#so there was no particular reason for it to be KH2

[omnificent-orion]

one more warm summer one last

[flummoxx]

Saïx’s final fight in the kh2 manga - a quick character analysis

(spoilers for kh2, 358/2 days, and kh3)

[ I wrote this 4-ish months ago but my writing has improved a lot within that time so please ignore any spelling errors or grammar mistakes ]

Setting The Stage: As Sora and his friends make their way through the Castle That Never Was, he comes across Saïx and Luxord, both prepared to fight them. Before Sora can prepare for battle, Luxord traps his friends (Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Kairi) each in their own cards.

At first, the battle precedes how you would expect. Luxord challenges Sora to a card game in order to bring his friends back: Sora is reasonably upset at him and determined to win the fight, while Luxord may or may not be cheating. Saïx stands to the side watching this unfold.

Saïx Takes Over: In the middle of Luxord and Sora’s battle, Saïx breaks all of the cards in half, right in front of Sora’s eyes. When Luxord protests, Saïx threatens him with the same fate and he backs down.

As Sora stands there frozen in shock, Saïx takes this chance to get in the first couple of hits; knocking Sora to the ground. As Sora gets up, tears roll down his face, believing that all of his friends have died. When Sora finally gets the chance to hit him, he knocks Saïx back pretty far. This causes Luxord to call out his name and Saïx replies with, “I don't need your help.” As he enters his berserk state, the manga shows us a flashback to 358/2 days during the Roxas and Saïx battle.

With the usage of this particular flashback, it's clear that Saïx views Sora as Roxas, explaining his cruel actions here. By fighting Sora he's able to get payback for their battle in days; he's able to finally destroy Roxas, and to make him pay for everything Saïx believes him responsible for. Saïx prevented Luxord from helping him because this battle is something Saïx wants all to himself. He won't tolerate any interference. He’s waited long enough.

As Sora finds himself on the ground again, Saïx asks him some Important questions. He begins with, “You're still standing..? Why do you fight?” he then adds, “Your friends are gone. You have nothing left to protect.” Lastly, Saïx questions, “What point is there in fighting alone?”

I find all of these questions crucial to understanding Saïx’s actions in this fight.

Saïx thought that by making Sora believe all of his friends were dead, he would lose all motivation to keep going. He would lose his purpose. Sound familiar?

Fast forwarding to kh3, Saïx admits to losing all sense of purpose when Axel made friends with Xion and Roxas; leaving him and Subject X in the dust. Feeling that if Axel didn't need him anymore he no longer held any meaning. However, I don't think that was the only reason as to why he lost his purpose. Going back to kh2, Axel died as a sacrifice to protect Sora, leaving Saïx alone in the organization. During this time, most Nobodies were not aware they would come back recompleted after they faded away, so Saïx had no idea that Axel would return. I believe Axel’s death was the final push for Saïx to completely lose his purpose and revolve all his actions going forward around revenge and jealousy. When Sora continued to fight despite the loss of his friends, Saïx became confused as to why he would want to go on when he had nothing left to protect. 

Sora’s Victory: Sora tells Saïx that he still fights; that he continues to press on, because he knows that his heart is connected to his friends, even if they're not physically alongside him. Saïx doesn't understand this himself until much later in the series. (Mentioned in his character files, “If I could just connect to others’ hearts, that would be enough.”) With a final blow filled with determination, Sora finally defeats Saïx.

As Saïx begins to disappear, he looks to kingdom hearts above him and wonders where his heart is. He fades away alone with no one to support his fall. (If you're worried about Sora's friends, they're doing just fine. Luxord had kept the real cards that held Sora's friends in his pocket. The ones Saïx destroyed weren't the real thing. I'm assuming Saïx knew this but It made no difference as long as Sora believed they were dead. Jiminy Cricket was able to release them from the cards safely while Sora fought Saïx.)

[alex-multiverse]

Kh Worldbuilding headcanons: Destiny Islands Edition

No one ever talks about the original worlds in kh and i find that a travesty because these places are a really, REALLY good mine to play around with. (u can also use them or expand on them if you really like)

So im gonna share some HCs i have about the original kh worlds, starting with Destiny islands..... but before that some basics: also this is kinda long so under the read more it goes

In general:

Kh "worlds" arent really floating in space. the stylized icons we see in game are more akin to dimensional rifts rather than actual planets (seriously who thinks this is how the world looks fr)

Following on with the dimensional rift: as the "worlds" arent really pieces of the original world, they are something more akin as parallel dimensions or something along the lines of something like ff14 (mostly because i would rather die first than live in a world with 5 different versions of britain existing at the same time)

As much as dark road is cool, the explanation for the empty worlds is dumb and for the purposes of this exercise, instead ofthe worlds filling the people gradually after it is created, i consider that the worlds as they exist are the result of the surviving children of the war making their stories real in the fractured reality of the original world (it also follows the weird theme of reality/unreality that kh4 seems to go for) and it turning into a different version of earth as we know it, with some exceptions, such as monstropolis (which exists independently as a parallel land to earth in its canon) and Deep space (which is straight up NOT earth and was more like, the rift of lilo and stitch's world pointing at the high counselor's fleet BEFORE the actual movie started) and also the OG worlds who dont have something to be based on for reasons to be explained later.

the only world that exists in the ocean between as it is, is the Keyblade graveyard. because it was so majorly fucked up by the war it both shattered in the physical and dimensional way after it happened.

Now that that rant is out of the way, LETS GO TO THE MOST UNDERRATED WORLD IN THE SERIES:

Destiny islands is in fact, more than 2 islands, being a big archipelago with a bigger "main island" where our three protagonists live at. this one we have seen before in kh2

Destiny islands, is, by far, not the only chain of islands in the world. in fact, theres way more islands beyond the horizon.

We know the islands have a mayor, thus we know that they must have cordial diplomatic ties with different islands near them.

