#not all them do (see: namine) and not all the people who do are nobodies (see: xion i think)

[dreamsy990]

wait can you explain to me the difference between roxas and sora i thought they were the same person

OKAY SO SORRY TO ANYONE WHO UNDERSTANDS KH LORE IF I GET SOMETHING WRONG BUT I WILL DO MY BEST

so in kh when you lose your heart your heart becomes a heartless and your empty husk becomes a nobody. if you have a strong will (morality is irrelevant) your nobody is basically just a person.

so in kh1 sora temporarily releases his own heart for plot reasons (dont worry about it) and so he became a heartless briefly WHICH ALSO CREATED A NOBODY!!!!!!!!!!! and that nobody is ROXAS.

they are separate entities who are connected. as namine puts it, roxas "holds half of what sora is". whatever the fuck thats supposed to mean. they share some memories i think? and by that i mean roxas has flashbacks to sora through dreams and sora gets deja vu after he and roxas reunite (and by that i mean sora eats him like a twin in the womb but dont worry about that). but theyre different people!!! also they have slightly different personalities but you can just read their wiki descriptions because i do not feel like describing them in detail

sora and all his sortas are all different people. also ventus and roxas are not the same person despite being identical. dont worry about it its fine i totally know whats going on <- (lying)

[yanderepuck]

Just a small little drabble~

I torture this boy enough so here's some fluff

You have been wearing long sleeves and long pants for the majority of your time at the mansion. But summer is coming and there is no way you're going to survive doing chores around the mansion that way. There's no ac!

So as it gets warmer your sleeves and pant legs go up. You know you can't dress like this when you go into town, but you might as well be comfortable at home.

But this made you realize that none of the residents have seen your tattoos. You really only have black line art of some small things. You have them on your arms, shoulders, a few on your legs. You thought nothing of it until one of the guys said something.

Some of them were confused as to what they were, others only knew of people in prisons getting tattoos. There were a lot of questions you had to answer. But once you explained none of them seemed to have an issue with them.

Vincent was very intrigued by them and kept asking to look at them. He would ask why you got each one and if it had meaning. Half the time it was just because a tattoo shop was doing a flash event and you went in and got something.

One day you fell asleep in the parlor after working and when you woke up one of your tattoos was colored in. You stared at it for a good while. Very confused. But the color washed off almost immediately when you bathed that night. And decided not to think more of it.

This happens a few more times when you fall asleep in random places. No one has said anything about doing it though. And it's a different one each time.

A few days later you are in the library reading a book fairly late. You feel yourself dozing off but you force your eyes open wanting to finish that chapter. No luck. You fall asleep. Only to wake up a few minutes later to a tickling feeling.

You groan softly and force your eyes open to see what is tickling you. It better not be King licking your finger again.

You look to your right and see Vincent kneeling next to your chair coloring in one of your tattoos.

You get a burst of life suddenly. "So it's you!"

Vincent jumps, thinking you were still asleep and then laughs softly. "You caught me."

You're guessing this is his version of a prank. It's so pure.

You let him finish coloring it in. "There! All done," he smiles and lets you look at it.

Holding up your arm, you smile to see your little line art colored in.

"You could have just asked me, you know," you chuckle and sit up.

"Yeah... But you always make a cute face when you first see it."

You hold your arm back out "You can color the rest if you want."

"Really?" He gets excited and starts to color in the others.

He reminds you of a little kid using a coloring book.

"When I first saw them I thought about how they would look colored in," he switches between colors to add details "It's like a fresh canvas everyday."

"I never thought of getting them filled in. But now you're making me consider it."

He finishes coloring all the ones on your arm. "Perfect," he smiles as he looks at his handiwork.

You move your arm around to be able to see it all "I love it," you rest your arm down carefully so you don't mess any of it up. "Now I know who to go to if I want some color."

~~

Tag list ~

@kissmetwicekissmedeadly @fang-and-feather @xalxtusxiao @namine-somebodies-nobody @ana-thedaydreamer @evil-quartett @ameyoruakiikemenseries @yrenesposts @p1nkpandomium @tele86 @damekathearasi @lokis-laugh @candied-boys @breadmercury @azulashengrottospiano @xenokiryu

[h-worksrambles]

I have no idea if Kingdom Hearts will ever give us a proper solo Kairi game, but it’s still something I like to think about and I was recently thinking about who would be the party members if that was the case. I see a lot of people say the wanna see all the KH girls in a party together, Kairi, Namine, Xion and perhaps Aqua as well. That could be really fun, but I have a different idea.

Sora and Riku’s party members are classic Disney characters who reflect their roles in the series. Riku, the archetypal JRPG hero is paired up with Disney’s golden boy. Sora’s character is basically what would happen if a goofy, Joey Wheeler-esque best friend character ended up being the protagonist. So he’s paired with the funny sidekicks, Donald and Goofy. So Kairi would make sense to pair with your archetypal princess characters. And there are two ladies-in-court in Disney Castle who haven’t done much in the series yet…

Why not make Kairi’s travelling companions Daisy and Minnie? Not only is it a way to give all three of these characters stuff to do but I think they’d slot into a typical JRPG party structure pretty well. Minnie has already been portrayed as a mage with an aptitude for light magic. She’d be the White Mage to Donald’s Black Mage. Plus, it makes sense for Minnie to help Kairi with her magic since, being a Princess of Heart, Kairi also has an aptitude for light magic (see Re:Mind). As for Daisy? Well Dream Drop Distance implies that all the Disney Castle gang (sans Mickey) are from the Country of the Musketeers world, and that Mickey met them there while world travelling during his training (at least that was my understanding). So why not have Daisy honour that by acting as a Musketeer? Give her a rapier and let her by the team fighter. That way you have the same all rounder/Mage/warrior dynamic as Sora, Donald and Goody but a little different.

You’ve also got a good balance of personalities. Minnie is usually portrayed as a very sweet, sunny, demure character (though the more modern shorts show she absolutely has the potential to be crazy). Daisy’s got Donald’s capacity for temper, but tends to be a bit more sophisticated and worldly. A little drier and sassier. This gives you two more contrasting personalities. One a bright people person, and the other who takes nobody’s crap. And then Kairi’s who’s been shown to be able to be both very sweet but also quite sassy, fits in nicely between them.

It’s also not very hard to think of a premise post Melody of Memory and it’s one I’ve suggested elsewhere already. Kairi gets sent out to look for the other members of the New Seven Hearts. She gets to meet these Disney characters with a role like hers, and reflect on what her status as a Princess of Heart actually means. But, like Sora in KH3, you’ve also got that conflict where all the while she desperately wants to go and help her friends, despite knowing she’s not currently strong enough to do so. It’s a simple premise, but it capitalises on what we have to work with for Kairi, and turns her lack of agency into the basis for a character arc. And now she’s got some fun new companions to bounce off of. Giving her more friendships and relationships outside of Sora and Riku.

I highly doubt this will ever happen. But if Kairi does properly get her due, then I think this would be a fun way to go about it.

[ephemeralflower]

lauriam and marluxia: two distinct characters

in a 2017 interview following the release of khux, nomura was asked whether lauriam is marluxia. nomura answered “lauriam is lauriam.” most people have disregarded this statement by now because duh--we’ve already seen the differences between members of the organization and their recompleted selves.

however, i am going to argue that there is a further degree of separation between lauriam and marluxia than the other somebody/nobody pairs. 

there are characters like ienzo who has a noticeably different personality from zexion (though i consider him a special case), but the others really aren’t that different when comparing them to their nobodies. their personalities are largely the same. it’s their motivations that are different. 

now, put lauriam and marluxia side by side. lauriam, who cares about his little sister more than anything in the world vs marluxia, taking advantage of namine and using her to do his bidding. lauriam, who feels remorse for lashing out at ventus in the heat of the moment vs marluxia, who stops at nothing in an attempt to steal the keyblade’s power for himself. marluxia’s actions are a regression of the resolve lauriam has at the end of khux. 

naturally, this is a consequence of khux being written after CoM. so, how does nomura reconcile their differences? well, here’s how: marluxia is canonically an amnesiac, as hinted following his defeat in kh3 and is stated in his kh3 ultimania character file. (how canon you consider the character files is up to you, but even so i recommend giving marluxia’s a read.)

it is likely that he lost his memories before becoming a nobody. lauriam, ventus, and skuld (you’ll have to pry “skuld is subject x” from my lifeless body) share the trait of memory loss. memory loss is seemingly a side effect of using the incomplete ark to travel to the future. (ephemer’s pod never activated, brain is ???, and frankly i’m still not sold whether elrena is an amnesiac, but she can tentatively be included with the amnesiacs as well.)

lauriam losing his memories before becoming marluxia explains how he ended up on his little darkness detour and why he had no qualms wasting precious time with the organization--he doesn’t remember his purpose. it also provides for an unknown amount of time for him to gain new memories to base marluxia’s personality around.

ultimately, i consider lauriam and marluxia are separate entities with very different motivations. they share a body, but not much else. marluxia’s character file hints that part of lauriam’s personality leaked through and played a role in his plan to overthrow xemnas, but it is arguable how canon the character files are. i’m all for it, personally. 

there will be some OG fans who complain about this as a retcon until the end of time, but as it stands, khux could not have ended the way that it did without creating a clear divide between lauriam and marluxia. 

lauriam is a protagonist now. i can’t wait to see how he reconciles with his actions as marluxia. 

