#last twilight fmv

[athousandbyeol]

even in mortality, it will be beautiful.

♡:

@a-slut-for-vegaspete @kxttxnkxttxn @seatawinans + all morkday enjoyers <3

[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.

[respectthepetty]

Hi, tell me what is the shows from the 2023 lineup of GMMTV are you looking forward to the most? Most likely to flop? Unexpected hit?

Hot Tops: How to Train Your Bottom - Toot It or Reboot It - Kid Fury of The Read

Although this lineup was not as diverse as we were led to believe with several reboots and no new lead pairings, according to GMMTV, the queers are winning in 2023, so there will be no flops! Even Cherry Magic because if anything, people will tune in to trash watch it like they did Unforgotten Night. It's going to lack that Japanese vibe that only Japan can do, but I'm excited to see Thailand put a little razzle dazzle on it. Our Skyy 2, Hidden Agenda and A Boss and A Babe also have a guaranteed audience because of every single pairing, JoongDunk and ForceBook, so they'll do well.

The others not listed here will keep the lights on at GMMTV, but won't be bringing the discourse like these:

The Jungle had a lot of faves in it, but the pilot trailer gave away nothing except it had a lot of faves in it, and more people equals more problems. - Bottom if it doesn't have a plot beyond family drama

Midnight Museum had the black/white/red color nonsense that I love. I love the way people were standing. I love the aesthetic. I love the fantasy mystery aspect. The men are looking good, and the ladies are looking even better. I see you in that transparent corset mama! - Top for me, but might be mediocre for the overall crowd.

I was very excited for Last Twilight because I get more of Sea's side profile and Aof's directing, but @oswlld did a fantastic job of outlining why I should be hesitant of the plot since it deals with medical issues and adjusting to a new way of life. Love does not solve health concerns, so although I'm still excited, I'm going to take a seat and respect the room. - People are already looking at it closely, so it better get it right. On the fence.

PerthChimon hatefucking their way to love in Dangerous Romance is a gift from the gods. Chimon never misses when he acts, and Perth's screen presence is mesmerizing. There was an awkward hug in the pilot trailer, but I was too busy basking in the joy of them screaming they fucking hate each other and aggressively making out, then using the term sugar baby affectionately to care. - This will be mine and everyone's personality when it airs. Top!

I'm upset that MilkLove can't play adults in 23.5, but I always support the girls, the gays, and the goths, so I'll be there with every other person who has wanted this for past two years. I also think there will be some color scheming going on between Milk's beanies and Love's headbands, and I will be eating it up. - We bullied GMMTV into this. Top!

OffGun are like Kelly Clarkson. They are great at their job, and their performances never disappoint. We expect them to be good, therefore, even if Cooking Crush is meh, they will still do better than the rest. They are also playing adults. - Top!

If Double Savage airs AFTER Dangerous Romance, I think it will be a hit. The crowd will be thirsty for Perth, and this gives enough time between seeing Ohm in 10 Years Ticket and maybe Wednesday Club for people to want to see these two battle it out on a beach with guns in their hands but love in their hearts. - Depends on timing. On the fence.

Jojo, the director, said that Only Friends will be Britney Spears' "Toxic" level toxic, so I'm eagerly awaiting the FMVs of this show featuring 2WEI's "Toxic" remake. This pilot trailer has the highest amount of views (Dangerous Romance is second by less than five thousand). The people are excited that we will be well fed on this feast for the eyes. Poly is the answer, but since I know GMMTV will not serve us that, I'm just excited that we get to see the bro ho friend rotation in action with such fantastic talent. - The one top to rule them all!

[jokers-ghoul]

GTKM #3(?)

Tagged by: @first-kanaphan & @boozles Thank you ☺️

Last Song: Eh! by Nunew

Last film: After Sundown,,, I'm realizing a pattern

Currently Reading: Nothing currently. I haven't had much time to unwind and be able to focus enough for reading. I'm still on the second book of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation if that helps.

Currently Watching:

The Sign

Pit Babe

For Him

Cooking Crush

Night Dream

Playboyy

Last Twilight

Although I love you, and You?

Currently consuming: BL series FMVs

Currently craving: Nothing, currently. I'm finally on vacation, so there's not much else I need at the moment.

Tagging: Anyone interested. I'm not sure who to tag.

[saunsausilu]

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[khtrinityftw]

Part 10: Rage Against the Patriarchy

Let’s face it: the Kingdom Hearts series has always had something of a woman problem. 

A number of strong Disney heroines like Jasmine and Megara were wimpified, Aqua in BBS was a powerful fighter but a weak character without the kind of arc her male friends got, and I already covered the issues that plagued Namine and Xion.  And by Kingdom Hearts III, things had only gotten worse, as more Disney heroines all the way up to fucking Elsa weren't given their due, Aqua was finally given an arc only to have it rendered meaningless all while her powerful fighter status got compromised repeatedly, and even Organization XIII's resident badass bitch Larxene was revealed to be motivated by feelings for a man.

But when talking about how the series failed its female characters, there's one female character that stands in a class of her own, and that's the original female lead of the KH Trinity herself: Kairi.

Kairi was the emotional heart of the KH Trinity. She is introduced very early into the original game and through several interactions we get to know her and how behind her bubbly front she has deep anxiety over her life changing and the possibility of losing her home and friends, an anxiety stemming from a traumatic past that she might remember a little more of than she lets on. 

After she disappears during Destiny Islands' destruction, she occasionally appears to Sora to provide insights or advice. That's because her heart took refuge inside of his, and she is consciously sharing his journey with him. Riku and many stupid, sexist players identify her body as her, claiming that she's "in a coma" for most of the game and needs to be woken up. But the point of the story that Keiko Nobumoto finalized is to challenge you to look past this kind of objectification and consider the spiritual reality that Sora learns: hearts are who people are in the KH universe. Sora doesn't need to save Kairi because he already did from the start, just by being such a close friend to her and connecting his heart to her's. 

And after the "Kairi's inside me" (heh) revelation is made, Kairi actually saves Sora three times in a row! She stops him from getting his head smashed in by Ansem, she refuses to believe he's gone after he disappears which allows him to hold on to his feelings as a Heartless, and then she shields him from the attacking Heartless with her own body, an act which allows him to regain his human form. That's no mere damsel in distress!

Really, the only quibble I have with Kairi in the first game is that she isn't allowed to go back to Hollow Bastion for no good reason during the big Oathkeeper scene. That was stupid and awkward, that scene really should have taken place at Hollow Bastion before going to End of the World. But otherwise, Kairi was a fully-realized, three-dimensional character with her own emotional growth. The entire ending FMV even focuses on her and how she's learned to cope with a changing life and separation from her friends thanks to the lessons she's learned about the unbreakable connections of hearts from her journey inside of Sora.

But it was all downhill from there.

Kairi is still good in COM and KH2, but not to the same extent. The idea of Kairi is a powerful one in COM and drives the entire story, but Kairi herself never makes an appearance until the end credits of the 3D remake, and I wouldn't mind so much except that Riku gets his own playable story mode in the game which sets a bad precedent going forward.  

In KH2, Kazushige Nojima's writing caused Kairi's personality to be flattened mainly to just 'love interest'; she's like a two-dimensional shadow of Final Fantasy VIII's Rinoa Heartilly. The pacing for her appearances is also sporadic and mainly confined to the last stretch of the game, and she's needlessly kidnapped by the Organization after going to Twilight Town when she could have stayed around longer and developed her character more.  Also, would it have killed them to give her a combat AI? Or explain where her new Keyblade even came from!?

But with that said, she's still a likable character who is spirited and brave, she makes a lot of new friendships like with Pluto, the Twilight Town kids and her own Nobody Namine, she effectively shows her maturity since the first game and even has some small development about learning to stop waiting after a certain point and actually take action to make what you want happen.  Most importantly, she still plays a major role in the story that justifies her existence. Sora still cares deeply for her and is just as motivated to find her as he is to find Riku once he learns she's been kidnapped. And she's the linchpin for the entire finale, as both Sora and Riku's reunion and their return home to Destiny Islands would not have happened without Kairi facilitating them. It really helps establish their friendship trio as just that: a trio, where all three are needed to make it work. Sora and Riku would not have survived the game without her.

Also, she served as the springboard for the manga adaptation's rendition, which fixes all the problems and gives us the definitive version of the character. Gotta appreciate that!

Unfortunately, you might remember that I mentioned Sora and Riku were shipped together by the massively vocal yaoi fangirl community, and they despised Kairi with a passion. This hatred spread to many fanboys too, who called her "useless" for not being an in-game fighter (hey guys, literally all of the playable characters of the KH Trinity wouldn't be around to play as without Kairi! I think that counts as a use!)  And because Nomura is both a sexist pig and a shameless fan panderer, it was clear to him what to do with Kairi.

Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.

She isn't actually in Days, not even in Mission Mode as a playable character despite even fucking Donald and Goofy being so, and Xion's connection to her is a red herring to make her connection to Sora more shocking.  She's only in BBS briefly - one scene as a child and then at the very end of "Blank Points' - and not given the same amount of importance as Sora and Riku. A data version of her does not exist in Coded, even though data versions of Sora and Riku and even Namine do. As I mentioned before, she doesn't show up in 3D until the last shot of the secret ending. And in 0.2 BBS, she doesn't say anything until toward the end, and is promptly shut up and told to go train alongside her former kidnapper! What the fuck!? I honestly think the most justice done to Kairi past KH2 would be the powerful medals with her image on them in the UX mobile phone game!

This is 6 games over the course of a whole decade, and there is barely any Kairi in them at all, let alone as a playable character despite her being the series' original heroine. Worse still is that when Kairi is there, her character has been rewritten by Nomura and Oka into the weak, boring nice girl that her detractors saw her as: the fire and the passionate desire to act freely whenever she had the chance is totally gone. She just lets Sora and Riku leave her behind on the islands again after specifically saying in KH2 that she won't let that happen anymore, and despite being able to wield a Keyblade she only joins the cause when some old white dude summons her to do so! Hayden Panettiere being replaced by Alyson Stoner as her voice only adds to the effect, she just doesn't have the same spunky quality to her. 

