#they’re not *exactly* a hive mind but there is a Big One that revives them when they die

[unknownarmageddon]

[ there’s something in these woods, and no one knows where they came from or what they are. all they know is that they need to be fed. ]

[wontbyers]

I don’t know why anyone would not want Will to have powers. I’ve been on this train since the fucking start. He is the central character of the whole story, along with El. It all starts and ends with them. He is so connected to the Upside Down. He was the first one taken, hunted but not killed by the Demogorgon.

Remember it killed the scientist and Barb without hesitation, it didn’t bring Barb’s body to a secondary location (the library, apparently the center of town where the gates all converge in s4) and put a vine in her throat for purposes still unknown to us. Why was Will treated differently? I’ll note it’s possible that the vine is just the temporary stage for the demo-larvae incubation, which we know Barb’s body must have been subjected to as well with the slug coming out of her mouth later. We don’t actually see that process (thankfully) so we can’t be sure how it works and if that’s the only reason Will had the vine at that time.

But S4 shows us how the hive-mind and all the vines are connected to Henry/Vecna/One and how he absorbs people’s powers by either killing them or with the hive-mind, like the meat flayer biting El in s3 to steal/copy her powers. So it’s also possible that had something to do with the state Joyce and Hop found Will in. And in that case, what exactly was taken/borrowed from Will when he had the vine in him or when he temporarily died in the Upside Down in 1983?

He follows the “came back wrong” trope wherein even after he’s revived and brought back home, he had a connection to the other side. He was experiencing flashes into the UD (shadow-walking or what have you) when he wasn’t even possessed yet. In fact, the Mind Flayer (which we know now to be Henry’s tool) was specifically hunting him, stalking him, beckoning him, chasing him down.

Thus Henry either 1. opened the doorway for him into the other dimension (not a gate-doorway, but whatever that shadow-walking was—the “flea and the acrobat” but Will is the flea) so that he could possess him with the Mind Flayer, because he wanted Will in particular as his host for some reason.

OR 2. He chose Will as his host because Will could already shadow-walk (unintentionally/uncontrollably) and happened to make himself an available option for possession by being an accessible body in the UD, in which case Will is the one with the special ability.

Like, either he was chosen for a reason (we don’t know yet) or he was chosen for convenience because he was doing something supernatural on his own. Either way it’s fucking suspicious, no? What more do you people want??

Will also maintains his connection to the Upside Down hive-mind AFTER being exorcised of the shadow/flayer particles. He can sense that shit in s3 and s4 (once he’s back in proximity/in Hawkins.) He gets the same neck tingles he did BEFORE he was ever possessed, while he was possessed, after he was freed.

(And of course, Henry focuses on his vendetta against El because he has a personal beef with her, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t also have a secret motive for targeting Will, trying to use him for whatever purposes. The reason he hasn’t spoken it is to keep it a surprise—why would the Duffers show all their hands in the second-to-last season and not leave any more surprises for the big finale?? What other twist is left, unless s5 is just “they’re gonna have to fight him again until El finally puts him down for good, the end, nothing else unique or interesting or new to understand here.”)

IN ADDITION. The UD is frozen on the day Will was taken (November 6, 1983 is also the day El opened the mother-gate, but remember this was the second time she opened it so clearly it was not her influence that—either imprinted a flashbulb image of Hawkins as it was on that night onto the formerly untouched UD dimension, or froze the dimension in its progression of time if the UD was already existing as a dark mirror of our world at that point.)

This has Will written all over it, but everyone automatically assuming it only comes back to El is such a good misdirect that people who are not as invested in theorizing will be shocked to find out how deeply connected Will is with all of it. Everyone assumes El is the only main character but she and Will’s stories have always been so intertwined.

I swear, I’ve been waiting for the ultimate reveal of Will’s importance to the core storyline—not just “he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and then again idk”—for years. Since I first watched this show. Seeing people say he’s not is SO BIZARRE TO ME.

Some are just people who don’t care for him as a character and therefore refuse to see how central he is, even with all the evidence in their face. Some do like Will but are El super-fans who want her to be the only special one and think we’re trying to take something away from her by suggesting Will also has importance to the main supernatural storyline and has powers. Couldn’t be me, I’m a Willel Wonder Twins truther from day 1, fuck you. They’re equally central to the plot. They’re two sides of the same coin. They’re (platonic) soulmates.

But also seeing people who love Will and ship Byler say they don’t want him to have powers because “oh but Mike’s superhero complex, it’s not good for their romantic storyline because—” blah blah I’ve been a Will Byers stan before Byler and regardless of Byler. I love them, I need them to have their happy ending together, but Will Byers having powers and a connection to the Upside Down has ALWAYS been the plot and neither that nor the Byler plotline cancel each other out or cheapen each other!!! (Will being gay and getting the boy is not his only character arc. Controversial???)

My personal favorite theory: I think it makes so much sense if Will had an unknown ability to shape the Upside Down into a version of Hawkins—because we do get to see how the realm appeared before he was taken (when Henry explores it) and we know that it was frozen on the date he was taken.

The Duffers have literally stated that season 5 would address those questions, that they included that bit in s4 but didn’t explain it—which means that the answer CANNOT simply be that it’s the date El opened the gate and that’s why. That’s already the information we have. If that was the answer there wouldn’t still be a question.

Plus Will is paralleled to Henry—Henry was said to be a “sensitive” boy and had some artistic interest: he drew his spiders and the unique spider-adjacent shape of the “Mind Flayer” which we see him form out of the shapeless cloud of particles in the UD. Will also being an artist and having the unexplored ability to shape an imprint of his hometown on the foreign dimension he was adbucted into? More likely than you’d think.

Also, the idea that it’s maybe too late to show that he has powers, that he (or we as an audience) should have known by now? They did a whole entire plot-line in s4 where El had repressed memories due to trauma and was able to recover powers that had been stolen from her. Is it truly impossible that we’ll see a “plot twist” (it’s not a twist for genius Will-has-powers-truthers who have predicted it but I digress) where Will unlocks latent abilities that he didn’t even know he had?