[leastrife]

Ansem TW doesn't deserve as much hate as he gets

This is following up to my previous post about how I don't think Ansem TW deserves as much hate as the fandom gives him and this kinda just me rambling about why I think he's a better character/person than people give him credit for.

If we start chronologically (which I'll be doing to keep this cohesive) we first see him at the end of BBS finding Terranort, who I will be refering to as Xehanort for the rest of this post, and bringing him to the castle. Now surely somewhere in this town there's a hospital, but instead of bringing Xehanort there Ansem takes him in (and I will be throwing 'he had to take him in for plot reasons' out the window) because Ansem is a good leader. I really want to believe there's a reason Ansem is the ruler of Radiant Garden and that that reason is that he's ultimately a good person. In KH1 all of the FF characters talk about how Ansem the Wise was a good leader and the only reason they went back on that later was bedcause of Ansem SoD. So because Ansem is a good person of course he's going to take Xehanort in himself to make sure he gets the care he receives because as far as Ansem would be aware Xehanort is one of his citizens, he's in Radiant Garden so this is someone Ansem is supposed to care for.

Going even further into this point another example of Ansem providing care for someone in need is Ienzo. Once again surely there's some sort of orphanage in Radiant Garden, now the circumstances of Ienzo's pseudo adoption by the apprentices and Ansem is vague but stay with me. Many of my previous points stand the same for Ienzo. Ansem sees a child in need and yes also potential for scientific genius, but even with that he still cares for Ienzo like a son seen through when we see Ansem and Ienzo walking through the halls and also Ienzo's reaction to seeing Ansem again in KH3 is not that of just a leader and apprentice. Ienzo has clearly seen Ansem as some sort of parental figure or a very significant role model in his life and that doesn't happen if Ansem didn't give him a reason for that.

What happens next is actually something I find really traumatic for Ansem. Given his relationship to Ienzo I can only imagine Ansem sees all the apprentices as his family, a family he's made for himself that he's always ready to expand, and they betray him. His family betrays him and pushes him away and he's left with darkness. He tells Xehanort to stop the experiments because if he does the world will be destroyed and Ansem is responsible for the well being of his citizens, and even after that not only is he betrayed by Xehanort he's also betrayed by his entire family. He's betrayed and then he looses his world. The hurt and feeling of failure he's feeling at this point is probably insane.

Now at this point Ansem is DiZ and this is the version of him people seem to focus on and hate because of his dehumanization of Nobodies and I will not be trying to argue he was in the right, but I think his reaction is completely understandable. He's betrayed and the next time he sees his family is as these Nobodies who are very differnet to the people he knew. Cruel, heartless (literally), and not even using the same names anymore. Of course he's not going to see his family and instead will just see these new creatures parading around as his family. They are different people at this point, and they do not have hearts as far as Ansem is concerned, no wonder he hates Nobodies. To him Nobodies took his family and are trying to pretend to be them now. This doesn't excuse how he treats Namine and Roxas, but doesn't make his behavior seem completley 1 dimensional.

At the end of KH2 he sacrifices himself and I understand people not caring much for this part, at this point (with how the games were released) we only know that Ansem used to rule Radiant Garden, he's DiZ, and DiZ treated Namine and Roxas horribly, and sacrificing yourself and the end of the story isn't good enough to make up for what you did wrong. I'm not a fan of a character being a horrible person all throughout the plot and then get a redemption through dying for someone, but in KH no one ever just dies and Ansem is given more backstory later on.

Finally arriving at KH3 despite not giving him a lot of screen time Ansem is given a proper start to his redemption arc. We see him in the realm of darkness and whenever anyone goes there we can almost always see a lot of contemplation going on within the characters there which makes sense since there's not much else to do. He's been given time to think and reflect and part of his reflection is realizing he hurt Namine and Roxas, and Riku to an extent as well, and he states he wants to make up for it. He wasn't given a whole lot of opportunity, but I hope in later games we continue to see the Radiant Garden family and that Ansem is begining to make up for his mistakes. I want to bring up Ienzo again too because if Ansem wasn't a good person I can't imagine Ienzo getting that emotional over seeing him again. ("Ienzo was a child and Ansem was an adult figure in his life of course he's emotional after seeing him") Yeah okay, but we also see Aeleus and Dilan getting emotional (as emotional as those two ever are) over seeing him again.

I doubt too many people will read this, but if you did thank you for going on with my ramblings. I really like Ansem the Wise and I wish more people did too because I think he's gone through a lot and deserves a good redemption. If your family betrayed you and got the world you're responsible for destroyed and then turn into Nobodies I'm sure you'd be upset too.

[theblueprincess590]

I made a massive analysis on Sora’s story in Re:CoM and I’m gonna show it here because I’m really proud of it. The two main themes of Sora's story are memories and fairy tales. The memory theme is fairly obvious it's in the title after all but what the game is trying to say with the theme is less obvious. If the Heart is what shapes a Body in KH then it's memories that Shape a heart. We see this with Soras and how much he changes after Namine alters his memories with him becoming more aggressive and neglecting his relationships to focus on saving Namine. Replica Riku also shows this with how his entire personality and motives are shaped by the false memories Namine gave him. However while memories shape a heart they can not truly define it. Sora's core remains the same even after his memories are altered. Shown best when he choses to save Namine even after finding out his memories of her are fake because Sora is the type of person who will always help others. The Fairy Tale theme is something you probably wont realize on a first playthrough but once you do you will never be able to think about Sora's Story in Re:CoM without it. Sora's story in Re:CoM is Nomura and Watanabe's take of the classic fairy tale of Prince Charming rescuing the Princess from the Tower. Sora is prince charming, Namine is the princess, and Castle Oblivion is the Tower. At first the story seems like it's playing this Fairy Tale straight what with how The members of Organization XIII all fit a classic fairytale villain. Axel is the mischievous jester playing both sides for his own gain, Larxene is the haughty villainess tormenting Namine for her own amusement and mocking the heroes at every turn, Vexen is the mad Scientist/Wizard using magic to create homunculus in the form of the replicas, and then there is Marxluxia who is the Grim Reaper always casting the shadow of death on those in the Castle ready to strike the killing blow at any moment . Even Replica Riku fits this theming with him being the rival prince that fights the hero for the princess's affection. But then Nomura and Watanabe pulls the rug out from under us by revealing that Namine is not at all a princess but rather a witch, the dark counterpart of a princess. Everything from the moment Sora set foot in Castle Oblivion has been an lie created by Marluxia and told through Namine to manipulate Sora into becoming a puppet. Sora is no Prince charming he's just Pinnochio falling for the tricks of selfish adults. And then Nomura and Watanabe pull the rug out from under us all over again by showing us that even if Namine is a witch she is still someone worth saving. Namine is not evil or vain she's a just a scared and lonely girl looking for friendship. And that is why Despite knowing everything was a lie Sora still saves Namine because his feelings are real. It doesn't matter if you're a princesses or a witch nobody should be alone forever and everyone deserves to be rescued. Now then lets talk bout how these two themes work together to tell the final message of Sora's story. The final message is that our memories are in the end stories just like a fairy Tale. They stories that shape our hearts and help make us into the people wea re to day. and just like stories it doesn't matter if our memories are real or fake because our feelings behind them are real. Sora choose to save Namine even if all his memories of her were fake because the feelings he had for her were real even if they were meant for someone else.

[natsubane]

okay recoded thoughts...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-

other various things i enjoyed...

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

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

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

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

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

[crowns-and-keys]

'Form of Darkness' AU

Here me out. If Sora at the end of KH1 got a body of Darkness instead of Light. If Ansem was around and saw his potential, saw that he still retained some memories and he taught Sora how to reform himself.

...I want Riku to not be possessed by Ansem though, so gremlin Sora can be the antagonist instead. But Keyblade wielder Kairi Vs. the boys is also like - very good brain candy. (Look just, Ansem leave the 'Road to Dawn' boy alone. You a heartless - you got a body of darkness. Get out!)

Make Sora and Riku the 'Best Buddies of Darkness' - competitive, chaotic, destructive, and having the time of their lives. Their relationship hasn't been this great since before Kairi showed up.

Let the Kingdom Key pass on to Kairi for a short time. Sora steals Kingdom Key D from Mickey, or he now has the Keyblade of Hearts. So, he's out doing his heartless thing releasing hearts because - he feels great - why not share what his newfound freedom is like with others.

Riku gets Kingdom Key D or Soul Eater. (Heck this is fandom, let the boy dual wield.)

...Let Roxas and Sora be a Duo.

And if Riku hasn't been yanked out of the darkness’ grip by Kairi yet, let those two butt heads because Sora is my best friend / my Other! (I just think it would be so utterly ironic if Riku is the first to come to his senses when shaking off the grips of darkness. He's still got a body / is human after all.)