And when Kairi isn't around? She is pretty much never talked about, or even thought about, by her supposed friends Sora and Riku. Per the sexist cliches of shonen writing and the desire to pander to the fans, the Destiny Trio became a Destiny Duo, with Sora and Riku managing just fine on their own without needing Kairi, their bromance was emphasized as the most important thing in each other's lives ad nauseam. This misogynistic brand of queer-baiting worked all too well, with fans continuing to support Sora and Riku as boyfriends while condemning Kairi as a boring, useless character who oughta just die already.

Well, Nomura sure did continue to listen to these fans...

[ultraericthered]

KINGDOM HEARTS III (The Revised Story)

At long last, here’s my revision for the story of Kingdom Hearts III, based on a fictitious hypothetical version of the game that would’ve come out in 2015-2016. Many sections and events in this story are inspired by the fake 4Chan leak of KH3′s story, while others are lifted from the KH3 we actually got. Credit to @themattress for input and base ideas.

Opening FMV has a young Xehanort looking out his window at all the stars in the sky, all other worlds he yearns to go see; he sees a dark star in the sky (Darxomnious) and it intrigues him; starts moving pieces on his chess board, all representing conflict to come; Terra-Xehanort piece is put in front of Terra/Aqua/Ven, Ansem, Seeker of Darkness piece is put in front of Sora/Kairi/Riku, Marluxia and Xemnas pieces are put in front of Namine and Roxas respectively, Sora fights and defeats all these villains but just as he and Kairi are happily reunited on Destiny Islands, young Xehanort lays down the Darxomnious piece; Old Master Xehanort flashes in front of young Xehanort's smirking face as he does so; a host of dark figures wearing demonic looking helms, led by a sinister man shrouded in a hood and wielding the No-Name Keyblade, with young Xehanort by his side, surround Sora and Kairi; as Xehanort sends out Ansem and Xemnas to attack, Riku, Mickey, Donald and Goofy appear at Sora and Kairi's side to complete the Six Man Band; Sora looks to the shining sky; Kingdom Hearts emerges; everyone stands united; Kingdom Hearts III title appears.

Dive to the Heart occurs due to Sora training at Mysterious Tower via use of Sleep Magic; Sora talks to Chirithy at end of tutorial; Chirithy wants Sora to look out for a certain Black Box.

Olympus = First world; game throws you into the action as Hades has unleashed the Titans upon Olympus, which is creating disaster in the city of Thebes; Hercules is out trying to save everyone; Lightning Farron is guardian of the gates to Olympus in this world; Braig is also present and hoping to drag Hades into the movement of "the Dark Seekers"; Maleficent and Pete show up; Maleficent wants to help Sora defeat the Dark Seekers for her own reasons; tries to convince Sora that she’s not attacking the worlds, but the Dark Seekers are creating conflict across the universe to catalyze a new Keyblade War and are bringing other villains into it, to ends unknown at the time.

Twilight Town = Second world and Hub; Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, Cloud, Tifa, Rinoa, the Gullwings, Scrooge McDuck, Little Chef, Merlin and Yen Sid are present here; Hayner, Pence, and Olette still live here; at Mysterious Tower, Yen Sid says the Dark Seekers have all gathered in the service of a dark power far greater than anything Sora and his friends have yet faced and while their plans are unknown, their goal seems to be the erosion of all Light into Nothingness via eradicating the first Light, the Light of Kingdom Hearts itself, and the assertion of Darkness supremacy; Xehanort appears outside and attacks with phantoms of Ansem and Xemnas; tells SDG that there are 13 hearts of Darkness leading the Dark Seekers movement and that there are also 7 hearts of Light that need to be guarded before he vanishes; Mickey realizes he must be referring to the 7 Princesses of Heart; Kairi uses her heart and senses the other 6 original Princesses have passed on their power and status to 6 successors; party splits into two groups; Sora, Donald, and Goofy plus Jiminy Cricket in search of the new Princesses while Riku, Kairi, and Mickey plus Pluto search for more Guardians that may protect the Princesses.

Xehanort returns to the Keyblade Graveyard and is met by a dark master who wears a flowing black cape and is shrouded in hood; the hooded man speaks of wishing to snuff out the Light of creation and bring into existence a World “torn apart at the seams by Darkness”, credits Xehanort for inspiring the plan to make this so before calling on the Darknesses he’s gathered for “the XIII” so far (11 of them) and sending them out into the worlds to advance their agenda.

7 Guardians of Light = Sora/Roxas, Kairi/Namine, Riku, Mickey, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus

New Princesses of Heart = Tiana, Rapunzel, Anna, Elsa, Merida, and a Mystery Girl

The XIII = Master Luxu, Xehanort, Vanitas, Braig, Dark Master Eraqus, Saix, Axel, Demyx, Luxord, Marluxia, Larxene, Xion, and Dark Riku (the Riku Replica). Eraqus is not with the XIII at first but is brought in from the Realm of Darkness later, and when Demyx leaves the XIII, Terra-Xehanort is recreated to replace him as the 13th member. Others who get involved with Dark Seekers = Maleficent, Pete, Vexen, Hades, Dr. Facilier, Mother Gothel, Randall Boggs, Prince Hans, Lord Cutler Beckett and Davy Jones

Order of Worlds: Olympus, Twilight Town, Glimmering Bayou, Dark World, Toy Box, Kingdom of Corona, Destiny Islands, Monstropolis, Arendelle, Twilight Town (2) + 100 Acre Wood, The Caribbean, Castle Oblivion, San Fransokyo, The Keyblade Graveyard, Dark World (2), Castle Oblivion/Land of Departure (2), Twilight Town (3), The Keyblade Graveyard (2), and The Final World + Scala Ad Caelum. In each world story is a checkpoint where you can take a break to advance things elsewhere before coming back to finish the stories in their second halves. Radiant Garden and Disney Castle are featured in cutscenes only, mainly when groups have to interact with Ienzo + his research team, and Queen Minnie + the Gummi crew respectively. However, you are able to visit them in later DLC.

Braig targets Olympus, Demyx targets Glimmering Bayou, Xehanort targets Toy Box, Marluxia targets the Kingdom of Corona, Vanitas targets Monstropolis, Larxene targets Arendelle, Luxord target The Caribbean, Xion targets San Fransokyo, Saix & Axel attack Twilight Town mid-game; Vexen pops up in both Arendelle and The Caribbean, Dark Master Eraqus and Dark Riku both show up in Dark World, the latter also appearing in San Fransokyo; Master Luxu appears only in the Keyblade Graveyard before the end of the game.

Glimmering Bayou = SDG have to help Tiana and Prince Naveen turn back into humans after they’ve been turned into frogs by the “Shadow Man”, Dr. Facilier; But Facilier has become enamored with Darklings and the Heartless, his “friends on the other side” as he calls them, and makes a bargain with Demyx that he’ll offer the hearts of the entire population of New Orleans to the Heartless if he can at first use the powers of Darkness to take out the richest and most powerful men in the city; Demyx thinks Facilier and his occult ways are too freaky and soon decides to abandon working with him, leaving him to be defeated by SDG in battle as his heart is then claimed by his “friends”, turning him into a Heartless that can be fought as a later boss upon revisit; Tiana and Naveen return to being humans due to a loophole involving Tiana’s new destiny as a Princess of Heart.

After first Glimmering Bayou segment, RKM group travels to the Realm of Darkness in order to look for the Wayfinder, formerly Master Aqua; Riku and Mickey are stalked by Dark Riku; revealed to be the furious Riku Replica; Boss fight with Demon Tower happens; Kairi finds Aqua who is now Darkling Anti-Aqua and is only focused on helping others find their way through the Darkness while not caring about herself; Anti-Aqua refuses to come with Kairi so Kairi challenges her; Boss fight with Anti-Aqua in which Kairi gets her ass clobbered and has to retreat with the rest, who can’t stand against Anti-Aqua either and get their own Keyblades broken; Kairi determines that while her skill with wielding the Keyblade has improved, Aqua has stronger magic abilities that she can cast through her own, so Kairi, along with Pluto, goes to Merlin's Residence in Twilight Town for magic training within Magic Forest.

Maleficent plants herself into Dark Seekers along with Pete; obtains more info on the Book of Prophecy, and truth of the first Keyblade War; wants to rewrite history by recreating the Old World in some form and prevent the war so that the Old World is then left susceptible for conquest by her own dark powers.

Toy Box = SDG have to help Woody, Buzz, Rex, Hamm, the LGMs, and Sarge as they’ve found themselves in a world without their other toy friends, and without their owner, Andy; Buzz is guarded and distrustful of SDG; turns out to be a twisted social experiment being conducted by Xehanort to test that, if toys in this world have hearts, what would become of them should they be cut off from the bonds that define their hearts; and could this prove useful to the Dark Seekers; Buzz almost succumbs to Darkness but Woody saves him and tells Xehanort to get lost; the level ends after a boss fight against a darkness-possessed Emperor Zurg spaceship toy.

After Toy Box segment, Ienzo and co. give info on a "Key to Restore Hearts", the true form of the fabled “X-Blade” meant to bring a stable balance between the powers of Light and Darkness + can bring back hearts under certain conditions.  Roxas, or reasons even he doesn’t know, really feels it important to find that Key and use it on long-lost Keyblade Wielder Ventus.

Kingdom of Corona = SDG are drawn into aiding Flynn Rider as he’s stuck having to guide Rapunzel to the central kingdom so that she can see the floating lanterns on her birthday, but as she’s never been outside her tower before, the outside world is constantly distracting her; Rapunzel is one of the future Princesses, so Marluxia allies himself with Mother Gothel in order to ensure that Rapunzel is kept in place: the level ends after a boss fight against Gothel’s Heartless. Rapunzel is one of the new Princesses of Heart.

