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#disney heroes given keyblades

wilygryphon · 2 months

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Keyblade Army - Ariel

Sora needs extra help fighting the forces of darkness, so he has recruited friends from Disney and Final Fantasy worlds to aid in the conflict. But these heroes don't come on their own; they have been gifted with their own Keyblades to join the Guardians of Light.

"There!" "Yah!" "I'm still a daughter of the sea!" "Swim this way!"

Ariel joins the Keyblade Army. Wielding the Crabclaw Keyblade, she jumps at the chance to join Sora's side and explore and protect all new worlds. She is ready to take to the land and the sea to fight for her friends.

Part of the "Keyblade Army" series, which will pit both heroes and villains in battle carrying Keyblades of their own.

Also posted on my DeviantArt

#keyblade army #kingdom hearts #disney #the little mermaid #ariel the little mermaid #princess ariel #kh fanart #keyblade #kingdom hearts fanart #crabclaw keyblade #keyblade wielders #disney heroes given keyblades #my art

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mirror-to-the-past · 10 months

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Even MORE KH3 Assorted Thoughts- because this game is giving so much, for real:

San Fransokyo is absolutely sick and I've been bouncing around the skyscrapers while jamming to the Spiderverse OST. As long as Flowmotion and Shotlock exists, KH as a franchise has gotta give me more urban settings to zip around in.

The cutscene where Sora/Roxas kind of intertwine with their experiences on top of the Golden Gate Bridge. 😭"And when you're not strong enough, he'll make up the difference." Oogh, Roxas being likened to a brother figure for Sora is painful and delicious. I like the inclusion of Hayner, Pence, and Olette through Roxas' eyes. If he had looked to his other side and seen Axel, and a glimpse of Xion, that would've really completed the scene. All the people Roxas had watched the sunset with...

Was a bit confused by the Big Hero 6 plot, not gonna lie. Like, I thought our new Org. member was the Riku Replica, but then this guy says he's KH1 Riku that gave up his body in order to time travel. That and, as I see later, the Riku Replica was just hanging out with Riku in his final moments, so... I dunno, that plotline is just all sorts of fishy. In an attempt to scrutinize here the plot's going with this... I'm unsure if it's really KH1 Riku as he claims he is, especially since Maleficent dropped a major hint with the "though I'm not sure I could tell you from when," Which, given her familiarity with KH1 Riku, tells me that me that we're supposed to be questioning the validity of the Org. Riku's claims.

RIKU'S NEW KEYBLADE LOOKS LIKE A MF CAR KEY HAHA.

Oh. My. God? The World of Darkness scene, guys. So much. It looks like Sora was able to have his Power of Waking activate in order to save Riku (since he used Eraqus' Keyblade and not a Keyblade of Darkness to dive in, the only possibility left as to how that was possible would be using his Power of Waking, so...). 😭 Damn, this is what the Disney world build up was there for, guys. Foreshadowing of power of love, my beloved. Also very sweet/funny how Riku had no way of knowing about Sora rushing to save him, so he's just in the thick of battle, desperate, and mumbling "Sora..." under his breath to keep himself going. Godspeed, champ. 🫡 Then he wonders if he somehow summoned him as Sora proceeds to jump right in for a certified mind blown moment.

Riku's slow-mo POV of Sora splashing in was hilarious. Boy looked like this ->😳

How is Reality Shift Keyblade existing outside of the Sleeping Worlds? Question mark?? So sick that they brought it back but uhm? So many questions with these World of Darkness cutscenes... But wow, goddamn.

The little smile Sora turns around to give Riku after parrying off Aqua's attack. My goodness... so sweet. Not to mention the musical side of the scene, with how Sora's theme melded beautifully into Dearly Beloved when he and Riku used their Keyblade. Man... this game really feels a bit like Sora's answer to Riku's journey in DDD. They've got each other's backs, man!

Sora reaching in to grab Aqua... and the group hug afterwards... Aqua's got to be so on edge, now, after all this. If only Keyblade wielders could get complementary therapy.

Also big-sis Aqua cradling Ventus' sleeping face. 🥹

Also, also Aqua unlocking Castle Oblivion looked so cool.

Vanitas crashing the party was hilarious, considering how hard the boy must have been hustling to get there. "I have been falling through doors for THIRTY MINUTES!"

Ventus flashing between seeing Vanitas in Sora's face was interesting. Definitely a readjustment and a half. Really excited to see dynamic between Ventus and the Destiny trio. Y'know, how he perceives them due to living life through Sora's eyes in a long dream of his own. Love how he saw the Dream Eaters and thought they were adorable...

Aqua got to have a "you got so big" moment with Sora and Kairi and I just find that adorable. I expect one with Terra to Riku once we get him un-possessed.

Btw, everything with Axel/Lea (we love a multiple name king) and Kairi has been driving me crazy this game. I love them. The redheads who get left behind, the stable anchor for their groups who go through the pain of abandonment and the guilt of helplessness. Obviously, they're different people and it'd be nice to hear more of each of their own perspectives, but KH is a series of parallels, and I think that most things haunting Axel/Lea haunt Kairi as well.

...In a similar vein, I was just as gutted by and perceive the wonderful sunset scene between Sora and Kairi to be Kairi's own "You just keep running, but I'll always be there to bring you back," equivalent moment. But since it's Kairi, and not Axel, she's melancholic in her subtle pleading to Sora. "I just want to be a part of your life no matter what. That's all." She verbally minimizes herself and her presence in Sora's life because of the growing distance between them, and that's heartbreaking, dude. Still, I'm happy that Sora agreed to have a Paopu Fruit with her to give her some level of affirmation, even if he looked a little confused/unsure at first. She needs that semblance of stability before the shit goes down so much right now, and I wonder if he realized that to some degree... Kairi, my poor child. I hope she realizes how important she is, later on.

Also, I'll just say it here, because this is just me spitballing but it's on topic. I get the feeling this scene might have been foreshadowed by the Hundred Acre Woods story (and why was that world so SHORT, AAA-). I had my suspicions back in KH2 due to the amnesia subplot, and now feel pretty confident that the Hundred Acre Woods are meant to connect to Sora's perception of "home/childhood" and therefore his perception of Kairi as well. While ecstatic to see Pooh and gang in KH1 and KH2, here he was placating and ready to leave in KH3 (which was hilarious contrast to myself, btw, because I was more like "LFG" 😂). I thought it was perhaps just strange writing at first, but then the game goes out and says it when Sora considers how he feels his connection to everyone is weaker, and he's not sure why. And this is after Pooh is all "Welcome home," (KH2 ending, anyone) and worries about "forgetting [Sora] away" (Sora's absence making Pooh lose his place in his life, also alluding to KH2, possibly). Of course Sora doesn't like that and panics, because similarly to how Kairi struggles with change of character and circumstance, Sora struggles with the idea of relationships changing or growing apart- he's very stubborn about it. So, I appreciate Merlin saying the thing about relationships merely changing form, and that it's not the end of the world. Anyway, all of this is making me very morose, because it makes me think of all of those people you grew up with that you don't talk to much anymore but still think of fondly and would love to hear from them again, as you remember them in your mind's eye.

*shakes them* SORA. KAIRI. TALK TO EACH OTHER. SORA, LET KAIRI BE AT PEACE, HER SAD-ASS SOCIAL MEDIA POST THING ON THE LOADING SCREEN IS BUMMING ME OUT. Anyway, this is why I'm happy that Kairi is making friends with Axel/Lea, so she can have other people in her life that won't necessarily go galavanting into the universe and leave her behind at a moment's notice (/hj, no Sora hate, for real, just look at my blog, he's my favorite 'lil guy along with Roxas).

Uh, so... now I'm putting off progressing the story by getting chests and finding lucky emblems, lol. Right now, all my dudes are happy and taking a little break before they confront the baddies, and I'm slightly nervous to see if the game also delivers on the foreshadowing of the Disney Worlds also having a lot of dying in them. 😬 Obviously whatever happens will get fixed with the power of love and whatnot, but I don't exactly want the gang to go through more suffering than they've got to, lmao. And GIVE ME ROXAS AND XION ALREADY.

#kingdom hearts 3 first playthrough #kingdom hearts #kh3 #ngl the Sora & Kairi scene is probably one of my favorite cutscenes in this series haha it made me feel so weepy...

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h-worksrambles · 2 years

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Really cool to see the Kingdom Hearts pilot animatic get unearthed after all these years. And I’ve got to say…it’s actually really intriguing as an alternative take on Kingdom Hearts. Naturally, as someone who likes the first game the most, I’m gonna be a little biased towards an adaptation of that game. But there’s actually a lot of neat details that captured what I’ve kind of missed in the later entries. It’s really neat that they had all the same voice actors as the games, and their deliveries were all on point. Arguably better than they sound in the games.

If there is a fault, it’s probably how rushed it feels. This thing’s only 10 minutes long and yet in that time it tries to cover:

The basic premise of the series,

The loss of the Destiny Islands,

The Agrabah world,

AND the start of Riku’s descent into darkness.

That’s a HUGE amount to cover in only 10 minutes and it does feel really rushed. But there are certain things like this got right that I kind of wish were in the games. Most notably, the characters. It’s interesting to look back on Sora’s more mellow, reserved characterisation in the first game, before his goofiness and cheerfulness was really turned up to eleven in the sequels. And I liked how they walked the line between Riku being smug, flawed and brash like he was in the first game but making it clear how much he cared about his friends. Like, god that hug is absolutely precious. Why can’t these two hug like that more in canon? If there’s a change I’m not wild on, it’s Sora seemingly starting with the Keyblade and dealing with the responsibility of being a ‘hero’. Since the fact that Sora ISN’T a chosen one who the Keyblade originally picked out is kind of the point (no shut up, Dark Road). But again, that might come down to stuff being cut to fit a ten minute pilot. Maybe a full series would have delved into that, I dunno.

In general, the friendship between Sora, Riku and Kairi is really well done, considering they’re together for like a minute. Like, yeah, of course me being the Sorikai trash I am, I’m gonna notice that but still. God bless this animatic for managing to give Kairi a lot of sass and charm even in such a short time. Like yeah, girl, you kick that Heartless! Like, even without the context of the first game I’d buy how much Sora cares about both of these two. And there’s other little characterisation flourishes that I like. Maleficent being wonderfully hammy and evil and girlbossing her way all over Jafar. Goofy in general is kind of a delight a here? He’s funny and simple, sure but he’s also got his more heartfelt side that you see in stuff like A Goofy Movie, that I always wish KH would have leaned into more. Even the way he fights looks like something out of a Disney slapstick routine which is kind of perfect for Donald and Goofy.

