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serenedash · 4 years ago

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I started rambling about my experience with kh and then it turned into khux and then it just turned into me rambling about Ryou and my art journey????? enjoy I guess,

it’s very long but there’s art in there :)

It’s funny to think about my kh journey as a whole tbh, I grew up watching my mom play video games, which included kh1 and 2. I wasn’t allowed to play the playstation2 we owned BUT I did have a gameboy so the first game I played was CoM (after my mom finished it ofc,) so I guess you could say I’ve always been passionate about kh “””side games””” lmao but I did fall off of kh very quickly bc again, I wasn’t allowed to play our PS2 and also I Am A Terrible Gamer I’ve Never Finished CoM I’m sorry you all had to find out like this, but then 358/2 came out when I was in middle school and!!! I didn’t care and I didn’t play idk why lol

Anyway, fast forward to high school I’m like 15 and my older sister, who HAS been keeping up with kh, has a wallpaper on her phone of roxas and ventus. And bc I haven’t kept up I say “nice roxas wallpaper” and she says “thanks but it’s roxas and ventus” and I proceeded to get so mad that I was determined to prove to her that her wallpaper was just roxas twice and then I fell down the BBS rabbit hole and suddenly I was reading about vanitas and then I’m reading the fan translations of the BBS novel and I’m crying??? I am sobbing???? and that’s how I actually got into kh for real lol we are vanitas stans before we are people,

It’s so funny how I thought I was some kh super fan, knowing all this stuff that I spent so long reading and rewatching cutscene movies, but I never once, SOMEHOW NEVER ever came across khx. It’s so absurd and bizarre I seriously have no idea how I never once encountered khx prior to khux. I suppose that has to do with the fact I wasn’t involved in the fandom? In early high school I had stepped away from fandoms as a whole and I didn’t have any interest in really posting content or interacting with fans anymore bc of how burnt out I was from a previous fandom,

but khux released! and I was so hype and excited for it! on launch day I was a senior in high school, I had ran around to every “nerd” and weeb I could find in school to ask them to join my party and fun fact about me is I have crippling social anxiety I literally refuse to start conversations irl so holy shit I was OUT HERE doing the MOST

My player just originally had my name (Matt) but everyone in my party had fun names so Ryou was born! High school was one big yugioh phase for me and ryou bakura is one of my favorite characters ever so it was just the logical name choice lol I quickly started creating Ryou, the character, as well. I was also leaving my homestuck phase and that + vanitas obsession made This character design (art circa 2016)

If y’all are familiar with my kh oc’s you might notice that keyblade now belongs to my kid Monty LOL

Anyway that got scrapped quickly for the chip and dale outfit (which is where Ryou’s trademark goggles are from <3) Goggles have been a staple of my character designs for a LONG TIME so like, it had to be done, (that’s a separate ramble about a separate oc tho)

OG Ryou was an interesting guy; he was a young party leader with this overwhelming responsibility on his shoulders bc of his status as a party leader. In his original story, he also struggled heavily with darkness, much like Terra but for Ryou it was more that the darkness was controlling him and not like a source of power like it was for Terra

A big part of early Ryou I kept, however, was the crushing awareness of loss. One of my party members (the strongest one at the time,) had left without saying a word and I was very confused and hurt. This was around the time the ephemera plot was happening so I decided to incorporate it into Ryou’s story; having him experience losing a friend to darkness since it’s so normal for wielders in Daybreak Town to just disappear, and this would unintentionally become a theme for both me and Ryou as khux friends would just randomly disappear.

I was desperate for khux at this point and I decided to watch the fan translations for khx and GOD, god, was I obsessed. I couldn’t stop thinking about the foretellers. And I’m not going off about that here bc I already did that, but I actually started entering fandom again! I did it slowly, I started on tumblr before this blog was made altho it was me sending anons to the few khux related blogs I could have lol a friend convinced me to get twitter where I got involved with the ffxv fandom, which led me to the kh fandom and eventually the khux fandom there which is what REALLY got me going on khux.

I joined discord servers, most of the servers I’m in are khux related, and from there I joined the khux oc rp (shout out to anyone there who might be reading this lol here’s some art from the beginning of the rp,)

It’s SO FUNNY how the RP influenced me so heavily. I hadn’t RP’d in YEARS, I used to have a strict no oc rp policy, but here I was? And the funny part is, I had barely developed Ryou. I had scrapped his original story and all I had was POST WAR Ryou so I literally had to reverse write him; I had only ever written him as a depressed, guilt ridden adult, but it was a fucking blast and I have such fond memories of this rp when it was active,

But anyway, this encouraged me to get more serious about art! I started drawing, writing, cosplaying, and roleplaying when I hadn’t done any of that stuff in a very long time. The first time I ever drew a background was for a deviant art khux competition actually LOL

also! I always think extremely fondly of the drawing I did of Aced in the keyblade war. It was also one of the first backgrounds I ever drew and it felt like my real starting point in the khux fandom. It got a ton of notes on here and someone wrote a tiny fic in a reblog which just made me SO HAPPY like it really felt like people were noticing me :) I was going to draw a matching Ira but!! I just never did!! One day tho, it’s on my art bucket list to redraw this along with Ira,

Aside from my personal growth, khux was great for my social life ngl, I made SO MANY friends online and got to meet a ton of people irl over the years! It’s crazy to think about all the people I now know and talk to? It honestly makes me really emotional. I’ll never forget taking the train into NYC and meeting up with discord friends. Going to conventions and talking with people about the latest khux update? Absolutely insane and those were some GOOD TIMES, if I thanked every khux friend or even just person who made an impact on me then we’d be here for a LONG TIME,

Fun fact, for my Lauriam cosplay all I needed to buy was the wig I just owned his outfit LOL also? Probably retiring that cosplay ngl people treated me like absolute garbage when I wore him and it led to a lot of confidence issues for awhile ngl. That’s probably one of the only memorable negative experiences I have with khux; it was great when khux people recognized me but for kh fans that weren’t in khux? They were FUCKING MEAN??? fuck kh fandom at large, I only care about khux fandom,

This leads me to another huge part of my experience in khux fandom: THEORIES!! I used to write SO MANY and oh my god my brain was so full all the time. It was a huge appeal for me in the fandom; I had been previously writing theory posts in the RWBY fandom and it just migrated over to khux for me lol I had done a ton of theorizing around Lauriam tbh, it was really the only reason I liked his character at all bc initially I did not care about the dandelions, anyone who wasn’t Skuld I was like “please leave Now thanks”

A funny part of khux fandom I never intended to be apart of is the MEMES, I really only started doing memes as stress relief bc college had me so busy all I had time/energy for was these quick little shit post drawings.

The first meme I made, file name “invi despair” LOL we need to get her a girlfriend smh anyway, I think in my senior year of college I did a bunch of rapid fire memes all in one month bc the stress of finals was getting so bad afdgfhdgf as far as I know my impact on this fandom will be my memes bc all I do now is enter a kh/khux server and introduce myself and I go “yeah I draw art. here’s a meme” and everyone goes OH YOU, honestly I am nothing if not a clown

I’ve talked so much idk where I’m going with this. Khux is just a good game even if the gameplay actually kind of really sucks yknow lol but it was the first game I played where I like, REALLY got into the meta and the mechanics. I used to read so much on the mechanics and watch youtube videos on which medals were worth pulling for. I was never a whale or a top player exactly, but I could rank well if I tried lol I’ve made it to the top 100 for solo rankings, my party has made it to top 10, and in pvp I’ve made top 300. I’m not the highest level in my party but FUCK do I know how to manipulate this game LOL

And with all that hard work, the strategies, the theorizing, the content I’ve made-- it’s been my life for 5 years. I’ve logged into khux almost every single day. At the end, I have logged 1820 days in khux out of 1910 days. Kinda crazy. Crazier I’ve never spent money on khux either lol the only “money” gone into it was one time my mom gave me a google play store gift card and I used it on my birthday for a VIP xemnas medal which eventually made it to regular pulls anyway but it was nice and a little treat :)

I’m not a gacha fan, I don’t care for it, so I don’t think I’ll be touching another gacha again. But for kh? This was pretty fucking awesome, even if it sucked a lot sometimes LOL It was worth it for the people I’ve met most of all I think. I would honestly be a completely different person without khux and that’s REALLY insane to think about.

#the khux hyperfixation is REAL #but yall knew this about me #there's so much more I could say but it's 2am and this is long enough already #im rambling

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blissfulnightrain · 5 years ago

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KH OC Week Day 2 - Bonds of the Heart

(Header artwork by @crezzstar)

I really wanted to create some artwork involving even more characters Amaya meets along her journey, but due to a time crunch I haven’t been able to T_T But I figured I could at least go over the three most important people to Amaya from the start (and share some commissions/some of my own artwork ads;fsdk)!

Amaya has a unique bond growing up with the other members of the Destiny Squad. Click below the cut to find out more about her relationship with her younger brother Sora and her best friends Riku and Kairi!

Sora

(Artwork by @wingbladeweaver1357)

(Artwork by me ajsdfj;sd it’s a year old please don’t judge;;;;)

A little over a year apart, Amaya and Sora are a very close brother and sister pair. Amaya’s more reserved, overly-cautious nature can sometimes bring up a rift between these two, especially when Sora expresses much enthusiasm over building a raft, which Amaya stands staunchly against. Still, she ultimately wants the best for him and wants to keep him safe, so for his and their friends’ sake, she does help out with some of the prep work and planning.

Their family is very tight-knit and includes their mother, a nurse and excellent cook, their father, a fisherman, and their rambunction little sister Haru, who could use a lesson or two on boundaries xD They have a healthy dynamic at home, which makes it all the more heartbreaking when the Islands eventually disappear....

Without getting two spoilery, after the Islands disappear, their family is never the same. Sora and Amaya spend the majority of KH1 desperately trying to find each other, though they find themselves separated once more by the end of it and weave in and out of each other’s journeys from there on out. They both go through major transformations throughout their journeys and remain close throughout, but some changes do take their toll...

(Artwork by me - As Sora and Amaya both get ready for bed, the sight of a certain mark on Sora’s chest catches her eye)

Kairi

(Artwork by @wistaria-92)

(Artwork by @n3k0c0)

As the girls of the squad, Kairi and Amaya have a fun bond of sisterhood. Amaya finds Kairi extremely easy to talk to, especially when stressed (which happens...quite often, to say the least). Though Kairi is younger and more carefree, Amaya always finds herself taking her advice into consideration when going through with things. The two also love watching crime shows and dramas, and going shopping together!

When the Islands disappear, it’s Kairi that Amaya worries the most about, her heart hurting at the thought of her best friend having to lose a home world again. While they are briefly reunited by the end of KH1, circumstances drive them apart once more. They spend quite a bit of time apart over the next year, with Kairi in Destiny Islands and Amaya in Hollow Bastion, but they don’t grow apart. In fact, Hollow Bastion serves as an avenue to uncover some previously unknown details about her friend’s past...

Riku

(Quick sketch from last year’s oc week from me!)

(Artwork by me)

Complicated is probably the best word to describe Riku and Amaya’s relationship. Despite Amaya being Sora’s sister, being the same age she’s actually known Riku the longest. One could describe them as best frenemies at the start of the story - Amaya finds Riku’s cocky attitude irritating, and Riku has very little patience for Amaya’s constant naggy attitude towards many of his endeavors (including the infamous raft). Still, the two do acknowledge and respect one another’s intelligence, often still choosing to work together on school projects and the like.

Things change drastically when the Islands are destroyed. They are separated at first, but when they finally reunite, Amaya witnesses his slow spiral down the slipper slope of darkness. Riku’s actions and Amaya’s attitudes toward them affects their relationship greatly, to the point where they are completely alienated from one another. It is after Riku disappears into the realm of darkness that both parties are able to reflect on their actions. The year leading up to KH2 is a turning point in their relationship, where they must work together and learn to understand each other to play their respective parts in keeping Sora safe.