After Kingdom of Corona segment, Sora returns to Destiny Islands, finds Master’s Defender buried in the sand somewhere there; Xehanort appears, likens the islands to his old home world, and summons Ansem and Xemnas to attack Sora; Riku and Mickey appear to save him; double boss fight against Ansem and Xemnas ensues while Mickey fights off Xehanort; Xehanort retreats; there is an interlude soon-after where Anti-Aqua senses someone has found the key to her home, which she solemnly says she can’t return to.

Monstropolis = SDG visit Monsters Incorporated, where they have to aid CEO James P. Sullivan and his friend Mike Wazowski in getting the child they call Boo back to the door leading to her own world as Unversed attack the company; Randall Boggs, working with Vanitas, attempts a hostile takeover of the company and tries to kill his opposition many times; the level ends after a boss fight with a giant Unversed and a confrontation with Vanitas in which Sully yeets him through a door.

After Monstropolis segment, Ienzo talks with Restoration Committee in Twilight Town about research on Replicas that he’s wanting to start, and he wonders where Even eer went off to. Vexen arrives at the Keyblade Graveyard, explains his reasons for being there, and is initiated into the Dark Seekers.

Sora learns from Xehanort in Toy Box that the XIII are made up of dark hearts pulled from different space-time zones and inserted into Hollow Replica vessels and they are seeking to take advantage of other dark hearts to power their Heartless in stealing hearts, learns from Vanitas in Monstropolis about the existence and fate of Ventus (who Roxas somehow knows of), and learns from Luxord in the Caribbean that the XIII is also looking for the Black Box.

Arendelle = SDG pursue the runaway queen-to-be Elsa, as her magic freezing powers have gone out of control and cast her kingdom into a freak winter; Elsa’s younger sister Anna is one of the new Princesses, and Larxene suspects Elsa might be one too, but since Elsa also has great capacity for Darkness, Larxene wishes to make events play out that will lead Elsa to choosing her path as either of Princess of Heart or a Seeker of Darkness; Elsa seems to choose Darkness, but then just to be sure, Larxene conspires with Hans, one whose heart is even darker, to get him to oppose Elsa and see what that brings out of her; the level ends after a boss fight against a giant wolf-like Heartless created from the Darkness in Hans’ heart, as it becomes clear that both Anna and Elsa are future Princesses of Heart.

After Arendelle segment, there’s a segment where Sora is called about Merlin having found Winnie The Pooh’s book in Twilight Town and goes back to visit 100 Acre Wood for mini-games in Rabbit’s Garden; the game then switches POVs to Kairi, Riku, Mickey and Pluto as Saix and Axel attack Twilight Town looking to sabotage/steal data from computer in Mansion; double boss fight against Saix and Axel ensues; Saix and Axel driven off while Vexen obtains data but contemplates keeping it for himself.

Namine makes only a few appearances, but contributes her own power to Kairi and encourages her to connect her heart to the other Princesses, one of which turns out to be a wayward Princess Merida, the other a Mystery Girl, and later helps with Lingering Will at the Keyblade Graveyard; Kairi also regrets having to break her promise to stay by Sora's side and has to come to terms with how to manage this and strengthen her own heart alone while keeping her connections.

The XIII's master reveals that all the Dark Seekers outside the XIII are to be sacrificial pawns to further strengthen their forces, that while only half the XIII have Keyblades, the half without Keyblades could be able to transform their own weapons into Keyblades in due time, that stolen hearts are to be sacrificed to abyss created within the Dark Realm through a Keyhole that can only be opened and closed by 7 hearts of Light, and that the Key to Restore Hearts is the centerpiece of the plan’s completion, but it can only be found locked away within a Black Box in whereabouts unknown; Anti-Aqua fights to extract those hearts but her own heart gets more corrupted as she does. She begins to give in.

The Caribbean = SDG sail off the edge of the world and land in Davy Jones’ Locker, where they meet with Jack, Will, Elizabeth, Gibbs, Barbossa, and Tia Dalma, and the situation involving Lord Cutler Beckett and Davy Jones is explained to them; Beckett’s ownership over Jones’ heart also gets him hordes of Heartless allies, and he’s said to be searching for “the Keyhole to the Caribbean Seas”; Luxord believes the box that contains Davy Jones’ heart might also be the mysterious Black Box they’ve heard about, so he’s thrown his own Heartless and Nobody forces in with Beckett’s; the level ends after a boss fight with Davy Jones w/ the zombie Krakken, and Beckett’s demise.

After The Caribbean segment, SDG find the Black Box within depths of Castle Oblivion; Vanitas finds the Chamber of Awakening with Ventus but can’t reach him; Sora opens the Black Box to find instructions of how to construct the Key to Restore Hearts and seal away an entity known as Darxomnious; Vanitas boss fight happens; SDG escape while Vanitas gets sealed off in a chamber.

Even had pretended to join up with the Dark Seekers as Vexen but is actually loyal to Ienzo and eventually gets Demyx to defect from Dark Seekers, leaving the XIII one member short. Ansem the Wise's ghost also appears to Ienzo in digital form; wishes to help return Radiant Garden to its former glory and pass on leadership to Ienzo so that his spirit can at last rest in peace.

San Fransokyo = SDG join up with Big Hero 6 as they fight Hollow Replicas, Heartless and Nobodies around the city and try to resolve a crisis with their systems; Xion is the culprit; reveals herself as a replica of Sora who never existed in this reality but has been given new life via Darxomnious; materializes the first combat chip Hiro made for Baymax and then brings out the original Baymax model which has lost it’s heart; Sora and Hiro must fight/kill Dark Baymax.

After the first Caribbean or San Fransokyo segments, SDG travel to Keyblade Graveyard to finish completing the Key to Restore Hearts; encounter the Lingering Will, who reveals who/what he truly is; Sora uses completed Key on him so that he may form his own heart, allowing him to move beyond his post; the XIII's master appears, unhooding himself and revealing himself as the human host of Darxomnious; he overpowers them in a skirmish, but lets them go since the fated time has yet not arrived.

After all world quests and Key to Restore Hearts are completed, Sora meets with Kairi and Riku at Destiny Islands and they travel to the Realm of Darkness to save Aqua; Riku and Kairi contend with Dark Master Eraqus there while Sora faces Anti-Aqua; Anti-Aqua is now corrupted and vengeful; after boss fight with Anti-Aqua, Sora restores Aqua’s heart back to Light and she agrees to join the Guardians of Light despite still being outwardly a Darkling with a dark power set.

SDG and Aqua decide to reform Ven’s heart; Roxas realizes that he is Ven's spiritual reincarnation born from the part of Sora’s heart that Ven’s heart melded with and faded into years ago; the group goes back to Castle Oblivion and restore it back to Land of Departure, but it's now swarming with Unversed; Aqua fights Vanitas once more; Sora uses Roxas + Key to Restore Hearts to give Ven new life; Vanitas retreats; Ventus joins the Guardians of Light.

Group consisting of Sora/Roxas, Kairi/Namine, Riku, Mickey, Terra (Lingering Will), Aqua, and Ventus, plus Donald and Goofy (and Jiminy and Pluto) for support, return to Twilight Town to find it besieged by enemies sent by the Dark Seekers; big fight occurs; everyone then assembles at Yen Sid's Tower to go over their plan for ending the Dark Seekers and protecting the World’s Light(s).

Group heads to the Keyblade Graveyard the following day; Darxomnious’ host appears with the rest of the XIII and tells about how since it was prophecized that in this place, Light would fall before Darkness, that is what is fated to be; group faces another onslaught of Darklings, Heartless, Nobodies, Unversed, and Hollow Replicas under Darxomnious' control; Maleficent, Leon, and even Yen Sid appear with allies to aid in battle and pave a way for the Guardians of Light to advance. Guardians split up into groups of 3 each for this stage; Sora can take 2 others to go with him.

The XIII has captured the new Princesses and are using them to open the Keyhole to Darkness; Guardians of Light free Princesses and seal the Keyhole/ free all the hearts being sacrificed to it; Darxomnious reveals it was all a trap to gather 7 Lights and 13 Darknesses together so that their powers could form a Dark X-Blade for his own use; Darxomnious is an aggregation of the darkest hearts who desires the World of Light’s distortion so that all hearts may succumb to Darkness, giving him unlimited hearts to feast upon; human Terra-Xehanort is revealed as the new 13th Darkness and has been made the strongest of them all; Guardians "die" one by one until only Sora is left; Sora’s overwhelmed; Darxomnious gains his X-Blade and attempts to unlock Kingdom Hearts with it; Sora uses his own to counter; chain reaction occurs, X-Blades shatter, and everyone gets transported elsewhere in a flash.

Within the Final World, Sora is guided by Chirithy + nameless stars to find his friends' spirits for revival; encounters Darxomnious; Darxomnious' vessel is revealed to be Master Luxu, an ancient Keyblade Master who'd accidentally unleashed Darxomnious from his imprisonment inside the Black Box ages ago; Darxomnious' dark power is what birthed all Darklings and lay waste to the World during the Keyblade War before it was revived by Light and he was imprisoned by the Dandelion Guild; Luxu has become dependent on Darxomnious' power for life, so he beckons him back into his heart; the truth of Kingdom Hearts is soon revealed; the moon was a shell containing life energy when the universe was created; moon broke apart to bring light to the surrounding darkness, and along with it came hearts that were born into denizens; the true Kingdom Hearts is a metaphor for everyone’s hearts, each heart being a piece of the original whole, light and dark alike.

