#kingdom hearts terra icons

[suolainensilakkart]

Emerging from my cave once more to place another Terra on y'all's doorstep as a peace offering ✌️

[pridebicons]

aroace trans terra pride icons

requested by anon

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[thefreshprinceofjunes]

and the wayfinder trio w/o ven cuz he wasnt available either :/ (also aquas second sitting mascot isnt on khinsider?? weird)

terra: bi aqua: lesbian

free to use, just pls like the post if youre gonna

credit is not necessary but always appreciated 💗💗💗

[lightandfellowship]

This is kind of difficult to describe, but I really love how Kingdom Hearts uses iconic objects as shorthand for conveying a specific meaning, emotion, idea, plot point, or character relationship.

The paopu fruit. The wooden sword. Kairi's lucky charm. Namine's star charm. The memory pods. The colored orbs from the Struggle trophy. Sea-salt ice cream. Olette's hand-made munny pouch. Kairi's message in a bottle. The sea shells Xion and Roxas gave to each other. The WINNER stick. Terra's wooden training Keyblade. The wayfinder charms. Etc.

Like, there's a reason why so many of these items feature heavily in fanart, you take one look at these items and go "Oh, I know exactly what this symbolizes!"

[theblueprincess590]

Don’t Say Goodbye, Say See you Later-An Analysis of Kingdom Hearts 3

The endings in Kingdom Hearts games are special. Despite the series' happy go lucky tone most Kingdom Hearts games end on some kind of tragic note, from Sora, Riku, and Kairi being separated at the end of Kingdom Hearts 1 to the cursed fates of the WayFinder Trio in BBS ending. Only Kingdom Hearts 2 ends on a truly happy note and even that has an undercurrent of sadness to it with Roxas’s unjust damnation haunting the narrative. This motif of tragic endings becomes all the more important when applied to Kingdom Hearts 3, a game whose tragedy makes way for a Happily Ever After.

Kingdom Hearts 3 ends with Sora using The Power of Waking to bring Kairi back from the dead, effectively fulfilling the prophecy from Birth By Sleep that Sora would save everyone. This miracle however comes with a heavy cost. Sora had defied not only the laws of nature but Destiny itself, and in Kingdom Hearts Destiny is the one and only absolute power. So he is given the greatest punishment of all, to be erased from reality itself. This is without a doubt the worst fate to befall any character in the series. And yet despite that all Sora is smiling at the end of Kingdom Hearts 3.

Kingdom Hearts is a series deeply engrossed in fairy tale tropes and archetypes, with every numbered KH game being a retelling of the most iconic fairy tale, Prince Charming saving the Princess. What's interesting about this however is how the fairy tale elements often combat the cynical elements of the worlds. Sora is not anyone special he was never meant to be the hero yet by playing the role of Prince Charming Sora is able to perform miracles that defy rules, from The Keyblade choosing him over Riku in KH1 to Sora opening the Door of  Light at the end of KH2. In Kingdom Hearts fairy tales have the power to change the world. In Kingdom Hearts 3’s case its ending is a Tragedy wrapped in a Fairy Tale because Kingdom Hearts 3 is fundamentally about Sora rewriting his friend’s sad endings and giving them a happier story.

Every tragedy in the previous games is undone by Sora in Kingdom Hearts 3. Roxas, Xion, and Namine are given their own bodies allowing them to truly live as their own people, Ventus is awakened from his eternal sleep, Aqua is rescued from the realm of Darkness, Terra is given his body back, and all the trios are reunited. All of this is possible through Sora actions as a Fairy Tale Guardian and The Power of Waking, an ability that is the ultimate manifestation of fairy tale whimsy, drawing heavy inspiration from the classic story of true love’s kiss waking up Sleeping Beauty. Yet despite creating these miracles Sora is unable to prevent his own tragic ending. While changing the stories of other Sora can not change or reject the central story of Kingdom Hearts, for it reveals a greater truth that Sora has long since accepted.

Kingdom Heart is at its core a story about separation. It is a story that reveals to children perhaps the cruelest truth of life, that you will someday have to say goodbye to the people you love. Nothing lasts forever, not even the joyous days spent with the people you cherish. This has been shown time and time again with every ending in Kingdom Hearts. For it is the very reason why the series has a tradition of tragic endings, in order to instill in the player this sound idea. Yet Kingdom Hearts is not simply trying to say “people leave your life sometimes to deal with it.” No Kingdom Hearts has something far more important to say. The core message of Kingdom Hearts is that while the time we have with the people we love is finite we must not despair in that truth and instead focus on cherishing the time we do have with the people we love. This is ultimately why Sora smiles at the end of Kingdom Hearts 3 despite knowing his fate.

Sora has accepted the fact that he won’t be with his friends forever. That one day he will have to say goodbye. But regardless of that separation he knows he will remain connected to them. After all, Sora has made countless friends from other worlds and said goodbye to them more times than he can count. And yet his connection with them remains strong. Shown best through the summons of the series that allow Sora to call forth his friends from other worlds to help him. And these connections remained so strong because Sora valued his short time spent with them. Ultimately revealing a new truth in the process, that while separation is inevitable so is Reunion. That as long as you keep those close to you in your heart you will see them again no matter what. So Kingdom Hearts 3 ends with both a Tragedy and a Happily Ever After as Sora smiles saying goodbye to all his friends with the faith that he will see them again someday. 

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Idk if this is a hot take or not but I think the Kingdom Hearts games could do with adding a bit more from Final Fantasy. I’m talking adding in more characters, bosses from the series, maybe a whole world based on one of the games, Cactuars and Tonberrys, mayve throw in some iconic summons like Bahamut or Odin… Hell, acknowledging any of the games before VII would be nice! I love IV and VI, where are Cecil, Rydia, Kain, Rosa, Terra, Relm, etc? Hell why is half the cast of VII not in? Where are Barrett, Red XIII, and Vincent? Why can’t we fight Kefka, Rubicante, Ultros, the Weapons, Zeromus, or Golbez? Or barring that why not bring in other Square properties? We got TWEWY characters and the Gummi ship bonus boss but why not throw in some Chrono Trigger or Live A Live? Even just superboss versions of Lavos and the incarnations of Odio would be fine, or even Magus if they’re somehow tired of Sephiroth. The crossover aspect—the big selling point of the series—is comically lopsided in Disney’s favor and it’s sad.