Then bring Xion in ‘cause they need a more Sora Sora on the team. (Currently he is chaos incarnate, and Roxas, who has access to light magic, is very useful; they could use another like him.) But as per usual they mess up and she becomes her own person.

And of course, throw Axel into the mix because these gremlin children need a freakin' keeper. (Even though we all know he's just as much of a troublemaker as they are.)

Mostly I want to see sassy/edgy Sora enjoying his dark powers, and picking on reformed Riku. (Make him worse - make him worse! *chants* ) And then, through the power of the Sea Salt's friendship he starts to realize this isn't the kind of person he was, or wants to be.

Riku's gone. Roxas and Xion aren't interested in playing his 'games' anymore. They say he's hurting people. That heartless aren't all like him and being forced to be a Nobody is cruel. If Repliku exists he's still quickly disposed of at some point - and he was fun but he wasn't his Riku.

And then there are the memories. Xion tells him about them, Roxas too, and he's met Namine, knows she's got some kind of mind powers. She's his favorite witch - they always have so much fun reminiscing about... about the past... but that was Kairi... or was it Namine?  Kairi always made things worse right??? Sora couldn’t stand that she got between him and Riku… or was it the other way around?  But now Riku has chosen her over him! And he has all this love for someone but it's. Not. In the right - place.

Xemnas and Ansem have no more patience with him. Never really had any in the first place to be honest.

...It's not a game anymore... he misses his friends. He misses Riku and Kairi. And he doesn't know what to do.

__________________________________________________________

Update: Somehow I lost this note about the artwork from before. :/

But this looks so good - I'm always impressed with artist who can keep the form without adding shading. Like, I love looking at a good ink and color piece.

So hat's off to you - you funky little artist! 👍

come to the dark side we have cool clothes

[arsenepicaro]

Sora Headcanons

Forgets that he's human again, and sometimes just... Loses his bones? Like Xion does as well.

Still a heartless, just with light in him

Is petty as all hell. Sometimes brings up something that hasn't happened in years, to Riku, just to get something he wants

Actually likes using rage and Anti, as he just goes bat shit, without having to worry about his friends.

Namine is his Nobody, Everyone else just thinks she's Kairi's. He get's annoyed with them.

Forgets what gender he is, every other day, as he's got two people in his heart, that are female, one of which, is made of his memories.

Can still use two keyblade, and even use them like when he fought Roxas, or Final.

When he has glide, he just sometimes floats, freaking who ever he's with out. Like, he's just hanging with say Jack, after finding Lucky Emblem, and just floats back down, to the ship. Jack turns, and nearly has a heart attack.

Eyes can glow any colour, but it's dependant on mood. Rage is red. Sad, is usually Blue. His eyes are Grey, after getting his heart released.

Will answer to most of the Heart Hotels Names. And then get's embarrassed. it only started after KH2.

Is the only one of the groups, to have parents. And be able to cook.

Is almost as stretchy as Aqua, and can do Cartwheels. He just doesn't and when they find out, every one just calls bullshit, until they see it themselves.

Once stabbed his arm, into a mans chest, using his Rage form, and commented on how weak his heart was. Then walked away. The man was called Bakugo Katsuki. He said Izuku's was the brightest Light he's seen in years.

Kingdom Key, is the only Key, that feels like his. Xion likes Innocent Lost, and Namine, once she get's hers, get's lost Memories.

Roxas doesn't use Oblivion and Oath keeper much, after Sora get's back. He mostly uses Two Become One. Sora takes them up, and oh boy if he's not proficient at them.

Sora has definably used some Magic, that Yen Sid has forgotten about.

[curewhimsy]

Margot x Edgeworth fic plans

TW: Murder by poison, Suicidal ideation

Tragedy fic

Takes place in Ace Attorney universe but crosses over OCs and some other fandoms

———

Fandoms-

OCs

Vocaloid

UTAU

Idolmaster

Ace Attorney

Dangan Ronpa

Margot Nocturne (OC) is a quiet, unsuspecting librarian who has always been jealous of local broadway performer Taya Soune (UTAU) for his charisma, success, and musical talent, to the point of spite and resentment. Margot kills Taya with poison in his drink. She pins this crime on Ritsu Namine (UTAU) by making sure Ritsu gave this poisoned beverage to Taya.

Margot feels a lot of sadness and regret after this murder, enough for her tears and shock to look convincing, as if she didn’t do the murder.

Ritsu’s attorney in this case is Teru Tendo. (Idolmaster SideM)

Miles Edgeworth is the prosecutor and is going to try to find Ritsu guilty.

During the window of time where Edgeworth is convinced Margot is innocent, a romance blossoms… a true romance too. Margot is a broken woman who has never had a companion, and the kindness Edgeworth gives her changes her world. But the truth still lurks behind both of them, and it’s ugly and tragic. Margot is a killer. If she were to be brought to justice, she would get the death penalty.

Who is testifying-

Ritsu Namine (UTAU)

Rui Maita (Idolmaster SideM)

Touko and Syo Fukawa (Danganronpa)

Maya Fey (Ace Attorney)

Aoi Asahina (Danganronpa)

Larry Butz (Ace Attorney)

Margot Nocturne (OC) (as an “innocent witness”)

Kaoru Sakuraba (Idolmaster SideM) does the autopsy on Taya’s body. He and Tsubasa Kashiwagi (Idolmaster SideM) are helping Teru with the case. Teru even gets an updated autopsy report that Edgeworth doesn’t have at one point! 

It just seems like Edgeworth isn’t doing so well in the trial this time.

The setting is a library that also has karaoke. The concept of the place is “a library where you don’t have to be quiet.” Taya Soune is feeling gloomy that day and decides he wants to sing alone in his own concealed cozy booth. He takes his first sip of a drink that his friend Ritsu Namine served to him moments before, not realizing it will lead to his death.

Ritsu recently got a part time job serving drinks at the karaoke club. Margot works at this place too, as a librarian who organizes and helps people check out books. Margot is good at concealing her sour and vengeful attitude. She has been known to cry and be shy, but nobody suspected she had been wanting to lash out.

It is a relatively quiet day at the karaoke library.

Margot bought a small bottle of poison with her that day. The poison was purchased from the black market, and all evidence of the purchase had been destroyed. Margot was contemplating locking herself in a karaoke booth and ending her life.

Margot then sees Taya Soune come into the building. Margot holds a grudge against Taya because he has a positive attitude, has tons of friends, and is accomplished, everything Margot isn’t.

Ritsu is called up to sing a song, and leaves Taya’s drink on a table unattended. Margot is overtaken by the urge to slip the poison in Taya’s drink and murder him instead.

Nobody is even there to witness Margot slip the poison in the drink.

Ritsu comes back from the karaoke room and serves this drink to Taya.

Minutes after sipping the drink, Taya begins coughing blood, and is too weak to move or call for help. He is bleeding from the inside and dies within a couple of minutes.

Since Margot works at the library, she has controls of the temperature in all the karaoke rooms. She hastily attempts to create an alibi by making Taya’s room cold for three hours, allowing rigor mortis to set in at a later time, making it so the time of his death will be estimated at a later time. She has the room go back to the normal temperature after three hours so nobody suspects the change. She also wore gloves when changing the temperature.

(Margot has read her fair share of mystery novels. But she overlooked that she was still present when Ritsu was pouring the drink, making all her work useless.)

Margot flees the library.

Three people discover Taya’s body five hours later, noticing they can’t find him.

The three who discovered the body were Taya’s best friend Ritsu Namine, Taya’s English and drama teacher Rui Maita, and Maya Fey, who just happened to be there.

Ritsu’s fingerprints are found on the cup with the poison, and evidence points to him being the one giving it to Taya.

Checks on Ritsu’s background are done. They find that he in fact has distant ties to the yakuza.

The autopsy report says Taya died at 3:00 PM, which is after Margot was gone from the library.

Taya actually died at 1:30 PM.

After Margot is gone from the library, she goes to the park and disposes of the poison bottle (crucial evidence) by disguising it as a necklace charm and giving it to a “handsome guy” as a love present. And the handsome guy… just happens to be Miles Edgeworth. Margot doesn’t know that Edgeworth is going to be the prosecutor in the case she caused. Also Edgeworth rejects her advances. But… he accepts the gift! This marks the start of a very complicated relationship.

Edgeworth eventually sees that Margot is broken and one day invites her to his house for tea. He is the type who cannot ignore something abandoned or hopeless.

Phoenix Wright isn’t the attorney here, because he’s in the hospital... (Also the world doesn’t revolve around him!)

Touko Fukawa is a shy romance author and cannot stand subjects about blood and murder. Her headspace alter, Syo, writes murder mystery novels. In fact, she wrote the very novel that inspired Margot to lower the temperature in Taya’s karaoke booth! She knows those tricks. Syo is there for most of the trial as Touko cannot handle it, and gives good leads on who the murderer could be… She absolutely thinks it’s Maya Fey, who was at the karaoke library at the time! And she gives a convincing testimony.