He doesn’t have to specifically have powers to have shaped/frozen the Upside Down, I just think that makes a lot of sense. I also thinks it makes a lot of sense that he’s connected to the Upside Down without even being attached to the hive-mind, because he could sense it before/after the possession. Inarguable, actually that part’s just canon.

Speculation: maybe we’ll see him wrest control of the hive-mind from Henry and bring peace back to the Demogorgons and their home dimension. (Return it to being unspoiled by mankind.) That’s my ultimate pipe dream, but I probably won’t get everything I want.

Anyway, Noah Schnapp and the Duffers have all stated multiple times that Will is gonna be a big focus next season, fans are going to be shocked and pleased, it all started and will end with him etc etc. Whether you like it or not.

Get on board losers!!!! I don’t care if I’m mean, you are the most boring person ever if you think Will Byers doesn’t/shouldn’t canonically have powers in Stranger Things.

[mobius-prime]

206. Sonic the Hedgehog #138

Return to Angel Island (Part 1): The Message

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Jon Gray Colors: Jason Jensen

We're in for a big one, guys! This is another four-parter, and it's time to finally find out what's going on on Angel Island! But first, Sally and Sonic have to deal with the blowback from the king about their little Tommy mission. King Max chews them out for a while, with Sally tersely accepting the scolding, but Sonic actually attempts to cover for Sally by lying (badly) that she only came along because he kidnapped her. Of course, the king doesn't believe him, and after coldly calling into question Sally's ability to rule in his stead when they leave on their tour, he sends them off.

Yikes. Seems things are going to stay frosty between these two for a while. That afternoon, the king and queen, along with Uncle Chuck as their advisor and Antoine as their bodyguard, depart for their world tour. Shortly thereafter, everyone is hanging out in Chuck's diner, which is currently being manned by Jules and Bernie, while Sonic confides in Knuckles and Julie-Su about his troubles with Sally. Julie-Su points out that Sally's feelings are understandable to a degree, as she herself struggled for a long time after Knuckles' return from the grave with feeling comfortable about him going back into battle. The conversation is interrupted by a sudden crash at the door, and everyone is shocked to see a badly injured Charmy and Saffron enter the establishment and immediately collapse. They're immediately taken to receive medical attention, and after that Sally questions the two on what exactly happened. Charmy and Saffron relate, stricken by grief, how Eggman attacked their home at the Goldenhive Colony, and try as they might, they failed to save anyone - and they mean literally anyone. Their parents, all their friends, every single other member of the colony is dead now. I have to say, while this is certainly an… effective way of kicking to the curb Kenders' weird plans to shunt Charmy away from the spotlight, it's also an incredibly brutal way. I mean, how many others here have lost literally everyone they care about? Oh, wait, Knuckles is getting there! Fittingly, at that exact moment a transmission comes through on the Technolo-Tree, but the only thing that can be made out through the static is that Locke is apparently being held prisoner on Angel Island. And at that moment, Knuckles' patience, so carefully maintained just a couple issues ago, finally snaps.

Sally, you have to remember that it's been almost an entire year that he's been off his island, and he knows he still has friends and family stuck there, with Eggman doing who knows what to them. Can you blame him for wanting to rescue literally the only home he's ever known from Eggman's brutal occupation? Sonic sheepishly leaves with Knuckles, and together they, Julie-Su, the Chaotix (back together again! Also this time including Ray, who's been severely sidelined for quite some time now, and Saffron), and Bunnie all pile into the FFS and fly to Angel Island. Bunnie remains behind at Sonic's request, since he wants to make sure Sally still has a heavy hitter watching over Knothole while they're gone, and everyone else airdrops in, landing in the Marble Garden Zone. Sonic races away to do some split-second recon, and comes back with some pretty horrendous news - there's an honest-to-god prison camp not far from there location, sponsored by Eggman, run by dingoes, and filled with enslaved echidnas being worked half to death by their captors. So, naturally, the intrepid infiltrators race directly in and start causing some havoc.

Okay, this is something I've danced around for quite a while now, but… I really don’t like the portrayal of the dingoes as this weird military hive mind. Penders very obviously based them off of Nazi Germany in many ways (like… as we saw before in KtE#22, his hints toward this weren't subtle at all), and I believe he's even said that he deliberately only ever showed male dingoes, avoiding portraying women and children among their ranks, so they didn’t appear too sympathetic. Quite aside from the fact that that's a kind of ridiculous and sexist position to take especially given that one of the comic's current most threatening villains is in fact female, this just turns the dingoes into cardboard cutouts of villains instead of an interesting opposing faction in this world's political landscape. I mean, how much more interesting would they be if the story bothered to humanize them, make them relatable? But of course, that would mean that Penders would have to portray his precious echidna society as less than honorable for discriminating against them, and we can't have that, so instead they're all just military hardasses who love xenophobia and hate democracy. Hell, even the actual Nazis had more depth to their evil actions than the dingoes. And, to be fair, I know that this arc is written by Karl, not Penders, but he's just building on everything that Penders has established here, so I'm still putting the blame on Penders.

Anyway, the heroes make quick work of the dingoes stationed in the camp, though Knuckles takes a bad blow that Sonic has to save him from due to his lack of powers. Knuckles begins to protest at being helped, but he's suddenly drowned out by chanting… from the echidna slaves they've just freed. They're all bowing down to him and calling him the Avatar, hailing his return. A flabbergasted Knuckles spots Remington among the crowd and asks him what the hell is going on, and Remington explains that there's been a bit of a, eh, religious revival shall we say, among the echidnas on the island ever since he returned from the dead. Apparently, there's an old prophecy from the Ancient Walkers stating that someone will come back from the dead and deliver everyone on the island from their suffering, and, well, Knuckles fits the first part of that criteria. However, he'd barely come back from the dead before Eggman made his move on the island a year ago, preventing Knuckles from returning until now.