[the-dragon-girl-27]

unironically to this day the fact that I have been payed to draw the cast of kingdom hearts "high as balls" is something I wear as a badge of honor

More art by @the-dragon-girl-27

[girllbossmalewifeduos]

PROPAGANDA

Aqua is one of the most powerful characters in the series. She saved her two best friends (Terra and a younger boy Ventus), survived hell for over a decade, and beat the shit out of Mickey Mouse. Terra is sweet and buff and would do anything for his friends. He treats Ventus like a younger brother and every choice he makes is in an effort to help others. Terra and Aqua are not in a romantic relationship, but one could easily be inferred. They pretty much raised Ventus together.

Horrible horrible doomed pair. Doesn't have to be romantic (though a lot of people ship it I think!) but they grew up together and the game they star in is just a tale of them fucking up so so bad over and over. Terra fails his final exam while Aqua passes and the whole story happens because of that. Fucked up honor student rivalry starts while the world is ending. Terra runs away, makes every single incorrect decision possible, gets his ass severely handed to him in the process, while Aqua is at his heel trying to fix his every fuck up while developing an elder daughter complex the size of a mountain. Terra possesses his own armor and fights the evil old man in his body (and loses) while Aqua fixes everything then gets sent to time-out in Hell for a decade for being too useful for a female character. Overall, an iconic duo. Also there's a blonde little amnesiac boy and his evil clone both biting their ankles the whole time.

Annie/Armin:

*As far as I can recall(?), they never enter a full-on relationship (or at least confirm), but they are canonical love interests.

Strong woman and her passive puppy boyfriend. He will make her breakfast in bed before she goes to work to do her girlboss tasks.

[hollowwhisperings]

Kingdom Key & Kingdom Hearts: A SoRiku Theory

The Kingdom Hearts series (& its creators) actively emphasizes the ways that its primary protagonist, Sora, is a "normal, ordinary boy". Yet Sora wields the iconic Kingdom Key, the Ultima Keyblade & even a x-blade (as forged by Xehanort): Sora's Story has been that of a Chosen One, even as he fits the archetype of one "Unchosen".

This theory explores the nature of Choice within the KH series, specifically in the context of "Destiny" and prophecies. It employs the "Riku is The Light" & "Necklace" theories, as well as elements of "Sleeping Realm". It also casts Riku as one of those Strange Women in Ponds who Distribute Swords as a Basis of [Galactic World Order].

Sora's story seemingly begins as a Classic Hero's Journey only for such a reading to fall flat when Expectations such as "Getting The Girl" and "Becoming a Keyblade Master" pointedly do not happen.

The driving force of the KH series has always been Riku: Riku wished to see worlds beyond his home, knowing the truth of the KH Multiverse well before proof literally crashlanded in the form of Kairi (a literal shooting star).

It is Riku's Heart that drew the attention of the Worlds at large to the Destiny Islands: the brightness of his light lead Terra, Aqua & Xehanort to meeting Sora in the first place.

Terra chooses Riku as a future Keyblade Master.

Aqua chooses Sora for the sake of preserving Riku's Light, the events of BBS teaching her that the strongest lights cast the longest shadows.

Xehanort chooses Riku as a Dark Vessel, whispering to him & encouraging him to doubt, to mistrust.

It is assumed, by Sora and by Riku, that Riku was also the person responsible for "opening the door" to the Darkness that felled the Destiny Islands. Yet throughout his childhood, each attempt by Riku to open the mysterious door on the play island failed and, when Darkness Falls, it is Kairi who is found at its source (Kairi, who had been expelled from her home by a version of Xehanort & whose heart harboured yet another fragment of the Seeker of Darkness).

Regardless of whether he truly opened the Destiny Islands to Darkness, Riku believed it & through Darkness did he find "freedom" to explore the Worlds Beyond, just as he had always dreamed... except for one, rather significant detail becoming derailed: Sora's presence by Riku's Side.

The two were separated and Sora was almost lost: even with Darkness swallowing Riku whole, the light within his Heart acted in time to save Sora by entrusting to him 'Kingdom Key'. Riku's Keyblade. A physical manifestation of Riku's Heart.

(notably, the "Kingdom Key-D" found by King Mickey was found not too far from the scene where Kingdom Key manifested: it is plausible that this keyblade was also manifested by Riku's Heart, perhaps alongside its 'Light' counterpart - I'd need to check the timeline to see how such a theory holds up)

Kingdom Key was entrusted to Sora, a subconscious act of Riku's Heart that mirrored an earlier act of protection Riku gave to Sora: on the night where Kairi fell to the Destiny Islands, a young Sora felt frightened and a young Riku swore to protect his dearest friend. This oath was sworn in turn sworn by Sora to Riku. They sealed these oaths with tokens they held close: while Sora's charm gifted to Riku remains unknown, Riku entrusted Sora with a crown charm he had had since infancy.

When Riku was 5, Riku entrusted Sora with his Crown. Both boys swore to protect the other.

When Riku was 15, Riku's Heart entrusted itself to Sora in the form of 'Kingdom Key'.

When Riku was ~16, he subconsciously protected Sora by becoming the latter's Dreamel Eater. Within the same timeframe, Riku sacrificed himself entirely to save Sora at the Keyblade Graveyard (an act of sacrifice, an act of True Love).

At every instance where Riku has been at a crossroads, knowingly or not, his Heart has Chosen Sora's: Riku, presumed descendant of Ephemera and a child of the Destiny Islands, has always & continues to choose Sora.

When the pair were reunited in KH2 and confronted the threat of Xemnas, the two fought as one & passed their keyblades between each other intuitively

When the pair existed in parallel realms of Sleep, separated but connected, their heartbeasts joined to form a Waltzing variation of the melody 'Dearly Belove'. They then fought in sync with a Combined Blade, formed from the keyblades "Mirage Split" and "Nightmare's End", acting again as two halves of a whole.

When Riku was to meet his end in the Realm of Darkness, far within the abyss, Sora appeared to him and they once again wielded their Combined Blade. Beast had once reaponded to a 15 year old Riku's questioning of his impossible arrival to Hollow Bastion, where Beast's Beloved Belle was held hostage, that he had "simply believed": belief brought Sora to Riku in the Realm of Darkness, belief brought Sora to the Final World in the wake of Riku's Ultimate Sacrifice.

The premise of Kingdom Key & its counterpart, Kingdom Key-D, being Manifestations of Riku's Heart & indicative of Riku's being the "Child of Destiny" does run into some Logistical Obstacles.

One, if Riku's Keyblade is being wielded by Sora (& Mickey, assuming the two keys were originally one) then whose keyblade is Riku wielding?