Groups break through Kingdom Hearts and wind up in Scala Ad Caelum, the Nexis from which all worlds spring; Darxomnious/Luxu traverses to highest tower to rejuvenate his X-Blade and materialize Kingdom Hearts over sky; Guardians of Light clash with the XIII all across the town; 11 of the XIII are disposed of*, leaving Xehanort and Darxomnious/Luxu remaining: Xehanort w/ Ansem and Xemnas hold Guardians off as Darxomnious/Luxu summons Kingdom Hearts; SDG make it up in time; Darxominous turns Luxu into a Darkling form = penultimate boss; SDG fight Armored Darkling!Luxu across land, water, and sky of Scala Ad Caelum until he is vanquished; Darxomnious flees back to roof of highest tower where Kingdom Hearts appears in full in the sky above; Xehanort pleads with Darxomnious to allow him to become his new vessel and he agrees; Darxomnort merges all Darklings, Heartless, Nobodies, Unversed, and Hollow Replicas into himself; becomes final boss; using his new power, he pulls all Guardians of Light back into the Final World through Kingdom Hearts, creates replicas of the XIII for them to fight all at once; Darxomnort heads towards giant keyhole to suck out the Light of Kingdom Hearts and fill it with Darkness; Mickey takes a stand, destroys all the replicas, and propels Sora forward for final showdown with Darxomnort, who draws all the XIII’s darkness into himself and they manifest as Keyblades around him; first phases is a one-on-one Sora VS Darxomnort clash; after first phase, Darxomnort says he’d desired all along to take all the World's Darkness upon himself and bring about the extinction of all life in the World; with the Light of Kingdom Hearts in his possession, the World could then be reborn in a distorted state with Darxomnort's and Kingdom Hearts' power forever merged so that Light will be eternally in the shadow of Darkness and Darxomnort will reign over all hearts and worlds; second phase is fought against full Kingdom Hearts moon backdrop with Riku and Kairi joining Sora in the fight; when Sora, Kairi, and Riku make their finishing move, Darxomnort blocks it and nearly kills Sora but Sora is helped back by Donald and Goofy; SDG use Trinity Attack to take down Darxomnort, blasting him backwards into the Kingdom Hearts moon just as it starts to burn out, disintegrating him into a dark void.

Terra, Aqua, and Ven make a big sacrifice with their own hearts and the thread of fate connecting them, to fix Sora’s X-Blade so it can restore and seal Kingdom Hearts before the universe is engulfed in the dark void; Keyblade Graveyard is destroyed; all ancient Keyblades combine power with True X-Blade; Sora calls out to all hearts across all worlds for help; “My friends...ARE MY POWER!”; void implodes and fully wipes out Darxomnious once and for all; Kingdom Hearts is sealed; True X-Blade is destroyed and cannot be reforged; Sora can do nothing to stop Terra, Aqua, and Ven from getting separated and returning to their fated domains; Terra must stay in the Bad Lands to guard the Realm of Light; Aqua must stay on Dark Beach to guard the Realm of Darkness; Ven must stay in Land of Departure to guard the Realm In-Between; but their hearts remain connected so they can always speak to each other through the Wayfinders.

Mickey and co. return home to Disney Castle; Isa, Lae, Myde, Dolur, Lauriam, and Elrena wake up in Twilight Town; Xion is also in Twilght Town and befriends Hayner, Pence, and Olette; Ienzo takes over as ruler of Radiant Garden; Even and his team are researching Replicas and making new vessels for hearts to inhabit; Maleficent and Pete depart on quest through time; Jiminy’s Journal gets filled with info from the Book of Prophecies + thousands of names of Keyblade wielders are deciphered; Gummi Ship picks people up for a Beach Party on Destiny Islands; Sora + Kairi romance confirmed with them, half a Paopu fruit in hand, kissing while bathed in the setting sunlight = The End, Roll Credits

No regular epilogue; Secret Epilogue shows four cloaked and helmed “Lost Masters”, having traveled to this point in time from their own, gathering at the former Keyblade Graveyard, where now only one Keyblade remains - No-Name; it’s remarked that Luxu played his destined part in destroying Darxomnious forever, though not in the way any of them had hoped/anticipated, and with the price of Luxu’s life; another then appears, none other than the mysterious Sixth Princess of Heart; she says they will now ready things for the coming of their Master, so that the “true 7 lights” can return to impose their order upon the World; unknown to them, Maleficent and Pete, who followed them through time, are listening in; the scene ends as a large shadow falls upon the land below, a shadow in a Sora-like shape that just grows and grows until it’s gotten big enough to cover nearly everything (implication: Vanitas returned to the Darkness and is evolving into something new in order to fill the power vacuum in the Dark Realm that Darxomnious left behind...)

* Luxord, Marluxia, and Larxene are fought in one corner of the town - they fade away with their hearts restored and assurance that they’ll be returned whole; Braig, Xehanort, and Dark Riku Replica are fought in the other corner of the town - Xehanort is a fake-out who leaves the fight early, Braig realizes he’s never getting that Keyblade he was promised so he accepts his end, and Riku Replica dies being told that while all parts of him that were dark and false will fade from existence, the part of him that was real, his heart, will endure and stay with Riku forever; Saix, Axel, and Xion are fought on east level of towers - with their hearts restored as they’re fading, the three of them promise to make amends to one another and to Sora/Roxas in their next life, with Sora/Roxas and Kairi/Namine promising to keep memory of Xion so that she can be revived; Terra-Xehanort, Eraqus, and Vanitas are fought on west level of towers - Eraqus fades while giving Ven and Aqua the apology he couldn’t give them before and asks that they tell Terra that the three of them all show a Mark of Mastery that he never did, Eraqus’ fading triggers something in Terra-Xehanort’s Guardian, allowing Lingering Will (with Namine’s help) to send his heart through it and completely purge Master Xehanort’s heart so that Terra reclaims his body, and Vanitas fades away after acknowledging that while he never had a choice in how he was brought into the world, he can choose what he wants to be, and he chooses to be Darkness.

VOICE CAST: Sora - Hayley Joel Osment Kairi - Hayden Panettiere Riku - David Gallagher Roxas - Jesse McCartney Namine - Meaghan Jette Martin Terra - Jason Dohring Aqua - Willa Holland Ventus - Jesse McCartney

Master Luxu - Hector Elizondo Xehanort - Ben Diskin Vanitas - Hayley Joel Osment Braig - James Patrick Stuart Dark Master Eraqus - Mark Hamill Saix - Kirk Thornton Axel - Quinton Flynn Demyx - Ryan O' Donohue Luxord - Robin Atkin-Downes Marluxia - Keith Ferguson Larxene - Shanelle Grey Xion - Hayden Panettiere Riku Replica - David Gallagher Ansem/Terra-Xehanort - Richard Epcar Xemnas - Paul St. Peter

Even - Derek Stephen Prince Ienzo - Vince Corazza Hayner - Justin Cowden Pence- Sean Marquette Olette - Jessica DiCicco Chirithy - Lara Jill Miller Nameless Star - Maddison Davenport Ansem the Wise - Christopher Lee Master Xehanort - Christopher Lloyd Leon/Squall - Doug Erholtz Yuffie - Mae Whitman Aerith - Andrea Bowen Cid - Chris Edgerly Rinoa - Skyler Davenport Cloud - Steve Burton Tifa - Rachel Leigh Cook Yuna - Hedy Burress Rikku - Tara Strong Paine - Gwendoline Yeo Lightning - Ali Hillis Sephiroth - George Newbern

King Mickey - Brett Iwan Donald Duck - Tony Anselmo Goofy (and Pluto) - Bill Farmer Jiminy Cricket - Joe Ochman Chip - Tress McNelle Dale - Corey Burton Pete - Jim Cummings Maleficent - Susan Blakeslee Queen Minnie - Russi Taylor Scrooge McDuck - Alan Young

(Uncredited is Frank Welker as the sounds and few words of Darxomnious)

(The five Lost Masters in the Secret Epilogue have no voice actors, as this is the first time they’d ever be seen outside of the X/UX spinoff - their lines are in text only. They are also different from the Foretellers we actually have in Nomura’s canon)

[chiegaming]

Press X to Not Die (XBLIG/Steam/itch, 2015)

Following me beating Not For Broadcast last time on where I used to log these, I wanted to look into more FMV games, at least the less known ones. Enter me finding a notably well-received indie game at a lowly 75 cents and one half-hour playthrough later and here we are! I'm, really not sure what I was expecting.

So Press X to Not Die prides itself on being this ode to 90s FMV games but in a weird twist of fate or, whatever, it feels a lot closer to being representative of the micro-niche Xbox Live Indie Game FMV games or just most of XBLIG in general. Only, it managed to slip through the cracks and get a PC port so as to not let it fade into obscurity with all the other stuff that was being dumped on there.

This might need a bit more context actually. XBLIG was a service for the Xbox 360 that saw a lot of very, particular kinds of jank games.

remember what they took from you... I almost want to compare it to a weird fusion between Newgrounds Flash games and the bootleg asset flips that seemed really prevalent on mobile services during the 2010s, it's such a particular vibe that really hasn't been replicated anywhere since, even just for the sake of a gag.

note: none of these are the X button.

So Press X to Not Die really stands out to me from the perspective of someone that grew up watching YouTubers playing these things that seemed to be created in complete isolation by amateurs. It's almost surreal to be actively playing something that actually started from there (that isn't by Silver Dollar anyway) The button prompts are the same kinda gross looking X360 buttons, most of the dialogue is so ludicrously outdated, I had sincerely thought the game was originally made in 2013. These guys were really out here making Hunger Games and Twilight jokes in 2015, it really feels like it was written by a redditor that got frozen in time. Even the protag is just this really average dudebro, there's dialogue choices on occasion but there's nothing to really dictate his behavior outside of the occasional chance to get 'lolrandom' with it.

The changes between shots are super rigid and it gets particularly bad during 1-on-1 fights that take more than a couple prompts to proceed. Not that I can really blame the devs because the first-person nature of the filming and how it's being used was going to make it very shaky regardless.

Pictured: this game's attempt at a Punch-Out!! fight. Now imagine this but violently shaking I dunno if it's enough to lead to motion sickness or anything but it does make scenes where anyone's up close to the camera incredibly awkward (as I hope you can tell). Aside from one choice that is Very weird, the game's not offensive or anything, it just tries really, really hard, harder than even most XBLIG games I remember. Half the time I couldn't help being kind of enamored by it because it's just so desperate, the Awesome Sauce is just leaking from it like a gross, oily sludge.

The plot's at least kind of interesting. Most of the population becomes incessantly violent (so vaguely zombie-like but not really) as a result of a government science experiment gone wrong and it's only the Gamers of the world that aren't affected (yes really) It ties directly into the core gameplay loop which is literally just pressing whatever combination of buttons it demands at the given moment. It's easy to assume it was just an excuse to justify the game's existence but it does get pretty close to almost being commentary on the perception of games as a whole. It's the absolute minimum of what can be considered a game to a lot of people, there's fail states, quite a few, actually. They're even neatly categorized in the extras menu after you beat the game to ensure you this is not just a movie that you gotta press buttons to resume!