Now everyone is convinced Maya Fey could have done it, so Ritsu is set free and Maya goes to the detention center. Again. But there’s stilll evidence missing…

Despite it being humorous as ever, the testimony that exposes the most truth ends up being… Larry Butz’s?

Eventually when the truth is close to coming out, since Margot didn’t seem to have much of a motive, there is trouble establishing one.

But then Margot cannot stand the pressure and accidentally slips.

She ends up saying, “I understand that the justice system cannot always expose the real truth. But I wanted to die anyway… it’s why I had the poison in the first place.”

Margot’s clumsy statement exposed her as the one who possessed the poison and put it in Taya’s drink.

She breaks down and confesses everything, her motive, and her actions.

Margot is brought to justice in the end, and will get the death penalty. At this point, Edgeworth had grown to trust and love Margot… She changed his life as well. Edgeworth is shocked and saddened so much that he becomes a crying wreck in the courtroom…

Margot is last seen smiling with tears flowing down her cheeks.

“Goodbye, Mr. Edgeworth… Thank you for making my final days worth remembering.”

[evaundertale]

I agree with some points except the fact Kairi having a keyblade isn't really a shoehorn in plot.

From concept Kairi, Riku and Sora were all original gonna have their own keyblade. Do I think Nomura doesn't really put much thought into yes but I think that stems from the fact her role changed from how she was in concept. From her being a after thought in alot of the games. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have plans for her. Especially with taking into account the interviews. One interview he stated there's more to explain with Destiny Embrace and more.

This is coming from a soriku shipper (who personally think Soriku has a chance of being endgame) but Kairi as character despite representing the childhood friend that you slowly drift apart from does have a role. After all she does end up causing events whether she ment to or not.

Her showing up on the islands being one of those. Or the fact she and Riku together are the only reason Sora was able to walk around the final world the way he does.

My personally theory is Kairi is there to but a guiding light to follow in the light sorta like Master Ava. While Riku is the light within the dark. Kairi clearly does have alot we don't know about her and I do think Nomura does plan to address it at somepoint but just she isn't the main focus of the series like Sora and Riku doesn't really make her character progression inconsistent. I generally just think people try to say she's a main character when she's more likely than not in a position that Ventus, Terra, Xion and for argument sake Aqua is in where she's a character that will get developed but doesn't have to be in the fore front.

But that might just be my opinion. Also the fact that we still don't know alot about Namine (who is able to create dark corridors, many memories and is referred to as a witch) Kairi some how and some form gonna be developing or related to that based of Namine being her nobody.

Especially if you interact with the little ponds in kh2 they say they've been used but who were they used for before Sora Donald and Goofy and why was Namine able to have access to them.

Namine and Kairi both are stuck in mystery. Like for some weird reason. The fact Riku gives Kairi her keyblade who's to say Namine didn't summon it first kh2 we don't get to see her after Riku let's her and Axel escape there's also the fact in kh2 Kairi is reference to escape Axel twice before getting caught by Axel. (Not saying she spawned her Keyblade) but the fact we don't know alot about both characters seems like Nomura just planing to either use them later.

There's also other things in interviews that Nomura has stated about Kairi if I find them I can send them but I don't think she's gonna just always be stuck representing the childhood friend. (I personally hope we get a side game cause I liked her combat where she's learn self worth cause she compares herself to both Riku and Sora to much wanting to catch up.)

Also want to make this clear I don't mean this to come off as attacking you. Just wanted to point out somethings that you might not have considered.

heres the thing abt kairi. i don't think she's poorly written, i think she's poorly executed. like there's a conflict/lack of cohesive vision for her and they're trying to shoehorn her into a role she does not fit.

nomura, from kh1, has clearly always wanted kairi to remain a link to the past/manifestation of fond memories of childhood/like a bittersweet hometown that isn't quite the same when you come back as an adult. that's the role he has consistently, persistently assigned to her. and there's nothing wrong with that. not every character ever has to take an active role and be a hero and do Things. sometimes characters exist to embody an allegory, or symbolism, or an idea. that was kairi, initially. embodiment of home, safety, comfort, childhood. for that matter, riku was the future, the unknown, growing up and letting childhood go. sora, of course, a boy coming of age and being torn between the two.

so consequently i've never understand the choice to make her a keyblade wielder when she's already a princess of heart twice over. like it or not the princesses of heart have an established role in the story and it's not fighting on the front lines. she could have been a leader and taken an active role in her own way if they really wanted, without ever needing to hold a keyblade and be a Chosen One, Also!(tm). in this way she also would have maintained a cohesive narrative role in the story. her path would still be diverging from sora's, and it would be as bittersweet and nostalgic as it was in kh1 without the clownery than her involvement in endgame kh2 onward has been mired in.

what clownery, you ask? kairi literally cannot grow as a person while in sora's orbit. we've seen it happen again and again, any growth she gets is away from sora and any time she's near him she regresses as a character. this is because, again, she is absolutely cemented in the minds of the writers as The Nostalgic Past that sora is holding onto. in the context of the kh narrative, she can literally be nothing else to him. there's no more growth to be had between them. hence, every time their relationship ends up the focus in a scene you can't help but feel the rapidly growing distance between where they once were vs where they now are as individuals. this relationship can, imo, ONLY be regressive to both of them in the context of kh's overarching narrative where kairi is constantly (and overtly) being framed as Sora's Idealized Childhood. or, as a prize he 'wins' when the story ends. the two are fairly connected in kh.

back on track, having kairi remain a princess of heart and not a keyblade wielder also would've solved the problem of the writing team having to shelve/fridge her every time they want riku+sora to go on another romantic getawa - uhhh adventure together. like she was asleep for a year post kh3? and now she's going to train with aqua while riku goes to rescue the love of his l - i mean bestest best boy friend again? you're joking.

it just stinks of trying to girlbossify a character so she can 'keep up' with her male counterparts in the eyes of media illiterate consumers who associate a lack of a weapon with a lack of power. dawg we're past that. female characters can be relevant, important, interesting and powerful without following in the exact footsteps of their male counterparts. and this is to say nothing of kairi's keyblade bequeathing being a relative accident and how it creates a pretty glaring plot hole because somehow xion and roxas, sora's nobodies, can wield keyblades at will but namine can't? okay. yes, perhaps we just haven't been 'shown' her wielding a keyblade. maybe. but i think it seriously indicates that they had no intention of making kairi a keyblade wielder in the first place.

and don't get me wrong, if they intended on changing/overhauling her role going forward i would understand making her not just a wielder but a guardian of light. problem is, they have already established she's not going to be fighting/active in the next game. she is, yet again, the home they are returning to and not the future they're moving towards. this, consequently, will continue causing some major tonal dissonance among those who either consciously or unconsciously recognize that kairi is not meant to be where she is currently placed in the narrative. she's SHOWN to be just a regular girl who still to this day does not particularly want to go adventuring, and yet we're TOLD again and again that she's a warrior now, riding on sora and riku's coattails regrettably. it's just so tonally off.

[embraceyourdestiny]

Namine for ask meme??

naminé :3c

favorite thing about them

her desire to be loved, and how later down the line that translating to her need to useful. it’s very similar to kairi in that instead of getting down over her weakness she learns from it and does something about it. while kairi strives to be stronger, naminé works to use the skills she already has to help as much as she can to make up for her past mistakes, and because she cares so much about all these people she’s only an observer to.

the whole reason naminé did what the organization wanted (when they weren’t using her) was because she just wanted to mean something to someone. she wanted to be sora and riku and kairi’s friend. even though she’s “an abomination,” even though she “isn’t meant to exist,” that didn’t mean those feelings weren’t there, and more than anything she wanted them to be realized.

she’s so wistful and yearns so much for love and it’s so painful and so endearing. with how badly she wanted it, the point the series is in now, where everyone is together, is enough for her. she just wanted everyone to be whole and friends, and not being at the center of it, not even really being included, is fine with her. she loves so hard that as long as the people she wants to be friends with are happy, then she’s okay, even if she has no place in it. but i want so badly for someone to reach out their hand and invite her in. to pull her into the circle and welcome her as their friend. i hope the fact that riku actually did this is good sign that from here on out the only things naminé will know are the very love and friendship she so desperately wanted since the very beginning.

also it’s not something that i “like” about her because it’s good or enjoyable but i find it so interesting how plainly her horrible self esteem and guilt is put on display. sora’s tells her not to cry and she says “you’re right, i don’t really have the right.” “oh, okay. nobody needs to keep a bunch of memories that arent real right? you want to remember all the people who are really important to you. anybody... would choose that” hearing her say those things breaks my heart and i want so badly for her to slowly learn to let go of the past and learn to love herself

least favorite thing about them

nothing about her character, but i hate that she’s shipped with riku so much. it makes me so uncomfortable for reasons i can’t really explain but i genuinely hate that ship so much

favorite line

“you won’t fade. you can’t fade. there’s no power that can defeat you. not the light, not the dark. so don’t run from the light, and don’t fear the darkness, because both will make you stronger.”

‘make me stronger? darkness too?’

“yeah, strength that’s yours. the darkness inside your heart, it’s vast and it’s deep. but if you can, truly stare into it and never try to look away, you won’t be afraid of anything again.”