Two, how can Riku's Heart manifest multiple keyblades? Posession by Ansem Seeker of Darkness explains 1 of the "extra" keyblades (the key of "all hearts"). The bequeathing ceremony by Terra could explain another. Kingdom Key-D is definitely connected to Kingdom Key yet never specifically associated with Riku, evem being wielded by King Mickey (a stranger to Riku, at that point).

To the first: if Riku's keyblade is being wielded by Sora (& its counterpart by King Mickey), how can Riku wield another keyblade in KH1 even before getting possessed?

There are several immediate & varyingly plausible explanations: Riku's nature as a "Child of Destiny" allowing his Heart to churn out keyblades on demand like some Fey Lady of Avalon; or the other keyblades were not actually manifested by Riku at all.

While I greatly enjoy the imagery of Riku playing the "Lady of the Lake" to Sora's "Arthur" in KH1, given Sora's opening dream sequence already set Riku as being stuck in a Body Of Water (which is additionally representative of Darkness), it is Stretching Things to assume all other Plot Focused keyblades were ALSO fished out from Riku's Heart.

Perhaps Riku's Heart simply conjured new keyblades in response to Sora's Heart taking in new quests: Riku's Heart supplying keys to the metaphoric doors of Sora's Heart Hotel.

It is more likely, however, that the "new" keyblade wielded by Riku (the one currently known as "Braveheart") is a manifestation of SORA'S Heart: Riku entrusted his crown & his heart to Sora, first on the night of the Meteor Shower & then on the night the Islands Fell; Sora, in turn, entrusted his sword & heart to Riku. It explains how each boy readily wields the keyblade of the other & fits within the theme of their hearts beating in sych.

Riku choosing Sora, Riku's entrusting his Heart (literally & figuratively) with Sora, resulted in Destiny Itself 'choosing' Sora: if Riku represents Kingdom Hearts, the subject of his love would naturally become beloved by the Worlds in turn.

Sora acting as "[the] One Sky, One Destiny" due to Sora having the 'Heart' of Destiny through its child (Riku)'s love.

Sora is not only Riku's Dearly Beloved, Sora is THE "Dearly Beloved": beloved by the Worlds, entrusted with their Hearts & appointed their Savior. And all because, dull and ordinary boy that he may be, it is Sora's naturally normal self that Riku fell in love with. Sora may not be any more innately special than anyone else but Sora is special to RIKU, the love between them (knowingly or not) serving as the driving force of their stories & of Destiny itself.

[pridebicons]

transmasc bi terra pride icons

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[chirpingchorus]

WWWWW OKAY I'M HERE HELLO HI for the Kingdom Hearts ask game you made! gen asks: 3, 5, and 8!

3. Who's your favorite character?

Oh, man. It has to be Riku. I hated him so much at the start of KHI, but I loved him, too—his dramatics entertain me like nobody else, especially in the earlier games. Disney’s actual first gay character. Forever and ever iconic. His character arc is also neat, and I love how it’s not just an easy progression from corrupted to good. He takes steps forward and back before finally finding his footing.

Honorable mention to Roxas. In any other series, he’d be my favorite, but there’s no beating Riku.

5. Favorite world?

Twilight Town!! I encountered it in GBA CoM and fell in love. I also love KHI Hollow Bastion so much and think it should’ve been the final world, with a visit to the actual final world sometime before, I guess.

8. Which moment do you think is the funniest?

What a hard question… I’ll do one for each game I’ve played.

KHI: “The Heartless obey me now, Sora.” The voice, the angle, Sora’s reaction… Everything about this scene is priceless and exemplifies what I love about the first game.

Com: “No, I’M me.”

KHII: Breaking the Riku streak—“Say, fellas…” Either this or Mickey’s other big moment, made all the more hilarious by Goofy “dying” a moment before.

Days: “No, I made it all up. Go back to bed.” Most of the funny lines in this game were still sad in some way, but there are some great ones.

BBS (still playing!): This is a hard one, and I feel like I’m forgetting something.

points

“χ-BLADE!”

Something about this just cracks me up. Shoutout to Vanitas and his face reveal—I already knew what he looked like, but I laughed so much when my brother and I saw it for the first time in-game. Another shoutout to Terra cheering up Cinderella by talking about vague Kingdom Hearts gibberish.

Thank you so much for the ask!!! :D

[embraceyourdestiny]

I genuinely think dismiss is the most badass and hypest kingdom hearts boss song. The fucking VIBE. The horror, the dread of finding terra TOO LATE. you knew it was coming but you did not expect it to be like this. his voice that’s nothing alike, so much anger and hatred on a face that has only been kind and loving. and it’s AQUA. poor fucking aqua after everything to find her friend like this. AND THEN THE MUSIC FUCKING KICKS IN AND ITS DESTATI FROM HELL!!! BOTH TERRANORT AND AQUAS VOICE LINES ARE SO PERFECT LIKE THAT BATTLE IS SO ICONIC I CAN PICTURE IT IN MY HEAD PERFECTLY A BOSS FIGHT YHAT FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGED MY LIFE had its because of THAT fucking song dismiss!!!

[ultraericthered]

The Big Bads of Kingdom Hearts (Divergence)

Xehanort - Big Bad of KH0.I (as Master Xehanort/Terra-Xehanort), KH1 (as Ansem & Xemnas), and KH2 (as Xemnas), major villain in CoM (as Ansem), XIII Days (as Xemnas), KH3D, KH3, and KH5. Easily the most iconic and ever-present KH original villain in the series, Xehanort was the greatest enemy to Sora and his friends. We see him in many forms: as a human, a superhuman, a Heartless, a Nobody, a memory specter, a data copy, and a Hollow Replica carrying his heart's entire essence that ultimately fuses together with a demonic god of darkness. Even after he's dead, his machinations create new trouble in the form of his Replica bastard son turned Ephemer clone who draws power from Nothingness. Had Xehanort's canonical trajectory matched this, all of him might have placed among the best video game villains instead of among the worst.

Maleficent - Major villain in KH0.1, KH1, CoM, KH2, Encoded Worlds, KH3D, KH3, KH4, and Pandemoniac Heartless Parade.

While Maleficent can never secure the position of THE Big Bad in any story, she's the Mistress of All Evil for a reason, and such a thing would feel too constraining for her. She stands as the arch foe of the Destiny Trio and all Disney good guys who've allied with them, and is always seeking ways to claim higher power, having involved herself with all major forces of evil to besiege the worlds. Even after getting ousted in KH0.I, after her own death in KH1, and after seeming to lose all power in KH4, she proves you can never count her out.

Marluxia - Big Bad of CoM, Major villain in KH2, XIII Days, and KH3.