It feels like, had this cartoon seen the light of day, this version would have leaned more into the Disney aspect of Kingdom Hearts. And whether that’s better or worse depends on your perspective. But watching it did remind me of a lot of the things that made Kingdom Hearts 1 so special to me. The sense of adventure. The initial charm of the Disney crossover. The interactions behind this smaller cast of characters. The simplicity with a ton of heart behind it. And given that now we’re at a point where, for better or worse, KH is more over the top and anime esque than ever, the Disney aspect has been all but forgotten and the evermore complicated plot feels like it’s placed on a higher priority by the writers than the characters, this did capture the feel of the series early days.

It’s not really enough to judge whether this show would have been good, but this did still manage to make me wish this had seen the light of day. Give it a watch if you’re a Kingdom Hearts fan, especially if you’re a fan of the first one in particular.

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts pilot

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seekingdandelions · 1 year

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Does Kingdom Hearts BBS Pass the Bechdel Test?

Kingdom Hearts is one of the most well-known video game franchises of the 2000s. It’s notorious for long development times, being somewhat jarring (seeing Donald Duck in the same vicinity as Sephiroth is wild), and having a very complicated story.

What it isn’t well known for, are its strong, female characters.

The series has a few female characters - such as Kairi, who’s been around since the first instalment - but the number of male characters leaves them drastically outnumbered. However, in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep we finally saw a female-led adventure… sort of.

Birth by Sleep has three playable characters, and the player has to choose whose story to follow. To get the full story, all three routes should be played. The protagonists of this game are; Aqua, Terra, and Ventus.

Enter Aqua, the female protagonist for the title. Aqua has a few core qualities; she’s responsible, kind and deeply cares for her friends. Of the three, she is the only main character to be given the title of ‘Keyblade Master’, suggesting that she is the most skilled of the three key-slinging heroes.

The Bechdel Test is one of the most well-known metrics for the representation of women in media. It is most commonly applied to films, but it can also be applied to books and video games. On the whole, it’s theoretically easier for a video game to pass the Bechdel Test, especially when compared with film. Video games tend to have longer run times, and so, more opportunities to pass it.

Because Kingdom Hearts is intrinsically tied to Disney properties, there are quite a few female Disney characters in the game (Cinderella, Snow White, and Aurora, to name a few). Now, that raises an important question: Of the Kingdom Hearts exclusive characters in this title, how many are female?

Three of them. In this game, there are only three original Kingdom Hearts characters.

Aqua, Kairi and Kairi’s Grandma.

For context, there are fifteen male characters of exclusive Kingdom Hearts origin. To list them all off we have:

Ventus, Terra, Master Eraqus, Sora, Riku, Xehanort (both young and old, since they’re sorta two different characters… and Terra-nort too), Ansem the Wise, Aeleus, Braig, Dilan, Even, Ienzo, Isa, Lea and Vanitas.

That ratio doesn’t look too good, does it?

Now that we’re familiar with the situation, let’s go over the rules of the Bechdel Test:

The piece of media must have more than two female characters

Both of these characters should be named

They have to engage in a conversation about something other than a man

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep contains fourteen worlds, though two of them don’t have any story behind them (one is exclusively a board game). For this little ‘investigation’, let’s split this up by world. How many of them pass the Bechdel Test?

For the sake of clarity, we’ll just investigate Aqua’s story, since she’s the focus of this little experiment. Interactions between two female Disney characters won't count either, as most of those come from their source material. Additionally, we’ll cross rule one from the list, as both Kairi and Aqua are named, as well as the cast of Disney characters.

We’ve got approximately three hours of cutscenes to comb through; let’s get started.

There are a few worlds that we can cross off straight away, as they don’t have any female characters in them, with Aqua being the exception. Destiny Islands, Keyblade Graveyard, Land of Departure, Mysterious Tower and Olympus Coliseum are out of the running.

Five worlds eliminated already. That was fast.

Once Aqua leaves the hub world, we head to Castle of Dreams.

After wandering around for a bit, Aqua finally gets stopped by the Fairy Godmother. The two discuss light and darkness (classic Kingdom Hearts banter) making that the first pass. Lady Tremaine briefly asks Aqua why she’s in her house (a valid concern), but that doesn’t quite cut it as a conversation. Just before she leaves the world, she talks to the Fairy Godmother once more. It’s worth noting that Aqua does briefly speak the Cinderella, but it’s about Terra and isn’t long enough to be considered a true ‘conversation’.

The next world is Dwarf Woodlands, Snow White’s already eaten the apple, so Aqua walks in on her funeral. A bit awkward, but still, we press on. There isn’t an awful lot in this world; Aqua and Snow White never really interact, and Aqua doesn’t see the Evil Queen at any point. Unfortunately, this world fails the test.

Moving onto Enchanted Dominion, Aqua arrives at the castle. She finds Maleficient pretty quickly, and the two talk about the power of the keyblade. Terra pops up a few times in the conversation, but it’s not enough to void it. The two chat again towards the end of the story, so Enchanted Dominion hits the pass requirements.

Next up is Radiant Garden, home to Kairi and her unnamed grandmother. Aqua meets Kairi, who’s running away from the Unversed (this game’s stand-in for Heartless). Mickey Mouse helps Aqua defeat them, and Kairi doesn’t say anything. After a nail-biting wait, Kairi finally speaks, offering Aqua flowers. They have a very wholesome conversation, which is probably the most interesting conversation we’ve seen, as far as the Bechdel Test is concerned. Kairi runs over to her grandmother, and she tells Kairi a story. Radiant Garden passes with flying colours.

Next, we’re off to Disney Town! Minnie Mouse introduces herself to Aqua, and it’s a quick win. Aqua saves the day, Minnie banishes Pete to another dimension, and we’re on our way.

After Olympus Coliseum (which is a skip), it’s Deep Space time. The only other female character here is the Grand Councilwoman, and in a pleasant turn of events, the two actually cross paths. Deep Space also gets the stamp of approval. As far as the Disney characters go, this is probably the strongest female interaction we’ve seen so far. The two actually talk a few times before Aqua has to leave.

After Aqua leaves Deep Space, she visits Neverland. The only other female character there is Tinkerbell… who doesn’t actually talk. Well, she can communicate, but Peter Pan seems to be the only one that can understand her. So, this world gets marked down as a fail.

Neverland is the last of the Disney worlds, so Aqua rounds off her journey by visiting Destiny Islands, Mysterious Tower (technically a Disney world, but it’s mainly relevant to Kingdom Hearts, so it’ll be counted as such), and then Keyblade Graveyard. Those three have already been crossed off, so that brings us to the end of our investigation.

Of the twelve investigated world, five pass the Bechdel Test, whereas, seven do not. Of these worlds, the only Kingdom Hearts original world to pass was Radiant Garden.

So… what does this actually mean? Is Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep suddenly sexist? Not necessarily, no. It just shows the underwhelming representation of female characters throughout the game, reflecting the franchise’s issue with it on the whole.

Throughout the Kingdom Hearts series, the only original female characters seen (within console releases, because I don’t mess with the mobile games) are; Kairi, Naminé, Aqua, Xion, Larxene/Elrena, Olette, Ava, Invi, Kairi’s Grandma and Strelitzia (who has appeared in trailer form only… unless we’re counting that one time where she was probably a star). When compared with the number of original male characters (which is way too many to get into), this is a staggeringly low amount of female characters. This is rather odd, given that Disney properties contain an array of iconic and fleshed-out female characters. Why was this skipped on Kingdom Hearts?

Of these listed female characters, a lot of them are side characters, who have only had a little bit of screen time. Ava’s only appearance outwith the mobile games is in Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover, which is a collection of cutscenes. Kairi’s Grandma gets limited screen time, and Olette is only marginally better, being locked to Twilight Town.

The Bechdel Test isn’t the be-all and end-all of female representation; it’s ultimately just an example of how low the bar is for women in media. It isn’t hard to have two named women converse about something other than the men in their life, and yet so many pieces of media fail the Bechdel Test. Whenever a piece of media passes the Bechdel Test, it shouldn’t be commended on that alone.

It’s the bare minimum.

Following from that hellishly low bar, a piece of media can pass the Bechdel Test, and can still put forward a bad portrayal of women.

The worlds in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (again, limited to Aqua’s story) fail the Bechdel Test more times than they pass it, but that’s purely down to a lack of female characters. The majority of the original male characters present in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep are future organisation members; an organisation that only ever had two female characters (Larxene and Xion). Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep’s shortcomings are products of the entire franchise’s shortcomings.

We can only hope that as the plot of Kingdom Hearts grows, its representation of female characters can improve over time.

The first Kingdom Hearts game was released in 2002. Change is long overdue.

(Originally posted on https://seekingdandelions.weebly.com/)

#kingdom hearts #birth by sleep #kh bbs #aqua kh #analysis #long reads #bechdel test

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monstrouspegasister · 1 year

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Fanganronpa ideas

ATTENTION ASPIRING FANGAN MAKERS!!!

Would you like an idea for a future fangan, free of charge? Well, your wish is my command! Here are all the fangan ideas I’ve devised but for one reason or anohter, decided to abandon (mostly cuz I’ve thought of another idea!) Make sure you credit me, first!

(Author’s note: All these character suggestions are just that- suggestions. Feel free to include or exclude any of them. Also, if you think one of the characters isn’t given the right Ultimate Talent, you’re welcome to change it.)

Disney Princess fangan

MC: Snow White, Aurora, Sofia, or Elena

Snow White: [Royal Talent undecided]

Cinderella: Royal Maid

Tinker Bell: Royal Inventor

Aurora: Royal Lucky Student

Ariel: Royal Anthropologist

Belle: Royal Librarian

Jasmine: [Royal Talent undecided]

Pocahontas: Royal Survivalist (Author’s note: If you plan on including Pocahontas, I wouldn’t recommend killing her off. Her real-life counterpart has already been through enough. :[ )

Mulan: Royal Soldier

Tiana: Royal Restraunteur

Rapunzel: Royal Artist

Merida: Royal Archer

Vanellope: Royal Gamer

Moana: Royal Wayfinder

Raya: Royal Explorer

(Author’s note: Feel free to exclude anyone listed here and / or include other Disney heroines (Esmeralda, Kida, Mirabel, Asha, etc.)

Super Ronpa Bros

Super Smash Bros Ultimate fangan

MC: It’s all up to you!

Mario: Ultimate Plumber

Luigi: Ultimate Ghost Hunter

Peach, Daisy, and / or Zelda: Ultimate Princess

Bowser and / or Ganondorf: Ultimate Villain

Wario: Ultimate Microgame Developer

Link: Ultimate Hero

Samus: Ultimate Bounty Hunter

Star Fox, Falco, and / Or Wolf: Ultimate Space Pilot

Mr. Game and Watch: Ultimate Jack-Of-All-Trades

Solid Snake: Ultimate Secret Agent

Meta Knight: Ultimate Knight

Villager: Ultimate Mayor

Isabelle: Ultimate Secretary

Sonic: Ultimate Speedster

Olimar: Ultimate Astronaut

Little Mac: Ultimate Boxer

Steve: Ultimate Miner

Joker: Ultimate Detective

Sora: Ultimate Keyblade Wielder

My Little Danganronpa

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fangan

MC: It’s all up to you!