‘all this time i’ve tried to push the darkness away’

“you’ve gotta just remember to be brave. know that the darkness is there and don’t give in. if you do that you will gain strength, the kind that’s unlike any other. you’ll be able to escape the deepest darkness—”

‘and ill be able to see through the brightest light’

“follow the darkness. it’ll show you the way to your friends.”

‘can i face them?’

“you don’t want to?”

brOTP

while i hate their romantic ship, riku and naminé being (best) friends is very, very important to me. they both went through a lot and through a very specific experience together that only they can understand and them relying on and confiding in each other is so special to me. i also enjoy roxas, kairi, xion, sora, ven, and vanitas being her friends, but riku is def the top for me

OTP

namixi all the way baby. although namiolette(?) is cute too

nOTP

rik*n*mi lmao. im also not the biggest fan of her and roxas as a ship but i take genuine offense to the first one

random headcanon

naminé hates the color white. after all that time alone in that cold, colorless castle, all she wants to do is fill everything she can with hues and streaks of color.

unpopular opinion

honestly i dont think i have one besides shipping related? i def think she should have a keyblade though she’d be more of a mage (maybe she trains under daisy/minnie or donald?). i’d love to see her interact with the wayfinder trio, especially aqua and terra. maybe that she’s such a vital character to the story? or that her being a villain would’ve be interesting, though ive def seen other people think the same thing. im not sure really.

oh i thought of one!! naminé def deserves to be a part of the heart hotel. her being excluded from something else yet again makes me sad and if vanitas counts, her coming from sora’s body should def count as well. (kairi too!! also naminé trans)

song i associate with them

tbh kairi’s theme mostly, specifically the more somber part in the second half of the melody because i feel like that represents her well, as “kairi’s shadow” and knowing the darker stuff of kairi’s heart

favorite picture of them

;__;

[dahniwitchoflight]

KH: What is Namine Really?

See also my other post: KH: What is Repliku/Riku Replica Really? https://dahniwitchoflight.tumblr.com/post/649102821124440064

Since I’m continuing my sudden Kingdom Hearts kick sparked by me rewatching all the cinematics for all the games thus far lately and watching all the story cins for KH UX since that’s gonna be relevant to the next games

I just feel I have to re-make this post about what Namine really is, because calling her Kairi’s Nobody has never made sense from the start when you think about it

When Kairi loses her heart in KH1 in the beginning, her body and soul specifically doesn’t get transported to the world that never was like all other nobodies, it’s stays in the realm of Light because Kairi is a princess of Heart, we know this, we see Riku lugging around her corpse throughout the whole game, we keep tabs on it constantly up until the point Sora gives Kairi back her heart and Kairi is re-completed again

KH1′s lore will state that it’s at this moment when Kairi is recompleted that Namine was born, but from what?

Sora’s Body+Soul became Roxas, they make it clear in KH2 that Sora and Roxas is a half and half deal, and when they go back together Sora is complete again.

But in KH1 the only reason Sora was able to maintain his form, was because his Heartless maintained his strong will

Kairi couldn’t have done the same, because as a Princess of Heart she had no darkness, so she couldn’t have had a heartless form

so if Sora’s Heart = Sora

Sora’s Body+Soul = Roxas

Kairi’s Heart = Inside Sora’s Heart

Kairi’s Body+Soul = An Unconscious Kairi

So literally what is left of Kairi to make Namine?

Consider that Kairi has one thing that Sora does not have, a Heart with a Pure Light inside of her, and not just any Pure Light, the thing that makes her a Princess of Heart, and as of KH3, this Pure Light, one of seven Pure Lights, can and do move on to different princesses

The princess from KH1 are the old holder’s of the Pure Lights, the Pure Lights moved on to different princesses in KH3, while the originals still remain full beings pure of heart even without the Pure Lights, the Pure Lights are just a special thing that exists within them that can be passed on to others

but in KH3′s Kairi’s Pure Light stays within her Pure Heart, now why would that be?

A Pure Light, one that specifically cannot exist inside a heart filled with Darkness

Consider that, way back in KH1, when Kairi’s Heart first entered Sora. Sora had Darkness in his heart just being a normal dude, and the Pure Light could no coexist within it

So when Kairi’s heart enters Sora’s, the Pure Light crosses through Sora’s heart and then is ejected somewhere else, Castle Oblivion, and then continues to exist, as Namine

Consider that even though KH1 says Namine and Roxas started to exist at the same time, when Sora Released his Heart and became a Heartless,

We see Roxas’s origins, and he’s a complete zombie, barely existing at the start of Days

and yet Namine the first we see of her in Chain of Memories, seems to have already existed and already gained her own desires and feelings by the time CoM has even started

The whole game is put into motion, because Namine was manipulated into changing up memories to become friends with Sora and Riku

When you consider the timeline with Days, that would have to mean in a very short period of time

Namine would have to appear in Castle Oblivion, be found by Org 13, grow enough of a personality to want things, specifically, the feeling of loneliness, demonstrate her power to change memories in some way, and be manipulated into starting the plot of Chain of Memories, all while Roxas is still basically a zombie

To me, it just makes more sense to say that Namine existed at an earlier point than Roxas did

All this together, I believe Namine is what happened when Kairi’s Pure Light got dipped into Sora’s Memories way back at the start of KH1

and since as of Days we know a full heart can be seeded by nothing but a sprinkling of scattered memories as it’s origins, Namine’s Heart must have grown the same way

Also, it explains why Namine’s so pure white themed and has blonde hair, that can’t really be explained by a connection to Sora’s heart, because he’s a brunette, and even Ventus’s/Roxas’s hair isn’t as Light as Namine’s

But wait you say, A Pure Light can’t make a person, there’s nothing of substance to even make anything there

But DiZ himself explains that Namine is a special nobody, less then a nobody, less then nothing, the most fleeting of all the fleeting shadows

and then yknow, Vanitas is a thing

If all Vanitas is, is a manifestation of Ventus’s Darkness torn apart from him

Then why couldn’t Namine be a manifestation of Kairi’s Pure Light?

Consider also, that of all the people who could be said to be a part of another person, or a special other half, Vanitas and Namine are the only ones given special unique true names, when everyone else, even Xion, is given an anagrammed X name, from “No. i”

and they are the only beings that come with their own unique color schemes, specifically Black for Dark Vanitas, and White for Light Namine

and the only beings that have unique special powers stemming from their unique origins

Vanitas powers over dark emotions, stemming from how the darkness in hearts contain their negative emotions

Namine with her powers over memories, because shared memories are the pieces of light inside hearts that connect different hearts to each other

and then the final nail in the coffin for me, is during the prologue for KH Union X, when Kairi’s Grandmother is telling baby Kairi about the legends of the age of fairytales, when she gets to the part about talking about the “Pure Lights that exist in the hearts of Children” remaking the world

Namine’s Theme starts playing, ever so briefly, even though Namine is nowhere pictured in this scene or has anything to do with this story

Except, if you consider her Origins as a being made from a Pure Light

https://youtu.be/z6NVTZlqw1k?list=PLPCJnwphQDQcJOkD9OsmxxMHX7YHE4WP2&t=70

and since Namine is still within Kairi for all of KH3, Kairi’s “Pure Light” remains within her as well

So that’s my theory and I’m sticking with it

Namine is thematically and symbolically basically the full opposite of what Vanitas is

A dark flavored Sora made from ripping all the darkness out of a person’s heart

and a light flavored Kairi made from the Pure Light inside Kairi being ejected from a person’s heart

but while Ventus becomes half a being without vanitas, since the darkness is part of his own Heart, Namine can exist outside of Kairi, both being full beings of their own, since the Pure Light is something external that Kairi’s heart held onto for a time, and is something that she can live without *EDIT*

one last thing as well, to do with how Kairi went from Radiant Garden to Destiny Islands and how Namine ended up in Castle Oblivion when she was first born

when BBS Sleep came out, Kairi met Aqua and Aqua cast a spell on her saying “One day when you’re in trouble, the Light within you will lead you to the Light of another”

and people were content to assume this means Aqua is the reason Kairi ended up in Destiny Island’s one day since the spell took her to see Sora/Riku the keyblade duh

but then, Melody of Memory came out, and it was revealed that actually Terra-Xehanort purposefully kidnapped Kairi as a child and he sent her directly to Destiny Islands

so then, what was the point of Aqua’s magic spell?

well, for one, it was cast on “The Light” within Kairi, which this theory posits went on to become Namine

and well, Namine as the Pure Light had to end up at Castle Oblivion one way or another when she was first ejected from Sora and Kairi’s Hearts right?

So what if when Destiny Island’s fell to darkness, and Kairi’s heart went inside Sora, That’s when Aqua’s spell triggered for the Light Inside Kairi, and it sent that Pure Light to another “light” one that Aqua knew: Ventus!

Who at this point was sleeping inside the transformed land of Departure aka Castle Oblivion

Therefore, when Namine was “Born”, Aqua’s spell triggered and she landed somewhere near Ventus’s hidden room in Castle Oblivion

Ta-Dah!