One of the less remarkable Big Bads in the series as he only exists to service larger plots of Organization XIII and the Dark Seekers, yet in some ways this makes Marluxia all the more impressive for what he is. Much like CoM itself, he didn't need to go as hard with his plots and the style in his villainy, but he sure does and we love him for it.

Saix - Big Bad of XIII Days, Major villain in CoM, KH2, and KH3.

Saix is in the same boat as Marluxia and unfortunately has less luck when it comes to being a Big Bad, as no matter how much he may try otherwise, he's always in the shadow of Xemnas. That said, he still makes for a creepy and compelling antagonist you love to hate.

Pete - Major villain in KH2, XIII Days, Encoded Worlds, KH3D, KH3, KH4, Pandemoniac Heartless Parade, The Missing Links, and KH5.

The closest Pete comes to Big Bad status is playing the de-facto main antagonist in Encoded Worlds, but even that's at the behest of Maleficent and he's easily outdone by a computer virus. His major villain status comes from being a minion who also happens to be the Disney Castle crew's sworn enemy. Following Maleficent's power loss, he even gains a partner in the treacherous Duke Mortimer.

Chernabog & The MCP - Major villains in KH1 and KH2 respectively. Chernabog is, like Darxomnious, a demonic deity of darkness who, once situated at the core of End of the World, became a benefactor to Xehanort and the Heartless, but he is only encountered in a single boss fight (though he resurfaces as a nightmare boss in 3D and yet again in KH5). The MCP is more prominent, being the Arc VIllain for the Space Paranoids world that's directly tied with Hollow Bastion, essentially the digital counterpart to Terra-Xehanort who's even implied to service Xemnas himself, though he hates all other users.

Darxomnious & Master Luxu - Big Bad of KH3, Major villain(s) in X, KH3D, and The Missing Links. Darxomnious is the aggregation of the darkest of all hearts, the progenitor of all Darklings, and the overarching Big Bad of the second saga just as Terra-Xehanort was of the first. Master Luxu is the old master whose heart and mind has been tied directly to the dark god and who acts as his vessel in leading the XIII and directing the Dark Seekers movement. While both perish by the end of KH3, we see a fairy tale take on Darxomnious in X and fight a spectral memory of both him and Luxu in one route of The Missing Links.

Hades - Big Bad in Pandemoniac Heartless Parade, Major villain in KH0.1, KH1, CoM, KH2, XIII Days, Encoded Worlds, KH3D, KH3, and The Missing Links.

He's...well, he's Hades. What more need be said?

Judge Frollo - Major villain in KH3D, KH4, and The Missing Links. Frollo debuts in KH3D as the main villain of one of the penultimate worlds (voiced here by Earl Boen rather than Corey Burton) and gets defeated in the world's collective shared dream, which led to him being stripped of all authority upon the world's waking. Finding a way to flee his world, Frollo resurfaces as one of the most primary villains in KH4 (now voiced by Timothy E. Brummund) who conspires with the Lost Masters to exploit the Demi-Deterged and purge the worlds of all he considers sinful, even when it only grows and enhances his own heart's darkness. He's killed off for real, but makes one final appearance as an illusion to be vanquished in The Missing Links.

Master Narix - Big Bad in KH4, The Missing Links, and KH5. Narix is the third saga's overarching Big Bad and essentiallly the final boss of KH Divergence, as my imagination just can't extend past KH5. Narix, by nature, is a Contrasting Sequel Antagonist to Xehanort, basically Master Eraqus' moral absolutism and ideals of light supremacy taken to the furthest extremes, as he seeks to dismantle and reassemble Kingdom Hearts so as to eliminate all darkness across not just the World but the multiverse ('cause you know we had to go there at some point), all costs be damned. In doing so he ironically creates an evil force called "blight", light that's been perverted to the point where it works in tandem with darkness. Narix is only seen once in KH4, then becomes a more prominent enemy in both The Missing Links and KH5 along with the order he and his subservient Lost Masters leads, the Luminous Vanguard. Following Neodarkness and Evanessé, he's KH5's very final boss.

Vanitas/Neodarkness - Major villain in KH0.1, KH3D, KH3, KH4, The Missing Links, and KH5.

Vanitas is a major villain in KH0.1 and in KH3, with a phantom image of him being utilized by Xehanort in KH3D to spread nightmares. However, he doesn't come into his own until he embraces the fact that he is a perfect manifestation of darkness itself, which allows him to evolve into Neodarkness, the dark entity who takes Darxomnious' place as ruler of all dark hearts and evil beings. What's neat about Neodarkness is that, unlike Darxomnious, he's not strictly evil all the time, he's more a Chaotic Neutral who acts for his own amusement. Along with Narix and Evanessé, he's one of KH5's final bosses.

Evanesse' - Major villain in The Missing Links and KH5.

This would be "Xehanort's Replica bastard son turned Ephemer clone who draws power from Nothingness" I mentioned before. When Xehanort was in his new Replica body and planned on becoming a god by merging with Darxomnious, he secretly used the knowledge of Xion's creation from one cursed timeline as a blueprint to create his own Hollow Replica he planned on reincarnating his human heart into, but as Darxomnort was destroyed, this never happened. It ends up being Ephemer's heart that gives life to this Replica, creating the tortured and nihilistic Evanessé who seeks to find his own aim and place in the world before ultimately deciding he wants everything around him to disappear into Nothing, hence his thematic name. Along with Neodarkness and Narix, he's one of KH5's final bosses.

King Magnifico - Major villain in KH5.

Magnifico is sort of like the MCP of KH5, being the Arc Villain of a running subplot. We're told he's in competition with Yen Sid because he wants to seize ownership of the Mysterious Tower and relocate it to be Rosas-adjacent, and the Wishing Star he's on the lookout for is one of Ephemer's allies throughout the game, but we only meet him in person upon actually visiting Rosas, where he's faced down and defeated. His inclusion in the game not only makes sense given the timing, but due to the fanbase he's garnered over in Japan. He's also a parallel to Narix, a man in white whose good intentions have given way to selfishness and power-lust that he can't even recognize.

[kairithemang0]

which kingdom hearts game is your favorite?

