#i will always write “sora donald and goofy”

[teecupangel]

Regarding the answer you gave to my previous ask, it looks great! It sounds like a cool idea! Desmond being one of the princesses of light sounds cool, as well :)

The KH x AC crossover idea that spurred this

And to elaborate on these tags I left in the og ask:

#if you want a full-blown kingdom hearts crossover let me know #just know that it would be more like the ac franchise being condensed in one world ala hollow bastion/radiant garden #and i will make desmond a princess screw it

So, in this setup, the entirety of AC lore would be condensed into one world like Radiant Garden/Hollow Bastion did with the FF characters.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy will travel to this world while they’re looking for their next plot piece (or maybe their gummi ship needs to be repaired) and their interest is piqued when they notice that there seems to be some kind of organization (with hoods!) that defeats both heartless and nobodies with minimal problem.

When they get to the castle, they learn that Prince Desmond (who is a very chilled guy and clicks with Sora, Donald, and Goofy quickly) has been tasked in awakening the three great heroes of their world to ask for their aid as they have learned where the heartless and nobodies are coming from but it’s taking all of their manpower just to keep the castle and nearby towns safe.

So they go on a quest to request the aid fo these three heroes who, according to legend, could only be awakened by the prayer of one with royal blood.

Along the way, they get into some trouble.

The protector of the first hero, Altaïr, turns out to be colluding with the heartless and nobodies to control the people of the fortress where he laid asleep underneath.

The family in charge of keeping the second hero, Ezio, safe was busy trying to keep some asshole from invading their walled town using the heartless and nobodies.

And the location of the third hero, Ratonhnhaké:ton, had become lost and all they know is the general location. Supposedly, the people in charge of keeping him safe had been forced out of their homes by monsters (“Not heartless?” “No. Simply the worst monsters of all.”)

Every time Desmond tries to wake them up, they don’t wake up, instead becoming dust with their heart entering Desmond. Many believe this is a sign that Desmond is meant to be the hero but Desmond believes that he’s failing his task (no matter how much Sora, Donald, and Goofy try to console him).

Everything comes to a head when one of Org XIII takes Desmond captive and does an infodump on them about how Desmond is one of the new Seven Hearts but his heart had been incomplete. That they had been waiting for him to absorb the heart of the three heroes so he would awaken as a Prince(ss) of Hearts.

Sora, Donald and Goofy races to save him and Desmond manages to escape because awakening as a Prince(ss) of Hearts meant he had the power to summon the ‘ghosts’ of the heroes who helped him escape.

In the end, Sora receives the keychain with the insignia of their kingdom (a stylized A), getting the “Hidden One” keyblade which has the perk of making the first hit of a combo have twice the damage.

Desmond remains in his world to master his new found power but promises to help Sora, Donald and Goofy if they ever need it.

[share-the-skye]

Sora: “But where does it lead?”

Hunny, you just opened it… by thinking about Riku and the King… you should know where it leads? You did that very on purpose….

Donald: “It doesn’t matter, just go!”

Guys, you didn’t want him to follow Riku and the King. That was a whole thing? That’s why he was mad a second ago?????? This is literally a reckless and dangerous thing that everyone told him not to do? Including you??? And now you don’t care???????

[etrosgate]

i finally went through ds re:coded (i didn't actually play it bc platforming brings me to tears, i just watched a playthrough) and this game really doesn't deserve the terrible reputation it has...

it's especially a shame that ppl only have the cutscene movie cause it's actually really mechanically wacky and creative. like it's an action platformer. then suddenly it's a turnbased rpg? in the final hour it's a adv visual novel?? it's constantly throwing something new at you.

and like, yeah it doesn't have much in the way of major plot progression or lore, but i still find its story fairly interesting and charming. in some ways it feels most like a glimpse at the post-kh3 trajectory of the narrative?

anyways, it's actually something of a sora character study, through the lens of a sora that never went through the interpersonal betrayals the real sora has (primarily kh1). we see a sora that's never been told to repress his sadness, a sora that's never had donald and goofy leave him behind cause he lost the keyblade, a sora that's never had riku become so cruel to him.

and because data-sora didn't experience these things+had good support network throughout the narrative, he's like. a lot psychologically healthier. most noticeable in contrast to the real sora.

and in the final act of the game, data-sora learns how to do something the real sora still hasn't: face his own pain, and accept it.

i would not be surprised if in the future sora's arc involves actually learning how to deal with the shit he's been through and talk to his friends about it

additionally...

kingdom hearts has always had a strong throughline of how people/things being "fake" does not mean they don't matter. from replicas to nobodies and sora's memories of namine.

like data-sora isn't real, he's just a piece of programming. but he develops a real heart, and a real keyblade, through the emotional connections formed between him and data riku and the real mickey donald and goofy.

in this way, i find coded in particular to really feel metatextual, and reminiscent of the relationship you have with a narrative (though specifically video games here). like sora from kingdom hearts isn't real, but does he not inspire real emotion from us? do we not find ourselves invested in his story, even though it's fake?

i really think it's likely that the quadratum unreality stuff will continue to follow that line of thought.

kingdom hearts is just video games, but it's also real. because we love it ❤️

wtf i intended to just write a little bit but i rambled a lot... oh well, anywayyys if you haven't played ds coded, i recommend it 👍

[daylighteclipsed]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[themattress]

So this one guy who blocked me because of a perfectly civil comment pointing out the flaw in something he was saying rather than actually respond and try to debate it then posted this.

Which may as well read:

It's the nostalgia strawman, the same one mentioned 5 and a half minutes into this video. It also comes up in this one and this one. And as the arguments posit in those videos, it's bullshit used as an easy way to avoid true critical engagement. However, I still want to say my piece on this post, even if the person who made it tried to stop me through blocking.

"All the writing problems in KH3 are present in KH2"

Hahahahahaha, no. Absolutely not.

Granted, I did make sure to bolden "all" since of course it's an objective fact that some of the writing problems in KH3 are indeed present in KH2 - both Tetsuya Nomura and Masaru Oka are writers on both, so it would be impossible for that not to be the case. However, let's see if this person's examples of such shared problems holds up.

Retcons

Nope. There was only one retcon in KH2, which is the retcon around Ansem's identity, which I've already discussed at length. That is literally the only time where something from a prior game got changed around, and it was already being set up in CoM. That is lightyears ahead of the retcons in KH3, several of which are retcons on a more fundamental level than just who someone really is (ex: Xigbar being Luxu is a retcon that I hate, but it's not affecting anything fundamental - it's the retcon of what he did in the past that is the true problem.)