~Things mean one thing in the present, and mean a different thing in the future!~

[xiolette]

Reworking Ansem SoD and Xemnas: Fuck Xehanort

Ansem SoD and Xemnas were interesting characters when they were introduced. Remember that? I’m going to recreate that, because their entire characters being reduced to “bleh Xehanort!” pisses me off!

Xehanort’s plan to take over Terra’s body didn’t work out the way he planned. 

He was successful, for a bit, until the fight with Aqua. When Terra took control and turned his keyblade on himself, that was the end of Xehanort. 

It was also the end of Terra, unfortunately. 

Or, at least, Terra as we knew him. 

It continues as it originally did: An amnesiac Terranort is taken in by Ansem and the apprentices. The only name he remembers is Xehanort but it feels wrong. He doesn’t like it. He has a feeling that he was someone else, but its the only name he has so they go with it. It always rubs him the wrong way. 

Master Xehanort is dead. He is not an influence on Terranort, besides the little remaining memories that cling to him. The important thing here is that this is Terra. Just... an amnesiac, broken down, more susceptible to darkness after All That Terra. 

He takes to being an apprentice surprisingly well! After Ansem and the gang were able to set up some accommodations (I hc that Terra has really bad dyslexia) he’s thriving. Terra is smart, he’s just never had the opportunity to show it. Eraqus saw that he struggled with the more academic side of things and redirected him towards physical keyblade handling because that’s obviously where he thrived. (Which is accurate to an extent, but left Terra with the impression that he’s just dumb and shouldn’t bother with anything else)

In the absence of internal shame and embarrassment and with an instructor that’s actually working with him Terranort soaks up everything like a sponge. He’s guided towards the more metaphysical side of things, latent influence from both Terra and Xehanort being keyblade masters and that knowledge running around deep in his subconsciousness. 

 Ansem’s fascination with his missing memories and Terranort’s own need to figure out who the hell he is spur the experiments that kickstart the whole plot of KH. 

Terranort is being led along by the idea that the heart is important somehow that this is the key to everything. He has bits and pieces that point to something and that something becomes an obsession. This obsession in more than encouraged by Ansem who proposes his own theories and is just glad to see his young apprentice excited about something. 

Terranort convinces Ansem to use him as a test subject, because it’s his heart and his memories and he doesn’t want anyone else being dragged into this. (ha.) 

The experiment was a success.... to a point. Terranort unlocks some memories, but they’re disconnected and scattered and the lack of context leads to the conclusion that whoever he used to be was not a good person. In fact he may have killed a few people. 

This is distressing and Terranort immediately withdraws into himself. Ansem, noticing the change, put an end to the experiments because sometimes things are best left in the past. 

The added pieces of the puzzle only make Terranort more obsessed. He’s angry and bitter over who he (thinks he) used to be be and is angry and bitter over the perceived abandonment of his mentor. (A small part of his mind tells him that this has happened before.) 

Insert: the recruitment of the rest of the apprentices and the KH1 Ansem Reports. 

Curiosity and (mostly) good intentions go horribly wrong and everyone ends up jumping off the slippery slope. 

It’s so interesting when you read the original Ansem Reports how he comes across as a well-intentioned figure that just slowly lets the darkness eat away at him until he’s convinced that this is all there is and all there will be. Then he, y’know, causes the apocalypse over of it. ❤️

Lead up is different, motivations are different - end result is the same. 

Then on the other side in KH2 you have Xemnas who is treated as a villain, yes, but a distinctly tragic one. Remember when his only motivation was to get his heart back? He may not have cared about anyone else also getting their hearts back, but he wanted his. 

Remember when he wasn’t trying to turn everyone into a Xehanort clone and never intended to get his own heart and that despite the supposed amnesia he’s still Xehanort and when he didn’t do everything because of Some Grand Evil Plan? 

I’m angry

But the desperate (and Nobodies are desperate creatures) want/need for his heart despite only remembering the negative emotions always struck me. Like, one: It’s better to feel bad than to feel nothing. Two: That’s fucked up man. 

I do like to believe that Xemnas cared or at least felt a certain kinship to his fellow Nobodies, but also he can’t feel nor does he remember how to fake empathy and still saw everyone as more of a tool than an individual. 

Because that’s, y’know, interesting. 

Again, everything is pretty much exactly the same as what happens in the main games. Nothing much needs to change there, because, like I said, they were interesting characters when they were introduced. 

Post KH2 reformation we get Terranort again! And he feels like shit! (As he deserves.) 

I would like for the protagonists to deal with the fact that the Big Grand Evil Villain was Just Some Dude who was a decent person at first but just went overboard. I would also like Terranort and friends to deal with the fact that this was on him. There wasn’t an evil mastermind brainwashing their friend - it was their friend. 

Uhhhh more solid parallels between him and Riku where Terra didn’t have anyone to reign him in, but Riku did. 

I should mention in this AU Ansem SoD becomes like a weird sort of father figure to Riku that actually gives advice and tries to get him to see his side while Riku is like, “Dude. You killed so many people.” “Fair.” 

Evil father figure Riku has mixed feelings about ❤️

The end result isn’t a full redemption arc, because Terranort really can’t get that. He crossed too many lines to have a fully happy ending. He does get reunited with the BBS dudes, though, and they all have to deal with the aftermath. His memories are never fully restored and, yeah, the Terra they knew is effectively dead and there’s some dude who looks like him in his place. 

It’s messy! 

DDD who? KH3 what? Real Organization XIII? 13 Darknesses??? I don’t know them. That sounds made up. 

(DDD is just the Mark of Mastery and Sora AND Riku both dealing with their trauma. Also the discovery of Aqua and Ven who need help like NOW) 

(KH3 is just Sora and Co. rescuing Aqua and Ven and Roxas and Namine and just giving everyone a relatively satisfying conclusion. No need for a grand epic battle. Just people picking up pieces and finding ways to move on.) 

(That’s it that’s the end of the series goodnight.)

[axelofthekey]

My problem with Roxas' return is that it retroactively harms how you read KH2. I dunno, I played all of these games when they came out and certain things were 100% retcons that dramatically changed the meaning of the story.

In KH2, Nobodies are doomed. They have no future. They are the left-behind shells of people who, in KH terms, died (became a Heartless). When Heartless are defeated, that's it. It's over for them. Same for Nobodies. Nobodies live on but without emotions, without ties, without bonds. They aren't even real people. Through that disconnect, they become capable of harming others without conscience. When they start to form bonds, the pointlessness of their own existence becomes clear to them. And when they do, they seek a way to resolve it.

Every Nobody is doomed. Except for Roxas and Namine. They are unique, SOLELY because their original selves still exist. They have a self to return to. Roxas spends all of the KH2 prologue remembering Sora's memories, rejecting them because it's not him. But the problem is that Roxas' entire life is fake. The time in Twilight Town isn't real. He doesn't befriend Hayner, Pence, and Olette. And he's forced back into Sora because only Sora is capable of using his bonds to save the world. Had Sora been left asleep, could Roxas have done what he did? No. Roxas lacked those bonds. The bonds that were important to defeating the Organization and stopping Xemnas from stealing the hearts of all those victims were the bonds that Sora had formed and would form with others. Roxas was never capable of that.

And when he emerges, Sora instantly becomes friends with the REAL Hayner, Pence, and Olette. We are given a direct parallel to explain to us the situation: Roxas lives the fake version of the real world that Sora will ultimately experience. And by being returned to Sora, Roxas is now able to experience the real things instead of the false world(s) that others created for him. Namine's story is effectively the same, having to draw everyone else's stories instead of living them out.

Roxas and Namine get to live when all the other Nobodies die. They return to their original selves, and get to experience a normal life. Sora and Kairi reunite on Destiny Islands, and so do Roxas and Namine. They get to live life. They have hearts, now. The original hearts that they constantly felt connection to and that pulled them away from the false worlds that others forced them into. Then Xion was retconned into existence. Then Ventus was retconned as the explanation for Roxas' appearance.

(sidebar: The only Nobodies who we see the original bodies of in KH2 are Roxas, Namine, and Xemnas. ALL OF THEM HAVE DIFFERENT FACES AND HAIR THAN THEIR ORIGINAL SELVES. The idea that all of the Nobodies look like their original selves except these three was added later on in BbS. It was safe to assume that being a humanoid Nobody in KH2 meant you were different from your original self in appearance. They retconned this later, which also meant that they had to explain where Roxas' appearance came from, thus furthering the idea that Roxas was his own person which was never the intent in KH2).

And finally in Dream Drop Distance they retcon everything about everything. Killing a Heartless and a Nobody brings a person back. Everyone is immortal. The Nobodies developed new hearts ANYWAYS while sitting around. They were independent people. This was never how you were supposed to read the story of KH2. Hell, Axel himself wasn't supposed to live past the KH2 prologue. They added more for him when he was popular, but they STILL killed him off, which shows that the intent was for the Nobodies to have to die. THAT'S WHY THE STORY OF KH2 GOES IN THAT DIRECTION. Roxas and Namine's happy ending is getting to LIVE ON as their original selves. It wasn't supposed to be an unhappy "well, it's this way now, but wait until they finally get to be free later!" You were supposed to think this story was wrapped up and what came next would be something new.