So things have kind of deteriorated to a severe degree in Knuckles' absence. Echidnaopolis is now Dingo City, and the dingoes are led not by General Stryker, who is conspicuously absent, but instead General Kage, a cyborg underling of Eggman's in charge of finding the Master Emerald somewhere on the island. Of course that's what Eggman is really after here, and they've captured Locke with the intention of getting the location from him one way or the other. He's been chained upside down in some dark room, and Kage has been torturing him nonstop for the past few days trying to get him to crack, to no avail. Eggman merely encourages Kage over video call to keep it up, while we transition to the Lava Reef Zone, which is where Knuckles has led all the rescued echidnas to, away from the prison camp. He's here because this is approximately where the message informing him of his father's capture originated from, but suddenly the group finds themselves surrounded by smoke, and out of the smoke steps an army of Dark Legion soldiers, surrounding them with weapons drawn…

Mobius 25 Years Later: My Dinner with Sonic

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Jason Jensen

…but who cares about all that interesting plot stuff when we can watch some forty-something moms chat next to a pool where their annoying kids and husbands are playing? Apparently, despite their husbands' rivalry, Julie-Su and Sally have actually become pretty good friends over the years, and lament that they barely get together anymore because of Knuckles and Sonic's hatred of one another. Sally is upset because of how distant Sonic has been acting lately - according to her, he barely talks to anyone he doesn't have to anymore, including Tails, whom he hasn’t spoken to in three whole years now! Excuse me, what?! Okay, Sonic and Knuckles at least have some precedent for their rivalry, however weak that precedent is, but I cannot even begin to imagine a world where Sonic just straight up ghosts his best friend for apparently no reason. Literally, no reason is given! He just doesn't like Tails anymore now! Also, in this timeline, Tails is married to Mina and he's moved to Downunda, because why the hell not? Who needs to make sense or give reasons for anything in their plot? Oh, but that's not all! If you thought that was the extent of Sonic's incredibly out-of-character writing, you thought wrong!

That's right - Sonic the forty-one-year-old father, war hero, and king of an entire nation is apparently so petty about not being able to hit a volleyball in the pool that he thinks it's acceptable to shove his own young son under the water so he can get to the ball instead. And this isn't just some case of me taking these panels out of context - on the very next page Manik rightfully calls him out on this, only for Sonic to irritably say that Manik has been "getting in his face all afternoon" and that this was the only way he could get to play with the ball. And then, just as if to rub this in our horrified faces, Knuckles also comes over and points out how terrible of an action this is, and when Manik speaks up SONIC FORCES HIM UNDER THE WATER AGAIN TO GET HIM TO STOP TALKING. I just… I cannot even begin to express how bad this is. This is literally the opposite of Sonic the Hedgehog. You cannot get further off the mark than Penders just has right here. Everything about Sonic's characterization in this arc is bad and inaccurate to who he really is, but this interaction right here is the cake topper, the prime example of just how much Penders does not understand the characters he is trying to write. I can pinpoint this as the exact moment I lost all remaining respect for Penders as a writer. I've defended him before, and I stand by my opinions that I do enjoy many of his earlier stories for the comic, but this is a goddamn travesty. Penders. Needs. To. Stop.

*sigh* We have to finish today's issue, so let's… let's just get to the end. Everyone goes inside for dinner, with Sonia and Manik heading out to play with Lara-Su while the adults have dinner together, because apparently they're so stuffy they don't even let their own kids eat with them. Knuckles and Sonic start arguing at the table, big shocker there, while Abby desperately tries to serve them dessert and their boring wives try to rein them in.

Are we gonna hear anything about what the "drone problem" or the "Overlander uprising" entailed? Those sound too interesting, so NOPE! Instead, the kids walk by and overhear the argument and promise each other they'll never fight like their parents do, while Manik tries to put the moves on Lara-Su, who is not having it. The argument ends when both Knuckles and Sonic belch simultaneously while their wives scold them disapprovingly - I think Penders is trying to go for a comedy movie sketch type thing here where classical music ramps up in hilarious intensity behind the bickering over the family dinner before everything ends on a few sharp notes from the string section, but it just comes off as utterly cringeworthy. Knuckles finally - finally! - manages to get to the point of this entire arc, which is to tell Sonic about how the world is ending. Yes, it took this long for him to tell the main character of this goddamn comic about the main conflict of this goddamn arc. Kill me. Someone please kill me.

…are you kidding me?! You mean all this time we could have been exploring the ramifications of a planetwide environmental disaster caused by dimensional travel, and the possibility of having to evacuate the planet's population into space, and instead we got to watch two boring husbands belch at each other over goddamn dinner?! I'm done. I'm so done. Everything about this sucks and I hate it. Ken Penders, if I ever see you in person, I will be throwing these hands.

[zdbztumble]

“Kingdom Hearts II” revisited, Part VI

On the one hand, I can understand how something like this could slip under the radar, as it’s a small point; on the other hand, that small point can make a big difference, depending on who you are. It matters less to me, as I’ve played the game before, but it still bothers me: why would the Secret Ansem Report you get after the retreat from Hollow Bastion give away the name “Radiant Garden?”

In any event - the second pass at the Disney worlds is considerably shorter than the first. I had forgotten how zippy this stage of the game could get. In a way, I suppose that’s a bit of a missed opportunity to let the Organization show their stuff a little, but this game is plenty long as it is, so I can’t say that I fault them for that. As it is, I think the second pass is slighter than the first on content...but it’s also better in how it spaces that content.

Before we get into each of the worlds, though, I want to touch on the concept of “filler.” Whether it’s worlds in the Kingdom Hearts series, non-manga-inspired episodes of Dragon Ball Z, non-League related episodes of Pokemon, or even individual scenes in a movie, there’s a fairly common attitude that treats any and all filler as automatically bad - that anything not immediately germane to the central plot is a flaw. I’ve never understood this line of thought. The “filler” episodes of Gohan surviving alone during the Saiyan Saga are a highlight of the DBZ anime. All my favorite Pokemon episodes are “filler.” Filler is only a bad thing when it takes up too much time, distracting or undermining the larger story. But when it’s well-placed and well-paced, it can be as good as any plot-centric episode, and can even enhance the greater story through unexpected means.