When they rekindle their friendship, it’s stronger than ever, and though they must focus on the tasks ahead of them, it eventually becomes impossible for them to ignore the fact that their relationship has become something more...

(Artwork by me)

asdklfs I am so so sorry for that behemoth of a post but if you read that whole thing here is a sticker *sticks on you*

@khoc-week has been wonderful so far! Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far <3 <3 <3

And as always, if you’re interested in reading Amaya’s fic, it is linked here:

FFN | AO3

#khocweek2020 #kingdom hearts #sora #riku #kairi #rimaya #amaya #riku x oc #kingdom hearts oc #kh oc #keeper of the keywielders #kotk #blissfulnightrainart #blissfulnightrainwrites

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snowflake-of-destruction · 4 years ago

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let's hear about FFVIII seifer, if you're still doing this XD

Why I like them: You know my tastes. A green-eyed man is introduced throwing fireballs around, is kind of a condescending jerk but in a fun way, instigates deep conversations on high ground while staring at the sunset...Well, before we even get to villainy, immolation, and redemption arc, I start going “Is this a favorite character?” I’m joking...kind of. Some of that does factor in, even the fire.

Okay, so my favorite thing about Seifer’s arc is that, in the limited focus he’s given, he’s complex and layered from the beginning, and his villain arc is a clear and fascinating illustration of “No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks” ….with a side of brainwashing.

Let’s break this down:

What are some of the words used to describe him by those that know him (by himself, by Squall, by Fuu and Rai)? Romantic. Idealistic. Sensitive. He is the one who believes in making a difference in the world--not just as a wish or goal, but as an imperative to do what your heart says is right even if it’s going to cost you--where Squall is just follow-the-orders-and-do-the-job. If you’re already reading this and objecting, I’m not saying Squall doesn’t care...obviously he does, defrosting Mr. Go Talk to a Wall and getting him to a place where he admits how many layers of mask he wears is his character development...but Seifer isn’t just a hothead. He wears his heart on his sleeve.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not trying to deny that Seifer can be an abrasive, self-serving, hypocritical jackass sometimes, who can fight dirty, wants to “wreak some havoc,” and has a history as a bully--though, gentlefolk of the jury, I submit to the courts that he puts on a tough act like Squall does and they are both different flavors of trying to mimic toxic alpha male--but let’s not forget that some of his establishing character moments are throwing out his future to disobey orders because he sees that the higher-ups have possibly misjudged the situation and civilians could be in danger, and, again, going AWOL because he thinks Squall and Rinoa could be killed. And he calls himself the white knight and holds up a code of honor until the end, even though it gets twisted. He is about duty and honor, with honor even over duty.

Oh, this was only going to be the beginning. I haven’t even begun to touch on what I would want to touch on--this is just surface personality and the beginning of the game before we even get to joining Sorceress Edea, and even then not all I would say-- but this post isn’t actually supposed to be my Ted talk on what you missed if you just think of Seifer as a recurring boss fight. Let’s move on.

ONE MORE THING ACTUALLY. Even though we see a lot of Seifer at his worst, you can use Fujin and Raijin as a mirror. What do they say near the end of the game if we paraphrase/summarize? They knew pretty early on, before even the senseless slaughter and torture era that Seifer was going down a dark path with the sorceress, but they knew it wasn’t him and stayed with him, not because they agreed with his actions, wanted power, or out of fear, but to take care of him and try to break through to him--and not because they are saints, but because he, despite what had happened in the past year, is the type of person who deserves and inspires that kind of loyalty. Let’s think on that.

Now the rest goes under a read more, because I am going to keep rambling and be wordy

Why I don’t: He can be an asshole, and he’s an asshole in an embarrassing way. As in, if one is trying to say he’s not the little punk his KH counterpart is, you remember he still uses the insult chickenwuss (though that is a legacy insult/nickname since he’s known Zell since childhood--and, fyi, Squall uses it too) and he had a little gang in school. Even once he’s a military commander of an evil army set on world domination, he has some moments where his level of petty undermines him.

Favorite episode (scene if movie): The Dollet mission

Favorite line: Sorry, not sorry that the following is my favorite exchange of lines and that the prison torture scene is another of my favorite scenes. For context, Seifer has captured Squall, has him hanging up on the wall in crucified hero imagery, implied to be shirtless even though his character model isn’t because they talk about scar tissue or lack thereof from a recent shoulder injury/Squall being stabbed in the chest/shoulder area. Seifer has been electrocuting Squall for information. By this point, I might as well have put the whole scene here. Also, I am now going to blame Squall and Seifer text boxes in FFVIII for my own abuses of ellipses...

Seifer: " I was hoping you'd be there, Squall. So... how'd I look in my moment of triumph? My childhood dream, fulfilled. I've become the sorceress' knight."

Squall: [internal monologue] ...Sorceress' knight... ...His...romantic dream...? But... Seifer... Now, you're just a…[Out loud] "... torturer."

[Squall passes out.]

Seifer: "What did you say? [Steps closer] Passed out cold, eh? This is the scene where you swear your undying hatred for me! The tale of the evil mercenary versus the sorceress' knight!”

This isn’t just me all “mmm, tension.” Seifer has passed the moral event horizon, and it’s not just faceless NPCs that are collateral damage anymore. We’ve seen him on screen torture the protagonist, who is also one of the only people who he’s shown to have a real bond with that goes beyond superficial. Then we get this and see Seifer thinks he’s the good guy still, on a noble mission where he’s had to make painful sacrifices, and Squall is a representative of the power-hungry evil. Seifer’s been playing a different game, and had his will twisted via magic.

Favorite outfit: The Amano art where the white coat is cast off and he’s wearing the simple black shirt and black jeans under it. Symbolic? Maybe. I wouldn’t give up the coat though. I love the long white/gray coat, the outer embodiment of wanting to wear the white hat, but the desire easily getting tarnished, and the red cross that turns into a sword and becomes Seifer’s symbol and soon to appear other places, emblazoned nice and big on the sleeve. It’s the Cross of Saint James. TRADITIONALLY red represents the blood of Christ, the three lilies represent the honor of the apostle and reference Christ as lily of the valley, and the sword shape represents the torture that St.James suffered before his murder. HOWEVER, my opinion is that here it’s more vague/altered symbolism (For starters, there are other gods not the Christian God in this world) with a side of “looks cool.” We still have something that clearly calls to mind a mission from on high, innocence in the lilies, blood and blood cost, and then war/violence with the sword. And I love it.

OTP: Seifer/Squall. I should not even start, but lest you think I am just in it for kinky torture scenes: We have these two who, in the beginning, are generally callous or mocking toward everyone, but make each other laugh/smile, see who each other are underneath and describe each other in “soft” terms even if they tease each other for it, repeatedly check in on each other to see if the other is okay, respect each other’s opinion and skills, and...you get the idea. In the words of Zell Dincht, I thought you two were rivals, but you’re all buddy-buddy.

Pause for a second and let’s just say first impression. That opening fight where they scar each other’s faces? It takes place outside Balamb Garden and the area is shown so we see they are alone. Squall passes out. Squall wakes up in the infirmary within the Garden base. Squall has to explain what happened; people don’t already know. This kind of implies after Squall passed out, Seifer, bleeding from a head wound himself, picked Squall up and carried him home, allowing himself to collapse only when Squall was being safely tended to, because he’s that extra. This is his first (okay, second, after fireballs and face slashing) action in the game even though it’s offscreen. I mean, he could have also just called for help/ran for help, but that’s less fun.

Seifer is so concerned with being a badass, but he’s admits to Squall all he’s ever wanted was to be the fairytale knight, not a mere soldier. Vulnerability and confession he wants romance....with the first time it’s brought up in game being while they are watching the sun set together, the traditional Square Red Sunset of Shipping.

Seifer hesitates to defy orders, not for himself, but until he sees Squall is with him. Even though there were other “children of destiny” who all came from the same orphanage, Squall and Seifer were the ones who were never apart, never adopted until it was by a military/mercenary training program, and, even though it may speak more to brotherly than romantic from some angles, there’s a feeling of being the same, knowing each other down to the atoms, adopting an us against the world mindset that trumps trying to best each other when it comes down to it because they are the only constant. When Squall has his breakdown/ breakthrough of why he pushes people away/doesn’t let himself care/tries not to need anyone because people leave/are taken from him and he is scared he isn’t worthy of love and happiness until Rinoa challenges him, this may seem like a dismissal of Seifer, but you can also look at it from “I had no friends or family. I didn’t even have interest in speaking to anyone. I strived to be an unfeeling machine, because all emotion is pain...But also I couldn’t go 48 hours without seeing Seifer.”

Yeah, yeah, we know their main form of hanging out was beating the tar out of each other, but sometimes, especially in older media, this was its own brand of subtext. For more on how Seifer miiiight just view sparring let’s point out that “Isn’t this ROMANTIC?” and “Kneel” as a less easily interpreted as innuendo version of “I want you on your knees” are battle quotes even in Kingdom Hearts sooo draw your own conclusion.

We get a line where Squall makes it clear these were friendly matches looked at as pushing their limits beyond what they are allowed to in sanctioned spars, and he feels prepared to take on anything now because of Seifer. Is it healthy communication in real life? No! Is this real life? No! Plus, the facial scar was an accident, pretty clearly...on Seifer’s side...I could write another essay on how Seifer draws first blood, but it’s because on Squall’s failed block, AND THEN SQUALL GETS ANGRY AND RETALIATES WITH CLEAR PURPOSE AND MAKES THE OPENING SHOT INTO THE FIRST SIGN GOOD VERSUS BAD GUY ISN’T SO CLEAR CUT (even though they both shouldn’t have been going so hard in a friendly training match to begin with).

Seifer’s later, repeated threats/expressed desire to give Squall additional scars once he goes evil? That is a different animal, and a horrible one, objectively. Not objectively? No comment. Okay, one comment. Mark you as mine. Two comments. He knows Squall’s lost some memories and he can’t stomach being the next thing forgotten so Squall needs physical reminders.

Hmmm, I was supposed to be talking about the ship, not just the sparring and scars. We can wrap it up with a Marge Simpson. “I just think they’re neat”

BUT ONE MORE THING

Squall’s jacket when he becomes Leon in Kingdom Hearts. His outfit is mostly the same, right? Except the back of the jacket now has a red patch of an emblem (of Rinoa’s angel wings, not Seifer’s cross...for the OT3 feel), and his fight with Sora he throws a fireball like Seifer’s signature. Just, you know, if you want bonus references/feeling.

Brotp: Fuu and Rai. They are willing to commit war crimes with this man, nurse him back from death’s door, and go into exile with him if he can’t return to a normal life even after a redemption arc. This section deserves to be long, but I am beginning to get talked out. Don’t take that as devaluing the friendship though. I’m glad he was allowed to keep his ride or dies in Kingdom Hearts. FRIENDSHIP! They love him, ya know?

Head Canon: What we see of him at the end of the game is a temporary situation and after he heals and refreshes for awhile he’d go back to Balamb and face consequences for his actions, and probably insist on consequences instead of leaning into “an evil sorceress bespelled me and slowly took my free will.” No hiding away in the wilderness. No crossing into and living his life in Esthar. No, “but in the end I broke free and would have been an active, onscreen part of saving the world if Square had let me join the party!” He would insist on being cast into a deep, dark cell. Squall uses pull to get him pardoned, but not before just, flat out, yelling at him for being a martyr.