A glut of characters with strange and poorly explained motivations

Nope. The motivations of DiZ and Organization XIII respectively were not remotely strange given their circumstances and were explained very clearly; some could argue they were overexplained. A world of difference from, say, Ansem and Saix's obsessions with Subject X, a character who isn't even a part of KH3's story.

New mechanics that don't get adequately explained

All right, I give them this one. Hell, that's been a thing since KH1.

Relying on you to play and understand side games to grasp the baseline plot.

Nope. There was only one side game at the time of KH2, which was CoM. And it was only needed to fully grasp KH2's prologue....and I say fully grasp because KH2, prologue included, was conceived before CoM was, so the prologue was always going to be intentionally confusing. Once we reach the actual baseline plot with Sora, Donald and Goofy, CoM is no longer an issue since they act like they're picking up fresh off the end of KH1.

Awkwardly rehashing the plot of Disney movies for 90% of the game and then having the bulk of the plot in the last 5 hours

Nope. The linked videos already debunked this fallacy, but for elaboration: KH2 did actually have plot-relevant events occur in half of the Disney world visits and it had a midway point where a huge chunk of the plot transpired, meaning "the bulk of the plot in the last 5 hours" is a damned lie as far as KH2 is concerned. Meanwhile, "awkwardly rehashing the plot of Disney movies for 90% of the game" makes one question if this person played either KH2 or KH3, because it doesn't apply to either of them! Three visits in each of them rehash the movie's plot (KH2: Land of Dragons 1, Port Royal 1, and Pride Land 1; KH3: Kingdom of Corona, Arendelle, The Caribbean), with one visit also having many elements of the movie's plot (KH2: Atlantica, KH3: Olympus), but otherwise the Disney worlds did their own stories.

Shafting Kairi

Half-right. Both games did shaft Kairi, but comparing the way KH2 did it with the way KH3 did it is apples and oranges, since Kairi was still a civilian damsel in KH2 and despite the shafting got to participate in its conclusion and begin her own path as a combatant; Kairi in KH3 was a combatant who spent most of the game training for that combatant role and it ended up resulting in her not participating in the conclusion because she died, got restored, only to be kidnapped and then die again. And no, Re:Mind doesn't retroactively absolve KH3 of this, especially given that the positive treatment Kairi receives there doesn't even last into the Limitcut Episode and the following game, MoM.

Imo KH3 does a somewhat better job at threading its information into a smooth plot than KH2

Nope. The "information" you speak of, objectively, is all information about past games or even future games. The only information that is relevant to pushing forward the narrative of KH3 as was established at the start of the game ("gather these specific seven Keyblade wielders to go fight Xehanort and his organization at the Keyblade Graveyard") is the stuff with Vexen and the replicas....which not only had a huge chunk of it missing until Re:Mind, but also might not have even been needed since Nomura said he considered doing the story without resurrecting Roxas and Xion in the climax.

So in total, this post only had one thing completely correct (both KH2 and KH3, and all KH games for that matter, have new mechanics that don't get adequately explained because Nomura is just like that), and one thing partially correct (both KH2 and KH3 shaft Kairi, but pretending the shafting is in any way equivalent is a logical fallacy). Everything else listed isn't actually comparable to KH3 at all, proving once again that this isn't a nostalgia filter issue. It's a legitimate observation that KH3 suffered terribly from the decision to bog it down with connections to so many other games and from Nomura and Oka getting rid of all their co-contributors like Kazushige Nojima, Daisuke Watanabe and Harunori Sakemi.

[holleighgram]

Fuck it. Riku Replica has been living in my head like I found him in the Realm of Darkness, so here's a bunch of canon divergence concepts that I'm too lazy to write into full stories:

1: Repliku doesn't walk away after the Marluxia fight. Instead he also gets a pod and goes to sleep so Namine can fix his heart and make him like the real Riku, but with the Darkness locked away. Sora wakes up and sees Repliku in his pod. He wakes him up, assuming it's the real Riku and they go home to the islands. The real Riku (looking like Ansem) is then responsible for having to stop the Organization and deal with knowing that Sora doesn't even realize that Replica isn't him..

2: Repliku gets his ass beat into the ROD at the end of COM, but ends up on the Dark Margin and meets Aqua. They become friends. She helps him grow out of being a dickhead and he ends up sacrificing himself so that she can follow Sora and Riku into the Realm of Light at the end of KH2. He then gets kidnapped , Norted, and drafted into The Real Org from there.

3. On his his first visit to the ROD with Mickey, Riku finds Repliku, but he still has his physical form but BIGGO DEPRESSION. No angry, just despair to the point of being near catatonic. Mickey and Riku bring him back to Yen Sid's where he just stares out the window, not talking or moving until Sora shows up. And is like "Another Riku??? Can I have him??" Since the real Riku and Mickey are still going back to find Aqua, Yen Sid says fuck it, and let's Repliku go with SDG. The simple fact that Sora WANTS him to come along (even though he isn't real) combine with Donald and Goofy saying yes he can come with them (as apposed to kh1) is enough bring him to near tears. And he goes with them on their adventures and begins to heal and become his own person, with Sora noting how different he is from Riku and even giving him a different name like Kiru, or Cave or some shit.

He gets to save Namine

4. (This one is a Dark Riku/Replitwo Electric Boogaloo one) No Repliku in this one. Dark Riku is the Replica from deep into Castle Oblivion before his heart gets smashed and his memries are the most fucked up. During their interactions he keeps saying the weird shit like "always trying tonworm your way into my heart" and "it never mattered to you" and "I bet you'd all but forgotten about me" and all that stuff from COM. Sora beats him at the KBGY and he tells Sora to finish him off-- that he had already broken his heart, he might as well tear it out of him put him out of his misery. Sora doesn't (obviously) he's just super confused as to why he's saying all these things cause he thought this is Riku Ansem, but is realizing now it's not.

Xigbar, who is fighting the real Riku sees Sora is distracted. He knocks Riku back and takes his shot. Dark Riku, utterly broken and defeated, still notices and pushes Sora out of the way, taking the hit and saving him.

By this time, Riku is back up and back at the fight.

Sora, however is stunned, and as Dark Riku lay fading, he wants to know why he saved him. But all the Dark Riku says as finally fades is "Sora, let's take the raft and go. Just the two of us..." and then he's gone.

These are all up for grabs. If any of them are interesting to you, let me know and I might do some art of them, but not a whole ass comic cause I'm really slow at art and it takes forever.

