#trying to think of what rikus actual answers would be and comparing them to soras in kh1 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mytwitterisdogtoast1 · 4 years ago

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Kingdom Hearts 3 broke my heart.

I am a fan of Kingdom Hearts. i've been here through the first game and even though I grew up without the money to play every game I stuck with the series as best I could. In fact I've bought multiple copies of games on multiple systems and beat a couple of the games not just once but 3 or more times. Here is a list of the things I've done involving this series.

1: I bought KH1/2/COM on more than one system such as ps2,3, and 4. 2: I've played and beaten on the hardest difficulty on each main installment (except critical mode of 3) 3: I have 100% KH1 which might not seem like a big deal but it is the only game I have 100% ever. Got all the trophies and so on. 4: I stuck with the story and even recently before 3 came out played and beat most of the games. (except DDD since it wasn't my kind of deal since I don't like the flowmotion part of the combat.)

You could say I'm a fan of the games and have done what I can to in general keep up with the series as well as have enjoyed the series.

But then 3 came out and I was just not happy with it. After waiting for so long and playing the game and screaming and ranting about certain plot points that just don't make sense to me (KH is notoriously hard to keep up with plot wise and I am just not the brightest person in the world when it comes to shit. Like I really need some things explained outright for me and to some degree do not mind spoilers for some things) I swore off KH the entirety from now on cause it was just that bad of a game for me. It wasn't a horrible game but the direction they started taking it in was just so far removed from what the original 2 games in the numerical series were that this was just NOT Kingdom Hearts at all. Sure you can say it is a love letter to the biggest of fans but I can say that a letter to regular fans was something it needed to do more than cater to such a rabid fanbase compared to a regular fanbase. I thought this was unfair and then bought Memory of Melody. That is now the worst game in the series to me. So I dived into what people thought and looked at a ton of youtubers who played the game and saw what they thought. I looked at reviews of non youtubers and read what they thought and the game has made the fanbase more divided than anything I'd ever seen from a fanbase. So I replayed the game with the intent to write down all I felt on the game to give it a fair review. Like I said I'm a filthy casual and I can give stuff a large break when it comes to media and have a large understanding of what that thing is meant to be. Sometimes a product is meant to be a certain way and we have to enjoy it for what it is and I can try and do that. I mean I love the WWE and Yugioh and anyone who is a part of those fanbases knows in their hearts (kek hearts) how bad those things can be at times. So I played the game and wrote down all the thoughts I had on it and Some might be easy to explain while others are in general probably at least fair on how I feel about it.

Kingdom Hearts is a series not meant for the new comer. It knows what it wants to be and does that thing. It isn't here to make everyone happy and that is just absolutely fine in general. I've been a fan and it makes me happy that the game is one long story that I can appreciate and make call backs to in stuff. I remember being so rewarded when I looked at my then best friend who skipped over chain of memories (I had to emulate it but I think it was fair of me to do so since I bought the game 3 times since now that I have the money to do so) and said he knew what happened because he saw the cutscene of Sora reaching the top and Namine betraying him by putting him into a pod. I laughed at him cause he was a fool who knew nothing of how the story went cause he foolishly just thought he didn't NEED to play the game. This made me more invested into the series than he was. I stuck with the series reading up articles and even watching videos on the series for stuff I missed out on since again i couldn't afford everything. They were building a story over a decade long and at the end it just didn't do it for me. It's not that the story wasn't the end of the series in general. Heck gotta make dat' money Y'all but in general this was the end of a saga for Xehanort and it just didn't cut it. But maybe I'm not starting at the right spot to give my feelings on it. Maybe I'm coming fresh off a game play and feeling a rant building for multiple reasons. So let me start with the positives before I bury the list under a pile of problems for me.

So I'll be putting things in order of good, mixed, bad. They will be somewhat fair and if they have an answer you have my sincerest apologies but remember I'm slightly the "dumb" and would in general like to just get simple straight answers. Something simple and clean if you would. On that note

1: The starting song is a god damned banger - Face my fears is up there with sanctuary which is better than Simple and clean. To be fair though simple and clean was made in like a flight and pretty much is nonsensical to the game in general. However it is a good song. How could it not be with one of japans best pop artists? Have you heard sakura drops? Colors? Traveling? Apples and cinnamon? Fuck man this song is just really good. 2: The game looks great - Sure the game might not look like ps2 graphics anymore but this isn't a bad thing it just is a different thing. The only time I thought it looked bad was during the pirates area where they had to make real people. Sometimes it is better to have a different art theme and even if something is just ok at best during it it can still be over all great. Everyone looked good during it. It just in general looked like a new version of KH entirely. 3: You can power up keyblades - One of the best parts of the game is powering up keyblades. Now sure mickey saying "we should have powered up our keyblades" is a stupid line in general when they are magic items and not fully meant to break form normal stuff but i think the ability to latch onto a key and make that sucker your main key is a great idea. Finally I can power up keys like sweet memories or the kingdom key and go through the cutscenes with the keyblade never changing and it look like it's meant to be there. 4: The whole getting treasure for sinking ships - Even if in general people might not like the ship combat the idea of being a pirate and stealing treasure from a ship when you sink one of the large ones is one of the best thematical ideas in the game. You can just sail the ocean and just pirate ship for loot if you wanted to and since you get xp during it and get your ship to be better it just is a great idea in its entirety. 5: Rikus keyblade - That is one of the better keyblades. I'm not gonna lie but the final fantasy cloud based keyblades where they are more realistic have been one of my favorite designs and I am sad i can't throw it on sora. I like the idea of an actual blade instead of a blunt weapon in the game since it just feels cooler sometimes. Riku getting a keyblade that not only looks more like a sword but is also still a key for a more modern car is one of the cooler things they have ever put in. 6: The call back to union cross players - This was a little lover note to people who played the game. They grabbed a ton of names and threw them in as you threw hundreds of keyblades at the giant heartless storm mob thing. I think it is great and even if I didn't play one of the names that pops up is my actual name so I find that pretty cool whenever I see it.

And that is it. Those are the best parts of KH3 to me. Everything else is either a mixed bag or just not good. I'm sure you can tell which one has more in it. As for the stuff that is in the middle of both good and bad let me make it clear that some stuff that is bad will probably be talked about in the bad section because it needs its own commentary.

1: All the party members - I always was a little sad having to remove one of the characters in my party to add the one new person they wanted to add in and was always sad at that limitation but with 3 you can now have ALL THE MEMBERS. This is great because now I have access to all of my forms with donal...... Oh right, they're not in the game anymore. 2: Nice to one and done an area - Back in the day when I first played the original first game I never went back cause I beat the level and thought it was extra stuff. When I got older and playued through 2 I was a little impatient and just didn't want to keep going back. Now as I am older and wiser and more patient I just do the thing cause it's a part of the game and deal. Thankfully it is all in one trip which is good CAUSE I DON'T WANNA FUCKING PLAY THESE LEVELS EVER AGAIN. 3: I'm gonna say it and people are gonna question me (probably not I'm not a large content creator thus people probably don't care about my opinion so strange of you to be here reading this) but I fucking hate winnie the pooh. I don't like him as a person and I'm just not a fan of his entire world. I only like Eeyore and not cause "gosh that's how I feel" Eeyore is the fucking man. He never lets his bad mood get him down and he powers through even when life is shit. Good for him man. Love that guy. Such a trooper. I just don't like pooh but the levels. God Kingdom Hearts mini games are just mostly not fun in general so not having to play so many mini games in poohs level is fantastic. EXCEPT EVERY WORLD HAS A DAMNED MINI GAME IN IT. 4: Speaking of mini games the ship combat is fine. - It's just, fine. 5: I had so much money - I don't remember playing any other game having so much money. I remember caring and investing and even trying to get money to spend on stuff in some points and in here it just.... I never spent it until i got bored and started using food. I didn't use food until the last world and beyond cause I wanted to finish the game faster. I mean the change of pace having money is nice but there was nothing really to do with it. Maybe I should have bought Hayner, Pence and Olette a ton of pretzels with it. 6: Playing as any other keyblade wielder - Man this was one of those great moments that I was excited to do. Having played as many other characters during other games was always nice and refreshing and being able to do so here was great. It got me excited to play as Mickey again since I got to use him a few times in KH2 or to be able to use Ventus or Aqua again cause they were gonna be saved and be able to fight in the upcoming battle. That is you know. If they are used in the game more than one time each. 7: Giant heartless battle - One of the best moments in the game was the "goofy just died" moment. Not because The goof man "died" but because you got to solo fight a crowd of enemies and in this game it was so cool to have that call back. The shit icing on that beautiful cake was having to use the train to win. Like it just felt like I was making no progress and I can't on my own fight the enemies and no matter how hard you try you can never stop the enemies ever. 8: The what if scenario - The group dying was pretty cool and was a great what if but would have been better if they didn't come back to the past and have Ventus run up and think it was Terra again. It was cool for the lingering will to step in and help but even then the whole situation was so stupid that it could have been written better. What if instead of doing the whole scenario it was a mind fuckery to sora to put him down mentally like they had been trying to entire game. What if it showed him losing and that it was possible? Instead we got this long winded scenario where people didn't learn from their first mistake and tried to go run up to Terra when in that moment Aqua when Ven tried going should have grabbed his shoulder and said "you know it's not him so let's just get ready to fight"

Those are the mixed bag moments I was commenting on. Some things are fine and aren't really an issue except the are a part of a bigger problem in itself which makes them a mixed bag. The last part's I'll be writing about are pretty much a giant rant or asking questions to things. There are problematic points I'll be making as well. So now let's look at the bad stuff in KH3. However, before I get into it, I want to also write down the not as bad stuff as well as some of the really big stuff so I'll make sure to point out when it is a gripe that isn't the worst thing in the world compared to it actually being not good.

1: Nitpick/The social media is dumb - Look I'm not much of a social media person and I know todays kids and teens are all about that jazz and such but man this part of the game is pretty dumb. I am in no way too old to "get hip with it grandpa" and think social media is a bad thing. Times and things change but WHY IS THIS A THING? Sora and friends are out saving the world and probably do not know about current phones since they are so busy. They would be like really old people trying to catch up with todays world and just in general should not have time enough to do it. Sure giving a phone is fine which whatever they can just add in ways to contact which again makes the phone fine but social media is dumb. What platform are they on? Who is following them? What world is this being sent to in general? Does anyone really care?

2: Nitpick/Why 7 VS 13? - I think the number is just really off. Ok look the original organization 13 was fine. Having 14 members in it wasn't a big deal and sure fighting them seperately and not all in one game made me a little sad until final mix came out but at least i got to fight Marluxia in all his pretty boy glory. The point I make is they just seem to have stuck with the 13 which is fine I guess? It just seemed like it was more or less there for no real reason. Sure we would have to fight every single Xehanort around such as Ansem, Xemnas, Terranort, Xigbar who works with old man Xehanort, Young Xehanort, Old man Xehanort. If you also in general wanted him to have each good guy fight a bad guy we would need one for each single keyblade wielder to come out. So let's say Kairi and Axel were just gonna join in so we can have for whatever reason Xion and Roxas just pop out to fight people. We would have need for a total of 7 enemies to fight. Let's just use these guys here as people for people to fight. We can have terranort fight someone before he comes back as lingering will to fight and get his body back. We can have Kairi fight Xion until she defects in general and fights another person with her. We can have axel fight Xemnas so he can get revenge and then have him lose and Roxas can come out. So on and so forth until we have just enough for each person to be matched with another person. You wouldn't need to stretch and find whatever you can and just fill the numbers. You could have at that point just filled it with villains you knew you wanted on your team. Not just bring back generic dudes who don't even need to be here. I'll get more into that in a moment but the numbers just seem off and could have been anything not 7 v 13 but like I said. Nitpick.

3: The plot of Sora flying around this time is a little weak. - So Sora lost his powers and needs to get them back. So he fucks off for a bit until he can regain the powers. Wouldn't it be better if he also trained with Kairi and Axel? What about just going into the realm of darkness to help the others get Aqua? What if instead of just going back and forth to each Disney world like he normally did he in general just.....trained. See the point of the other games was "close the keyholes of the world so heartless stop getting in. Stop those nobodies from opening Kindom Hearts." Kind like saving the world is a great motivation to have compared to "fuck off until you are good or something". It's one of the biggest issues in general. Now if he was told something more substantial than "you need the power of waking" than it would have made the grind through much better. Add in a new plot element for him to need to travel to lands in general so he can earn the power of waking. Send him to places to get that shit instead of "get stronger". You think I can't just do that shit with story? Shit's boring man lemme do stuff.

4: You cannot turn off attractions - That is without playing critical mode. Man Attractions are in general one of the worst parts of the game. Sure I find it hilarious when I'm fighting an important boss (such as Xemnas) and I last hit him with a merry go round but in general they just suck. They aren't fun and they slow the games combat down with a cinematic. Sure they can be "avoided" and I "don't have to use them" but they exist in the game. They are the creators vision and he wants you to use them. If they didn't want it to be a huge part of the games combat system they wouldn't add it in and the fact that it shows up so often just kinda proves they want you to use the thing. Combat in here is very floaty if you haven't noticed and a more grounded approach is sometimes best. This is what the attractions do since they still try and attack you thus getting closer to the attraction in the first place. It's really a jarring object. Telling me not to use it while having the chance to actually accidentally press the button is frustrating. It's the smaller version of telling someone don't be mad when they are mad or try not to be depressed. It's hard to avoid and the answer isn't just "don't do it." Especially when the game puts in abilities to make them more prominent such as extending the time on them. Another point on this is that if the developer wanted them to be optional they wouldn't sometimes be mandatory or even show up during boss fights. Either this was an added on horse shit thing where Disney was like "add attractions or we're done" or Nomura just was like "i recently went to disney land and you gotta put this in it's dope". Joke aside it is one of the worst parts of the game since I can't turn them off and it is hard to get around them. Let me turn them off fully or let them be used as an ability where you can add them in if you want it. Customization should be more of a thing than a gimmick you keep getting. Also they show up so often and I believe in every enemy spawn group. Multiple times even if you miss it the first time. Having so much prominence placed onto this one mechanic just shows they went in hard on it and sure if it was just the rock titan or just the horde of heartless at the end or maybe even rare I wouldn't find it much of a problem but it is EVERY FREAKING COMBAT. I hit that button on accident more times than I wanted to that in general I was trying to use a spell but I missed it by seconds or something and the carnival ride started up and I just said "god dammit" and had to end it dealing a burst of damage since you can't just stop it, it has to go full swing. Also only in critical mode is kind of bullshit. Add it to every mode in the game and it'll be less of an issue.

5: Nitpick/Sora is an idiot - Look I don't mean the whole "he's so stupid now he just is always happy or has dumb dialogue" I mean the idiot tried to touch fire and instead of water magic which he now has and I spammed on the fire balls he walked up to a freaking inferno of flames and just tried to see if it was hot by touching it with his bare hands. Shit Sora you dumb fuck Goofy had a better idea than the mage and the main character and he's not always the brightest. Fuck you.

6: There is too much stuff in this game - Way too many mechanics and most of them are on forever. You have so much you can do such as the shotlock, Flowmotion, Carnival rides, Extra forms, Summoning the fat cat dream pokemon, so many mini games, just so much shit and I'm sure I forgot something. Now look I can let go of the whole "cat" thing because it is a summon and those are normal but in general it just feels like the entire game was overloaded with everything from every other game EXCEPT for cards and if we don't have cards for character upgrades or something it feels like a waste. (that's a joke) The point is that there is too much stuff and it's all filler and fluff and we can just have a nice game without 10,000 things to learn in the first section of the game.

7: Nitpick/ I think the selfies are just dumb - I've taken a total of maybe 5 selfies. All of which are to show a single person in that specific moment. Selfies don't really do much in the world we play in for KH3 and I just think it is in general a dumb game mechanic. However it is not required to do so it's not a big deal to have in. Just another nitpick.

8: Food and cooking - Look, this is not monster hunter. This is not another game where food is an important detail and sure I don't mind the addition of it if you really wanna put it in but it does make the game easier when used. In that direction fine making a game easier isn't a bad thing, however, constantly telling me now is a good time to find ingredients for little chef is annoying every time. I could figure it out if I really wanted it but in general since it is an optional mechanic to which I can just buy the parts for it and even the food at a kupo shop than what is the point in adding in the game play mechanics for it? The mini games are dumb and take too long to do for such a small mini game. Crack and egg get soup. Nothing else but crack an egg. So than the game is too short for a mechanic I'm supposed to do often? Why not add in a larger game so that I can help him create the object one time to see if he likes it and then when he adds it on I can order the object from him. Don't add it into the kupo store if I you want me to make it and don't make me make it be so tedious if you want me to make it. Also why is sora cooking at all? It's Remys passion not mine. He's even shown to run a packed restaurant all on his own at the end of the game in the credits scene.

9: More customization please - Here's a major issue I have with the game. There is less customization compared to other games. This is strange as in general it seems to be the same. The problem is this. I have to use flowmotion in the game. It is not an option because in certain levels it is a legitimate requirement to use for moving elsas castle. It is required in a couple other places as well but the point still stands. I need to have them equipped in order to make progress. The fact that in KH2 I could turn off big moves from team members but cannot now takes the agency away from me from making my fighting style more what I want to do. This means in order for me to really enjoy the game I have to really accept mechanics I was not a fan of in DDD. Maybe having an option for character customization such as turning off forms, and what special attacks you wanna do would be nice instead of giving everything under the sun. Do I want to be a fast mobile fighter? Than make that a character level abiliy choice instead of just making me have it from the start and also making it mandatory for levels. Allow me to remove the big moves with my team and stop making them always on since I never liked them. Sure I can ignore them but it comes down to the same thing as the attractions. Sometimes you cannot avoid hitting the wrong thing. This also goes into the whole magic sucking ass in this game. Every spell is offensive and thus it just feels like it is the same. Wanna do a little small thing with some damage? Wanna do massive damage comparatively? It just feels like they wanted to simplify the whole having a summon, having a spell, having 2 items on or something along those lines. This stops you from having more options on your character and just stream lines you in to a generic build. I didn't use ice once past the first time finding out its pretty much a fire ball. I used cure, fire, water, thunder. Thunder for crowds, fire for damage, water for crowds also because I just stopped caring and cura cause I heal all my damage cause DONALD NEVER HEALS YOU. WE'RE 4000 GAMES IN MAKE DONALD HEAL BETTER. This again comes back to the limits. Let me turn them off since I do not like them. If they worked as magic they would be better cause the magic sucks ass in the game. I mostly after a while stopped doing any real care in magic and just used healing. This also comes back to the original abilities in second form that you can unlock via smacking them with your keyblade. They would be nice since the magic in the game again sucks ass so having something to use magic bar that is not cure would be a nice touch.

10: For a guy who lost his powers I sure have a ton of abilities right away - Remember when in the beginning of each game you lost all your powers and had to slowly unlock everything and it would come to you not just willy nilly? Man those were the days. Could earn powers for reasons. I'm not helpless in the game if I can run up mountains or sky scrapers. If I can glide with the shotlock from one spot to another. I'm too strong if anything at the start and it just makes you feel like the game is padding time before the small amount of story at the end that matters. This could have literally been with the final chapter prologue and it would have worked fine. But no, we didn't get that. That leads into us just spending time until something happens. The story has its own issues (which I will touch up on near the end) and it has some really bad pacing issues. There is bad pacing, and then there is bad writing because of bad pacing. Why not put some shit in the middle. Show I'm getting better instead of just having me just do everything all at once. That's not really an issue if they space parts of it in or let me play as the other characters while sora is fucking off for power. Imagine if they added in more parts with Riku while Sora quests for strength. Imagine us going through the land of darkness instead of just Disney world after Disney world. Imagine what we could have had had it not just been all the Disney stuff then the finale all at once. It wasn't bad pacing for the end to pick up, it was bad pacing for there to be nothing in the middle. This is where the final fantasy characters could have been nice. Adding in the end of the Cloud and Sephiroth stuff so we can fight for more power there. Having us talk with Leon and the gang while they battle with some heartless just in the area and needing help. This would have made better pacing since it would have cut the monotony of the Disney grind. There are times when you just sit there waiting for stuff to happen as you run through world after world waiting for plot in general to just move forward. This does not mean it is bad pacing, this just means there is nothing important going on and leads to the story just falling short of being gripping and engaging. I again bring up the final fantasy characters because let's face it, if they did exist it would give something in general more time to flesh out. There is nothing to do but repeated disney movies that either play out like normal or that you play no real part in since it is after the story in the whole movie. Sure it was great to see what happened with boo and the monsters but Randall just is there and I'm sure he was gone at the end of the first movie. In fact after using my Disney plus account (#notsponsored) to just hit the end of the movie it shows him in a trailer getting beat with a shovel. He probably got back but still.

11: The combat is too "floaty" - I'm in the sky like fucking constantly man. Like all the time. Which is a bad thing since the fucking god damned level creation is now just a tall hallway. See I say tallway (patent pending) beause the level of the game is still pretty small but now it just also goes up a long way. I know this because there are so many flashing walls that there should be seizure warnings in the beginning of the game. It doesn't stop either since in general you have to climb high and doing so brings you ledges and if you have to hit people flying then you are gonna fall. Sure we can use magic but magic runs out and is complete ass. Now look this isn't just me saying it can happen since it does right in the hercules area. The first area where they could have been testing thing and probably did which means someone dealt with this shit and said it was fine enough to pass. That's just bad game mechanics right there. If you want me to be floaty in combat that do not put ledges I can fall down in your game. I do not want to climb all the way back to the top just to get into more fights I might fall down because of. Maybe make the parts I'm on bigger platforms. It just seems they want us to use the attractions because you can't fall off the safe attractions. Another thing is that it isn't just combat that is "floaty" but your movement is also a little too fast. Making larger areas and then making us speed up into a sprint is fine but having me stop right next to a save spot inches too short of touching it only for me to Vroom Vroom right over it because of how fast and far I move is god damned infuriating. It also continues combat wise as an issue in that once you get the ability to knock people up you start going into air combat and smacking them away and you can do that so much since in general the areas you fight in are so large that you can knock a single heartless out of the spawning area enough that you have to run back to fight it.

12: Proud mode is a fucking joke - I think I died a total of one time in proud mode which is probably more than others. See the difficulty has been said to be really easy on this games play through and I'm inclined to believe them. Here is the thing. I know critical mode now exists. I just don't like it. See critical mode was doable in 2 since it was just again harder stuff but in this it is no longer you playing KH3. It is you playing Dark Souls which if I wanted to play that kind of game I'd pop in my copy of bloodborne or turn on my copy of dakr souls 2 which in general I'm not a huge fan of so I stopped playing those games. Difficulty in a game is fine but there is going from hard to fuck why am I playing dark souls? No I'm not the kind of guy who says anything hard is dark souls because I grew up in the era of gaming where games had one difficulty and you had to learn to "get gud" or deal with never winning. Even if I was never good at games I didn't shy away from things being difficult. There is however an exception that the game changes so drastically that there is no happy medium between pants shittingly hard or baby mode. The other thing is that in general DLC should not dictate if a game is good on its own. DLC is meant to enhance the fucking experience and should not make me want to have to buy something (this was free) to get a god damned happy experience out of something that cost me top dollar to begin with. If I need your DLC to have fun or enjoy the story than you clearly missed the damned mark. DLC is extra boss battles. It is final mix of the game when it comes out. It turns your vanilla play through into more than what it once was. It adds aesthetics to the game not makes the game difficult and if it does it doesn't make the game different to such a degree that I'd rather fucking play a game that was created to be that difficult because their combat system is hand crafted for said difficulty. Secondly on that list of being too easy who the fuck thought kupo coins was a good idea. I literally just stopped giving a shit since I could use my now always full magic bar since magic is ass to heal when I needed it and to just run away with my big fucking area during battles and not take damage until I could go in and do slappies for a while before running away and gauging if I need to heal and then if I died come back to life. With all the power moves and free attractions each combat I could have beaten proud mode without gimping myself by trying to not use attractions. The forms didn't help with that either because I would just second form and have a brand new powerful thing to do since it was right there. Not only that but rage form is a full heal and why am I heartless sora again? Either way rage form into run away fast because I run like I'm form kenya with all the movement abilities and then with kupo coin and magic makes the difficulty in here easier than "just don't use it". Mostly because it is implemented in the game and they want you to use it. Telling someone not to use the thing is again stupid because if they didn't want me to use it they would remove the feature. This is no longer a kids game. I'm over 10 years older than I once was and I'm a big boy and want to not be treated like a child. Sure they could be putting it in for kids but why not just have it in easy mode since kids will either do easy mode or know they want that extra challenge.