Due to FF characters existing here, i am very tempted to assure that some of the races from ff8 and ffX exist in this world (you are now imagining kimahri playing with a tiny kairi after diplomacy stuff with her dad just ended)

Due to DI being an original world, it is actually a shard of the original world that didnt really changed much compared to the other original ones. its major difference is that it is an ocean world like Wind waker hyrule or the Grand line from One piece

Magic is a real thing in the original worlds populace, you just really need to get good at it, learn it, be magical by default, or cheat and get a keyblade somehow

Religion in the og worlds strike me as something akin to the way people prayed to the aeons of yevon in ffx or the astrals of FF15. with people praying to the ff summons on a case by case basis and depending on their preference for patron gods. Ie: Leviathan being a goddess of the ocean and water who is prayed to by sailors or fishermen, while scholars prefer ifrit using an interpretation of the fire of knowledge. (you know. like a furry prometheus that doesnt get eaten by an eagle daily)

I'll probably go on more detail later, but for now, the summons that get prayed to the most in DI is probably Leviathan for the aforementioned reasons, Ramuh for nature and agriculture reasons, shiva for tradition and combat reasons (related to riku in my particular headcanon) And Titan for economical reasons, wow alex making the rock man into the economy guy i wonder where you have heard it before

Speaking of economy, DI currency totally has tiny paopu fruit symbols in its coins and bills, and its a legal course currency in its neighboring islands because they too dig the paopu fruit symbolism

Munny looks like malleable diamonds because it probably just morphs into the appropate currency depending on the world we're in, moogles only use them as they are because they are both the people doing synthing and also shady as hell. do not trust the pompom people.

Going back to the Paopu fruit: its quite a common tree fruit in the islands and in fact is industrially harvested in some islands both as an export and in-island use.

The paopu folk story is actually mostly just a misconception for an older tale. originally involving sailors and a promise to return home safe. it eventually turned into "sharing one will entwine your fates forever"

Paopu pastries are a common dessert, and paopu wine is used often in weddings.

Monsters ARE real in the islands and roam the most inhabited places. These are often hunt for game and for safety reasons

THAT MEANS, chocobos are also a thing people use in the most rural parts of the islands for fieldwork, transportation and sometimes food.

Blitzball is MAD popular and they Often do tournaments involving several islands. DI itself was almost a perpetual champion up until jecht retired, then they win every so often instead of always

Boating licenses are a thing, but kids can still use their little boats because they have to row them. think like, the difference between a bicicle and a motorbike.

There are bridges for tram systems between islands that are close to each other, usually reinforced for sea and storm reasons.

Legally speaking, equal marriage is a thing and even polyamorous ones because why being an ass about it.

Healthcare is mostly public, but there are Specialty care stuff in the main islands that costs money because of course it is

Because sora and riku are japanese names, i prefer the island to be something like a tropical japan, so most of the people in DI have japanese names.

That would be all for now. tune in next time when i tackle on Twilight town, who may or not be in perpetual twilight (is not)

[fragmentsofsorrow]

so much of the conversation between Saïx and Lea on the clock tower in KH3 is really just Saïx keeping up appearances

which isn't to say, for instance, that there isn't any bitterness in it when he says "You gave up," because even without his admission later on in the Keyblade Graveyard it's been pretty clear for a while that he feels like Axel left him behind, but the fact that this conversation even happens at all is purely from Saïx wanting to talk to Lea. there's no reason for him to be there otherwise, and while it's not stated outright, it's not hard to see that there isn't any real hostility on Saïx's part here

Saïx opens the conversation with "Shouldn't you say goodbye to your real home?" and although it definitely sounds somewhat antagonistic, it doesn't have anywhere near the same bite to it as his interactions with Axel in late 358/2 Days and KH2

(side note: it does, however, show that Saïx thinks a goodbye is in order before the upcoming battle, and given how much work Saïx has put into covertly helping the Guardians of Light and sabotaging Xehanort, I think it's likely Saïx intends to lose. this also paints his "I expect no less" in a new light if what he's really expecting is his own death)

he almost immediately follows up with the deescalation "I'm not here to fight," and yet through the entire conversation he still keeps up the appearance of hostility. most notably with "Face it. Roxas is just like our other friend. Gone forever," which is an outright lie and he knows it. sending the Radiant Garden scientists a replica body for Roxas was Saïx's idea to begin with, so not only does he know for a fact that Roxas can come back, he's been working to make it happen

one line in particular really makes me wonder, though

because the thing is, Saïx already knows the answer, even if Lea himself doesn't. there's no way he wouldn't know, not when Xion is also in the real Organization XIII along with him. and although it's possible that this question is also just Saïx keeping up appearances, I can't help but wonder if it's actually a subtle attempt at jogging Lea's memory

after all—

—it wouldn't be the only time he does something like that

[spammynegrutou]

Hi! Once again the Riku brain rot has consumed my entire being, so here's some headcanons I've created (not in any particular order).

BASIC HCS 💕

He's Handy! He can fix almost anything. He loves tinkering with his Gummi Ship!

His favorite food is grilled fish! White fish specifically, like flounder, sea bass, tilapia, etc. And he has a taste for savory treats, which combats Sora's sweet tooth.

He comes from a loving home. He loves his parents, a lot and they love him. However, his biological mother passed away when he was 7ish (after BBS, but before Kairi arrived). His father became emotionally unavailable for a while, until he met Riku's stepmom. She filled her motherly role over Riku and he thanks her for it. He loves his step mom!!!

His dad taught him a variety of things like: self defense, how to fix common things, fishing, basic survival skills, and the basics of building

He moved out after KH2, and got his own place. The reason why is because after everything he's been through he needs his own space to brood about how small everything is. Albeit sad, his father approved and has the land lady check up on him every so often 🥺 Riku helps outs his elderly land lady and pays rent on TIME! He's a responsible boy 😊

Riku isn't all into fashion but he can DRESS. He loves a good "urban/street wear" look, and fucks heavy with grunge. He appreciates the chains and skull designs that come with "punk" fashion but doesn't think he can pull it off

Riku doesn't spend a needless amount of time on his looks. He has gel for his hair, a skin care routine, and a nighttime ritual to keep his hygiene up. He's very much a pretty boy in our eyes, but that's just his genes. He does the bare minimum to keep himself looking presentable

Speaking of his looks, he surprisingly gets his good genes from his dad. The muscles, the hair, the jaw line, all from his old man. His father was most definitely a looker back in the day! That being said, Riku has his mother's smile and her eyes. He also carries her temperament with him.