I said in Part IV that I can understand how this game got the reputation for the Disney worlds being filler based on the back half of the first pass, but thinking more about, that isn’t technically true. I can still certainly see how those worlds would give that impression, because the story falls into a repetitive stall, but technically, things related to the main story do happen - Pete and Maleficent try to rebuild their forces, and get thwarted. That this was done in the way it was, with so little variety, cost the story a sense of progression even as nominally important events, like Disney villains being turned into Heartless, took place. By contrast, the second pass on the Disney worlds has more true filler. But because it’s shorter, and because there’s more variety in how things play out in the respective worlds, the overall effect is much more pleasing to my narrative instincts, even if it falters a little at the end.

As it did in the first pass, the Land of Dragons follows naturally from the set-up immediately preceding it (assuming that you play through the worlds by villain level.) In this case, Sora has finally learned the plan of Organization XIII - let the Heartless run amok, then harvest the hearts released when the Keyblade slays the Heartless. Since lives will be in danger if he does nothing, Sora has no choice but to keep fighting. And, when the player arrives in the Land of Dragons, this is exactly what we see illustrated. I know that some people object to how brief Xigbar’s appearance is, but I don’t see how that’s a problem. The Organization’s plot is established by this point; one can easily assume that Xigbar is in the Land of Dragons to further that plot. By the end of the level, that’s confirmed; he was turning dragons into Heartless. And just as Xaldin was teased in the first pass at the Beast’s Castle without getting into a direct scrap with Sora, Xigbar here is given some build-up ahead of his role later in the game - and, by succeeding in making a Heartless, and leaving his Nobodies behind to fight, he avoids coming off as ineffectual, the way he did during the Organization’s first appearance to Sora in Hollow Bastion.

What’s more, the Land of Dragons is arguably more concerned with bringing Riku back into the plot. At this point in the game, we have just seen him leave the ice cream and photo for Sora, but to actually show him taking a personal hand in trying to keep the worlds safe is a significant step. A case could be made that this should have happened earlier in the game, but Riku’s absence from the first pass is a concept that’s grown on me as I’ve gone on playing. There’s a real impact to his finally turning up in a Disney world at this late stage, and I like that Sora was 1. not made arbitrarily stupid for the sake of “mystery,” and actually recognized Riku right away and 2. did have a moment of doubt and confusion about Riku’s alliances. Plus, there’s a great comedy bit derived from all this too: “He was rather rude.” “Then it WAS Riku!”

From there, we have the Beast’s Castle and Port Royal - two worlds, back-to-back, that feature members of the Organization taking a very direct hand in the events playing out, more than any other Disney worlds. It’s Xaldin and Luxord doing the honors, and they are a perfect example of what I’ve meant when I’ve said in the past that Organization XIII works better as a concept and a collective than as individual members. I’ve never meant that in a pejorative sense; what I mean is that it’s the group, the monolithic unit of the Organization as a whole, that is the antagonist of KH II. Xemnas may be their leader, and Xehanort its instigator, but they are a hive mind when it comes to the goal: collect stolen hearts to get hearts for themselves. The individual members shown in KH II don’t really have their own agencies beyond serving that goal, except for Axel, and they aren’t very fleshed out as individuals. Xaldin is just as one-note and empty of personality as Zexion and Lexaeus were in CoM (though gifted with a much better English VA), and Luxord’s gaming sensibility (and Demyx’s incompetence) are only a slight step above that. But they don’t need to be any more defined than they are, because they’re 1. Nobodies devoid of hearts (at this point in the series anyway) and 2. cogs in the wheel that is Organization XIII. Unlike the Organization members we meet in CoM and R/R, they aren’t commanding huge chunks of screen time to blather repetitively among themselves - they appear when the story needs them to, and no more. They provide gradually greater challenges for Sora in combat, creating a boss battle ladder to climb until Xemnas is reached, and also help build up the scale of threat that Organization XIII really poses to Sora after being absent for so long in the first half of the story. It’s video game logic applied to story, and very effectively so IMO.

For some people, the limited screen time of characters like Xigbar, Luxord, etc., and the lack of backstory for them, is a flaw in this game. It should be obvious by now that I don’t share that complaint. For one thing - we are given backstory for Organization XIII, just not an excessive amount of it. And why should there be any more to than what the vanilla version of the game provides in gameplay and Ansem Reports? How much backstory did we get on Jafar in Aladdin, Ursula in The Little Mermaid, or Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty? The story functions well without excessive backstory for the villains for many reasons - chief among them that it isn’t a story about them. This isn’t the tale of dark protagonist Xehanort, falling into darkness and continuing on as the Nobody Xemnas to try and regain a heart. KH II is a point in the series where the staff still clearly remember who the protagonists are, and KH II is a story of resolution for their stories begun in KH I. It’s the resolution of Riku’s struggle toward redemption, begun at the end of KH I and continued through R/R before reaching its climax here; it’s resolution for Donald and Goofy’s quest to find King Mickey, and Mickey’s quest to set the worlds to right; it’s a resolution for Kairi, left alone with fading memories at the end of KH I but determined to set out and find her friends again; and it’s resolution for Sora, recovering his powers and his whole self after the events of CoM while slowly confronting what became of his Nobody in that year, and finally finding his way home after his long journey. At the risk of sounding pretentious, it’s the Odyssey to KH I’s Iliad, and Organization XIII are the cyclopses, sirens, and witches. I don’t need - or want - detailed backstories on them when the story I’m engaged in concerns the people they’re getting in the way of.

(I also think it’s notable that Xaldin hasn’t really been pushed aggressively as a major character since KH II. His brief appearances in later games don’t even attempt to expand his personality; by contrast, Zexion/Ienzo, Vexen/Even, Marluxia, and Larxene’s revivals are treated as much bigger deals, but in all the time we’ve spent with them past their supposed deaths, and for all the background and lore given to them, there’s been no appreciable expansion on their personalities. They’re all still playing the same one or two notes they had in the first place, with the only difference being that their presence is disproportionate to their role in the story and their ability to justify their screen time with personality.)