Unpopular opinion: He did love Rinoa. It may have been a “shallow love,” but he wasn’t just dating her to pass time or because she played into his damsel who needs a hero mindset. There was emotion. He was prepared to die for her and Squall in Timber, and almost did--only being saved by Sorceress Edea...which wasn’t a kindness, but it all worked out in the end. Sure, he gets mind-controlled into using Rinoa as, basically, a human sacrifice and it isn’t Rinoa he wants stripped and brought to his room when we’re taking prisoners, but he cared about her. He does taunt her about their past relationship, but we’ve already established this is just part of his communication skillset. Yes, I will elaborate more if asked, though it’s more feeling based than text based.

A wish: If there’s ever a sequel, let him have put out the good in the world that was his dream and be seen as a hero. Let us see a matured and peaceful Seifer.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: My one fear if they ever remake FFVIII instead of just porting it, is that some of the creative team have said they like the fan theory where you are dead part way through the game and the rest is a dying dream or purgatory. It’s creative stuff; I will say that. It’s not my favorite, and I don’t agree, but those kinds of fan interpretations when they go in depth are super cool. PLEASE LET THE INTEREST IN IT JUST BE THE SAME AS MINE OF THINKING IT’S CREATIVE BECAUSE MAKING THIS CANON WOULD BE SO, SO BAD FOR EVERY CHARACTER.

5 words to best describe them: stubborn, misguided, paladin, romantic, petty

My nickname for them: I don’t really have one

#seifer almasy #seifer x squall #squall x seifer #such a long post and still not all or even communicated that well probably #you don't have all the facts the facts are i love him #tina-nina

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bisluthq · 4 years ago

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It’s your kaylor historian here who still can’t remember my log in details to my KH account 🤦‍♀️ (so please make sure this anon just in case it isn’t... I fear them 👀)

Karlie’s tea post before masters heist:

Ok so I can’t remember who posted first and don’t feel like looking, but taylor posted a selfie and captioned it “Friday calmness” and we (kaylor fandom) had been speculating taylor was going to come out as bi on the last day of June / 🌈pride month🌈 since she’d been doing so much stuff that could be seen (and was) as queer coded. We celebrated the “Friday calmness” thinking it was like a ‘calm before the storm’ with the storm being her coming out.

I think Karlie posted after taylor, but am not 100% sure. Karlie posted a selfie with a cup with a caption like “what’s the tea” and the fandom, thinking they were still together, collectively lost our shit. It looked to us like Karlie was playing off Taylor’s post. (I’ll admit, I didn’t think kaylor were still together, but that weekend I was thinking ‘I can’t believe I doubted them!’ Lol)

*there were also rumours that the YNTCD video and single were delayed a couple of times and meant to be released sooner and serve as a soft coming out, but that taylor kept changing her mind about it and is also why she kept the tracklist length under wraps, because she wasn’t sure if she’d go through with it. She was way more vague than ever before. There were also rumours she had a rolling stone cover planned that she was going to come out in but it was scrapped —— I can’t even remember where these “she’s actually coming out” rumours originated anymore and I can’t remember if people had legit sources and gossip or if it was fan fiction planning, but it was mentioned outside the kaylordom too, so take that as you wish.

Then came the masters heist.

Now, to understand the thought process of Kaylors at the time, you have to remember that we thought Karlie & Taylor had a secret romance, Joe was a beard, Josh was a beard - but since he comes from a crime family who have done a lot of bad things (to put it lightly) and are stupidly rich, Josh had Karlie trapped in such a tight contract and has so much blackmail material that Karlie was forced to fake marry him against her will - remember, it was only meant to be a photo shoot for a Vogue wedding spread showing what wedding fashion was available, it wasn’t meant to be a wedding! But josh had his team leak the photos and instead of saying it was all for a photo shoot, Karlie had to say she was now married. <- that was the narrative and thought process within the fandom.

So the fandom thought 🛴 and Josh conspired to announce the purchase of big machine/ taylor’s masters which would derail her coming out plans. The fandom thought Karlie had no idea it was happening. Scooter and Josh were worried Taylor was going to come out, which would ultimately out Karlie since there were so many rumours about Kaylor already, and it would then out Josh and ruin Josh’s image, making it look obvious to everyone that Josh and Karlie were just beards, but kaylor was real. To avoid tarnishing Josh’s hetero card, scooter waited until the end of June to announce he bought taylor’s music for maximum impact.

(Never mind that someone spent $300M to keep a client in the closet) that was how we interpreted the situation (kept writing the fan fiction) and that it was a blow to taylor and a huge betrayal from scooter to Karlie because now they had extra leverage / ways to hurt Karlie.

So yeah. It was a very sad time. This also is why some kaylors think hoax lyrics point to their everlasting love “my best laid plans” = tay ready to come out end of June “your sleight of hand” = scooter tricking Karlie when he bought the masters and any information about taylor that Karlie mentioned innocently was used against them, “my barren land” = taken on a new meaning since Karlie announced her pregnancy, but initially it was seen as the land that was meant to be blooming with love was left barren and empty because of the masters incident delaying her coming out.

It sounds absolutely ludicrous, but the only way to understand how it was easy to rationalise is to understand how adamant the fandom was/ is that Josh and joe are just beards, Karlie is locked in a contract, and taylor is trying to free the both of them. If there were any truth to this at all, it is nothing short of ghastly situation for Karlie and paints taylor as a Nobel warrior trying to save her princess from the tower 🦸🏼‍♀️👸🏼 ....

Karlie had what I think was a scheduled post cause it was ad content , but otherwise was unusually silent on social media for a week + after the announcement. We thought they were grieving together.

——-

Now for Emily Poe. Ok so I really didn’t do my research - I thought Emily was only one or two years older than Taylor, so it never even occurred to me that the idea of that relationship would’ve been extremely predatory and badbadbadbad. I regret not doing my due dillihence when I was part of a fandom that consumed this theory. So Emily theories have been around since Taylor first had gay speculation. Part of this was because of some funny photos like that one where taylor is standing next to a truck that says “...gay Texan” and emily and a guy in the band I can’t think of his name were pointing to taylor and smirking. It’s a funny photo. I can see my dumb teenage self making similar jokes long before I knew my sexuality because LOOOOL GAY was a thing back then. There’s the video taylor made for Emily where she held up the “we love you emily” sign and she went to everyone she toured with including brad paisley to hold up the sign and make heart hands and just be extremely cute - platonic or romantic - both seem plausible - and cute as hell! The video was set to the dashboard confessional song ‘stolen’ which is basically just the lyric “you have stolen my heart” over and over again. This video got renewed interest when people went back and looked back at the you belong with me video. The idea of taylor and her make love interest holding these a4 sheets of paper with “I love you” written on them seemed familiar. The story of how YBWM came about was that Taylor heard her guitarist on the phone with his girlfriend and his gf was yelling at him for something seemingly insignificant/ the gf was painted out as high drama and her guitarist seemed miserable every time he spoke to her for a while. So Taylor had the idea of a song about a girl thinking her friends girlfriend is horrible, but turn it into a love story where the two friends get together - classic romantic comedy trope - she took the idea to Liz Rose and it was one of the last songs written for Fearless and specifically made to be upbeat and preppy because taylor thought the album was lacking that vibe. If you take the story Taylor said inspired the song and swap it from her male guitarist (who she also said she had no feelings for), and change it to her female fiddle player, the story behind the song can be the same, just tweaked to be hetwashed. Emily was a cheerleader and had a boyfriend when she toured with taylor, so it’s easy enough to take those things at surface value and think there was some truth to Emily. Also the two biggest gaylor rumours pre swiftgron came from comments on a gossip site/ forum. One was that ‘Emily was fired after she was caught relieving taylor of stress’ and how ‘emily was interested in law, but this incident cemented she had to leave the band but the swift team gave her money so emily wouldn’t sue for being fired on a sexual harassment issue’ (of course, knowing the age difference, we know this would NOT be the case at all) and it is speculated it inspired taylor to write breathe because she was so sorry for how things ended. They were inseparable and then after her birthday, never seen together or mentioned each other on MySpace again.

The other comment was that taylor ‘was a pillow princess in high school’ and that she was happy to receive but not give because she wanted to maintain her virgin status and thought if she reciprocated it would make her gay — the comment was something like that.

Of course it would’ve been incredibly easy for idk, some random on the internet who has never even met taylor to say those things.... but it was taken as gospel by the gaylor truthers.

People who looked further found a girl they believed was Taylor’s high school gf, her name started with L... but I never really believed it so I don’t have the greatest knowledge of that one. It seemed ridiculous to me she had a 3 year gf as a teenager and not a single person from her high school - or anyone who knew her alleged gf - ever spoke about it publicly??? That would be a lot of NDAs and payouts to keep silent, but a lot of other people believed NDAs and hush money was spent, so yeah... 🤷‍♀️

She also had some fruity MySpace posts which seemed to help the case for gaylor, but imo, it also falls under the ‘teenagers on the internet are dumb especially when social media was brand new and thank god myspace doesn’t exist cause I don’t want to see my old one ever again’ category.

Sorry for the essay, I felt I had been summoned and wanted to give background on the fandom. When I log back in I think I need to change my bio, I’m not really here to talk kaylor , but the fandom. Cause it’s really sad what that narrative within the fandom has become and heartbreaking what that narrative has done to fans, especially queer kids trying to figure themselves out. I couldn’t see how toxic it was for a long time, I’m happy I’m out of there now. but I think it helps to understand how the fandom thought and saw things as to how easy it was for things to spiral to the state it’s in now.

As old T used to sign off, - lovelovelove 💜

Brilliant post thanks KH!

#nat talks the konspiracy

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tomboyjessie13-artblog · 4 years ago

Photo

This was meant to be done yesterday, but I goofed and finished it at 4 AM in the morning, I think I ruined my sleep schedule doing it. Anyways, I was worried about putting her in EC because she's a child with a troubled past, but I just went with it because I'm not a coward. But if you're uncomfortable with the story here, I am very sorry, I mean I know it’s part of the canon story but I apologize to those who are offended in advance, I'll alter it if you want.

Speaking of which, I will be editing EC!Neashi's profile to correspond with Nemu in a little bit so keep an eye on it, ok?

Nemu, born Jordan Abbot, was a young Black Valkyria girl living in the Union State of Evillious, she was born to one of the many families who are slaves in Maistia before being bought the Freezis Conglomerate in Bariti, Marlon to be treated like trash. By the time she was 10, her parents had overheard of what horrible and cruel things that had happened to previous families before them including the Zeros, and are planning on doing the same thing to them tomorrow morning secretly to prevent Judge Gallerian Marlon from knowing. Becoming fearful for their lives, they plan to escape Marlon to the mainland that is Bolganio to have a better life and to warn the Judge of the atrocities they're committing in secret. Having been able to sneak out of the manor at night, they took one of the many double decker buses to the port town of Jamet and boarded the S.S. Titanis to the mainland. During the trip there, Nemu accidentally bumps into Michelle Marlon and apologized profusely, but Michelle reassures her that it's alright and that it was just an accident. She learns that the girl was Judge Gallerian Marlon's daughter and told her what her family had experienced, hoping that her father would set things right again. Unfortunately, just before they made it to land, a giant Ziz-Tiama showed up and destroyed the ship with everyone on it, her parents and Michelle were killed upon getting caught up in the destruction, Nemu was one of thew few survivors to have made it out alive, but suffers from Post Tramatic Stress Disorder and Mutism from the incident, the last thing she saw before passing out was Nemesis Sudou at shore, grinning at the chaos she caused. She was found unconscious on shore by Neashi and the other members of Hades who came to see what their rival gang, Zeus, has done. Sometime later while recovering, Hades found out about Nemu's origins and that she's the only one who made it, then they realized that she's still in danger of being founded. So Neashi(as Persephone) proposes that they disguise her and change her name, so they cut hair short and dyed it navy blue, and renamed her "Nemu" after the Jakokunese word "Sleep". Later on, Hades broke up due to being sought out by the police for the sinking, and Neashi took Nemu with her to Lucifenia to start a new life together, becoming her adopted older sister and legal guardian. Years later, she'd became a student at Germaine Avadonia Middle School and Neashi's partner in crime to help them survive, having been able to master paragliding at a young age to give Neashi assistance in her robberies. At some point, Neashi told Nemu that she has a "guest" coming over to give them "grocery money" and needs her to stay in her room until the "guest" is gone, though it didn't stop Nemu from being disturbed of "the noises" coming from Neashi's room. Sometime later, Nemu meets Nemesis as Themis Eight at Rolled, becoming angry upon seeing her and tried to hurt her due to her parents' death cause by her before Neashi subdued her. Later on, Neashi had informed Nemu that should be gone for two days because she's planning a large heist that would help them retire and start living the good life, she was given money to buy herself food to feed herself. At some point however, she had a visit from Postman and learned that Neashi was arrested for trying to rob Gallerian Marlon's fortune and treasures. She begs the silent Postman to take her to them, at Levianta, while she rightfully scolds Neashi for being so reckless in robbing the Judge, she was also horrified to learned that Gallerian Marlon was no longer the man she thought could help her family back in the day, but instead became a greedy crook who would gladly take any bribes at the cost of allowing bad people to run around freely.