Twilight Sparkle: Ultimate Princess

Applejack: Ultimate Farmer

Bon Bon- Ultimate Spy (Sh: s revealed as Secret Agent Sweetie Drops later on. :3)

Cheerilee:Ultimate Teacher

Coco Pommel: Ultimate Assistant

Coloratura, Sapphire Shores, and / or Songbird Serenade: Ultimate Pop Sensation

Octavia Melody: Ultimate Cellist

Pinkie Pie: Ultimate Party Planner

Photo Finish: Ultimate Photographer

Suri Polomare: Ultimate Fashion Designer

Zecora: Ultimate Alchemist

Fluttershy- Ultimate Veterinarian

Rainbow Dash: Ultimate Daredevil

Lyra Heartstrings: Ultimate Anthropologist

Starlight Glimmer: Ultimate Prodgiy

Trixie Lulamoon: Ultimate Stage Magician

Vinyl Scratch- Ultimate DJ

If I get any more ideas, I’ll let you know!

#danganronpa #fanganronpa #shut up monstrous

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bccfggffbgv · 2 years

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For 1., that makes more sense

For 2., that does make some sense, though Oswald (and a lot of Disney toons, actually) haven’t actually shown the same degree of “Toonforce” (how cartoony they are and how much they utilize it, in a sense) than, say, Bugs Bunny or Popeye (namely Popeye after eating spinach), but I will let some leeway be here (Perhaps having it so Oswald is technically the strongest, but the likes of Mickey and Bugs Bunny are still close enough that graphing it would put them visibly close enough to warrant a close up to show the not-so-massive gap, notable but not overly massive.) On that note, nothing says Mickey doesn’t have his Keyblade…

For 3., that’s fair, and as for how my WoL would react…well…in FFXIV, the WoL isn’t easily dissuaded from doing what they see fit to do, especially when it’s stopping evil. They will find a way given time (heck, I’ve been thinking of having a “finale” for the Adventureverse that transitions it to the Cosmicverse (involving Zodiark), so perhaps we could have the start of my WoL’s involvement in the Cosmicverse (to which it would still be under the Adventureverse tag once we get there, and we’re not quite there yet) be finding the method used to keep them out, busting down whatever Sam has put up to keep my WoL from returning, and leads to a bunch of shattered zombies and a spark of hope that is made alongside sparks of hope from the other heroes rising up once more.

Speaking of Keyblades, certain heroes now have their own keyblades...It was very alarming for them when that happened.

Unrelated note, There are actually still some enemy factions remaining within the Cosmicverse: The Savage Scavengers, The Syndicate of Steel, The Neo Hive, The Grave Walkers, and The Null Order (The remaining Gray Horde members that always hide within the shadows).

(Here's his response to Bradley's return)

Cosmic Sam, as he spoke through one of his Sadistic Vessels: So you've managed to break through my banishment spell I see...That was your most biggest and most fatal mistake yet...I will make you regret coming back to "My" world and interfering with my plans, dwarf.

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maddrmatt · 3 years

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A Beautiful Future: A Premonition or a Punishment? (SoKai Week 2021)

Greetings readers and fellow SoKai fans! It is I, the Mad Doctor, participating in SoKai Week for the second year running. This year, I have a special multichapter story that will be posted throughout the week. It’s going to be quite an emotional rollercoaster that I hope you all enjoy!

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Chapter 1: Two Hearts Become One

Radiant Garden

Dressed in an elegant white suit with golden highlights, Sora gazed over Mickey’s head at the long aisle ahead of him. It was going to be quite a walk. But it was going to be one worth taking given what was going to happen at the end.

Just then, music filled the air and Mickey began his walk. Once the mouse king was far enough ahead, Sora followed after him. ‘Okay. Here it goes. No pressure. It’s only the happiest day of Kairi’s and my life.’

As he walked, Sora took in his surroundings and marveled at how different the setting was from when, on occasion, he would picture his wedding day. ‘If the Keyblade had never come to me and I had never got caught up in my adventures, we probably would’ve been getting married in a simple beachside ceremony on the Islands with just family and friends from there. I never thought it would be in another world. Especially in front of a crowd like this.’

The Radiant Garden chapel that the ceremony was taking place in was indeed far from a beach setting. It had needed to be magically expanded to accommodate all the various friends from around the worlds that he made on his many adventures. There was even a giant screen hovering up front in the air so the guests could see the altar no matter where they were in the chapel.

There had probably never been such a gathering of guests in the entire history of the worlds. It was composed of various humans, animals (both regular and anthropomorphic), monsters, magical beings, artificial constructs and other kinds. And all of them looked incredibly happy to be there to witness this happy occasion.

Hercules pumped his fist. Rapunzel’s eyes were wet with happy tears. Stitch shot him one of his toothiest smiles. Jack Sparrow gave a salute.

Sora smiled at all of them as he passed by. ‘We may be shattering the World Order to bits for this wedding. But I’m so glad they could all be here today. Because they’re not just friends. All of them are family.’

Finally, Sora reached the altar and stood before Mickey. The mouse had never looked more like a king since he was dressed in his most official robes. It was fitting because he was the officiant for the ceremony.

‘Never would have imagined that we’d be getting married by a king who’s a giant mouse,’ thought Sora as he turned around and gazed down the aisle as his groomsmen, all dressed in matching black suits, approached.

Fittingly, the first groomsman to arrive was also the very first person Sora had helped in his lifetime. ‘I’d barely been born when I saved Ven. And because of him, I gained the Keyblade and became the hero the worlds and Kairi needed.”

Then came his former Nobody. ‘Roxas certainly earned his spot among my groomsmen. He gave up his existence to wake me up so I could stop the first Organization.’

Sora gave a little chuckle as he saw how identical Ven and Roxas were in their suits. ‘They truly do look like twin brothers. I can’t believe how many of the guests here really thought they were that.’

After Roxas, came the two who had been with Sora through nearly every step of his adventures. Donald and Goofy looked like proud parents seeing as how they had long considered Sora to be like another nephew and another son respectively.

‘An anthropomorphic duck and dog among my groomsmen. Now there’s something I definitely never thought I would have at my wedding. But I never would’ve gotten anywhere without them. Not that I would tell Donald that. Goofy maybe. But not Donald. He’d never let me hear the end of it.’

Then Riku came down the aisle. As he took his place right beside Sora, the two of them exchanged smiles.

‘Riku, I’m so happy that through everything that’s happened, our friendship not only endured but got even stronger. You’re my brother in everything but blood and there’s no one else I’d choose to be my best man.’

Now that all the groomsmen were in place, it was now time for the bridesmaids to come down the aisle. ‘My bride really didn’t have a lot of female friends when we were growing up on the Islands. Now, thanks to our adventures, she has plenty to fill her bridesmaids’ ranks,’ thought Sora.

The first bridesmaid to arrive, dressed in a pink dress that they were all wearing, came Olette. ‘She was probably the first person to call our story a romantic one. How right she was.’

Xion was next. ‘Her appearance is living proof that my strongest memories were always of Kairi.’

Following Xion was none other than the blue haired Keyblade master who was ultimately responsible for him meeting the love of his life. ‘I can never thank you enough for setting us up to meet, Aqua.’

Then came Kairi’s former Nobody. ‘I’m so glad that Naminè didn’t want to wake me up without my memories of Kairi. Although, I wish there had been a better way that wouldn’t have required Roxas and Xion to make sacrifices. Oh well. It all worked out in the end.’

Finally, came the maid of honor. ‘She may have been uninvolved in our adventures. But Selphie’s been Kairi’s oldest female friend, so she deserves to be maid of honor.’

Sora then gazed to the front rows of seats where the groups from Disney Castle, Radiant Garden, Twilight Town and Shibuya were all seated. In the very first row was Master Yen Sid, Terra, Axel, Isa, Hayner, Pence, Tidus and Wakka as well as his parents, Hayley and Jones who looked extremely proud of their boy.

‘Mom, Dad, I hope that our marriage turns out as wonderful as yours.’

Next to come up the aisle, was Pluto with Jiminy Cricket riding on top of his head. The dog had a cushion clutched in his mouth which upon it were two paopu fruits each in the middle of a crown of flowers. In the cricket’s hands was a cushion with two golden rings.

Once Pluto had reached the altar, he walked up to Selphie, who reached down and took one of the rings from Jiminy’s cushion. The dog then walked up to Riku who took the remaining ring. With the rings having been delivered to the maid of honor and best man, Pluto assumed a sitting position next to Riku until the time came for his next duty.

Then the music changed. All the guests rose to their feet.

After a short while, Sora’s eyes widened. Coming down the aisle, preceded by Chirithy who was scattering flower petals and between her adoptive parents Parker and Dorothy, was his bride.

Kairi was dressed in a lovely white sleeveless wedding gown. Golden designs were stitched into the fabric with an elaborate shape of a heart on her chest. Her hair had been done up in a bun and she was wearing a tiara with seven shimmering white heart-shaped jewels. In her hands, she carried a bouquet of flowers. Her eyes were bright with happiness and her lips wore a radiant smile.

‘She’s so beautiful,’ thought Sora.

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‘He’s so handsome,’ thought Kairi as she and her parents reached the altar with Chirithy taking its place beside Selphie.

The music faded and the guests resumed sitting. It was time for the ceremony to begin.

“Welcome all honored friends and family from around the worlds. We are gathered here on this most joyous day to witness the joining of Sora and Kairi in the sacred union of marriage. Who presents this woman to be married?” asked Mickey.

“Her father and I do, with all our hearts and with every blessing,” said Dorothy.

“We also say this on behalf of her birth parents and grandmother who sadly could not be here today but would surely be so proud of her,” said Parker solemnly.

A bittersweet feeling came over the bride. ‘I hope, wherever they are, they’re very proud. I just know they would’ve loved Sora especially after hearing about everything he’s done for me.’

Kairi handed her bouquet to Selphie and exchanged a loving embrace with each of her parents. ‘I can never thank you enough for taking me in, Mom and Dad. You’ve been the most wonderful parents I could ask for. I love you both so much.’

The bride then walked over to the groom’s side. Sora was then suddenly embraced by Kairi’s parents.

“Keep taking care of her, Sora,” whispered Parker.

“Just like you always have,” added Dorothy.

“I will. I promise,” Sora responded back as Kairi’s parents broke their embrace and headed for their seats.