13: Many of the fights and heartless are just not that good compared to earlier games - So firstly the giant horde of heartless was cool one time. Each time you fight it it gets more and more boring and feels like a cop out on trying to make a good battle and a "oh man this is such a cool idea lets use it alot more than we need to". For a game that was in development for 6 years you think they would have more varied enemies and fights and by that I mean more better heartless. Also some of the heartless are just kinda eh in general. Not only that but the places we visit feel like the heartless are kinda thrown in there and they just made way less enemies than normal. Maybe that is me forgetting if other games did the same thing but I can remember many places having more unique enemies that made more sense. Like why is the monkey heartless here? This is not the time to return to monke or some shit like that and it makes 0 sense when I have to fight it in more than one area. How about the lady heartless with the umbrella. Doesn't fit in every single place it shows up and just feels like it is there. Sometimes they do a nice job putting in certain heartless such as the reindeer which I thought was a nice touch but i don't remember them interacting at all with the reindeer from frozen. I also in general remember each heartless having a newer form such as the fat heartless eventually turned into fire breathers and then eventually into shield dudes. They do not make a reappearance but the fat ones show up all over the place and it would be nice to fight things that are great for the area. Some just also have eh designs and the game just feels poorly made because of it. Some bosses are just boring as well. In fact off the top of my head I can't really remember one I like but I sure as shit can remember the one I hated most which happens to be the airship section where you board a machine gun heartless to fight that sky bird thing in the pirates section. I even found the robots in general tedious because they were hard to beat without the use of the robot suits and felt like another tacked on gimmick to use to make combat more easy. Had they been a single section and not everywhere in the store it would have been cooler but instead we had many fights to do with robots who almost always wrecked my shit. In fact it ruined combat a little for me in general and made the section of toy story a little less good. See most of these issues I have with the places are the grand scale of things and having to go back and forth with them with having really unmemorable heartless for the most part and just not finding the game to be that great with some of the more important parts. Enemies help to flesh the game out to be cooler and as much as I love the generic heartless the worlds make the heartless cooler by making them change to be better suited for the world they are in. Having extra enemies like nobodies and unversed without having much of a reason to have them there other than "you remember this right?" seems like a waste of design chances. Some just either were frustrating tank sponges and the others were just not good. The other issue is some bosses appeared numerous times and just didn't feel impressive when fighting them since they just keep coming back. The giant heartless who I saw in hercules mode coming back on the bridge where you first meet Baymax makes the scene not great since it is a simple color swap at most and it is the same thing again. A lot of the bosses in general just feel ok at best too design wise. I can look back at many of the designs and just name really enjoyable ones who are better than the ones we got here. Honestly the designs are just so much of a let down I don't even wanna revisit the stages which is good because the game just isnt that much fun. One of the more unfun parts of enemies is also the shield stuff they have sometimes which is just more ways to give them extra health. Why not just in general just give them more health since it is just a way to beef them up? Not only are they now mostly damage sponges but the fact that some turn into shielded damage sponges just makes me less happy to fight things. The worst version of unfun boss happens to be the lich at the end when you need to rescue everyone from it. The thing is that it not only takes forever and makes you have to fight it numerous times but it also has the ability to make you unlock from it and in such large areas that becomes tedious to deal with lengthening the entire fight from the already long fight it is.

14: Quick speed round of things I don't like that are just not as good as earlier games - Magic sucks in this game. It's all relatively the same since it is all offensive. Aero was in general the same as thunder since it is aoe with a secondary effect. Water, Fire, Ice are all the same as they shoot a ball of the element that homing devices onto an enemy and when not in general locked on fucks off wherever. I miss the older spells and how they worked and felt more unique in 2 while also having more than just offense. Maybe introduce more spells to the next main entry based on the spells of every other game? I'm just not a fan of some of these worlds as they are all new. I haven't had a chance to catch most of the new movies (even thought I have disney plus which is great you should totally buy it #stillnotsponsored) I just don't like some of the places and the mini games in the don't help. Slight inconvenience but making me have to press x as I load new levels is kinda dumb. Maximus should be a party member. Give me him instead of eugene. Why do I need the flowmotion to progress? Hooray WATER LEVELS MY FAVORITE. Crabs. Watch me beat davy jones in a 4 on 1 battle.Darkubes are dumb. Jesus christ Jiminy shut up I'm trying to grind in the best place for the end game. Oh look it's an organization member maybe I can figh....nah they gone now. THERE ARE SO MANY CUTSCENES.

15: 2 final things before the story issues - Playing as other characters, keyblade forms. One of the biggest gripes I had in this was each time I used a new keyblade i wanted to fight with it and not transform into a new form because I do not like the new forms. They do nothing for me and since they kind of all are ok at best that it just kinda feels meh to me to use them. I pretty much used the kingdom key because second form was fine and stayed a keyblade. If anything I would rather have a new style of fighting like second form in general like the original forms are in KH2. I like valor and wisdom form and as cool of a call back as it was for the 2 first keyblades to be given to you I don't like the final ability to be used which makes me less inclined to find a weapon I do like. Which leads into my second final gripe. I was really excited to play as multiple keyblade wielders. Playing as mickey in 2 was super fucking cool and I miss that. Playing as Aqua and Riku in this made me hope for eventual fights at the end where it was each person fought someone else and you would get an ability to play through a final area for extra boss fights as any character for extra gameplay. I was excited to see what Axel and Kairi could do since in general they finally had moments to shine. You could make them fight and even if they did win just have them lose via cutscene and bring back Roxas and have Xion turn to your side. So many issues I have with that because it goes into another issue of.......

16: Everyone but Sora is fucking worthless - I have seen Dragonball GT and the main main main main main issue I have with that show is no one matters except Goku. See in other series characters could fight and kill or do something against the not main villain and be worth a damn but when GT happened everyone kinda just. Became worthless. No one could win a fight except Goku especially near the end when they had him fight 7 dragons. Sora does the same here when he has to be involved the final boss rush in the game. I'd have liked to see other characters stand out but even then he is the only one who can fight Xehanort when Mickey failed to do anything. It was all sora. Even waking Aqua was all sora. The only time someone did something was when Aqua fought Vanitas and still got her shit kicked in at the end during the cinematic and at that point he just didn't wanna fight 3 people. This is a shame because as I already said it would have been cooler to have those characters fight people and it matter. Let's break down the people who would be on our side Riku Kairi Axel Roxas Terra Ven Aqua Xion Sora Mickey Thats a total of 10 different people to play as. That would have made the final boss fights unique and super cool. You say that would have taken so much time and I say "Cool" but it would have been cooler to fight as these different characters. If they put in 2 extra just do them all. It is the most let down of let downs in gameplay mechanics. Who could they have fought in the game? Let's look at the villains Xigbar Marluxia Terranort Young Xehanort Xemnas Ansem Larxene Luxord Older Xehanort Evil Clone Riku Vanitas Saix Xion There are 12 total people to fight that are not the original Xehanort and each one could be fought with someone totally different. If Xion fights twice but wasn't really trying the first time she can be fine for the second battle. Let's give everyone a person to fight. Let's get the easy ones out of the way. Remember the ones who we fight first don't matter as much because each person not Older Xehanort do not matter even if they are him in other forms. Terra as the lingering will is gonna fight Terranort and get his body back. Riku can fight Ansem who tries to use his darkness and their past against him. Kairi can fight Xion who is noticed to not even be trying and then kairi can be captured to still do the ending they planned for. Xion who now defects can join and fight Larxene Axel can fight Xemnas and lose leaving him almost die while Roxas can jump out and fight him instead Ventus can finally defeat Vanitas Aqua can fight and defeat Xigbar who she has some history with Sora can fight and defeat Luxord so he can give him the card he was going to give. This fight can be more simple than the others and Sora can have to fight against the other Riku Mickey can fight Marluxia Before losing his fight with Xemnas Axel can fight and beat Saix We get to the final battle and while Sora who ran off to find Kairi he has to get through Younger Xehanort to get to the older one.

Look at that clean battle line up. Throw them in the correct order and you can have fights with so many people and even do the stuff needed for it to make the story go smoothly. Everyone gets to be unique and have their day in the sun. The final fight would be sora and gang fighting Xehanort and since the end game would be choose who fights who you can literally have over 120 different fights total if you leave out Donald and Goofy from the sora versions of fights. Heck allow us to fight the final boss final main form and we can in general have even more as we fight him with each character.

17: What is the difference between a heart and a soul? - This is a simple question because they keep saying we don't need the bodies cause we still have their hearts and I'm just having troubles figuring out if the story writers know the damn difference between a heart which is a physical thing or a concept of the soul which is the metaphysical thing. You know like what makes you you.

18: Why doesn't Axel have 2 keyblades? - Like I like that he holds it the way he does, it's very him very unique and all that but if Roxas can have 2 and he gets one from Xion who is no longer a part of him because she is right there than why can't Axel who is specifically a dual wielder of weapons get 2 of them? I mean give the main a sword that is like a Chinese Dao sword combo. It literally is a blade that turns into 2 blades. Like don't even tell me that shit is unable to happen cause Ventus fucking gets that strange keyblade because it is unique to his style so if that is how it works and they all have based on their personality he should have two. Especially since it would be a great call back to my favorite Axel line in the entire series. "Two!?"

19: Clone Riku should not be a boss - Remember when we beat the shit out of Riku as Sora and then Riku clone and then Riku beat Riku clones ass? He's not a challenge. "He was given more darkness powers" Nice, cool cop out there. Fuck you.

20: Why kill everyone just to set up a story line when you could just do it better - So this one is a little subjective. Need sora to meet Chirithy or whatever its name is and maybe set up remind dlc or whatever but in the end you could have just broke his spirit from his body and put him in the other world by making Xehanort who tried taking him over show him everyone dying and it causing Sora to blank out and travel there as a spirit or some shit. It could have worked just as fine allowing the rest of everyone else to go fight the enemies at the end giving sora time to eventually wake up and join in while Donald and Goofy protect him. Then when he wakes up Luxord who could have said "I'll handle the boy when he wakes up could have just did what he wanted to do with the card then. It's just a dumb moment and we could have instead of dumb gameplay where we have to put ourselves back together and have to save everyone and re watch a stupid ass cutscene just watched a cutscene and went back while everyone handled what they needed to.

So before I get into the final 4 parts to get into I hope that you know I was trying to be really fair with a bunch of these and not just looking for things to gripe about. When I didn't understand things I made myself look up to make sure I understood and didn't just bitch about it for the sake of bitching. These last 4 things are kind of in general I beleive super fair.

1: The battles stop as you talk with each person - Nothing kills a fight sequence like starting it, defeating a single enemy in it, talking with a full blown conversation to them, then as they die restart with another fight scene to do it with every single person in the fight. WHY WOULD MARLUXIA AND LARXENE ALLOW LUXORD TO GIVE HIM A CARD? Why would they stop fighting? Why would Ansem, Xemnas, and Young Xehanort watch as one of the others fell and talked? Why would any sane fucking person do that? It makes 0 sense and ruins that boss rush.

2: I know you need to set up another game but fuck you - You literally made the happiest of endings where everything is the best for everyone ever and I MEAN EVERYONE except for Sora and Kairi. Fucking fuck you man. I'm not even mad that that was the ending but when everyone comes up fucking peaches and cream I tend to question the product even if they need to set up story. They can do it better, do what you did at the end of 2 and send a message in a bottle and say "there are still other worlds out there that need us, just not in this universe" or some shit like that. Shit if in general they can have emotions in games than have sora have to jump into the game. You already said my microwave can feel love so than if he can be in that rex universe than he can just go in after he has a nice break with all of his friends.

3: No - Xehanort was not a good guy the entire time. He literally murdered people and stole a childs body and ripped the emotions out of another child and made them not whole. He got a child so angry he murdered his new sorta dad. He pretty much was the whole reason anything bad happened and he was "misguided and wanted to good but did bad to do so". Then in the end he's forgiven and everything is fucking fine? Then he turns into a good guy and goes into the big heart in the sky. This is the kind of writing that literally kills off stories for at least me. Not everyone needs a second chance and sometimes people are just evil. We need stories that have people die at the end sometimes. I know it is fantasy and it can be all rainbows and butterflies but dear god Steven Universe was literally "no you" and that was the end of the entire fucking series. This is the same thing. It might not be "no you" but fuck this ending. This was a story that was supposed to end a 17 year long story and the end of this single part literally spits in the face of people who played it by saying "hey guys, he wasn't bad, he is sorry now". That is complete and utter horse shit. I don't mind that this is not the end of the series. I don't care because if I stuck around this long I would do the same if the story had a satisfying ending. Fuck man in the new game he's even evil then unless that is just how Kairi remembers him but let's face it. The gang would have told her what happened and this is just horse shit in general. This is a fucking stupid story and I literally am fine with alternate realities since time travel and other dumb stuff has been the main name of the game the entire fucking time but let's face it. This is one of the worst ideas for an ending for a villain. The buold up is fucking massive and the payout is just sad.

4: NO - Fucking xigbar. I don't even know how to put this into words how much of a let down it is for Xigbar, Fucking XIGBAR to be the next main enemy. (or at least it looks that way). Fucking we could have had Luxord. We could have had Marluxia. We could have had Demyx. We could have had fucking I don't know Vexen. We could have had fucking anyone but we get Xigbar. You could have slapped any other character onto his scenes and gotten the same amount of out of nowhere shit to explain him being next but it is fucking xigbar. Fucking unreal.

So yeah. That's my massive wrap up on KH3 and I personally do not know where I stand from here. Maybe if the next game doesn't play like shit in 400 years when Nomura gets off his ass and lets us have kingdom hearts 3.76 tie in to 4 which is oddly enough a main title and not a second part of 3 I'll see how it plays. Until then I think I'm gonna sit hereand never touch 3 again and never finish Melody of Memory.

#kingdom hearts #3 #kingdomhearts3 #kh3 #kingdom #hearts #Kindom Hearts 3

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paintedwithapalette · 4 years ago

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SoKai Week Day 4 - Together

Words: 3,545

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Useless.

Insignificant.

Worthless.

These were just a small portion of the words that ran through his mind as he trudged down the empty road with nothing and no one to keep him company aside from a backpack with water and a few of his favorite snacks. Sora stopped walking, planting his feet firmly in the middle of the asphalt road and the weight of his own loneliness truly settled in.

This was it. He was going to go through with it. No backing out now.

He tried, he really did. No one could say he didn’t. No one could say he didn’t train for days on end. No one could say he didn’t travel in hopes of looking for a cure that would bring an end to this horrible disease that plagued countless worlds. No one could say that he didn’t give it his best every single day and that he didn’t pour his own sweat, tears, and yes, sometimes even blood, into doing his absolute best to uphold the honor of being the chosen one.

With his lifeless eyes, he summoned his Keyblade. Simple in its design but effective. A sentient Key that chose one person per generation to maintain order in the universe. To solve any problem that threatened the balance between light and darkness. Centuries of chosen wielders before him and only once had it chosen wrong.

But as far as Sora was concerned, it chose wrong again. How was he supposed to live up to the legacy Zack Fair left behind? Sora couldn’t do anything on his own. Without Zack holding his hand, he was worthless. Maybe if he had developed any sort of competence in his months of training, he might have found a cure to resolve the geostigma crisis by now. Maybe he would’ve found a way to save the lives of thousands, no... millions... if he were someone else. Maybe if he were just a fragment of the man Zack was, he could’ve done something.

And maybe, just maybe... he wouldn’t have let Eraqus die.

Eraqus was counting on him to do something - to find a cure and bring him back to health. Sure, Sora was only sixteen and it was a lot of pressure to handle, but he had the Kingdom Key, so naturally that meant he was supposed to put the pieces of the puzzle together, right?

Wrong. In the end, he was a failure who could only let down the people he cared about most.

The boy chosen by the mysterious Kingdom Key. What a joke.

As his eyes devoid of life wandered up and down the blade, he couldn’t help but wonder why. Why did the Keyblade choose him? It must have had its reason, it always did, but whatever reasons they were didn’t connect with him. All he wanted was a simple life where he could be a regular teenager, have fun with his friends, and just be normal. He didn’t ask for this. He didn’t ask for this responsibility. This pressure. The weight of the world sitting on his shoulders when he wasn’t even old enough to drink. None of it made any sense.

It must’ve been a mistake. The fact that he let Eraqus die proved it was a mistake. Sora gripped the handle of his blade so hard that his knuckles were turning white.

“You were wrong!” Sora yelled as he tossed the Keyblade, sending it crashing into the pavement. Sora glared, as hard as he could before he settled into his prior look of indifference. He turned on his heel to leave the Kingdom Key in the middle of the road, hoping that it got run over by a car before he felt something pop back into his hand with an accompanied flash of light. Sure enough, when he looked down, it was the Kingdom Key refusing to leave his side.

Clenching his teeth, Sora hurled the Keyblade once again. And like a broken record, he heard that familiar flash and the Keyblade return to his possession. With an agonized cry, Sora threw the Keyblade a number of times, his uncharacteristic sense of anger and resentment fueling every futile attempt at discarding himself of the burden the universe set on him.

After a while, he hadn’t even noticed the fact that he threw his backpack aside and that dark sky was now dropping pellets of raint. His mind could only focus on trying his best to keep the Keyblade away and maybe eventually it would get the memo and just stop returning to him. But it never did. No matter how many times Sora pushed the Keyblade away, it kept stubbornly coming back.

After his final attempt and the Keyblade returned once again, Sora stopped, his breathing heavy and dense. The rain continued to drench his clothes and slide down his brown spikes. When the dust cleared and his anger subsided and all that was left was...

Sadness.

It was the utmost level of dejection he had felt all day. It was clear that there was no way that the Kingdom Key would be leaving his side. But why? He was obviously no good. He was positive there was someone out there better than him to save all of the lives that were being ruined by this geostigma ordeal.

That was why he had to kill himself.

The Kingdom Key typically didn’t switch users until the current one was deceased. Then, and only then, would the Kingdom Key move on to the next suitor. Maybe if he was erased from the equation, the Kingdom Key would find someone strong, confident, and sure of themselves enough they would be able to locate some sort of remedy to this ever-growing dilemma affecting the worlds. Someone like Riku. His best friend. He always wanted to be the chosen one. Compared to Sora, he actually deserved it.

Yes, it was the only way. He would go to the Play Island. Spend his final day appreciating all of the memories he and he friends had made during his sixteen years of existence, enjoy his final meal, write a letter to his friends saying how much he’ll miss them, how much he would miss her, and then… he’d plunge himself in the deepest, darkest depths of the sea and -

“Sora!”

He heard a voice. Her voice.

Sora turned around and there she was; she looked like a ray of hope as she stood underneath the light of a street lamp - wet wrinkles drooping from her clothes and her hair drenched. A shivering sheen of liquid covered her eyes as her worried and gloomy expression told Sora everything he needed to know.

Sora’s eyes still remained lifeless and that bothered Kairi even more. He couldn’t even look her in the face. Not if he wanted to suppress the tremendous guilt that came about over what he was about to do. They stood in silence, Kairi’s lips quivering. She’d never seen him like this - at his lowest. She barely recognized the person standing before her. This wasn’t the usual, upbeat, cheerful Sora she knew.

But she was going to bring him back.

“What are you doing here?” Sora asked.

Kairi shook her head. “That doesn’t matter,” she answered. “I think the better question is what are you doing out here?”

Sora opened his mouth but realized it wasn’t such a simple question with a simple answer. The layers to the situation were too vast for Kairi to understand. Even still, despite what he thought, Kairi had an inkling for why he was out there. His reaction back at the hospital gave her enough of a hint.

“It’s not your fault,” was the first thing Kairi said after a stint of silence.

“How can you say that?!” Sora asked, his frustration flaring. “How is it not my fault, Kairi?! I’m the one the Kingdom Key chose! I’m the one everyone expects to do something about this, and I just… I-I can’t, okay? I just can’t!”

“But no one is putting this on you,” Kairi reminded. “This was just... an unfortunate incident that no one could have predicted. You can’t blame yourself for that.”

“And why can’t I? I was the one everyone expected to do something about it. But I couldn’t. I can’t. And he’s dead.”

Kairi didn’t say anything for a moment before she opened the gates of conversation once again. “Sora. Why are you out here?” she asked again. Like before, she received no answer. “Whatever is going on, we can figure it out. I’m here for you, Sora! I told you that I would be and I meant that.”

Sora shut his eyes, holding back the tears he didn’t want Kairi to see. He really didn’t deserve her. And she deserved better than him. “Kairi... I’m sorry... I just can’t do this anymore...”

She was almost afraid to ask. “What... what do you mean by that?”

Through the rain, he smiled. Though, clearly a sad one. “Don’t worry. You won’t have to deal with me anymore. Maybe... you’ll find someone better to worry over. You’re an amazing person, the way you look after your sister, Haru, me...” Sora’s eyes lowered. “I think I can truly say that I’ve never met someone like you before. I guess that’s why... I fell in love with you.”

Kairi gasped, her eyes wide as saucers. He said it. He really said it.

“I guess now at least... I won’t have any regrets,” Sora continued. “I wanted to at least tell you that, but I just couldn’t find the right time or place... but now, when you think of me, you’ll know. You’ll know how I feel. How I always felt.”

“What are you talking about, you dummy?” Kairi asked, her voice choking as she used both arms to wipe away her tears like a child scolded by their parents. To see him acting so uncharacteristic hurt more than she ever anticipated. “Why are you saying these things, Sora?”

“Please don’t cry,” Sora said gently. “I know it’s hard, but you’re strong Kairi. You’ll be okay. I know you will.”

“What are you talking about?! Answer me, Sora!”

“I know Riku has always liked you,” Sora continued, as if he weren’t even listening. “You know, he asked me once if I wanted to talk to you before he did. But I didn’t think I had a chance. Maybe I still don’t. So, I let him know that I wouldn’t take offense if he talked to you first. So, I guess I just thought it wouldn’t be right to tell you how I feel knowing how Riku felt. But it won’t matter now. Even still, I wanted to at least let you know...”

“Stop that!” Kairi cried out, clutching her chest as the pain in her heart swelled. She didn’t even bother trying to stop the stream of tears pouring from her eyes. “J-Just stop!”

Sora sighed. He supposed the least she deserved was an explanation. “Don’t feel bad... I think I just realized that the Kingdom Key made a mistake. All I’m going to do is fix that mistake. I’ll make things right.”

“You don’t really mean that...”

“If you, or Riku, Donald, Goofy, the King, Roxas, Naminé... you,” he almost stuttered. “If any of you got geostigma... what am I supposed to do then? I’m not going to sit here and watch as my friends die because I’m too weak to save any of you! I can’t do that, Kairi. That’s why...” he said, hesitating, “it’ll be best for everyone if I’m not here.”

“Do you hear yourself right now?!” Kairi yelled. “You’re not even thinking about how much it’ll hurt the rest of us if something happened to you! How it’ll hurt me... doesn’t... doesn’t that matter to you?”

Sora couldn’t look her in the eyes anymore. “You’ll be better off,” he stated bluntly. “Trust me.”

“Sora, you’re not in your right mind! None of the previous chosen ones have been perfect. You can’t expect that of yourself. We’ll get you some help. I’ll help you! Let’s just go back to the hospital and figure this out! We can do it together!”

When he found the willpower to look in her eyes, it was a face Kairi was certain she didn’t recognize. That droopy exterior of his only brought one word to mind for her.

Loneliness.

She could tell that her words weren’t getting through to him. No matter what kind of logic she mustered, it couldn’t connect. It looked like the Sora she knew was gone, but she refused to believe that. He must have been there... somewhere, deep inside. Kairi just had to pull that out.

“Kairi... I’m sorry,” Sora said, breaking the silence. “I don’t want you to follow me. I don’t want you to see what’s about to happen... but just... I know what I’m doing. And this is the right thing to do.”

“No, it isn’t!”

“The Kingdom Key will move on to someone better. They’ll find a cure and maybe they’ll find a way to save all of the lives ruined by geostigma. Maybe it’ll be someone who wasn’t chosen by accident.”

“Sora!”

“You won’t be alone. Roxas, Naminé, Lea, Xion... Riku... they’ll be here for you.”

“Sora, listen to me!”

“And just know that to me, you were someone very special.” He smiled sadly. “From the moment I laid my eyes on you, I knew you were someone special. I think... leaving you is what’s going to hurt the most.” Sora felt some tears sneak up on him and he quickly wiped them away with the sleeve of his jacket. “But... this is what’s going to be for the best. For everybody. I know it won’t be easy, but just know that when I’m gone, I always appreciated you for the way you made me feel better even on my worst days. You always supported me through and through. I couldn’t have asked for a better friend…and the time we spent together... will always be precious to me.”

At this point, Kairi was bawling. Each and every word stung harder than the last. How could he be saying these things while knowing what he was about to do? She couldn’t make sense of it but she knew she wasn’t supposed to. She just wanted him to snap out of it, but how?

Sora was such an amazing person. The way he lit up a room with just his presence. The way his smile made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. The way he brought people together. The way he cared for other people. That was why the Keyblade had chosen him. It wasn’t because he was the strongest, the fastest, the toughest... that wasn’t how the Keyblade went about its choosings. It was the kind of person he was. His compassion for others. His kindness. All of the good points. Why wasn’t he seeing that?

Then again, she had dealt with someone with depression before. Naminé had been struggling with it for years, so this was just another case of that. But even Naminé had never been this severe. And Kairi was left unsure what to do. All she could do was cry and hope that her tears were enough to convince him that everything his brain was telling him was wrong. But it wasn’t that easy.

The pain wouldn’t stop. It was welling up deep inside and was bursting at the seams. She clenched her fists and stopped listening to her head, but her heart. What was she supposed to do? She had to do whatever felt right in that moment.

She didn’t have long to ponder, however, as Sora turned around. “Kairi... goodbye.”

“I LOVE YOU, TOO!”

That’s when everything stopped. Sora whirled back around, his eyes wide and confused. He didn’t hear that, right? “What...?”

“I love you, too,” she said softly.

“No.”

“No?”

“No,” Sora affirmed. “You can’t do that. That’s not true. You like Riku, and you’ve always -”

“Oh, so now you know how I feel?!” Kairi asked, her temper flaring up again. “It doesn’t work that way! Stop acting like you know everything and listen to me for once!” When he didn’t say anything, Kairi took that as her cue to continue. “I’m sorry, Sora, but you can’t speak on behalf of my feelings. And I’m not just saying this because I don’t want you to do anything stupid. I’m saying it because it’s true.” Her tears continued to flow freely. “I... I love you, too, Sora.”

Sora stopped, letting the revelation process. “W-Why are you telling me this now?”

“I’m a coward too, sometimes.” She chuckled humorlessly. “But you deserve to know. You’re special to me, too. You made me realize that I do have more to offer to the world. You always make my day better. You’re always there for me and... I love you. I love you so, so much, Sora.”

His mind was so foggy and cluttered that it didn’t even seem like a possibility. He thought he was nothing more than a friend she cared deeply for. Though, he supposed even if that were the case, she still wouldn’t be okay with his plans.

Still, what was he supposed to do? Wasn’t he supposed to end things here and now, allowing the Keyblade to move on to a more suitable wielder? Sure, he could still do that, but knowing that Kairi returned his feelings, all this time... it definitely made it a bit harder for him to do that.

“What am I supposed to do…?” Sora asked quietly to no one in particular. When Kairi didn’t have an answer, Sora’s conflicted emotions exploded in the form of a scream as he put his hands on his forehead. He fell to his knees, his hands still hovered over his ears. During his clouded thoughts convincing him that suicide was the only answer, he almost forgot about it.