~Technical Information~ Name: Nemu Japanese: 眠 Romaji: Nemu Other names: Jordan Abbot(Birth name), Nemu Tamiki(Full adopted name)

~Biographical Information~ Born: June 22, EC 968 Age: 13-15 Classification: Human Race: Black Valkyria Gender: Female Sexual Orientation: Unknown Hair Color: Black(later dyed Navy Blue) Eye Color: Brown Affiliation(s): Bariti, Marlon(Place of birth, formally) Aceid, Elphegort(Formerly) Rolled, Lucifenia Germaine Avadonia Middle School

Trivia:

She shares the same personality traits and skills as her previous incarnation as a KH OC, but with obvious changes due to being reimagined as a OC in a more mature setting. The reason for being in the Greed/Wrath era is because of her ethnicity being introduced, that and she and Neashi are inseparable in my KH story, it makes sense that way. Also her school uniform is inspired by Hatsune Miku's Summer Memories outfit and to some extent, her hana-kotoba serafuku, using more Miku references to tie with her.

Her adopted name, Nemu, is based off the Japanese word for "Sleep", this is meant to reference "Gift from the Princess who Brought Sleep" and her role as the "Third Sleep Bringer". Now she's named that because Hades found her "asleep", she's also has less of a villainous role in Evillious than she was in KH, except for the robberies of course. She's still talented in chemistry though, just not for epidemics.

Her role in Neashi's robberies involve paragliding at night to scope out the exits or potential houses to rob. She also uses her skills in chemistry to make biological weapons that are non-lethal but will obstruct Neashi's pursuers such as smoke bombs, tear gas, artificial bubbles, and rubber cement. Her favorite is the artificial bubbles because they're both useful and pretty.

Because video games are non-existent in the Greed/Wrath arc, she will not have an interest in the "Legend of Helga" games, or at the very least the games will be reimagined as a book series in this case. Also even though she knows that Yukina Freezis is innocent, she still doesn't feel comfortable about reading the Freezis Fairy Tales due to her experience with the Conglomerate. At one point she reads "Vampiress Vanika" by Sanon Noi and has gotten nightmares.

She has a bit of a sweet tooth, her favorite dessert is snickerdoodle cookies. She also had some brioche with trauben jam from one of Rolled's cafe's and has become smitten, so much so she started dancing like a ballroom dancer, much to Neashi's amusement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nemu belongs to me

#artwork #evillious chronicles #kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts oc #oc #crossover #reimagined #roleplay

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starlightsearches · 5 years ago

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Can I request a fluffy Kylo X OC where they’re chasing their little toddler around Star Killer base? Pleaseeeee? 💕💕😘

Not Going Anywhere

Here’s my first request! I hope you guys like it; feel free to send in more 😌

Pairing: Kylo Ren X Female Reader

Warnings: This is probably a little more angst than you wanted, sorry about that 😬 But the ending is nice and fluffy!

“What do you mean you lost him?” You yell, and Ren puts a hand over your mouth, hoping no one outside of the supply closet heard you shouting. It’s cramped and too warm—only worsening Ren’s anxiety—which had built itself to a crescendo in the time it had taken to find you on the bridge and then convince you to leave your post. You brush his hand away, aggravated.

“I told you, he ran out the door. I couldn’t grab him fast enough.” Ren whispers, pained, “please help me.” Your mouth flattens into a line of frustration, contemplating the potential benefits and pitfalls of making him do it himself, and then you roll your eyes, sighing with exasperation.

“Fine, let’s go,” you shove him unceremoniously from the closet and back into the hallway, and two officers outside the door startle at his sudden appearance. For a moment they look like they might laugh, until they see your face, and instead they avert their eyes, suddenly absorbed with the screens of their data pads.

“Which way did he go?” You whisper to him, and Ren starts off down the hallway in what he thinks is the right direction. Others are watching as you make your way down the corridor, curious whispers following behind.

People know, of course, about the two of you. That had been unavoidable. You had done your best to stay professional in the public eye after your relationship began, but nobody on the whole damn crew was capable of keeping their mouth shut, especially after your nine-month “special assignment” off-base. Still, privacy was necessary to the survival of your relationship, and for any sense of normalcy when working. Most crew members never even saw you in the same room, let alone exiting a closet together.

“I’m sorry,” Ren whispers, again. He can see your anger in your posture, the way you stomp down the hall, listening intently for any sign of your son.

“Don’t you think-”

“No,” he cuts you off before you can finish. This is a conversation you’ve had before, and not one he’s interested in having again.

“I’m just saying,” you begin, “I could take him somewhere—somewhere safe—where he could grow up. Have a childhood. And then, later, when this is over …”

“You can’t leave.”

“Being on this base is not good for him, Ren.”

“Neither is growing up without a father.” He’s growling, anger bleeding through his words. You bite your lip and don’t respond. These talks never go well; Ren always ends up frustrated, and it’s worse this time because now he knows that you’re right. Maybe his son would be better off far away from him. Safer.

He’s still worried as the two of you walk: there are plenty of dangerous places a child could find themselves on the base. The armory, the hangar … the trash compactor. He forces himself to move faster, overtaking you quickly with his long stride. You feel it too, the panic, and grip his wrist in your fingers, a strange and unfamiliar show of affection for such a public space.

“Can you sense him?” You ask, running your thumb over the edge of his sleeve, finding your way to the skin beneath, but the panic won’t subside. He shakes his head, feeling helpless, and you pull him into an alcove.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” you whisper, bringing your hand to his face and rubbing the pad of your thumb over his cheek, “but we do need to find him. Can you?” Ren nods into your palm, calmed by your touch, and focuses outward, looking for his son. He’s easy to find once Ren has found focus: a small spark of joy amid the harshness and conflict of the base. Ren takes your hand in his, and pulls you in the right direction, the worry ebbing now that he has a clear destination. He pulls you to a stop in front of a door and punches in his access code, not waiting for it to open all the way before you both rush in.

Two sets of eyes stare back at you, their shock echoing their own, the silence in the room broken apart by pealing laughter. This is a Storm Trooper barrack, you realize immediately, the eyes belonging to a group of Troopers, KH-1317 and TZ-4390, in uniform but without their helmets. They look sheepish and avoid your gaze.

“Jaren!” You break from Ren, running to your son, pulling him out of the arms of the nearest Trooper. He giggles again, oblivious to the tension in the room, and you hold him close.

“Where did you find him?” You ask, and both Troopers relax infinitesimally, seeing that they are not in trouble.

“We were doing our rounds and he came around the corner,” KH-1317 says, gesturing to her partner, who nods, “we didn’t know he was your kid.” There’s a pause, awkward, uncomfortable, as no one seems to know what to say next. You pull your son tighter in your arms, and he rests his head on your shoulder, tired from his exciting afternoon.

“Thank you,” you say, hesitantly, “for watching him.” This is a break from the normal order of things, a strangely human moment for all of you, and Ren’s not entirely comfortable with the scene unfolding before him.

“It was no problem,” the other responds. She waves uncertainly to Jaren, who waves back tiredly, fighting to keep his eyelids open. You tug on Ren’s hand, surreptitiously, pulling him towards the door, and the two of you leave a bit embarrassed, but grateful.

The walk back to your quarters is better, almost peaceful, as Jaren dozes on your shoulder. Ren is feeling strange, the fear of losing his son gone now, leaving something soft and sentimental in its place. Gingerly, he places a hand on the curve of your spine, the connection so gentle you may not have noticed it, if you hadn’t outside of your quarters.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” you whisper, looking up at him with worry in your eyes. You’re drawing attention again, holding your child in your arms, and Ren knows that he’s only making it worse, but he needs to feel close to you right now. He solidifies the contact, pressing his hand more firmly into your back, and glares at the watching crew members who in turn avert their gaze.

You enter your chambers together, the room dark, and a little messy: clothes on the floor, and a few toys scattered around. You set Jaren in his crib and pull the blanket over him. He’s already asleep, soft pink lips pursed into a perfect O, his dark, unruly hair brushing his eyebrows. Ren sees too much of himself in him. He sits on the bed and swallows hard, unable to look at you, now that you’re alone. Afraid of what you’re about to say.

He feels the indent of the mattress as you climb up behind him, running your hands through his hair with soft, even strokes. He sinks into you, instinctively, amazed that you still have the power to undo him with such a simple touch.

“I’m sorry.” Your chest vibrates against his back as you speak, and tears prick his eyes without warning. Ashamed, he turns away from you, pressing the heels of his hands into the sockets, hoping to keep the grief from spilling out. You move to him again, pulled in by his gravity, grabbing onto his wrists and uncovering his eyes. Your expression is delicate, and you run your hands over the tears on his cheeks, clearing them away. He melts against your touch, the skin of your lips ghosting over his forehead, down his temple, and then placing a soft kiss on his nose. He smiles, involuntarily.

“I don’t want to leave,” you say quietly, mouth resting against his ear now, “and I’m sorry I suggested it.”

“I don’t want you to go,” he wraps his arms around you, holds you to him, laying back on the mattress beneath you. You fall together, your head resting in the crook of his neck, breathing in time. Your fingers trace lazy shapes on his chest, and his breath hitches in response.

“I lost him,” he says, and he’s crying again, the tears running down his face and into his hair, “he could have gotten hurt, and it would have been my fault.”

“Things like that happen, Ren. You can’t blame yourself.” You sit up and look him in the eyes, deadly serious. “You’re a good father. He needs you.”

“I don’t want you to go,” he’s repeating himself, but he’s desperate. He can’t do this without you.

“We aren’t going anywhere.” You fold into each other, and he feels it. You mean it when you say you’ll stay.

#requests #kylo ren x reader #kylo ren x you #kylo ren fanfic #star wars fanfic #my writing

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iaintyourbro · 5 years ago

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That game where Cloud is asked about his true love which is Tifa is it really true before that Cloud was searching for Aerith and the promise Land was there a clerith moment?if it true I just don't get it why the devs keep doing this if CT is Canon like don't they see how nasty the ship war has become ,is it fun to watch the fans fight for years , I see many fans say the devs were misunderstood in the past that why they are trying to deliver the remake in a right way now but that game was (1/2)

was released in 2018 (where Cloud is asked about his true love) I don't know the way I see it the devs will never stop this bs called LTD because they're afraid of the fans sorry I just don't see the devs being frustrated because the fans misinterpreted their story in the past because they were the one who left the story ambiguous (even tho nojima was clear about the pairing) what I'm trying to say is even if the remake ended with CT there will be spinoffs to ruin it because fan service(2/2)

Hi anon,

I haven’t heard that there is a CA moment, honestly. I saw the screenshots for the one true love, and all that, but never looked too far into it.