Along with tinkering being a hobby of his, he likes video games too! But he's not a complete shut in video game nerd. Riku LOVES the outdoors. The wilderness calls him like he's a feral animal !!! He likes camping, and fishing! He's the main guy on the islands you'd go to for some handy survival tips. He knows a good amount of edible plants, fungi, berries, leaves, and etcetera to eat if he ever got stranded. He has one or two books on that kind of stuff but he doesn't read it anymore.

After the events of KH2, Riku didn't go back to highschool. Instead he got a GED (or KH equivalent) online and started taking community college courses. He's doing it to make his dearly departed mother proud.

To add on to that, Riku is a fast learner. He's quite intellectual when it comes to mathematics, some history, and biology but please don't ask him why the author made the curtains blue 😭 the boy is emotionally stunted. He is NOT using critical thinking when it comes down to poetry or thick prose. He has some emotional intelligence but compared to Sora, he might as well have the emotional capacity of a brick wall 😭

Alright! That's all I have for now (it's 5am, I should be sleeping) if I have any more I'll post em lol

XOXO Mx. Jade 💕

[themattress]

From this video. I....have some issues with this.

First off, I have three criteria for acceptable retcons.

It should make logical sense in-universe and not contradict solidified facts.

It shouldn't disrespect the point made by the writer whose work it's retconning.

It should be either as compelling or even moreso than what it is replacing.

And yeah, the Ansem-Xehanort retcon covers all of those bases which is why I'm glad she's defending it! In KH1 there was literally nothing solidifying for a fact that the guy was Ansem. All we had to go by were his own words; people like the Final Fantasy crew or Mickey who would know for sure how Ansem looked like never interacted with him. Nomura co-created Ansem, Seeker of Darkness with Nojima in KH1, and Nojima wrote KH2's scenario, so no-one was being disrespected - the same people retconning the character were the same people who created him. And finally, Xehanort (the apprentice, not the Keyblade wielder!) is made more compelling through this retcon than had he simply been the real Ansem, and on top of that the real Ansem is also a compelling character who has his own arc of descending into darkness as a direct consequence of Xehanort's actions, which are themselves a direct consequence of Ansem's. Xemnas in particular benefits greatly from the retcon, since his desire to become the supreme existence now makes that much more sense character-wise.

But that's not what she says about it. Instead she says:

"It's the kind of reveal that simply would not work in any other story, and as such sets KH into a class of fiction all its own. Whether intentionally or not, the reveal that Xehanort's Heartless stole Ansem the Wise's identity creates a level of separation between certain types of fans of the story. If you're here for the characters and themes of this story and interested in the way that KH specifically likes to explore identity and connection, then no matter how weird you feel this reveal is, you're still going to accept it and keep pressing forward into the story to see how they use this retcon to advance the themes and the characters. But if you're someone who only gets invested in a story for lore and perfectly consistent world-building, this reveal is going to throw you off. And quite possibly make you feel like the story itself has betrayed you even though all its done is remain true to its own meaning and ideas. And I am 100% in the former camp and have no sympathy at all for the 'no meaning, only lore' crowd, especially since this reveal makes it so the world and history is malleable if it can be turned to serve the story's themes. The freedom and flexibility this precedent gives the creators is honestly core to what makes the series so compelling to me. The games' writers are not bound even by their own previous ideas, if what they wrote contradicts something new they want to explore. And it makes the series more thematically rich for the unbound creativity it gives the creators. From this point on, if you're on board with its approach to its own history, it's here to tell you a story packed with meaningful themes and compelling characters. And if you're not on board with it, well, it doesn't care. It's going to press on, telling the story it wants to tell regardless."

A retcon that passes those three criteria I listed before should absolutely NOT be used as a justification for carte-blanche retconning that doesn't pass said criteria under some nebulous reasoning about themes and characters. There are so many fallacies in what she just said.

To claim that only people invested in lore and consistent world-building would reject retcons in the KH series while people invested in themes and characters would embrace them is demonstrably false. How do I know this? Because I personally was invested in the themes and characters, and I along with many others feel as though all of the retconning Nomura has kept doing with the series only served to destroy the themes and characters that we were invested in...and in fact, the majority of these retcons are far more centered around lore than around themes and characters! "No meaning, only lore"? That sounds exactly like what the Kingdom Hearts series has devolved into! Since BBS, "meaningful themes" are contradicted or discarded and "compelling characters" have their entire personality and purpose rewritten on a whim just so that Nomura can change up the series' lore, since that's all he cares about.

"The games' writers are not bound even by their own previous ideas, if what they wrote contradicts something new they want to explore, and it makes the series more thematically rich for the unbound creativity it gives the creators"? First off, Nomura is the only creator in the equation here. Everyone else who was there early in is now gone. More importantly, not being bound to previous ideas makes the series thematically rich? To use the most extreme scenario possible, if I wrote a story where I hammered home that abuse is a bad thing, but then decided that abuse is a good thing actually and changed up my story to reflect that, would you say my work is "thematically rich" and laud my "unbound creativity"? No, you'd call me a hack who pissed on the message of my own story. So how is Nomura any different?

Lastly, this treatment of the KH series' crappy writing with this "rah rah, do your own thing, fight the establishment, tell a bad story if you want to and don't let the haters tell you otherwise!" rebel spirit is annoying as fuck. It encourages complacency, cult mentality and toxic positivity, which I cannot get behind. This entire argument of hers is also based on a fallacy: the Ansem-Xehanort reveal, which as I already detailed passed the acceptable retcon criteria, "would not work in any other story"? To that, I must refer to this post and that reveal:

This operates the exact same way as the Ansem-Xehanort reveal: you previously thought this character was one thing (Ansem / the man who killed Luke's father) only to learn he's actually another thing (Ansem's apprentice who stole his master's name / Luke's father himself). It didn't contradict anything concrete since all we had to go by before were someone's words ("Ansem" / Obi-Wan), it didn't disrespect a previous writer's work, and it gave us a more compelling story and character than the more simplistic ones we had before. Yes, the aftereffect of one is that two characters were combined into one while the aftereffect of the other is that one character was divided into two, but otherwise it's the same. So clearly, there are other stories, very famous stories, where reveals like this can work. KH ain't that special.

Bottom line: the Ansem-Xehanort twist is defendable. Nomura and the KH series are not.

[valorxdrive]

HC; Living Shadow.

