“I have the sequel. Do you want to send it to him?”

~@~

“You are exactly the type of partner my mother always wanted for me.”

“Someone that puts up with your bullshit?”

“Someone who brings out the best in me.”

~@~

“You’d make my mother laugh. You have the same sense of humor.”

~@~

“They’d love you like I love you.”

“Hopefully not just like.”

“They’d want you as another son.”

“Do you?”

“Want you as my son? I think that would be inappropriate.”

“Want to be a family forever?”

“I do.”

~@~

There are two empty seats saved in the front row of the ceremony. Roxas understands now.  Radiant Garden may look like its returned to its former glory if you stay in town, ignoring the Great Maw, Villain’s Vale, the waterways, or other ruins and secret corners where Heartless run rampant and destruction and scars remain, but it’s not as simple as all that. Roxas had worked alongside the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee, like so many other of the Guardians had, but the meaning of it hadn’t sunk in for the longest time. 

Radiant Garden had fallen and been twisted into Hollow Bastion, then it had been redeemed, but it had never been consumed completely, a star winked out, and the star hadn’t been fully reborn either. It didn’t seem fair. They could keep slaying Heartless and Nobodies and hope to see new recompletions (A task that Roxas had mixed feelings over that he didn’t always feel comfortable sharing, knowing his unique perspective on reunion of Nobody into the whole was one few people understood, despite saying they did in the moment before dismissing Roxas and Namine as special cases). They could take the extremist approach and advocate for unlocking Radiant Garden’s heart and leading Heartless there in the hopes a new world and all its people would come back once the cycle of Dark had been fulfilled. There were no guarantees. 

Axel’s parents, like Cloud’s mother or Leon’s first love, Rinoa, or so many others Roxas had never and would never meet, were gone.

“I’d love your parents.”

“And they’d adore you, Roxas.”

[revengerevisited]

I wanna do something a little fun and just share some of the KH fanfic ideas I’ve had for a while, which are mostly about Vanitas because of course they are. XD But yeah, here are my ideas:

1. A Shadow of Two - a sequel to A Heart and a Half, kinda a fix-it for KH3 but not really since it’s an AU to begin with. Vanitas Aqua and Ventus would be the main trio, but Sora Riku and Kairi are also POV characters, with each of them having their own trio and goals: Sora (with Donald and Goofy) looking for a way to revive Roxas while struggling with his own inner darkness, Kairi training with Axel and getting help from Ienzo in discovering her past, Riku Mickey and an unrevealed character on a secret Realm of Darkness mission and also finding a way to revive Naminé, and Vanitas Aqua and Ventus searching for the new Princesses of Heart while dealing with their own problems: Vanitas still dealing with his trauma while adjusting to normal society, Aqua dealing with something I can’t reveal yet, and Ventus... honestly I don’t know what to do with Ventus. The most obvious answer would be recovering his lost memories, but... well, introducing an egregiously convoluted backstory wherein Ventus and/or Vanitas might be a murderer isn’t exactly appealing to me, to say the least. I really wish Ven’s backstory could’ve been something I was allowed to make up myself. Other than that, the story would generally follow KH3 but with way more Disney worlds and hopefully fewer plot holes. ;P

2. Broken Hearts (Take Time to Mend) - a post-KH3 fic that ignores Re:Mind and the time-traveling Vanitas retcon. This fic is about the REAL Vanitas who was in KH3 and resurrected via scream energy who has returned once again, this time in the Land of Departure but is too weak to leave and is quickly discovered by the Wayfinder Trio. Tensions are high but he’s ultimately allowed to stay, with the focus of the story being on the four of them helping each other recover from their respective traumas: Vanitas’s years of abuse by Xehanort, Terra’s decade of possession by Xehanort (which according to the post-Re:Mind character files was a lot more traumatic than I’d realized), Aqua’s decade spent in the Realm of Darkness and subsequent corruption by darkness, and Ven’s... almost being killed by Eraqus, I guess. While pretty bad, that’s probably not as traumatizing as years of torture and torment, and the more obvious trauma to use would be Ventus committing/witnessing Strelitzia’s murder, but as I’ve established I just really don’t want to deal with KHUX at all. Anyway, this could work as a gen fic but since I love Vanqua so much I might as well make it one, maybe throw a little Terrella in there too 'cause why not.

3. This fic idea focuses on the aftermath of KH3, NOT Re:Mind, where Riku Kairi and Naminé are trying to adjust back to a normal life at Destiny Islands while also dealing with their grief over Sora’s disappearance. Kairi deals with blaming herself for Sora’s ‘death’, Naminé deals with being adopted as Kairi’s sister and learning how to be a normal person, and Riku deals with his growing feelings for Naminé, but the real star of the show is... Sora’s mom! Oh and Vanitas too, of course. Sora’s mom (who really needs a name) has finally been told about everything that’s happened these past two-ish years, and a month after Sora’s disappearance she finds a comatose Vanitas washed up on the beach. She assumes it’s Sora, although Riku and Kairi are quick to correct her. Despite their warnings, Sora’s mom nurses Vanitas back to health and basically adopts him, although he isn’t exactly happy with the situation. Still weak and recovering, Vanitas is unable to leave, and Sora’s mom won’t stop in her efforts to help him adjust to a normal life. This one could be merged into Broken Hearts, since I could imagine Riku informing the Wayfinder Trio about Vanitas’s return and an angry and distrustful post-KH3 Aqua wouldn’t want to let him out of her sight, but it might be better to keep them as separate fics seeing as they’re set in two different locations.