But yeah, this was certainly an uh, experience? Writing this did lead me to discover there's actually quite a few XBLIG games that have made it to Steam so that's pretty cool. Aside from that uhh, yeah, I dunno. I'm gonna go back to playing Tekken or something. Steam itch

[athousandbyeol]

💫:

@a-slut-for-vegaspete @seatawinans @first-kanaphan @daymork <3

the video premiere starts in less than 15 minutes. have fun watching <3

[themattress]

Everything wrong with the series heroines’ scenes in Kingdom Hearts III

Because it is legit fascinating how horrendously sexist this game’s writing is.

SCENE: Kairi and Lea, post-Twilight Town

- "I'm training to become a Keyblade wielder like you".  Right off the bat, we have something wrong. Kairi apparently needs formal Keyblade training in order to be a “real Keyblade wielder’ like Sora and Riku. Except that Sora and Riku didn’t receive formal Keyblade training - it was just fine and dandy for them to pick up a Keyblade, start slinging it, and become a master at it through their adventures. But a GIRL doing the same? Oh no, we can’t have that!

- "That's right. No more waiting for you to come back from your adventures. I want to get out there and do my part to help."  This is bullshit, because this was a development that Kairi already made in KH2! Seriously, talk to her before entering the door to Kingdom Hearts and she outright said “I’m tired of waiting, from now on where one of us goes the other follows!” and the epilogue is framed as if Sora, Riku and Kairi will be going on an adventure together now. But then Nomura and Oka decided “NAAAAH!”, retconned this in BBS’ secret ending by having Kairi meekly agree to just wait behind for Sora and Riku again, and are continuing this degradation of her character here, where she only steps up when Yen Sid calls for her to.

- "I'll admit I was a little scared of him at first, but I've gotten to know him better. All he ever wanted was to help his friend. Honestly, it's hard not to like him." Fuck this. Axel didn’t want to help his friend, Axel wanted to help himself. Roxas, the friend he betrayed, made him feel like he had a heart. Axel wanted that feeling back, and was willing to harm Kairi and Sora to get it back. He was a selfish bastard, and this whitewashing of his character in order to pander to his popularity is disgusting, especially when at the expense of his past victim. The line given to her of “It’s hard not to like him” is especially wretch-inducing. I sure as Hell don’t like him!

- "It won't be easy, but I hope you'll remain the happy and cheerful Sora I know. There's no heart your smile can't reach." Schmaltzy, forced SoKai crap right here. Remember how good and subtle the writing in the original KH was? Where all Kairi needed to say was “Sora, don’t ever change” and that said SO MUCH about her character and her relationship with him?

- "But I won't send it. It's more for me. I just like talking to Sora, even if it's on paper." OK, now you’re just making Kairi and her feelings for Sora look pathetic. In KH2, when she couldn’t remember Sora, she still sent him a letter in a bottle that she wrote, having faith that it would reach him. And now I’m expected to believe she’s too shy to send a letter to Sora now?

- "You're sweat, Lea." God, I think I’m going to be sick!

- "Don't hold back, Lea. Promise?" A contrived line in order to use Kairi for Xion-related angst for Lea to go through. By that same token, Xion is also being used for a man’s development.

- "Call me Axel from now on."  This is so fucked up! A girl tells the older man who once kidnapped her that she’s not comfortable with his constant apologies. The man doesn’t respectfully stop, he instead tells his former kidnap victim that he’ll only stop doing this thing that makes her uncomfortable “one one condition” - that she begin calling him by the name she knew him by when he kidnapped her! WTF!? In what universe is this appropriate!?

SCENE: Aqua and the two Ansems, post-Monstropolis

- "Don't need it!" And thus begins Aqua’s degradation into a joke in this game - she attacks a powerful Heartless without her Keyblade, and shockingly is owned in two seconds flat and turned into a Darkling. There’s being brave, and then there’s being dumb. This...is dumb.

SCENE: Kairi and Lea, post-The Caribbean.

- "Now that she's a part of me again, I figured all was right. But she can't look at this forest, feel the wind on her face, none of it. And if she could, it would be different for her. Her time was short, but she lived it, and that makes it hers. What right did I have to take those feelings and experiences back? They don't belong to me. Nothing's as it should be. Not for her or Roxas."  FUCK THIS. This pisses me off so much. I loved the happy ending of KH2, including for Roxas and Namine. But now it’s been retconned so that it wasn’t a happy ending, that they didn’t retain their individuality from within Sora and Kairi despite what was clearly said and shown in KH2′s ending, and it’s a terrible fate that they must be “saved” from to end their “hurt”. And Kairi is now blaming herself for it - “what right did I have to take those feelings and experiences back”? Oh, I don’t know - maybe you had a right because Namine wanted it and fucking extended her hand to you so that she could rejoin with you!? Remember that!? I guess not, since otherwise the game would remember that it was said/shown that Namine would still exist and be able to experience things and keep hold of her own feelings and experiences. But that might create lots of bonding scenes between Kairi and Namine, and we can’t have that, can we? This series is all about the MALE bonding!

- "Well, you don't have to worry alone anymore, Axel." GAAAAAAAH!!!

SCENE: Anti-Aqua in the Realm of Darkness

- Just...everything. From Anti-Aqua being treated as a villain that must be defeated rather than reasoned with even when the entire breaking speech she gives to Mickey is objectively true and well-deserved, from Sora needing to beat the shit out of her in order to save her, and from the hollow “you’re home” callback to the KH2 ending, with Sora in place of Kairi (are they going for a Sora/Aqua pedophilia ship tease here?) and Kairi herself nowhere in sight, not being a part of rescuing Aqua despite being allegedly her counterpart in the Destiny Trio. At the end of KH2 and even at the end of this game’s opening FMV, we had Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald and Goofy. Thus, Kairi’s absence is glaring (and not for the last time!)

SCENE: Castle Oblivion becomes Land of Departure again

- "Ven's expecting me. I promised to wake him. Said I'd be right back, but I'm not even close. I'm in for an earful." But Ven’s heart wasn’t in his body when you promised that! Why would he remember that promise or be expecting anything from you!? And the way you’re phrasing it (”in for an earful”) makes it sound as if you’re the child and he’s the adult! What the Hell!?

- "Why? Your heart never found its way home?" Did Sora really not tell her!?

- "Sorry, but you've seen me too weak, too often. Now it's my turn to shine." Where to begin? This notorious line is woodenly delivered right before a fight with Vanitas where Aqua is playable. She is saying it to Sora, basically admitting that this is a matter of ego and that she wants to show off in front of him (again, creepy pedophilic ship vibes here). Also, “you’ve seen me too weak, too often”? He literally just met you, and you were pretty damn strong when fighting him as Anti-Aqua! And after the playable fight is over, Vanitas blasts at Ven, Aqua jumps in front of the blast and has time to deflect it with her Keyblade or barrier magic...but she doesn’t, gets knocked out, and has to be saved by Sora and Ven. Weak!

- "Good morning, Ven." Wow, such an emotional reunion! (That’s sarcasm, btw.)

SCENE: Gathering at Yen Sid's Tower before the final battle

- Again, everything. Aqua and Kairi’s interaction is pathetically brief and only revolves around “Hey, remember when we met in BBS? That was a thing.” Plus bringing up the bullshit retcon of Aqua enchanting Kairi’s necklace, Mickey somehow not having pieced together that the little girl was Kairi until now, Lea whining that this talk is taking time away from him and his narcissistic entitlement complex, and more “Roxas and Namine need to be saved” crap.

SCENE: Land of Departure at night

- "It's like I've been part of some big adventure." This scene features Aqua and Ventus. But it’s only about Ventus, and his X connections. Aqua is nothing but a springboard for him.

SCENE: Paopu Tree on Destiny Islands

- "I want to be a part of your life no matter what. That's all." Except that Kairi already IS a part of Sora’s life no matter what. This has been true since the events of the original KH, where she inhabited his heart. The paopu sharing was never meant to be a literal thing to happen when it was conceived, it was symbolic, it was smart writing. This is dumb, and forced.

- "Let me keep you safe." This line isn’t going to have much payoff. In fact, between this and her dialogue in her letter at the very start, it’s sounding a lot like many a poor unfortunate shonen heroine who will pay lip service to getting stronger and helping the boys, and then ultimately proves useless when it comes down to it. Three guesses as to where this is going.

SCENE: Terranort appears

- EVERYTHING. The sheer incompetence displayed by Aqua and Kairi in this scene must be seen to be believed. Both of them have Keyblades, and neither of them use them. Unreal.

SCENE: Kairi brings Sora back

- "The light in the darkness. It was you. You're the one who kept me from fading away." Get it!? Because it’s like the first KH! Where Kairi was the light in the darkness who kept Sora from fading as a Heartless! And the scenery and music is literally straight from the scene where she showed him the memory of her grandmother’s story! ‘Member that fantastic scene? ‘Member? ‘MEMBER? Isn’t this coming full circle? Isn’t this poignant? (No. It’s not.)

- "I feel strong with you, Kairi." This line right here shows the big problem with Kairi in this game - she has nothing to offer for herself, she only has something to offer Sora. She is used for Sora’s role and development, as he says: to make him strong, all while she stays weak. 