With that rant finished: the same problems with the wording of the dialogue as the first pass plague Beast’s Castle still, and Belle and the Beast remain too far down the road to romance given the nature of their ticking clock. There’s also a huge lapse in logic - the idea that Belle wouldn’t have been told, by the servants if not by the Beast, about the rose. But I do like how direct a continuation this world is from the first pass. Xaldin’s efforts to make the Beast a Heartless were fleshed out more than Maleficent’s and Pete’s were at any point, and the growth in the Beast’s character during the second pass is nice. Belle’s passivity compared to her movie counterpart is made up for (somewhat) by her quick jab and rescue of the rose. And I managed to beat Xaldin on my first try, without being reduced to Last Hope even once! (One minor nitpick about this world’s second pass, though: if Jack can keep his Santa suit in gameplay, why can’t the Beast keep his ball outfit?)

Port Royal is a massive improvement from the first pass. It’s amazing what loosening the shackles of the source material can do for this series. As brief as it is, it’s a creative way to use an element from the movie, and the first pass of the game, in the Organization’s plans, and it has a lot of great little character beats. I like Jack referring to Luxord and the others as “Organizers;” I like Sora’s prank on Jack with the Keyblade (levity with Sora done right - take note, future series entries); I like Peter Pan turning up as Summon in this of all worlds (I’d completely forgotten he was a Summon, so that was a nice surprise; it did occur to me after I found him that Summons don’t have a story justification here the way they did in KH I - a minor, and possibly inevitable, retcon); and I like seeing Sora show signs of weariness from his journeys. You could argue that his getting teary-eyed at seeing Mulan and Shang together was an earlier sign of this, but here, it’s made explicit. Though I don’t know why he had to cover his feelings with silliness; in KH I, Sora has no problem expressing doubts, exhaustion, and longing.

Another nice touch in Port Royal’s second pass is the way that it gets started - with Elizabeth declaring that she doesn’t want to sit around waiting anymore, and wants to go out and find Will. Because that couple had prompted thoughts of Kairi in Sora earlier in the game, it’s very natural to make the thematic connection between Elizabeth’s actions and Kairi’s here without anyone explicitly commenting on it. This is the way to tie related but distant story elements together. It isn’t necessary - or desirable - that every connection is called out for what it is, but doing it once or twice strengthens the overall effect when later moments pass unremarked upon. It’s a lesson KH III failed to remember, as the only time a connection between Sora and Kairi and the ill-fated Disney couples is made happens after everything Disney has already passed.

Just having the order of the worlds mixed up slightly gives the second pass some variety, but even more comes in Olympus. This is a world largely concerned with its own internal story, tying up the loose ends from the first pass. But the moment when Sora encounters Nobodies in Hades’ layer, only to be saved by Heartless, is a very nice - and subtle - way to keep the greater story in mind. We never learn what those Nobodies are up to specifically, which Organizer sent them, or what set the Heartless to attack them - but their presence means that Sora (and the player) can’t forget that Organization XIII’s plot is never far, even when it isn’t front-and-center. Olympus also demonstrates how to incorporate Final Fantasy material properly, thanks to Auron’s brief flashes of memory - they’re short, and they’re tied into what’s going on in the story instead of distracting from it.

Agrabah is almost as subtle in the way it handles the Organization - an unseen member orchestrates Jafar’s release, on the hope of making him a Heartless. It’s a slight role for them, but a different sort of slight role than they had in Olympus. This is where the variety counts for something compared to the first pass; if not a whole lot is progressing in the plot, at least things play out in a different way in each world. My problems with Agrabah’s second pass are all to do with the world on its own terms; I find the controls for the carpet riding a little wonky, and the world has the opposite problem to many later ones in that it gives the Disney hero nothing to do with defeating the villain while Sora does all the work. The resolution with Iago is nice, though, and I’m sorry this series never closed things out on Agrabah with a King of Thieves adaptation.

It’s only when we arrive at Halloween Town that I think a Disney world (on the main World Map, with combat) can truly be said to be all filler. No one from Organization XIII is present, no schemes take place behind the scenes; the only story here concerns the local Disney characters. And with the beat of him being excited to see Santa played out, Sora ends up without anything to do - he’s along for the ride with Jack. However, even with that, I would say that the second pass on Halloween Town is how to do filler right in a video game like this, because this side excursion has plenty of thematic significance. Dr. Finklestein’s puppet doing bad things out of a desire for a heart is the whole of Organization XIII writ small, and gives a preview of the pathos to come with them. And of course, Sora is once again reminded of Kairi in an adorable closer for the world.

Sadly, the last in the line-up is Pride Lands, and I was once again disappointed by this world. Taken as a whole, it’s probably the weakest of them, not counting Atlantica. That’s a huge shame, because it’s such a wonderful idea for a KH level, for many reasons. Besides being derived from one of the best and most popular Disney films, and offering great form changes, taking Summons from the first game and expanding on them in the sequel - treating them as true characters, who remember Sora and their adventures with him - was a beautiful concept. And it works so well in the Land of Dragons, even as Mushu gives way to Mulan as Sora’s chief point of contact. But Pride Lands just couldn’t pull it off. Here on the second pass, the Scar ghost makes for an intriguing idea made laughably underwhelming in execution, and the final Heartless boss is disconnected from any story content within that world or the larger plot. This is filler done wrong, and the best I can say for it is that it gave Sora more of a role than the first pass did - seeing him employ reverse psychology was fun.

(I might as well touch on the two optional worlds - true filler if there ever was any - while I’m here. I still think the 100 Acre Wood was needlessly shoved into the flow of the story during the first half, and the concept is still repetitive from the first game, but I have softened a bit from my earlier stance that it shouldn’t have been brought back at all - the minigames are a lot of fun, even if the world doesn’t quite pack the emotional punch it did in KH I. Atlantica, on the other hand, remains a colossal disappointment. I had forgotten just how much it forgets and/or ignores from KH I once Ursula shows up - logic is out the window at that point, the way Ariel and the others react to her. Her song is the worst of the bunch, and Ariel isn’t even involved in fighting her this time.)