[edgessunflower]

Hey, I just came across your blog, I can't wait to read your writings!

Can I request an HC from general relationship with Sora please? (reader female is good but gn is nice too), have fun and have a great and amazing day 🤎

Absolutely sweetie! ♥️

The two of you met in Radiant Garden becoming fast friends with each other and becoming his keeper and best friend immediately and friends with Goofy and Donald

You joined the trio on their journey and became a great team member and wonderful friend to the three and many people you meet on the journey

After a couple of months you noticed how your feelings for him changed as well as he did but you kept your feelings for each other to yourselves for a long while

Thanks to Goofy and Donald you told each other and soon began dating which was the best thing to happen to both of you and it was amazing being with him

He always likes to take you on secret dates when you're on different worlds from a dinner date at Le Grand Bistrot, a treasure hunting date in Atlantica, and a small date on the Black Pearl, to a ice cream date in the kingdom of Corona, a picnic date in the Hundred Acre Wood, and a date exploring away from everyone else in the Land of Dragons

He likes seeing you interact with all his other friends laughing with you and Baymax, Dancing with Beast, Sparring with Mulan and Shang, and sitting in the flower garden with Pooh and Piglet smiling at you being able to be you without worrying about heartless for at least awhile

He likes to get you small gifts from the worlds you go to whether it's jewellery, clothes, trinkets, books, CD's, movies, anything he can find and afford always surprising you when you are on the gummi ship or when you take a break from traveling around and fighting

He likes having small moments with you no matter what's going on around you the small moments of holding hands, sharing food, sleeping in the same bed, or a small kiss just swells his heart with love and warmth

[minijenn]

I have several questions for you, Jenn.

1. What do you think is the most scariest moment you have ever written in your journey in Keys?

2. Do you have any writing advice for future fanfic writers with examples!

3. What was some of the. moments in Keys that made jump in excitement, gave you a heartwarming feeling, cry in sadness, and made you laugh?

Ooo OK let's see here.

I think the scariest single chapter of Keys is the one where Maleficent captures Sora again when he's on the run. Mostly because of how dark things get there (Maleficent outright forces Sora to commit murder, c'mon). I still love that chapter tho, its one of my favorites.

Mmm I'm bad at advice and really the best advice I can give is the advice I always give. If you wanna write, just write. Get it out of your head, even if its bad at first, you'll always have a chance to go back to it and fix it up later. Your first draft never has to be your final draft. Keys is proof enough of that (the first few chapters of Keys were originally far different than they are now, sticking much closer to KH3. I didn't like how they turned out so I went back and spruced them up and I'm much happier with them as a result).

Golly there are so many. I suppose when it comes to exciting moments, Sora returning to his friends after "dying" and telling Xehanort off, finally free from his control is pretty high up there for how awesome and cathartic it is. Heartwarming... golly there's a ton, I'd go with pretty much anything pertaining to Sora, Donald, and Goofy, especially their reconcilation once Sora returns to the lights. Cry... oh man there were plenty of moments but the ending of the epilogue of course was the moment where it all hit me that Keys was done, so I sobbed like a baby. And as for laughter, I always get a chuckle when I go back to the beginning of the Coco chapters and reread Sora and Goofy freaking out about being skeletons while Donald is just like -_-

[robotsafari]

i will literally never be over the kh pilot. everyone has already moved on. wow what a cool novelty. sucks that it got canceled. okay im just going to never think about this ever again lalala~ (or its weird. or the art is bad. or its got too many inaccuracies. whatever.)

but me? no. im insane. this thing is too insane and amazing to just end the conversation about it. i will always think about this thing. i will always think about the massive loss the kh community never even knew they had until recently.

while i will never know what the full creative vision was. this pilot tells us that THEY. WERE. COOKING. they lean into the fact that sora is just a kid, (SOME FANS FORGET THIS) and he now faces this burden of being a hero when all he really wants is to see his friends again. the !! even though its just a pilot and riku was probably put in agrabah just so they can introduce him to the audience. i would’ve LOVED more riku encounters. traverse town, neverland and monstro were great. but in my opinion? not enough! though the only thing i would fear riku’s more frequent appearances would do is distract from some of the disney stuff (you dont wanna get rid of it. but you dont want it to take over. its a delicate balance) so maybe use him a lil sparingly but god. put him in more situations, okay?

while kairi plays a more proactive role in kh1 and thats fine (shes not useless. i hate when people call her that) i still would’ve LOVED more scenes with her. whether it was in destiny islands or near the end of game. im just liek YES !! you go girl. prolong the heartless sora segment if ya have to. do it for her. it would’ve been fun to see kairi and sora hollow bastion hijinks. waauughh please kairi my good friend kairi. liek. what we’ve seen of kairi in the pilot was already awesome. kh2 hadn’t even come out but the energy has always been there guys. she wants to take an active role and she hates sitting back!! love that the pilot wanted to give you a glimpse of this by having her kick a damn shadow in the faceee!!! you will always be famous forever kairi god bless.

my good friends donald and goofy. wtf did nomura do to you. one liek = preyer for teh toons /silly. yeah so liked how their fighting was actually toony in the pilot. goofy literally beating all the heartless while knocked out and donald getting messed with by a shadow like a typical donald short is just perfect (THINKS REAL HARD ABOUT HOUSE OF MOUSE.) and ofc!! the heart’s there too!! donald and goofy are so sweet to sora!! THEYRE HIS DADS. they’ve done playful ribbing to sora in the games, and thats not exactly a bad thing.. but sometimes i feel like it gets TOO MUCH. ESPECIALLY IN KH3 GOOD LORD. donald and goofy are sweet. yes donald. hes only gets mad because people mess with him. if you’re nice to him hes super sweet. some playful teasing from donald is okay, but too mean or too much and then its not him. mickey has a pretty minor appearance in kh1 unfortunately but omfg. if i rant about how nomura writes him then we’d be here for a while. the real mickey would not have left aqua in the realm of darkness. just know this, okay? idgaf if you don’t believe me.

it’s confirmed maleficent possessed riku in that scene. you know the one. someone said riku was lying.. NUMBER ONE. his eyes turned completely white and idk about you but thats liek. the textbook sign of being fucking possessed. riku didnt know wtf was going on!! just just grabbed the lamp and suddenly things happened! im sure it was supposed to be interpretive, yes, but the dialogue and visuals suggested possession and also kearsley confirmed it himself on deviantart. (you can search it up yourself) NUMBER TWO. maleficent asks riku if sora believed him. implying that she wants to use riku to manipulate sora. imagine if she used this possession again, in more subtle ways. riku sounds like a sopping wet sad cat too, whatever he does anyway is just so that he can get everything back to normal and undo his mistakes. maleficent doing MORE active villainy would’ve been. SO GOOD. god bless.

oh wait this is the part where i start talking about ansem huh? teeheeeee weheheheee. yo imagine if he was in house of mouse. OKAY THATS NOT A JOKE BUT THIS ISNT SUPPOSED TO BE WHAT THIS PART WAS ABOUT. ERM. i just hope he would’ve still been voiced by billy zane thats all ask for. in this awesome alternate timeline where the cartoon wasn’t cancelled. i think ansem was perfect in kh1 i dont think they needed to add or change anything really.

in short. i have autism. goodnight.