‘And there’s never been a promise that you’ve failed to keep, my soon-to-be husband,’ thought Kairi as she took Sora’s hands into her own as Mickey started up again.

“What we are witnessing this day is the next step in what has been an incredible journey. Sora and Kairi began this journey as childhood friends. But although they were young, the light of love was present right from the start and it continued to grow over time. That light has guided them through many trials and tribulations throughout their lives. And now they have reached this day when their hearts, which have always shared a special bond, will now truly become one,” said the mouse king.

‘It certainly has been quite a ride for us, Sora. But everything that we’ve gone through, even the darkest times, has been worth it. Even more worth it since it has finally led us here to this day,’ thought Kairi.

“Sora, Kairi, your love and devotion for one another is greatly admirable. But while marriage is a beautiful symbol of that love, it is a commitment not to be taken lightly as you go through all the challenges that life will throw at you. But there is no doubt among anyone present here that the two of you will rise to meet those challenges together,” continued Mickey.

Kairi smiled at her groom who smiled back. ‘As many of our friends have said, when we’re together, Sora, there is nothing we can’t do.’

“Now, let us hear you both recite your vows of love for one another. And as Keyblade Masters, it is tradition to swear them on your Keyblades. Sora?” asked Mickey.

As he had been instructed by the Keyblade Masters, Sora released one of his hands from Kairi’s, held it out and summoned Kingdom Key eliciting a gasp from several of the guests. Planting the tip to the floor and kneeling down while not once breaking eye contact with Kairi or releasing her hand.

‘Okay, Kairi. Let’s keep it together. You don’t want to start crying and ruin Selphie’s hard work on your makeup. No matter how wonderful Sora’s vow is undoubtedly going to be,’ Kairi thought as the love of her life began.

“Kairi, when my adventures began, what kept me going was the thought of reuniting with the people I hold dear at the end. But looking back, I realize while that was true, it was not entirely accurate because the one I was fighting hardest to reunite with has always truly been you. You’ve always been the one who inspires me to be the best I can be, and you’ve always been the light that leads me out of the darkness and back to where I’m meant to be: where I can hear you laugh, see you smile and just be where we can share our lives and our love. So, this is my vow to you. As your husband, I will stand by your side in all things that may come our way whether it be fighting together to protect the worlds from the darkness or raising a family of our own. I will laugh with you in the good times and comfort you in the bad times. And most of all, I will love you now and forever even beyond the time we part for good.”

Kairi had bee successfully in refraining from crying. But it had been no easy task. Sora’s wonderful words of love had imbued her with immense joy.

As Sora rose and dismissed his Keyblade, Mickey turned to Kairi and said, “Kairi?”

‘Sora, that was absolutely beautiful. I only hope my own vow will touch your heart in the same way you’ve just touched mine.’

Like what Sora did earlier, Kairi held out her hand and summoned Destiny’s Embrace. She planted the tip on the floor and kneeled down while her eyes gazed into Sora’s while keeping one of her hands in his. It was fortunate that her gown had been designed so she had no trouble kneeling down for this part.

“Sora, when I first met you, it was during one of the darkest times of my life. There I was: a lost little girl whose home world was swallowed by the darkness and had been sent away to a strange new one with no memory other than her own name. And then there was you: a boy with the brightest smile who opened his heart to me and helped me build a wonderful new life. I don’t know what would have happened to me had you not become the friend that I needed. I realize now that it was not some random chance that we met. It was destiny. Destiny brought us together. Destiny always reunited us whenever we were separated. And now, destiny has led us here where our hearts will be united. And so, to you, I vow that I will support you in everything from the responsibilities as Keyblade Masters to bringing up our future children. I will always cheer you on and be your source of strength. And most importantly, I will love and cherish you for the entirety of our lifetime and beyond.”

Kairi looked into Sora’s eyes and saw a tear welled up in it. He too was clearly struggling to not make a scene. Her heart warmed to see that her vow had indeed succeeded in touching his heart.

Mickey wiped away a tear of his own from his eye as Kairi dismissed her Keyblade and rose up. “Those vows were beautiful, both of you. You should both be very proud,” he whispered to the bride and groom.

The mouse king then regained his composure and continued on with the ceremony. “The groom and the bride shall now exchange their rings.”

Sora turned away from Kairi. Riku immediately handed Sora the ring. After shooting his oldest friend a look of gratitude, he turned toward his future wife and took her hand into his.

“Kairi, wear this ring as a symbol of my oath to love you and my wish for the wonderful lifetime for both of us,” he said as he slipped the ring on her finger.

Kairi gazed at the ring. Engraved upon it, was a perfect recreation of the drawing from the Secret Place. A drawing that had evolved from simple childhood artwork to a foretelling of a very important moment in their lives.

‘Those Moogles certainly are quite the artists,’ thought Kairi.

“Kairi?” whispered Selphie snapping Kairi out of her thoughts.

‘Oh! Right! Time for me to give Sora his so we match!’

Kairi turned to her maid of honor who passed the ring to her. After giving her oldest gal pal a slightly embarrassed smile, she turned to her groom and took his hand.

“Sora, wear this ring as a symbol of my oath to love you and my wish for the wonderful lifetime for both of us,” said the bride as she slipped the ring onto the groom’s finger.

Mickey smiled. “And now, before we conclude the ceremony, there are two unification rituals that we shall observe. They are traditions that come from the two worlds represented here. First, from the bride’s world of birth, Radiant Garden, the flower crowns.”

Pluto left Riku’s side and moved until he stood before the bride and groom. With a smile of gratitude to the dog, Sora and Kairi reached down and each took one of the flower crowns off of the cushion.

“Entwined in these crowns, are three kinds of flowers. First, the yellow sunflowers represent your friendship, which was where the two of you began. Next, the pink carnations represent your love for each other that grew from your friendship and led you here. And finally, the white daisies represent the brand-new beginning of a whole new journey that two of you will share together in your love. Sora, Kairi, on this day, wear these crowns as symbols of everything your marriage encompasses.”

At the end of Mickey’s words, Sora raised the crown in hands and gently lowered it down onto Kairi’s head, careful not to disturb or obscure her tiara. Once he had finished, Kairi did the same, managing to get the crown past his usual spiky hairstyle that she loved so much.

Kairi then heard what sounded to be some snickers that could have come from either the audience or the groomsmen. Clearly the sight of Sora wearing the flower crown had amused some.

She shook her head with a small smile. ‘I can imagine he might be getting teased after the ceremony likely from Riku, Donald, Axel, Wakka or Tidus. I’ll have to remedy that by assuring him just how adorable he looks.’

“Now, for the tradition from the Destiny Islands. And it is one that carries a certain significance for Sora and Kairi: the sharing of the paopu fruits,” Mickey continued.

Once again, Sora and Kairi reached down to Pluto’s cushion. This time, they took the two star-shaped fruits from it.

“For those who do not know, there is a legend from the Islands that when two people share these fruits, their destinies are bound together, and they remain a part of each other’s lives no matter what. While Sora and Kairi have shared these fruits before, they will do so again here on their wedding day to renew and strengthen that bond.”

With that, Sora and Kairi began to reach their fruits to the other’s mouth. As they inched closer, they both recalled the day before their fight against Xehanort on the paopu tree, where they shared them for the first time.

‘Even if what followed that day were things we’d rather forget, the moment we first shared these fruits will always be one of our most treasured memories. But, this time, I know for sure that there’s nothing but good and wonderful things to come after we share them today,’ thought Kairi.

Finally, the fruits reached their mouths and simultaneously, Sora and Kairi took a bite out of the other’s. After chewing and swallowing, they returned the fruits to Pluto’s cushion. As the dog returned to Riku’s side, the couple took each other’s hands once again and faced Mickey.

Mickey gave them a smile. “Sora, Kairi, you have pledged your vows. You have exchanged your rings. You have crowned each other with the symbolic flowers. And you have strengthened the bond of your destinies with the paopu fruit. So, by the power vested in me as the king of Disney Castle, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Sora, you may kiss your bride.”

Sora took Kairi into his arms and the two of them exchanged the brightest smiles they ever shown. Their feelings of happiness could not be greater now that their hearts had been joined together.

‘It’s time, Sora. Time to make another memory to treasure for the rest of our lives.’

Closing their eyes and preparing for the thunderous applause that would soon fill the chapel, they slowly inched their faces closer together.

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But alas, the memory never came to be because the kiss never happened. At this exact moment, the wonderful dream had ended, and the dreamer woke up to a reality that was far less bright.

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Notes from the Mad Doctor:

As much as I hated to cut short what would have been a very lovely SoKai moment, it was necessary due to the path this story is going to take.

I really had to do some heavy research to make this feel like a believable wedding ceremony. I really hope I pulled it off and I hope you all liked what I included as special unification rituals. I always felt the paopu fruits would be used in Destiny Islands’ weddings and I also imagined flowers would play a part in Radiant Garden’s wedding ceremonies on account of the world’s name.

I was thinking, for the music that would play at this wedding, they’d use a new wedding rendition of Dearly Beloved for when Sora and the wedding party are coming down the aisle and an instrumental of Don’t Think Twice for the bride’s entrance. Any thoughts and ideas of your own, readers?

Now, I have mentioned this before in my other stories. But for the benefit of any new readers, I’ll mention it again. Since I couldn’t come up with good Kingdom Hearts-ish sounding names for Sora and Kairi’s parents, I decided to name them after recurring actors from Disney live-action movies. Here are their derivations:

Hayley, Sora’s Mother: Hayley Mills from Pollyanna and The Parent Trap (also doubles as a reference to Haley Joel Osment)

Jones, Sora’s Father: Dean Jones from the Herbie the Love Bug film series

Parker, Kairi’s Father: Fess Parker from Davey Crockett and Old Yeller

Dorothy, Kairi’s Mother: Dorothy McGuire from Swiss Family Robinson and Old Yeller

I give my thanks to whoever reads this chapter.

I’d also like to give a special thank you to my sister-in-law for helping me with picking out the best flowers for the flower crowns. I couldn’t have done it without her!

Comments, likes and reblogs are much appreciated! Stay tuned for we’ll be exploring what the subtitle of this story means as we go along!

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Onto the next chapter!

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neoyi · 3 years

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More Kingdom Hearts II talk, more light and dark, and more Disney shilling. This covers my trip to Halloween Town, Pride Lands, and TRON. Sora gets terribly Too Whimsical For His Own Good during these portions.

*I like the new Christmas costumes and music for the Final Mix add on, but Sora essentially dressed as Goth Santa Claus is an experience. On the other side, Donald’s alternate costume is probably the least cursed out of all his alternate costume.