The thing about the LTD is the group that’s very aggressive and very militant is also very small.

The Future of the LTD Includes links to other blogs as well for further LTD Death analysis and discussion

Some of the links in that post were written by a CA shipper who is saying it’s dead.

The thing with spin-offs is... they aren’t canon to the main story. And even the spin-offs that were given, like KH, which is severely misunderstood... it was still Cloti.

Cloud was looking for Sephiroth in KH. Why would Aerith be hanging out with Hades? Even when him and Aerith talk in KH2 he’s meh. She’s NOT his light, she pretty much says that herself. Tifa IS his light.

But the only KH characters people fight about from the FF series are from FF7. Squall turns into Leon and nobody is like “omg he left Rinoa.”

I think they couldn’t blatantly stop it. It DID keep interest up. They DID want people to look at the story again and figure it out. OG makes it clear what happens, but a lot of people COULD NOT GET PAST THE FACT AERITH DIES. So they ignore everything else.

The game, Ultimanias, novels, movies, and even most of the spin-offs are Cloti. Zack is also starting to show up more and more. Zack was in the ending of Remake as a teaser. Aerith loves Zack - that’s canon.

Cloud loves Tifa - that’s canon.

Tifa loves Cloud - that’s canon.

I think at this point, they’re fed up and that’s why Remake is being very clear on how this is going. No player choice on things, no LTD scenes that are blatant - the prison scene and Marlene question about Aerith are gone, Aerith immediately becomes attached to Tifa and moves closer to her as the game goes on.

I would be absolutely shocked if that changes considering Aerith’s resolution and Cloud’s actions towards Tifa.

There will ALWAYS be a small group that fights it. They’ll say Remake isn’t canon, just like they said Crisis Core wasn’t canon. It won’t ever completely end, but the bulk of the fanbase will just ignore them and move on.

#cloti #ff7 ship wars #ff7 ltd #ship wars #cloud x tifa #ff7 #ff7 cc #ff7 crisis core #ff7r #ff7 spoilers #ff7r spoilers

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darkzeruda1214 · 5 years ago

Text

I’m not going deny, I was heavily inspired by just a Pancake’s video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoIpdFLz-Ls&t=4s

The Fandom does a much better job at writing and developing these gals than game has ever done or shown. I do love these three but stuff like this still bugs the shit out of me.

I love these gals. But I’m not going to deny that Just a Pancake really makes a valid point. And to be fair after some thinking I see the argument he was trying to make.

Now I know we all have own opinions and that’s fine. I stay firm with mine as you do yourselves. And that’s what makes a fandom, we all have a right to dislike and disagree if we want to. In fact I do encourage because it allows debates and second thinking if needed.

Anyways… back on topic, I’m going to be blunt. But Kingdom Hearts just dosen’t make good female characters. (This is not including Disney girls of FF, just KH original characters)

And it’s kinda sad considering how few main original KH female characters there are. You think they’d be able to bulk up personalities, but that seems to go to all the male characters.

As amazing and fun this game is, it needs some tweaking on making their female characters, feel alive.

Now I’m not talking about the fandom perspectives of these gals, because I’m going to be real. The fans do an INSANELY better job at portraying these girls. (TAKE NOTES NOMURA DAMN IT!)

Now there are a few exceptions a couple being Larxene and Olette. To me (and feel to disagree with me) they were the only ones that felt like had something to offer.

Larxene has more character than all the other gals. Being sarcastic, sadistic and snide (at times insufferable bitch) and to me that breaths a lot of personality and I love her for it. Even her voice actor has put a great amount of effort in bringing Larxene to life. Out of all the KH girls she is the one who brings in most of the attention. And even in the few scenes she gets the spotlight without even trying.

The second being Olette. Now I know some of you are already typing as to how she has anything to offer. She’s not even a main character! Yes, and that the thing, I think because she has no major role in it allows the writers to give her a character that comes off as simple and sweet. She’s the only one to demonstrated that she’s as normal and ordinary as a person can be in this series. Something we don’t exactly see happening in the KH franchise since every named character has a role to fulfill, and for her to be a small breath of fresh air is a nice change of pace. It shows: yes there are normal people, with normal lives. They have no scripted important task ahead of them, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of it.

And not only that, we did get to know bits and parts of her personality. And her interests thanks to small details sprinkled in KH2 and 3. Such as showing she has her priorities straight and 'actually' doing her homework/jobs before the due date. She loves going to the beach and loves spending time with her friends. Also she like to go shopping. A simple character, with a simple purpose. And to me she feels alive and just in general, a simple but easy character to relate to. She’s a perfect example of a beauty in simplicity.

Now… as for the main girls.

Aqua is literally my favorite KH girl. However, the thing about her, is that she shared too many similar features with Sora. Now I don’t mean personality wise because Aqua is much more mature and level headed than Sora could ever be

However, as much as I really hate to admit it. Aqua doesn’t have anything to offer other than a serious role model and as a plot device...

I think what made Aqua popular is the fact that she’s a strong independent female character who doesn’t need no man to save her. (Also, she has a really well thought out design). And for that I praise and respect her for it. Yet… throughout the game, she relatively keeps the same straight face. Her expression has shown to be sad, angry or just stoic. Nothing too bad, but as far as that, we don’t see Aqua have any interests beyond wanting to save her friends. And to me that’s all she did in the series, I’m not going to lie the first time I played Birth by Sleep, I saw absolutely no reason for her to be in the game. I mean Xehanort (he can go suck a dick) focused all of his attention on Terra to take over his body. And on Ventus to play a role in forging the X-blade.

But as for Aqua, to me it seemed like she was just walked in there to simply fill a space and create another trio. Now I’m not saying under circumstance that she is useless. After all, her role in the game is a huge catalyst for the events of KH1. It gives her a purpose and is one of the most important characters. But to me that felt more like a large plot device and changer other than being a person. Aqua suffered a lot in the series, no doubt. But being a catalyst isn’t enough to be a good character. She’s not bad by any means, as I still hold her a place in my heart. But I feel like she was put on plot pedestal in the series instead of being given a full fledged personality that makes her relatable. There are only two instances that allowed Aqua to not be a emotionless character:

One being with Zack asking her on a date and the second is when she tried to help Cinderella and Jaq in Castle of Dreams world. To see an awkward/embarrassed expression instead of the dull zombie-like one was a nice sense of relief to give her something.

Another character that suffers from this treatment is Xion. She is one of my favorite characters from 358/2 days, but beyond the fact that she got the short end of the stick of being forgotten by her own friends (and everyone else for that matter). Her story is a tragic one, one that always gives me the feels and her theme is both beautiful and sad. But I wouldn’t say she had a character that made me connect with her as much as it could have.

She definitely has more expression and personality compared to Aqua that’s for sure. But not by much, however hers is within good reason. After all she was a puppet created by Vexen and Organization XIII don’t get me wrong. I understand that, and I would say it’s unfair for me to be saying this to her. And you’re right, it is unfair, but Xion eventually learned how to have emotions. How to cry and what happiness and laughter is and feels like.

The one thing I did get from her is that she loves sea salt ice cream and is one of the cutest and sweetest character in the game. But as far as her interests goes, there’s not much to go by. Now I know you can argue that both Roxas and Axel don’t exactly express their interest beyond their time in the clock tower. And it’s true, but Xion doesn’t add much more either… again I feel like she was only added in the game last minute. And that’s why in the story she’s forgotten so they have an explanation as to what happened to her and why she’s not recalled in KH2. Xion also gets the “plot device” treatment rather than as a character. And to me it feels like a disrespect to her character! (Her manga incarnation is MILES better).

However, I also don’t say much on her either only because she is still learning how to be her own individual. But my point still stands, though it’s prone to change, mostly because she now has the opportunity to be a character after KH3 since everyone remembers her and has her own body. And she might finally get an personality expansion in the next set of installments in the future.

Now as for Kairi…

Well this topic has been talked and reviewed over to death. In fact I even spoke about her character in this post here: https://princesszelda-heroine.tumblr.com/post/187815960646/kairi-deserved-better

But to sum it up, Kairi hasn’t been given a chance to shine as an individual compared to her friends and the others. And after what happened in KH3 I’m just more frustrated with the writers and developers that they won’t allow her to grow with sustenance! Whatever she had in KH1 and 2 was totally stripped in KH3.

My point being. Being a plot device in game or a catalyst for another one. Or having amazing/original design, does. Not. Make. A. Good. Fleshed. Out. Character.

I’m sorry to say this. But it’s true.

This is why I hate the treatment these gals go through in game. I stick solely to fan works because they give these girls the justice they deserve and makes me love them more as a whole.

I know there is a lot of things I didn’t cover, and maybe I missed a couple of points. But this is how I see this, and how I think the franchise is really missing a lot of good opportunities developing them.

They really don't have much to offer as far as personality growth. Thank You KH Manga series.

#kingdom hearts #kh #kh3 #aqua #Kairi #Xion #rant #personal confessions #confess series

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oveliagirlhaditright · 5 years ago

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What are all your Kingdom Hearts pairings?

I am so sorry I never answered this:( I kept meaning to, but every time I’d get distracted with family being over for the holidays.

I used to have a ton of KH ships, but I’ve kind of cooled down on a lot of them now (for some reason. IDK why I think I’m just not as interested in romance as I used to be. I still love it, of course, but now I value other kinds of relationships in series, too.) So for the most part, I’m really only going to tell you the ones I search for in the tags every day and maybe a few others.

SoKai is my ultimate OTP forever and ever. It always has been and it probably always will be. I don’t really ever see that changing. I should maybe mention that I also like the fandom’s invention (that I helped to create;)) of dark Sora and Kairi. And, yes: that even includes the rare dark Kairi… that I should really finish my fic of.

I love RokuShi a lot, but I’ve even cooled down on them a little. They used to be one of my ultimate OTPs–and to be fair, they still kind of are–and were my second favorite KH pairing (heck, there was a hot second where I even liked them more than SoKai. Weird, I know), but now they’re probably more equal with my other ships and most don’t even come close to reaching SoKai level for me.

Namiku. I love it a lot and mostly always have. RokuShi and Namiku are my ideal pairings when it comes to shipping Roxas, Xion, Riku, and Naminé with people. Though I do love RokuNami now, and have for a while.

Speaking of: RokuNami.

Terqua. But maybe not as much as the above. IDK. I’ve kind of flip-flopped on this one over the years. And KHIII really made me love them again… but at the same time, I’m okay with them being platonic and like siblings… which is apparently what their relationship in canon is, along with their relationships to Ven and vice versa. (According to the KHIII Journal and Ultimania).

Gulava. They’re precious and I love them a lot.

Skulmera.

PlayerStrelitzia.

Epheplayer (I’m also okay with SkuldPlayer, or EphemerSkuldPlayer being OT3d, but I probably prefer PlayerStrelitzia and Epheplayer first… and the latter one is funny, because I think I used to prefer SkuldPlayer over it. But not anymore. I blame all you people who make cute Epheplayer stuff:)

ElrenaStrelitzia.

VentusStrelitzia, because of the fandom. Because of the fandom (also with a side bit of VanitasStrelitzia because of the fandom). But not if Ven in any form is her killer.

IraInvi… just because of that one line in Back Cover about Invi not wanting the others “to get the wrong idea about them”… even though I kind of don’t like Ira that much (yet. Hopefully that’ll change), because he kind of feels like a wet blanket to me so far.