I’ll go ahead and close on Hollow Bastion, and the second pass at Space Paranoids. Once again, we have some variety here. This time, it comes in the form of cross-cutting - cutscenes of Leon racing around preparing things juxtaposed with Sora’s gameplay inside the system. The only other time in the series I remember cross-cutting being this effective was in juxtaposing Aerith’s briefing of Donald and Goofy in Traverse Town with Leon and Yuffie doing the same for Sora in KH I. And there is an absolutely wonderful moment where Cid and Merlin finally come to a head (“OLD loon, you say!?”) It was another of those delightful bits that I’d forgotten about, and it only underscores how mistaken an idea it was to abandon this little unit in favor of “original” characters. When has Ienzo ever shown this kind of chemistry and interplay, with anybody?

But I do have to close on a negative this time. There are some nitpicks to be had with the second pass at Space Paranoids, such as Sora being more awkward about hugs than a computer program. There are legitimate story issues, such as the lack of good reason for the system going screwy. And there are missed opportunities - one of them related to that last point. Xemnas, or another of the ex-apprentices, could have been responsible for setting that off, which would have gotten Organization XIII involved in the last world right before the home stretch.

Less detrimental to this story, but more detrimental in the long run to the series overall, is the fact that the reveal about Hollow Bastion once being Radiant Garden doesn’t yield any revelations about the tritagonist of the series who came from said gardens. Kairi’s past is the one loose end from KH I that this game won’t end up resolving, and the series has never properly addressed it. Ansem SoD, possessing Riku, seemed to know her, and declared her “Princess” in no uncertain terms; one could infer from that that he knew her. The Final Mix of KH I would reveal that he deliberately selected her for an experiment to find the Keyblade. That this is all we’ve ever gotten - and that backstory concepts that might have suited her were given to other characters - is ridiculous. This game, if not the exact moment when Tron reveals the name Radiant Garden, was possibly their best chance to rectify this, and they blew it.

[robotsaremyfriends]

Lore’s First Excursion

@heavymetalhexcode

Warning: Mild violence, not really explicitly described, no friendly deaths

Lore sat against a tree they had accidentally revived in the camp, fingers buried in the dirt. Hex had just short of ordered them to stay in the camp, to not leave under any but the worst circumstances, until they had recovered sufficiently from their ordeal in the demon’s cave. Although they agreed with his assessment… cabin fever sucked. They were itching to explore, even just a little. Besides, they should pull their weight in this camp where the residents had rescued, adopted, and cared for them.

But you are, a tiny voice reminded them from the depths of their mind. You’ve practically become some kind of forest spirit. You’re learning to grow food right here in camp!

Yeah, well. They still wanted to explore. They felt a lot better now, anyway. They had recovered a fair amount of their muscle mass, and the constant tiredness felt no worse than the effects of their typical narcolepsy. They’d dealt with the narcolepsy all this time; they would be fine now. Lore hoped they’d be able to convince him to go out on a run with them soon. Perhaps next time they spoke?

But for now, they buried their fingers in the dirt.

They searched, deeper and deeper, for the slightest sign of something edible, any root or seed they might be able to revive and spare some of their precious seeds. There: a dandelion.

A smile stretched across Lore’s face as they pulled on the roots, coaxing it to grow towards the sun. Once these cheerful yellow flowers had been largely hated, an invasive weed. But now that was a good thing. An edible--and medicinal!-- plant, potentially capable of spreading everywhere with little help? If only there were pollinators… what Lore wouldn’t give for a beekeeper and their hives right now…

Some time later Hex found them still sitting there, a big stupid grin on their face as they played with the weed.

“Hey,” he greeted. “Nice dandelion.”

“They’re edible, and they might come in handy. I didn’t even need to bring my own seeds,” Lore told him in a dreamy voice.  

“Yeah, I know they are. Speaking of food… Have you eaten in the last couple hours?”

They gave him a sheepish grin. “Maybe… not.”

He rolled his eyes with a derisive snort. “Thought not. Better eat this before Simone gets wind of it.” He tossed a packaged beef jerky in their direction before kneeling to examine the flower.

“Thanks, Hex.” Lore wrinkled their nose for a moment, missing their dad’s home cooked beef jerky… a superior jerky by far. Now, though, nobody could afford to be too picky. Quickly tearing the package open, they snarfed it down.

“Seriously though… you learn to survive in this world, but you still don’t learn to feed yourself?” their friend berated.

Lore sighed. “I mean there is that… but also… asking to use your bed is one thing. You get it back in a few hours, none the worse for wear… at least as long as I don’t panic. Sorry about that. But food? Water? They’re precious commodities, Hex. I just… I feel wrong asking for them!”

Hex dropped the attitude and took a serious tone. “Lore. You need to eat, and you need water even more. Besides, you never did eat enough. If you, of all people, feel hungry? Say something. Seriously. Nobody is going to be mad at you for it. Simone will get mad if you don’t. And for that matter? So will I. Got that?”

Lore bowed their head in submission. “Yeah. Got it. Sorry.”

He rolled his eyes again and made to get up, but Lore stopped him.

“Hex, I was wondering… could we maybe go out for a bit? Explore, maybe scavenge some stuff?”

The former programmer stopped, casting an appraising eye up and down his friend. “How are you feeling?” he finally asked. “Are you sure you’re strong enough? If you go out there prematurely… you’re not just a danger to yourself. You’re a danger to anyone around you. And don’t think for a second I won’t tie you to your tree if you even think of going out there by yourself!”

They gave a weak laugh. “Oh, I believe you. Don’t worry -- I’m a strong believer in the buddy system! I was both a girl scout and a boy scout, remember? Really though… I feel a lot stronger, and the narcolepsy isn’t going away no matter what. I feel it less when I’m out and about anyway. Please?”

After a long and searching look, Hex finally nodded. “Yeah. Okay, sure. I have some time. Go get ready. Meet me back here in ten.”

Smiling broadly and suppressing a whoop of elation, Lore shot to their feet and ran to get their mask.