This one has been living my head for a good amount of time while having this blog. Sora's whole make up in terms of a being remained complicated after the events of one. Someone who regained his humanity without a nobody, someone who in the process, didn't get his Heartless state destroyed but integrated. I believe the important detail here is that regardless of which form he's in, that sentience and conscious choice is forged.

I'd say that he's a grade above of how Ansem SoD turned out. Instead of becoming a Heartless with a human form, he's become a being who can openly stand upon either border, and can continue to be if one of the other is gone for a time.

I believe it's within this framework we can get an idea on how Sora grew so exponentially in his time as a Keyblade wielder. Its the simultaneous development of the human and shadow sides working in unison, both benefiting from the trials endured.

It's not working in a fashion of someone growing their darkness through grim emotion. It's genuinely absorbing the same experiences in a different means.

I believe Re:Coded managed to give a foreshadowing of this.

Now in this sense we're getting it purely from the perspective of a unique Heartless circumstance.All the same, it introduces the concept of how Sora and his Heartless Physiology do hold the capacity to grow at the same time at differing intervals.

The reason why we don't see a Darkside in KH1 I believe during the sacrifice, is due to the presence of Kairi and Ventus's hearts of light. They serve as a means to distill the worst from coming to be, and allowing Sora to retain a state of where despite being a Heartless, he managed to retain his sentience for a fleeting moment-- but that was all that was needed. So instead of a Darkside spawning? It was simply a shadow Heartless.

Kairi's means of saving him managed to make him regain his humanity. At the same time, this never 'eliminated' any part of Sora either. He threw off the whole Heartless/Nobody dichotomy with this act, and instead allows the Heartless build become a intimate part of Sora's conscious framework. He'd only regain his lost power from Roxas by the end of 2.

Time and time again too we also see these 'limiters' get removed. Without Kairi in KH2 we got the Antiform becoming an avid possibility.

And with Ventus's return in KH3, the new mode of Rage Form began the cusp of a mutation during the battle with Xehanort. However, it was this same anomaly that managed to be the winning factor. Xehanort had the power to quite literally strip any and all into dispersed dark energy, or a Heartless by stripping them of their form.

Sora could maintain a physical and more importantly, conscious shape when this should've been existence wiping him entirely.

By proxy I believe this is the proof of what creates the explosive levels of growth that weaves in tandem with Sora's natural state, through these means he's developing through his own particular path. Could this become a potential threat if left unchecked? Possibly. It'll simply be another means he needs to garner a more intimate understanding of.

Tl;dr The Heartless Hivemind that is associated with the 13 Primal darknesses are not actively a part of Sora. Yet, he managed to tamper into making this state of being his own, even if far from mastered.

[bluerosesburnblue]

I think at least part of the reason the fandom focuses on Riku so much is that the fandom is like 20 years old and the early '00s were rife with "must hate female character for getting in the way of the gay ship" attitudes (most fans grew past that). But I see a lot of echoes of that early attitude still in the fandom today, which I think contributes to both the Riku obsession and the Kairi hate.

"most fans grew past that"

I don't know if they necessarily grew past it so much as migrated to other fandoms with more active and/or "adult" content, though. Because I do still see it around elsewhere, such as the Fandom That I Refuse to Admit To that I mentioned in the tags on my last post (which, funny enough, caught my attention precisely because I noticed an overlap in KH fans with that particular fandom). And it happens with just as much vitriol as early 2000s KH fandom. Though I suppose it's also possible that it's all kids just repeating the same attitudes of fandoms past now that they're the same age those KH fans were, or most likely, a combination of the two

I'm unwilling to commit to a specific explanation precisely because this isn't an issue exclusive to the KH fandom or the early 2000s, it's a widespread thing that still affects fandoms. It's just weirdly prevalent with the KH fandom, and particularly in regards to Riku. But even if we go with your explanation... I mean, like I said, Axel/Lea gets mostly ignored now despite being the "Riku" of the KH2 era, and any Namine and Xion hate has mostly petered off, but for some reason the Riku > Sora + Kairi thing still remains. That's why I suspect there's probably more personal reasons involved (the "Riku is their childhood crush that they never got over" thing from my original tags) than anything else

And again, let's not forget my original example. I still get hit with the Riku favoritism when looking at content for Twisted Wonderland, a game set in an all-boys magic school that doesn't have any female characters in the main cast. It can't possibly have the attitudes you're talking about, yet I still see the occasional post erasing aspects of one of my favorite characters' personality to make him "just like Riku" because of a superficial physical resemblance. The Riku obsession sometimes bleeds over into other fandoms, that's how ubiquitous it is. So there must be something else there other than "must hate female character for getting in the way of the gay ship" because Riku fans will diminish characters in other fandoms in similar ways just for the crime of looking like Riku

[shshshshshowrunner]

14, 18, 29, 32, 38, 4, 20, 23, 24, 33

oh went really went for the jugular here friend.

14- biggest turns offs

it's more of a vibe than any particular thing. i can't pinpoint what happened most of the time but sometimes i will just entirely shut down and start spiraling. so i guess sometimes my brain just does the Big No and makes me smack my head into a wall

18- most traumatic experience

probably when i lost Rion and Steri. I was fully feeling then, i wasn't numb like i was when i was created. Rion and Steri, they were both cursed by a witch to be deer, and I managed to uncurse Rion most of the way. Most. he ended up being murdered by townsfolk in front of me. this was before i learned necromancy, and actually what drove me to do so. promised myself i'd never be caught off guard and lose a friend because of a skill issue ever again. steri, he... he ran off into the woods. i was driven away. i never did find him.

29- reason i've lied to a friend

wouldn't you like to know *xigbar dying in kh2.gif*

32- what words upset me the most

i super don't like when people insult me but for whatever reason it sets me on f i r e when people insult me as a (ex)wife or a mother. like bitch hello. i'm gonna insult you as a breather. the fuck do you mean you think i was a bad wife i was the best wife now shut your bitch ass mouth before i punch your teeth so far down your throat the tooth fairy's gonna need to do a colonoscopy. not fucking budging on this i was the best wife it just so happens that he was an atrocious husband. anyone would have ran, and sooner. cunt ass bitch. perish.

38- my childhood career choice

"childhood" "choice" lmao

4- do you drink

swamp sauce babie when i am stressed and crisis-ing or when xigbar becomes silly with it involved.