Love.

Not just the love he had for others, but the fact that others loved him, too.

And Kairi loved him in that way? He could hardly process it.

Kairi raced towards him in a panic, her black and pink boots splashing in the murky puddles until she kneeled down to make sure he was okay. Sora found the strength to look up from his state of confusion. “You’re... not lying to me, are you? You’re not just saying that?” he asked. His voice almost sounded desperate. Kairi figured he was still dealing with the thoughts that convinced him he was being lied to. So, she figured the only way to prove it to him was to show him.

And show him she did, as she pressed her lips against his.

It caught him by surprise for a moment, but it didn’t take long for him to give in as he shut his eyes. The rain continued to pour during their moment that edged dangerously close to the margin of passion. It was a longing and need that hadn’t been quenched for either of them in what felt like so long. It took just about every fiber of strength in them both to break apart, as Kairi wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, pressing her forehead with his.

“Do you believe me now?” Kairi asked.

The question was enough to give Sora the ghost of a smile, but it didn’t take long before it returned to its prior frown. “I guess I just don’t know... if I’m someone worth loving.”

“Stop that,” Kairi demanded. “You don’t get to decide how I feel. And this is what I feel. So, you’re just going to have to deal with it. I don’t care what you say.”

Silent tears continued to fall from her eyes as she continued to hug him. Sora gradually went from standing on his knees to sitting cross-legged, but Kairi didn’t let go. She needed him to know that she wouldn’t let go. That he had someone there for him that would never let go. Their damp clothes and the fact that they were very likely to catch a serious cold didn’t matter... as long as they had each other.

“Don’t you ever go doing something like that again, okay?” Kairi asked. “That’s not the Sora I fell in love with.”

Sora felt his eyes beginning to well up. She was right. He couldn’t believe he was seriously considering that. So many people were counting on him. The Kingdom Key chose him for a reason, and while it may not have been a reason he understood, it knew what he was capable of inside.

And, if nothing else, he had this amazing girl there to support him. To save him from himself. He forgot that his bonds with the people closest to him was what gave him strength. He had to be thankful for that.

“I’m... so sorry, Kairi,” Sora said, choking up.

“Don’t you ever do that again,” Kairi repeated. “Promise me.”

She knew how seriously Sora took his promises. Once he made one, he would never, ever break it. “I promise.”

Kairi mustered up a smile through her tears as she nuzzled into Sora’s soft hair. “It’s going to be okay,” she comforted. “We’ll figure this out. Together.”

_______

Shoutout to my amazingly talented friend @blissfulnightrain for drawing this this page! You’ll be able to check out the full piece on her page!

#sokaiweek2020 #sokai #sora #kairi #kingdom hearts

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phoenix-downer · 5 years ago

Text

Kairi’s Story

Here’s a general key for the analysis I’ll be doing this time:

JP: Japanese Story

This time, this part is just the story that I lifted directly from Kairi’s character file. Quotes of dialogue spanning the length of the series were used extensively in her story, and I included those as well.

EN: Official English Dialogue

In this case, I used the official English versions of all quoted dialogue for consistency, as it’s what’s familiar to people who have played the English version of the games.

TR: My Translation

I went for a poetic translation that sounds more natural in English this time. In instances where I thought the English dialogue differed enough from the English dialogue to be worth pointing out, I also provide a more literal translation of the Japanese dialogue.

Notes: things I found interesting, grammatical points, extra thoughts, etc.

First, I will do a break down of the story comparing the Japanese version with my translation, and then I will include a full transcript of my translation plus a full transcript of the Japanese script for Kairi’s character file for anyone who would prefer to read the translated version all at once or reference the original Japanese version all at once.

With that, let’s begin.

Kairi’s Story

Wherever You Are

JP: この世界のどこかにいるあなたへー

EN: Thinking of you, wherever you areー

TR: To the you somewhere in this worldー

Notes: These are the opening lines of Kairi’s letter to Sora in KH2. The Japanese version and the English version do differ somewhat, but the general meaning is the same. As her story in the character files focuses heavily on letters, beginning it with the opening line of her letter to Sora is very fitting.

JP: そんな文章から始まる手紙を出したのは、君のことを忘れている時だった。忘れているという表現が正しいのかもわからないけれど、私の中からーみんななの中から君は消えていた。

TR: That was how I began the letter I wrote to you when I’d forgotten you. Though maybe “forgotten” isn’t the right word. But you had disappeared from my heartーand from everyone else’s.

Notes: Kairi thinks back on the time she’d forgotten Sora and the letter she wrote him then, indicated by her use of the past tense. It should be noted here that there is no mention of hearts in the Japanese version; Kairi more literally says “From within meーand everyone elseーyou had disappeared.” That sounds awkward and clunky in English though, so I took some poetic liberties here to get the same general meaning across.

I’ll also note here that Kairi is not using Sora’s name here; she’s using the second person pronoun kimi “you” to refer to Sora, which is unusual for her, as she usually calls him by his name. In general, Japanese speakers tend to use pronouns a lot less than their English-speaking counterparts, as pronouns can often be understood from context and dropped in Japanese, or names are used when pronouns would be used in English.

So, then, why is Kairi using kimi?

Well, her use of kimi instead of Sora’s name could be referencing how she didn’t remember his name at the time, and thus she had to use kimi instead of his name. Kimi also tends to get used in poetry and songs to express familiarity and closeness, so that might also be why she’s using it here.

When she says Sora had disappeared, she uses you kimi on its own, and this is important. Using kimi on its own means she’s referencing Sora in general, his personality, his appearance, etc., and this is in contrast to something she says here soon.

JP: 「いつも私といた男の子たちのこと、覚えてる？」

EN: “Do you remember those boys who used to hang out with us?”

TR: “Do you remember those boys who were always with me?”

Notes: Not too much of a difference here, but the Japanese version does emphasize that Kairi was talking about the boys who were always with her, whereas the English version goes more for a more inclusive stance where she includes Selphie. Interesting to note too is that she asks if Selphie remembers otokonokotachi no koto. With the no koto part, she isn’t just asking if Selphie remembers Sora and Riku; she’s asking if she remembers anything about them, about the time they’ve spent together, the memories they’ve made, etc.

JP: セルフィに聞いたら、首を傾げてリクの名前を言った。君のことは覚えていなかった。でも私の中には君のことが残っていた。

TR: When I asked Selphie that question, she tilted her head and said Riku’s name. She’d forgotten about you. But all the memories we’d made together, what you mean to meーall of that lingered on inside my heart.

Notes: Again, we see that no koto construction again here, where Kairi says that “Selphie forgot you” kimi no koto ha oboeteinakatta, to contrast how something about Sora lingers on in Kairi’s heartーkimi no koto ga nokotteita. Of course, the “heart” part is an addition of my own, just because it sounds awkward in English to only say “you lingered/remained within me.”

Also, remember how I mentioned earlier that Kairi said that Sora disappeared from everyone’s hearts? There, she used kimi only, but here, to say something about Sora stuck with her, she uses kimi no koto. In the English translation, I added the “all the memories we’d made together, what you mean to meー” to try to capture this difference in meaning that no koto adds.

JP: 私は小さな瓶の中に手紙を入れた。

TR: I put the letter in a small bottle.

Notes: Kairi uses the pronoun watashi here, her usual pronoun of choice, to indicate she is the one putting the letter in the bottle

JP: 「なにそれ？」

　瓶を海に浮かべた私に、セルフィが聞いた。

EN/TR: “What’s that?” Selphie asked me after I’d set the bottle afloat in the sea.

Notes: Pretty straightforward; this quote is referencing the scene where Selphie and Kairi are on the beach in KH2 and Kairi sets the bottle afloat.

JP: 「手紙ー昨日書いたの。思い出さない男の子にあてた。今は会えないけど、一途、またいつかってね。そしたら、私、その子との大切な約束を思い出した。この手紙が始まりなんだ。きっと」

EN: “A letter… I wrote it yesterday, to the boy I can’t remember. I said that no matter where he is, I’ll find him. One day. And when I stopped writing, I remembered we made a promise, something important. This letter is where it starts. I know it.”

TR: “A letterーI wrote it yesterday, to the boy I don’t remember. I said that I can’t see him now, but we’ll meet again someday, no matter what. And then, I remembered an important promise I (made) with that boy. This letter is the beginning. I’m sure of it.”

Notes: The Japanese and English versions of this dialogue are actually pretty similar to each other. Just a few quick grammar things: Kairi uses no at the end of her first sentence to indicate that she’s explaining something to Selphie and nanda at the end of the “this letter is the beginning” sentence to likewise show she’s giving information.

JP: 私は答えて波間に揺れる瓶を見つめる。あのとき私は思い出したんだ、君の名前を。

TR: That was the answer I gave her as I gazed at the bottle swaying between the waves. And that was when I remembered your name.

Notes: The Japanese version is more literally “I answered and gaze at the bottle swaying between the waves.” I’m not sure why Kairi switches to present tense here for the verb gaze, mitsumeru, but I thought I should note that she does, as it’s not reflected in my translation. With the part where she says “And that was when I remembered your name,” she really emphasizes the remembering by adding nda to explain, and then moves the object of the remembering, Sora’s name, to the right of the verb. Japanese word order is usually Subject, Object, Verb (SOV for short), but there is some flexibility with the word order (because Japanese marks case with its particles). Changing it up like this is done for emphasis or to make a point. In this case, it’s to really emphasize that what Kairi remembered is “your name,” AKA Sora’s name (though she doesn’t say it just yet to build up the anticipation in the next line).

JP: 最近はソ。ね、ソ、ラ！

EN: Starts with an “S.” Right, Sora?

TR: Starts with “So.” Right, “So, ra!”

Notes: The Japanese version of Kairi remembering Sora’s name is a little different from the English version, and that’s because the writing systems are also different. Whereas English uses an alphabet, Japanese has three main writing systems: 1) kanji, or Chinese characters, 2) hiragana, a syllabary with most symbols representing two combined sounds (though some symbols are for just one sound) that is mostly used for grammatical endings, and 3) katakana, another syllabary that represents the same sounds as hiragana, but is used for emphasis, animal names, character names, loanwoards, etc.

The Kingdom Hearts characters names are written in katakana, and Sora’s name is no exception. Thus, in the Japanese version of this line, Kairi says, “Starts with ‘So’” because the first katakana symbol you write Sora’s name with, ソ, includes both the sound “s” and the sound “o.” The English version changed this to fit the writing system of English, hence why Kairi says “Starts with an ‘S’” instead.

And the reason the line delivery of “Right, Sora?” in English sounds a little awkward is because in the Japanese version, Kairi emphasizes the two different katakana symbols in Sora’s name, ソ “so” and ラ “ra,” to reference Sora’s teasing earlier and to show that she remembers him. The English version kept this segmentation but changed the syllable focus to a focus on the letter “s,” maybe to match the lip flaps and timing of the scene? Not really sure, but that’s my guess.

JP: あれから時間が経って私は君にーソラに届かない手紙を書き続けていた。

TR: Time went on, and I kept writing to youーto you, Soraーletters that didn’t reach you.

Notes: This line is really lovely, and I struggled with how to capture the nuance going on here. At first, Kairi says she kept writing letters to “you,” then she corrects herself and says Sora’s name. She remembers his name now, and so she’s going to use it, like it’s something special and precious. If I had to spell it out, I might go for something like “I kept writing to youーto you, Sora, I want to use your name, now that I remember itーletters that didn’t reach you.” As it is, I decided to compromise as put it as “I kept writing to youーto you, Soraーletters that didn’t reach you” because I didn’t want to add in too much that wasn’t there, but I also wanted to emphasize how important Sora’s name is to her.

Just a quick grammatical thing, too: “letters that didn’t reach you” is what I have in the translation, but the “you” is not spelled out in the Japanese version because pronouns are implied. I decided to go with “you” here because I get the vibe that Kairi is addressing Sora throughout this letter and English needs a pronoun here.

JP: そして秘密の森の夕陽の見える丘、隣にはリアーアクセルがいた。君はまた長い旅の途中で、私も一緒に戦おうと修行をしているところだった。夕陽を見つめるアクセルの瞳はその眩しさにか、ちょっとだけうるんでいる気がした。

TR: One day, on the hill where you can see the Secret Forest’s sunset, LeaーI mean Axelーwas beside me. You were in the middle of another long journey, and I was in the middle of my training so we could fight together. As Axel gazed at the sunset, his eyes got a little moist, probably because of the glare.

Notes: The narration here turns to KH3 and sets the scene by locating it in the Secret Forest. Kairi quickly corrects herself when she says Lea, changing it to Axel to show that they’re friends now. She uses kimi to address Sora once more as she reflects back on this time. Notice too how Kairi picks up on the fact that Axel’s eyes are watering, though she’s not entirely sure why.

JP:「手紙か？」

EN/TR: “A letter?”

Notes: Pretty much the same in both languages.

JP: 「うん」

　アクセルに私は頷く。私は毎日手紙を書いていた。

TR: “Yup,” I said as I nodded. I wrote letters every day.

Notes: Kairi uses a habitual version of the verb “write” combined with “every day” to emphasize that this was something she did consistently. Writing to Sora was a regular habit for her.

JP: 「ソラに？」

EN/TR: “To Sora?”

Notes: Pretty much the same in both languages.

JP: 「う〜ん、ソラに充てて書いているけど、渡さないから日記みたいなものかな」

EN: “Mmm, technically yes. But I won’t send it. It’s more for me.”

TR: “Mmmm, yes, I’m writing it for him, but I won’t give it to him, so it’s more like a diary.”

Notes: The English and Japanese versions are pretty similar here; main difference is that Kairi mentions that writing to Sora is like writing in a diary for her. She ends what she says with kana to indicate her words are speculative, like “Because I’m not giving this to Sora, I guess it’s more like a diary.”

JP: 私はそのとき島で君を忘れていた頃に書いた手紙のことを思い出した。

TR: I remembered the letter I wrote you back on the islands, when I’d forgotten you.

Notes: This letter of all letters sticks out in Kairi’s mind, and she references it again here. Again, she uses the construction no koto to refer not just to the letter itself, but all the memories and experiences she associates with it.

JP: 君のことをもう忘れたくなかったし、それに君がハートレスになったあのときーあのときみたいな気持ちにもう私なりたくなかった。

TR: I didn’t want to forget about you anymore, and that time you became a HeartlessーI didn’t want to feel that way ever again.

Notes: Kairi uses kimi no koto instead of just kimi to refer to her relationship and memories of Sora as a whole, much like she did earlier. She’s reflecting on some painful memories, the time she forgot Sora and the time he turned into a Heartless, and she’s emphasizing how she doesn’t want that to happen again.

JP: 「今度は私が助けなきゃー」

EN: “This time, I’ll protect you.”

TR: “This time, I’ll save youー”

Notes: This is referencing what Kairi said to Sora in KH1, when he was a Heartless and she promised to protect him this time. The verb she uses in the Japanese version means something more like “help, save,” so I wanted to mention that here. She also uses the nakya construction to indicate it’s something she has to do, that’s how strongly she feels about it.

JP: 私はハートレスになった君を抱きしめていた。私たちのまわりに別のハートレスが襲いかかる。でもあのとき、光と一緒にハートレスが消えて、君が戻ってきた。

TR: I was hugging you, after you’d turned into a Heartless. All around us were more Heartless, ready to swoop in and attack us. But then, as a light shone and made the Heartless disappear, you came back to me.

Notes: Kairi narrates what happened in KH1 here. She knew what the stakes were; she knew they were surrounded by Heartless, she knew Sora himself had turned into a Heartless, but she hugged him tightly anyway (the word for hug she uses indicates a close embrace). Then, miracle of miracles, the Heartless that were about to attack them disappeared, and Sora returned to her.

JP: 「カイリーありがとう」

EN/TR: “Kairi, thank you.”

Notes: She references how he thanked her here. Pretty much the same in both versions.

JP: そう言ってくれた君と一緒に走り出したよね。

TR: I was grateful to hear you say that, and together we started running.

Notes: Kairi uses tekureta after the verb here to indicate gratitude for what Sora said. In other words, she’s grateful that he’s grateful. Clearly, his thank you moved her deeply. After that, they started running together, presumably from Hollow Bastion.

JP: それから君と約束した。

TR: Then we made a promise.

Notes: Kairi references the promise they made after that, brining the story to the end of KH1.

JP:「俺はいつでもそばにいるよ。これからも、ずっと。必ず、絶対帰るから！」

EN: “I’m always with you too. I’ll come back to you, I promise!”

TR: “I’m always with you. Even now, we’ll be together. Because no matter what it takes, I’ll come back to you.”

Notes: These lines represent Sora’s promise to her. He uses yo after “I’m always with you” to emphasize his words. What follows is him reiterating in various ways that he means what he says, using zutto, “all along,” kanarazu “always/without fail,” zettai “absolutely.” He’s serious about this promise to her.

JP: 「約束だよ！」

EN: “I know you will!”

TR: “It’s a promise!”

Notes: In the Japanese version, she tells Sora that “it’s a promise,” which is a little different from the English version, but both get the same meaning across. I mention it here because this line is something Kairi will reference again at the end of this story.

JP: でもあの約束のあと、私たちは一度君を忘れてしまった。

TR: But after we made that promise, I forgot about you, and so did everyone else.

Notes: Kairi emphasizes here that despite their promise, “we” (“we” in the sense of her and everyone else, not “we” in the sense of her and Sora) forgot Sora. She expresses her regret over this happening by using teshimau.

JP: 私、今度は私がソラを助けなきゃ、ってずっと思っていた。いつも助けてもらってばかりだったから。だから待っているだけじゃダメだった。

TR: I kept thinking to myself, this time, I’ll protect you. You’d always protected me before, and waiting wasn’t good enough.

Notes: Kairi thought about how she wanted to protect Sora this time, referencing her earlier words to him (the Japanese version again is more like “I’ll save you, I have to,”). She uses zutto as well to show this was something she was thinking about for a while. She also talks about how Sora was the one protecting (more literally “saving”) her, and she uses temorau to show that she was receiving a favor by him doing so.

I will concede here that I’m assuming from context that she’s referring to Sora protecting her; she doesn’t spell it out explicitly, and it’s possible that she could just be referring to how other people were protecting her in general, but I think given the personal nature of the story and who it’s addressed to, Sora is a safe bet as to who she’s talking about.

She closes out this bit by what I’m guessing is meant to be a reference to her “waiting isn’t good enough” line in KH2.

JP: 小さな頃、秘密の場所で落書き、したよね。ソラが私を描いて、私がソラを描いた。君がいなくなったあと、私あの絵をもう一度見た。君が私の口にパオプの実を運ぶ落書きを書き加えてたって知ったんだ。

TR: When we were little, we made those drawings in the Secret Place, remember? You drew me, and I drew you. After you were gone, I looked at the drawing again. I found out that you’d drawn yourself sharing a paopu with me.

Notes: Here Kairi switches gears and thinks about the cave drawing. The first word she uses for the noun drawing, rakugaki, is more like “scribbles, scrawls, graffiti,” but I decided to translate it as “drawing” here. The second word she uses, when she mentions seeing the drawing again, is more properly “drawing,” e. The third time she uses “drawing,” it’s back to rakugaki, but I translated it as “drawn” so it sounds more natural in English.

In the last sentence, Kairi says something like “I knew you’d added to the drawing by drawing yourself holding up a paopu fruit to my mouth,” if I were to go for a more literal meaning. And once again, Kairi uses nda at the end of the sentence to give more of an explanation.

JP: 『その実を食べさせあったふたりは、必ず結ばれるーどんなに離れていても、いつも必ず』

EN: “If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They’ll remain a part of each other’s lives no matter what.”

TR: “After two people feed each other that fruit, they’ll always be joined togetherーeven if they’re separated, it doesn’t matter. They’ll always be together.”

Notes: Here, Kairi uses a different kind of quotes than she’s been using for normal character dialogue. It’s interesting to note that these words are the same words Riku told Sora when he teased him about sharing the paopu fruit with Kairi in KH1, down to using the same type of quotes. He was referencing the legend of the paopu fruit back in KH1, and Kairi is referencing it again here.

While the English version uses “share” to discuss the paopu fruit, the Japanese version is more literally “feed each other the paopu fruit,” which led to a little confusion when KH3 first came out and people wondered why two paopu fruits were involved. But the way Sora and Kairi shared the paopu fruit is consistent with the legend in Japanese and with the cave drawing.

Speaking of which, the word the legend has for “joined together” in Japanese, musubareru, can mean “tied together, fastened,” but it can also mean “to be wedded, joined in marriage.” No wonder Sora was so upset about the prospect of Riku sharing a paopu fruit with her instead, and no wonder he took sharing it with her so seriously in KH3.

JP: こうして今ふたりでデスティニーアイランドのパオプの木に並んで座って夕陽を見つめているといろんなことを思い出す。

EN: And now, the two of us are sitting side-by-side on the paopu tree back on Destiny Islands, gazing at the sunset as we think back on our memories.

Notes: Now Kairi’s story goes to the point in KH3 where she and Sora are sitting on the paopu tree. The story from here on out switches from past tense to present tense, indicating Kairi is recounting things that are happening now. The “think back on our memories” part is more like “think about various things,” but again, I took some poetic license here.

JP: 「リク、ひとりでなにしてるのかな？」

EN: “Hey, why’s Riku all alone?”

TR: “What’s Riku doing all by himself?”

Notes: This is Sora’s line as he wonders if Riku’s okay.

JP: 「でもひとりにさせてほしいって言って宝、そっとしてあげよう」

EN: “He said he needed time to himself. Let’s let him be.”

TR: “He said he wanted to be left alone, so let’s give him some space.”

Notes: Kairi has talked to Riku beforehand and knows what he wants. She suggests that they give him space as a favor to him by using teageyō.

JP: 砂浜に立っているリクを気にするソラに私はそう声をかける。私はパオプの実を手に取ると、ソラの口元に差し出した。

TR: Those are the words I say to Sora as he worries about Riku, who’s standing on the beach. Then I take a paopu fruit in my hand, and hold it out to Sora.

Notes: Kairi simply narrates what’s happening in the scene.

JP: 「はい！」

EN/TR: “Here.”

Notes: This is the moment when she offers him the paopu fruit.

JP: 「えっ？」

EN/TR: “Huh?”

Notes: She catches Sora by surprise, hence his reaction here.

JP: ソラがびっくりした顔をして私を見つめる。私は持っていたもうひとつのパオプの実をソラに渡した。

TR: Sora stares at me in surprise, and I hand him the other paopu fruit I was holding.

Notes: Notice how carefully Kairi pays attention to Sora’s body language.

JP: 「これからの戦いは今までと違うーもう離れ離れにならないように、おまじない」

EN: “Tomorrow’s fight will be our toughest yet. I want to be a part of your life no matter what. That’s all.”

TR: “The battle ahead (of us) is different from (all the ones we’ve fought) until now. This charm will make sure we won’t be separated (again).”

Notes: There’s a slight difference between the dialogue in the character files and the dialogue in the game. In the Japanese dialogue from the game, this is the dialogue:

これからの戦いは今までと違う　もう離ればなれにならないように　おまじない

But in the character files, the hanare repeats instead of going to banare. Just thought that was interesting.

Anyway, in the Japanese version, Kairi mentions that the paopu fruit is serving as a good luck charm, an omajinai. The English version’s lack of mentioning the charm at all may seem strange at first... but then I looked at the English version of the legend of the paopu fruit in more depth again, which includes the following line: “They’ll remain a part of each other’s lives no matter what.” The translators for the English version are actually referencing that line and thus the legend of the paopu fruit here. Just look at how similar Kairi’s wording is: “I want to be a part of your life no matter what.”

JP: ソラは急に真面目な顔になって私の手からパオプの実を受け取る。

TR: Sora’s face grows serious all of a sudden, and he takes the paopu from me.

Notes: Kairi once again pays attention to Sora’s body language and notes how serious he becomes. Again, if sharing a paopu fruit is like getting married, and not just that, binding your destiny to the person you share it with forever, no wonder he’s taking this so seriously. It’s a big deal to him, and he’s not treating it lightly.

JP: 「うん、でもカイリは俺が守る」

EN: “Kairi, I’ll keep you safe.”

TR: “Okay. But Kairi, I’m going to keep you safe (lit. Kairi, I’ll protect).”

Notes: Sora is promising to keep Kairi safe here, which is a Big Deal in Japanese media (it even has its own trope, look up Declaration of Protection). It’s used most often by male protagonists to indicate their determination to keep their love interest safe, and often as a sign of how much they care and as an expression of their true feelings.

JP: 「ううん、私がソラを守るよ」

EN: “Let me keep you safe.”

TR: “No. I’ll keep you safe (lit. I’ll protect Sora).”

Notes: Kairi turns the Declaration of Protection on its head by saying no, she’ll be the one protecting Sora this time. She even uses the emphatic particle yo here to indicate her determination to keep Sora safe. It indicates certainty on the speaker’s part, a confidence and knowledge that she’s imparting to Sora. Long gone are the days where she would let him tell her to stay behind. She’s not asking permission here; she’s telling him what’s going to happen. She’ll protect him this time.

JP: 私たちはパオプの実を食べさせ合う。

TR: We share the paopu fruit.

Notes: Again, this is more literally “we feed each other the paopu fruit.”

JP: これはおまじないで、約束だった。

TR: This was a good luck charm, and a promise.

Notes: And it serves as a good luck charm for them, as well as a promise.

JP: ソラは私を守ってくれたけど、私はソラを守れたかな。だからソラはあきらめないで。消えないで。

TR: Sora protected me… but was I able to protect him? Don’t give up, Sora. Don’t disappear.

Notes: The story shifts again, with Kairi reflecting on what happened as a whole. Kairi uses tekureta to indicate she’s grateful for Sora’s protection, but then wonders to herself if she was able to protect him. Afterwards, she urges him not to give up and tells him not to disappear.

JP: だってソラはみんなの希望なんだから。

TR: Because you’re everyone’s hope.