Kingdom Hearts 2, it’s my favorite game of all time <3

I love the characters, I love playing it, it makes me cry on multiple occasions (glares at the scene with roxas and Axel on the clock tower before they both die OMGGGGGG)

It’s a really special game for me, no matter how frustrated I get with the rest of the series, I always have something good to say about 2. I’ve played it 4 times now, it’s just one of those games where you could replay it for hours

Also the post game is killer, the data organization and Lingering Will are some of my favorite bosses PERIOD

Beating LW specifically is so satisfying, he’s one of the toughest super bosses in the series (I haven’t fought Yozora in kh3 yet so I can’t really say if his is harder or not yet, but I’ve heard he’s a pain in the ass). I beat him on call with a friend while I was just kinda fooling around and I was absolutely shocked when I beat him. And to lore implications of that fight too??? It’s Terra’s lingering will, that’s freaking awesome???

Also KH2s story is just so great. I love the halfway point in Hollow Bastion, the battle of 1000 heartless is iconic, GOOFY FREAKING DIES????

I know I have a lot of non kh fans who follow me but GUYS. GOOFY GOOF GETS HIT ON THE HEAD WITH A BOULDER AND DIES

And and then Mickey Mouse in his edgy hoodie goes “they’ll pay for this” and RIPS THE HOODIE OFF AND ITS SO SERIOUS????

this is like a 5 minute section of the game and what was the point of this why did they kill Goofy?????

But going away from the weird Goofy death scene, Roxas as a character is just perfect. We learn more about him in Days, we learn about his friendship with Axel and Xion and his fight for identity, and in this he’s just so sad. The prologue to Kh2 is just so great, seeing Roxas just be so confused as he tries his best to just be normal and have a summer vacation with his friends hits so hard. He dies for this kid he doesn’t even know, he lets Sora take his place in the world. “Looks like my summer vacation is over” is one of hardest hitting lines EVER like he’s going to die and he knows there’s no stopping it because DiZ will make him go back to Sora. And his fight later in the game just UGH!!!! It’s so good. The other promise is one of Yoko Shimumuras many masterpieces, it fits Roxas’s character perfectly. “You make a good other” is another amazing line.

I could write a book on Roxas’s character and why he’s just so great, he’s fascinating to me. He’s somehow not my favorite character but he’s definitely up there

Sorry this was definitely a rant 😭 I DIDNT EVEN TALK ABOUT THE SORA AND RIKU ENDING SCENE OMGGGGGG

TL;DR I love KH2, Goofy dies. Watch that scene it’s needlessly funny

[thedeliverygod]

a ranking of the Kingdom Hearts series thus far, by Sora with brief explanations

the games within the tiers themselves are not in any particular order

S Kingdom Hearts: The OG, my dearly beloved. The classic hero's journey. Gameplay was overall fun but definitely had some battles that felt impossible (unskippable cutscenes anyone?)

KH3: An absolute joy to play, I've never had more fun exploring worlds. It did suffer from having most of the main plot towards the end of the game and unanswered questions that were later answered by Re:Mind. The fact that employees from Disney aided with the development of this game really shines imo. A more in depth post about why I loved KH3. Battle was fun but also had difficult moments.

A

KH3D: The game that made me fall in love with Riku. The drop dynamic kind of sucked if/when you dropped in the middle of a boss fight I'm not gonna lie lol. But the story was great. Though Sora & Riku were essentially sent back in time (aka their appearance) the story and especially worlds are not repetitive. Flowmotion was extremely fun to use and the dream eaters were also another fun mechanic. Also the command deck is honestly my favorite iteration of the battle system so I was glad to see its new & improved form in KH3D and was sad to see it gone in KH3.

BBS: The introduction of the wayfinder trio, what a blessing. 3 different stories + a final episode. I loved that Terra, Aqua, and Ventus all had their own very unique playing styles (honestly I was the worst with Terra lol but I got used to him eventually). The first version of the command deck that I loved. Also the first time you could unlock treasure chests during battles (and they saved my ass). Shotlock also A+ loved it and so glad it came back in KH3. Difficulty was pretty standard; mostly a good level with a few really tough ones.

B

COM: So well written and intriguing. The worlds being 'repetitive' played into the storyline of exploring Sora's memories and it was the first time, so it felt okay. The first curse words of the series lmao aka Axel and Maleficent saying hell. This game pushed the gameboy advanced to the damn max. Also the first game we play as someone other than Sora~ enter Riku in Reverse/Rebirth. The card system sucked ass at times honestly and it was extremely hard to maneuver during certain battles on the GBA but that got a lot easier after the PS2 remake. While I'm glad the cutscenes were voiced for the remake, I will say the voice direction of RE:COM is some of the most awkward in the series. It also doesn't help that they did not put in any effort into changing the lip movements for the English language as they usually do.

Dark Road: Excellent writing and fun characters. Relatively fun gameplay at first, but quickly got repetitive. The good news was they let you use an auto function to cheat and speed through to get back to the story lol. I loved learning the back story to Xehanort and Eraqus and what made them into the adults we meet in BBS and later KH3. Shout out to my boy, Hermod. Never forgotten.

KH2: Character designs are immaculate and there are moments that are absolutely iconic. Had a good amount of fresh worlds while bringing back some beloved ones. KH2 suffered from some awkward voice direction and the game play was far too easy, imo. I beat it on critical mode with hardly any effort (other than the Roxas battle which is unique to the final mix version) and I'm honestly not very good of a gamer lol. I beat the game on my first play through in less than 20 hours which is kind of crazy. Also the 2nd visit to most worlds often feels forced and doesn't add much to the overall story of the game

C

KHX/KHUX: I barely managed to play KHX so most of this is based on KHUX. The fact that you could change your gender at any time was literally the best invention ever; signed, a non-binary person. I wish more games had that option. The customizable characters were freaking adorable and the options were limitless. The story was well written and intriguing when you got it. But... you had to do SO MANY repetitive endless missions to get to any story. I mean you'd get Disney related story sometimes but I mean like KH-core story. Not to mention essentially having to pay to win unless you got EXTREMELY lucky. And in general I'm just not a fan of MMORPGs so I dipped out after a while.

Days: Amazing story. Xion is my precious baby angel and I love her so much. The sea-salt trio reunion in KH3 was also the one that hit me the hardest tbh. But oh my god, the gameplay sucked. One of the hardest KH games to exist and I definitely nearly gave up on it a few times lol. The DS is just so awkward for KH gameplay and as we all know the graphics were.... abysmal to say the least. But there are some moments that were left out in the cinematic remake which will forever live on in our memory.

BBS 0.2: Really fun gameplay. Customizing Aqua's outfit was one of my favorite things as well and it really gave me hope that it would be a feature in KH3, but alas lol. The story overall was interesting, but it overall had to do a lot of retcons to try and make the past connect with the present so that was kind of awkward lol. Also they improved a TON from early models, but overall bbs 0.2 still looked a little weird at times compared to KH3 which had extra time to be fine tuned. Also it's essentially a KH3 demo rather than being a real game but essentially KH3 was already too massive so it made sense to separate it.