SCENE: The Finale

- EVERY FUCKING THING. Larxene implies she was only part of the Organization because of her feelings for a man.  Aqua gets beaten by Terranort and has to be saved by Terra (which on it’s own wouldn’t be so bad, seeing as Sora and Ven are in the same boat, but it’s her last battle in the game after having lost all the other ones and she loses AGAIN). Kairi, after just half a battle as a party member, gets beaten by Xion and then kidnapped by Xemnas. Xion, who only shows up now, is again used as a prop for Lea, then gets beaten down by Xemnas and needs to be saved by Roxas, and then is a pitifully weak party member in the battle against Saix while Roxas is overpowered. Kairi is fucking killed by Xehanort in order to give Sora “proper motivation” and thus achieve his goal, meaning Kairi was more useful to the villain than to the heroes. Xion does nothing but say an out-of-left-field line about something she shouldn’t possibly know. Aqua is basically told by Eraqus that she shouldn’t have been named Master and that Terra should have (”Take care of them” - Eraqus to Terra about Aqua and Ven). Namine only shows up in the last seconds of the game, without any dialogue. And for the final slap in the face, Kairi is resurrected offscreen, only to lose Sora as a result of it.

Amazing. Literally every scene featuring these girls had something to demean them in it. KH3 is the absolute embodiment of the KH series’ woman problem. Hardcore fans can deny it all they want, they can accuse me of being a stupid hater or a killjoy or an SJW or what-have-you, but they cannot change the truth. And the truth is that Tetsuya Nomura is a sexist hack.

[jetlukeheart]

the human sense || jjk & pjm (a)

A casual stroll on the beach may have turned his life upside down, as Jungkook ended up being saved by a merman, going by the name Jimin.

(cr.) x (cr.)

❀ genre: angst {merman!jimin}. ❀ word count: 6,1k+ Spotify playlist | Youtube playlist

insp. (all creds basically go to this person, bless them for making this amazing FMV ♥)

His footsteps felt heavy and the sand of the beach found its way into his neglected shoes. When he looked to his right, he saw how the sun and the sky gave his city and its buildings a pink and purple glow. When he looked to his left, the sun was breaking the atmosphere and the sky lit up with beautiful pastel colours. Clouds were scattered around the heaven and it was probably one of the most beautiful sights he had ever experienced.

Not that he went out a lot, but from what Jungkook had seen of the world and its nature, twilight must be one of his favourite things to witness. It isn’t something that comes around the corner every day, it’s something that appears from time to time. A few weeks ago, his geography teacher tried to explain what it takes for a twilight to appear, but Jungkook was stupid enough not to care and now here he is, wondering how this weather could be possible.

He didn’t notice his feet had brought him to a cliff, the rock leaning over the ocean like a wave, but standing still. Hundreds of thoughts went through Jungkook’s mind right now. The tornado of words didn’t make any sense to him, nothing appeared into his head in the right order, but he honestly couldn’t care less. Life was a mess, and so were his thoughts.

Young Jungkook sat down at the edge and let his feet bungle over it. He knew no one would be at the beach at such a strange time. That’d be ridiculous, unless you were a kid named Jeon Jungkook.

Someone who’s life was a mess, a fuck up. The outcast of his class, his entire school. The only one to care enough for such a sucker, was his best friend Taehyung, but even Taehyung wasn’t enough to make Jungkook feel better about himself again. Not completely.

Never had the boy received the love he deserved from his family. Never had the boy got the respect a decent human-being needed to live a normal life. Never had the boy discovered his true talents, so he could spend time and put his heart and soul into something similar to a hobby. Jungkook lived an empty life, one at home, one at school, one at work.

Ah, work. Doing the dishes, always late at night in some chic restaurant. Jungkook still wonders why they hired him. Was it out of pity? It was Taehyung’s father who ran the place after all, and it wasn’t like Jungkook showed much motivation and positive spirits when showing up to apply for the job. It did pay well though, better than you’d expect from doing dishes, cleansing crockery and throwing away left-overs. Not a dream job, but Jungkook’s parents were still glad he basically did something with his life.

Yeah, like doing the dishes would become his profession. Sure. Although he worked at the same place as Taehyung, who was a waiter at the restaurant, it didn’t add much love, respect or positive thinking into his life. The only thing that was added, was money on his bank account. And even that disappeared little by little because of the monthly health insurance and the driving lessons he took. One of the few things he might have a little bit of skill in.

Jungkook stared off again, zoning out a bit as he went over his boring, sad life. Teens who wouldn’t leave him alone at school, parents only nagging and worrying about him, a best friend that tried so hard to make him feel happiness again, but unfortunately, that all went in vain. It all sounded so sad and honestly, Jungkook hadn’t been feeling great lately. The teasing at school got worse and it somehow turned into bullying, because it just wouldn’t stop. It became a repeating process, you could almost name it a daily routine.

Meanwhile, he hadn’t noticed the twilight slowly disappearing and grey clouds had just started to turn up. After a long, warm, summer day, all the condensed water turned up in clouds and the weather started to worsen in seconds. The sudden turn of events made Jungkook finally look up and he noticed how the wind raged across his body, how the first droplets of rain fell on his face when he looked up and how the waves beneath his feet reached the rocks almost halfway already.

A slightly scared breath left the boy’s mouth as he tried to stand up, ready to leave the place where the situation got a bit too dangerous to stay.

But one misstep on his loose shoelace made him tumble back and almost trip over his own feet again. He stayed still for a while, letting the pain on his hands and knees sink in. He even felt his face scrape slightly across the ground, sand and stones leaving faint scars on his left cheek. He felt how his head started to feel light and his sight got a bit blurry. But that didn’t held Jungkook back from trying to get back up again, so he could leave.

With low grumbles and huffs and puffs, he got up. But dear Mother Nature clearly didn’t pity the living and sent a strong of gust right into Jungkook’s face, pushing him back and making him trip over the edge of the cliff. A horrendous scream left his mouth and Jungkook faced the sky as he fell down of quite a long distance. In films, it looked like a split second before someone would hit the ground after taking a great fall, but for Jungkook it felt like ages.

Dramatically enough, moments of life flashed by as he faced the grey heavens, raindrops still hitting his face and body.

And then the hit of the water came. It kicked out every single bit of air of Jungkook’s lungs and darkness immediately surrounded him. He could barely register anything anymore. Not the water which made him wet from head to toe, not the coldness embracing his warm body, not the pain coursing through his veins. He had hit the water so hard, he went unconscious in a second and didn’t realise this would be the end of life. Probably.

Because, the last thing that could be remembered Jungkook, was a pair of warm arms hugging his body, before the last bits of air left his mouth and he tuned out.

-

‘’Remember your life is something you have been gifted not twice, not thrice, but only once. Make the best out of it, don’t let the times you have been pushed down get you in the way of making something of the phenomenon called human life. Because one human life is worth so much, it’s something special, something really unique. Seven billion other people share this with you, living a human life, but there are seven billion different lives being lived right now. You’re one of a kind, you’re something else and you should be told this every day in fact. You can do it, you can make it, turn your dreams into plans, and fulfil them.

Live, Jungkook, live life.’’

-

Jungkook gasped for air as his body launched forward. Multiple coughs escaped from his mouth and he felt his lungs burn, head feeling light and body wet and almost numb. What was going on?

He remembered falling down, he definitely didn’t imagine that. And the water which embraced him shortly after it. He couldn’t have dreamt it all, but why was he on the beach again? The chance Jungkook could’ve survived it on his own, was, like, zero percent. And still, here he was, looking at the sunrise of a beautiful Sunday morning. Did he spend the night at the beach? Really? Out in the open? So many questions popped up into his mind, and the fact he didn’t receive any answers right away, made him feel like crazy.

And then the arms that embraced him. What was that all about? Jungkook wasn’t even sure if that really happened, because he thought he really was gone after hitting the water, but the small part where arms hugged his fragile body, that was something he could clearly remember. He could easily replay the fragment.

Maybe his brain played tricks with him, maybe it didn’t. But still, although he was wet from head to toe and his body was sticky, sand on every single part of his body and he had the need to shower, he felt pretty okay.

At least, that was what he thought, because the realisation what really happened to him hadn’t hit Jungkook yet.

He looked at the sea again and sighed slightly, sitting upright and leaning on his arms. As he squeezed his eyes a bit because of the sun and its brightness, his eyes had focused themselves on a small part of the water. Bubbles started to pop up and not a second later, a head appeared. Jungkook couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman, and he didn’t care actually, because the only thing that went through his mind was: ‘Where the hell does this person come from?’

Where did they dive into the water? Is it even possible for someone to hold in their breath that long? Why was the person staring at Jungkook right now? Although the sun made it look like a silhouette, Jungkook knew they faced him at this very moment. He felt his heart skip a beat at the thought of a complete stranger looking at him and he sucked in some air, not letting it go yet.

The person started to shift a bit, before diving underwater again.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Was that fucking tail? A fucking tail, attached to a human?

Jungkook his eyes widened and he crawled back onto his feet immediately, adrenaline cursing through his veins after he had witnessed such a… thing. He was completely speechless and wanted to back off, but after the tail appeared another time and the body of a human came with it, going underwater again, Jungkook’s mouth let a scream slip and he tripped, landing on his butt again.

‘’What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck,’’ he whispered, and he had the sudden urge to cry because of how confused he was. The total ‘what the fuck’-state he was in, was too much for him to handle. First his almost-death-experience, and now a fucking tail attached to a human body.

Did Jungkook just watch a mermaid swim away?

❀

‘’No, Taehyung, please hear me out,’’ Jungkook cried into his phone after he arrived home again. Luckily he didn’t bring the device with him, or otherwise it would’ve been broken too and he’d lost all of the things that was on his phone.

‘’Jungkook, are you high? Do you hear yourself talking? You’re crying, for God’s sake! Who gave you drugs this time? Was it Yoongi again? I swear, I will kick his ass-‘’

‘’Taehyung, please!’’ Jungkook yelled into his phone, tears streaming down his face like a waterfall, panic washing over him. When he went home again from the beach and ran to his bedroom, he knew he needed to call Taehyung about this, because he also knew he couldn’t cope with this on his own.

‘’Sorry, Jungkook, I’m sorry, but-‘’

Jungkook sighed as Taehyung was ready to give him a complete lecture about the use of drugs, while Jungkook knew damn well he didn’t use any. Why wouldn’t Taehyung listen to him? They knew each other since their childhood, knew each other through and through and Taehyung knew when Jungkook lied, told the truth or was high. Not that he was that often, but from time to time, he just needed the feeling of nothing to worry about and forgetting about what kind of fuck up he was. And then there was Yoongi, some other outcast with drugs. Jungkook didn’t call him a friend, just… an acquaintance, from school. And Yoongi was prepared to give Jungkook some drugs when he needed it.