Hex took Lore to one of the safest locations he knew of outside the camp. Gleefully, they raided abandoned stores in what used to be a mall, replacing what they could of Lore’s lost belongings and shoving their spoils into a backpack they had found. Just as they thought to return, though, an unmistakable noise met their ears:

Something carnivorous had found a meal.

Deciding to check it out and make sure it was alone and see which of their escape routes were safe to use, the pair crept over to the short wall around the hole in the second floor to peer down to the first floor.

They saw a minor demon, spine hunched and walking on all fours, devouring a long dead shopper in the hall below. It had wicked claws, but no wings or tail, and its horns were curved back and around so that they made a lousy weapon.

Lore knew this kind. They were territorial loners. Those horns were like sheep’s: mostly used for displays of dominance in territory disputes. And… if cooked correctly, they made good eating. Quietly, they began creeping towards a broken down escalator. It would allow them to get to the demon’s level without being spotted.

A hand on their arm drew them up short. What the h*** are you doing? Hex mouthed, an expression of alarm on his face.

Lore grinned and leaned in close so they could breathe a whisper into his ear, lisping so that the harsher ‘s’ sounds wouldn’t carry. “Those taste good. Now teamwork: do you want to distract it, or kill it?”

“Neither!!!”

Lore just shrugged. “Okay. Wait here until I’m done, then. Watch for my signal.” With that, they drew back and returned to creeping.

Hex stared after them in stunned disbelief. How could this be the same person as his ridiculous, timid, squeamish friend from uni? It almost seemed as if they had cut off many of their defining weaknesses -- and maybe even some strengths -- with their long hair. Regardless... there was no way he’d let them face a demon on their own, and it seemed like they weren’t about to be talked out of it. He reached out and grabbed their ankle to stop them, then crawled up to whisper again.

“Fine. I’ll kill it.” If they were doing this, he was going to do the fighting and the sneaking. He was not exactly sure of what Lore was capable of yet, so he didn’t want to leave them that job. He dearly hoped he wasn’t going to regret this…

Their mouth widened in a predatory grin. “What’s the plan?”

Unhappily, Hex helped them plan to do one of the stupidest things he thought he had ever done.

“Hey! Ugly!”

The demon looked up as a masked figure in a red coat yelled as it brandished a sword and shield at it. The creature growled, turning to protect its meal… and possibly enlarge it.

Lore could see, from the corner of their eye, as Hex ducked behind what remained of a large planter. They did not look at him, though, not wanting to give his position away. Baiting the monstrosity, the fighter nicked at it with their saber as they turned, luring it towards Hex.

It worked. As Lore annoyed and harried it with their blade, dodging and using their shield to block attacks, the demon followed them past the planter. They kept their focus on the monster before them, not looking as Hex silently crept up to it and swiftly sent his katana through the connection between its skull and its spine.

The humans backed away as it thrashed, waiting for it to be truly dead. Just in case, Lore beheaded it with a fire emergency hatchet they had found, then grinned through the mesh of their mask up at Hex. “The hindquarters have particularly good meat, and if you baste it in the juices from its guts it neutralizes the toxins in the rest of it,” they informed him gleefully. “Now let’s drag it back!”

Now that they could both speak freely, Hex finally let out something he had been wanting to say this whole time.

“Sh**, Lore, what the H***?!”

[myssthyss]

Seraph’s Song

The promised story about Myss’ experience with the Hive’s Void Rituals. Enjoy!

« No, no! You already took my Ghost... Please! »

The panicked Guardian’s voice dropped a weight in the stomachs of the fireteam making their way towards the source of the transmission, the two Hunters hopping along as if that would get them there faster.

“The Hive took his Ghost?” The taller Hunter asked the Warlock, the source of most of the fireteam’s knowledge.

“Perhaps. Or there’s another creature down here that would.” He paused, electrocuting an Acolyte that dared to charge him. “I’m sure the Hive are aware of the abilities our Ghosts have to revive us, and they probably want to prevent that if they are, in fact, performing death experiments.”

The taller Hunter swallowed thickly, dodging out of the way of another Acolyte’s swing. “I hate the Hive. I want to get out of here.” The next Thrall she knifed had extra vigor behind it. “I feel contaminated, and they smell.”

“You don’t get used to it.” Answered the smaller Hunter. “Unless you’re Eris Morn.”

That caused both the Warlock and the smaller Hunter to chuckle. The taller Hunter was relieved for the short moment of levity, but her discomfort got the better of her and she dashed off in the direction her Ghost told her to go. They had to find - no - they had to save these Guardians.

As the taller Hunter rounded the corner, a wave of Darkness fell heavy on her chest as she took potshots at two acolytes running off to the left. Something felt eerily familiar, and terribly foreboding. She managed to push past it and pop the head off of one of the Acolytes, and focused her scope in the direction they were running.

[The broadcast came from this room. Where’s that Guardian?]

She could almost feel the Light drain from her body.

“--ss! Get out of here! I’ll hold them off!”

The Wizard’s sickly form is framed by a bright purple glow, arched over a crystal as big as she was.

“Get to the City! Live! I l-AAAAAA--”

She could feel the energy - so much like her own Light - emanating from that crystal, and she’s back in that moment a year and a half ago.

“Seraph...? Seraph! Seraph, No... NO!”

She doesn’t remember dashing behind the half-wall, but she’s there, curled up on herself, hands gripping her hood tightly enough to tear it. Her face is contorted, tears streaming from her eyes as she wails in horror.

“Not again!” She manages through choked sobs. “This isn’t happening again!”

Her Ghost materializes before her, attempting to soothe her through her convulsions. [Myss! Myss, deep breaths. Please.] He never wished for a body more than in this moment - if only he could cradle his Guardian and comfort her through this nightmare. [I know - I know this is terrifying. I was there too. But we’re stronger now! Please, Myss.]

The Warlock and smaller Hunter have caught up now, both immediately firing on the Wizard at the top of the stairs. The Warlock notices that the taller Hunter is nowhere to be seen, and there is no Ghost nearby waiting to be assisted in her revival.