D

Re:Coded: I'll be real, I hated this game lol. It switching up the type of gameplay a lot was a fun idea in theory but actually playing the game it ended up being annoying. Also, it was essentially a rehashed idea of chain of memories when you get down to it. We explore previous worlds we've seen many times by now with Data Sora. We get little bits of new info but ultimately really the only useful thing is the very end of the game. I did enjoy the cinematic version a bit better; the voiced dialogue made a few moments a more comical.

Melody of Memory: A fun rhythm game, but the fact that it includes story that's important all buried at the end of the game is kind of pointless/annoying? lol. I loved seeing Kairi get her time to shine but I wish it was more than her just narrating over Sora's journeys and then a handful of important cutscenes at the end of the game.

[psychopomp-namine]

as someone who also likes both lc and kh, what keyblades do you think the link click cast would have?

hi anon, thank you for giving me an opportunity to ramble about two of my current media fixations at the moment :D

let's also add a bonus to your question. let's assume the link click cast can wield a keyblade regardless if they have an ability or not (this is just so I can give a keyblade to vein, xia fei, and S1 qiao ling). however!! in kh, we know that you can dual wield keyblades if you have another heart in you (this was supposedly the explanation for why roxas can dual wield, though it does get iffy when you think about KH3... but whatever, that's not the point here). so let's add a spin here where if a link click character gains an additional ability from another person, they can dual wield with the other person's keyblade!

I'll do a summary here, then explain under the cut why I chose these keyblades for each character (because tbh I think the overlap between the kh and link click fandoms is very small lol. who's gonna care about my character analysis of link click characters from a kh lens? probably just a handful of us)

cheng xiaoshi: way to the dawn (riku's keyblade from KH2, though hinted at the end of chain of memories). later, in S3, this is upgraded to kingdom key (THE iconic keyblade that we all know and love, that was originally meant for riku but was passed down to sora)

lu guang: oblivion (in japanese, the name is called "passing memories" — see where I'm going with this?). this is the keyblade sora gets from riku in KH1, and is part of roxas's dual set. later, I think lu guang can dual wield oblivion and way to the dawn when cheng xiaoshi dies and lu guang gets his dive ability to timeloop. post-yingdu, oblivion is upgraded to braveheart (riku's keyblade in KH3).

qiao ling: oathkeeper. this is the keyblade sora gets from kairi in KH1, and is part of roxas's dual set. later, she can dual wield with li tianxi's keyblade when she gets her ability at the end of S2.

li tianxi: destiny's embrace (kairi's keyblade)

li tianchen: ends of the earth (terra's keyblade, upgraded from earthshaker after his visit to destiny islands). after li tianxi dies, his keyblade upgrades to two become one (sora gets this after he merges with roxas). it has the light & dark ability which causes sora to always be in either anti or final form during KH2; but for this post, I imagine li tianchen is more often in anti form (I also toyed with the idea of giving him vanitas's void gear but I think I like the idea of anti li tianchen more)

xia fei: wayward wind (ventus's keyblade)

vein: flame liberator (lea's keyblade). or axel's chakrams, that looks way cooler imo

liu xiao: wooden stick. lmao I'm kidding, I'm kidding. he has no name/the gazing eye of course. this is like, the easiest one of the bunch. a no-brainer pick. actually, considering how no name functions, liu xiao wouldn't really be wielding it. so I think he'd have two. no name is passed around or whatever, and the one he actually wields (when he's forced to wield one) is kingdom key d (king mickey's keyblade). but it's not his main main keyblade, you know? no name matters more here.

wang qing: stormfall (aqua's keyblade, upgraded from rainfall after her visit to destiny islands)

shao yuanyuan: master's defender (master eraqus's keyblade that is passed down to aqua). aqua uses this keyblade to turn the land of departure to castle oblivion (do you also see where I'm going with this?)

okay now for the character deep dives (with keyblade pictures!!). this is just gonna be an essay on which kh character arc I think fits each link click character, so feel free to skip if that doesn't tickle your fancy. I'm just having fun at this point, and we have a lot of characters to go through (or just skip ahead to the character you wanna read about)

cheng xiaoshi: way to the dawn -> kingdom key

you would think that I'd start with sora's keyblade for him, since cheng xiaoshi is the natural parallel to sora. but I think it's the opposite, actually. I think cheng xiaoshi is the parallel to com!riku. why? because riku's whole character arc is about him accepting the darkness and learning to balance darkness and light. kh characters even point out how the way riku does it is kinda revolutionary. in a similar vein, I think cheng xiaoshi is the one who learns this lesson in link click. he learns to balance hurt and hope incredibly well; you can see this contrasted with lu guang and shao yuanyuan, who are the other two people who have used the photo diving ability. these two have a hard time letting go and moving forward, hence the timelooping. cheng xiaoshi learns to let past or future be relatively quickly in comparison, to the point where he decides not to timeloop to save lu guang when he thought lu guang was dying.

sora's whole character arc is just beginning, because he's actually the opposite of cheng xiaoshi. sora cannot handle hurt. he hides it, represses it, and plasters on a smile for everyone to see. cheng xiaoshi actually knows how to deal with his own hurt, which is why he knows to take time away from people to sort out his feelings whenever he gets into an argument with lu guang and qiao ling. this is something sora doesn't know how to do yet, because he's been taught to rely on his friends to the point where he can't handle being alone. cheng xiaoshi also hates being alone, but he knows when he actually needs to be.

riku, at the end of chain of memories, is faced with a crossroad and he says he'll walk the middle path between light and dark. he says this specifically to counter DiZ who asks him if the middle road is "the twilight road to nightfall" and riku answers, "no, it's the road to dawn" thus cementing him forever with the association of sunrise as opposed to sunset. and that's how he gets the way to the dawn keyblade. something something com!riku and cheng xiaoshi both exhibiting the ability to grow through balance. darkness and light, hurts and hope, past and future. let it be. :)

post-S2 and post-yingdu, cheng xiaoshi can upgrade his keyblade as he faces new challenges. I think at this point the kingdom key chooses him. I believe S3 is gonna come down to liu xiao vs cheng xiaoshi, so I like the parallel that cheng xiaoshi has the kingdom key (the keyblade for the realm of light) and liu xiao has kingdom key d (the keyblade for the realm of darkness). this is also cheng xiaoshi representing "hope" ("just because you can't see hope doesn't mean it's not there"). just like how the kingdom key eventually finds its way to sora despite having chosen riku before, cheng xiaoshi at this point in the story is also worthy of the kingdom key.

lu guang: oblivion ("passing memories") -> oblivion + way to the dawn -> braveheart

yep he gets the car key keyblade

oblivion is the keyblade representative of sora's memories of riku. what's interesting is the official description of this keyblade:

a keyblade black as darkness. a keyblade that rewards wielders who share its hurt. its powers will draw out your full potential.

additionally, as mentioned, the japanese name for oblivion is actually "passing memories"

now I am a subscriber of the necklace theory so this is gonna be a very biased reading of the oblivion keyblade. I'm not gonna go into the necklace theory here, but essentially, there's two things oblivion represents based on this theory: a (forgotten) promise to protect a precious person, and a keyblade that rewards the user for sharing their hurt.