Notes: She calls Sora everyone’s hope. Interestingly enough, during Sora’s final conversation with Xehanort, the camera very intentionally rests on Sora as Xehanort talks about the World’s hope. Sora being everyone’s hope is likely to be a plot point going forward, mark my words.

JP: 約束だよ。

TR: And that’s a promise.

Notes: Remember how I said earlier that Kairi’s “It’s a promise!”/“I know you will!” to Sora at the end of KH1 would be relevant again here at the end? She uses the same words in Japanese here to reiterate this new promise with Sora: “It’s a promise!”

Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading my translation and analysis! The translated version of the story is what’s next, and finally the original Japanese version will follow. A big, big thank to Kari for looking over the translations for me before I posted them, I really appreciate it! And thank you all for reading!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

English Version Only

Kairi’s Story

Wherever You Are

Thinking of you, wherever you areー

That was how I began the letter I wrote to you when I’d forgotten you. Though maybe “forgotten” isn’t the right word. But you had disappeared from my heartーand from everyone else’s.

“Do you remember those boys who used to hang out with us?”

When I asked Selphie that question, she tilted her head and said Riku’s name. She’d forgotten about you. But all the memories we’d made together, what you mean to meーall of that lingered on inside my heart.

I put the letter in a small bottle.

“What’s that?” Selphie asked me after I’d set the bottle afloat in the sea.

“A letter… I wrote it yesterday, to the boy I can’t remember. I said that no matter where he is, I’ll find him. One day. And when I stopped writing, I remembered we made a promise, something important. This letter is where it starts. I know it.”

That was the answer I gave her as I gazed at the bottle swaying between the waves. And that was when I remembered your name.

Starts with an “S.” Right, Sora?

Time went on, and I kept writing to youーto you, Soraーletters that didn’t reach you.

One day, on the hill where you can see the Secret Forest’s sunset, LeaーI mean Axelーwas beside me. You were in the middle of another long journey, and I was in the middle of my training so we could fight together. As Axel gazed at the sunset, his eyes got a little moist, probably because of the glare.

“A letter?”

“Yup,” I said as I nodded. I wrote letters every day.

“To Sora?”

“Mmm, technically yes. But I won’t send it. It’s more for me.”

I remembered the letter I wrote you back on the islands, when I’d forgotten you.

I didn’t want to forget about you anymore, and that time you became a HeartlessーI didn’t want to feel that way ever again.

“This time, I’ll protect you.”

I was hugging you, after you’d turned into a Heartless. All around us were more Heartless, ready to swoop in and attack us. But then, as a light shone and made the Heartless disappear, you came back to me.

“Kairi, thank you.”

I was grateful to hear you say that, and together we started running.

Then we made a promise.

”Kairi, remember what you said before? I’m always with you too. I’ll come back to you, I promise!”

“I know you will!”

But after we made that promise, I forgot about you, and so did everyone else.

I kept thinking to myself, this time, I’ll protect you. You’d always protected me before, and waiting wasn’t good enough.

When we were little, we made those drawings in the Secret Place, remember? You drew me, and I drew you. After you were gone, I looked at the drawing again. I found out that you’d drawn yourself sharing a paopu with me.

“If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They’ll remain a part of each other’s lives no matter what.”

And now, the two of us are sitting side-by-side on the paopu tree back on Destiny Islands, gazing at the sunset as we think back on our memories.

“Hey, why’s Riku all alone?”

“He said he needed time to himself. Let’s let him be.”

Those are the words I say to Sora as he worries about Riku, who’s standing on the beach. Then I take a paopu fruit in my hand, and hold it out to Sora.

“Here.”

“Huh?”

Sora stares at me in surprise, and I hand him the other paopu fruit I was holding.

“Tomorrow’s fight will be our toughest yet. I want to be a part of your life no matter what. That’s all.”

Sora’s face grows serious all of a sudden, and he takes the paopu from me.

“Kairi, I’ll keep you safe.”

“Let me keep you safe.”

We share the paopu fruit.

This was a good luck charm, and a promise.

Sora protected me… but was I able to protect him? Don’t give up, Sora. Don’t disappear.

Because you’re everyone’s hope.

And that’s a promise.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Japanese Version Only

Kairi Story

Wherever You Are

この世界のどこかにいるあなたへー

　そんな文章から始まる手紙を出したのは、君のことを忘れている時だった。忘れているという表現が正しいのかもわからないけれど、私の中からーみんななの中から君は消えていた。

「いつも私といた男の子たちのこと、覚えてる？」

　セルフィに聞いたら、首を傾げてリクの名前を言った。君のことは覚えていなかった。でも私の中には君のことが残っていた。

　私は小さな瓶の中に手紙を入れた。

「なにそれ？」

　瓶を海に浮かべた私に、セルフィが聞いた。

「手紙ー昨日書いたの。思い出さない男の子にあてた。今は会えないけど、一途、またいつかってね。そしたら、私、その子との大切な約束を思い出した。この手紙が始まりなんだ。きっと」

　私は答えて波間に揺れる瓶を見つめる。あのとき私は思い出したんだ、君の名前を。

　最近はソ。ね、ソ、ラ！

　あれから時間が経って私は君にーソラに届かない手紙を書き続けていた。

　そして秘密の森の夕陽の見える丘、隣にはリアーアクセルがいた。君はまた長い旅の途中で、私も一緒に戦おうと修行をしているところだった。夕陽を見つめるアクセルの瞳はその眩しさにか、ちょっとだけうるんでいる気がした。

「手紙か？」

「うん」

　アクセルに私は頷く。私は毎日手紙を書いていた。

「��ラに？」

「う〜ん、ソラに充てて書いているけど、渡さないから日記みたいなものかな」

　私はそのとき島で君を忘れていた頃に書いた手紙のことを思い出した。

　君のことをもう忘れたくなかったし、��れに君がハートレスになったあのときーあのときみたいな気持ちにもう私なりたくなかった。

「今度は私が助けなきゃー」

　私はハートレスになった君を抱きしめていた。私たちのまわりに別のハートレスが襲いかかる。でもあのとき、光と一緒にハートレスが消えて、君が戻ってきた。

「カイリーありがとう」

　そう言ってくれた君と一緒に走り出したよね。

　それから君と約束した。

「俺はいつでもそばにいるよ。これからも、ずっと。必ず、絶対帰るから！」

「約束だよ！」

　でもあの約束のあと、私たちは一度君を忘れてしまった。

　私、今度は私がソラを助けなきゃ、ってずっと思っていた。いつも助けてもらってばかりだったから。だから待っているだけじゃダメだった。

　小さな頃、秘密の場所で落書き、したよね。ソラが私を描いて、私がソラを描いた。君がいなくなったあと、私あの絵をもう一度見た。君が私の口にパオプの実を運ぶ落書きを書き加えてたって知ったんだ。

『その実を食べさせあったふたりは、必ず結ばれるーどんなに離れていても、いつも必ず』

　こうして今ふたりでデスティニーアイランドのパオプの木に並んで座って夕陽を見つめているといろんなことを思い出す。

「リク、ひとりでなにしてるのかな？」

「でもひとりにさせてほしいって言って宝、そっとしてあげよう」

　砂浜に立っているリクを気にするソラに私はそう声をかける。私はパオプの実を手に取ると、ソラの口元に差し出した。

「はい！」

「えっ？」

　ソラがびっくりした顔をして私を見つめる。私は持っていたもうひとつのパオプの実をソラに渡した。

「これからの戦いは今までと違うーもう離れ離れにならないように、おまじない」

　ソラは急に真面目な顔になって私の手からパオプの実を受け取る。

「うん、でもカイリは俺が守る」

「ううん、私がソラを守るよ」

　私たちはパオプの実を食べさせ合う。

　これはおまじないで、約束だった。

　ソラは私を守ってくれたけど、私はソラを守れたかな。だからソラはあきらめないで。消えないで。

　だってソラはみんなの希望なんだから。

　約束だよ。

#kairi #sokai #sora #kingdom hearts #kh translation #phoenix translates #kh character files #kh character file #kh3 #kingdom hearts 3 #phoenix downer #long post

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oveliagirlhaditright · 4 years ago

Text

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25092943/chapters/60786085

SoKai Week Day 1. Prompt: One Heart.

So… Sora and Kairi’s entire conversation at the start of this is based on one that Buffy and Angel had in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, that I felt was too perfect to pass up for this.

Enjoy!

Also… it should hopefully be clear in the story, but Kairi—who is the PoV here—is definitely being an unreliable narrator in this fic, and being WAY too hard on herself.

Have Heart

It was a hideous day outside: rain was falling in torrents, the wind was howling, and there was an eclipse keeping anyone from seeing the sun.

But even though the weather conditions were bleak, the past hours hadn't been a complete loss for the Guardians of Light. While Ava had, unfortunately, gone back to the Master of Master's side after he'd told her how he loved her like a dad would, they'd gotten Aced to their side when they'd explained to him that even they thought he'd had good intentions—even if his father and siblings couldn’t see that—but had just gone about things the wrong way…

And maybe that was why Kairi and Sora were having a heart-to-heart themselves right now, in Merlin's Study, while everyone else was outside trying to fix Radiant Garden’s claymores...

"I saw you on the day you became the most popular girl at school, y'know,” Sora said now, as he held onto Kairi’s hand and looked earnestly into her eyes. “It was a beautiful day, where the sun was actually shining unlike now... and you had a lollipop in your mouth, and walked down the stairs to the courtyard… and I fell in love with you then.”

"Why?" Kairi couldn't keep herself from asking. Because it was beyond her how Sora had ever cared for the weak girl who had led to his death, let alone cared for the horrible creature she’d been even before that.

"Because... I could see your heart,” Sora assured her with a smile, as he ran a hand through her hair. And Kairi supposed he must have been serious about this… since Sora always took matters of the heart so seriously. It made her feel even more in love, even if she wasn’t sure she deserved it. "…And I was worried that your heart would be bruised or broken. And more than anything else in the world, I wanted to warm it with my own."

Kairi hugged Sora for these words—as how could she not? Especially since she wanted to revel in this feeling a little while longer, if she was going to selflessly give it up… if she couldn’t change—and replied, "That's so sweet, Sora." And it was.

But for some reason, Kairi also couldn't help thinking of their blood pumping organs being pushed together, instead of their figurative hearts that Sora had really been speaking about, "Or, taken literally… really gross." (1)

“Y’know… I was just thinking the same thing,” Sora muttered, seeming suddenly ashamed of himself if the tone in his voice was anything to go by.

And Kairi laughed uproariously, as she pulled away from Sora and smiled at him widely… and then he was grinning at her, too, before he was twirling her around and they were dancing in the midst of their ridiculous life.

And Kairi held onto the moment, in thinking that it could be her last moment with Sora… for so many reasons.

...

In the end… Kairi was selfish. She always had been, and knew this well. Wasn’t this why she’d always wanted Sora to stay home with her, rather than go on his quests? …Or why she’d forced herself into battles she wasn’t ready for—endangering everyone that way—just so she could stay by Sora’s side? And then… after Sora had died, she’d become the worst possible version of herself. That old popular girl with the bad attitude again, but also someone who’d been grieving for trauma that had happened to her on one, two, three fronts… and she’d been so cold to Riku because of it… someone who was Sora’s best friend.

And after everything they’d been through… maybe she should have just let Sora and herself be together, like they so desperately wanted, but after Sora’s heartfelt declaration the other day—where he’d told her he’d loved her when she’d only been at the first stage of unlovable—she couldn’t help thinking he deserved so much better than her.

But Kairi was too awful to let Sora go completely… So she stopped touching him or being around him if she could help it, without explaining anything, as she tried to become a better (or lesser?) version of herself, so she could hopefully be comfortable in his arms again, sooner rather than later?

Where her enemies were concerned… Kairi stopped talking to them—in not being able to get over just how annoying she was when she spoke—but she also hated that she was doing this… because it reminded her of the girl who hadn’t gotten to speak to her abuser until he was already dead, and she couldn’t get much relief that way, and it was causing the Foretellers to just think she was the simple girlfriend of Sora again, and nothing more.

But if it somehow made Kairi’s heart… truer, she would continue on this path.

So when Ursula's family were making a big deal of her being in love with George from the Jungle, when Kairi was helping out in that world, she said nothing... She also didn't even question why Alice seemed older than she should have been, when she went to Wonderland herself for the first time, and why it seemed different than Sora described it as... She even ignored telling her new friends who she thought framed Roger Rabbit, when she'd figured the answer out herself. And even when it was revealed to her that Master Ava was somehow her grandmother… Kairi didn’t react. But that was more from shock than anything else.

But it was after that had transpired, that Sora seemed to have enough of the silent treatment and began questioning her. "Kairi... I thought you wanted to be more active on our journeys… so why are you being less so now? Are you okay?"

They were back home on Destiny Islands now, after having defeated the Master of Master’s plans and most of the Foretellers, unfortunately. And Kairi had decided to just deal with all of her grief here, and not ruin the party that was going on outside, but she should have known that Sora would never leave her alone when her heart was clearly in distress… that was what she loved about him.

The Kairi of old, who had been pretty good at bottling up her emotions, wouldn't have told Sora the truth here… But the one who remembered how doing such a thing had destroyed Terra, Ventus, and Aqua’s friendship for a while, knew that she had to finally speak.

"...What's wrong is that I'm supposed to be Light, Sora…. But you're kinder and truer than I could ever be… and I’m not saying that to insult you or anything… I just find that no matter what I do, I’m a mean girl—even though I'm trying to fight some of that now… and be less me—so what can you possibly see in me? And what did the universe see, in order to gift me with this power?"

And Kairi assumed that Sora would give her some massive speech here… perhaps something like his “my friends are my power” speech, or when he’d told Riku he didn’t have a conscience… or something along the lines of what he’d said to get her to want to stay in Traverse Town so many years ago…

But instead, Sora just admitted with much simplicity and heart: "Kairi, I love you because you're you... for all the times you've saved me, and how you poke fun at me, and how we've grown up together. How could I not? So stop trying to be anyone other than yourself. And, I mean, Mister Arrogant over here isn't exactly perfect. Our flaws make us good for each other, too, believe it or not."

And Kairi wanted to argue this, she really did. Because how could the hero of the worlds be comparing himself to her?

But if Kairi was being honest with herself, she loved Sora for pretty similar reasons to what he’d just said about her, didn't she? Even when she was put off by how conceited he could be, for example, in thinking he could just magically go to the next school year—despite his grades—just because his teachers loved him so much.

And Kairi held Sora in her arms again… probably something she should’ve been doing every second and every day since he’d first spilled his guts to her, instead of pushing him away, and Kairi asked Sora the question that perhaps the universe had laid on her mind to try and comfort her. "I guess I really do need you to warm my heart, huh?"

And the words "you bet" were whispered against Kairi's head, as Sora kissed her forehead and brought her even closer to him.

Author’s Note: (1) I struggled with whether I wanted to give Kairi this Buffy line or not. On one hand… I didn’t want to, because Sora was spilling his heart out to Kairi here, and it didn’t seem like she would somewhat shoot that in the foot by saying this. But at the same time… I want Kairi to have her personality, tbh… The snarky one that we really saw in KHI and KHII, that allowed her to banter with Sora: as I think that’s one of the reasons they’re good and fun together and have chemistry. So, in the end, I decided to keep it for that reason. And perhaps Kairi later thought of her saying that, and it’s part of the reason she’s hating on herself in this story. -shrugs-

#Sokai week #sokai #SoKai Week day 1 #one heart #day 1 #mine #my work #Shanna writes #my writing #fanfiction #oneshot #canon #future fic #canon compliant #Buffy inspired #long post #out from under

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nadziejastar · 5 years ago

Text

Saïx’s Jealousy

“Something you find amusing?”

“Oh, the things you hear from a guy with no heart,” Xigbar said through his hilarity.

None of us have hearts, Saïx was about to remind him, when Xemnas spoke again.

Totally 100% agree. KH3′s “resolution” to Axel and Saïx’s broken down friendship totally baffled me, since it didn’t even try to build off of everything we saw in all the previous games. It just tried to deflect your attention to a new mystery girl. Someone I talked to online wondered why Saïx was never truly humanized the way Axel was in Days. They said he should have been, if he and Axel were supposed to be such close and important friends, and if Isa was going to be there in the epilogue, totally welcomed by everyone.

Of course, it’s obvious if you think about it. They had to make Saïx as ruthless and irredeemable as possible to explain why Axel would betray the organization in KH2, leave his best friend behind, and spend the whole game chasing after Roxas, constantly calling him his best friend. Axel needed to experience betrayal and heartbreak from Saïx on a such massive level in order for him to side with Sora, and for him to say that Roxas was the only organization member he liked and wanted to see again, when he was dying. Without Saïx being that awful, Axel doesn’t seem like a very good friend, let alone best friend.

“Understood.”

Xemnas disappeared nearly before he heard his order acknowledged.

“Don’t let us down now, kiddo. Shouldn’t be too much trouble without a heart,” Xigbar told Saïx.

KH3 made it seem like Saïx wasn’t even Norted and that he wasn’t constantly being monitored by the Recusant’s Sigil. If his possession had no influence on his personality or behavior, how could their friendship even be repaired? How do you repair the relationship between two best friends, where one tries to kill the other, with a smile on his face...all because he was jealous that he started spending more time with two kids? Saïx even said Axel deserved what he got when he died. He said Axel got nothing and was nothing. That’s a pretty damn cold thing to say about your best friend. You need a very good excuse for that.

And Saïx did have a good excuse, in my opinion. Being possessed, the solution is very simple. Once Isa’s heart is freed from Xehanort’s clutches, Lea can instantly forgive him, since he was not in control of himself. But in KH3, Saïx and Isa are the same person. And even worse, Saïx was the same as any other Nobody and had the ability to nurture a heart the whole time---that was the biggest problem, IMO. That is reeeeeally hard to fix. KH3 had absolutely no way of doing that. They were in waaaaay over their heads and they knew it. Nothing they could have written would ever have been enough to realistically patch things up by the end of KH3. So, they didn’t even bother trying. Not even with an actual apology. They just instantly made Saïx act “normal” and he and Lea were automatically cool again because...he brought Roxas back, I guess. Ugh.

Saïx heaved an exaggerated sigh. In a way, Saïx put more effort than any of them into pretending he had a heart, Axel thought. And yet, he was more lacking than any of them.

You’re right that they both had good reasons to be hurt and upset. Axel’s is obvious. He didn’t choose to spend all of his time with Roxas and Xion because he lost interest in his relationship with Saïx. Not at all. He chose to spend so much time with them because Saïx emotionally rejected HIM. Axel desperately longed to get back the closeness they had as humans. He tried over and over to connect with Saïx, but he just never had the same capacity for human emotion that Axel did.

It was unfathomable to me that Saïx’s twisted personality was entirely attributed to simple jealousy in KH3. Was Saïx jealous? Oh yes, absolutely. I have no doubt that he was. But...it still was not really that simple. He was messed up long before he became jealous of Roxas and Xion. There was a LOT more wrong with him than just that. They never explained why he was so jealous, either. He was free to rekindle his friendship with Axel any time he wanted to, right?

Well, no. Saïx wasn’t just jealous that Axel was spending time with Roxas and Xion more than him. He didn’t seem to care that Axel befriended them or was close with either of them in the beginning. If anything, he thought it might make it easier for him to spy on Xion. It was convenient for Axel to be close to Roxas, too. Saïx wasn’t jealous...at first. But that all changed at a certain point. This was the huge secret that was supposed to make Isa redeemable. Not Subject X.

He’d never deluded himself that tracking down Riku would be easy, and neither had Saïx. It was just that if he went back and reported that he couldn’t find anything, he would have to deal with those attempts at “personality”—the sneers, the snide remarks, the only trappings of human emotion that Saïx ever showed. Not that Saïx was even capable of annoyance or disappointment, of course, what with the lack of a heart and all.

Saïx was a very complicated character and KH3 did him no justice at all. He had his own reasons for how he acted, even if his behavior was obviously not justified. This is what Axel was thinking just before he showed up on the clock tower and told Roxas about pushing the wrong buttons. Axel was always thinking about how human Roxas and Xion seemed and how inhuman Saïx always seemed compared to other Nobodies.

“You’re calling her defective just because she couldn’t beat Riku? Seems a little harsh.”

“…Is it?” Saïx retorted.

“Well, why are you—?”

Saïx promptly cut off Axel’s question. “Go to whichever world you want to try first. Just track him down, find out what he’s doing. That may give us some clues leading to the hero of light.”

Guess I won’t get any more answers today, Axel thought. But seriously, what is your problem with Xion?

Xion was hurt by Saïx calling her a failure, and wondered why it upset her so much, when she supposedly had no heart. She ran away when Roxas said they were both “special”. Xion did have a heart, which is why she got so upset. Roxas got so upset because he had a heart, too. And right around this time, Saïx also started showing more human emotion. Axel seemed confused that he was not just cold and indifferent towards Xion. No, he truly hated her.

“So, Saïx, what am I doing to—? Oh, boy. Awfully early for such a bad mood, don’t you think?” Saïx had whirled to face him with a rather pronounced scowl.

“…Nobodies do not have ‘moods’ to be ruined,” he said at length.

“Well, sure, technically…”

Of course, with no hearts, they couldn’t have moods or fits of temper. If something went frustratingly awry, their faces might reveal shadows of remembered emotion, no more. Still, for a remembered shadow, that was a mean glower on Saïx’s face.

Saïx wasn’t capable of feeling things like hatred or jealousy until that time. He was in a really bad mood when Xion failed her mission. The whole point of “The Wrong Button” was to show how special Roxas and Xion were.

Day 152: Like a Real Person

Author: Axel

Roxas and Xion must have had it out over something. Knowing them, it's something dumb, but still. Watching them, it's like they're human. It's messing with my head. I kind of wonder if Roxas understood all that about the wrong buttons. I get the sense a lot of it went right over his head.

Roxas was just like a human, worrying over hurting a girl’s feelings and getting his own feelings hurt. Axel thought they were having a typical lovers’ spat and laughed it off.

Something must have happened that Roxas didn’t understand the reason for either, thought Axel. An emotion somewhere in my memories.

“Girls are complicated, aren’t they,” muttered Axel, and Roxas looked up at him, surprised.

“How did you know I was thinking about Xion?”

“Cause you’re simple, Roxas…Well, all us Nobodies are simple, though.”

“Are humans complicated?”

He’s just like a human. Axel found this funny, and he laughed out loud.

And around this exact time, Saïx started acting jealous of Axel spending so much time with Roxas and Xion, but not him. But he still rejected all Axel’s attempts to connect with him. If Saïx had shown the tiniest bit of openness to friendship, Axel would have come running back to him with open arms.

“Well, this is a rare occasion.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you hardly ever come looking for me these days.”

“So? I’ve got something to discuss with you, for a change.”

“Is it about the failure?”

Axel shrugged. “Mind reader, are we?”

“It’s because you’re simple, see… That hasn’t changed.”

“Simple—you’re a rude bugger,” Axel replied, sitting down on a shelf right opposite Saïx.

The way the story is written in canon makes no sense. Why didn’t Saïx just spend more time with Axel? It’s not like it wasn’t obvious that Axel wanted nothing more than that. Axel was always totally open to Saïx, even when he behaved deplorably. If Saïx was so hungry for Axel’s affections, he should have been the easiest Nobody to awaken a new heart. But instead, he was the most difficult. In canon, there was no good explanation for this, so they created the stupid Subject X obsession as his motivation. The original Saïx was so much more interesting, though.

“You’re ready now—ready to take on Castle Oblivion. You will need to follow your memories. Trust what you remember and seek what you forget. Then you’ll find someone very special.”

I think he knew full well that Axel was using Roxas and Xion as a replacement for him. Saïx always wanted to feel friendship, but he rejected it because he truly was incapable of feeling it. He didn’t actually believe that Axel was capable of feeling it, either, and didn’t want to even bother pretending. Axel didn’t seem particularly bothered by this in the beginning. They were Nobodies, after all.

“But be forewarned… When your sleeping memories awaken, you may no longer be who you are now.”

He started thinking about friendship after he met Roxas and he started growing a heart after coming back from Castle Oblivion, around Day 72, appropriately named “Change”.

Those two had lobbed so many questions at him as they grew as Nobodies. Was it just their curiosity that had him thinking so much? But it hadn’t started when they joined the Organization. It was after he’d gotten to know Xion, after Castle Oblivion.

Whatever the catalyst, he had to acknowledge that something in him was different. The old Axel wouldn’t have wondered about all that. He was changing. But why? His train of thought rambled on until suddenly he felt someone else with him. Irritated, he sat up. “Ever heard of knocking? You should try it sometime.”

Saïx was standing there beside his bed. Axel decided not to look at him and focused on a random point on the wall. But Saïx made no sign of caring one way or the other. His voice was as dispassionate as ever. “Tell me what Xion has been doing.”

He encountered someone very special there: Sora, and even more importantly, the Isa from his memories. He started remembering things from his childhood and began feeling things he hadn’t felt since becoming a Nobody. From then on, he began to change and he found it a lot more difficult to be around Saïx. When he got back the second time, he had a totally new perspective on his memories of the past. Before, he said they were baggage. Then, he said they were too precious to lose.

The heart probably had secrets unknown even to DiZ. The Heartless were an embodiment of the darkness in the heart. When a Heartless was born, it created a Nobody, too—an empty physical form.

Then…a Nobody is……

Sora had to be the one who held the key. By coming into contact with him, the heart would awaken.

The fact that Nobodies like Axel were able to awaken a heart was a very big deal. The secret of the heart was absolutely crucial to the Xehanort Saga. Nobodies did have hearts.

“I think DiZ—I mean, Ansem the Wise—has some kind of plan.”

“Hey, Naminé… Is there something you haven’t told me—well, haven’t told us?” She looked at the floor.

“…I’m not sure of it yet. The secrets of the heart…aren’t something I can talk about, not yet,” she told him in a tiny voice and took another bite of ice cream.

Naminé constantly mentioned the secrets of the heart.

“This is the only time we have to talk,” she argued. “Do you think Nobodies really don’t have hearts? Who told Axel he doesn’t have one? The heart—there are secrets that—”

“Naminé!” Riku had to interrupt. Nobodies were crawling out of the corners, and one sprang straight at her.