[vryyn]

The Emancipation of Performative Apathy

A personal essay about growing up

When I was younger, I always thought I was way too cool to ever express myself, especially to my peers. At the risk of sounding insane, I didn’t really like anyone- most things that I did feel were things that I could only describe as reactionary. I didn’t enjoy the people that I called friends, and, in that time, I lost a lot of interest for the sake of trying to be cool in front of them. Which means that after a certain age, I was that annoying, goofy ass, punk that just didn’t let myself or anyone else enjoy things. And through it all, through the eons that have passed, the thing that got me out of that funk was Kingdom Hearts. (That's right, this is a love letter to kingdom hearts, eat my ass. I’m pushing 30, let me have this.)

(Kingdom Hearts box art via CNET)

For the allistics reading this, Kingdom Hearts is a video game franchise that, as of writing, has 3 main numbered entries and 10 side games. All of these games are integral to the overall story that has spanned over the course of twenty-one years. It’s a game that tries the ludicrous idea of attempting a giant crossover between two IP’s- Final Fantasy and Disney. In all of these games, you play as spikey-haired anime protagonist OC known as Sora who goes on adventures with Disney’s Donald and Goofy. They explore Disney’s catalog of animated films and engage in anime fights with the villains of said movie.  If I had to sum up the experience of what it’s like playing it would be something like Goofy and Squall from Final Fantasy 8, meeting up and having a melodramatic conversation about light and darkness. Nothing about this game should have worked, but my 4-year-old ass sat on the floor and loved every second of it. I was hooked from the first game despite that game being very hard and even harder to understand at that age. 

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My brother and I would play that game together and by play, I mean I just watched while he played. The problem was that we were both young children, so we barely knew how to play the game. We got stuck a lot. The first game in this franchise is very hard- the hardest one, if you ask me. Replaying it now is still a struggle in some parts. Things don’t work the way they’re intended to, and characters move like they’re knee deep in mud. Keep in mind this was the early 2000’s, like prehistoric, ancient Mesopotamia era- there was no internet especially in the border town we lived in. The only consistent resource we had were our parents and, of course, a book. 

This, however, wasn’t just any old book, this was the holy grail of all knowledge, a heavenly divine scripture written by the gods who wished to bless us mere mortals with a tome filled with their wisdom. Our journey to acquire such knowledge was not going to be easy and we were prepared to face those challenges. We begged, cried, and, most importantly, asked our parents to take us to our conveniently located Barnes and Noble. And after searching for what felt like eons, there it was- The Official Kingdom Hearts Strategy Guide. 

(from ‘Kingdom Hearts: The Official Strategy Guide’ (pages 62, 63) via piggyback)

The guide contained everything we ever needed from maps and battle strategies, stickers, art, important item locations, secrets, stickers and, most importantly, enemy stats. We never bought it. But God I wanted those stickers. Anyway, Barnes and Noble had a copy opened so we may have skimmed it. The most important piece of information the guide ever gave us was to use defensive magic. Like that was it. And that has been the most game changing advice I have ever gotten for a game. And with that, we beat the first game, under leveled and slightly better gamers. After the first game, I was sort of left to play these games by myself. 

 Up until 2013, I had played every entry that came out, including the one where the real- time combat is done with one time use cards that have to be reloaded upon use. The series had a game come out on every piece of hardware you can imagine, so even if I wasn't home to play one of the titles, there was always something in my pocket to give me access to this world. I didn’t understand a damn thing that was being said in the game, but I loved it anyway. It was just nice to see Goofy do the most broken, most insane juggle in the game to go on and get a wombo combo by Donald casting a string of spells that barely work while you were fighting a different enemy using a spinning twits kick. It was nothing short of brilliance.

After 2013, once I was in middle school, I stopped caring. The first trailer for the 3rd installment in the game was shown off way back then and it looked interesting but by all means I just didn’t want to care about a silly game. Instead, I decided to focus my efforts into becoming the worst possible person that a teenager could be- a centralist. I thought I was hot shit, I thought I was being super cool by adapting the language and attitudes of contemporary think tanks. At the time, that meant the rhetoric of atheists on the internet which in itself evolved into the anti-woke, anti-sjw and, eventually, gamer gate spaces. The people I had surrounded myself with just made it easier for me to become so embedded into the idea that I didn’t need to be an active member in my communities or my life. I didn’t let myself be bogged down by anything that could possibly make me feel bad. And because of all that, between the ages of 10-16, my memory is pretty blurry. 

When I came to, I found myself over encumbered by the burdening realization- a passionate 3-word sentence, searing onto the tip of my tongue: I hate this. I didn’t dig my heels into the lamest world of politics- which by then shape shifted into the likes of Ben Shapario, Rubin Report, and Project Veritas. They were all things that I used to watch or was aware of who they were. I was too cool to ever be lame enough to fall into that conservative pipeline. I was just becoming an extremely apathetic man. Instead of radicalizing myself to that kind of thing, I just sat there with that nothing for a long time. I didn’t know what to talk about now. I just started listening to other people around me. I saw people who loved things and each other, who were hurt by things outside of their control. And I didn’t know what was going on. In 2016, I miraculously graduated high school even though I kind of just sort of did nothing and still came out at like 18th in my class. In that haze I somehow then performed an any% speed run through college in what was supposed to be a 2018 graduation turned into a 2019 graduation. In that time, I eventually started leaning more towards where I stand now with my political affiliations, and that meant where I was as a kid. I was super based as a kid way more than I was in my adolescence, it’s comedy really.