I don't think lu guang quite learns the second part yet, but it's something he'll eventually learn to do. but the first part? it's definitely him all the way, isn't it? even if cheng xiaoshi (sora) forgot or doesn't remember about the promise that his best friend will always protect him, lu guang (riku) does. and lu guang (riku) fails to uphold this promise spectacularly. so oblivion represents the drive to renew that promise again, even if the object of their affection doesn't remember it. it's called "passing memories" for a reason.

as mentioned, when cheng xiaoshi dies, I think lu guang inherits his way to the dawn keyblade alongside his dive ability. but since he only has the dive ability for 12h and then loses it, he also is only able to dual wield with way to the dawn for 12h.

post-yingdu, lu guang gets to upgrade his keyblade as well. in KH3, riku's way to the dawn actually breaks and he passes it on to repliku, then he gets a new keyblade called braveheart (the one that looks like a car key lmao). braveheart symbolizes how riku finally feels confident in his "strength to protect the stuff that matters" (or if we're going by another translation, "strength to protect his most precious person"). which, you know. is lu guang's whole thing after yingdu arc. for those who are reading this and are not familiar with kh, riku basically spends numerous games trying to redeem himself after the events of KH1, and throughout his journey and even as a little kid, he yearned to have "the strength to protect what matters, like his friends!" (or in another translation, "the strength to protect the person most precious to him"). this then culminates in him sacrificing himself in KH3 so sora can keep going and save everyone else. don't worry, he's still alive. sora's the one who actually "dies" in the end lmao. which is, well. that's the shiguang experience, isn't it?

to hammer this home, here's the english dialogue from mickey mouse himself in KH3:

I think it's because you've finally found inside you that special strength to protect what matters. sometimes you care so much for somebody that other feelings disappear. and then, there's no room for fear or doubt.

that's YE6 lu guang in a nutshell, imo.

bonus points: both lu guang and riku have found ways to "cheat death" in their latest attempt to save cheng xiaoshi/sora (lu guang with the timelooping and attempting to create a new death node; riku with using dreams to get to quadratum, because sleep and death are basically two sides of the same coin in kh).

qiao ling: oathkeeper ("promise charm") -> oathkeeper + destiny's embrace

oathkeeper is representative of sora's memories of kairi. let's take a look at the description of oathkeeper:

a keyblade radiant with light. a keyblade that will guard you from many hurts. its powers help accelerate your growth.

imo where riku represents "adventure" to sora, kairi represents "home." this comes with a multitude of other stuff: safety, belonging, and so on. in KH1, kairi is the first to notice that riku has changed, and she tells sora that she hopes sora doesn't change.

qiao ling has a similar attitude to cheng xiaoshi. she tells xu shanshan that she loves cheng xiaoshi's sincerity/naivete and it makes her want to protect him. it's a trait of his that she doesn't want to change in him, even if it's something that makes her look out for him more. she's there for cheng xiaoshi when his parents weren't, guarding his hurts and keeping him company. although it's in the form of "rent" (because they know cheng xiaoshi doesn't want to feel pitied), the qiao family helped cheng xiaoshi have a semblance of "home" and helped him keep the time photo studio. qiao ling is his friend and landlady; qiao ling is home. the oathkeeper's keychain is literally a wayfinder made of thalassa shells. again, for those reading this that are not into kh: wayfinders in kh are lucky charms that provide luck to travelers. there's some symbolism involved because it's reminiscent of the paopu fruit, which I don't wanna go into here, but essentially, wayfinders/paopu are like these objects that symbolize the desire to always be together with the other person or to always be a part of each other's lives, even when they're apart.

sora has two guiding lights: riku and kairi. similarly, cheng xiaoshi sees both lu guang and qiao ling as the light in his life.

kairi and qiao ling also share a similar struggle of not wanting to be left out of the loop with what their two best friends are doing, and doing what they can to be useful in some way.

li tianxi: destiny's embrace (kairi's keyblade)

this is the keyblade kairi actually uses in battle! it looks cute, right? it also has the paopu fruit as a keychain, which I want to believe in this case symbolizes li tianxi's bond with li tianchen (I don't think sharing the paopu fruit has to be romantic, it can also be platonic imo).

there isn't much for me to say, as sadly, we don't see kairi fight as much as the others, so this keyblade doesn't get the spotlight enough. but I suppose that also fits li tianxi, to an extent. I don't think li tianxi was ever meant to be a fighter or to play mind games with others.

aqua also gets access to this keyblade after she meets kairi, when kairi gives her flowers. so if you want, you can think of this as a parallel to li tianxi bonding with qiao ling.

li tianchen: ends of the earth -> two become one

oh boy, okay this is one of my favorite picks. li tianchen is a great parallel to terra imo. guy who tries to act like a responsible big brother but struggles with all the Wrongness inside and around him, and is eventually isolated from everyone, making him vulnerable to people who want to exploit and take advantage and manipulate his vulnerabilities, eventually leading to his corruption arc. guy who was failed by all the adults in his life, and clings to the first person that treats him like he's valuable. so yeah, he gets terra's keyblade.