*While I find it darling that Sora is ecstatic to meet Santa Claus, his enthusiasm sometimes borders on exaggeration. I’ve heard Sora gets more and more whimsical in each new iteration and I’m not saying the kid wouldn’t be squealing to meet Santa Claus, I’m just saying I don’t think KH1 Sora was anywhere near as cheerful as this Sora is.

*This reoccurs again during his trip to the Pride Lands where he decides he wants to be their King and that’s that. No thoughts on getting back to Destiny’s Island where Kairi is. No thoughts on Riku. He only drops this mentality when Rafiki shuts him down and just goes on as normal.

It’s just oddly detached and ratchets up both Sora’s flakiness. He wasn’t a smart cookie, but a lot of his reactions to events and characters in the first game felt realistic or appropriate for his age. Sora sometimes feels like a cookie with extra frosty on top in KHII.

*So Sora is in Santa Claus’ list, implying this particular Santa accounts for any kids who believes in him in Sora’s World. Does this mean Nightmare Before Christmas Santa Claus exists in Sora’s world? Does that mean Halloween Town does as well? Or does Santa’s work transcend the multidimensional? How does this Santa keep up with multiple dimensional Christmas trips if we’re to assume he’s in charge of ALL worlds that believe in him? What kind of Christmas magic are you pulling out of your ass, old man?

*The game seem to imply the events of The Nightmare Before Christmas already took place (least, some of the dialogue indicate familiarity between Jack and Santa Claus), yet Jack is up to his shenanigans again to accidentally fuck up Christmas and all I can think about is this Spongebob meme:

*I remember Maleficent was woefully underused in this game and had me asking what even was the point of her rejuvenation, but I never realized how under-cooked her plans are. She doesn’t seem to have an overreaching goal. One minute she’s trying to secure a new castle for herself, the next she’s gung-ho after Sora and pals. I think the implication is that she’s trying to regain her foothold after Sora and friends thoroughly trashed her Disney Villain Club back in KH1, but with bigger fish to fry and little sign of any advances from her end, she just feels like a useless sock hung off to dry.

*Look man, I know Sora’s not the brightest bulb on the island, but he can’t be that dumb to mistake hyenas for Heartless. Can he?

*The sound effect whenever the Oathkeeper strikes is kind of ear-piercing for me. I do not like it.

*Pride Lands recaps the latter half of The Lion King, but in a twist I really liked, most of it was from Nala’s perspective. It’s Nala who meets Sora and friends first and it’s Nala’s journey to find Simba and defeat Scar that we are privy to. While there isn’t anything revolutionary with the narrative or Nala’s character, it’s really nice to see things from her viewpoint before Sora meets Simba proper.

*Square Enix had to cut the “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” sequence because Disney told them Simba is a hero and they can’t have him do that or otherwise they won’t be able to sell toys.

*Christ, I forgot Mufasa’s ghost is the conduit for Sora to unlock the next gate from the Pride Lands.

*You know, props for including the TRON mainframe. Like the movie (and its sequel/spin-offs) is decently out there to the public now, but it was still a cult classic only a select few really gave a shit about back in 2005 ("Did anyone see the movie TRON?"). I won’t even pretend for a second KHII didn’t introduce TRON to a lot of folks growing up with this game.

*But my god, Sora’s TRON helmet is really doofy. Look at how his hair is sticking out. It’s like he got bald and the helmet is covering up that portion.

*Sora and pals: no idea what terms like “Users”, “mainframe”, and “processing data” means. Somehow figures out “derezzed” - literally the only made up word here - means they’re done for. ...Sure, okay.

*Really cool they went out of their way to make sure every single keyblade also glows neon blue.

*Sad the TRON bike level is...kind of lame.

*It’s not a competition given Disney’s mandate strictly forbids most Disney Worlds to interact anymore than they’re allowed to within the central plot, but TRON bucks that trend. It’s pretty neat their world (once originally part of ENCOM) has since become Ansem’s primary computer mainframe to which he used to rule and build his kingdom with, the titular character serving as his chief programmer.

Tron goes through the whole “I am data, human logic does not compute, but I wish to learn” exploration, but he already show signs of understanding that we humans are pretty contradictory creatures and that we’re just as capable of throwing the curtain back - for good or ill. (This also neatly allows him to function as his own being instead of motivating his goodwill through sheer programming.) His relationship with Ansem both function as a benevolent tool and a limiter. He believed Ansem was capable of good and was thus programmed to preserve and save Hollow Bastion, but Ansem also brought in their main culprit - the MCP - to its system, something Tron is puzzled with since he isn’t aware of Ansem’s fate.

Since we already knew Ansem was once a King who eventually succumbed to the Darkness, this is honestly, pretty neat worldbuilding (Course, the wool will be pulled over again when we find out Ansem isn’t Ansem and...I’ll deal with that particular plot point later on because yeah, doozy.)

#kingdom hearts #neoyi talks #kingdom hearts II

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kathyrealmstales · 3 years

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NEW SMP THEORY! (I cracked the plot!)

Hello! I came up with a new theory, but this time I did some real work and I didn't just throw out random ideas. Crazy, right?

But seriously, I think I have a good theory for today.

Disclaimers: to begin with, spoilers for Dream SMP and Kingdom Heart. (Strange to see that game in a warning for the SMP, huh? Well, we will get to that soon.)

Also, just remember this is roleplay, all the actors are friends. If I see you trash-talking the actors you're being blocked. I don’t like hate.

I also wish to thank my sister for her assistance. I don't know much about the Kingdom Heart fandom except with what the Wiki tells me by watching my sister play it, so my sister had to suffer while I tried to find connections in a block game roleplay. Thank you so much, my loving sister.

Under this line is the theory! Hope you enjoy it!

------------------------------------THE START--------------------------

If you are familiar with the tales of the SMP, then you might already know a common theory.

The theory is that the TOTSMP area, "The In-between," is based on Castle Oblivion from Kingdom Heart. It looks exactly like the interior of the castle in the game, as well as the idea of losing memories. It's a cool easter egg.

However, my theory doesn't stop there, because I began to see more connections, making me believe that maybe the latest plot of the SMP is following a bit of Kingdom Heart plot.

Let me try to break it down into evidence and explanations.

In the latest episode of TOTSMP, Karl travels to this new world, escaping the "In-between" and going to this place called “The Other Side.” A strange name, but what is even stranger is that I felt I had already seen the castle before, so of course I did some research.

For starters, I noticed the In-between warned Karl that if he left, he would lose all of his memories, kind of like in Kingdom Heart when Sora went to that sleep state, he lost his memories. I thought there had to be a connection to the Kingdom Heart and this new world Karl was in now since it seemed to be following a pattern.

I tried to do more research by using Wiki and looking up other castles in the game that it could be. I came up with a few ideas, but none of them stuck. It just made no sense, so I went to the only person I know who knows Kingdom Heart more than me, my sister.

My sister and I love playing these games together, but while I'm just trying to figure how the game works (because of my love for coding), my sister listens to the plot and knows way more than I. Sure, we haven't finished all the games, but she knows enough to help me. So we got on the phone to figure out how this new world was connected, and when I left that call, I saw the Dream SMP in a whole new light.

- The Other Side evidence

We have an idea of what the Other Side looks like but that’s it. My sister believes it resembles the Hollow Bastion, which is intriguing. She claims it is linked to Castle Oblivion, but what makes it more interesting is that she said this place is also usually where the Kingdom Heart stories end. This got my attention since Dream hinted that the story’s end might be approaching soon. (I hope it's not-)

I then thought we had a good idea for the theory, a rather small one about the TOTSMP but a good one. So still wanting to talk to her, I told her why I was asking for her ideas, and then I explained the Dream SMP plot to her. The more we talked about the plot, though, the more my sister and I noticed parallels between the stories.

Eggpire evidence

To begin, we discussed the Egg People. I jokingly said, "Oh, does Kingdom Heart have mind-controlled people?" She replied, "if you count the heartless." Which shocked me because it makes the Egg People’s ability to pick who is controlled or not make so much sense!

You see, the Heartless are people without a heart (Hearts are similar to people's souls in the game, which is strange. But oh well). The heartless follow the rules of the Darkness. I'm not sure whom or what controls the Darkness, but I do know they are subjected to some sort of mind control or animal instinct. The most important aspect to consider is how they multiply. They seek out characters from whom they can steal hearts of so they can turn back into normal people. However, they need their own heart, not just a random one, so this method is ineffective and just makes more heartless.

Because of this information, I came up with a theory that may be the reason why the egg only works on certain people. I think it is the same reason why only some turn heartless. People with weak souls are usually turned, while people with more light in their souls are typically more difficult to turn to a heartless, implying that while Puffy and Sam had weak souls at the time, they are becoming stronger, making it more difficult for "darkness" or the egg to mind control them.

Also, this would explain why Tommy can't be mind-controlled at all; he is mostly made of light, and everyone sees him as the hero. It would just make sense; it’s really hard to control him.

Pandora’s box evidence

There seems to be a correlation with the prison. This one is probably my favorite because it makes the most sense to me.

Most theories believe the prison is similar to Pandora's Box, owing to the prison's name. However, Kingdom Heart had its own Pandora's Box, and no, I'm not referring to the one in Hercules' world. I'm talking about the box that was told to never be opened.

I don't know everything about Kingdom Heart, therefore, I can't go into great detail about this box like I did with the Heartless theory, but basically, the main dude who started the plot of Kingdom Heart had a bunch of apprentices, and he left them with a box that they were never supposed to open. Of course, the bad guys got the box and opened it, only to discover that it contained some time-traveling stuff, which caused some of the apprentices and The Keyblade of all Keybladeds to appear.

If we take that information and put it in place with Dream SMP characters, it looks like where the plot might be going. Dream is the main bad guy who opens the box with whatever he has. What emerges is Wilbur Soot, a man from the past, he takes the place of the apprentices and Tommy is the Keyblade of Keyblades.

What makes me believe Tommy is the Keyblade? I mean, It could be someone else, but the thing is, Dream keeps referring to Tommy as "the Key," and in Kingdom Heart, Sora is also referred to as "the Key." It's also possible that it could be Ranboo, since the key is made of both darkness and light, and Ranboo appears to look as if he is both, but this is all just speculation at this point.

Either way, I think we as a fandom were on the right track, thinking evil black boxes, just not Pandora’s box.

Organizations evidence

This is only tangentially related, but Kingdom Heart did have their group of evil bad guys whom, based on what I saw in the cut scenes, didn’t care if you show up to meetings or not. (basing this off of all those empty chairs. Then again, those chairs were really high up, I would miss meetings too if I had to sit in those things.)

Another thing to note about this organization is that they disliked higher authority, but this one opposed them because they were all about good and needed the princess's light, whereas the anarchist syndicate in the SMP were more anti-government. Nonetheless, both are going after government officials.

(The organization also had code names that were their real names, but with an X in them and scrambled around. They weren't as cool as the Anarchists Syndicate’s nicknames, but there was a connection.)