My brother reminded me sometime in late 2018, early 2019, that after 6+ years Kingdom Hearts 3 was finally releasing. That month I made an unprecedented amount of money in tips, and it was coming out around my birthday, so I bought it. I hadn’t played the previous games in so long and when I went back to see all these games and the plot threads that were going to be wrapped up in this 3rd main- line entry, I was surprised to see how much I remember it and, what was the most shocking to me, was how much I cared about it. Remembering all those characters, people that I hadn’t seen in at least 6+ years was a sobering reminder of my own frail creation of a personality I created and what little it had made me. 

I couldn’t help but think about Sora and the quest that he’d been through in these games. Sora is nothing like me. He unabashedly and unconditionally loves, he is quick to extend a hand of friendship, he constantly wears his heart on his sleeve and, most importantly, learns what growing up means in a world that wants to grow cold. He started off as a happy kid who goes on this long adventure because he didn’t want to lose his friends. Throughout the course of the series, in what I’m guessing was the writers trying to write themselves out of a corner, decided to inject fear and doubt into him. He loses his memory and never gets it back after a yearlong sleep. When he comes to, he finds that he’s not the same person anymore and that the friend that he spent so long looking for, doesn't even look like himself. In both writing and performance, it feels like he’s in this sort of catatonic state, a stupor that t. In that time, Sora finds that he’s literally been split in two- a side portrayed by a totally different character, one that was mean, sad, and edgy, one that represented his hurt. It takes Sora a long time to sound and act like his old self, in both writing and performance. The plot device that cements this, funnily enough, is the one that introduces time travel and has Sora look like his old self from the first game. He literally goes back into his old self and the writing is better and it’s filled with so much glee that it genuinely made me laugh. It was the corniest and lamest joke ever and it made me laugh. And I will always remember that. 

(Kingdom Hearts 3 title screen from ‘Kingdom Hearts 3 Title Screen Opening & Menu Selection (1080p 60fps)’via YouTube) 

When Kingdom Hearts 3 came to my door, I put the disc into my system, sat on the floor, and began what turned out to be one of the most heart wrenching experiences of my life. From a fucking game that featured Donald Duck casting a spell known as Zettaflare which is a spell so powerful that only two other mages in Final Fantasy can use. From the game that features an AMV that feels like it was ripped from an early 2000’s YouTube video. The main menu alone had me in tears. That’s how it went from that point forward, just little parts in its stilted weirdly written dialogue that would just remind me of me. It all just collectively came forward at the very end. Sora rescues everyone. The evil bad man (who is the only person in the franchise to have any melanin in his skin and I think I should be a little offended by that) stops being evil and realizes that maybe leading the world into fascism isn’t the move. The worlds that had fallen into darkness have been saved. That even the other half of Sora found happiness in his friend’s and stopped being so angsty. All is okay in the universe. The final image of the game, of this main line series so far, is that of Sora staring into the eyes of his love interest, both of their silhouettes outlined by the setting sun beside them. I’m shouting for my boy Sora, that son of a bitch did it. Right after they both lean in, there's a kiss coming, the music starts swelling, and as a beautiful bloom radiating from the sun, the colors turn vibrant as their outlines become consumed, he fades away into that light. He’s gone. Then it cuts to credits. That’s it. That's the ending. It made me cry so fucking hard. 

I have never let myself be part of a world that experienced anything. I purposely closed myself off to maintain a level of vague coolness because I was ashamed to ever be seen as liking something let alone ever approaching a personality that is authentically me. I think I was just scared as being seen as childish or lesser for liking silly things like a game or show. All I got from the people around me, including adults, were positive responses for being an emotionally constipated teenager. I held myself back and I lost a lot of myself because of my shame.

Shame as I now understand it, isn’t something that comes from within, it’s a feeling that comes because of one’s relation to others. It’s a feeling that comes when there’s an innate desire of needing the validation of others to accept you and all that you encompass. And when you start thinking about it like that, then there IS a lot of pressure to be someone that others will like. That ideological framework is what hurts the most. It's the thing that makes cliques and ends up becoming a sort of internalized stigmatization. In the article Shame in Self and Society, Thomas J. Sheff would argue that in all of our understanding of lived- in experiences of expressions, shame, compared to feelings like love that have had such a much broader and wider understanding, has been so uniquely defined in our society. It’s in that we can see why there is such a shocking lack of empathy in our world. And I think I can agree with it, to a certain extent.

The word that we use now, well from what I see, is cringe. Cringe in every way shape and form is about shaming people for having any sort of noticeable attachment to something. I would argue that cringe takes it a step further by directly comparing it to standards of neurotypicality of expression which can be further expressed into conservative white thought. Like all things, cringe and shame are political and hurting someone for not being what you wanted them to be is pretty lame if you ask me. I was that person and I bullied myself for it. I hid in corners of my own life watching someone that I didn’t recognize. In my head, that’s what growing up looked like.

Three months after the release of KH3, and to the surprise of everyone, I came out as trans. I know it’s pretty stereotypical of me to be a fan of Kingdom Hearts and be trans but I think it’s funny. It’s like right there with being trans and a Sonic fan. It was a (Donkey Kong Barrel) blast coming out. And I’m happy that I did. I have found happiness in allowing myself to change, to let other people see me change.  I have learned to just love things and others and myself. And that’s a weird sentence to say. It seems like just a basic human understanding, like something that would just be fundamental to just being, I don’t know, decent. And I had spent so much of my time never knowing. That pretentious kid thought they knew everything, what a punk.

Being well into my 20’s now, all I know is that I don’t want to be that person again. I don’t want to be known as someone who is there for my friends because of the simple fact that I enjoy being their friend. To let myself be completely infatuated with the small things that exist in this world. I want to be able to see others as themselves and not as what I want them to be, to see the parts of them that don’t shine anymore and still enjoy their company. I know that’s not a revolutionary take, in fact I think it makes people wince their eyes out of concern especially since the thing that made me realize it was a spikey haired anime protagonist and his closest friends Donald and Goofy. But I don’t know how else to tell you how happy that has made me. That learning from a goofball like Sora was kind of sort of freeing. And I think that I can best explain this with a simple meme, don't kill the part of you that is cringe, kill the part that cringes. I guess it was ok to just want to be a little my bestie like Sora. 