Instead, all of KH3 now becomes about bringing these characters back. None of the development or complexity from before matters. Now everything is just about how we have to save everyone.

I'm sorry if you liked KH3, or if you played the earlier games as a kid and always thought it was sad and unfair that Roxas didn't get to live. Maybe a lot of you always thought everyone would come back. But in the KH world(s) I lived in, we didn't all assume everyone would come back. We relished the bittersweet nature of KH2's ending. We were glad that the characters reunited with their scattered selves and became complete.

You can like what you like. But I think it's ridiculous to imply that KH2 was always written in a way where Roxas was supposed to come back. NOMURA ADMITTED THAT THE WASN'T SURE WHILE WRITING KH3 IF ROXAS AND NAMINE AND XION WERE GONNA GET TO COME BACK. The entire retcon about Nobodies in DDD was because those characters were popular and Nomura wanted to give us popular characters again. That's it.

Respectfully, anyone who believes that Roxas shouldn't have come back in kh3 is wrong and also doesn't know how to make a satisfying end to a characters narrative.

I could maybe forgive thinking Naminé or Xion shouldn't have returned, as they at least got to make the informed decision to return to their counterparts themselves. It would still be wrong but I can at least forgive it.

But Roxas? His entire story is about being allowed to be yourself regardless of what anyone else around you says you should be. It doesn't/shouldn't matter if he comes from Sora, because he is someone else entirely. It's his life, not Sora or anyone elses. Having a story like that end with him being violently forced to return to Sora when he doesn't even know anything about what's going on is flat out bad writing.

Did he accept that he had to die for Sora? Well, sure, but only after getting to beat him within an inch of his life. Only reason he accepts it is because he literally has no other choice but to. He can't keep clinging to the anger and misery at his circumstances forever.

And, you know, it probably helps that the person this was all for also fucking hates it. In no way is Sora happy about what happened to Roxas. Of course he'd bring him back, it's Sora. The situation is so unfair and tragic that having it end with him just staying in Sora forever would literally go against the essence of the entire series.

Kingdom Hearts is, at it's core, a series about bonds. Roxas was established basically immediately as having very important bonds! His best friend literally died for him! He has friends that don't even know it because it was another version of them, but they still feel that bond to him anyway! You really think they should've just thrown away a character whose bonds transcended the boundaries between data and reality just like that? Get real.

[kessielrg]

[Kingdom Hearts] Old Habits, New Reasons

Summary: Three times in which Namine shies away from social functions just to draw, and the one time someone joined her. [oneshot][character study][NamiXi if you really wanna squint][also Namiku if you squint a little less]

Rating: K

Word Count: 3,469 words

If you liked this story, please reblog!

---

Their question had thrown Namine off slightly. She sheepishly looked down at her small sketchbook as if it could answer the question for her. The white page stared back at her in silence.

A part of Namine knew this would happen eventually. There was always that fear that someone would follow her, ask her what she was doing, and then tell her to rejoin the others. But that wasn't what they were asking, was it? They wanted to know why she was drawing. It was a simple question, and it was a bit odd that someone would have lugged a caboodle of art supplies with them to a banquet.

"Well?" the other girl asked. "Is there someone who would get mad you're drawing, even if you did it around your friends?"

"I don't think so." Namine decided, slowly. "But sometimes... it's just easier to draw without other people around you. And sometimes, when people find out that you're good at something, they make you do that something for them. It's not very fun."

"Do you always leave to draw, though?"

At first, Namine wanted to disagree with all her heart. But in introspection, it was more of a vice than she cared to admit. She loved drawing, but didn't like others watching her as she did it. When did that happen, she wondered. That didn't used to be the case...

"Sometimes." Namine finally said. She held her sketchbook a bit tighter before adding, "But only on certain occasions."

"Like?"

Namine looked over at the other girl with curiosity. She was greeted with a look just as inquisitive as her own. Maybe even more so. There was a genuine interest; that much was certain. Maybe there was a budding artist in their midst?

"Well..." she carefully said, moving her sketchbook a bit to flip through the earlier pages, "There was this one time..."

. . .

It was a small comfort that, while she wasn't a Keyblade wielder herself, the others considered her when they all got together. She still made sure that her presence didn't disturb anyone. Being quiet and observant was Namine's most reliable vice. That, and drawing. There wasn't much else she knew how to do. Her time as a Nobody barely ranged a year, and after that she was placed safely inside Kairi's heart until recently. Being a Somebody was... confusing, to say the least.

Being asked to join in on a slumber party with Kairi and Xion had been a surprise- perhaps even more so because Master Aqua herself gave her the invitation. Namine certainly didn't expect it to take place in the Land of Departure either. The world seemed far too grand to her -far too important in the history of Keyblade wielders- that it could be used for anything beyond a training arena. She was proven wrong after entering the Great Hall with Kairi. Aqua had given them a spot in front of the thrones, already decorated with sleeping bags for all four of them and a small assortment of snacks.

"I've never got to have a proper slumber party before, since it was me and Terra for most of our childhoods." Aqua admitted at some point. "Feels weird having one with you guys now. I feel like a mom."

It was Xion who, without skipping a beat, cheerfully declared, "And you're the best one I'll never have!"

"Xion!" both Aqua and Kairi declared, each with their own level of bewilderment. Namine only offered a stifled laugh. So proud at their reactions, Xion gave them all a smile so big, it almost rivaled Sora's.

After that, they started to talk about various things since they all met together. Apparently everyone's training was going rather well. Kairi was beginning to get a handle of second tier elemental magic, while Xion was working on personal techniques on and off for the past week. It was around this time that Namine politely excused herself from the others. They had been so caught up in their conversation that they didn't even notice.

Namine went to where she and Kairi had placed their personal things to find her caboodle. The caboodle was a neat little box with drawers that opened the same time she opened the lid. She was able to put all her art supplies in it. Most of them, anyway- her normal sketchbook was too large to fit. Instead, she used a smaller pad that was placed where the mirror in the caboodle was. Once Namine made sure she had everything, she carefully found a spot far enough away from the others so she could draw them. It honestly wasn't very far, but it was still far enough away that the other three didn't really notice her. That was fine. If anything, it was perfect.

The sounds of the others almost masked the sound of her pencil against paper. Spending most of her life locked away with nothing but drawing to distract her gave Namine a slight skill in speed drawing. However, she took her time when she started to work on her friends. She wanted as much detail as she could.

But she didn't bother to sketch her own sleeping bag. She tried to tell herself that it was because it ruined the composition. But deep down she knew it was because she didn't fit with the others, and so it didn't need to be included.

Namine finished her drawing without the others ever knowing she was gone. She placed everything back in her caboodle, then went back as Kairi went into a long story about Tidus and Wakka back on the islands. It was nice; the sounds of friendship. Namine had been the first to go to sleep that night.

. . .

At first, the only response she got was a quiet, "Oh..."

"It was a really fun time!" Namine quickly insisted. "And it really was a treat to be included."

"But you drew yourself out."

Namine flinched slightly. "It worked out better that way. From the angle I was at, it would have looked weird because I had the really light sleeping bag, and everything was so dark anyway..."

The other girl only looked more guilty.

"Do you still have the picture?" she wondered.

"I think so." Namine agreed. She adjusted herself so she could better go through her sketchbook before flipping through the earlier pages. "Here," she then offered as she handed it over.

There was a small hum as the other ran her fingers over the drawing. Namine had made deliberate choices in lighting around the three Keyblade wielders- light coming off of them as if they were lighting up the whole room. If you looked ever closer, you could see the detail of the castle's floor, and even make out the silhouettes of the three thrones in the background.

"Does anyone know that you go somewhere away from everyone to draw?" the other girl asked, handing the sketchbook back to Namine.

Namine gave a fond, almost bashful smile.

"There is someone..."

. . .

"There's a lot of people here." Namine noted as she tried to look over the crowd. Riku wasn't making the same amount of effort. Instead, he just casually looked on with a hand at his hip. Curse him being a full head taller than she was.

"Aqua said that Disney Town holds the Dream Festival every year." Riku agreed with a small nod. "Can't be that easy since Queen Minnie has almost been reigning the kingdom alone for the past few years. The effort is definitely amazing though."

Namine agreed with a nod and a small noise of affirmation. Disney Town looked absolutely splendid for the festival. All the colors, and the smells, and the energy was enough to put anyone in a good mood. The grip Namine had on her caboodle tightened slightly. A frown crossed her lips as she considered that there might have been too much commotion. There wasn't a good place to just sit and zone out without some kind of noise maker going off.

Riku must have noticed this. He looked over at her, and quickly saw her firm grip on the caboodle's handle.

"Are you sure you don't want to leave that in the Gummi Ship?" he asked. He even made a mild gesture to the box, which only made Namine hold it closer to her.

"No. I'm going to use it." Namine insisted. "I just... I just need someplace a bit more quiet..."