Now we'll look at the improbable evidence, as well as thoughts that might not make much sense.

Bad guys with correlations

The antagonist in Kingdom Heart had a bunch of copies of himself, procured with the help of time travel. I find this amusing, especially given that we know there are multiple Dreams in canon, including Dream, DreamXD, Mexican Dream, Girl Dream, and (possibly) Drista. It's almost as if he's the main antagonist, especially when considering the-- Norted thing, (that's what my sister called it. I'm not sure about the name, so we'll go with Norted Thing for now) The point is, he can control some people if they are willing, but they can rebel if they have strong hearts (again, I believe this is the case). This reminds me of Ranboo and his enderwalking state in which he hears Dream’s voice in his head. Again, just a hunch.

The plot is the same

This is the last piece of evidence I have, and it is the main fact from which I derived all of the connections. After my sister and I discussed the possibility of it being linked, I jokingly said during our call, "There are so many connections between the latest plot of the SMP and Kingdom Heart, The only difference I feel like they have is that the Dream SMP is all about how there is no bad or good, just greyscale, while Kingdom Heart is about dark vs light."

My sister responded, "It's the same thing. Most people believe it is dark vs. light, but the more you play the games, the more you realize it isn't. The majority of the characters begin as good or bad and gradually reveal their true selves. Nobody in the story is completely light or dark."

This shocked me because I always thought Kingdom Heart was about bad versus good. So now we've matched the main ideas as well!

Ohhh boy!

This is all I have for now. If you have anything to add, please send it to me as a comment or a submission, or simply make your own post and let me know so I can see it! (I know as I wrote this I found more connections, but I’m saving them for later.)

But, in any case, I believe you can see the idea--Dream SMP has some connections to the Kingdom Heart plot, assuming my theory is correct. It wouldn't be the first time. Dream SMP has loosely copied the Broadway show, Hamilton during the L'manburg war, and I know the writers like Disney at least for right now, so it makes sense.

I'm also going to leave you with this: Our Fandoms are the same, We get information that makes no sense and we have no idea where it fits in the puzzles, and we know (sometimes) the writers don't know either, so we just have to accept and enjoy it.

THAT IS ALL! GOOD DAY!

#smp theory #dsmp #dream smp #mcyt #theory #kingdom hearts #tales of the smp #just an idea

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davidmann95 · 4 years

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Let's rework the foundation of Kingdom Hearts to instead journey across the DC multiverse rather than the Disney/Final Fantasy worlds. Who would Sora's Goofy and Donald DC-equivalents be? Would they travel the multiverse in a Gummi Ship or in a Monitor Shift Ship? Would you rather each DC superhero get their own Earth (i.e. Superman Earth, Batman Earth, Swamp Thing Earth, Wildstorm Earth because DC is a very patchwork-y/disconnected universe) or follow the general pastiche model?

If we’re assuming this is full DC - all Disney and Square Enix elements excised, just the original elements - then it would probably be Lantern rings of some stripe in place of the Keyblades, but I’d rather we stuck with those as a wholly new element to the DCU equation and simply removed the little Mickey at the end of the keychain. In this revised context Sora’s definitely journeying around the multiverse in a shiftship, with the originally destroyed world that was home to Destiny Islands (what was the plan with the raft then? Maybe they were going to sail ‘off the world’ with some kind of spell they’d come up with, since that’s a thing they know about in that world) being the classic DCU. Maybe Sora, along with sealing Keyholes and looking for Riku and Kairi, is searching to rebuild his world, and thus is drawn to worlds in the multiverse with similar iconic energies, or maybe the world is simply blown into conceptual chunks of the type you described. Superman would naturally be the Mickey being sought above all; maybe he’s the sole superheroic survivor and going on his own quest into the realm of Nil to find a way to save the universe. Other heroes with ties to the multiverse like Flash would eventually play a part, and the original characters could all play roughly the same roles. But the real question is who replace Donald Duck and Goofy.

Donald is easy, you need a cantankerous magician who hates having to cart the kid around and may in fact betray him at a critical moment but will in the end, with sufficient cajoling, stand by his side given the alternative is the literal end of everything.

The cartoon accent’s just a bonus, chief.

Goofy took me a little longer to figure out. You need a big dude, a well-meaning guy who might occasionally be seen by those around him as a little, if not dense, out of it, but whose good intentions and valor as a defender of the innocent are unquestionable and who would follow Sora into Hell, preferably with a shield. Which in superheroic terms means Captain America, which isn’t on the table.

BUT. The King was in his wisdom so kind as to offer us a tidy DC equivalent:

So Sora alongside John Constantine and OMAC - a solid mix of odd personalities, powers, and archetypes - plunge into the fragmented heart of the multiverse to find his friends and reassemble their world and the Justice League/Guardians of Light to help Superman defeat Xehanort, I suppose with Darkseid in the Maleficent role, until Sora ends up trapped on Earth 33 at the end of III.

#Kingdom Hearts #DC Comics #John Constantine #OMAC #Donald Duck #Goofy #Opinion #fanfic

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wilygryphon · 1 year

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Keyblade Army - Rapunzel

"Come on! It'll be fun!" "Let hope ignite!"

Princess Rapunzel joins the Keyblade Army. She carries the Ever After Keyblade. The New Heart of Light is ready to rejoin Sora's party and use both her Keyblade's magic and her indestructible seventy-foot-long hair to protect her kingdom and all other worlds from evil.

Part of the "Keyblade Army" series, which will pit both heroes and villains in battle carrying Keyblades of their own.

Also with short hair form-

Also posted on my DeviantArt.

#kingdom hearts #disney #tangled #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure #rapunzel #kh fanart #keyblade #kingdom hearts fanart #ever after keyblade #keyblade army #keyblade wielders #disney heroes given keyblades #rapunzel tangled #my art

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imdoingthismspaintadventure · 4 years

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I read a Nomura interview that said that his whole narrative arc for KH3 began with Dream Drop Distance. And I found out that if you include DDD and 0.2 with KH3 and pretend it's all one game, you get the perfect KH game, even better than 2FM.

Seriously, if you have both 2.8/Story So Far and KH3 start playing DDD as if were KH3 part 1.

That way:

-The story picks up almost right where it left off from 2 (only important thing is that in Re: Coded we learn about MX coming back). This way, the boys are training for the Mark of Mastery in anticipation for this confrontation.

-We visit Traverse Town first, which introduces us to the TWEWY gang, which, given the epilogue, COULD BE REALLY IMPORTANT. Also this way we have Traverse Town as a returning location!

-The first five disney worlds add up to the ones in 3 to make a really wonderful list. We have beautiful cathedrals, techno cities, demented circuses and theme parks, comic strip old-disney musketeers and FANTASIA.

-We play as Riku a lot which gives him the time he was lacking in 3.

-First half of the game we fight Dream Eaters and visit Dream Worlds. This focus on Dreams will reinforce the themes of the second half of the game.

-This is a big one: We get TWTNW as the MIDDLE POINT CLIMAX of the story!! KH3 didn't really have one but now it does! And it sets everything into motion. We learn the goal of the main villain, the true organization is revealed, our hero almost falls into the abyss, we fight a series of epic bosses.... Plus we get to visit the Nobody Castle!

-Related to the previous point we also get all of this:

. Xigbar is very prominent here, which adds to his reveal

.We get Xion, and Roxas and Terra setup which pays off great (that scene of Riku looking at Guardian...)

.The two big climaxes here DESERVE to be in a main title! The best use of my friends are my power, and Riku's incredible talk with Ansem. I love those moments so much.

-Riku diving and collecting Soras directly pararells Sora's own journey later

-We get Aqua's interlude with 0.2 to get to play as her a bit more and that way, the two other main playable characters get a big part of screentime!

-This is just perfect: if we structure the game this way, there are 13 disney worlds (5 in DDD + 7 in kh3 + the mixup of disney remains in the Dark World in 0.2) and 7 original worlds (Traverse, TWTNW, Destiny Islands, Twilight Town, The Final World, Keyblade Graveyard, Scala ad Caelum)

-We fight every single enemy type.

-We get to see Sora's entire character journey post-two. With the beautiful touch that in the mid-game he fails the Mark of Mastery and in the very end he gets the approval from none other than Master Xehanort!

-And we'll see what Re : Mind adds to possibly add to this list.

What do you think of this? I played it like this and it was a blast!!

#kingdom hearts #kh3 #kingdom hearts 3 #re mind #kh #dream drop distance #ddd #sora #riku #xehanort

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killscreencinema · 4 years

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Kingdom Hearts (PS2)

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When Kingdom Hearts was first announced, I was excited to say the least. By this point, I was still a diehard Squaresoft fan (let me emphasize - SquareSOFT, before the dark times... before Square Enix...). I was also a lapsed Disney fan. I used to be obsessed with all things Disney as a child, and even dreamed of some day being an animator for Disney, before I discovered not only how limited my art ability was, but how torturous an existence being an animator is. Ah, to be steeped in the warm nostalgic womb of Disney, before life pulled me out and smacked my ass with adulthood.

Anyway, Kingdom Hearts appealed to me because it was the conglomeration of my childhood fandom with my mature fandom, smooshed together in a way that made every bit of sense, like peanut butter and chocolate. When it released in 2002 (wow, has it really been that long???), it did not disappoint, and I spent countless hours playing and replaying it until I 100% completed it. Oh man, sorry, I’m having ‘Nam flashbacks to the many fits of rage I had while trying to beat the Ice Titan. Screw Sephiroth, the Ice Titan was a real bastard, what with his only vulnerability being knocking his projectiles back at him, taking off lil bits of his health at a time, while he relentlessly pounded you with area attacks or magic that freeze you.

So obviously, I’m very well acquainted with Kingdom Hearts. After playing the second game, though, I dropped off because the spin-off sequels became overwhelming and stupid. I knew something was amiss when I booted up Kingdom Hearts II the first time, and didn’t know what the everloving fuck was happening (while the first game’s plot was more or less pretty straight forward). I’ll dig into Kingdom Hearts II in a later post though.

So when Kingdom Hearts III finally came out, I was ambivalent... but curious. I started to get that ol’ Kingdom Hearts itch. I didn’t want to go into the game completely ignorant of the lore, though. I want to give the game as fair a chance as I could WITHOUT having to play the umpteen games before it. So I got the HD remix for the PS4 and decided to start from the beginning.

I’m glad that I did, too, because replaying Kingdom Hearts was a nice revisit to simpler times. I forgot how well structured the game is and how well realized the Disney/Square amalgamation premise was. The two properties were surprisingly compatible, with Final Fantasy characters seamlessly coexisting alongside the likes of Mickey Mouse, Aladdin, and other iconic Disney characters. Speaking of Mickey, Kingdom Hearts is nothing if noteworthy of one amazing accomplishment - making Mickey Mouse BADASS! Who saw that coming?