POST-S2 THOUGH I think he should upgrade to two become one, which is the keyblade sora gets after he merges with roxas. this is mostly because I think he's the most likely out of all the link click characters to repeatedly invoke his anti form. have you checked the lyrics of prometheus? li tianchen is very angry and emotional and just wants to see the world burn after li tianxi's death.

for those who are not familiar with kh, anti form represents the darkness in sora. you cannot control when it happens, as it's something that is triggered when you overuse your other drive forms in KH2. two become one circumvents this mechanic in that it's the keyblade that lets you trigger only anti and final form and not any of the other drive forms. of course, in my mind, li tianchen probably uses anti form a lot.

this is what anti sora looks like:

it might also be interesting to explore the idea that li tianchen gaining two become one symbolizes how he no longer sees himself as part of a pair with li tianxi, since li tianxi is now gone. a sort of parallel to him leaving his phone behind at the park during S2E12. li tianxi and li tianchen are forever separated now, just as sora and roxas cannot co-exist at the same time.

xia fei: wayward wind

xia fei is special because he gets the ventus picture and not the keyblade picture. okay, this is mostly because the wiki doesn't have a better picture of wayward wind, but also I wanted to point something out with this pose.

the way ventus handles a keyblade is unique because he holds it backhanded. idk, I feel like xia fei would do the same with his keyblade. he doesn't have an ability like everyone else, he's not playing mind games. atm he's more of a pawn than a player in this chess game.

I also think there's something similar to the way xia fei and ventus are perceived versus how they really are. xia fei is a very two-faced person, imo, and he's seen as "just some guy" but he isn't actually like, completely innocent. although it's not shown much in yingdu, there are hints that xia fei is both sincere in wanting genuine friendship, but is also not necessarily completely honest as a person.

and I mean, is there a character more two-faced than ventus(/vanitas)? we see ventus as this boy of pure light, but watch out! he's got darkness inside him too, and there's more to him than meets the eye.

but for the moment, wayward wind is about bbs!ventus living a somewhat sheltered life and then learning more about the world outside and the darkness inside (or... outside?) himself as he goes on his journey. I'm interested to see where xia fei's character goes in S3.

vein: flame liberator or eternal flame

these are both lea/axel's weapons. I'll be honest, I just chose these for the color scheme and because axel's charkams are super cool and I think vein should get the most cool-looking weapon.

I see both vein and axel/lea as like... pretty straightforward people who might be seen as "villains" (at least in the beginning games for axel) that work for some sinister person. wild and unrestrained in battle, always seems to be testing you, but would genuinely enjoy having hotpot with you afterwards.

liu xiao: no name/the gazing eye + kingdom key d

this is a no brainer. of course liu xiao gets no name/the gazing eye. like, what else was his keyblade gonna be? any kh/link click fan can answer this in a heartbeat (heh).

idk how to explain this succinctly to non-kh fans who might be reading this. so, basically, the events of the kingdom hearts games have been set into motion by this guy called the master of masters. no name is a keyblade he forged with one of his eyes, and this gets passed around to a bunch of people. the eye lets him observe what would happen so he could foresee the future and write it in his book of prophecies. master of masters has kind of a mastermind-y vibe. no name eventually gets passed to one of the main villains of the game, xehanort, who also tries to play the long game and manipulate the plot for his own whims, and is kind of a mastermind-y person himself.

so yeah. liu xiao gets the eye keyblade that lets him foresee the future. of course he does. also I think no name would look SICK with his gothy outfits.

but because the point of no name is to get passed around so he can make observations, liu xiao needs another keyblade that he can actually wield. I propose kingdom key d for two reasons. one, it's the keyblade of the realm of darkness, which is the foil to the kingdom key that cheng xiaoshi (sora) wields, as it is the keyblade of the realm of light. second, kingdom key d is king mickey's keyblade. idk, I know liu xiao likens himself to be the bishop but I think with all the cult vibes from his pv, he might as well see himself as "king"

also I think this fits liu xiao's mindset. in kingdom hearts, "light" and "darkness" are morally neutral imo. too much light is just as bad as too much darkness. connection versus isolation; they both serve a purpose (this is why sora is going through the arc he's going through right now; "the closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes"). liu xiao likens himself as someone who makes friends with people in the dark ("those lost in the darkness are my friends") but I don't think he sees himself as like, evil or whatever. we still don't know much about liu xiao so I can't really say anything about his motivations, but it'd be interesting if he has any master of masters or xehanort stuff going on (I remember going through bbs for the first time and thinking, woah, the phrase "tyranny of light" is kinda neat).

also I just really want cheng xiaoshi and liu xiao to both have similar keyblades

wang qing: stormfall

this is aqua's keyblade!! wang qing strikes me as someone who is responsible and wishes to do good by her mentors, which is aqua's whole thing. we didn't really see much of wang qing in yingdu arc, so there isn't much more I can say. but I like the idea of her being someone who's like aqua.

shao yuanyuan: master's defender

okay this is my second favorite pick after li tianchen. master's defender is originally master eraqus's keyblade, passed down to aqua. actually, it was originally from brain then passed down to ephemer then eventually gets to eraqus, but I'm not brushed up on mobile games lore atm, so I'm not confident in drawing similarities from there.

to me, the most interesting thing is what aqua does with this keyblade. so in bbs, eraqus dies and ventus is in a coma. aqua places ventus in the land of departure and transforms the whole place into castle oblivion to keep him safe. castle oblivion is a labyrinth for everyone else who enters it, and many major plot points happen there that causes a lot of pain for other characters, but aqua is the only one who can traverse it to find ventus. ventus's body sleeps there for years until the events of KH3, where he is then reawakened once more.

we don't know much about shao yuanyuan, but I think she holds a similar role in link click. she's time traveling to find a way to undo cheng weimin's death, but she doesn't have someone like lu guang to help her navigate the timelines. so I think she might be reckless with her time traveling, and might be causing a lot of unintended butterfly effects. after all, she left in 2008 and cheng xiaoshi is an adult now. has she still not found a way to save cheng weimin in all this time?

anyway, aqua's only intention was to protect ventus, but creating castle oblivion led to a lot of things like the death of nobodies, sora getting gaslit and then losing his memories, riku's angst journey, basically the entirety of com and 358/2 days. aqua doesn't really get to see ventus again until many years later, because she herself eventually falls to darkness shortly after creating castle oblivion.

I think shao yuanyuan is a little bit like that with cheng xiaoshi. she only wanted to save cheng weimin, but got lost in her time travel that eventually so much time has passed and she never got to see cheng xiaoshi grow up. maybe she still thinks of cheng xiaoshi as the little boy she left behind, the little boy she'll eventually come back to once she sets things right. after all, she's a time traveler, so she can just rewind back to the past, right?

ventus eventually heals on his own in sora's heart, much like how cheng xiaoshi eventually learns how to live without his parents. but both of them will forever be waiting for aqua/shao yuanyuan to come back to them.

-

whew, okay, that was a long essay and idk if anyone ever reached the end, but if you did, hey, thanks for reading! this means you probably love kh and link click as much as I do, in which case, high five my friend!! you have good taste!! I see you also like strongly themed convoluted stories with lots of heart!!