Riku nodded. He looked up again to see that Queen Minnie had taken the stage. The queen looked as beautiful as always in her formal pink and red ballgown. The jewels on her crown glittered under the multicolored overhead lights. Everyone cheered at seeing her- the love and admiration they had for their leader was enough to be felt from miles away. Minnie was a good queen, there was no contest about that.

As Minnie tried to settle the crowd down so she could speak, Riku bent down a bit to quietly tell Namine something.

"There's a sewage grate somewhere behind us. If you take it, there's a gizmo that will lead you up to one of the buildings overlooking the racetrack. Don't know about you, but a good aerial shot might be something to capture for later."

Namine grinned. "Thank you Riku." she said before giving him a small peck on his cheek. The young Keyblade master's face gleamed with a humble blush as he stood tall again, almost as if he had never moved at all. Namine laughed a bit at it before leaving.

Finding, and getting into, the grate had not been an issue. It did take her awhile to navigate the gizmo, though. But it was all worth it once she got to the top of a particular building. Namine let out a soft 'Oh...' of wonder as she sat down near the edge facing the racetrack. Riku was right- this was a good place to work. If only she was able to use larger sketch paper in her travelling kit.

When she was finished, Namine very quickly tried to find Riku again. She shouted his name after spotting him. He barely had time to turn around before she proudly displayed her new drawing to him.

"Do you think Queen Minnie will like it?" she asked, rather breathlessly.

Riku looked at her before looking down at the drawing. He put on a wide smile before telling her, "She's going to love it. It's perfect."

. . .

That story had brought about a rather brighter mood in the other girl.

"Did Queen Minnie like the drawing?" she asked. "You did give it to her after the festival, right?"

A sense of pride welled in Namine's heart, leading her to sit a bit straighter. "She loved it." she grinned. "She immediately had the brooms take it to the gallery to be expanded and mounted. You should have seen the look on Riku's face. He was as proud as I was, and probably more surprised!"

"I could only imagine." the other girl laughed. "Oh!" she then said, "Have you ever gone someplace with a view so nice that you just couldn't replicate it no matter how hard you tried? It's hard to recreate any atmosphere, in my opinion. I wanna know if you ever tried to as well."

Namine let out a soft hum as she thought about it. She let out a small noise of realization when it came to her.

"I did once before, yes." she agreed. "Since Kairi's parents don't mind me staying with them, I was able to join her, Riku, Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie to a beach party they had. It was still summer vacation, if I remember correctly. And Tidus really wanted to have a girls versus boys match..."

. . .

"Head's up!" Tidus shouted before serving the volleyball over the net.

"Cheater!" Selphie shouted back as Kairi managed to spike the ball back. Tidus only gave a rather sinister cackle back. However, at that point, no one was able to break their concentration just to smack talk each other.

Namine watched as Kairi and Selphie worked against Tidus and Riku in a rather well matched volleyball tourney. Wakka wasn't too far away- he had lost a bet earlier and had to make food for everyone. The smell of pineapples and fish hung in the air. It was the warmth of the midday sun that Namine loved the most. The feeling enveloped its way around her like a comforting hug. She let out a soft sigh as she got a bit more comfortable.

The sudden urge to draw made her fingers twitch.

This wasn't a good spot for it, though. She was too close to the others for anything but sand to get onto the paper than color. As much as she loved watching the volleyball match, it was still a bit too distracting. Namine started to get up and casually looked around for a better spot to draw. It didn't take long for her eyes to train to a crow's nest not far from the shore. It was part of a large treehouse that seemed to encompass the island. She looked back at her friends for a moment before quietly leaving them. If anyone noticed she was going, they certainly didn't question her about it.

After getting herself situated at the higher point, Namine found herself gaping at the scene below her. Her friends happily playing on the beach, the light reflections off the water, and even the island holding the paopu tree providing a view so beautiful, so rich, that she wasn't even aware that she was opening her caboodle at first. Seeing the Destiny Islands through Sora's heart was nothing compared to the real thing. Was it possible just to freeze time here and let everything else wash away? She smiled a bit to herself. She did have a way to freeze time, in a way.

The only unfortunate thing was that she wouldn't be able to capture it all. She couldn't encapsulate the smell of the sea, or the sounds of Tidus demanding the girls had leverage over him for some reason. She gave a small smile as she continued to work. Most of her effort was spent trying to reflect the sea around them. A certain impatience came over her as she carefully did each detail. You always had to start with the big stuff, then go down smaller. She was just so eager to capture this moment, anyway she could, that she was always picturing this drawing when it was done.

Namine had to force herself to stop after an hour. Her hands were starting to hurt, and her stomach was growling for food. She cracked her knuckles, barely relieving the tension in them, before putting her stuff away. There would always be time to clean the picture up later. For now, she needed to rejoin her friends.

. . .

And so, we were brought back to our initial setting- the banquet in Radiant Garden.

Namine had thought at first that this would be the perfect opportunity to work on drawing food. But the actual banquet itself had a lot more activity than she was anticipating. There were too many people at the tables to have space to stand at for a few minutes, and she had tried to get a plate for herself to take elsewhere- the allure of delectable aromas wouldn't let her go far without wolfing everything down. So she decided to get a higher view.

To her luck, there was a balcony overlooking the main area. It wasn't blocked off or anything, so Namine quietly crept her way to the top. She found a place to carefully overlook the area and found herself at awe. Even if she was aware that someone was behind her, she probably wouldn't have known it at first.

"Namine!" a voice suddenly said in surprise. Namine jumped a good foot before turning her attention to the newcomer. She relaxed a little when she found it was just Xion.

"Xion..." the blonde girl sighed. "It's just you."

"Am I interrupting you? I'm sorry. I'm not interested in food, and the boys are really going at it, so I really wanted to do this writing exercise where you describe an atmosphere, and..."

"No, no, no. You're fine." Namine insisted. She moved her stuff a bit before gesturing for Xion to sit down next to her. "Here," she offered, "Sit next to me. The view is nice from this area."

Xion smiled in thanks before carefully sitting down. She looked out over the balcony and gasped.

"You're right, this is a good view!" Xion marveled. Her eyes expanding in wonder. "This is the perfect place for Ebba to plant a listening device onto an enemy!"

"Ebba?" Namine wondered. "Who's Ebba?"

At Namine's confusion, Xion's face lit up in a deep scarlet.

"She's my... I think Pence called it 'self-insert.' It's a character that's based on me, but sometimes has a few differences. I've based most of the stories I write on stuff I did in the Organization. It's helped a lot with trying to cope with it. You know?"

Namine shrunk a little. "Yeah..." she agreed in a tiny voice.

"But it's real fun too!" Xion told her, trying to divert the heavy topic a bit. "I base everyone in story with someone in real life! You should see the guy I based on Xemnas... I do a lot of mean things to him."

Namine let out a small chuckle. But then a thought occurred to her.

"You based the characters in your story on us?"

"Of course I did!" she happily declared, her blush growing a bit, besides. "Roxas is Lucas, Master Aqua is head knight Meikai, I even have Pluto as the brave pup Mercury!"

"Do... Do you have someone based on me?"

Xion paused for a moment. Her face going still. However, just as quickly, her smile came back as wide as ever.

"Not yet, but I can!" she decided. She hummed a bit as she thought it over some more. "But I don't have to if you don't want to. I think I'll call her... Syrena."

"Syrena..." Namine hummed in thought. She then gave a bright smile in appreciation. "I like it."

"Great!" Xion beamed. She let out a rather contented sigh before asking, "What about you? Why did you come here?" She looked down at Namine's sketchpad and art supplies for a moment then added, "Did you come all this way just to draw?"

After some hesitation, Namine told her. Carefully, and in her own time. Xion listened intently- only asking questions when Namine was done relating a certain day. When the subject came back around to where they were, Xion seemed to understand much better.

"I get it now." she said.

"You do?" Namine wondered.

Xion gave a thoughtful little nod before explaining, "It's easier for you to draw when it's more quiet. That was how it was before. I think it's great that you're still drawing, even though you started because you were held hostage by the Organization. But the Organization didn't give you the skill you have, Namine. That’s all your own. Kinda like how writing is my special thing. We have ways to just... be ourselves, you know? It's comforting. It's like knowing that, even though we didn't start out in this world with our own goals or ideals, we can make them on our own now. We're free now, Namine. Free to do whatever we want."

Namine absently hugged her sketchbook. "I like that thought." she admitted. "I never really saw it that way before, either. Drawing is something that I know I can do. Something that won't harm others. But you are right- it's what makes me... me. Thank you."

Xion grinned. A wide, bright grin that could have lit up a room. It gave Namine an idea.

"What does Ebba look like?" she questioned, at the same time she pulled out one of her sketching pencils. "Does she look just like you, or are there a lot of differences?"

There was a moment of confusion on Xion's face, then a bright flicker of joy. Not a second after, she burst into a long babble about her character. She even used her arms to illustrate certain concepts and mannerisms. Namine laughed, and did her best to keep up. Xion was so passionate about her characters- it almost made Namine jealous. For the next few hours, Namine did a blend of Xion's idea for Ebba, while Xion herself got to writing about how Ebba got to meet a new acquaintance; a mysterious girl named Syrena, who -while mostly shy- was very well loved.