20- what i hate most about myself

i can't stop trying to help people and it never works and they never want it and i make everything fucking worse and i need to s t o p but i can't fucking stop because i was made to do this i can barely- if- if i don't try to help i feel like tearing my skin from my face its- literally not to quote supernatural here but the very damned touch of me corrupts i fuck everything up always.

23- my relationship with my siblings

i think about this. see, i don't have siblings, or even siblings in law. unless you count... um. gods my family tree is fucked up. if you squint and ignore the turning in your stomach, paph and arme are my half siblings. and now im trying to do math for... but no, i won't, anyway things are okay with my kids i think

24- my relationship with my parents

i killed my husband actually and i intend to do it again (date night!) and i've never seen aphrodite in the flesh after the very first time. xigdad though we watch x files on the regular it's great

33- what words make me feel best about myself

when people i care about engage with me in shared interests without it feeling like they are tolerating me or humoring me. the narrator teared up with me about destiel over lunch that was pretty great. as for specific words i like 'doll' but only coming from xigbar anyone else can die by my blade. i like 'friend' also and 'bestie' and that can come from anyone im kh-close with (have talked twice). 'bestie' can also be used by other fans of supernatural as is customary. uhm i also like being reassured that im not colossally fucking up at every turn so when people go 'yes' or 'great' or 'good job' in genuine ways it's like 'oh thank the gods i didn't just throw my whole life down the drain by fumbling that interaction'

[ajdrawshq]

Mmmmmmm ive had SO many guardian angel au brainworms lately......... i am thinking about Them

[bombshellsandbluebells]

I don’t like that the reason for Sora disappearing at the end of KH3 was written - or at least explained, whatever theories are floating around out there - to be completely and solely about saving Kairi, because the set up going into KH3 with Sora and the various members of the Heart Hotel is so interesting.

It’s been established at many times throughout the series that Roxas and Xion can’t exist alongside Sora, and Roxas not being able to exist as a heart outside of Sora is brought up once again in the beginning of 3. How Ventus plays into things and what waking him might entail and how it might negatively affect Sora is not really fully explained before 3, but the possibility was definitely there that there could be some negative affects for Sora to lose a heart that had been with him since he was a child.

So you have this set up going into KH3 where we know that Sora can’t exist whole and unaffected while Xion and Roxas (and possibly Ventus) exist and live their lives, but you also as an audience desperately want them to be freed because you care about them and they’re kids who deserve to live their own lives free of Sora. And you also know that Sora is now aware of that - with Roxas at least - and ALSO believes that they deserve to be their own people and live their lives and is exactly self-sacrificial enough to do something drastic.

And like. You have this really, really great dynamic between Roxas and Sora in particular where Sora feels guilty for what happened to Roxas and wants to bring him back and is selfless and self sacrificial. 

And Roxas is selfish but in such a human, understandable and forgivable way, because Roxas has been told his whole life that he doesn’t deserve to exist, he watched his best friend die and disappear because she bought that lie, and Roxas is angry and refuses to accept it. He fights for the right to live with everything he has. He knows he’s real. He knows he deserves to exist.

Sora is selfless enough to sacrifice himself for Roxas and Roxas is selfish enough to let him and that’s a GREAT dynamic to establish, especially because the conflict for the player comes from the fact that we care about both of them.

But then KH3 doesn’t do anything with any of that.

The problem of Roxas not being able to exist outside Sora is solved so quickly it’s barely a problem at all. (Oh, replicas? Easy!) Waking Ventus, Xion, and Roxas up has basically no affect on Sora and no real consequence at all. It’s like as soon as Sora knows about any of those people in his heart, it’s an easy fix. There’s absolutely no cost for restoring them, which takes a lot of tragedy and weight away from KH2 and Days because apparently it was that easy all along. 

Sora still sacrifices himself at the end of the game and fades away, but it’s for Kairi who gets killed suddenly out of nowhere, and not for the people that it had been perfectly set up over the course of several games for him to do so.

And that just kind of bugs me.

[phoenix-downer]

hey there! I wanted to let you know this is ao3/tumblr user aquafolia. I finally took the plunge and made a KH blog! so hello again!!! I hope you’ll forgive how long this ask is.

So I just beat kh2 (Xigbar gave me WAY too much trouble!) and for some reason, the second visit to Halloweentown has really struck a chord with me. I noticed that at the end of the visit when they’re discussing the significance of the Doctor’s experiment stealing Christmas presents, even Sora gets it wrong at first: He says ‘no Jack, it’s not about the boxes or ribbons, its about what’s inside the box.’ So even Sora, Mr. "Connecting Hearts is My Power", thinks it's the physical gift a person is giving that matters. It’s Sally who sets him straight and says no, it’s the act of giving that makes presents special, the fact that a gift is a tangible way of giving your heart, basically saying to someone, “I want you to be happy.” That sentiment was so profound to me.

But what really struck me then was, as Sora is watching Sally and Jack dance, he suddenly says, ‘maybe I never gave her a real present after all.’ Because in the context of the conversation we just saw, he’s no longer talking about whether he’s given Kairi nice gifts. He’s contemplating if he ever gave her a gift in the spirit of how Sally says gifts are meant to be given.

Now, Sora has been doing a LOT of growing up, and fast. He’s been away from home, went to sleep and woke up a year older, he's been fighting for his life and the world. He’s lost friends and made new ones. He’s also maturing in his relationships, and in particular, in his feelings toward Kairi. And I think in this scene, it’s just fascinating to watch Sora evaluate his relationship with Kairi and his feelings for her, and suddenly become so introspective and even insecure. Luckily, he's got Donald and Goofy there to reassure him.

In this moment I really think he’s asking himself, ‘Did I do enough? Did I ever really make her happy? Was I enough for her? Did I give her a gift to make HER happy? When I gave her gifts, was her happiness in my heart?’ It gives a really interesting glimpse into Sora’s psyche, and how much growth he's experiencing. It nods to the fact that the romantic progression of their relationship is still budding and insecure, still in its early stages. But I think it also shows such depth and growth in Sora's feelings for Kairi, despite (or perhaps, because of) their separation. I see this as a sign of him developing a deeper devotion to her. She's not just someone who makes him feel good in a crush way, but she's becoming a person in his eyes, someone he wants to honor and cherish. The community loves the dancing daydream in Halloweentown--and I adore it too!-- and I think it’s made even more meaningful when contextualized by the dialogue that comes before it.