4. My next idea hinges on my theory of what the next KH game could’ve been like... or at least before Re:Mind pretty much shot it down. My theory was that Vanitas, the real Vanitas not the time-traveler, was still inside Sora’s heart and therefore went along with him to TWEWY. I haven’t played TWEWY but I know that Sora would need a partner to defeat the Noise, and what better partner than a former enemy? This would be similar to A Heart and a Half but instead of romance it’s a sibling team-up with them trying to escape Shibuya. This fic could also be combined with the previous idea as well... Maybe Sora allows Vanitas to win the Reaper’s Game and he ends up on Destiny Islands unable to remember what happened in TWEWY. Vanitas would be the key to getting Sora back but only if Naminé can unlock his lost memories. My only problem is that I would have to erase all that character development Vanitas gained with Sora to reset him back to have character development with the Destiny Islands characters instead, at least until he regains all his memories.

5. A different Vanitas and Sora team-up fic. Once again this is the real Vanitas who used scream energy to revive himself, but that made his heart rather unstable. He tries to fight Sora Donald and Goofy in Monstropolis but is too weak and sick and loses. Upon discovering that Vanitas looks just like him, Sora decides to take him back to Yen Sid for healing and answers. But Vanitas’s negativity is too much for the Gummiship to handle and it ends up stalling. Sora Donald and Goofy slowly nurse a very reluctant Vanitas back to health with the power of friendship, which would reduce the amount of negativity so the Gummiship can fly again. Vanitas and the trio travel to a few different Disney worlds and eventually rescue Aqua and Ven. I don’t know what would happen after that though, since I don’t want to just rehash exactly what happened in the Keyblade Graveyard.

6. A pre-BBS Vanqua AU. Only a few months after being created, Vanitas runs away from Xehanort to the Land of Departure, hoping to merge with Ven early. Unfortunately for him Ven is still in a coma, so Vanitas tries to merge with Aqua instead. This doesn’t quite work, but does end up linking their hearts in such a way that neither can go too far away from each other without feeling sick or even dying. Now stuck at the Land of departure, Vanitas is found by Xehanort who is enraged that Vanitas has basically ruined all his plans. Fearing for his life, Vanitas convinces Xehanort that the plan can still be salvaged: Vanitas will become Eraqus’s apprentice under the guise of Ven’s ‘brother’ and is tasked with encouraging Terra’s darkness while making sure Ventus and/or Aqua are trained to their fullest, depending on which one would be better to merge with. Xehanort, not wanting to start this entire endeavor over, agrees to the plan and introduces Vanitas to Eraqus and the others. Since Vanitas is now wearing normal clothing, Aqua has no idea that he is the masked boy who attacked her earlier, but feels strangely drawn to him due to their connected hearts. The rest of the fic would basically be about the four apprentices’ life at the Land of Departure, with Vanitas struggling with his loyalty to Xehanort vs his slowly burgeoning friendship with Terra Ven and Aqua, all while trying not to blow his cover with the Unversed.

I also have a few smaller ideas that I haven’t really thought through yet or might work better as oneshots or fanart: 1. A Lion King Vanqua AU with lion Aqua and black leopard Vanitas, Terra Eraqus and Xehanort also as lions, Ven as a regular leopard, and Braig as a hyena. 2. A KH1 retelling/reimagining with Vanitas reincarnated as Sora’s younger brother. 3. A Nier Automata AU with resistance android Terra, scanner Ventus, attacker Aqua, and Vanitas as a scanner with executioner chips installed by Xehanort sent to infiltrate Yorha. 4. A post-KH3 fic dealing with Sora’s restlessness after attempting to return to a normal life on Destiny Islands, feeling like he doesn’t belong after everything he’s been through. 5. Something about Aqua taking care of Ven when he first arrives at the Land of Departure, possibly Venqua. 6. A Vanqua-ish KH3 fic with Vanitas kidnapping Aqua to be used as a Guardian or Seeker back-up for Org13, but he eventually befriends her and lets her go. 7. And finally, a Namiku fic set between CoM and KH2. I kinda feel like this should be part of the A Heart and a Half ‘canon’, but I’m not actually sure whether it should be its own fic or just flashback scenes in A Shadow of Two.

You’ll notice that I really love stories about villain redemption, abuse/mental illness recovery, and former enemies becoming friends/lovers, which is why I’ve grown so disappointed with mainstream works nowadays rarely exploring those topics (at least not that I’ve seen). I guess that’s where that old saying comes in, “if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself”. But yeah, that’s just a quick list of my KH fic ideas so far!