Saïx was a special Nobody. And he also nurtured a heart, but it happened later and it was different than what happened to Axel, no doubt because Isa’s heart was captured at the time.

“I feel bad for you, too,” she told him.

“What are you talking about?” Saïx towered over Naminé.

“You haven’t even noticed yet…that you have a heart.” Several Nobodies emerged from a rift out of the corridors.

“A heart? I have a heart? No one wants your nonsense!” Saïx raised his sword over Naminé—but Riku was there with Soul Eater to intercept the blow.

“Hmph. I don’t have time for these games.” Darkness welled from a rift behind Saïx. “Run along and help your dear hero.” With that, he disappeared.

“Are you all right?” Riku helped Naminé to her feet.

“Now I understand…,” she murmured.

“Naminé…? You understand what?”

She was silent for a moment and quietly shook her head as she stood. “It’s nothing. We have to find Kairi.”

Naminé also sensed that something was unusual about Saïx’s heart.

The shards of what stays with us, those fragments of memory—they won’t disappear. Even if the chains linking them together are broken, the memories don’t die.

I knew that I had the power to line them back up, the pieces of memories scattered in the depths of the heart, so how… How could I have forgotten something so important?

I understood that. I just couldn’t remember. It’s because I didn’t want to remember. I didn’t want to discover the secrets of the heart. I didn’t want…to unravel the mysteries of what a Nobody is.

“I always thought…that Nobodies were doomed to fade back into darkness,” Naminé murmured as her gaze dropped.

The secret of the heart was connected to Ansem the Wise’s research results that he put inside of Sora and also the heart’s connection to memory. Key memories never disappear, and they are able to awaken one’s heart.

“Naminé, Roxas, and Xemnas… The Nobodies of those with strong hearts are peculiar beings. My—that is, our theories proved fruitless. Coming into contact with a strong heart transforms a world. And not just worlds, but people themselves—and even Nobodies.”

Naminé, head lowered and hand extended with the ice cream for Riku, perked up upon hearing those words.

That’s it… Yes. The mystery of the heart. When we encounter someone special…the world changes. Our hearts change. Everything changes.

As a memory witch, Naminé was able to understand this secret better than anyone else. Saïx’s heart began to stir starting around Day 117, appropriately named “Secrets”. It was all about special Nobodies, who remember their past. They were born of people with strong hearts, just like Ansem said.

The way she moves, you wouldn’t even think she’d ever forgotten how to use that thing for even a moment. She’s almost as—no, she’d probably be even stronger than Roxas.

In any case, I don’t really get why I had to go on a mission with her right at this time. There are certainly a fair few Heartless, but with the force Xion has now, I think she could fight just fine without my help.

“These Heartless here are the last, I think.”

“Xion, fight fight fight~” Axel clapped, as she turned around.

“What are you doing?”

“What am I doing… I’m praising you, you know.”

“You’re weird,” said Xion, laughing. Just then, Axel suddenly felt like Xion’s face had blurred, and he rubbed his eyes.

“Is something wrong, Axel?”

“Nah…” For a second, the Xion I saw there had the face of… Naminé.

During the mission that day, Axel was praising Xion playfully, then suddenly he saw her as Naminé. I think the organization could monitor the memories that Xion absorbed. And they knew Naminé was involved with Xion. When Xion ran away, Xemnas asked Saïx where Naminé was and he was confused. That’s when Xigbar realized he couldn’t see Xion. She probably looked like Naminé to Xigbar and Xemnas at one point.

The Replica’s memories were being rewritten, just like Sora’s. Watching the puppet asleep in the flower-bud pod, Axel murmured to the girl beside him. “That’s an incredible power you have, Naminé.”

“But…the only thing I can really do is string together bits of memory in different ways,” she said. “I can’t put in pieces that were never there to start with.”

“Doesn’t that mean that as long as you’ve got the data, you can pull it off?” Axel wondered. The Organization already had the technology to convert memories to data.

“But I need something to hold it,” said Naminé. “Like a container.”

“A container, huh…?” So in this case, Axel thought, the Replica was the container.

“And besides,” she went on, “Nobodies like you are at the mercy of their memories. It might awaken something similar in the Replica.”

“What do you mean?”

“A heart—” Naminé began to say something more, but at that moment, Vexen burst into the room.

Naminé almost told Axel the secret of the heart in Castle Oblivion. That might be why he saw Naminé when he looked at Xion that day.

Xigbar, standing and watching their exchange with his arms folded, opened his mouth. “You’ve been working really well lately haven’t you, Poppet.”

“…Thank you,” Xion replied in a small voice.

“Thank you? Why do you have to say thanks?

“Well, you were praising me, weren’t you? Was I wrong?”

“Haha… Yeah, I guess you could see it like that.” He pressed his hand to his mouth and snickered.

“Did I say something funny?”

“No, no. You’re fine.”

Xion looked up at Xigbar, anxiously. Beside them, Saïx didn’t show any notable reaction. He just watched.

In the game, Saïx started hating Xion after she failed her mission to capture Riku on Day 149. But in the novel, we see it actually started earlier than that. He started hating her after Xigbar started teasing him on Day 119. This scene implies that Xigbar was able to observe the memory that Xion absorbed from Axel while fighting alongside him.

“Did I miss something?” Axel wondered.

“Xion has collapsed again.”

Now Axel frowned. He sure had missed something. “Did she get hurt or what?”

“No,” Saïx replied, any hint of expression vanishing from his face. “It’s just that the failure was functioning better than expected until recently.”

“‘The failure’? Is that what we’re calling her now?”

It was apparently a very special memory to Axel and it started to have an effect on Isa’s heart as well. This is probably why Saïx seemed to hate Xion way more than Roxas. Of course, he hated Roxas later, in KH2. But in Days, he hated Xion more because Axel remembered a special moment between Lea and Isa while fighting with her. In the past, Lea must have praised Isa, who was fighting better than expected. I think it was before Isa tried to give Lea a day off to relax and sleep. Isa was confident, but he failed. Saïx rubbed Xion’s failure in her face so badly because he was jealous of Axel praising her. That was something special between him and Lea. He hated Xion being included.

Roxas: But I've heard him say he wasn't cut out for combat. I guess everybody in the Organization is good at different things.

Axel: That's right. Everybody's unique.

Xion: Even Nobodies? Don't you need a heart to be unique?

Axel: Oh, I think we have other things that set us apart. Like our pasts.

Xion: What past?

Roxas: You remember stuff from before?

Axel: That's one of the things that makes the Organization members special. Unlike lesser Nobodies, we remember who we were.

He might have also been upset that Xion was “working really well” lately and being specifically praised for her ability to fight. Maybe he thought Axel valued her more as a friend because she was more “useful” than Isa was. That was probably a huge insecurity Isa had. So, Saïx took extra special pleasure in berating her for her failure. It wasn’t right for him to act like this, but I can totally understand why he did. Especially since he knew Xion wasn’t human.

Xaldin: Trust no one. Feed your anger! Only anger will keep you strong.

Beast: I've had enough of strength. There's only one thing I want---

Xaldin: What? To love, and be loved in return? Who could ever love a beast?

Day 119 was also the day Xaldin went with Roxas to find the Beast’s weakness, which would make his heart a captive. Eventually Xaldin used the Beast’s love for Belle as his weakness. He convinced the Beast that he couldn’t trust her and that no one would ever love him. He’d isolate himself and fall to darkness. And I think he and Xigbar did the same thing to Saïx. They exploited his insecurities and probably convinced him that Axel was trying to replace him, since he did the “fight fight fight” thing with Xion. So, he felt very jealous and it caused him to push Axel away.

Roxas: I found out about love on today's mission--that it's something powerful.

Axel: That's true. It is. But I'll never get to experience it.

Roxas: Nobodies can't love?

Axel: You need a heart, man.

It wasn’t true or anything. Axel still did care a lot about Isa and had no idea what was going on. He did similar things with Roxas and Xion that he did with Isa because he was so lonely. He felt like Saïx didn’t care about him. But he always had Isa in the back of his mind. That’s why he started to nurture a heart in the first place.

“Axel this, Axel that… Sounds like you’re thick as thieves.” Xigbar restlessly jiggled his crossed legs. “Makes me wonder what you two are up to.”

“I might wonder the same about you,” Saïx retorted, and the tension was so thick it was hard to breathe.

“We have but one objective,” said Xemnas. “Be sure to keep that in mind.”

Saïx looked up at him.

There’s also the fact that Xigbar and Xaldin appeared to be manipulating Saïx to think that Axel was plotting behind his back. That’s a big reason their friendship fell apart so badly. Saïx was cold and dispassionate, but he still felt very loyal to Axel and trusted him. Xigbar and Xaldin tried to destroy that trust.

“Did you take care of Axel?” Xigbar asked.

“Most likely,” Saïx replied. Technically, he hadn’t seen Axel’s end. But it was hard to imagine that he had survived.

“Are you certain he’s gone?” Xaldin demanded. “He’ll be back to cause more trouble if you didn’t eliminate him.”

Xemnas put a stop to the interrogation. “Leave Axel for the time being.”

Saïx was reluctant to eliminate Axel. He really didn’t want to do it. But he was convinced that Axel betrayed him, and he was furious and jealous and hurt.

Xigbar turned to the other remaining member. “What’s happening with Axel?”

“I can’t find him,” Saïx replied, his scarred brow darkening with a frown.

“Were you looking?”

Once Axel started nurturing a new heart into existence, I think Xigbar was afraid that the same thing might happen to Saïx. He was probably jealous himself, too. He was uncomfortable with how close Saïx and Axel were and concocted a scheme with Xaldin to drive them apart. This is also a reason why I think Xemnas finally decided it was best to eliminate Axel in KH2. Now that he had a heart---a very strong one, at that---he had the potential to awaken Isa’s heart. That’s not good for a vessel. He was no longer working in the organization’s best interests.

Roxas closed his eyes for a moment, as if he had to say something terribly important, and took a breath that he let out in a sigh. “Saïx called her ‘defective.’”

Axel sighed, too. He had his doubts that Saïx realized just how special Roxas and Xion were. How they seemed to process things with an emotional quality that none of the other Nobodies had. Speak in those cold, dispassionate terms to one of them, and it would provoke the opposite reaction—just as if they had hearts.

But whether they were unknowingly reliving emotions from when they were human, or whether it was something unique to them, Axel couldn’t have said. Roxas was the Nobody of the hero of light, while Xion (he suspected) had something to do with the same person. Maybe that made them more special than even he knew.

Saïx didn’t understand that. Despite the lack of a heart, he could imagine what it was like to have emotional responses based on what he remembered from his human life. And he must be able to remember how much trouble it was.

Lea made the promise to Isa to always bring him back. That’s why it was always so important to Axel that Saïx trusted him. That promise meant a lot to Lea. Saïx was genuinely hurt when he thought Axel chose Roxas over him and abandoned him in the organization. Axel really did try his hardest to eliminate Roxas for Saïx’s sake, but he just couldn’t do it.

It was wrong and not what the real Isa would have wanted. Saïx thought Axel simply ditched him in favor of his new best friend. It confirmed what he already believed. That he’d never be able to experience genuine friendship or love ever again. He hated Axel and wanted him dead for that. It wasn’t for betraying the organization or Subject X. It was for leaving him after promising him that he’d always be there to bring him back.

All of it disgusted him. Saïx looked up at the skyscrapers, tracking Axel’s presence. He wanted a heart more than anything. But what could he do to get one? Here he was, yearning for a heart so badly, while Axel had managed to gain one without doing anything at all.

The blue-haired man had been the very first to join the organization after the founding members. He should have been special. The way number 13—Roxas, wielder of the Keyblade—was special. Axel was not. And yet…

He remembered what the witch Naminé had said. Axel seemed lonely. The man himself had denied it, but she was absolutely right. Axel was lonely. He’d lost Roxas. Lonely. Didn’t that mean he had a heart?

How had he gained one? Why only him? Was it an effect of his contact with the boy, or was there something else at work? He had no idea…

What made Saïx truly enraged was when he overheard Naminé say that Axel was lonely. He grew a heart, then discarded him for Roxas. He thought that he was unworthy of Axel’s friendship since Roxas had a heart and he didn’t. Roxas was more special than he was. And that was the root of his jealousy. He wanted to be special to Axel, but thought that he wasn’t anymore and never could be again.

“Love is what happens when there’s something really special between people.”

“More special than friends? Like…if they’re best friends? Inseparable?”

“Well, you can care about your friends, but that’s not exactly it…” Axel paused, groping for words that might make sense to Roxas.

When Axel left, it devastated him and that’s why hated Roxas and wanted to kill Axel. But unlike characters like Xigbar or Xaldin, Saïx always wanted to feel friendship and love, and Axel knew that. Saïx was definitely not in his right mind at any point in KH2. Axel wasn’t, either. He kidnapped Kairi because he was so unstable. Both of them wanted nothing more than to be loved by the other. This is no doubt why Lea had such an easy time going after Isa in KH3D and forgiving him. I was very put off by how KH3 made Saïx seem so casual and “normal”. IMO, it was easier to forgive him when he was acting deranged.

Vanitas: The X-blade is made of your heart, too, idiot. If you destroy it, your heart will vanish forever.

Ven: Whatever it takes. Anything to save Terra and Aqua.

Vanitas: Hmph, it's always about your friends, isn't it?

Ven: At least I have some! I've become a part of their heart, just as they've become a part of mine. My friends are my power...and I'm theirs!

Sora did feel sadness when he was saying goodbye to Hayner, Pence, and Olette. He was sad when Axel died, too. But Ventus’s heart still did not awaken at either of those times. He needed to relive the moment Aqua was about to be killed in the Keyblade Graveyard by Vanitas. That was when he was willing to sacrifice himself. He said his friends were his power. This was the event that led Ven to willingly shatter his own heart in BBS. It was his most selfless act, when his heart was at its most powerful, filled with love for his friends. That was the only event to cause powerful enough tremors to wake Ventus up.

Luxord: Perhaps he was ready for it. Perhaps he put his existence on the line and won what he'd been longing for.

Saïx: That's absurd. He won nothing and is nothing. He couldn't stand the emptiness of being without a heart, and that led to his demise. He was foolish and weak.

Xemnas: But...Weakness has the power to awaken that which is dormant. It is clear that through his actions, however foolish they may have been, Axel has touched Sora's heart. Perhaps HE will soon awaken.

Isa’s heart was asleep just as much as Ventus’s was. Because of that, Saïx felt stirrings of emotion like rage and jealousy. But his heart still was not truly awake, either. I think Isa’s heart would have been stirred into action to rescue Lea from Xemnas during his final battle. But I don’t think his heart would be fully awakened until Lea used the power of waking on him. I didn’t like how KH3 made it seem like Saïx was a typical Nobody who made a choice to reject his friendship with Axel. No, it was much more complicated than that.

#kh saix #kh isa #kh axel #kh lea #leaisa #akusai #kh3 ending #kh3 #kingdom hearts

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jcmorrigan · 5 years ago

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I have attempted to keep my contempt for Kingdom Hearts III to a minimum. However, it has come to my attention that there are several jokes being passed around about how mean and ineffectual Yen Sid is as a teacher. I’m not demanding everyone change their tune right now and like Yen Sid. He’s not for everyone. But I went through a journey over the course of this series going from disliking him to flat-out loving him, and it really dismays me that I can pinpoint why everyone thought he was so bad in III and it, to use a phrase that has almost lost meaning, “doesn’t exist in a vacuum.”

Historically, Yen Sid has been a punching bag for this fandom. I know. I was there. Doing some of the punching. The problem was we were given Organization XIII and weren’t really sure what to do with them. For one, if you didn’t play CoM in between 1 and II (and not having SEEN Marluxia trying to chess-game everyone to their deaths), which was my story, you got Naminé saying “Good or bad, I cannot say” followed almost immediately by Yen Sid saying that though the Organization would pretend to have emotions , it was a ruse. I can’t pinpoint exactly why the Organization XIII fandom happened (I’m not sure it was so simple as “They’re hot”), but if it was anything like my case, I think it stems deep down from seeing these cool character designs and quirks on a bunch of VILLAINS and feeling the pull of the good/bad binary that suggests you can’t enjoy them as villains and must make them redeemable enough to make fan content of. This is starting to veer into a whole other essay, so I’ll cut it off here - I’ll just say if you know me, you know I figured out that “fun team for fan content” and “moral role models” are not necessarily symbiotic. ANYWAY. ABOUT YEN SID. The other thing I think we have to remember is that at the time, the only people who understood how Nobodies felt were the Nobodies. Ansem the Wise also thought they were emotionless evil. We found out in DDD, whether or not that was planned in advance, that Xemnas basically conditioned them to think of themselves that way. 358/2 Days is so poignant in its depiction of the Sea Salt Trio because you see how the rest have been groomed to be divided and not care about friendship or emotions. So in a way, the Organization defense squad was right, and I think that ended up being kind of the point - Yen Sid was telling us all we knew about this “mysterious entity” that didn’t interact with humanity, and that arc was concluded through Ansem realizing he should’ve treated Roxas like a human person. So that clears away KHII Yen Sid.

BBS Yen Sid was where I really grew to love him as a character. He understands that Terra and Ven need to follow their hearts, and in their individual visits, he basically tells them “Eraqus would not like this, but I know it’s important to you and I trust you, so I’m going to look the other way.” When Aqua visits him, you see a completely new side of him. It always hurts me so much when he has to tell Aqua that Xehanort and Terra have murdered Eraqus. Because he pauses a bit before saying Xehanort’s name. That man was his friend, and all this time, he was hoping there was redeemability in him. (Perhaps contributing to him being later jaded toward Xemnas’ associates, hmm?) But he pauses even longer before saying Terra’s name, and I sincerely believe this is because he recognizes the pain he feels at knowing Xehanort isn’t the person he thought he was...and even more than not wanting to feel it, he doesn’t want Aqua to feel that way about Terra. Yet he knows in the end she deserves the truth. Also, BBS kind of acts “fix fic” toward Fantasia itself, of all things. When I took my stance on KHII Yen Sid, this made me retroactively look at Fantasia and go “What a jerk in how he treats Mickey.” Which really isn’t the case at all - he’s tough but fair, and Mickey kinda BROUGHT THE WATERY APOCALYPSE DOWN UPON HIS LABORATORY. But the end credits scene of Yen Sid and Mickey deliberately subverts Fantasia. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice has Yen Sid strip Mickey of the hat, which Mickey doesn’t want to give up. BBS ends on the note of Mickey feeling that, since he couldn’t save his friends, he didn’t deserve the Keyblade (which is the same pattern as Yen Sid’s hat) anymore, and he tried to give it up. Yen Sid instead hands it BACK to him encouragingly, and this is likely where he awarded Mickey mastery. It takes a scene where we’re used to him punishing the naughty trickster and flips it on its head - when Mickey himself thinks he’s finally gone too far and nothing but a failure, Yen Sid wants him to keep dreaming, keep growing, keep learning.

DDD! Yen Sid tests Riku and Sora for Mastery, and ultimately encourages Riku to self-actualize! He assures Riku it’s okay to mix Light and Dark, which is almost UNHEARD of in this universe! He reaches out to Kairi, he allows Lea a second chance - he’s on top of it all!

So let’s get into KHIII. People have said Yen Sid berates Sora too much. And I’m not saying that’s not true. People have said it’s stupid that Yen Sid doesn’t actually act like a “teacher” or introduce a lot of the mechanics from BBS he would’ve known about, like armor or skimmers. And it kind of is. But I think it’s the old KHII sourness that’s bleeding into this interpretation, because honestly...this is not a Yen Sid problem.

This problem affects the characterization of pretty much every main cast member in KHIII.

Sora is now more focused on his own failings than trying to help others (please compare his reaction to Rapunzel to his reaction to Quasimodo back in DDD to see how selfish he’s become). Riku has almost nothing to say or do. Kairi has been watered down - no sense of humor or sass or initiative, to say nothing of the great offensive death scene. Aqua’s time in the Realm of Darkness seems to have had no noticeable effect on her until Re:Mind retroactively patched it in, and her solitude wasn’t explored. Ventus gets barely anything to do or say beyond being a yes-man. The conflict between the Wayfinder Trio? Swept under the rug. Same with Sea Salt, though at least Axel, Roxas, and Xion all feel like themselves, at least. Vexen, whose primary character trait was “grump who hates everyone,” decides midgame that he is no longer grumpy and does not hate everyone. Ansem, Seeker of Darkness? Don’t even get me started; there is no similarity between this ominous harbinger of Master Xehanort’s will and the mad scientist nihilist from KH1. Master Xehanort himself? Has magically gone from “I must explore the Darkness to see what answers of the universe will be revealed when Kingdom Hearts comes, despite the Light acting as a policing force I find unfair” (BBS) to “I hate that everyone acts like a good person but it’s so fake. I want to remake the world and rule over it to make it better” (KHIII). Meanwhile, Eraqus, whose arc centered around fanaticism taken to an extreme that led him to attack his own adoptive child, is now the voice of forgiveness, acting as forgiveness for Xehanort when it was Eraqus’ lack of forgiveness for any slight that kicked off the problem in the first place. I personally love Ienzo as he is, probably because he’s more sincerely happy now and the seeds were planted in DDD for this characterization, but if you add it up, he’s very jarringly different than the Zexion we were used to.

Yen Sid is a victim of the same character assassination that hit pretty much EVERYONE else in this game. Why is he a bad teacher? Because the guy in charge of writing his dialogue didn’t bother to line it up with BBS or DDD for consistency. Why didn’t he show the characters how to do anything worth anything? Because, again, the designers of III decided to switch the BBS mechanics for Attraction Flows and Formchanges without taking lore and continuity into consideration (and for the record, I love Attraction Flows and Formchanges, but we couldn’t have everything, and we need to be aware of the fact that game design dictates a lot of the story; the reason Sora is missing so much power in the first place is because we need to justify starting the game at level 1). At the very least, they allowed Yen Sid to actually travel to the Keyblade Graveyard to rescue his charges when everyone had a betting pool on him “Sitting in his chair doing nothing” during the end times. And that probably involved a lot of haggling over licensing of Fantasia. They at least wanted to show him caring about the others to that degree.

Like I said, Yen Sid isn’t for everyone. If you don’t like him because you just don’t like him, fine. I didn’t come here to try and change everyone’s mind. But I just think it’s a little bit unfair to harp on how much of a “bad teacher” he is in III when this lines up with none of his prior characterization, but lines up perfectly with how much the rest of the cast is bad everything-else.

#yen sid #kingdom hearts critical #kh critical

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khdiscussions · 6 years ago

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Huge Breakdown: Sleeping Realms Theory

Tl:dr, I still don’t like the theory, and my rebuttal had almost zero points proven otherwise and you can read the whole thing below of my liveblogging.

The fact that they call Riku’s act an “Act of true love” first of all makes me believe this is meant to sell canon SoRiku and I’m already unimpressed. It shows biased phrasing and takes away from any credibility this theory could ever have with anybody who isn’t a SoRiku shipper because it is ultimately pushing that Sora and Riku are going to be romantically involved and as somebody who really needs to edit her ship list and remove SoRiku...no.

...Okay so the Ultimania already proved this wrong I don’t even have to go through the rest.

Before I go into it, I can see how from just reading their summary, you can fall into the trap, however, the Realm of Sleep and Dreaming Worlds are ultimately the same thing. You cannot enter the Realm of Sleep without Dreaming Worlds unless you are coming to the brink between it and death. As such, it would still require every world Sora visits to be a Dreaming World, and thus have fallen into darkness. Since we know this isn’t the case, my “Alpha Timeline” and “Beta Timeline” labels are fully and 100% accurate. Even the way they describe it “World Line” implies and Alpha and Beta Timeline. If we ignore that KHUx is confirmed to be taking place in data still, the world lines cannot be in the same timeline, as they’d be two separate universes. Meaning the events of Alpha Timeline and Beta Timeline are two separate entities and cannot be condensed into the same Realm.

Meaning even if this is Beta Timeline, Alpha Timeline and anything that happened in it are factually irrelevant, because when Sora and co. slip into the alternate Worldline, because essentially the events of it don’t come to pass or matter. If this was real parallel worlds split, then even if Sora is now inhabiting the mind of his Beta Timeline counterpart (which for the record, he should have his memories if he’s the one who brought them all back) there still needs to be a Beta Riku, a Beta Kairi, etc, otherwise there wouldn’t be Xehanort attacking and even then.

If this is a separate worldline then that still wouldn’t be counted as the same timeline, however. Which the Ultimania directly argues against in its pages when things occur in a single timeline, but I digress.

Other things I find directly wrong as conflicting with power is Sora directly states in KH3 that it was Kairi’s faith in him and her light (her powers alone) that helped him hold his form. Not the PoH’s.

“Riku’s strength comes from his love for Sora”

Actually, in that scene they’re talking about how Riku wants to rescue Aqua, and that’s his desire to “protect what matters.” This is a line that has been paralleled in several games from Riku (most notably in which is Kingdom Hearts 3D) and given the line makes him flashback to Terra, it’s likely that his strength is actually being explained as coming from protecting the people he cared about. Aqua, who gave him the chance to escape the RoD (who he’s trying to protect), Terra, who gave him the Keyblade in the first place, and Sora and Kairi, his two best friends.

When facing the same way, there are also several difference in KH3D’s and KH3′s hair that stand out. They aren’t the same and they point that out in the theory. In this case I don’t think it’s similar enough to be of note.

Second, this does not explain how and why Riku dropped and since he is still dropping a) In the Realm of Darkness into a different realm and different World Line and b) Into a completely separate World Line when he should still be alive in the first. At this point, Riku is alive in the Alpha Timeline and would have no idea of his impending death. A drop should not be necessary. So my Riku point questioning why is still valid.

Xigbar cutting out is also a direct easter egg to us, the viewers to keep us from understanding what’s happening, and not what actually occurs in the game.