I would love your thoughts on this scene! Anyway sorry for sending such a long post, but gosh, Sokai makes me gush! I'm so happy I've discovered the wonderful KH community. thanks!!

Hello again! And no worries about the length, I've enjoyed reading your thoughts!

Congrats on finishing KH2! And I'm glad you brought up the second Halloween Town visit, that's one of my favorite SoKai moments for all the reasons you described. I love how you went into how it reveals more about Sora's psyche and his growing/maturing feelings for Kairi because it absolutely does. She's more than just a crush and certainly not just a prize to be won; he's thinking about what she wants, about what will make her happy, and her happiness brings him joy, too.

(Imagining her giggling and smiling and happy makes him so happy he giggles too, and I'll never be over that tbh).

His dialogue and reactions in this scene shows real growth and maturity and empathy on his end. Especially compared to how at the beginning of KH1 he was practically fighting Riku for the chance to share the paopu with her instead of talking to her about how she felt.

And the Halloween Town scene is just profound in and of itself for the reasons you stated; it talks about the nature of gift-giving and what it truly means to want the best for someone else. Sally's dialogue is so great because it goes into all of that more. And then, of course, comes the part about how the greatest gift you can give someone is yourself.

Sora and Kairi have been separated a lot throughout the series, and it makes the time they do get to spend together that much more precious. And Sora exemplifies his understanding of what he learned from this moment by spending time with her, especially later on in the series (I don't know how carefully you're avoiding spoilers so I won't say more beyond that).

And then I wanted to add a few more thoughts about this scene. One of the other reasons I love it is for how bittersweet it is. Sora hasn't seen Kairi in an entire year, and for a fifteen-year-old, that's a long time! The older we get, the quicker the years seem to go by, and the less a single year seems to matter in the big picture. But Sora's still a teenager, and he's missed out on an entire year with Kairi. An entire year's worth of events like birthdays, summer vacation, Christmas. And if they're about to finish junior high school and schooling on Destiny Islands is analogous to Japanese school years, then he's possibly missed graduation too. All important milestones he could've spent with the girl he loves. He doesn't even know what she currently looks like, and this scene really drives that home because she's in her KH1 form still, but he has his KH2 appearance:

(At least those smiles soften the bittersweetness, right?) So yeah, this scene is sweet and beautiful and touching, but it also has a little melancholy to it as well because while we, the audience, know what Kairi looks like now, Sora does not, and it just really captures how it feels to grow up. How the people you once knew you're not sure you know anymore, how you don't even feel like you fully know yourself anymore because you've changed so much.

But in a way that makes this moment really sweet too; Sora knows he's changed, but he still sees Kairi the way he remembers her and wants to hug her (based off of his blushing reaction to seeing Will and Elizabeth hug) and dance with her. He's giggly and blushy and embarrassed about his fantasies, but he is having them, which ties into that motif of how he's growing up. While his feelings for Kairi have been there since KH1, they're growing and maturing the way he's growing and maturing.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I really enjoyed reading them and responding to them! And welcome to the KH community, I’ll always be happy to gush over SoKai! 

[secret-reports]

Hey How are you? I have many questions and those that I commented on other channels but it seems that no one has seen them. I'd like to start with a simple question: How on earth did Aqua, Ven, and Terra get their armor back in Re-Mind? I mean, Aqua's armor was in the Chamber Of Repose.

Hi!! Great question! Even though it's simple, here are three long-ish answers LOL

Ventus's armor:

So in general it seems their armor is activated by the buttons on their arms, right? And Ventus always had his button in the Chamber of Waking. So I think it's safe to say Ventus never lost the ability to activate his armor. If we're talking about the DDD scene within Sora's heart, in my opinion this seems more abstract and poetic, not Ven's literal armor. The reason I say this is because the Sora it protects is more along the lines of Sora's heart, since his real body was in still in the Mysterious Tower. But this is just my personal interpretation!

Terra's armor:

In Remind, we see Terra's armor fade away, and Terra-Xehanort sends time traveling Sora to darkness. But later we see Sora going to Terra's heart for refuge, with past Sora just now restoring Terra for good. So in my opinion, after the Lingering Will faded away, it would have been possible for Terra-Xehanort to summon it if he had pressed his shoulder button (though whether or not it obeyed him is a different story). But since Terra regained himself in KH3, any time he wanted to summon the armor again, I think he would have been able to, even later during the major battle with the replicas.

Aqua's armor:

Aqua's armor, like you said, was in the Chamber of Repose which is located beneath Ansem's lab. Now that Ansem, Even, Ienzo, Dilan and Aeleus have all regained themselves, I imagine they offered Aqua her armor back off screen, (though, clearly, it had to be repaired since it was in terrible condition by the time of KH2) probably either around the time of the beach party OR right before Limit Cut, since Aqua can't go into the Realm of Darkness without it. Aqua probably remembers Radiant Garden, so it's possible (if she has her own gummi phone) she contacted the lab herself to ask about it. Of course, none of this is confirmed, I'm just assuming.

Ienzo in particular was possibly aware of Aqua's armor being in the Chamber of Repose, since Xigbar asks Zexion about Xemnas "talking to himself" in the chamber and why. I personally think this plot thread will return in the future, since we finally know about Xemnas's secret agenda that Xigbar also asked Zexion about. If Ienzo later informs the Guardians of Light that Xemnas was gathering those with the Ancient Keyblade Legacy, he may mention that he was using the armor to communicate with Aqua so he could find Ventus, like we see in 0.2.

I hope this helps!!

[nadziejastar]

After 10 years of being out of the loop, I'm learning a lot from reading your meta posts! It's a huge shame how downhill the series has become when the profit motive steamrolls over worthwhile character development. I'm really intrigued by the shadow-self integration that never was, especially wrt Kairi since I never gave her much thought before. I used to say the Radiant Garden crowd were my favorites, but now I know that mental image won't be complete without the RG trio = Kairi, Lea, Isa.