The story still holds up - you play as Sora, a kid from the peaceful world of Destiny Isles, who dreams with his friends Riku and Kairi of someday leaving their humdrum existence and going off on an adventure. Naturally, they get more than they bargained for when their home is destroyed by an existential threat known as the Heartless, who have been ravaging worlds left and right. Sora only survives after being mysteriously given a magical weapon called a Keyblade, which is the only thing capable of defeating the Heartless and sealing off worlds from their attacks. Sora wakes up at a refugee world of sorts called Traverse Town, where survivors of the Heartless attack have gathered, and he teams up with Goofy and Donald Duck, both of whom are on their own quest to find King Mickey in order to hopefully beat back the Heartless threat.

As the trio of heroes, you travel from world to world, each one based on some Disney property or another, teaming up with the likes of Aladdin, Jack Skellington, or Ariel from The Little Mermaid to vanquish the Heartless. The gameplay is fast-paced hack n’ slash action, where you can only control Sora, leaving Goofy and Donald to the mercy of a questionable AI (which brings me to my first pro-tip: do not, except under the most extreme circumstances, give Donald or Goofy items because they will burn through them in a single battle or two). Like any other RPG, you eventually upgrade keyblades, buy and equip armor or stat boosting accessories. Kingdom Hearts is a pretty accessible game for even the most RPG illiterate, no doubt because Square suspected the Disneyification would attract younger than normal gamers. However, the game isn’t “baby’s first RPG” either, as it can get pretty difficult pretty quickly for the uninitiated.

Speaking of difficulty, since this was my third play through of the game, I wanted to really make it count, so I played on the hardest difficulty setting - Proud Mode. Phew, let me tell you, it kicked my ass for good long while before I acclimated to it. Even weaker enemies at the beginning of the game can kill you in 2-3 hits if you’re not careful, and with Sora having not yet learned useful combos or the Cure spell yet, this was an extremely trying way to begin a game I hadn’t played in more than 10 years. Eventually, as you level up, get better weapons, and spells the playing field evens up a bit more, but you’re going to need patience if you’re going to try this challenge.

I also decided to “platinum” the game since I was playing on PS4, which meant for this play through on “Proud Mode”, I needed to complete all the side quests (including the secrets bosses and all the Coliseum matches), obtaining all the weapons, completing nearly all the Gummi ship missions, never using a continue, and maxing out Sora at level 99. Then after beating the game, I’d have to play it again, this time on Easy (fuck it, I’ve earned it), and beat it under 15 hours while using only the default weapons and armor. So yeah, I really made it count this time around, and I’m happy to say I succeeded in getting the platinum trophy. For those playing at home, that means I beat all the secret bosses, including Sephiroth and the aforementioned Ice Titan, like total bitches on Hard Mode.

I’m a goddamn Kingdom Hearts Master!

And I had a ball doing it, even when things got frustrating or tedious. The game really holds up and I’m shocked that it be completed in under 15 hours (my speedrun clocked in around 10). So it’s a surprisingly short game as far as RPGs go, if you just stay on the main quest. If you’re a Disney fan and/or an RPG gamer, but haven’t play this game because you’re intimidated by the ridiculous lineup of sequels and spin-offs that it spawned, I say give it a try anyway. It’s one of the best games on the PS2 and probably one of the masterpieces crafted by Square before they dipped in quality.

But all that is about to change..... ohhhhh yess.... (Cue the first iconic notes of the intro cinematic to Final Fantasy VII)

#kingdom hearts #disney #rpg #squaresoft #square enix #sora #riku #goofy #donald duck #mickey mouse #playstation #ps4 #ps2 #sony

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oveliagirlhaditright · 4 years

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My dark Kairi story/KHIV story chapter four: “I Do Not Fear Death”. World: PotC’s Dead Men Tell No Tales.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21456412/chapters/62293999

Author’s Note: So… I think I decided with the Enchanted chapter—and am carrying it over with the rest of this story—that the Disney worlds aren’t going to be one-to-one what happens in their movies, since KH was at its best when it didn’t do that (like with KH1).

Also… when I was first reading this chapter, I felt like Pip wasn’t in it enough—so I kept adding in scenes—but upon editing it, I realize he’s in it TOO much and it’s kind of annoying… But I felt like I couldn’t really cut the scenes out. Like, I decided right when he was about to meet Riku, that he’d been in it enough and that I wasn’t going to have him in it the rest of the chapter… but then I realized I meant to have an introduction between him and Riku right there—and I didn’t want to risk forgetting to do that later, if I left it out here—so I had to change my mind about that. So… just suffer with it in this chapter, I guess (I’m sorry:(). And hopefully it shouldn’t be this bad in the future ones.

Swallow Chapter Four: I Do Not Fear Death

Sora’s PoV

'Kairi... I can feel that you’re looking for me', Sora thought, alone in his prison in a certain place. 'I'm... somewhat worse off than I even was in that Game now... But I know you'll find me. And thanks for never giving up on me.”

And having thought everything he needed to at the moment, Sora succumbed to the familiar lull of sleep again and dreamed of life…

Kairi’s PoV

In order to be strong, Kairi went to one of the hardest worlds she’d heard of from Sora: the Caribbean/

And while she should have been happy about the connection, she'd perhaps found to Sora in the last world... the Princess of Heart couldn't help looking back at what she’d done in Faith and Angel’s world, and only feeling despair. She felt horrible about how she'd treated Angel—and Kairi feared that she still might be led to do that same sort of thing, and it scared her. And she wanted to apologize—but there was nothing she could do about it now. Especially not when Pip was shivering in Kairi's pocket in discomfort, obviously feeling her intense emotions too strongly. So Kairi decided to instead focus on the matter at hand.

And the moment Kairi did just that, she thought that something was wrong... because there were no pirate flags on the sea at all?

"Do you think this can possibly be the Caribbean then, Pip? Given the story I just gave you about this place?" Kairi asked her new friend, who was stroking his chin thoughtfully at her question.

How Kairi wished that Riku was here with her, to help make sense of things (and Sora)... because despite their somewhat rocky relationship, they were still (sadly) closer now than they had been in years…

And Kairi'd so very nearly called Riku, just before she'd heard from Sora in Giselle’s world... but how could she have, when her lust and jealousy had led to a “Heartless version” of Sora there? Surely Riku would have been disgusted by her actions again…

But Kairi opted to not think of any of that now... Instead, she focused on that she was near a bell, that Sora had perhaps described to her once. So, this was Port Royal, then? And the reason there were no pirate ships nearby was because they would be shot on sight, and the pirates hanged for their crimes?

Before Kairi could think about any of her questions much more, she heard a massive ruckus and turned her attention that way. It seemed that the people here were trying to execute a girl about her age?!

Kairi felt her blood boil for that, as she remembered how women had been treated in some places Sora had told her about: worlds so bad, that he hadn't even wanted to think about them. But with how much Sora loved this place, it couldn't have been one of those. Could it?

"Whoa, Kairi!" said Pip, as he jumped onto her shoulder now. "I can literally feel you getting redder in your anger. Calm down, alright?"

"S-sorry!"

But if Kairi was being honest with herself? She now hated this stammering, uncertain version of herself, too. Perhaps her being anyone was just a lose-lose situation, then…

"Pip, we've got to go save that woman!" Kairi shouted, as she ripped at her dress from New York, so she could better run and fight in it. "Time is of the essence!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!"

And Kairi ran towards the guillotine in the town square. And even from far away, Kairi took in the book the woman was holding—that looked like it had stars on it... stars like the worlds—and prayed that this lady could help her find Sora.

...

The first thing Kairi saw when she was in a sea of people that made her feel very anxious, was that Captain Jack Sparrow was also being tried! It had to be him, based on Sora's descriptions, Kairi thought. The man before her had somewhat dark skin, with eyeliner around his brown eyes and above his mustache and a slight beard? Those were all descriptions that Kairi had heard for Jack. The princess also noticed his dreadlocks, clothes that tried to be fashionable despite being tattered, and his ridiculously large hat.

Kairi ran towards him instantly, and cut off the guillotine that was now mysteriously hanging from his neck. But she knew she wouldn't be thanked for it.

"Come on, Mister Sparrow!" Kairi cried, as she took his hand in hers and began leading him away. "Let us save that woman—and the boy who’s with her?—and be on our way!"

"…That's a fascinating sword you have there, missy. You wouldn’t happen to be a Bonnie Lass of Zola’s, would you? And if you are… by God, you and your lot haven’t aged a day.” Jack spoke to Kairi, as he punched a guard here and ducked under soldiers there, all while apparently examining Destiny’s Embrace.

And while Kairi wanted to be annoyed that he would just assume she was Sora's girlfriend because she had a Keyblade like he did, she was too busy to debate him.

Because a boy who had a light much like Sora's, was about to get a sword through the heart for trying to aid the girl in the blue dress! And Kairi had seen enough pure-hearted boys die, thank you very much... even if she had also been close to killing one herself.

The Light threw herself between the boy and girl, and the ten lances that were coming their way. And she thought that if she died this way, at least she'd go out a hero like Sora had... and maybe she'd even be put out of her misery and get to see him in some sort of afterlife.

But just when Kairi thought it was over for her, because she felt some blades going through her even as she tried to dodge them, she was pulled up and over them... and lived, and joined the ragtag group that had just formed.

And Kairi was eager to follow the older man who had just joined them, telling the group—Captain Jack in particular—that he had the Pearl just before them that they could board, but of course Heartless had to show up at that exact moment... and the nasty Neoshadows, too.

"Oh, fine!" the brunette bellowed as she began to impressively attack the overly-large Shadows with the chains that had bound her—all while Kairi used a quick cure spell on herself, and used aeroga to send some of their enemies flying away from them--"I see you want to grab at me just like men do, and I will give you the award that I do to them."

The boy who was not unlike Sora to Kairi, blushed—as if thinking the woman was talking about him?—and informed her to, "Focus on the fighting right now, Miss Carina," as he kicked at some of the Heartless.

Jack, meanwhile, was stabbing them through their stomachs.

And Mister Gibbs—Kairi was assuming it was Mister Gibbs, anyway—was hitting some over the head with the butt of his sword. But even with all of this, they were getting nowhere fast with the Heartless and the soldiers.

So Kairi put a barrier around herself and her new friends—so nothing could get to them as they ran—and the moment they were aboard the boat, she was instantly demanding answers from Captain Jack. "You- you were right. I am Sora's girlfriend... and he's been lost. Do you think there's anything here that might save him? Especially since he was sort of lost to the sea? Because my name means that... and he died for me."