(Image of Kingdom Hearts gang and their first appearance outfits from ‘Kingdom Hearts: Visual Art Collection: CG & Illustration Works’ via Internet Archive)

[gavillain]

I just found your Overtakers work as of late, I started reading back in March, as of right now I'm at chapter 51 of All the Forces of Evil. Amazing work! I was just curious about how everyone interacts with one another and what I mean by that, is this sort of a "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" situation where it's "toons" interacting with "live action"? I think it would be really interesting for Judge Doom and the Toon Patrol to appear and possibly tackle this topic

Glad you've been enjoying, and thank you so much! It's been a very fun journey for sure :D

As to your question, the thing is that there aren't any "toons" in the story. The stories of these characters may have been told to us in our world through either an animated or live action medium, but the characters in those stories are just people like us. So there's not really an in-universe difference between the animated and live action characters. They're all just the same.

Now as for how you want to visualize that or how you would personally translate that to a visual medium, that's entirely up to you when you're reading. Whatever works best for your imagination. Since the fanfic is at its core a Kingdom Hearts fanfic, I personally visualize the disparate visual styles exactly as they are in the game when I'm writing:

Where you've got RPG style Sora, cartoon Donald and Goofy, and live action Jack Sparrow just all standing side by side together, and it's never an issue XD

But if that doesn't work for you, you can always visualize them all in live action or make them all animated/illustrated versions of themselves for consistency (you can find plenty of fanart for the live action characters out there for reference). An idea I've had in the back of my mind is that each world has its own visual style, and the different characters take on whatever visual style the world they're on has. But that's one of those things that's maybe a bit too nitty-gritty as far as lore is concerned to try to canonize.

As to Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, I don't currently plan to bring in that world or its characters because I do think it'd get a bit too confusing and pedantic in terms of lore. But, if I did, the only characters who would be considered "toons" would be the cartoons from that movie's Toon Town. The Maleficent, Mickey, Jafar, and so on that you know from the story would still just be people, and the versions of them that might exist in Toon Town would basically be toon "actors" who "played" those characters in the movies.

Hope that makes sense :)

[natsubane]

okay recoded thoughts...

since i only watched the cutscenes and didn't play the game, it didn't stick as strongly in my head as it would have if i played the game, but... i'll write this while i revisit the scenes so hopefully i'll manage to consolidate my thoughts well.

i think overall this entry made me feel the most about the importance of friendship and seeing data sora help these practically-strangers who say they were friends with a separate iteration of him without a shred of doubt or regret just. ough... and that sort of bond still having meaning despite different iterations of the same character and despite the fact that the data versions of the characters don't really have a heart... i was talking to a friend earlier about how important it is that kh (as a series) takes friendship and love completely seriously and how it makes the series so genuine about its message and those being exactly why i think it hits so hard... i surprised even myself thinking this, but i do genuinely think recoded embodies it so well that i felt really satisfied while watching.

like... seeing donald and goofy talking about how they like being dragged into sora's messes and that they've got his back even though this isn't the sora they knew... and though data sora doesn't have any memory of what did happen he still feels at ease being around them... and even if sora's keyblade was a fake, it still held power because of his belief in it and the others... and regaining it through the new bonds he creates hits really hard!! the whole conversation with pete at hollow bastion where pete keeps insisting that sora's just data but donald and goofy are real and yet they're risking their lives for data sora made me feel so . oughghgh. even when riku talks about doing things alone and sacrificing himself and making sure everyone gets home safely at his own expense that's still the love talking!! even though he needs to get a bonk on the head!!!

anyway that sort of genuineness about friendship is what makes this series hit hard! i really like that!!! i appreciate that sort of simplicity in its approach to love... it's what it does really well and i probably couldn't get sick of it if i tried. as a protagonist i think sora is a great vessel to see all of this with, too.

and in the recollection sections of castle oblivion... despite how roxas says that sora can do whatever he want without guilt and nobody will remember it, sora still chooses kindness even though it means nothing, and nothing will happen because of it... because that's just how he is... mmm... i don't really know how to put it but that just kinda hits in a way.

overall the hurt being the demonstration (proof?) of how friendship and bonds transcend memory... i feel like i don't really fully understand its significance just yet, i need to think about it more... but i do enjoy how it's used in this section. i like that the feeling of hurting because of losing a bond with someone is something that can be used to connect with others... and i just. really like being able to sense emotions through battle so the last scene with roxas just made me. ougghg. the piano and everything just . aughgghf... roxas... without a place to belong but... waughghfhg... with a place where he'd like to be... augghghh,..... sorry most of my thoughts on this scene are just wailing

and i'm really . the scene with namine also... i'm glad he finally got to thank her... even though a lot happened to make it to here and they're not even the real sora and namine...

-

other various things i enjoyed...

really interesting thing i'd like to know more about is why riku's versions of the worlds are so desaturated... i presume it's either his memories being clouded or the worlds being bugged... either way.

on the topic of riku i'm kicking my shin at riku feeling envious of sora always being surrounded by people who care about him... i hate how much that's a trope i like now .

THE BOOK OF PROPHECIES!!! I'VE HEARD OF THAT!!!!! I NEED TO KNOW WHAT MALEFICENT IS GONNA DO WITH IT!!!!!!

now that sora and the team know that diz put some data inside of him, and now that we know we're going to try and save the seasalt and wayfinder trios i'm really hoping we get to see this happen soon...

also this whole thing with the (former?) nobodies is . (eyes emoji)

[karla-the-elemental-dreamer]

Etheric Messages for 23 September ❤️🥳

People on here may or may not know that September 23 is my birthday. Due to the way the world is going, it has been difficult for me to hold high enthusiasm and any sort of hope for connection and community... But there are some days of the year that I get out of my comfort zone, and this is one of them. I wanted today to be as memorable and magical as possible, and I think that was a very big success. I rest (/hibernate) for the remainder of the year so I have the energy to see miracles like this happen.

I would like to thank those who helped me celebrate my special day, whether it was IRL or a small handful on Discord or Twitter.

Even so, everyone connected to my dream guides (Riku, Terra and Jak) all said something via energy perception. How does this work? I get a sensation and write down what I perceive on my phone. And so I thought an amazing way to finish off the day would be to share what my etheric family and friends said ❤️🥳

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

Terra: “Dear Karla, wishing you the sweetest birthday this year. Thank you for always being so kind to Kingdom Hearts and everyone around you. You deserve the world, and again I’m so honored to be your dream guide”.

Sora: “Hey Karla, wishing you an awesome year of 25! Thanks for keeping everyone together and I hope to see you again soon”.

Goofy: “Hey there Karla! Have an exquisite, awesome and fantastic 25th birthday! Hope ya get lots of presents and enjoy your day”.

Donald: “Happy Birthday Karla. Leave some cake for Goofy, he forgot to tell you”.