...I want to quit at the logo having bad graphics gradient being used as evidence but I’ll keep going but this kind of shady business practice would likely cause such an amount in distrust that sales after KH3 would plummet and anybody who buys what is the biggest release of the series to be told it’s only that in technicality has no standards. I’m sorry. If this is actually technically KHII.9 my trust in Square and Disney (especially Disney is important, because you should know I am Disney stan 69 and see them as good) is gone. Just poof, gone. No more. And I wouldn’t want to invest in the next big entry because what if it’s just another lie.

(Nitpick: Nomura said an early world in KH3 would be Twilight Town, not that it would be the very first world. Even then, had 0.2 been packaged with KH3 like initially planned, it’s highly likely it and Olympus would’ve been 2.9 anyways.)

(More nitpicks, the TWEWY explanation does not account for the fact that Joshua actually has power to bring people back to life so long as a shred of their soul exists. It sounds like Shibuya got destroyed and Josh saved what little was left of his friends to take to somewhere they could be safe, not necessarily that the Sleeping Realm in specific called out to him. This is again Nitpicking.)

Ansem Reports foreshadow an old plot twist that’s not even valid. Aqua’s magic is now the source that rescued Kairi, not Xehanort’s experiments sending her away. Kairi being flung out the door is also representative of the events of the Island falling and them losing their safety and shelter. It’s not Kairi herself, but Ansem’s arrival on the islands that Xehanort is talking about.

Everything about this seems like it’s trying to invalidate SoKai with the Paopu fruit scene. She eats the fruit. Maybe if you hadn’t opened with “Riku loves Sora and this is Riku’s act of true love” I’d buy that this is real but as it stands the authors come off as salty that SoKai got a Paopu sharing scene.

Kairi’s death is the release of her heart as Nomura called it directly in the Ultimania. I know this was written before the Ultimania’s release but moving on it’s not a death sequence. Even then her death resembles Xion’s so it’d be more inline with the Replica theory floating around, so not a Dream Eater.

“Kairi is the Darkside in the Dive” No.

Even if Kairi did die, her heart has no darkness, all that would happen is she’d fade into darkness. She cannot physically form any dark entity, let alone one that has always been connected to the darkness in Sora’s heart. And yes I read how they point out that it’s made of water but that’s because it’s literally made from the Final World itself. As for where Kairi’s heart is, canon answers this. It’s waiting for Sora, because the Heartless cannot kill or steal her heart through the Lich. Remember back to KH1? Kairi had lost her heart, but rather than form a Heartless, all we got is a body.

More Ultimania tidbits disproving this, but the Dive to the Heart is meant to take place after the entirety of KH3. This means it’s after Sora leaves to rescue Kairi and has beaten Xehanort.

Kairi being a Chirithy theory my points are still valid on because it doesn’t work. Kairi cannot be a Chirithy because we see her after the drop point in her KH2 outfit. Therefore meaning the cat ears have nothing to do with her after the drop point.

Point on the Dream Portals is accurate and inaccurate. It says they’re ways to travel to other worlds, but everytime they’re used it’s in exactly that way in game. The two pink locations bring Sora closer to the Realm of Light after the Final World, and the second portal takes him into Scala ad Caelum, another world. It ain’t that deep.

More points, Dream Eaters don’t just exist in the Realm of Sleep. Summoning Meow Wow and friends does not matter if they can exist outside of the Realm of Sleep. Scala ad Caelum is implied to be a special world to begin with and I’ll be honest, the Caribbean is probably for ease of gameplay. If anything, I would be more curious in how water in the Realm of Sleep (and memories re:CoM) allows people to walk.

“Gayblade” Your SoRiku bias is showing. (Also Nomura violated a lot of things for rule of cool. You think a gameplay mechanic showing up means something?)

Comparing what happened to Sora and Aqua is very different. Aqua had darkness shoved into her (Nort lite) while Sora actively fell into the deep darkness he was surrounded by. Aqua could’ve emerged from the water, but did not. Sora chased darkness, and fell right in. As for how they saved Aqua in the Alpha Timeline, this wouldn’t have changed? It was Sora using his light to reach Aqua as she fell in the darkness similar to Mickey doing so for her in 0.2, now that she was free of the extra darkness Ansem shoved in her for some fun. It had nothing to do with darkness or sleep.

So we’re talking Toy Story here and his “Not this time” doesn’t add up because if Alpha Timeline is dead and Beta Timeline are a second chance then Xehanort should not have any recollection of the initial timeline/worldline because you still don’t explain why he bothered with following Sora down instead of leaving him to just stay trapped in the Realm of Darkness. There’s no strategic reason to it and Xehanort is a chess master.

“Hey let’s explain shit” Okay first of all the Goofy reference was a way to include the new arc words but without that, the others are all ways to catch up new players so they’d have an idea of what’s going on. There is no in universe reason for it. All of this was excuses for filling in new players. (As for the Unversed: Just because we only see Donald and Goofy at Yen Sid’s Tower does not mean we see what happened to them before they arrived there, jsing. Mickey may have also shown them things. Just because we don’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.) Most of the other memory shenanigans are either just springboards for banter or, in Riku’s case, save your energy for the battle against Xehanort ahead.

The Station of Awakening line is pointless since Sora has visited his dive multiple times in the series. As Roxas and as himself in KH2 and KH1 respectively and a final time in 3D when his heart was taken in by Ven’s armor. The Station of Awakening after all, is essentially the stained glass hearts.

Heffalumps stopped only appearing in dreams when they showed up in Winnie the Pooh. Also the promotional material quotes Nomura admitted using because they sounded cool.

Yellow Kingdom Hearts is on KH1′s cover as well. It’s had more appearances. Stands to reason it’s the more official color. Could also be be based on who, what, and how it’s summoned.

Keyholes: Both Scala Ad Caelum (born from Xehanort’s heart and Kingdom Hearts) and the final Keyhole are forged to deal with sleeping. It makes sense they’d be the same.

YMX’s warnings are referencing exactly what KH3D Sora did. No more complicated theory necessary.

Skipping the Disney world synopsis because I know these worlds far too well at this point for my own Disney sanity.

Pulling symbolism from KH1 when KH2 wasn’t even planned by this point is wrong and also Riku being true love and light reeks very much of that SoRiku bias I mentioned. Okay skipping all this it’s literally just SoRiku and I’m not here for that. I’m here for the theory, not “Why Riku is Sora’s true love.”

“Riku and Kairi both helped Sora hang around” Except Riku dies at this point in the timeline. You can’t make an argument he’s alive because his heart is guided over by the Lich. What’s helping Sora hold on has nothing to do with what it is, otherwise he would just be another shapeless star, like Namine, the Nameless Stars, or the rest. It’s Kairi’s life that gives him the form to come back to life. Saving his heart has nothing to do with it and it just reeks of that same ship bias that was why I skipped the whole section on sacrifice. These 70 pages are irrelevant because all they do is take importance away from Kairi completely in the story, meaning she’s fundamentally useless besides a dark force. Which means Kairi literally doesn’t matter and can be written out of the story.

Kairi’s heart being lost is a full stop. Her heart was released at the end of the game. Saying it’s lost in the Lich sequence makes no sense, especially when she’s the one who guides him back in what is, as noted by PhoenixDowner’s translations, one of the more romantically weighted scenes of the game.

Summary of the more recent pages “SoKai is noncanon and you’re just being mislead it’s actually SoRiku that’s canon” and I’m starting to see where that anon came from...you could’ve saved this theory a hundred pages if you ignored the shipper stuff.

Everything in this ending is literally saying “Kairi doesn’t matter” and “Sora doesn’t care about bringing Kairi back” what the actual fuck?

Okay so I see a lot of talk about Sora and Riku being in the Sleeping Realms (which for the record that secret ending does not tease that but okay) but it still doesn’t explain how the events actually happened. The events of the Sleeping Realms are not the true reality. They’re Beta Timeline but if they never leave the Beta Timeline then the Alpha Timeline is still lost and legitimately none of this matters because at some point they have to leave the Sleeping Worlds, because at the end of the day the Realm of Sleep is still a dream. It still doesn’t happen?

Rage Form is Sora harnessing his darkness.

Rikunort is KH1′s Riku’s heart after he fell to darkness traveling to the awaiting vessel in the future. He’s not Data Riku, and the scene cited from Re:coded is actually a Riku memory held within the Journal’s data, not something happening to Data Riku at all.

In conclusion: I don’t think it’s all a garbage SoRiku fanfiction.

But I think way too much effort went into proving SoRiku was canon.

And also most of the holes I poked in the theory are still pretty valid.

And now I also know it’s contradicted by several Ultimania interviews whether the original writers acknowledge it or not.

But whatever, it’s not my cup of tea, you guys can still like it.

#Kingdom Hearts #KH3 #Kingdom Hearts III #KH3 Spoilers

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sakuralychee · 6 years ago

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Guardians of Light and Foretellers: Personalities and Battle Style

It’s something that’s probably has been not only my mind, but a lot of people’s mind. While it’s not confirmed, I believe that there’s a member in the Guardians of Light that have some if not a lot of traits similar to one of the Foretellers. Because it’s bothered me, I tried my hand at an analysis to compare one of the members to the Guardians of Light to the Foretellers. I’m actually not the best observer and I probably made some mistakes so I apologize in advance and you can correct me. This is actually my first time actually ever doing this so if possible, I would love to write more on not just their personalities but maybe their weapons and color palettes(Though someone might have already done it). It is a very long analysis but I hope you are ready to read through it all.

Riku and Ira: I believe you can call both Riku and Ira naturally born leaders. They have both the skills, knowledge, and leadership to be able to be the top of their game. Especially when you see in the beginning of KH, Riku is basically holding the group together from slacking off and actually making the raft and the Master of Masters directly told Ira to take over leadership because he believes he has the most qualities of it. They are both very observant and is very quick to pick up small details that pertain to the bigger story. I believe it’s most obvious seen when Riku quickly picks up the situation and the theory on the parallel differences in Traverse Town and for Ira, as stated by the Master of Masters, he analyzes the Book of Prophecies thoroughly, indicating that he does not want to miss a single detail. Though, one of their biggest flaws is that they are quick to assume before actually confirming. For Ira, when the Chirithy Nightmare incident occurred, he quickly thought that it was one of the foretellers was the traitor and that traitor held the lost page without second thought, and immediately guessed Aced to be the traitor due to his actions. For Riku, he was influenced by Maleficient and even though he knew Sora longer and was his best friend, due to his insecurities I guess, he thought Sora abandoned him, didn't care about Sora, and only cared about his 'new friends'.

They only made assumptions based on what they're told rather than seeing the answers for themselves. They grow suspicious first before trusting. Though you see Ira somewhat getting out of the assumption as he wants to prevent the war, he does forgive Aced in some ways, and accepts as a comrade again, though it lead to his demise as Aced once again raised his blade against others due to his ideals and betrays Ira once more.

Riku also did suffer by the long run but after he sees his mistake, you do see him walk through the path to the light through his redemption arc. Basically Riku got the long end of the stick for this. They are both balanced magic and melee users, but I believe they focus a bit more on the melee rather than magic. They both utilize light attacks, though due to Riku having experience with darkness, he uses dark type spells as well.

Aqua and Invi: Invi and Aqua are the ones who are the most composed and the one who keeps the group together. Both of their masters ordered them to observe and only take action when necessary, usually being on a neutral stance, though only following orders would lead to their downfall. They both are mainly magic users as well, and are known to be the most proficient out of the group with magic. Also the fact that they both fought the other counterpart, Terra/Aced because of their clashing ideals, and it can be noted in that battle that Aqua/Invi supports the Master while Terra/Aced to some extent questions and goes against their Master’s intentions. I feel that they have not shown Invi enough though since it seems she gets the least amount of appearances in both the movie and KHX itself for me to analyze her completely so I apologize it’s so short.

Terra and Aced: Aced and Terra are close minded people due to their background of only having influence of their master. Though I'm not entirely sure about Aced, Terra has only been taught by the Master's teaching and you can kind of see how secluded he was, especially since Eraqus was such an idealist that Light is the only path. They both go against their master's teachings and follow to what they believe was right (though Terra did it more to protect his friend Ventus while Aced actually went against Gula from this) I can see that both ultimately fell to their demise due to such ideals, falling to darkness as their search for power. Even though they are both honest, the difference between the two is Terra is much kinder and sees the better of people (having a really trusting to the point of gullible nature, trusting even Xehanort while Aced sees the worst of people and assumes the worst, attacking his own allies from an action that does not follow his own ideals.) Their fighting styles are also really similar since they both rely on brute force and heavy physical damage dealers. They both use the ground to their advantage, as Terra is most proficient in ground element and Aced is able to use spatial and create rifts, especially towards the ground.

Gula and Ventus are a bit harder to discern but I think I am able to see some similarities. They have some level of playful personality, though more noticeable in Ven when he teases Zack, Gula does tease Aced regarding his appearance. This might be a bit far fetched however the master told Gula not to trust anyone in order to find the traitor which is a bit similar to Ven's situation where he was envying Skuld and Ephemer about their friendship which makes me think that he was most likely lonely and didn't really have trust to make friends. Also there's an opposite effect that Gula has not trusted Aced and deems his as a traitor due to his actions and influence of Invi who convinces him to while Ventus trusts Terra to make the right choice despite him falling to darkness and stays on his side, defending him and even going against Aqua throughout the whole game. Though this can be defended for their different actions because how Aced and Terra have opposite personalities when faced with their own obstacles. So while they are not as similar as the others, their opposite actually make them quite similar to each other. Also they are both reliant on speed and their elements are related to such fast motion as well, lightning and wind, also something to note that there is a Japanese myth of the Kami duo that are always paired together, the God of Lightning and Wind. (I might discuss it more if I ever try my hand on other analysis like their weapons itself.)

I think Kairi and Ava have a lot of similarities and it's pretty obvious, I feel like it all started with these 2 for similarities. First off, they are both very kind individuals, outgoing, and not afraid to speak their minds. You can honestly see why they are on the side of light, protecting those that matter and will not hesitate to sacrifice themselves in order to protect it (Kairi hugging Heartless Sora from other heartlesses and Ava protecting Gula from Ira) (hey there's the slight Sora/Gula comparison~) They both see people for who they are rather than what they're labelled (Kairi is able to see through Sora and Riku when they were a heartless/Ansem and Ava recruits anyone who has their heart in the right mind no matter what union they are in).

They rather trust than doubt, as you can see that Kairi is able to forgive Lea rather than condemn him for kidnapping her (she has every right to hate him but still chooses to trust him and befriend him despite everything) and Ava is the last to believe (or she doesn't at all) that Aced is the traitor people speak of (even though the other Foretellers believe him to be such) and even though Luxu says and evidence points as such, she had a hard time believing the Master to support the Keyblade War. I think they have a flaw, though not really noticeable, and that's being afraid of change. For Kairi, it shows in the beginning before they set off, telling Sora to never change, to be the same Sora that she recognizes. In Ava's case, she tries to follow the Master's teachings as much as possible and anything other than that, she believes will just worsen the situation.

Though at the end, they both believe that doing such will not solve anything so they instead vow to take action instead. (Kairi, instead of being instructed to wait by Sora, goes off and jumps into a dark portal without hesitation if it will lead to Sora and Riku. Ava, being curious on the events of Keyblade War, tracks down Luxu to find the truth and gets out of her comfort zone by attacking him when she does find out.) They are not planning to bat an eye to conflict and would rather face it head on rather than running away, Kairi willingly becomes a Keyblade wielder once she finds out she's able to use a keyblade, (and fights Heartless to protect Sora!) even though she's one of the only Princesses of Heart and while Ava did create the Dandelions so they could avoid the Keyblade War, she herself throws herself into the War since she has the sense of duty to participate in it, especially since it cannot be avoided.

They also have a bit of a childish side to them, the ability to tease their comrades, Kairi teasing Sora in her first lines of KH for slacking off and Riku for acting like Sora in II.8, Ava teasing Aced with Gula for having such a frightening personality and utilize his bear to growl.

For fighting wise, they have the ability to use healing spells and is able to use light spells but I'm not entirely sure if Ava is able to that's up in the air. while Kairi is not able to use illusion like spells like Ava, I believe Namine has that ability (seen in CoM where she disguises as Kairi to save Riku). But if we were to compare Namine to Ava, that's going to be a whole section (and there's theories up in the air about it so I'm a bit too tired to discuss... Sorry..I might add the discussion with the ones that exists if I am able to find out more information.)

Thank you for reading this long analysis and if there’s any mistakes, don’t be afraid to fix it! I may not be the best person but I hope that people enjoyed reading this!

#foretellers #kingdom hearts #guardians of light #Riku #Ira #Aqua #Invi #Terra #Gula #Ventus #Kairi #Ava #KHX

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axel-fics · 6 years ago

Note

can we have something w axel and a s/o who is always sleepy?

Another cute request :3

Koala Bear

Axel had many nicknames for you: Princess, babe, Snickerdoodle (on the count that snickerdoodles were your favorite cookie), sunshine… honestly the list could go on and on. It almost comes naturally for him to call you something based on what you’re doing or how you’re behaving. But the one he loves using most of all? Koala Bear.

You were known to take naps, like a lot of naps. If Axel had to guess, it was probably about 3 naps a day, on top of sleeping 9+ hours overnight. He created a separate list of nicknames just for poking fun at your nap times, including Lazy bum, Snooze Master, and Sleeping Beauty; Koala Bear was the one he would use the most often because it made you blush the most.

Axel thought he loved his naps but that didn’t shine a light compared to you. Every now and then, the two of you would spend an entire day snoozing away, waking up on occasion to have a quick bite to eat before laying back down in bed for the next few hours. Your limbs would be tangled with his, head resting underneath his chin as he stroked your hair before falling back into a deep slumber. There wasn’t any need for too many blankets, thanks to Axel’s radiating heat; honestly, you blame part of the reason why you’re always so sleepy thanks to his unusually warm body temperature. Axel doesn’t fully believe that, despite the fact that when the two of you were cuddling, you’d almost instantly fall asleep, curled up in his side and head resting on his chest. Maybe there’s some truth to it after all.

And don’t get him started on how difficult it is to get you out of bed. You probably hit the snooze button on your alarm 5 or 6 times before somewhat waking up to start your day. He’s up by alarm number three; he has a difficult time getting up too, but not as bad as you. After he makes his morning coffee and hears the alarm for the fifth time, Axel will walk back into the bedroom and think of different ways to get you out of bed. His tactics change from time to time but will stick with his usuals: pulling on your ankles as you grasp the headboard, pouncing on you and shaking the whole bed, and the occasional tickle fight. He never gets tired of trying to wake you up every morning; it’s become so routine to him that it’s actually one of his favorite moments of the day. You being sleepy all the time is one of the cutest things he finds about you.

One particular morning, you and Axel had plans to get up relatively early to head over to the beach with the whole gang. The alarm buzzed at 8am, and Axel opened one eye slowly and saw you still sound asleep next to him. Reaching over you, he turned the alarm off and rested his head back on his pillow to watch you continue sleeping. He knew that waking up early was going to be a stretch, but you insisted the night before that you’d be awake because you wanted to beat the crowds from taking up too much room.

Axel brushed some hair out of your face and kissed your forehead. “Koala Bear, you gotta wake up now,” he whispered. “We gotta get spots on the beach for everyone.”

“Mmmmm let Kairi and the others get spots. They live closer to the beach,” you grumbled and turned to lay on your other side. Axel chuckled and scooted closer to you in a spooning position.

“I’m not letting you sleep in, missy. You can sleep on the beach once we get there. C’mon,” he started poking your sides softly and you squirmed underneath his touch.

“Nuuuuu don’t start!” you giggled.

“Wake up and I’ll let you gooo,” Axel sang.

“Fine! I’m up, I’m up!” You jumped out of bed a little faster than you probably should have, giving yourself a bit of a head rush. Once you saw straight, you climbed out of bed to grab some coffee to drink while you got ready for the beach. The two of you helped put sunscreen on each other, packed your separate bags, and jumped into the car. The drive to the beach was at least a good two hours, so the two of you passed time with light conversation and singing music at the top of your lungs. It only lasted about an hour though, because before Axel knew it, you were back asleep again.

“Unreal, even with coffee in your system!” He laughed and rolled his eyes. “What am I gonna do with you?”

Finally reaching the beach, Axel pulled into the parking lot and chose a spot next to Terra’s car. He looked inside and saw that Terra, Aqua and Ven were all still sitting in the car, eating their breakfast and talking. Ven waved at Axel from the back seat and smiled. Axel opened the door and got out, stretching his legs from the long drive, and knocked on Aqua’s window.

“Sorry we took so long, a certain someone over here needed her beauty rest,” he laughed and pointed over his shoulder to his car where you were still knocked out.

“Aw, no worries! We just got here a few minutes ago ourselves. Ven couldn’t get up, either,” Aqua said.

“Hey! It’s not my fault my alarm never went off,” Ven pouted.

“No, but it’s your fault for not setting it,” Terra retorted, making everyone laugh.

“Let’s go grab spots on the beach! I’m sure Sora, Roxas and the others aren’t far behind,” Aqua said and started getting out of the car.

“Yeah, gotta go wake up my lazy bum, too,” Axel said and walked back over to the passenger seat of his car. Opening your door, he bent down and gave you a kiss on your forehead. “[Y/n], we’re here!”

You slowly opened your eyes and immediately felt the soft, salty air blow on your face. Finally, after months of cold weather and a horrible allergy, season, it officially felt like summer! You kissed Axel back before unbuckling your seatbelt and jumped out of the car to grab your things. A third car finally pulled up next to you, blasting loud music. Riku, Sora, Kairi and Roxas and Xion all piled out laughing and singing whatever song they were just listening to.

Terra folded his arms and laughed. “Clown car, much? You know, you guys could have asked me or Axel for a ride.”

“We were fine! Right Riku?” Sora jumped up to sling his arm around Riku’s neck.

“Please take Sora with back you,” Riku deadpanned.

Sora punched Riku’s shoulder and started running towards the beach. “Race you!” The others started following suit, running with their arms full with blankets and coolers and dropping them at the first spot they found before continuing into the ocean. Axel started running after them, but stopped when he noticed you stayed back with everyone’s belongings. You were laying a beach blanket out onto the ground and pulled a book out of your bag to start reading.

“[Y/N], c’mon! You can read that later,” he called out to you.

“I’m good, Axel! Go ahead on with everyone, I’ll catch up in a bit!”

Axel wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer and ran back to your direction. Bending down, he picked you up and threw you over his shoulder and walked towards the water. You laughed and begged him to put you down, but he knew regardless how much you protested, you were having fun. Once he was knee deep in the water, Axel lifted you up and threw you into the ocean and dove in after you. After you came up for air, you started splashing water at Axel as payback, starting an all out war between the two of you. It didn’t take long for everyone else to join in and form teams.

Hours later, mostly everyone was back on the shore and relaxing as the sun started to set. You were once again sound asleep on your beach blanket with Axel sitting next to you, stroking your hair and admiring how your skin appeared golden from the sunset. Roxas turned and looked at the two of you with a soft smile. “She likes to sleep a lot, doesn’t she?”

Axel hummed in agreement. “Yeah. She’s my little Koala Bear.” A cool breeze picked up, making you shiver in your sleep. Axel shifted on his blanket to lay down next to you and scoop you into his arms, letting his heat warm you back up once again before he started to doze off himself.

“I think they’re both like Koala Bears,” Xion giggled.

#kh axel #Axel #axel x reader #axel x fem!reader #kingdom hearts #lea #axel/lea #fluff

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unassumingvenusaur · 6 years ago

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Kingdom Hearts III Secret Ending, TWEWY, & FFXV

So, the Kingdom Hearts III secret ending dropped yesterday, and this might be the most bizarre and unexpected one yet. Further complicating it is the potential ties to other Square Enix properties. As someone who is a big fan of both Kingdom Hearts and The World Ends With You, and who at least has played Final Fantasy XV, I thought I’d have a hand at trying to consolidate various points people have made as well as my own observations into a simple* explainer.

Honestly, this is as much for my own sake as for helping others who aren’t sinking headfirst into the deep lore of multiple Tetsuya Nomura franchises...This man is utterly ludicrous.

*ugly sobbing

***OBVIOUSLY, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR BOTH KINGDOM HEARTS III AND THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU: FINAL REMIX UNDER THE CUT***

For people who haven’t seen the Secret Ending...Well. I’m not quite sure why you’re reading this, you should probably go watch that. But the basic gist is:

We see Sora and Riku both waking up in hyperrealistic and visually distinct cities--or perhaps just different areas of the same one (the likely answer)

Due to the gradual reveal of the environment, it’s shown that Sora is in Shibuya, Tokyo--not quite the real one, which I’ll comment on later--and Riku is in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

As Riku walks through Shinjuku, we see Yozora--the protagonist of the fictionalized video game, Verum Rex, that we saw in the Toy Story world--observing Riku from a rooftop.

Lastly, we see a figure in the iconic black cloak looking out at the moon of this world--a normally shaped moon--and forming a heart shape within it with his hands.

Really, the basic sequence of events is pretty simple to follow. What makes this complicated is what each of these individual pieces mean.

Verum Rex? Final Fantasy XV?

The biggest elephant in the room to most is the presence of Yozora, and in fact the secret ending is named after him. This is gonna get into some real meta stuff.

The entirety of Verum Rex--the fictionalized video game of which Yozora is the protagonist-- is a very, very thinly veiled jab at Final Fantasy XV.

For those who do not know, Final Fantasy XV was originally developed under the title Final Fantasy Versus XIII, with Tetsuya Nomura, director of Kingdom Hearts, at the helm. He was taken off the project, and rumors circulated about his bitterness towards his brainchild being seized from him. Verum Rex seems to be complete confirmation of this, in a very public and hilariously petty way--the Final Fantasy XV that Nomura wanted. The similarities between the two games have been pointed out by many. To list a few as examples:

‘Yozora’ is Japanese for “night sky.” Noctis Caelum, the protagonist of FFXV, is Latin for “night sky.”

“Verum Rex” is Latin for “True King.” Noctis’s main character arc in XV is him growing into and accepting the role of King. This title could be Nomura asserting that Yozora is the true king he wanted to make.