Thank you so much! I agree, the character development has definitely gone downhill. I am actually working on a fanfic right now called "Kingdom Hearts 0.3" that is all about the backstory of the Radiant Garden characters during the time Terra-Xehanort was an apprentice. Something that should have been shown in BBSV2. A huge focus is on Kairi's trauma as a test subject and how it created her shadow self. And Lea, Isa, Kairi is an important trio in the fic! Much of it is done. I'm just waiting for Dark Road to come out first, so I get all the stuff about Xehanort's sleeping memories right.

Nomura: "During development we floated the idea of having Kairi be playable, and I wanted to depict Kairi’s personality even more eg. against Sora, against Riku, and her past. But due to circumstances we had to postpone those ideas for now."

(KH1 Ultimania)

I really do think that the reason why Kairi is such a bland character nowadays is because her backstory has STILL never been fully shown. Kairi's past was actually something Nomura wanted to explore more deeply ever since the FIRST game.

Nomura: "I gave Namine the same face as Kairi. Also, in order to emphasise the 'fragile little girl' side of her, I made her outward appearance very pale, as though she might fade away any minute."

Shadows are composed of hidden aspects of an individual’s personality that are deemed as “unacceptable,” and tucked away into the unconscious. If Nomura had plans to fully depict Kairi's traumatic backstory, then Naminé makes perfect sense. She is the “fragile little girl” side of Kairi who was locked up all alone inside of the castle.

The girl was very particular—unique among people. They had not been able to create any Heartless using her heart. Perhaps because she was too young, or perhaps…

In KH1, one of the experiments was meant to "cultivate darkness in a pure heart". And in the KH2 novel, it states that they were unsuccessful creating Heartless using Kairi's heart.

The experiments caused the test subjects' hearts to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatment produced no signs of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle.

Some time later, I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight. Creatures that seemed born of darkness...What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts in my experiments?

Kairi most likely would have been locked in the Chamber of Repose like the other subjects, before they realized how unique she was by not producing a Heartless.

On the day we finally secured our entry, we descended the long spiral stair at the heart of the castle to find a dark space below it, lined with cages. There wasn't light enough to see if they were inhabited, and we were in no position to call out to any occupants within. Yet we could feel it. A definite presence, there in the black.

There is such an uncanny similarity to the KH3 mystery girl. I definitely think Nomura just repurposed Kairi's unused backstory.

When we did manage our way inside, we spoke with her. That was all the comfort two children like us could offer. But Lea had other ideas. He was determined to free her. We slipped into the castle that day knowing only that we wanted, with all our hearts, to save her.

If Kairi was originally the girl Lea and Isa were trying to save, it really makes her getting kidnapped by Axel and Saix in KH2 interesting. In both the novel and manga, they show Axel coming back to free her and having to fight Saix. And that's how Axel got mortally wounded by the time he met up with Sora. It's really sad. It was probably meant to be shown in BBSV2 as one of the "blank points".

Nomura: "Because the story takes place before Kingdom Hearts I, the part about Kairi couldn't be ignored. However, the cause for her going to Destiny Island and her detailed history are not revealed."

(BBS Interview)

At the end of KH2, it was Naminé who freed Kairi. She integrated her shadow self and became a wielder. And so in KH3, she should have been done being the helpless damsel in distress. I also think that Kairi should have regained her memories of her traumatic past when she absorbed Naminé. That way, by KH3, she would have had more to say about her past, like to Aqua, for instance. It was a possessed version of Terra that sent her away, after all.

Nomura: "With Kairi, her youth and her childhood hasn’t really been depicted and it’s still very much shrouded in mystery. So with Melody of Memory being very focused on this concept of memory, we’re hoping to touch on that a little bit."

(MoM Interview)

I just could not get over all the wasted potential with MoM. You get the impression that Xehanort just grabbed her and then she was placed in that capsule right away. And that was it. She arrived on Destiny Islands. Kairi's past wasn't even depicted to explore her trauma or give her more complexity. It felt like it was only shown so that the concept of the fictional world could be introduced.

Day after day, I spend my time with the same class-mates in the same classroom. The days are peaceful and a little boring, but they're also familiar and comfortable. Even so, my new life is just like the old. A different world, but with the same days playing out over and over again.

This is Xehanort's narration in Dark Road. He was the type who was bored with the day-to-day monotony of Destiny Islands. It was a prison. I think Kairi was the exact opposite. Due to the trauma of losing everything she ever knew and loved, she found comfort in that familiar 'boring' life. She didn't want things to change. That's why she was so anxious when Riku said, "It's the same old stuff." To her, the sunset, the sound of the waves, was precious.

Day by day, repeating the days which were the same as every other. Even so, the red, setting sun, the taste of ice cream. Those days when nothing happened were the most precious to me. All of it is my treasure.

This was a poem read at a KH orchestra event, from Xion's perspective. In essence, Xion and Kairi were the same. Xion treasured those repetitive days with Roxas and Axel. The bond between Axel and Xion carried over so well to Lea and Kairi, that it made Xion's return feel redundant to me. Many people say that Kairi's doppelgängers are sooo much more complex and interesting than she is. But it didn't have to be that way. If Kairi had been more developed, her "clones" would have actually felt like a part of her, instead of separate.

[themelodicenigma]

Something I think about every now and then is Sora & Kairi's character development in relation to whether or not Kairi can fight. In KH1 Kairi wants to help find Riku and Mickey, but Sora insists she shouldn't. What's interesting is how she complies with what he tells her. Later throughout the series she tries to get involved in the fighting, particular in KH2, but is often barred from doing so or made to wait. In ReMind she finally gets to fight and Sora encourages and fights alongside her.

I bring this up because it's not something a lot of KH fans seem to talk about. How Sora basically discourages her at first and she does what he says, but a little over a year later she gets to do what she wants to do and he supports her.

Yeah, there's an interesting contrast to the moment in KH1 and to that of them working together in KH3. Though, it's a little too Sora vs. Kairi in what you're saying, no? In the perspective of her being involved, I mean, which I know that’s not what you really mean, but it’s a good chance to talk about it for those who do.

I wouldn't really paint the specifics as Sora spending any opportunity he can to discourage her from being involved until KH3. in KH1, Kairi not going with SDG back to Hollow Bastion just makes sense—from the perspective of likely everyone else who was even there to have a say, too. While the other Princesses of Heart were still there, throwing her back in the fire, as she is, would be a bit counterproductive as to why they were there and even left. It isn't just Sora telling her what to do, it just makes sense. But after KH1? It doesn't really happen at any other significant moment of her being told by Sora to not fight.