Lea: “Hey there sweet cheeks, happy 25. Hope your day is flaming hot and awesome. Sorry, I’m getting a bit carried away. You know what I mean”.

Roxas: “Happy 25 Karla. Hope you have an amazing day”.

Ventus: “Hey Karla! Happy 25th birthday! Quarter of a century already? Seems like we’ve known you for longer than that”.

Jak: “Hey Karla, happy birthday. Thanks for putting up with me and my rough ways. I hope the coming day is something worthwhile for you, celebrating it with your Earthly family and us”.

Keira: “Dear Karla, I hope you have an amazing birthday. Thanks for being a good friend to Jak”.

Riku: “Dear Karla, happy birthday to my spunky little dreamer. Looks like you really enjoyed yourself today and I’ m glad to have been a part of it. Best wishes from all of Kingdom Hearts”.

Aqua: “Happy Birthday Karla. I hope you have a wonderful day and thank you again for everything you’ve done for Terra”.

Xion: “Dear Karla, happy birthday. I hope you enjoy your special day”.

Namine: “Dear Karla, wishing you the happiest of birthdays. I hope you enjoy it with all the people who are special to you”.

Torn: “Happy Birthday Karla. I hope it’s a good one”.

Kairi: “Happy Birthday karla. Wishing you the best now and always. Thank you for persevering and reaching out to Sora”.

Mickey: “Happy Birthday Karla! I hope it’s swell and everything fabulous”.

Daxter: “Happy 25 angel cheeks. Next year you’d better invite me to the party!”.

Sig: “Happy 25th birthday cherry”.

Kleiver: “I can smell the cake all the way from Spargus… Fine, happy birthday”.

Aerith: “Happy Birthday Karla. Riku said that with your karmic belt coming full circle, you can connect to Kingdom Hearts guests as well”.

Cid: “Happy birthday who? Eh, to Riku’s not so little chap”.

Ashelin: “Hey Karla, have a great birthday celebration today, and happy 25”.

Aced: “This is preposterous! I have to wish someone I’ve never even met a happy birthday?!”.

Ira: “Happy Birthday Karla”.

Invi: “Happy Birthday Karla. Have a wonderful day”.

Gula: “Hey, happy birthday Karla. 25 is it?”.

Leon: “Happy 25th birthday Karla. Enjoy your day”.

Ava: “Happy 25, Karla. I hope you have an amazing day”.

Yuffie: “Happy 25 Karla!”.

Samos: “Happy Birthday Karla! 25 years old… What’s another 25 on top of that?”.

Pecker: “Happy birthday to Jak’s interdimensional protege. Thank you for making this year’s party exclusive invites only. Onin says to choose your friends wisely”.

Tess: “Oh my gosh I almost forgot! Happy 25th birthday Karla! Here’s to another year of keeping Jak out of trouble”.

[khmemeries]

Honest question and KH3 spoilers: Thoughts on Xigbar getting revealed as Luxu?

It was lame and undermined Xigbar's character. His whole arc was totally derailed because Luxu had nothing to do with Xigbar and basically he got hijacked as a way to insert Luxu into the story.

Pre-KH3, I thought he was one of the most interesting KH characters. He's batshit crazy! He's willing to voluntarily become half-Xehanort in BBS, even though he is afraid of Xehanort and lost his eye thanks to him. Can you imagine giving up half your capacity for self-determination to a homicidal maniac? WHY?

What would possess you do to something so insane?

Presumably, he was going to get his hands on a keyblade (maybe Xehanhort's?). That seems to be the implication of the above conversation in the Re:Coded secret ending (but Young Xehanort doesn't know). He tells Terra he plans to get a keyblade in BBS too:

“That thing right there. It’s called the Keyblade, isn’t it? Yep, it seems like these days everybody’s got one of those…even grandpa there.” Braig cast a glance at Master Xehanort behind him, then continued, “When I nabbed him, he told me all about it—what a weapon like that can do. How could I not want one?”

But on the way to his plan, he commits atrocities that haunt him.

Day 117: Him and Roxas

Author: Xigbar

Roxas is maturing at an impressive rate. His face, the way he handles the Keyblade, it's all exactly the same. The worlds seem so divided and alone, but there's always that steady thread there to connect them. And we Nobodies can never escape the things we did as humans. So it goes.

In the Days secret reports, Xigbar writes that Roxas reminds him of Ventus and he can't escape what he did to him. There's always a steady thread there that won't let him forget.

“Pa-ha-ha! Talk about a blast from the past!” Xigbar let out a bark of laughter as he got to his feet. “Of all the faces… Why do I see yours?” ... “Do you always have to stare at me like I just drowned your goldfish?” Xigbar remarked.

Also in Days, Xigbar sees Xion's face as Ventus and mentions "the glare." He complains about Sora doing that in KH2 and KH3 too. It genuinely bothers him because it reminds him of the terrible things he's done.

So he's super selfish and destroys other people's lives for his own ambitions, but he increasingly feels guilt over it. That growing tension has to go somewhere. I think at the end of his arc, he should have learned that he was wrong about this KH3 quote below:

"No good will ever come from putting other people first." Sora is proof that Xigbar is wrong about this. One of the only times Xigbar is openly freaked out is when Sora forces him to confront this belief in Dream Drop Distance:

Sora: I know the Keyblade didn't choose me, and I don't care. I'm proud to be a small part of something bigger--the people it did choose. (Xigbar gasps) Sora: My friends. They are my power! (Behind Sora stand the images of Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Roxas, Xion, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus. They hold their weapons out, facing Xigbar) Xigbar (nervously): Those are just words. You've lost.

Because in KH, friendship is power. Xigbar doesn't do friendship though. He chose to murder and torment people instead. He feels haunted by that. He should have wished he followed Sora's path at the end. Maybe he would be consumed by his guilt, or he would show he changed by putting someone else first for once. Or both.

But instead it was all for funsies because he was the REAL guy in charge the whole time, Xehanort wasn't scary, Luxu set everything up for Xehanort to find him in Radiant Garden I guess, and he did all the murder because he was bored. He lied in his Days reports to be dramatic. He learned nothing and did not develop as a person.

[themattress]

A post looking over Kairi's actions in KH1/KH2/KH3, because curiously (and frustratingly) enough she only seems limited to approximately 10 major action set-pieces per game.

Races with Sora and Riku.

Referees a race between Sora and Riku.

Makes the Oathkeeper charm.

Goes to the Secret Place to safeguard the world's heart but is attacked by darkness.