“Myss?! Where did you go?” He calls out over the comms as the smaller Hunter defeats the Wizard, subsequently popping the crystal. Its contents are revealed, and his Ghost comments on it.

[That’s Void Light in there! How?]

The Warlock’s stomach drops. 

Myss is a prodigious Nightstalker. That couldn’t be - 

That’s when he hears the wailing coming from the back of the room, and so does the smaller Hunter, and so do several Thralls that appear from beneath the stairs. The Warlock leaves the job of defense to the smaller Hunter, and he dashes to the source of the cries. 

The Warlock slides behind the half wall and releases a rift for safety, a small Arc Soul appearing on the shoulders of all three of them.

[--Inhale. Inhale, Myss. Please.] The Ghost encourages, only inches from his charge’s face. Then he notices the Arc Soul, and the Warlock’s presence. [Warcry. You need to snap her out of it.]

“What’s wrong, Casper?” the Warlock asks, putting a hand on the Hunter’s shoulder. Her eyes were distant, and the tears free-flowing. The Warlock had never seen her like this. In fact, if it weren’t for this moment, he’d have almost laughed at the thought of his six-foot-plus fireteam member in such a distraught and vulnerable state.

[This mission is reminding her of Seraph.] That name rung a bell in the Warlock’s memory. [She was Myss’ first friend after I resurrected her. We lost her to a Hive Wizard before we made it to the City, identically to how we just lost that Guardian we were tracking.]

It made sense to him now. The Warlock knew very well how much Myss disliked the Hive, as many Guardians did, but he never knew exactly why. Not until this moment.

[Her hood’s what’s left of Seraph’s cloak, Warcry.] The Ghost added, knowing how much weight that statement carried.

The Warlock turned back to the smaller Hunter, who’d been listening to the updates as she fired on the oncoming Thralls. The pair shared a sympathetic look with each other, and the smaller Hunter nodded gently towards her wailing fireteam member.

“Snap her out of it, bun.” The smaller Hunter orders. “She needs to know we’re not gonna lose her, and that she’s not gonna lose us.”

The Warlock nods, and turns back towards the other Hunter. He moves his arm from her shoulder to her back, and places his other arm on her knee. 

“Myss. Myss come back to us. We’re here.” The Warlock croons. He tightens his grip on her gently, and the Hunter consciously inhales for what seems like the first time. The wails don’t stop, but they seem to slow. “We’re gonna make these Hive pay, and make it back to the City.” The Warlock squeezes again. “I promise.”

The only foe left is the Shrieker at the other end of the room, so the smaller Hunter joins in on the comforting contact. “We’re not going anywhere, Myss.” She adds, rubbing the top of her head.

The wails quiet, and the taller Hunter’s eyes cram shut - though the tears don’t stop. She leans into the embrace of her fireteam members, and begins taking deep breaths.

They’re here. I’m here. They’re strong. I’m strong. They’ll live. I’ll live. 

She tells herself these statements constantly over the next several minutes, breathing in time, until she’s finally calm enough to lift her head. Her weepy, swollen, glowing eyes meet the - also glowing - eyes of her fireteam, and she smiles at them. 

Her Ghost seems to heave a sigh of relief in time with her fireteam, and he can’t help but nuzzle up against her damp cheek. She repays him in kind with a light kiss to his eye.

“Thanks, guys.” The taller Hunter croaks. “We’re gonna make it out of here.”

“That we are.” The Warlock confirms, standing tall.

The smaller Hunter also stands, pulling out her Wardcliff. “Let’s kick some stinky Hive ass.”

The taller Hunter can’t help her giggles as she makes her way to her feet, her Ghost dematerializing. She looks down at her fireteam, and pulls them both into a very large - and very tight - embrace. “Let’s go save those Guardians.”

With that, the fireteam continues on their mission, discovering some of the nuances of the Void Rituals. Destroying each crystal -  and seeing every Guardian’s dead Ghost sitting on the hive casing of their charge’s Light - feels like she’s destroying Seraph herself each time. Every detail they learn makes the taller Hunter ill, and she can feel the eyes of her fireteam on her every time Taeko-3 talks about her situation.

In turn, she talks to Taeko-3 constantly and comforts her by expressing her understanding of her current predicament. The taller Hunter assures Taeko-3 that they’re here, they’re strong, and that they’ll all live. She won’t run away this time. 

Unfortunately, the universe tips in favour of the Hive today. 

The taller Hunter knows what Taeko-3 is planning, and begs her to reconsider her suicidal plan. She tells her Seraph’s story, though it doesn’t change her mind. The team and their Ghosts plead with Taeko-3 to hold tight as they race towards her location, but they’re too late.

[Taeko...]

The taller Hunter sees the crystal sitting below the enormous sleeping Shrieker and wants so badly to run, but she promised Taeko-3 she wouldn’t.

“Myss.” the Warlock says, placing a hand on the taller Hunter’s shoulder. “This could be a good opportunity for some closure.”

The taller Hunter sighs heavily and hops towards the crystal in the centre of the room. The Warlock and the smaller Hunter hang back by the door, giving their partner some privacy.

She gently brushes the empty Ghost shell resting on the Hive casing, before placing a hand on the crest of the crystal. Closing her eyes, she reaches into her Light, into the Void, and also into the crystal. From it, she pulls her memories of Seraph - the good ones - and smiles. 

She remembers the nights they spent by the campfire on their journey to the City, and Seraph’s innate ability to weave song out of nothing. Myss often fell asleep to Seraph’s songs, and even to her soft humming as she also drifted off to sleep. Those were the nights she’d wished would last forever, if she could listen to Seraph sing until the sun rose.

Gripping her hood, a tear slips down her face, and she exhales. Quietly, she speaks.

“Goodbye, Seraph. I love you.”

The taller Hunter opens her eyes, inhales, and shatters the crystal with her knife. “Thank you, Taeko-3. We won’t forget your sacrifice.”

The Shrieker wakes, and the taller Hunter turns towards her fireteam - her family. 

“Let’s go!”