Maybe Aced and Invi, but just because of Terra and Aqua feeling somewhat similar to them, if I ship AcedInvi at all. I don’t know if I do. Also, maybe Ava and Invi. IDK.

AkuSai.

XehanortEraqus, I guess (even though I hate Xehanort).

Xionami.

The one Sewer Squad girl with the newest girl added to the Sewer Squad?

SoRiKai… Because I can take the things I don’t like about S*Riku if Kairi’s involved, though it’s not my favorite (I’ll always prefer SoKai by itself. But I’ll still happily take SoRiKai posts, since it’s better than the alternative… which is Kairi being left out of everything, that I can’t stand).

RiKai. I ship RiKai a lot. Mainly because my old best friend loved loved loved loved them (and a few other of my RL friends, oddly enough), and she was always trying to pull me over to the RiKai side… And while I still prefer SoKai, she did make me like RiKai a lot. And because this pairing is made up of tropes people usually love, so I don’t get why it’s not more popular. And because their story in KHI (mainly on Riku’s side) breaks my heart in the best way possible.

Roxiri… for some reason. I blame awesome YouTube editors for this one.

Vanaqua (that I actually ship a lot, and also look for in the tags a lot. Even though I don’t love them as much as the first pairings I posted here, but still maybe moreso than some of the other ones I put in the middle here. I don’t know why I put this ship so low).

Vennami (same thing as VanAqua).

Venaqua… or at least I did until the age difference.

Vannami.

Slightly VaniKai now, but just for the good fan art.

Some Kailette…

SoNami in CoM only (and also kind of one-sided on Naminé’s part).

Replinami. But I probably don’t ship it as much as I should, especially if Nomura’s now trying to sell that Naminé’s always had some great love for him (that I don’t really buy, but shh).

Rion… but more because so much of the fandom ships them, and I feel I sort of have to because of that and not so much because I really want to. They’re okay. And I get why people ship them, but they’re kind of meh for me, but maybe getting a bit better. I’ve just… always had some issues with them (mainly that I feel like Riku kind of goaded Xion into committing suicide to save Sora: which is an issue I had with RokuNami for some time, too, and took me many years to get over for them. But now I have and they’re one of my fave pairings). But at the same time, I wouldn’t hate it if it happened.

Riku and Aqua, for some reason (though that darn age difference!). Maybe because I ship Terqua and this ship has stuff in common with it, and Riku’s sort of the version of Terra that passed with flying colors?

RikuShiki.

ZackAqua.

Perhaps Marluxia and Larxene, since I think that’s where the narrative is going. Perhaps.

Haynette. I also don’t mind Pencette. I also like Roxette quite a lot.

I shipped Larxel long ago, but not anymore. And yet I always feel the need to still put it down for some reason…

EphemerAva

Ira and Aced, maybe: they did have a good arc in Back Cover.

Brain and Lauriam, possibly, because of the fandom. I’ve seen some Ephemer ships here too, I think, that could be cute.

I feel like part of me would have shipped Sora and Roxas somewhat, if they weren’t Nobody and Other…

TerraVen a bit… Well, maybe I did a bit before I knew their ages… probably not now (I shipped them a bit back in the day, when I felt like in BbS they cared way more about each other than they ever did Aqua).

Xion and Repliku a bit… maybe. But I’d prefer them more to have a sibling bond.

Sora and Ariel for crack… and a bit of Sora and Rapunzel.

Terra and Cinderella and Aqua and Cinderella (also, Aqua and Philip) for the above reason. Maybe even Ven and Snow White.

Roxas and the Accessory Shop Girl for crack.

A bit of KairiXion.

Yozora and brown-haired Stella! I will go down with this ship, as I’ve been shipping “them” since Versus XIII, essentially. And maybe Yozora with some of his bros, but we’ll see.

There are probably some FF ones, too (though I don’t care about them that much)… usually the canon ones, like CloTi, Zerith, Clerith, TiYuna, Squinoa (because Nomura eluded long ago that she was a part of the fall of Radiant Garden and why Squall changed his name to Leon, in losing her for the time being), and maybe Seifer and Fuu. But I’m also okay with things like Selphie and Tidus, Leon and Yuffie, Leon and Aerith, and even Leon and Tifa because of one amv (where he started liking her in seeing her as a replacement for Rinoa, and then began to fall for her as her).

Oh, and Neku and Shiki… slight JoshNeku, and maybe Joshua and Rhyme (because I’m still somewhat Joshyme trash, gosh darnit) and some BeatJoshua (though this is moreso for TWEWY, of course, than KH. But they seem to be their true TWEWY selves in KH, so…)

All of the canon Disney couples, of course.

Edit: Maybe Ven and Skuld, now that Ven asked her to build a snowman together and all. Their interaction there was cute.

Aqua and Axel for crack.

…I realize I told you I was going to make this list short, and really I pretty much put everything I could think of. I apologize (and a lot of this did not end up in any good order whatsoever), but SoKai, RokuShi, Namiku, RokuNami, Terqua, Gulava, Skulmera, PlayerStrelitzia, and IraInvi (for some reason) are the ones I look for in the tags every day (also, Vanaqua. And sometimes Vennami). Then, it’s probably RiKai and SoRiKai at this point? With some of these others thrown in there? Like the “If Kairi died and sadly stayed dead, maybe Sora and Naminé could be a thing” kind of ones? Even though they don’t come close to the other ones? IDK.

Edit: XioRokuNami is a major one!

#oh also sora and olette for some reason. it's a weird crack pairing I wrote for once that has weirdly stuck with me #I also know a lot of people like vanshion and it's okay but I'm meh about it. but it's not bad #I've also seen aqua/larxene and that might not be bad #and I could see people shipping xion and olette after khiii and that could be cute #does anyone ship fuu and olette? I bet they have and that could be cute too #I also shipped venfuu a tiny tiny bit when deviantart was going crazy over it and making all the art for them. I even wrote one fic #vanities and riku maybe #and I maybe COULD'VE shipped ven and lea during the time of bbs. but obviously not now #also... if I'm being honest? sometimes problematic master of masters and Ava since she was the only one he was nice to #and when I say that I don't really ship it at all. gosh I don't want that ship to EVER happen and it never should #but I've still written it in a few fics... where I've treated it as the problematic thing it is (and only ever from the master's side and #not Ava's) to help show how the master HIMSELF is problematic. and I'm very careful with it and I swear I'm not endorsing it and wouldn't #though actually... now that I think about it her being the only one he was ever nice to is probably a moot point now #since at this point they're opposed to each other and are probably going to be at each other's throats in khiv #actually maybe the only reason he was ever nice to her was manipulation. hoping that if he was she wouldn't betray him and yet she still #did as she should have #also in the fics where I've written the master of masters having an infatuation for Ava I've never even had him touch her in #a platonic gesture. let alone anything else or worse. but still him having feelings for her at all. even if he doesn't act on them. is bad #maybe also sora and Ava if he thought she was Kairi or something. sora and strelitziaalso had some good accidental chemistry #I feel like I might have shipped axel/xion if not for the age difference #if Elsa wasn't too old for him. Riku and Elsa for crack since I get where people are coming from with it. maybe sora/Anna in the same light #maybe master of masters and Xigbar/braig. I also feel invi has a crush on the mom. but we're doing nothing with that #luxu/ava maybe. I saw some cool stuff with them before we found out he's braig #the 'my friends aren't my power' guy with his friend #maybe some veniri

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someobscurereference · 5 years ago

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Got any Kingdom Heart headcanons regarding the ending of KH3 and how certain characters are transitioning from the final battle to where they are during the beach scene? Like... how Xion and Roxas are handling having actual bodies and being allowed to live normal lives for once, or the BBS trio handling all the time they've lost and all the crap they've been through? Isa handling his return and the strain on his and Lea's relationship?

Ooh, that’s interesting. I’m not sure I do though? I don’t tend to make a lot of HCs about things on my own. Hmm. I saw some different comics and stuff about Xion and Roxas living with Lea and Isa in Twilight Town post-game though! Going to school and being normal teens like they were never able to be before. Learning what normal looks like for them. I liked that thought. Namine visits a lot. Sometimes Riku comes with her, but often not. (I think he’s on his own looking for/thinking about Sora + Kairi a lot until whatever happens in that Secret Ending pulls him wherever) Plus Lea and Isa mending their relationship too! And it’s hard but they’re getting there, slowly. They might have bad days, but slowly the good ones are outnumbering them. I don’t know if they’d be comfortable going back to Radiant Garden after all of that though. The BBS Trio are my absolute faves, but I haven’t seen much content about them. I imagine they 100% stick together now though after being separated for so long in the most tragic of ways. They cannot be out of sight of one another now!! (Actually, there’s probably some trauma in there involving separation anxiety, but that’s something they can try to work on too. For now, they just want to Be Together because they couldn’t for so long. Probably a lot of nightmares about Darkness for Aqua and Terra. Probably a lot of Ventus feeling like he’s just missing so much time.)

Everyone visits Destiny Islands together a lot. It’s where they can all come to join up at once. I don’t think that ending we saw with everyone on the beach was a one-time deal, but it might have been the first time they were all together again in the aftermath.

Sorry if that wasn’t as in-detail as you were hoping! I like KH a lot, but I don’t tend to think about that sort of thing on my own too much. Mostly I’m inspired by what else I see.

#my text #asks #kh3 spoilers #kingdom hearts

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inkabelledesigns · 6 years ago

Text

Guess who's back!

Hey guys! Sorry I took so long to post, there's a lot that's happened in the past few weeks. But I'm back and ready to kick butt! I wanted to make this post yesterday on my laptop, but then my keyboard refused to work. I knew this was coming for a while, but I didn't expect it to be now. So I'm up early so I can go to the store with my mother to replace it with a USB one, hopefully that works out.

But that aside, holy crow have I missed you all! As I mentioned before, I was in the process of moving, and I still am. We got all our stuff packed up and delivered with the help of our friends on the 15th, and then I spent two weeks with my grandparents, which was utter hell. I love them, don't get me wrong, but I can only take them in limited doses. They think they know best and make up random rules that contradict what they want to happen, I had to protect my brother too often, can't leave him alone with them. Really not looking forward to visiting for four days in August, but I have to so I can get access to my vehicle, need that for the job search. But there were some good moments. I mostly cared for my brother, bonded with my youngest sister, built a few fires, roasted 'smores, saw my cousins, visited the thrift shop, swam more than I have in years. Oh, on one time that I swam in the lake, I got bitten by a leech and then murdered it in a fire. He ended up biting my belly button, so it looked like I had been stabbed. That was terrifying and I was paranoid for two days afterward, but I regret not taking photos for reference.

But when I wasn't losing my mind, I made a little bit of art! I didn't get to do a ton of Demon-th prompts, I have a lot to catch up on, but I did try when I wasn't exhausted from caring for my bro. Started a new sketchbook, so there's a whole world of new possibilities waiting for me. I...I drew Sonic stuff for the first time in three years. Beat Sonic Forces because my brother got me back into playing it (he hogged my switch most of the trip, which is why I brought it), and it made me wanna draw both our avatars. His is a green bunny, mine is a brown hedgehog. He actually wants me to make my avatar on his account once he beats the game, I'm so flattered. I tried to draw some Nutcracker stuff, that was fun, oh, and I tried to write The Doll Mender again! I had my Bendy notebook with me, and I find it much easier to write my first draft by hand. It cuts down on my wordiness given the hand pain from overwriting and just let's me get ideas down, which is when I edit and type it up. Speaking of which, I started writing a short fic for Demon-th about an outsider's perspective on the Joeyverse, featuring @pipesflowforeverandever and @startistdoodles 's Cinnamon. It's still not finished, but I look forward to working on it and sending it by them before I share it with all of you. Normally I'm not impulsive about writing, but those days I was and it made me so happy. I'm really interested in writing another chapter for Depths too when I get the chance.