Sends Sora a flashback of her and her grandmother from within his heart.

Saves Sora from having his head caved in by Ansem from within his heart.

Tries and fails to save Sora but still refuses to believe that he's gone, then runs away with Donald and Goofy at Riku's urging.

Recognizes Sora as a Heartless, protects him from other Heartless at great personal risk, and restores his human form to him.

Gives Sora the Oathkeeper charm and has him promise to return it to her.

Goes to the Secret Place and draws herself giving a Paopu Fruit to Sora.

Prior to Destiny Islands' destruction, Kairi as well as Riku are both, apart from their major character development scenes at sunset, simply doing things that reflect their friendship with Sora and their easygoing tropical life. There isn't anything major until the big storm strikes and they are both lost to Sora. After this, Kairi is a passive character by plot necessity, being unable to do anything because she's inside Sora's heart and for the longest time isn't even aware that she is. The moment she gets an inkling about it following the events at Neverland, she does something from within Sora's heart, and once it's outright confirmed by Ansem she immediately puts that knowledge to use and saves Sora from him. After this is her main actions everyone remembers her for - saving Sora after he becomes a Heartless and then giving him the Oathkeeper charm we see a lot more of in the following two games. While she absolutely could have stood to do more after regaining her body, she is at least given the focus in the ending FMV and (epilogue aside) does the last action seen in the whole game.

As I said here, I really like this mostly-passive-by-design role for Kairi in the first game, since as a potentially standalone title with heavy basis in fairy tales, mythology and of course Disney movies, this kind of mysterious magical damsel role is a perfect fit, plus it had a nifty twist put on it and was accompanied by an actual human and relatable character arc for her. Some may find it disappointing, but I feel for this specific entry in the series, it is perfectly justified. The only fuck-up was putting the scene where she gives Sora the Oathkeeper in Traverse Town instead of Hollow Bastion, which is then nonsensically said to be "way too dangerous" for Kairi and she'd "get in Sora's way" if she did...a fitting description for if she followed him into End of the World, not Hollow Bastion where the other Princesses of Heart are managing to get by just fine. Fix that one glaring error and Kairi in KH1 would be perfect.

Writes a letter to Sora and sends it out to sea to reach him.

Resists Axel's manipulation and runs into a dark corridor to Twilight Town with Pluto.

Befriends Hayner, Pence and Olette.

Gets away from Axel when he kidnaps her (off-screen).

Escapes her prison cell alongside Namine and is willing to fight Saix alongside her.

Stops Riku from leaving and has him be honest about his current condition.

Fights a chamber load of Heartless alongside Riku to save Sora, forcing Xigbar's hand.

Stops Riku from leaving AGAIN and reunites him with Sora.

Takes as many small actions as possible as a member of the party.*

Merges with Namine, thus saving her from fading into darkness.

* Stops Mickey from getting himself killed, points out the appearance of a Heartless swarm and the door to Kingdom Hearts, gets back through the door alongside Mickey (off-screen).

I again link to a prior post I made, where I brought up the reasons many people found Kairi in KH2 to be a disappointment. And while those reasons are and always will be valid (and always rectified in the KH2 manga; please check it out, people!), when I look at Kairi's actions in KH2 as a whole I can't help but feel that it's a major overreaction. People get caught up in either the various execution flubs that affect more characters than just Kairi or let their personal expectations for her get in the way of actually looking at and appreciating what's actually there, because what's there is a strong young woman learning to come into her own and fighting tooth and nail for every scrap of agency the villains keep trying to deny her, all while forging new bonds with others and being responsible for restoring the old bond of the Sora/Riku/Kairi trio. Her first action undertaken boomeranging back at the very end to save Sora and Riku from dying in the Realm of Darkness and bringing them home to a happy ending is just beautiful, the ultimate reward for Kairi taking it upon herself to be proactive.

Writes a letter to Sora but doesn't send it to him.

Gives herself a makeover.

Shares a Paopu Fruit with Sora.

Fights Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed alongside Lea (off-screen).

Guides Sora in corporeal form as he uses the Power of Waking to save everyone.

Kills some Heartless during the Heartless Rain event.

Fights Xion and Saix alongside Lea and Sora, but loses and is kidnapped then killed.

Re:Mind - Fights Xemnas, doing well until he saps her energy with a nil technique.

Re:Mind - Fights Master Xehanort alongside Sora then takes part in destroying him.

Re:Mind - Does everything alongside Sora in the ending FMV.

I've bitched about this a lot, but I want to specifically call to attention just how incongruous Kairi's actions added in the Re:Mind DLC are with her actions in the base game. The first two actions she takes in KH3 are utterly useless, with the actual point of her in those scenes being for Lea's sake and for the sake of pushing bad retcons. Sharing a Paopu with Sora comes out of nowhere both in the context of the game and the series up to that point and it affects nothing. We then get her fighting either entirely off-screen, shown killing a single raining Shadow Heartless, or pathetically short-lived and ending in miserable failure, with her actual major plot-affecting role being spiritual in nature and, again, out of fucking nowhere. Whatever one's issues with her in KH2, Kairi was not being built up for a combat role in that game - she was only being built up for a more proactive one in KH1, and while that role could have been executed better (like it is in the manga) she still fulfilled it. In KH3, she was very specifically being built up for a combat role, and she didn't fulfill that role in favor of a sudden, unsatisfying bait-and-switch where she's just as passive as she was in KH1, if not more so.

So that's why it's jarring when in Re:Mind, she's suddenly having no problem against Xion despite struggling in the base game, fiercely fighting Xemnas to the point of shattering his energy sabers and forcing him to drain her stamina in order to save himself, and then not only fighting and helping kill Master Xehanort but being the most OP playable character in the process which is at stark odds with her useless party member AI. Then she's inserted into literally every part of the happy ending montage she was originally almost entirely absent from until the last minute. It is such an obvious ham-fisted case of damage control after fan backlash that it only satisfies you in the moment, then you begin asking how and why the game even had to get it so wrong in the first place. And the dissonance only gets worse with the following Limitcut Episode + Melody of Memory, where suddenly it's like Re:Mind never happened as Kairi's once again a weakling who needs more training because adventuring's "way too dangerous" for her, with her main story contribution being passive and spiritual!

Character-wise, for Kairi it's KH1 > KH2 > KH3.

Action-wise, however, it's KH2 > KH1 > KH3.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Has anyone vidded Sora to "Bye Bye Bye" A.K.A. "Bi Bi Bi" yet? Because tbh, I DO think he's bi.