As can be seen in the in-game trailer, the aesthetics of the games are extremely similar, and a few of the characters can be identified with those from XV.

Yozora’s pose on the cover of the game is extremely reminiscent of that of Noctis in Versus XIII’s teaser art.

The main theme of XV, Somnus, is just kind of straight up incorporated into the Secret Ending at one point. Compare: Somnus vs “Yozora.”

What does this all mean? The only two things we can say definitively are:

a) Sora and Riku as well as the black hooded figure have somehow ended up in Yozora’s world

b) Tetsuya Nomura’s pettiness levels are off the charts

I personally highly doubt any of this means that the lore of Final Fantasy XV itself will tie into Kingdom Hearts--it simply seems that Nomura is determined to see his original vision of his characters to their end, whatever form it may take. But who knows? Nomura is riding it ridiculously close here.

The World Ends With You?

So the other big Tetsuya Nomura property that is possibly wrapped into this Secret Ending is The World Ends With You. There is not as much concrete to go on as with FFXV, but regardless, what are the connections in this trailer?

First, the basic premise of TWEWY: The protagonists are participating in something called the “Reaper’s Game,” a competition among the recently deceased to get a second chance at life. The game is set in Shibuya, Tokyo.

Wait, that sounds familiar--Sora is in Shibuya in the Secret Ending! In TWEWY, the game begins with protagonist Neku waking up in the middle of the bustling Scramble Crossing in Shibuya. While devoid of people here, Sora wakes up in the very same Scramble Crossing.

One could think that Nomura might just like Shibuya as a setting for his games and wanted to have a little fun--certainly possible. But what makes the connection to TWEWY especially striking is when the camera pans to the massive building with “104″ in big letters along the top. This is a building in real-life Shibuya, as well....sort of. The real-life building this is based on is actually called 109. 104 originated in TWEWY’s own version of Shibuya.

This would seem to indicate that this is not just any Shibuya, this is the TWEWY Shibuya. It could be a reused pseudonym, yes, but 104 is such an iconic part of TWEWY that Nomura would know full well what he was doing by placing it in the trailer.

But what drives home the TWEWY connection even more is Riku and Yozora’s location. We know Riku is in Shinjuku, because after showing 104, the trailer shows Riku looking up at what is a distinct governmental building in real life Shinjuku.

What’s the relation of Shinjuku to TWEWY? Nothing....Until the recently released Final Remix, that is. Final Remix reveals that a girl Neku keeps seeing visions of--the girl who will presumably be the protagonist of TWEWY 2--hails from Shinjuku. Additionally, Shinjuku is discussed by Joshua and Hanekoma in Final Remix as having been destroyed in some way--if I remember correctly, the entire city was “erased.” What the implications of this are isn’t really clear in TWEWY, but the notable thing is that the two main settings of the trailer are the two most important settings of TWEWY.

This is not the first time TWEWY has appeared in Kingdom Hearts, either--characters from it appeared in KH: Dream Drop Distance, and at one point, Sora makes a promise to visit them in Shibuya one day. Seeing as he is in Shibuya now...Perhaps this promise is one that will actually be fulfilled.

TWEWY’s relevance is potentially extended by what exactly happened in Kingdom Hearts III’s plot...which is what we’ll talk about next.

What the heck does this all have to do with the game I played???

Obviously, this is impossible to answer at this point, and can really only mostly be speculated. First, here is what we concretely know:

It is made a point several times in the game that Sora’s vast connections to others, and specifically his repeated attempts at awakening them, have been causing him strain. Sora’s connection to other hearts has been waning, enough that he no longer appeared on the cover of Pooh’s story book, likely due to his weakening. Xehanort tells Sora at several points that he has doomed his heart.

Right before the climax, Xehanort strikes Kairi with his keyblade, seemingly killing her. Of course, everyone also “died” earlier in the story, and Sora saved them as well, so this was never going to be permanent.

After defeating Xehanort, Sora goes off to find a way to rescue Kairi.

Later, we see Kairi and Sora back on Destiny Islands--however, Kairi is crying, and Sora evaporates into light. We have no idea what his true fate might be, but it’s probably not good.

Some time after, Sora awakens in Shibuya. Riku is in Shinjuku for some reason but we have no hecking idea why so don’t think about that too hard.

Of course, you didn’t read this far to have the plot reexplained to you, you came here for plausible speculation!! Here’s my take which will almost certainly be wrong since this is Kingdom Hearts, but it’s fun to think about.

If the TWEWY connection is real--why would Sora awaken in Shibuya? It’s possible that in rescuing Kairi, Sora died, and now he has come to Shibuya to participate in the Reaper’s Game, to reclaim his life. Alternatively, he could not be dead but still have ended up there for some reason.

We don’t know if this is Canonverse TWEWY or some KH AU version like they do with Final Fantasy--both are plausible.

But wait, why is Yozora there? One answer is that despite all the similarities Nomura is just having some fun and this is simply the setting of Verum Rex. Another potential answer is that Verum Rex takes place in the same universe as this TWEWY. Or perhaps Yozora’s heart was set adrift like Sora’s, and he ended up in Shinjuku in a similar manner.

There’s one thing that I’ve barely talked about at all, though--the figure in the black cloak. That’s because there is not much to latch onto there. A likely candidate for the figure’s identity is the Master of Masters--the originator of keyblades who is stated by Luxu/Xigbar both in the epilogue and the secret reports to soon be returning. By making his hands in a heart shape around the moon, perhaps he is conveying his desire to to turn this world’s moon into a new Kingdom Hearts? We really don’t know. But that seems a likely implication.

Wait, you ask, what’s all this about Luxu and the Master of Masters? Who?? To which I say: It is exactly like Nomura to make the plot of a mobile game that no one plays the central conceit of the KH series going forward. That’s a whole other novel length post to explain right there and I only tenuously understand it myself sooooooooooooooooooooooo

you’re on your own

tl;dr welcome to the tetsuya nomura cinematic universe

#kingdom hearts iii #twewy #final fantasy xv #yozora #verum rex #kingdom hearts 3 spoilers//#twewy spoilers//#long post//#very long #srsly though the human drama of nomura being this fucking bitter over xv #is probably more interesting than the entirety of the game itself dlkfajsdfakdj #i swear i did not spend too long writing this. just. a heck of a lot

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joshy-tomato · 5 years ago

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Inverted Fate

Chapter One: The door to the new adventure.

AO3

Sumary: After the fall of their homeworld, Riku ventures through different worlds looking for the friends he lost, Kairi tries to mend her mistakes without falling into darkness in the process. Sora just want them to stop fighting.He was falling… no, was sinking down.

The water plunge him, but he didn't feel fear or panic, just let himself be pull.

From one moment to another he wasn't falling anymore, he was standing in front the sea. The sun briged so harsh that he had to cover himself with his forearm. While his eyes adjusted to the light he got to see a silhouette in the water, a redhead girl with her back to him. He tried to chase her, but stopped in middle of the first step. She turned to him, a big wave forming behind her. Held out her hand, waiting for him to take it. Smiled calmly at him, her eyes reflecting everything but calm. The wave was getting closer and closer to them. Without think he run after her, fearing that the wave would take her away.

The wave hit, and now he was floating in the water. The girl was there too, with her hand extended to him and this time he tried to take it, but a strong tide take him away from her and back to the surface.

He didn't have time to process what just happened when he saw someone else in the shore of the beach. A brunet boy calling him and trying to attract his attention by moving exigerately. He hurried to him and when he did, the boy simply laughed playfully, crossing his arms behind his head.

He was about to accompany him, but he soon realized that now the blue eyes of the other boy reflected confusion, looking up the sky. He looked up too and what he saw was ... himself falling.

No, actually he was falling, there was no land beneath him.

He fell faster and faster, but when he was supposed to collide with the ground he simply was swallowed by it. The bluish-eyed boy tried to stop his fall and take his hand, but was worthless.

He was falling… no, was sinking down.

The water dragged him down, but he didn't feel fear or panic, just let himself be pull.

A boy was lying in the shore of the beach, sleeping peacefully like there was nothing to worry about. And talking about a place like Destiny Islands, probably was right. Nothing bad or interesting happens ever in Destiny Island. For any tourist, a paradisiacal paradise to relax. For all the islanders, just boring routine.

The child began to awake slowly, trying to order his thoughts to know exactly where and when he was. Sooner than later he gave up on it and decided it was better just keep sleeping, or at least that's what he would have done if not were for the mop of red hair that thrown over him. He got up startled, while the red-haired girl only laughed at his misery.

“Gimme a break Kairi” He complained even though he also laughed a little.

“Sora, you lazy bum I knew that I'de find you snoozing down here” She scoffed.

“I had a really strange dream, everything was dark and I couldn't move. It felt so real, I even don't know if actually was just a dream. Was really bizarre”

“Mmh… I think you just still asleep”

While they two were talking a third boy walk to them, carrying piece of wood.

“Hey, you two, the break is over” declared the silver-haired boy, with a playful smile on his face “I guess I'm the only one working on the raft” He walked towards Kairi, taking advantage of casually throwing the piece of wood over an unsuspecting Sora.

“And you're just as lazy as he is” He pointed accusingly at Kairi and she could not do anything but laugh.

“Ok, as you say Riku. We'll finished it together. I'll race you.” Kairi declared and the other two boys looked at her with disbelief, but they didn't seem to oppose the challenge.

“Ready? Go!”

He and Riku where friends since the beginning, didn't even remember when they started being friends. The knew each other all life.

Kairi entered their lives a few years later, although they were still only small childrens.

The first day, Sora wanted befriend her to had another friend at the list, Riku in exchange wanted know more about the girl from the outside world, a subject that obsessed him since early age. Between the three the connection was instantaneous. Before they knew it, Kairi had joined their pranks and they didn't complain about it. Since that they three did everything together. From the homework to their most recent and greatest crazy idea, a raft to explore other worlds.

Riku was the one with the idea, Kairi was totally on it while Sora just followed them up.

Wasn't that he didn't want know other worlds, of course not, the idea of new places to explore and new adventures waiting for him was something that really called his attention. But compared with Riku and Kairi his desires to know other worlds were nothing. Riku wanted know others worlds since really early age, from before Kairi arrive. His childish wish of an adventure become in a passion to know what was beyond the ocean, passing the horizons. Destiny Island became too small for his big ambitions. With Kairi was something more personal. Even if she loved her adoptive parents and her new life in Destiny Islands, the uncertainty about her origins was something that tormented her more than she wanted to show. What happened to her home? What happened to her biological family? How she end up in Destiny Islands? She longed for the answer to these questions and would not rest until found them.

And Sora? He just wanted to stay with his beloved friends.

“So, can you gather the rest of the supplies?... Sora, are you listening to me?”

“So, Kairi, what was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up” Asked Sora, while the tree where sit in the Poupou Three, looking at the sunset.

“I told you before, I don't remember." Kairi replied as she stared at the horizon.

"Nothing"

"Nothing at all”

“But you would like to know, isn't Kairi?” Was Riku's turn to ask now.

“Yes, I mean, I'm happy here but I wouldn't mind to see it”

“The raft could really take us there, to Kairi's world?” question Sora again, looking at Riku inquisitively.

“Who know? If we had to, we'll think of something else?”

“So, suppose you get to another world” Started Kairi “What you would do there?”

“I haven't really through about it. I always felt that there is something bigger waiting for me, outside in other worlds. So, just let fate decide what will become of us.” Riku laughed softly Just suppose there are other worlds... Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could've just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?

“I don't know.” replied Sora, snuggling leisurely in the tree.

“Exactly. That's why we need to go out there and find out.” started Riku, while he walk to the shore “Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff. So let's go.”

“You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?”

“Thanks to you. If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this. Kairi, thanks.”

“You're welcome.”

“Deal?, the winner gets to share a papou with Kairi.”

The paopu fruit, an iconic fruit with a star shape. The legend say that if two person share it their destinies become intertwined.

Was something romantic, he supposed. Never understood why people get so excited about that, for him was just that, a legend.

But he knew Kairi and Sora were interested in that. They couldn't be more obvious even if they tried, they liked each other. It was only a matter of waiting and seeing which one took the first step. And Riku thought that neither of them would do it unless he gave them a push. He already teased Sora with that yesterday afternoon. With a little luck, Sora would realize that he had to act on his feelings about Kairi before anyone got ahead. Even if he had to antagonize himself for it.

He did it so they would be happy, that was all that mattered to him.

Then… why it hurt so much?

“Because they are leaving you behind. Once they have each other will not need you anymore.”

“Wha… wait a minute...” Sora sounded confused, and probably was.

“Okay, on my count” announced Kairi, totally unaware of the conversation between the two boys. “3… 2… 1!”

“So you'll just let your Light go away from you.”

The voice inside his head sounded again, causing him be delayed in the race and giving Sora an advantage he could no longer overcome.

As expected, he couldn't reach Sora, making him the winner of this race.

Sora was already celebrating this. Riku knew that he had been wanting beat him for a while, so Sora was probably very proud of this victory. A part of him wanted burst Sora's bubble and tell him it hadn't been a big deal but the other look at the boy, so radiantly cheerful for something so insignificant and then decided that he didn't have the heart to do that.

“I think I underestimated you Sora. You win, choose you the name of the raft.” The smile on Sora's face when he heard these words heated Riku´s heart and all the insecurities that the voice had put in his head stopped making sense.

After the race, Kairi and Sora went to look for more provision while he stayed in the same place, looking at the ocean and clearing his mind. A few minutes later he heard a steps behind him.

“Hey Riku, about the paopu. I know that you were just kidding”

And for some reason, Sora's words make him happy. Selfishly happy.

The last place where he looks was The Secret Place. He check over the place until he found what he was looking for, a mushroom.

He went where the mushroom was and once there he saw on the near wall some old drawings carved in stone. He remembered having drawn that long ago, when he recently befriend Kairi and she was too shy for the games that he and Riku played. So he brought her here to draw and hang out.

Riku's words sound inside his head again.

The Paopu fruit. Share it with Kairi. Connect his soul to hers.

He would be lying if he said that he didn't like how that sounded. But at the same time… Yes, he wanted be with Kairi for eternity, but that would only be worth it if Riku was there too.

He didn't care what destiny was planning for him or where fate wanted him to go.

“Please, let me be with them. Don't take us apart”

Lately, more than ever he felt that he have to protect the bond between the tree of them. Something was happening, or was about to happen. And he was afraid. Something inside his two friends was scaring him, but he didn't knew what was that.

He take a rock and started to carve in the wall. The mushroom could wait.

While he was doing it he remembered an old promise. The face of the woman that made him promise it faded over time, but the importance of the oath survived. Stay with Riku and keep him safe. Don't let him go through the dark path. Now that the greatest adventure of their lives was about to begin was important remember that promise.

And then he felt sick. He felt dizzy and with great pressure in his chest.

Someone was behind him.

“Wh- Who is there?” He asked while stand up, trying to maintain balance.

“I’ve come to see the door to this world.” A hooded figure came out of the shadows. Their voice was slow, deep and mysterious, giving them an even more intimidating presence.“This world has been connected.”

“Wh-What are you talking about?”

“Tied to the darkness... Soon to be completely eclipsed.” Declared the hooded. The feeling of uneasiness and alertness in Sora increased more and more. Something about this dude felt… wrong.

“Well, whoever you are, stop freaking me out like this.” Sora tried to sound threatening, fearless, but the tremor in his voice betrayed him at the last moment. ”Wh-Where did you come from?”

“You do not yet know what lies beyond the door.”

Beyond the door? Inside Sora's head that only could mean one thing. “So, you’re from another world!”

“There is so very much to learn. You understand so little.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, you’ll see. I’m gonna get out and learn what’s out there!” exclaimed Sora with defiance, but the hooded did not flinch.

“A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing.”

Sora was ready to respond, but the had figure already left, as if them just vanished into thin air.

Seeing that he would not get anything by staying here, he decided to leave too.

Maybe was just a weirdo.

#KH #kingdom hearts #sorikai #roleswap au #/Inverted fate #kh fanfic #my fanfic

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bee-not-afraid · 6 years ago

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okay take 2 since tumblr mobile fucked up the first post! i wrote the forbidden sora/vanitas content based off of this post here since it got a bit of attention

chapter 1 is below the cut, or you can read here on ao3. please comment/reblog and let me know what you think!

They were in the middle of a volleyball match, keyblade wielders (minus Lea) versus former Organization XIII members (minus Roxas and Xion), when the first Flood popped out of the sand and made a beeline for Tidus, the match referee.

“Wha-?!” Tidus sputtered, jumping back amid a flurry of sand.

“Unversed!” Ventus was first to react, keyblade materializing in a flash of light. The others soon followed suit, an array of weapons appearing in concert with a flood of Floods popping out of the shadows.

“Hey!” Lea complained, twirling his keyblade behind his head. “I totally just scored a point! Tidus! You better get that memorized! I expect to see that point on the board after we finish off these guys.”

“Ugh,” Sora agreed. “Couldn’t they have waited until after the match? Wait, doesn’t this mean Vanitas is here?” He swung his keyblade in an arc, dispatching four Floods at once.

“Probably here for Ventus,” Riku remarked from over Sora’s shoulder, casting a Thundaga. “It’s getting kind of annoying.”

“He can try as much as he wants,” Aqua spat, freezing a large group with a well-placed Blizzaga, “and we’ll beat him every time.”

It didn’t take very long for the Floods to be dispatched, the beach once again free of any threats. Ventus dematerialized his keyblade first with a drawn-out sigh. “I’ll go find him,” he said. “No need for anyone else to get involved. You guys continue the game without me!” he called out, already halfway down the beach.

“Hey, wait!” Sora called, jogging to catch up. “It’s dangerous to go alone! You should really have some kind of backup.”

“Yes, you should,” Aqua agreed as she and Terra caught up to them. “We can stay out of the way if you want, but we should at least be nearby.”

“Fine,” Ventus acquiesced. “More people will probably just piss him off, though.”

“He’s nothing we can’t handle,” Aqua remarked.

“True enough,” Ventus agreed. “He’s mostly just a nuisance at this point. Either join us or leave us alone, you know? Xehanort’s gone, the war is over.”

“And good riddance,” Terra muttered.

“Why do you think he keeps attacking you?” Sora asked, folding his hands behind his head. “He’s not still trying to fuse with you, is he? There’s no real reason to try to forge the χ-blade anymore.”

“No, I don’t think he cares about that anymore.” Ventus frowned. “I suppose he’s trying to prove himself over me. Or maybe he does want to fuse, but only to get a better body?”

“But you don’t want to fuse?” Sora asked.

“No. I’m fine without him. And he just wants to control me, anyway,” Ventus answered.

“Well, you can always ask for Vanitas’s side once we meet him,” Terra said.

“Yeah, but don’t expect him to give you a decent answer,” Ventus shot back.

The four of them walked farther along the beach of Destiny Islands, the sounds of the resumed volleyball game gradually fading behind them.

***

They found Vanitas on one of the smaller islands inaccessible from the main area, Terra somehow managing to row them all there in the tiny, rickety wooden rowboat on the pier. The sun shone down mercilessly on the smaller island, which was mostly sand with one tall outcropping of rock in the center. Predictably, Vanitas sat on the top of the outcrop, helmeted head cradled in his hand and reflecting the ground below.

“Hello, brother,” he sang out. “Brought your little friends along? Too scared to face me by yourself?”

Ventus rolled his eyes. “I can take you myself. They’re just spectating.”

“Oh, I think I can help keep them occupied.” Vanitas jumped down from the rock, darkness consuming the sand around him as the Unversed clawed their way into the sunlight.

Keyblades flashed into being as everyone dropped into battle-ready stances. “Vanitas! We don’t have to do this!” Ventus called.

“We will always have to do this Ventus, for as long as we both exist. I can’t let my worse half start getting complacent now, can I?” Vanitas crooned back, smirk audible in his voice.

“Okay,” Ventus muttered. “I tried. Alright, let’s get this over with, Vanitas. I’ve got a volleyball match to get back to.”

“Oh, look at you!” Vanitas yelled. “Think you’re so much better than me, huh?!” His keyblade appeared in a flash of fire, more Unversed springing forth from the sand.

Rather than reply, Ventus sprang forward, keyblade whirling out for a strike.

***

“Well, that’s that?” Terra said, banishing his keyblade after one last look around the small island. “Back to the others, then!”

“Yeah,” Ventus sighed as Aqua’s Curaga washed over him, mending his cuts and bruises. “Hope we’re still winning.”

“They’ve probably finished the match by now,” Aqua said.

“Awww,” Sora whined. “I didn’t get to show off that secret move I’ve been practicing!” He kicked up a spray of sand with his foot.

Terra chuckled. “If it’s the move that involves using your keyblade, I’m pretty sure that’s illegal.”

“Hey! It’s still cool!” Sora puffed out his cheeks in indignation.

Together, the four of them began to head back to their little boat and then to the main island. The fight had taken a while, but they had all faced worse – Vanitas’s current power was only of fraction of what he had wielded previously. His taunts now rang empty and were easily ignored, and it didn’t take too much for Ventus to beat him back up the rock, where he quickly opened a Corridor of Darkness and made his exit before he could actually lose the fight. That was a recurring theme, now – Vanitas would show up with his Unversed, hoping to draw out Ventus to some remote location where they would fight. When Ventus inevitably began to gain the upper hand, Vanitas would slink off, reappearing a few weeks later for a reprise. Sora frowned as he turned it over in his mind. From what he knew of Vanitas’s history, he hadn’t really been the type to cut and run before – he would at least see battles out to their conclusion first. Maybe he was just toying with them, trying to lull them into a sense of complacency or enact some equally dastardly scheme. Or maybe he was just desperate and trying to keep up appearances.

“Hey, Ventus?” Sora asked, stopping just behind the other boy. They were close enough to hear the others, now.

“Yeah?” Ventus stopped and turned to look at him.

“I know we’ve talked about this before, but Vanitas is weaker now than he used to be, right?”

“Yeah,” Ventus sighed. “Beating him now isn’t exactly easy, but it’s nothing compared to our fights in the past.”

“He’s definitely much weaker,” Aqua added. “Although his opinion of himself hasn’t seemed to change much.”

“And… that’s because…” Sora started.

“Probably because he’s had to reform so much recently,” Ventus continued for him. “He was trapped inside you for a while, Sora. Then we beat him again at the Keyblade Graveyard and he had to reform himself once more. It makes sense he wouldn’t be quite as strong as before.” Ventus shrugged. “That’s probably why he’s attacking so much, if that’s why you’re asking. He’s trying to rebuild his strength.”

“Probably why we keep having to fight so many Unversed, too,” Terra said. “He’s using them to gather negative energy, or something.”

“Right,” Sora sighed. “I guess I knew all that, huh?”

“It’s definitely frustrating,” Ventus said. “I wish he would just listen to me. There’s no point in all this fighting. He could still join us.”

“I agree, but complaining about it here isn’t going to get us anywhere,” Aqua said gently, laying a hand on Ventus’s shoulder. “Let’s get back to the others.”

“Huh, looks like the match is actually still going on,” Terra commented.

“What, really? I can still show Riku my cool new move!” Sora dashed off, thoughts of Vanitas banished at the prospect of showing off for his best friend.

“No, Sora! I told you there’s no keyblades in volleyball!” Terra shouted, running after him.

Ventus and Aqua shared a glance, then burst into giggles.

***

The match ended in a sound defeat for the keyblade wielders, due in part to Sora’s use of illegal moves on the court. Sora pouted as he thought about it, lying on his bed staring up at the dark ceiling. The moon had risen above the waves some time ago, but Sora found himself still awake, pondering a potential ruleset for his new, better game, Keyblade Volleyball. He supposed he’d need to make the game possible for any weapon type, in order for the former Organization XIII to play, but that would complicate the types of moves that could be allowed…

A faint scuffling from outside drew Sora out of his thoughts. He rolled himself out of bed and towards his open window (he slept better at night, being able to hear the waves and know that he was home and Riku was home and Kairi was home and they were all going to stay that way) to investigate. Leaning his elbows on the wooden windowsill, he scanned the empty beach. Nothing. He found his eyes wandering over to the ocean instead, the blue waves turned black in the dark of night. Somehow it didn’t seem quite as vast and impenetrable a barrier as it had seemed so long ago, when he and Riku and Kairi talked of nothing but rafts and adventure and escape.

The scuffling sound came again and drew Sora’s attention back to the beach. He frowned and scanned the beach once more, straining his eyes and looking more carefully this time. The moon was almost full, so the beach was mostly visible. But again, Sora could find nothing…

Wait. His eyes stopped by the palm tree. The scuffling sound played once more, and this time Sora thought he saw a shadow move by the base of the tree. He leaned further out the window, squinting, and made out a pair slit red eyes. An Unversed! Sora awkwardly climbed up on the windowsill before dropping down into the sand below and dashing for the tree.

He defeated the Unversed with a few swings of the keyblade, then drove the tip into the sand as he inspected the base of the tree to see if there were any more. Had they missed these earlier? Had Vanitas left a few behind before he disappeared?

“Oh, it’s you,” a voice sneered from behind him.

Sora spun around to find Vanitas standing a few feet away, helmet reflecting the moonlit waves. He reached for his keyblade, dropping into his battle stance. “Vanitas! Back for more?”

Vanitas scoffed. “As if you could be any challenge, loser. You aren’t even a keyblade master.” Yet he summoned his own keyblade and shot off a fireball.

Sora dodged to the side, and the fireball went hurtling out over sea. “Wait, we don’t need to fight! Isn’t once enough for today?” he called.

“So you say, but who reached for their keyblade first?” Vanitas shot back.

“Fine!” Sora banished his keyblade, then quickly jumped out the way of an attack. “Hey! No keyblade, see? We don’t have to fight!”

Vanitas swung his keyblade again. “Quit mocking me!” he hissed. “You better call that keyblade back if you want to live, Sora.”

“I won’t!” Sora said. “Why do you insist on fighting us, Vanitas? None of us want to, you know.”

Vanitas laughed. “As if I care what any of you want.”

“Are you just trying to fuse back with Ventus?” Sora pressed. “Why can’t you just talk to him?”