‘’I’m not high, Tae, I promise, can you please come over now?’’ he asked his friend, and it went silent for a good couple of seconds on the other line. Then he heard Taehyung sigh and he shuffled a bit. Jungkook’s eyes flew to the clock on his nightstand and it said it was only 9 am. He must have woken up Taehyung with the call, because he went out partying last night. At least, that is what he had told Jungkook. Taehyung loved to party, in contrast to Jungkook. Jungkook was an anti-social bean and preferred to stay inside all day long, wondering what his life would’ve been if he went outside, but not really making any effort to do so.

Yes, Taehyung loved to party, go out, make friends, go to bed with girls and break their hearts the next morning. How Jungkook managed to keep up with a boy like him, he had no idea, but he did, because Taehyung was there for him, no matter what. Without Taehyung, the bullying at school would be so much worse. Jungkook was thankful he had someone to lean on, someone as stable as Taehyung, who apparently could handle Jungkook’s almost pathetic life. It sounded so sad, yet so true. Taehyung tried to tell him his life wasn’t that miserable, but he didn’t believe a word of what his best friend told him. He wasn’t stupid enough to believe that.

‘’Yes, okay, I’ll be there in fifteen,’’ he said and with a soft, croaky thanks from Jungkook, the line went dead and Jungkook threw his phone on his bed, before sliding down his wall. It’s when he started to sob more, knowing his parents were gone for work already and his brother was staying over at some friend’s house.

The louder the sobs got, the more Jungkook realised how fucked up the situation was. He fell from a fucking cliff, he was supposed to be dead. Dead and probably never meant to be found again, his body drifting away, further and further away from the shore. Eventually he’d just disappear, and no one would’ve known what had happened to that Jeon kid. Did he ran away? To become the teenager who left his town to live his life? But what is there to live for? Jungkook’s life was boring as hell, nothing was worth living for it. Or did Jungkook decide to end his life, somewhere no one would find him? The poor boy started to imagine so many things while being surrounded by his own cries and sobs, hating himself so much.

That was until someone stormed through his door and Taehyung appeared, hair all messy and clothes that weren’t put on properly; jacket half over his shoulder, blouse not buttoned up completely, belt still loose around his jeans and shoelaces not tied. It hasn’t even been ten minutes and Taehyung had already reached his house from the other side of town. He really did try his best to make it to Jungkook as fast as possible.

When Taehyung saw his best friend, looking like a mess on the bedroom floor, he rushed over to sit by his side and pull him into a hug, not saying a word.

The only thing Jungkook smelled while crying into the shoulder of his friend, was the faint smell of alcohol, cigarettes and sweat. It made him shudder briefly, but not long after that, he wrapped his arms around Taehyung’s middle and just totally broke down.

And then the tail. The fucking tail that dove underwater, was it a mermaid Jungkook saw in the sea? But mermaids belong to the fairy tales, mermaids aren’t supposed to be real. Maybe it was just a person wearing diving gear, and Jungkook just added the tail with it. It can’t be a mermaid. It can’t fucking be.

Taehyung started to stroke Jungkook’s hair, because he knew that would calm him down. Well, it had worked before, so Taehyung wouldn’t know why it shouldn’t work now. Maybe he should’ve been more serious over the phone; Jungkook was crying after all. He eventually made it in eight minutes to reach Jungkook’s front door, break into the house and storm through Jungkook’s door, which was a record that was set. He gave a secret, mental high five before focusing on Jungkook again.

‘’It’ll be alright, JK, I’m here now. I’m here,’’ he whispered as Jungkook made those heart-breaking cries and sobs, making Taehyung grimace slightly. He hated seeing him in this kind of state. It didn’t happen often he would totally break down. Not in front of people he didn’t knew that well. So that meant the only one Jungkook felt comfortable enough to cry in front of, was Kim Taehyung.

Over text messages Jungkook would sometimes say how much he hated his life and how he wished he could switch with Taehyung’s life, or he told Taehyung about how no one would miss him when he just went and left everything behind. Then Taehyung had to tell him how much he would miss him, and convince him with these long ass text messages before Jungkook would say thanks rather shy and move on again. One fight with his parents, brother, a bully who had picked on him again and the vicious circle started all over again.

He knew how much Jungkook looked up to him, and he tried so hard to stay strong for the younger boy, but sometimes things were hard for him too. It was devastating, watching someone so important to you slowly slipping through your fingers. It was horrible, but he never left Jungkook’s side. He would never dare to do that, because even though Jungkook mostly needed support, he also received respect, help and support from Jungkook. In contrast to Taehyung, Jungkook was always nice to people, maybe a bit too nice. That’s why people sometimes used him without Jungkook knowing it, people could just use him and Jungkook would never notice or realise it. Not unless Taehyung told him. So helpless, that was how Taehyung described Jungkook when the younger wondered why the world and it’s people were so cruel to him again.

Jungkook finally started to calm down and the sobs just turned into shaky breaths, as he got the time to think things over and try to bring the words in order to tell them to Taehyung.

‘’When you called and cried, I didn’t know it’d be this serious, Jungkook,’’ Taehyung told him as they were still in the position of an embrace.

‘’Sorry, hyung,’’ he apologized and pulled a bit away from Taehyung, not daring to look at him while his whole face was wet and snotty and his eyes puffy, red and that he just basically looked ugly as fuck.

‘’No need to apologise, I’ll just wait and then you can tell me what happened. But only do that when you’re ready, okay?’’ he said and waited a bit for a response. When it stayed quiet for some seconds, Taehyung put his hands on the wet cheeks of Jungkook and he made his brown eyes look into his own.

‘’Okay?’’

‘’Yeah,’’ Jungkook whispered, and Taehyung noticed how tired he looked.

‘’Dude, you need some sleep,’’ he commented with a small, warm smile and Jungkook nodded again, letting his head rest on the shoulder of Taehyung as he closed his eyes for a short period of time. He felt Taehyung snake his arms around the small middle of him once again and he felt how his hyung tried to lift him up. With a little effort of himself, Taehyung succeeded in putting Jungkook on his bed and letting him sink away in all the pillows and blankets. It was one of the few places where Jungkook felt completely safe and okay with himself, because he didn’t have to deal with shit.

Taehyung stood up from Jungkook’s bed to sit on his stool in front of the messy desk, filled with various school papers and piles of books. Taehyung noticed some papers had drawings on them, and he smiled slightly. Jungkook was always the dreamy one, staring out of the window, doodling on his homework. He had a bright imagination, despite his shy and silent behaviour, and it was something Taehyung really liked about him.

They were total opposites, yet they were the closest you could get as best friends. Taehyung would probably be prepared to catch a bullet for Jungkook, and Jungkook would do the same. That’s how much they meant to each other.

As soft snores filled up the silent room, derived from Jungkook, Taehyung laid down his head on the desk, using his arms as his pillow before closing his eyes too. He had, like, four hours sleep before Jungkook called him at 9 am, so that was probably why he replied so cranky this morning. He didn’t meant to reply like that, and he still felt the guilt gnawing on him. Although Jungkook was now sleeping safe and sound in his bed, Taehyung didn’t know what kind of storm was coming for his best friend. And neither did Jungkook himself know.

❀

At 1 pm, Jungkook woke up and felt a stinging pain on his knees, hands and cheek. That’s when he started to remember it all over again. And he felt like crying again, but he just couldn’t. It felt like he drained himself when crying on the shoulder of Taehyung.

Taehyung.

Jungkook turned around swiftly and saw his dear friend drooling over his papers and homework. It made him smile and he propped himself up so he was leaning on his arms, secretly really thankful Taehyung stayed with him. It must be tiring for the boy to constantly hear his younger friend always whine about his usual miserable life, and Jungkook sometimes thought about stopping and then he tried, but ended up venting to Taehyung again.

He swung his legs over the edge of his bed and walked over to where Taehyung was, but he wasn’t there to wake him up. He deserved to rest some more. He silently grabbed his laptop and went back to his bed, settling in nicely against all the pillows that were scattered all over his bed and opening up the device on his lap.

After a while, Jungkook’s eyes had scanned several pages which had to do something with mermaids and mermen, some just random articles, others some real researches. It seemed like there were many investigations done on the myth, but there was no real proof that the creatures just happened to exist. It made Jungkook question his sanity, because now he started to doubt himself more and more. What the fuck did he see at the beach?

Jungkook clicked on the images section and scrolled through tons of pictures, drawings, gifs, edits, and then basically continued to dive into the world of the mermaids and mermen.

It was fascinating, really. He knew the basic stuff, about fairy tales and such, but apparently there was so much more to discover about the mythical creature. He hadn’t even noticed Taehyung started to wake up and shift in the chair, that’s how bad he was sucked into the information on his laptop.

‘’Jungkook?’’ a soft voice said and it broke in the middle of saying the name. Jungkook slowly looked up, away from a very explicit picture of some orange-haired merman and cocked up an eyebrow at his drowsy friend.

‘’Hey there,’’ he said, clicking away the page as soon as Taehyung stood up and plopped down next to Jungkook. He put the laptop away and pulled his knees to his chest, so he could hug his legs and put his chin on his knees.

Taehyung yawned loudly and put a hand in front of mouth, squeezing his eyes together and basically exaggerating the whole action. As always, Taehyung was being a weird boy.

‘’2 pm? Oh Jesus, I’ve napped for a long time,’’ he chuckled as he discovered what time it was, ‘’how about you?’’

‘’I woke up about an hour ago, I think,’’ Jungkook said and shrugged, ‘’I feel okay now.’’

‘’What did you do?’’

‘’Nothing special.’’

Taehyung gave Jungkook this dead-ass look, letting him know that he knew Jungkook lied. But he decided to let it go and looked away again, looking at some random anime posters on the wall. His eyes were still half-closed and he still looked so very tired, but he managed to stay awake, so that was a good thing. Taehyung’s stamina was enormous.