In KH2, I don't believe anyone particularly tries to get her to leave TWTNW, especially given Riku is the one to give her Destiny's Embrace in order to fight. She didn't really have other opportunities to join in the boss battles beyond that anyway, and if the narrative was trying to push that Kairi shouldn't have been involved at all, they would've written in for Sora to try and convince her to go back to Twilight Town or any other safe place BEFORE the final door is opened to go after Xemnas the first time. All that we get is a text-dialogue that you can speak to Kairi before going through the door, and she just mentions to not be told to wait anymore and that they'll follow each other. No one tried to exactly stop her or anything in KH2. And DDD, she wasn't the one who was called to take the Mastery test, so that didn't really happen there either.

MoM, yeah Riku tells her she isn't ready and she agrees, but unlike the moment in KH1, this actually has a purpose for her as a character.

Talking about Kairi's development, I don't particularly look at as her overcoming other people's safety nets. It's really just about her growing in her own capabilities and being able to showcase that. I often think about her story in relation to Gohan from DBZ—someone who had the build up of their true potential span over three different sagas in the story (and really into the Buu Saga as well, but I consider SSJ2 to be what really climaxes his growth story). Just like him, Kairi has so much latent potential and a powerful light, and the KH writers are really stretching out the build up of her reaching a point to where she's fully capable, if not to be an eventual Keyblade Master herself. I know everyone hates this in regards to Sora and Riku's development as fighters, but when I do think about it like Gohan's story, it makes me believe that the purposeful build up of Kairi's potential is for a significant reason. Otherwise, she'd just be another fighter like everyone else whose just ready to throw down constantly. Her being in this position of needing to train, at least to my hope, seems to be more than just getting her up to speed, which is what KH3 did on its own. I think this is for something greater given the writing.

Of course, I'm not sure if we'll get a moment of Kairi soloing a final boss or anything like Gohan (as no one really has, not even Sora), but the impression of her true potential being fulfilled is something I want to see, and training with Aqua will give us Kairi fans something, I hope.

[themattress]

Haven't seen this string of posts in years, but wow, how'd I miss this shit?

However, at this point, the story was still moving forward. Completely new characters, concepts, and ideas were being introduced, existing characters (primarily Riku) received development, and so on.

Which is different from KH2...how???

Oh! And more importantly, the story makes perfect sense without prior knowledge of KH1.

That's a goddamn lie. How the Hell this particular universe even works is not explained in CoM, references to things like Ansem or things that were done or said at Hollow Bastion will fly right over a player's head if they haven't actually seen KH1, and there's little reason to actually care about any of the characters if you're just starting here. You absolutely need to have prior knowledge of KH1 to truly understand CoM's story.

Everything that’s gone wrong with the series, I attribute to KH2′s shoddy handling of CoM

What "shoddy handling of CoM"? The fact that it didn't go out of its way to reference it or make it more important even when knowing not all players will have played it or even heard of it? That's really something you wanna criticize?

CoM didn’t leave out Roxas’ backstory

How the Hell did KH2 "leave out Roxas' backstory"!? We literally have Riku tell it to us in a few sentences, and that's all we needed to know! We didn't need to actually see his life in the Organization, because the point was that he left it in the end. His importance in the story was connected to that and what transpired afterward, not to what he did while in the group.

or introduce the Ansem-not-Ansem “plot twist”

Um, yes. Yes, it did. Reverse/Rebith very specifically set that plot twist up with DiZ and with what Vexen said about Ansem to Riku. The twist wasn't revealed until KH2, true, but CoM is the one that technically introduced it into the story.

or bring up Xehanort

Again, it kind of did. Not saying the name doesn't mean it wasn't foreshadowed.

or put more effort into rendering Kairi’s panties than into proofreading the in-game text or overall plot

its plot is such a complete and total hackjob, both due to its failure to properly explain how CoM fit into everything and for completely unrelated plot points (Ansem-not-Ansem and Xehanort) that all subsequent games have been trying to rationalize and consolidate the mess

No. Its plot is something of a hackjob, but not because of its "failure to properly explain how CoM fit into everything" (because what's there to explain!? CoM was a bridging game, that's it. You seem weirdly bent on it meaning far more than it was ever meant to), and not because of plot points you don't like (which, again, were seeded in CoM), but because its writers were all out of sync with one another. All the subsequent games haven't "tried to rationalize and consolidate" anything, they've just been continuing the mess and making it way bigger.

The fact that KH2 required fixing at all is the problem here.

Except, it really didn't. Not to the extent you seem to think it did.

The only major fixing it needed...was done already in the Final Mix version.

And it’s probably what eventually got Nomura dead-set on turning the plot into a fishnet of connections

No. Nomura became dead-set on that all by himself, just because that's the type of whackjob he is. KH2 could have avoided all of the petty grievances you have with it and Nomura would still have turned the series plot into a fishnet of connections because he just can't let anything go, can't keep anything simple, and can't move the fuck on like a reasonable person can.

Anyway, as to @ultraericthered's post that the thread concluded on:

it has BBS doing all the KH2 hole filling that it does but then leaves all that other stuff that BBS brought to the table dead and buried in the past where they belong

Sort of...you do also kind of need to use your imagination and block certain things from BBS out for this to fully work. Which, with the Skip Scene function in-game, isn't too hard. :P

Hahahaha, yeah, no.

First off, the mess technically started with CoM. That’s where the seeds of the Kudzu plant were planted, it just sprouted and grew all over the plot in KH2, which was indeed a mess.

Second, the problems with KH2′s story didn’t actually effect most people’s enjoyment of it. The confusing stuff is nowhere NEAR as confusing as the stuff that came in the games that followed it. And above all, the game delivered a very satisfying, uplifting ending to the story arc that had been progressing since the first game. I had such a good, positive feeling about the series’ future following KH2, convinced that whatever story problems there were could be fixed in later games. I had the exact opposite feeling following BBS, which was definitely more solidly written than KH2, but the contents of its story proved to be far more damaging.

This video here explains it better than I could:

The bottom line is this: what was wrong with KH2 could have been fixed by later games. What was wrong with BBS was irreversible. BBS was the downfall of the series, period.