But most of my art time was dedicated to my newest doll, Nissima. You've probably seen her on my Twitter or Instagram already, and once I finish editing her photoshoot, it'll go here too. She's my entry for the Tropical Doll 2019 collab hosted by Dollightful, and I have to submit her soon!!! Hence why that keyboard is important. She was such a fun doll to work on, and I can't wait to make her best friend, Sydnei. They're my KH characters, a mermaid from Atlantica that just wants octopi to stop being misunderstood, and a girl from the land of imagination (with Figment!) who's been called to explore other worlds and protect them. There were so many firsts for me on Nissi's project that I can't wait to tell you about!

But for now, my wrists are cramping and I need to get ready. ^^''' I was up late roleplaying with @themarginalartist (by the way, her RP blogs are open again if you wanna come in and kick butt) and it has not done good things for me working on a phone. I'll see you all later, hopefully with my computer! Have a great day!

#rambling #catching up

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nadziejastar · 6 years ago

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I haven’t been the kh fandom long, but whenever I see the old sea salt content (Axel and Roxas) I see fans shipping them romantically and sexually together. And it’s fucking gross. Axel is an adult and Roxas is a child. And I see a good chunk of Axel/Roxas content, which is one factor on why the sea salt dynamic is super popular. Which again, gross.

Don’t forget the Roxas x Axel shippers who thinks it’s cute to ship a grown man and a child together. Like one of the reasons why Roxas and Axel fandom kinda bug me. People who LOVE to over step boundaries and do gross shit

Oh, yeah. I’ve been a fan for a long time, and it’s always bothered me. It was so big, especially after KH2. Honestly, I never understood why. I think the trolls I get are shippers. They’ll send me angry messages about how much they HATE seeing my posts in the tags all the time. You think they’d just…ya know, block me if that was the case? It’s really not that hard. But no. Of course they don’t. They have to personally message me, lol. I guess it makes them feel better?

Being Special

When it comes to what befell our late comrades at Castle Oblivion, ambiguity suits me just fine. But the Keyblade master and Roxas come out and say every little thing that comes to mind. Maybe that’s human, or maybe they’re just special.

I can’t stop anyone from shipping Axel/Roxas. But I honestly don’t know how anyone saw it as romantic from an objective standpoint, especially after Days. In KH2, Roxas made Axel feel like he had a heart.

We don’t have hearts, so we accept the facts we’re given as the truth. But something far more important lies behind that truth. Saïx would laugh at people with no hearts calling one another friends, but that doesn’t make it not so. As the Nobody of the hero of the Keyblade and the Replica of that Nobody, these two are special. Unique in every sense of the word.

But Sora and Xion made him feel the same way. And he didn’t even know Sora personally. I think it was extremely important that Saïx didn’t think people without hearts could be friends. Axel was desperately lonely when he met Roxas and this cannot be overlooked. He and Sora were both special to Axel.

Axel: Love is what happens if there’s something really special between two people.

Roxas: You mean, like, if they’re best friends?

Axel: Well, you can care about your friends, I guess, but that’s not what I’m talking about.

But not in this kinda way. I also find Roxas/Axel gross. And creepy. When I see Axel/Roxas art it just feels so degrading to Axel. He’s SO much better than that. He enjoyed Roxas’ company because he was so pure and innocent. Being romantic with Roxas was the last thing on his mind. The whole idea was that Roxas and Xion are like Sora. He has the pure heart of a child, and can connect to many people. Axel was one of those people. They were special to Axel because they made him remember who he used to be.

Roxas: If I had a heart, you think I could love somebody?

Axel: Once Kingdom Hearts is complete, you’ll be able to do all kinds of things.

Roxas: That’s good.

Axel is not the type of person who would be interested in someone who he didn’t have an equal relationship with. Axel had to teach Roxas basic facts about life and human relationships. He didn’t know what friends were, or what love was. He was 15, but a lot of the time he was more like a little kid due to his amnesia. They were NOT on equal levels. Any romantic interest in Roxas would be exploitative and gross. I was happy with how Days handled Axel/Roxas.

Xion’s Conception

Where did the initial concept for the character Xion come from? Was she perceived before the completion for Kingdom Hearts 2?

Nomura: The name Xion and her background story was thought of and constructed during the production of this title, but we actually had the concept for a girl character like Xion drawn up since Roxas’s defection from Organization XIII. Therefore during the production of this title, we just worked on expanding on the ideas we had for that girl character and wrote Xion’s story around that concept.

Nomura said they came up with the idea of a girl around the time they imagined Roxas’ defection. Personally, I think one of the reasons he emphasized this point was because he was taken aback by the Roxas/Axel shipping. I think the huge popularity of the ship made Nomura and the team uncomfortable, since it’s not really…appropriate. I definitely think he wanted to distance himself from that interpretation, since he loves Axel, and that was not the impression he wanted his character to leave. I think Axel was always envisioned as a lonely guy, who had a tragic life history. He was an assassin, after all. But he was cool and decent. He wasn’t like all of the other members. He wasn’t supposed to come off like he was a sexual predator interested in a kid. That’s not cool.

How did you come up with Xion, who became such a key person in the storyline?Nomura: We showed how Roxas left Organization XIII in KH2. At the same time as we were polishing off the KH2 project, we had assumed to a certain extent what Roxas’ movements were during the time period when Days happens, and thought that “Roxas definitely left the Organization because of the influence of someone close to him.” And, we thought that “someone” should be a girl his own age. Flowing from that, we began to construct the storyline, beginning with Xion’s existence.

They thought a girl his own age should be the main influence causing him to leave. Roxas/Axel being the only important people in each others’ lives would send the wrong message. Xion was a necessary member of the trio to send the right message. 358/2 Days went out if its way to distance itself from the shippy interpretation of Axel/Roxas.

Xion’s memories were really Sora’s. But the form she had taken was reminiscent of Kairi. And that was because of Sora’s memories inside Roxas—the memories that knew Kairi as someone precious to him. Like Xion had become someone precious to Roxas.

I remember thinking that when I first played it ten years ago, too. It’s not that Roxas didn’t care about Axel. But Xion was special to him. That kind of special. The game was not even subtle about it. Roxas had a love interest and it was NOT Axel. He wasn’t broken up when he parted with Axel like he was with Xion. Their scene was really intimate. Roxas cried. Their Mystery Gear is “Aubade”. An aubade is a morning love song or poem about lovers separating at dawn. It’s the morning version of a serenade. And since both Roxas and Xion were influenced by Sora and Kairi’s memories, it made sense that they were the primary couple. Sora’s memories of Kairi are his most precious. That’s what Roxas and Xion’s whole relationship was about.

Roxas likes Girls

Xaldin: All the servants speak highly of her. It’s only fitting someone so well regarded would be given such fine lodgings.

Roxas: She’s pretty, isn’t she?

Roxas was like Ventus.

Merryweather: Stop, you get away from her!

Ven: Wha– Oh, I’m sorry. It’s just, I’ve never seen anyone so beautiful.

Unlike Axel, he noticed pretty girls. He didn’t express any interest in Axel that way (thank God). But he took a particular interest in Xion right away.

Axel: Did something happen yesterday?

Roxas: Nah, it’s nothing.

Axel: …Girls sure are complicated, huh?

Roxas had girl issues. Axel was amused by it. He knew Roxas liked Xion and he couldn’t have cared less. Because he didn’t look at Roxas that way.

Roxas: How did you know that’s what I was thinking?

Axel: Because you’re not so complicated. But don’t take it personal. Most Nobodies aren’t.

Roxas: You mean…real people are more complex than us?

Axel: Well, sure! Especially if they’re real and female. That’s like a double dose of complicated.

Axel thinks he’s not complicated. It’s his way of saying that they’re not on equal levels, psychologically. As an adult, Axel can’t relate to Roxas in the necessary way to have an intimate relationship.

Axel: Well, just give her some time.

Roxas: Why?

Axel: Because if you rush in there and try to fix things, you’ll just press more buttons.

Roxas: Fine, whatever.

Axel: Ha ha. You’re all right, kid.

Roxas: Don’t call me “kid”!

Roxas: Stop laughing!

Axel even calls him “kid”.

Ven: What does THAT mean?

Terra: You’ll find out someday, I’m sure.

Ven: I wanna know now.

Terra: You’re too young to know now.

Ven: Quit treating me like a kid.

Like Terra did with Ven. And he hated it just as much as Ven did. It was clear to me that Terra and Aqua were on the same level with each other, and related to Ven differently. Roxas and Xion were on equal levels, and related to Axel differently.

Roxas/Xion & Sora/Kairi

Axel: Roxas… Xion is like a mirror that reflects you.

Roxas: What?

Axel: The Organization made her to duplicate your powers. She’s a puppet.

Roxas: Have you gone nuts? Xion’s a person, not a puppet.

Axel: She’s smoke and mirrors, Roxas. And when I looked in the mirror…It wasn’t you I saw.

Roxas: I don’t know what you’re talking about, but Xion is Xion. You can’t expect her to be me.

Axel: That’s not what I mean, Roxas. It was only a matter of time before somebody had to break the mirror.

Roxas got angry when Axel fought Xion.

Roxas: You mean destroy her. Answer me!

Axel: Roxas, if somebody doesn’t, you’ll… You won’t be you anymore.

Roxas: I’ll always be me! Your best friend–just like Xion!

Axel: Roxas, you’re…you’re not seeing the bigger picture. Any of it.

Roxas: Ugh, forget this.

Axel: Roxas! Why can’t you understand…

He wouldn’t listen to what Axel was telling him, even though Axel was trying to save him.

Xion: What, did you two have a fight?

Roxas: I can’t believe that jerk would actually attack you.

Xion: So he’s a jerk now? Roxas, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you if Axel hadn’t done that. He’s your best friend.

Roxas: So are you.

Even Xion defends Axel, and tries to explain that he just did what he had to do. Roxas won’t even listen to her. He can’t think clearly when it comes to Xion. It was like Sora in Castle Oblivion. He wouldn’t listen to Donald and Goofy when they tried to reason with him about Naminé. And since both situations involved memories of Kairi, this made sense.

Xion: Here, I brought you this. It’s a seashell. I’ve been picking one up every time I go out on a mission. Hold it up to your ear.

Roxas is sentimental about the seashells Xion left him. He put them by her bed too, when he was afraid she wouldn’t wake up.

Xion: It’s too late…for me to undo my mistakes. But you can’t let Xemnas…have Kingdom Hearts. You can’t. Good-bye, Roxas. See you again. I’m glad…I got to meet you. Oh…and of course, Axel, too. You’re both my best friends. Never forget. That’s the truth.

It was the only thing she left behind after telling Roxas to never forget. He sheds a tear for her.

Xion: Roxas, don’t be sad. I came from you and Sora. I am you…the same way that I am Sora. You’ll forget me, but the memories themselves will never go away. Memories of you and me will always be together…forever, inside him.

It all suggested to me that Roxas had romantic feelings for Xion. The seashell thing was special—something meaningful only between them. It was very personal, related to their memories of Destiny Islands. Something only they would understand about each other. They’d never forget each other. Like Sora and Kairi.

Axel’s Memories

However there were two parallel stories in Days. Roxas and Xion’s connection to Sora was one. But Axel’s connection to Sora was the other. Xion was born in Castle Oblivion. And Axel changed after coming back from there. He told Roxas Sora rubbed off on him. Sora’s memories of Kairi formed Xion. But his memories of Kairi also had a connection to Axel, too. Axel and Sora had parallel character arcs in Castle Oblivion. He had special memories of his own that nobody else would understand.

Axel: You will need to follow your memories. Trust what you remember and seek what you forget. Then you will find someone very special.