Taehyung wrapped an arm around Jungkook’s shoulder and pulled him closer.

‘’So you’re feeling okay? Feeling okay enough to talk?’’ he asked, to which Jungkook sighed but slightly nodded too.

Somehow, Jungkook’s head ended up on Taehyung’s lap and Taehyung was playing with Jungkook’s hair again.

‘’Jungkook-ah, I didn’t realise you were facing… death… like that,’’ Taehyung said with a soothing voice, not trying to show how fucking he scared and worried he felt at the moment as Jungkook just casually hummed. Hearing such a thing from someone you cared about was frightful and it almost unnoticeable, as for the story Jungkook started to tell, sent Taehyung many shivers.

‘’And the tail. Fuck, Taehyung, I think I saw a mermaid?’’ Jungkook then groaned and he placed a hand on his forehead, showing Taehyung how serious he was and that he was really upset about everything that happened the previous evening.

Taehyung didn’t really know how to respond to this statement, and instead of saying something, he just continued to stroke his fingers through Jungkook’s messy bed hair. Some may say the boys were perhaps a bit too close, but they already went over the talk, like, a hundred times and just thought they found comfort and support in moments like these. Just completely trusting each other, basically not caring what the world may think of it. Well, Jungkook didn’t care. They both know they would never see each other in the way people talked about behind their backs. And that exactly one of the reasons why Taehyung was such a heartbreaker; he wanted to get rid of the stupid rumours that he was gay with Jungkook, but still wanted to lay down like this with Jungkook. It was a win-win situation, wherein Taehyung could get laid by any girl whenever he felt like it, but still be close with Jungkook.

‘’I really don’t know what to do right now,’’ Jungkook mumbled after not getting a word back from Taehyung, and he sighed loudly.

‘’Maybe you should forget about the tail, the… mermaid,’’ Taehyung said softly, entirely focused on the brown locks in between his fingers, ‘’I’m sure you just hallucinated. Or it was just a fish, a dolphin? Didn’t people say it was that time of the year again were dolphins started to appear again at the beach?’’

Taehyung tried so hard, trying to convince Jungkook of something else than the things he truly saw, but Jungkook already knew it wasn’t just some dolphin. After the small research he did on merpeople, and despite the discouraging words people gave the myths, he still believed what he saw was a mermaid. Or just a merperson. Though it was a silhouette, he just knew. He knew it for sure.

‘’Where are your parents and brother?’’ Taehyung then asked and he gave Jungkook a frown.

‘’Work, gone with a friend,’’ he shortly replied, sounding really indifferent about the whereabouts of his family. Not that Taehyung blamed him.

His parents owned this ridiculous, popular and big company, but never spilled their money on their only two children. They simply didn’t care about them after Jungkook finally turned eighteen, as for now he was adult and could handle life on his own. Well, they though very wrong there. If they only knew what kind of wreck their youngest son was.

And then there was Jungkook’s brother, who didn’t even live at home anymore but just stopped by every once in a while. And with every once in a while, Jungkook meant almost every, fucking day. And then he’d stay over a couple of nights, not going back to his apartment, neither taking care of the life he had there. Maybe he had it worse than Jungkook, but he didn’t really show it then and Jungkook didn’t really care either.

‘’Oh, okay,’’ Taehyung then said and sighed, leaning his head against the wall and trying to find a way to cheer dear Jungkook up again.

‘’Wanna go join me and get an ice cream?’’ he then proposed, to which Jungkook looked up at Taehyung and smiled, before nodding his head.

‘’Yeah, sure.’’

Taehyung drove them to the place where they always got their ice creams. It was and again, another safe zone of the few Jungkook had. The employees were very nice, and the people that visited the place were most of the time the same ones. The only thing bothering Jungkook right now, was that the place was established near the beach.

As the boys walked in, got their favourite ice creams and settled down at a table near the window, Jungkook stared off at the sea again. He somehow hoped the head would pop up again, or just the tail.

Then his eyes came across the cliff. From this distance, he finally realised how fucking high the thing was. It was a monstrous, deathly height and he fell from it not even a day ago.

‘’Jungkook-sshi, are you okay?’’ Taehyung asked formally, and he followed the gaze of the boy in front of him. He was then met by the rock too, and sucked in a breath.

‘’Is that…?’’

‘’Yeah,’’ Jungkook slowly said, turning his head back to face Taehyung again as he nodded. ‘’But I’m alright, don’t worry, hyung.’’

Taehyung gave him one last worried look, before starting with his ice cream almost simultaneously with Jungkook.

They started to talk about the most random things. At first, just school. Boring ass school. Taehyung noticed and knew Jungkook didn’t feel comfortable with the subject, so he swiftly changed it too something else. Work. Although Taehyung knew Jungkook didn’t like it, he had some things to discuss with him anyway.

‘’So, my dad and I had this talk a few days ago…’’ Taehyung started slow and licked off his small spoon, facing the beach. Jungkook just stared at the side profile of Taehyung’s face and nodded, even though he knew the boy in front of him couldn’t see that when he was staring at the beach.

‘’We need some more waiters. I’ve promoted to head waiter, since the previous one left the place last week, and my dad asked to ask you to fulfil the place of my assistant waiter…’’

The words were spoken rather hastily and Jungkook knew Taehyung was probably a bit nervous to ask him this. Jungkook didn’t like it to be out in the open, serving people and being in contact with the customers of the restaurant. The place where he was placed right now, safely in the kitchen, not in contact with customers, just doing the dishes, was fine by him. Taehyung was the perfect example of a good waiter; friendly, always nice, very patient, a stunning smile and he just had a very handsome appearance. He’s young, not younger than Jungkook though, fresh and his body moved so gracefully between all the tables at the restaurant; it was something Jungkook admired and he liked to watch whenever he got the chance to. Taehyung killed it at work as waiter and Jungkook knew Taehyung didn’t get the job as head waiter just because he was the son of the boss, but because he was very good at his job.

‘’Assistant waiter?’’ Jungkook almost choked on his ice cream, but managed to swallow it the right way too. He stared at his best friend for a little while and started to ponder about the opportunity that was offered him. He could earn a lot more money, that was one thing that he knew for sure. Taehyung got paid almost twice as much as Jungkook. He worked more, longer and probably harder too. And again, this wasn’t just the case because Taehyung was the son of the boss.

‘’Yeah,’’ Taehyung replied and gave Jungkook a soft gaze, ‘’I’ll be the one to guide you through the job. It’s easy, really.’’

‘’It isn’t easy, you make it look easy,’’ Jungkook pointed out and gave his friend a meaningful look. Taehyung just sighed and shook his head lightly, with a small smile playing on his face. He had done the job for two years, so maybe Jungkook was right. But he didn’t back down and leaned forward, so he got a bit closer to Jungkook.

‘’Please, Jungkook, we really need you. And you know, I can tell you this as your best friend; you’re handsome, soft and nice. We can train that body of yours and in no time people will beg for you to take their orders,’’ Taehyung said with a taunting smirk on his face, almost bursting out in laughter because of how flustered Jungkook reacted at his words.

‘’Taehyung-ah…’’ Jungkook said, looking very embarrassed and he avoided his best friend’s gaze by concentrating on the beach again.

He thought back about the whole event, and him waking up, totally wet and dirty from the sand. How he managed to keep up the strong façade and not cry on the beach, while he totally broke down when he arrived at home. Jungkook may be weak, but he never showed it to the crowd. He couldn’t remember the last time he cried in front of someone but Taehyung. He was probably the only one to experience dear Jungkook crying, a sight that always teared up his heart and soul.

‘’I’ll promise you everything will be okay,’’ Taehyung told those encouraging words to Jungkook and tried to catch his eyes with it again. When he did, bright smiles broke through on both their faces and Jungkook showed his bunny teeth, pushing his sad thoughts away for once and a sudden boost of confidence took over him.

He nodded.

‘’Yeah, okay, I’ll be your assistant waiter.’’

Taehyung throw his hands up in the air and exclaimed: ‘’Hell yes!’’

Jungkook giggled at his reaction and played with the little spoon in between his fingers. Their ice creams were finished already, but the boys stayed at the parlour for another hour just to talk more, and Taehyung just wanted to take Jungkook’s mind elsewhere. Although they were right beside the place where everything happened, Taehyung somehow managed to distract Jungkook with his talks, or basically his gibberish. They enjoyed themselves very much and Jungkook almost forgot about what had happened to him.

That was, until Taehyung got a call from his father, who told him to come over at the restaurant, so he could start working earlier. Apparently, the place was suddenly filled up with tourists and staff was needed. In a split-second, with brief goodbyes, Taehyung ran out of the ice cream place and Jungkook was left all alone again.

He appreciated Taehyung’s company very much, that he was always there when Jungkook needed him the most. So, with a satisfying smile, he walked out of the ice cream parlour and put his hands deep into his pockets. He sauntered and dragged his feet behind him over the boulevard, making his way home again, but started to walk slower as he noticed where his feet brought him again.

He totally hadn’t noticed he was walking towards the cliff again, but this time he didn’t climb the rock. He stood beside it and looked up at it.

What he didn’t expect to see, of course, was a boy. A boy with light locks, looking magnificent as his figure glowed because of the sunshine hitting his perfect, smooth skin. He looked truly magical and radiated an enchanting vibe. Jungkook couldn’t look away and a familiar feeling was washing over him as he studied the boy.

It was in fact soft, pink hair. He looked small and had a face, looking like it was sculptured by some God.

A shaky breath rolled over Jungkook’s lips.

When the boy turned his head to look down at Jungkook, a broad smile broke through and the boy bit down on his lower lip. Jungkook gasped at started to stumble back, almost tripping over his feet.

The boy widened his eyes and wanted to get up, but seemed to have trouble with it. He plopped down on his ass again and gave Jungkook a worried face. Why was he worried?

Then, the words left Jungkook’s mouth before he could even think about it.

‘’It’s you.’’

The worried expression on the pink-haired boy’s face changed back to a happy expression and he nodded slowly.

‘’I was hoping to see you again, Jungkook.’’

❀

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