“None of your business,” Vanitas snarled, driving his keyblade forward and plunging it into the side of the palm tree when Sora rolled away. “That’s between me and Ventus.”

“But you aren’t talking to him, either!” Sora exclaimed.

“What, do you want me to tell you all about my feelings?” Vanitas sneered, ripping his keyblade out and sending small slivers of tree flying. “You want to be my friend? Teach me the power of light and goodness?” He sent off another fireball.

Sora jumped up onto the tree. “Yes! Is that so bad? We don’t have to be against each other! If not me, at least talk to Ventus!”

“I am really sick of sharing a face with someone like you,” Vanitas ground out, anger palpable in his voice.

“At least tell us why! Give us some reason for this!” This was going nowhere. And really, why would it? Vanitas had said next to nothing on his own behalf in the months of his random attacks, only spouting his lines about wanting to fight and mocking the others until they were mad enough to do so, then leaving with some quick, parting insult. Sora mentally readied himself to call back his keyblade.

“Fine,” Vanitas said, to Sora’s surprise. “Here’s a reason: I’m going fuse back with Ventus and take over his body. My body. And then I can really be me, and everything will be better. For me, of course. But who cares about him?”

“Really be you…?” Sora frowned. And then flipped out the way of an incoming fireball, landing hard in the sand. “Hey, you’re already your own person. You don’t need Ventus for that.”

Vanitas lunged for him, keyblade swinging. “Ha! You think this body can get me anywhere? You think I want to live like this?”

“Like what?” Sora couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something he was missing here. He was quickly starting to feel out of his depth.

“Like this,” Vanitas hissed, and darkness enveloped the ground around them. A lone Unversed clawed its way up to the light, but before Sora could react, Vanitas ran forward and cut it down. Sora’s eyes widened as he watched it fade away and absorb back into Vanitas, who shuddered noticeably. “I will make myself whole again, whether Ventus wants it or not.”

“That’s not right!” Sora protested weakly. The feeling of there is something here you are not understanding had lodged itself uncomfortably in his stomach.

“I’ve had enough of this,” Vanitas replied. “Fight me.”

Sora planted his feet and shook his head. “No.”

Vanitas fixed the blank stare of his helmet on Sora for a long moment. Finally, he deflated, lowering his arms back to his side. “Fine. There’s nothing here for me, then.” A Corridor of Darkness opened behind him, and before Sora could say anything he had stepped through it and vanished.

***

“Vanitas? Hmm. I can’t say I know too much about him off of the top of my head, but perhaps there is some data on him here I could dig up for you?” Ienzo said, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

“Thanks, Ienzo!” Sora smiled up at him. He’d come to visit Radiant Garden, hoping to find something here that might explain what Vanitas didn’t. He’d been turning over their encounter all night and morning, trying to uncover whatever it was he seemed to be missing. He’d asked Ventus, but all he knew was that Vanitas’s existence was unstable in some way. That was probably part of Vanitas’s desire to fuse, but after last night Sora was sure some reason was running deeper than that. So he’d taken the Gummi Ship out to Radiant Garden right after breakfast, to pick the brains of his favorite researchers.

“Vanitas, is it? He was created by Xehanort out of Ventus, correct?” Ansem the Wise asked. “We unfortunately cannot ask Xehanort anything, but perhaps looking at Ventus could teach us something?”

“I will search through our systems to see if Xehanort has left any research notes that might be of use. But if I may Sora, why do you want to know?” Ienzo asked.

Sora frowned as he thought it over. “It was something he said to me… I ran into him last night, and asked him why he was insisting on fighting us. He started talking about the usual stuff, wanting to fuse with Ventus, be whole… but he said something else about how he wanted to ‘make everything better’ and ‘stop feeling like this.’ And he cut down one of his own Unversed…”

“He attacked an Unversed?” Ienzo asked, surprise feuding with curiosity in his tone.

“Yeah. He called it out, but then he just beat it back before I could do anything. He absorbed it back into himself, but there was something weird about that too… The whole thing just bugged me. Like there’s something here I don’t know. So I thought I’d come here and ask you guys about it.”

“Can you describe what was weird about him absorbing the Unversed, Sora?” Ansem questioned.

“Umm, I dunno, it was just kind of unexpected? And he kind of… shuddered, when he absorbed it back. I guess he could feel it, somehow?” Sora mused.

“I see,” Ansem said. “If the Unversed are formed from negative emotions, and they return to their master upon being defeated, then it is likely the negative emotions he felt that made the Unversed in the first place return to him as well. I imagine it would be an unpleasant sensation.”

“That’s true,” Ienzo added. “And if the Unversed are part of him, is it possible harming the Unversed might harm him as well?”

“So… every time we defeat an Unversed, the negative emotions return to Vanitas, and it hurts him? That’s… awful.” Sora’s frown deepened.

“Well, this is all simply conjecture,” Ienzo said. “I’ll go see if I can dig up any data now. I’ll call you if I find anything, okay? Try not to worry about this too much.”

“Bring Ventus here sometime, Sora,” Ansem said. “We may be able to learn something from him as well.”

“Alright. Thanks, guys! You’re a big help.” Sora flashed them both a bright grin and walked back to the Gummi Ship, a slight bounce returning to his step.

***

“Alright, alright, so… Bed, wed, behead: Naminé, Maleficent, and Selphie.”

Kairi wrinkled her nose. “Sora, what kind of group is that?”

“Just tell us your answers already,” Riku laughed.

“Fine, fine. Uh… Behead Maleficent, wed Naminé, and bed Selphie.”

“Really? You’d marry your own Nobody?” Sora questioned, raising his eyebrows. “Isn’t that a little weird?”

“Maybe,” Kairi shrugged. “But we’ve definitely seen and done way weirder.”

“True enough,” Riku said. “My turn.”

They were hanging out in Sora’s bedroom, just the three of them. Riku had declared it too hot for any outdoor activities (“You’re just saying that because you got a sunburn yesterday,” Kairi had teased) so they’d all decided to lay on a pile of Sora’s blankets with the window open and the fan on full blast. A pitcher of ice-cold water rested within arm’s reach, but so far they’d mostly used it to pour water on each other for coming up with disgusting “bed, wed, behead” combinations.

“Okay, Sora, bed, wed, behead: Xemnas, Ansem, and Ansem the Wise,” Riku said.

“Yuck!” Sora stuck his tongue out. “I really have to choose from those guys?”

“You really do,” Riku grinned. “C’mon, let’s hear it.” He dug an elbow into Sora’s side.

“Ugh,” Sora groaned as dramatically as he could. “Then… wed Ansem the Wise.”

“Interesting choice,” Riku commented.

“Shut up. Bed… Ansem.”

“Ha. I’d bed him, too,” Kairi remarked.

“Gross, Kairi,” Riku said.

“What? He’s the best looking of the three!” she insisted.

“Which leaves behead Xemnas,” Sora finished. “Ugh, that was awful.”

“My turn!” Kairi sang. “Riku, bed, wed, behead: Xion, Aqua, and Naminé.”

“Hmm…” Riku thought it over. “Wed Naminé, bed Aqua, behead Xion? I feel awful doing that to Xion, though.”

“I’m noticing a pattern with everyone wanting to wed Naminé,” Sora said.

“She’s sweet.” Kairi shrugged. “I have one for you, too, Sora.”

“Oh, okay. Bring it on,” Sora grinned.

“Bed, wed, behead: Riku Replica, Naminé, and Vanitas.”

“…Okay,” Sora said, “I’m gonna have to wed Naminé.”

“See?” Riku laughed. “Naminé’s just the best choice.”

“And then… B-bed Riku Replica.”

“Wow, Sora, very forward of you,” Kairi teased.

“Quiet!” Sora groaned. “There is no good option here! I can’t win with this group!” Out of the corner of his eye, Sora noticed Riku was slightly flushed.

“So you’d behead Vanitas, then?” Kairi prompted.

“Yeah, I guess.” Sora frowned. “I mean, wedding him would be awful and bedding him would just be weird. He looks just like me.”

“So you’re saying you wouldn’t have sex with your clone, then? Interesting,” Riku said.

“What, and you would?” Sora asked.

“Sure. It could be fun,” Riku replied with a nonchalant shrug.

“I would too!” Kairi chimed in. “It’s just like masturbating, right? Nothing wrong with that.”

“It’s different!” Sora insisted. “It’s like a whole other person. It’s weird!”

“Only if you make it weird,” Riku said.

“So then, you would bed Riku Replica, too?” Sora challenged.

Riku considered. “Yeah,” he decided. “My answer is exactly the same as yours. Sorry I don’t want to fuck your clone, Sora,” he apologized. “But he’s kind of an asshole.”

“He’s not my clone! Apologize to Ventus if you’re going to apologize to someone.”

“Ooh, Sora!” Kairi clapped her hands. “Bed, wed, behead: Ventus, Roxas, and Vanitas.”

“There’s a group,” Riku laughed. “Well, Sora?”

“Shouldn’t it be someone else’s turn?” Sora whined. “I’ve already-” He was cut off by a loud chime. He sat up and crawled over to the bed, snatching the Gummiphone from off its surface and taking the call. “Hello?”

“Hello!” Ienzo smiled back on the screen. “Just thought I’d update you on my progress! I’ve found some interesting notes from Xehanort, during his time as an apprentice here. It concerns the nature of darkness… some of it may apply to Vanitas.”

“That’s great!” Sora beamed. “Read anything interesting?”

“Vanitas?” Riku muttered, moving next to Sora to look at Ienzo. “Speak of the devil.”

“What’s this about Vanitas?” Kairi asked, moving to Sora’s other side.

“Er, hello,” Ienzo said. “Sora asked me to look into anything concerning Vanitas… As far as these notes I found, the most interesting thing I’ve read so far is concerning the nature of pure darkness. These notes seem to insinuate that any being of pure darkness would be filled with negative emotions, and that such emotions would cause pain and drive the being to lash out at others… although these notes appear to be mostly conjecture. At this point Xehanort would have had no means of testing any of this. Still, it matches up with what Ansem and I both suspected, so I’d say there’s likely some truth to this. Nevertheless, I will continue searching for anything that might be more relevant.”

“Um, so what you’re saying is that… Vanitas attacks people… because…” Sora trailed off, face scrunched up in thought.

“Because he’s in pain?” Riku finished.

“That’s awful,” Kairi said. “But it’s no excuse to hurt others.”

“Indeed,” Ienzo agreed. “Still, after reading this, I feel it is fairly safe to assume that defeating the Unversed probably hurts Vanitas as well. If what you saw is typical, Sora, and Vanitas frequently fights the Unversed himself, he’s likely usually in a fair bit of a pain.”

“Why would he do that to himself?” Sora asked.

“That, I do not know.” Ienzo shook his head. “I’ll keep digging over here. You should bring Ventus by sometime, as we may discover more. But that’s all I have for now.” And with that, the call disconnected.

Riku turned to Sora and raised an eyebrow. “So why are you looking into Vanitas?”

“Well…” As Sora launched into his recollection of his fight with Vanitas the night before, he found his mind wandering back to what Ienzo had said. Was that the real reason? Vanitas was hurting, and he thought fusing with Ventus would stop it?

“Hm… I agree that that’s a little strange,” Kairi said. “So you think he’s really hurting?”

“Yeah… I’m starting to,” Sora said. “I mean, you guys heard what Ienzo said. What do you think?”

“I think it would make sense,” Riku said. “The longer you’re in pain, the more desperate you’d become to get it to stop. If he thinks fusing with Ventus is the solution, it could explain why he keeps trying even though we beat him at every turn. But then again, it could be something completely else. We could be way off here.”

“I don’t think so,” Kairi mused. “I think what Vanitas said to Sora matches up with this theory. Saying he wants to get better and doesn’t want to live like this? That sounds like it could be a chronic pain thing to me.”

“That’s terrible, though,” Sora said, voice quiet. “No one deserves to feel like that.”

“It is,” Kairi agreed. “Maybe you should try talking to him again sometime.”

“I doubt you’d get anywhere,” Riku said. “And anyway, as terrible as it is, it still doesn’t excuse his actions.”

“I guess not,” Sora sighed. “Still. I want to help him if I can. I can’t just stand by if I know someone’s hurting. I have to help. I have to do something.”

Riku sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I know better than to try to discourage you from something like this,” he said wryly. “Just be careful, okay? He’s not our friend. He could hurt you.”

“I’ll support you, Sora,” Kairi said, lightly gripping his arm. “Let me know if I can do anything to help.”

“Thanks, Kairi.” Sora flashed her a brilliant smile. “Riku, I’ll be careful.” He had no idea what, exactly, he should do, but it would definitely have to involve seeing a lot more of Vanitas. Getting him to actually talk instead of just taunt and fight would be a good staring place, he supposed. He sort of managed it last time, so maybe he could do it again? If he could get Vanitas to open up, he could get a better idea of how to help him. And then they wouldn’t have to fight anymore. This could benefit all of his friends, and maybe he could even make a new one! Sora’s head spun with newfound possibilities.

“Soo…” Kairi started after the silence had stretched into several minutes. “Does this change your answer at all, Sora?”

“Huh? What answer?” Sora blinked.

Kairi giggled. “Bed, wed, behead: Ventus, Roxas, and Vanitas.”

“Oh, yeah,” Riku snickered. “I’m still very interested in your answer.”

“Oh,” Sora flushed. “Well, let’s see…”

#kingdom hearts #vaniso #vanitas #sora #vanisora #vanso #idk how many chapters there will be but its just following that initial headcanon post...#i will try to keep up with this but i can make no promises #brianna writes a fanfic #for the first time since high school #fanfic #chapter fic

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signalsandsoundwaves · 6 years ago

Note

I know you didn't care for either KH2 or KH3, but if you were forced to choose one, which would it be?

Hmmm! Hm hm hm. Well, in all honesty, both have their bright points (I wrote out a whole litany here but took it out since I ramble a lot, but the gist of it was that KH3 has A+ graphics and they both have good gameplay, even if KH3 doesn’t present the challenge some might look for–I focus more on story, obvs, so challenges don’t really matter in my judgement of a game unless they’re nightmarishly hard)

In terms of story is where the forced-to-choose part gets a little easier. In this scenario, I’d have to say KH2 still wins out even with my personal grievances. Yes, vanilla KH2 gave Kairi visible underwear (!!!) but the Organization 13–particularly Xemnas–felt like actual sympathetic villains in the way that OG Xehanort never did. Even considering the games that came afterwards, including Days (with his professed true goal with creating a new KH for his own purposes) and KH3 w/ his death scene, Xemnas is an interesting villain. I’ve gotten the sense before that maybe he was just trying to create a KH to remake the worlds in his image because that was what OG Xehanort wanted, and Xemnas struggled with what he thought he was supposed to do and what a small part of him wanted to do–to have a Heart and feel something again. And finally he did, at the very end of his life.

KH2 is also the game where Sora stops feeling like such a hero, even if only somewhat. You see how he doesn’t hesitate to strike down foes if he’s told they’re not really people, even if they look like it. (Yeah, you get this sense when he’s up against certain human disney villains, like Clayton, but disney villains are in a weird gray area where the audience dehumanizes them too within the narrative; They’re not people, they’re The Bad Guys and they deserve whatever happens to them according to our moral sense of the universe and karma, but that’s an essay for another time) And CoM was really hardcore about this considering that Sora didn’t even know those guys were Nobodies yet (I’d like to point to the contrast in Sora’s reactions to Vexen’s death and Marluxia’s death)–but the novel shows that he and Riku were kind of melding memories a little bit, or seemed to, so that could just as well be a reflection on Riku. (and maybe he and Riku melded philosophies a little bit with Namine’s handiwork, you never know)

So not only with dehumanizing opponents, Sora also disregards their words of wisdom. This isn’t that much of a grievance comparatively, we all tend to not listen to people when we think they’re full of crap (and not without good reason at times) but a number of the conflicts might have been able to be avoided if Sora considered that even a broken clock could still be right twice a day.

TL;DR: To actually answer your question (sorry), KH2. Because it makes Xemnas (and the rest of Organization 13 that might not have been let in on OG Xehanort’s plans until they were forcibly included in KH3) into interesting villains and paints Sora in shades closer to something of an Antihero. Almost. But KH3′s story was just hot flanderized crap on a platter in comparison ಠ╭╮ಠ so I guess I’m biased in the first place since my feelings are still fresh from that.

#asks #thank u for the ask btw!#KH3 has effectively ruined the future of the series for me in terms of its overarching story #because nomura has officially created a giant loophole that allows him to logically retcon any game and any plot point and we can't #trust anything from here on out #we don't know anymore what's canon and what's not solely because of the alternate worldlines horseshit #there is no longer anything in his way to keep him from saying #'Oh yeah that game? Not canon anymore. None of it. Because that was with THIS worldline instead of THAT worldline that is REALLY canon.'#He can now literally rewrite the laws of the canon he's created because he can say alternate worldlines work within different rules #which there's nothing technically wrong with #but it ruins my ability to give a shit about what plot twists come about or changes in rules of the KH universe when I can't trust them #Rule of Cool is now the only thing that is canon within KH that can be guaranteed #A good chunk of the more significant plot twists within KH3 were retconned within the next 20 minutes of gameplay #that spells nothing good for the series' future.#so from now on #I am just going to play any future KH games to fight alongside Mike Wazowski and Woody and Buzz Lightyear #and not give a shit about what happens to yet another anime character with an ancient roman name who talks in non sequiturs and pig latin #braig/xigbar=Luxu was the only mildly interesting reveal of that game #god I could not resist yet another KH3 rant in the tags could I jfc

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singingcookie · 7 years ago

Text

Status

Status…, the words shown bright as the pod pulsed in the background, trying to find any minor change to what lay within. The gaps between them grew longer each time. And then finally new words appeared. Memory failed to link. Retry? Naminé sighed, unaware of how long her breath had hitched between the two messages on the monitor.

“Not again,” she muttered, pulling herself up from the low chair. She pressed her hands to her head, trying to swallow the lump in her throat as she forced herself to breath. She had been working so hard, pushing and pushing as much as she could to progress her goal. But it wasn’t enough. It never was. She shuddered as she took another breath, lowering her hands as she approached the side of the machine.

He was in there—how long had it been now? Several months…at least five? If everything had remained simple, he should have been out already. But of course it couldn’t be simple. The universe had to intentionally throw her own work back in her face. Make it incredibly difficult to keep a promise to her first real friend.

“Naminé.” It was as though she had awoken from a trance, the way she recoiled at another’s voice. There was his best friend. Looking down at her with a frown. He was disappointed, wasn’t he? How could he not be? She was the whole reason his friend was stuck in stasis.

At first, she was relieved that it was him, rather than her “caretaker”; but he couldn’t possibly be happy with her either. So the relief became anguish, she couldn’t bring herself to even look him in the face.

The silence between them was long. It was hard to find the words to say. He couldn’t tell her it was alright, she wouldn’t believe him. He didn’t know if he would believe himself. There was really only one solution.

It took opening and closing his mouth a couple of times before those words could actually get out. When they finally did, they were accompanied by an extended hand. “C’mon, you need to get out of here. Being here just makes you sad.”

“I’m.” She turned her head to the side, her chin lowered as she mumbled, “I can’t be sad, Riku.” She still accepted his offer, touching her fingers to the black gloves he wore.

She always said things like this. Nobodies don’t feel anything. No hearts. No feelings with that said. But that just couldn’t be true. DiZ often repeated the same notions. But…observing her over the course of these several months…Riku knew it couldn’t be. No matter how much they insisted.

Riku’s hand squeezed hers as he guided them toward the exit, his own head low. “Then why are you crying?” He received no reply other than her unsteady breathing just behind him. He didn’t mind, it was fair that she didn’t know what to say. She could not seem to wrap her head around the idea that she might not be as disconnected from ‘real people’ as DiZ tried to lead her to believe. So he didn’t push the subject further, only continuing to lead the way.

He came to a stop once they had entered the foyer, jerking his head briefly toward the opposite side of the stairway. “You should go grab one of your notebooks. One that doesn’t have anything related to all this.” He could feel her tense up and so released her hand as he continued, “And meet me on the ground floor.”

She did not question, only quietly agreed before doing as she was told. It took a few minutes—perhaps finding a notebook like he described was difficult—until she joined him at the bottom of the stairs, clasping one along with the crayons she had been given. “Alright, let’s go.”

She seemed to hesitate as he led the way toward the front doors. “Um, I’m sorry but…where exactly are we going?” He placed a hand on one of the doors, shoving it open and standing in front of it as Naminé walked through, attempting to shield her eyes from the light. It gave her step a slight stutter, and she paused once she actually stepped out to look back and await an answer.

“Out,” he replied as he moved to lead the way again. Perhaps more curt than he had been intending. In all honesty, he felt as though he had sort of forgotten how to talk to people. He and Naminé didn’t talk all too much. And DiZ wasn’t exactly the best conversationalist either. Aside from them, the only one he had spoken to was Xion. Just that one time. Maybe it was best that he clarify just a bit. “We just need to get you out of that place for a while. It’s not healthy.”

She continued to follow him but nonetheless noted, “That doesn’t really answer my question, you know.”

He was about to glance back at her, he could have sworn he could practically hear a small smile in that, something highly unusual. “Oh.” But he came to a stop instead, and she bumped into him, unprepared for the sudden halt. “I almost forgot.” He reached behind his head, his fingers moving to find the ends of the black material covering his eyes.

“What are you doing?” He could hear her sandals crunching the foliage under their feet, as she moved to his side. She sounded concerned.

He managed to untie the knot and stuffed the strip of cloth into his pocket. “It’s not exactly normal for people to walk around blindfolded in town.”

Only after saying so did he slowly open his eyes, cringing at how intense his surroundings were. It wasn’t like being on the islands: the reflective sand, the ocean, the clear blue of the sky. Here, it was only the deep greens of the foliage, the warm browns of the tree trunks, and the gentle orange of the near perpetual sunset… The colors were so much more muted. But after only seeing the black of that cloth for several months…it was a stark adjustment.

“Riku?”

“Sorry, I need a second,” he started, his eyes blinking rapidly as though that might help somehow. “It’s been a while. Can’t guide you if I can’t see, right?” She reassured him that it was fine and he chanced a glance at her. Perhaps a mistake. If the subdued scenery was blinding to him, it was nothing compared to her against that very backdrop. The white of her dress, the flaxen hair; she was the sun, and he had to look away from something so bright.

He cleared his throat as he pressed on leading them through the demolished courtyard. “Anyway, I don’t have an exact place in mind. But I’ll figure it out as we go.”

Naminé hummed in reply as she fell into step behind him. Walking through the woods was much better the shade of sunset coming through the leaves helping with the adjustment. “So, blindfolds aren’t normal?”

“What?” Did she actually think that? He supposed it would make sense, as he was one of the few normal people she had interacted with. This would also be her first journey into town also. He couldn’t help glancing back at her, an explanation on the tip of his tongue. And then he saw it, a quiver of a smile that could only mean she was totally messing with him. He expelled a breath, just a hint of a laugh in it. She was joking. “Yeah, well, I like to follow my own path…”

Just being outside was already working wonders on her.

They approached the gap in the wall that separated the town from the woods, and he wondered, “What kind of thing would you like to see?” That might help him decide where their destination should be. Unfortunately, she responded that she didn’t know. It figured… Well, she was prone to drawing. Maybe that could help. Somewhere high up, but not enough to where she couldn’t easily see things or people to sketch. “Alright, I think I have an idea.”

He picked up the pace as the entered the tram common, following the tram’s path toward the southeast. She started to ask a lot of questions as they continued. Why did that part of the ground look different? What were all these buildings for? What was the tram for exactly? Sometimes, it really did surprise him just how little she was allowed to see of the real world. He answered each question as they came, leading them up a staircase. When he finished explaining that a tram was for transportation, she asked, “Could we ride it later?”

“If it’s still going, maybe,” he replied, explaining that it usually stopped at a certain time. “How’s this?” He came to a stop as they reached the edge of a rooftop, which gave a clear vantage point of the shopping section of the common. He watched as people sifted through the open area, going from business to business. “I know it’s not like going to an actual place but…” The girl had sat down, her legs curled up beside her and flipping her notebook open with a crayon already held aloft. Well, that was a relief at least.

He sat down beside her, his legs hanging over the edge of the building. Seeing all of these people…it reminded him of travelling into the city on the islands with his friends. Those days felt so long ago now… It didn’t help that chunks of his memory were so fuzzy; but that was bound to happen, so many of those memories were tied to Sora and not to mention Kairi. Kairi’s presence helped to solidify them as real events, but the specifics of them were more unclear.

He didn’t do much as she drew. It was mostly people or cloud watching. Sometimes, he tried to help put a coherent memory of his friend group. Younger years were easier. Maybe because that was where she had started her work. Around the time Kairi became a best friend of theirs, that was where things got foggier. Why did the Organization even do this?

“Does DiZ know you’re letting me out today?”

That snapped him out of his recollection, glancing back to finding her scribbling color into one of her doodles. “I don’t really talk to him,” he admitted, leaning on his palms and looking toward the sky. “Unless it’s necessary.”

“Why’s that?”

He hesitated to answer. “I don’t like him much.” It sounded even worse than he thought hearing it outloud. Her crayon stopped moving against the paper and she began to ask another question. He already knew what it was. “I’m here for Sora. Not him.”

“Does he know that?”

“Probably on some level.” DiZ had always been annoyingly perceptive of Riku’s motivations after all. “Don’t worry about him. If he finds out, I’ll take the blame. It was my idea anyway. Besides…” He gave a laugh, thinking of everything he had seen of the man. “What’s he gonna do? Ground me?”

“No,” she said as she turned to another page, and starting another picture. “Maybe take your blindfold.”

He quirked his head in her direction, there it was again. “Was that another joke?” Her smile grew a little when he asked that, and he said with a chuckle, “You might need to get fresh air more often. You seem happier out here.”

“Maybe.”

#Naminé #Riku #Namiku #Namine #OTP:You Won't Fade #I've been stuck on this one for a while #I'm glad I finally finished it #the cookie sings #fanfic

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