Goofy: You mean King Mickey and Riku?

Axel: You will just have to give some more thought to who it is that’s—most important to you. Our most precious memories lie so deep within our hearts that they’re out of reach. But I’m sure that you can find yours, Sora.

Axel started off trying to manipulate Sora.

Riku: And as long as they’ve got their hands on Sora’s most precious memories–the ones of Kairi–I don’t think Sora will recover.

Sora’s most precious memories were of Kairi. These were going to be the key to manipulating his heart, using Naminé. All of his memories would be replaced, and he’d be under the Organization’s control. But Axel was impressed by the strength of his heart and changed his mind.

“I mean, Demyx doesn’t have a heart, but he’d go nuts if you took his sitar, wouldn’t he?” Roxas tried.

“Huh…you’ve got a point. So, okay, say you don’t need a heart for things to be important to you… Maybe the closest thing we Nobodies have is our pasts. It’s the memories that give things value.”

After coming back, when Axel is asked what’s most important to him, he says it’s his memories of the past.

Day 150: Too Precious to Lose

Xion didn’t come to the clock tower again today. She and Saïx had some kind of argument. Axel and I talked for a while about the things we can’t bear to lose. Axel thinks that for Nobodies, it’s our pasts, because that’s all we have to remember the pain of losing something.

They’re too precious for him to lose—his weakness. Just like Sora’s memories of Kairi were.

Marluxia: In this place, to find is to lose, and to lose is to find. That is the way in Castle Oblivion.

Sora: Castle Oblivion?

Marluxia: Here you will meet people that you have known in the past. And you will meet people you miss.

They are all that’s left to remember the pain of losing something. Which was what Castle Oblivion was all about.

Goofy: Don’t worry, fellahs! We might forget about where we’ve been or what hings we’ve seen, but we won’t forget who are friends are.

Donald: I don’t know…

Goofy: C'mon, Sora, when you turned into a Heartless, did you forget about me and Donald?

Sora: Of course I didn’t!

Goofy: There ya go! No matter what happens, you won’t forget your friends.

Sora: Huh… You’re right. Thank you, Goofy.

Donald: So, if there’s nothing here that can make you forget about your friends…then we have nothing to be scared of! Let’s go!

Axel was intrigued that Sora retained a sense of self after becoming a Heartless. It was because of the strength of his heart. He never forgot his friends. Kairi was even able to change him back because she couldn’t forget him.

Lea: I want everybody I meet to remember me. Inside people’s memories, I can live forever.

Isa: I know I won’t forget you. Believe me, I try all the time.

Lea: See, I’m immortal!

Axel felt the same way in the past as Sora did. He remembered who he was thanks to being in Castle Oblivion.

Sora: Why me?

Axel: You have lost sight of the light within the darkness. And it seems that you’ve forgotten that you forgot.

Axel knew that Sora’s memories were going to be distorted and he’d forget Kairi.

Axel: Nothing lasts forever, man. Least of all for a bunch of Nobodies. But you know, we’ll still have each other…even if things change and we can’t do this anymore.

Roxas: Yeah?

Axel: As long as we remember each other, we’ll never be apart. Got it memorized?

But it was really Axel who had forgotten that he’d forgot.

Axel: Would you like me to give you a hint?

Sora: I’m gonna figure it out for myself. If you’re in my way—

Donald: Don’t worry, Sora! We’ll protect you!

Axel: Good answer. Just what I’d expect from the Keyblade master. But be forewarned… When your sleeping memories awaken, you may no longer be who you are now.

He told Sora that he’d no longer be the same after his sleeping memories awakened.

Naminé: No matter how much I change his memory, Sora will never forget Kairi. Memories of me— More false memories of me will just make his feelings for Kairi even stronger than before. Because…I’m the shadow of Kairi.

But Sora was able to stay the same. Naminé changed sides, and his memories were restored. He wouldn’t even remember Castle Oblivion afterwards.

Talking to Roxas and Xion always brings back memories of my human life, back when I was a kid. It’s a weird sensation. I ought to be able to share all this with Saïx, but I just don’t feel like it anymore. It’s strange, but I’m content with just missing what’s gone. I’m not the one who changed. You did.

Axel’s words were foreshadowing himself. After his sleeping memories awakened, he’s the one who changed. But he really just went back to being his true self. Axel’s memories of Isa were the equivalent of Sora’s memories of Kairi. Sora slowly forgot who was most important to him. Axel slowly remembered who was most important to him. It’s sad that Lea’s relationship with Isa was so underrated, and got treated with such little respect. If the popularity of the Roxas/Axel ship had anything to do with it, then that is just sad and pathetic.

#kh meta #kingdom hearts meta #kh axel #kh lea #isalea #kh isa

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midnightsnack-lexicon · 6 years ago

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Oh my! I am really liking ghost Ephemer. Do you have any headcanons you are willing to share about him?

Sorry this took so long Anon! I usually write my headcanons down on various pieces of paper or different word documents so I had to track all of them down. Also I’m simply slow at writing oops.I’m going to do the notes on the KH3 keyblade war on another post, because this already took long enough to post and I don’t want to keep you waiting anymore. This said, let’s go!(Under a read more)

-probably died while protecting the others; he went against the enemy to buy them enough time to escape

-hasnt move on to the Final world or Kingdom hearts because he feels like he didn’t fully complete his role as a Leader

-i have a long headcanon on how hearts, souls, bodies and mind interact that I will share another time, but basically Emph at the moment is only soul and mind. The heart was in an heartless and now is waiting to return to him (in the same way that the nobodies can get their original hearts back after their heartless get defeated)

-some of the Keyblade Wielders of the War also still have fragments of soul in the form of memories that linger in their keyblade. Emph spends most of his time listening to them. It’s the most interesting thing he can do in here and it’s a way to relive Daybreak town and the fairytale times

-this pieces of soul are still here because while the Keyblade sends your heart to KH, some of them still had regrets (“I want to see him one last time”, “The War is not over yet I can’t die”, “I should have told her that”) so memories connected to that feelings remain in their keyblade

-Emph can’t leave the graveyard (yet)

-he isn’t always 100% conscious and present, because it takes a lot of energy. But he gets better with time and practice

-at first he is just a soul that stays together by willpower and lux, but he doesn’t realize it yet. He has no memories, no sense of self, no idea of who he is or what is happening.

-so it takes a while to realize that there’s a man coming regularly to the Graveyard, sitting there and talking. Empher tries to listen, and it takes years before he finally manages to stay present enough to hear him.

-the man talks about his school. He’s a Master now, and he and the surviving dandelions have used the lux they brought back from Daybreak Town to restore the worlds outside. They’re also training new keyblade wielders to protect them in the future. There’s no unions or Master of Masters or Fortellers anymore, and the man hopes that this will be enough to avoid another War.

-by the time Empher has enough energy to remember his past, Master Blaine isn’t coming to the Graveyard anymore, and Empher can only piece together foggy memories of one sided conversations to realize that the man was one of his old friends

-(he isn’t angry at Blaine for what he did. Sure, he acted on an hidden agenda at first, but he was only trying to create a better future for all of them)

-not many people come to the Graveyard after him. Some Masters bring their apprendices to tell them the story of the Keyblade War as a warning, but as time passes on is always less and less people, and the story gets less and less accurate to what actually happened

-its not only keyblade Wielders tho. Sometimes a person alone comes. It’s always someone different, but they all behave in the same way. They just seem to pop in, check that everything is still in its place, and then leave. They all wear a black coat that looks like the one from the MoM, but they’re all different sizes and bodies, so Empher is pretty sure they’re all different persons

-he has no idea what to make of them till after the last battle against Xehanort. Empher is still recharging when the black coat figure appears. They look around, same behavior as usual, then they pull out a big black box. In his state of limbo between conscious and unconscious, Empher vaguely remembers something from the book of prophecies about a black box. But it isn’t till the black coat is joined by four masked figures that he realizes that the various figures must have all been Luxu, the mysterious sixth Forteller. In his spent state Empher thinks that if Xehanort could change bodies, why wouldn’t Luxu be able to do the same and survive this long.

-another person that becames a regular is a white haired man that comes there to train.

-theres not much interaction between the two of them, the man just trains while Emph watches from far

-but the man keeps coming back to train, till one day he doesn’t

-he doesn’t show up for years, but when he comes back he has the MoM’s keyblade and an apprentice

-Emph recognizes Ven immediately

-he still looks like when they last saw each others, even if a lot of time has passed

-but jumping between worldlines is weird and time doesn’t work the same everywhere

-Emph is just happy to see someone of his old life again, alive and well

-(it’s been ages since Blaine last came to speak to him, he’s staring to feel lonely)

-he watches Ven train with his (new) master. Frome what Emph learns watching the twos, he doesn’t seem to remember his past

-(Blaine had explained to them that that could be one of the side effects of jumping worldlines. Knowing that doesn’t make Emph less sad)

-they came regularly to train. Emph wonders if they even have a base somewhere. Do keyblade wielders still live in Daybreak? Does Daybreak still exist?

-with the memories of the past Ven seems to have forgotten a lot of how to fight too, and the master doesn’t seem to be very patient with him

-till one day Emph watches him raise his keyblade (the MoM’s keyblade, Emph realizes) and divide Ventus’ heart in two

-Emph tries to come to the rescue of his friend, but a ghost can’t do much to change Fate

-all he can do is make sure that the light of Ven’s heart (that is so frail, when did it became so frail?) doesn’t vanish

-Emph doesn’t have much energy himself, being only a soul, but he still does what he can

-(years later he’s happy to find out that what little he did was enough to keep the light of Ven together till Sora found him)

-he sees Ven again when he comes to fight against the one that for a short time was his master

-he has friends with him, a blue haired girl and a boy with brown hair

-he watches the three fight against the master and the being made from Ven’s darkness, watches as Ventus’ two halves fight against one another, pure light versus pure darkness, and watches as they forge the χblade and summon kingdom hearts

-(not again, Emph thinks. Not another war please. He and Ven worked so hard to avoid last one)

-luckily the three manage to dismiss kingdom hearts, but the three come out of it gravely wounded, both in body and heart

-Emph can only trust the girl to take care of Ven and the other boy

-the defeated master reappears after years. Epmh watches as he and a few other hooded figures perform a complex magic to call souls from the past into the present

-he sees the younger version of the master, the figure made from Ven’s darkness, and two men who could both be the older versions of Ven’s friend, plus another white haired kid who has an armor similar to Ven’s darkness one’s

-he doesn’t see the faces of the hooded figures at first.

-He’s surprised when one of them pulls down the hood and look vaguely familiar. Wasn’t there a Dandelion with the same platinum hair, playing cards at the Moogle’s cafe once?

-another familiar face appears when the one with the sitar pulls down the hood. This time Emph is sure that he looks the same as the Dandelion that used to play at the square’s fountain.

-the girl pulls down her hood and he’s sure that he’s seen Lauriam hang around with her, when he was looking for his sister

-and there he is, Lauriam, the last one of that weird group to reveal his face. He looks older, his hair have gotten longer (how did they even fit under the hood?), But the thing that shocks Emph the most is the eyes. Everyone in the group has bright gold eyes, his old friend included

-(they’re colder than when they were bright blue. Emph can’t imagine what those eyes have seen since he last saw him)

-he tries to contact his friend, hoping that the connection of their friendship is enough to connect their hearts and talk. But when trying to reach him he finds a stranger’s heart blocking him.

[coming somewhere in the future: Emph during the Third Keyblade War, featuring flying keyblades and two Leaders on different sides]

#kh3 spoilers #ghost ephemera #my stuff #this is a mess but i just want to post it you have been waiting for so long #how many grammar errors? who know but it's not beta'ed #ephemer #kh ephemer #thank you for your patience anon

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