Jack looked at Kairi with sympathy, she could see, but it was the girl in the blue dress—Carina—who answered Kairi as she seemed to size her up in an excited manner. "The Trident of Poseidon will serve you well, I think, and I'll help you find it. I'm trying to use it to find my father, and Henry is trying to get it to free his own, who is supposedly the Captain of the Flying Dutchman."

Kairi was about to go talk to Henry at this news, but she didn't know if she would've been ecstatic to talk to this son of Will and Elizabeth or not, since those two’s story was so similar to hers and Sora’s, but Kairi didn’t even get the chance to find out how she would have felt, because Mister Gibbs cut off any conversation post-hate, as Jack glared at him. "We will not be going after any legendary artifacts today. It's more than enough that I have Jack here at all, given his bad luck and lack of pulling any weight lately. And I won't be making any of it worse, by repeating the past.”

Almost immediately, Captain Jack Sparrow jumped in to argue, saying, "But we need to, mate, to stop Salazar. You remember his horrendousness from what I've told you, aye? Help me defeat him, and there may be an old magic compass in there for you."

And while those two were fighting over that, Pip jumped onto Kairi’s head and began fighting for her sake, just as it looked like two other male pirates had been about to? "Yo, old man,” said Pip. “Listen to the ladies—and who I'm assuming is your captain—here. For one thing, Kairi's been through enough and deserves her boyfriend back."

But unfortunately, no one was taking Pip seriously... as the captain looked at him with the most displeased look Kairi had ever seen, and deadpanned: "Great. Something else like the monkey Jack."

Kairi sensed that her friend was upset for being so easily dismissed—and she wanted to be there for him, like he just had been for her... but she was too busy making sense of something, that almost had her throwing up over the deck... She'd traveled at least twenty years into this world's future... which shouldn't have been possible, because Henry had just been born when Sora was here a year ago... and now he looked like an adult. That must have been what Jack had been getting at earlier. How had she managed to mess up traveling here so badly... or was this a good thing? Had her heart connecting with Sora's led to this?

Still feeling overheated and like she was going to be sick, Kairi ripped more of her brown dress off with one hand while she held onto the railing of the deck with the other. Near instantly, she felt great about how cool she felt and she breathed a sigh of relief, as Pip went back to hiding behind her hair… and Henry put a hand on her shoulder? "Miss, are you okay?" the young-man questioned. And was it Kairi, or did he sound like he'd gotten used to saying that kind of thing lately, with how easily he could have made her swoon if her heart didn’t already belong to Sora?

"I'm fine... I just noticed something. It's no matter.” And if the look Jack was giving her was any indication, he must have guessed the same thing she had... or just thought Sora was the luckiest man in the world, for having such a young-looking girlfriend.

"Anyway, Henry… out of all of us, I get the sense that Mister Gibbs will only listen to where you want to go. So direct us somewhere ‘nice’, I guess. But once we find the Trident, we’re going for it.”

And then Kairi went over to where the man with the fake eye—and his bigger pal—were stationed, to try to figure out how to help man such a ship.

…

It was when Kairi was being reminded (since she’d known some of this stuff from home) that the left side of the ship was the port and the right was the starboard, that Carina joined Kairi on the deck for fresh fruit and regarded her with a smile.

Meanwhile, the pirates Pintel and Ragetti—who Kairi had recently learned the names of—were kindly trying to fish for her.

"You look like you could use some cheer. Jack Sparrow has convinced Mister Gibbs that we do need the Trident, to defeat some fiend named Salazar, so we're headed in the direction I believe it’s in. And here’s how we're going to find it." And Carina pulled out the starry diary that Kairi had spied earlier, but up close she could tell there seemed to be some ruby encrusted into it.

"What is this, exactly?" Kairi questioned, as she sat up from where she’d been sitting so she could see the book better. "Jewels from the earth here? Do you think the Trident was buried under ground where these ar-" But Carina was already shaking her head “no” before Kairi had completely finished asking that question.

And seeming curious about what Kairi was talking about, Pip came to see what was going on. And Carina shook her head at his appearance, in a sort of bemused manner. “Somehow, I can believe about your talking pet here, but not these monsters Henry is blathering about. Anyway... I was left at an orphanage by my father... and he left me this journal. The cover of it represents constellations, and is said to lead to the Trident of Poseidon, and surely my father. And after studying star charts all my life, I know where this constellation is in the sky… and so we’re heading out that way.”

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Kairi queried, as she decided to make herself more useful by swabbing at the deck some. "Wait, actually... what was it you were saying about monsters?"

"She was only speaking of the worst kind," said a voice from beside Kairi's ear. It was Jack... and he seemed grim, as opposed to the usual happy-go-lucky and devil-may-care attitude Kairi had gleaned from him thus far. "Salazar: a ghost who's an enemy of all pirates... including you, lassie."

"A ghost?" Pip asked the question that Kairi had wanted to—and it made her smile--but when she had visions of what this ghost might look like, she definitely didn't smile. He seemed half-human and half-ghost, and parts of his hair and clothes were being torn away from him, into the other realm, as segments of him remained. And that black, villain-type smile from him...

Kairi swallowed, in realizing she felt torn apart like him she was: because didn’t she want to be both a Pure Light and someone who had a cruel heart now?

"You see something, don't you?" Henry asked, as he came up beside Kairi now, clearly having taken in her mystified look. "You see something, the way that I can almost see visions of my parents when I look at you."

Utterly confused, Kairi was about to ask why Henry should see his family when he saw her... but then she thought it must have been because Sora had helped shaped their lives... and she and Sora were very much the same since sharing the paopus. So perhaps that was the reason?

"I-" but just as Kairi began speaking, the nightmare she had just seen came to life as day turned into night: the electrified ghosts appeared out of the ether, and walked through their own ship and onto the Black Pearl. And before Kairi knew it, she was being held captive by Salazar and was the defenseless girl once again.

"You were never the gentleman I was, Sparrow," Salazar drawled in a chilling whisper, that made gooseflesh appear all over Kairi's skin, as she tried to get out of the chokehold he had on her. "So, you surely believed that women on a ship were bad luck. So why do you have two here now? Surely they're liabilities... like this."

"...Please," said Kairi, as a single tear sled from her eyes. "If you really are—or were--just like you say... let me go. I'm not even fifteen yet. And I'm on a mission to save someone..."

And he let her go so fast, that Kairi was first mad she hadn’t tried that same thing on Master Xehanort… But then she was furious that she hadn’t even tried to attack Salazar here, so she charged him now… and swiftly paid the price for it, as Pintel and Ragetti—who had missed everything that was going on, and were happily presenting the fish they’d caught for Kairi—were stabbed through the middle, by Salazar himself and some of his lackeys. And they were coming for the rest of the crew, too, when Jack made the wise decision to careen the ship into an area where you could still see daylight and they were vaporized.

But Salazar, in being far too clever, jumped into the dark ocean with the rest of the crew and disappeared for the time-being, as Kairi ran over to her new friends and tried to heal them again and again and again… but to no avail.

This was what she got for embracing her darkness, wasn’t it? Kairi decided as she cried. Why had she ever thought it was a good idea? And yet… she couldn’t let it go, either. Not because she didn’t want to, but because she couldn’t fight the type of it that was settling into her veins even now, like a cancer, as it begged her for revenge against that man… and she wanted to comply.

“Salazar won't let such a thing happen again," Jack quietly warned them all, as they already began the horrible price of trying to give the two lost pirates a sea burial… Why did death have to be so final? Kairi pondered whilst she shook all over. "It was an accident on his part. The Pearl's speed—to allow us get close enough to the setting sun, coupled with Salazar's shock… it won’t happen again. When he strikes again, and he will, it’ll be fully at night, and when he feels he’s had enough time to nurse his wounds. So, we must be ready. And I’m sorry that I’ve gotten you all into this.”

There was a side of Kairi that wondered if something else had saved them... Sora had told her that the goddess Calypso had blessed him with the power of the sea always being his—or something like that—and she wondered if Sora had been watching over them, and he’d made the waves carry them away in that moment. But she didn’t say it. Not after her friends Pintel and Ragetti died because of her own stupidity, she certainly didn’t—as she wrapped her arms around her torso and just tried to keep herself together right now.

"We need to get to the Trident of Poseidon now. Forget a day’s rest and all of that," said Henry, with an urgency that Kairi had never seen in him before, but that reminded her again of a certain leader: her Sora. Henry seemed to be speaking when Carina couldn’t here, as she was clearly too shaken to talk of the quest that meant so much to her. Instead, she seemed about to go hide in the captain's cabin… or perhaps in her own head. "It's our only chance against Salazar... because believe you, me, I've faced him before and it will especially be no picnic next time. Perhaps with it, we can free our fathers and they can help.”

In the background, away from all of them now, Mister Gibbs was laughing... but to Kairi, he seemed to be doing so without humor. And as much as it somewhat bothered Kairi that he still clearly didn't want to help out, now that they were in whatever they were in... she also felt bad for him. He hadn't wanted to assist Jack for this very reason, so perhaps he would have been well within his rights to refuse.

"Then get back to following the star charts I gave you,” Carina urged. “I’ll hold lantern light over them, so you can do just that.”

No one objected with what Carina had to say, but rather adhered to her commands… all while Kairi stayed locked in her trauma. It seemed to be the story of her life, and she hated it.

"You should go talk to Carina," Pip tried to persuade Kairi now, as he lovingly braided what was left of her hair. "She seemed spooked."

"I know, I want to," Kairi agreed. "But she's busy helping Jack navigate—because I guess it’s Jack now. Gibbs is too drunk to steer—didn’t you here?"

So Kairi went to speak with Henry instead. Not because she sensed she needed to, or anything like that, but rather because she wanted to. She still felt her furious emotions like a festering disease inside of her—and she thought she might do something stupid, like kill some harmless White Mushrooms if she didn't try to calm herself down.

"Henry," Kairi said, as she got in an assembly line beside him, so they could get done whatever needed to be done while still talking. "Your parents knew my boyfriend Sora... did they ever mention him at all?"

Henry smiled rather bitterly for Kairi's words, and it only took her a moment to realize why. Of course! Will hadn't had a chance to be a large part of Henry's life. How foolish she'd been, to forget that.

"Henry, I'm sorr-"

But he was already lifting a hand up in a sign of peace. "I get it, Kairi. Don't fret. Bad memories just returned to me for a moment there. Forgive me. But, yes: my mother in particular spoke of a strong and kind young-man named Sora who had helped them out. Mother thought he had a true heart... and trusted him much more than she did Jack. "

And if anything could have lifted Kairi’s spirits and made her think she was doing the right thing to try and bring Sora back, it would have been what Henry just said. And so Kairi smiled her own secret grin, and spoke. “…Henry thank you so much for those kind words here. You have no idea what they mean to me. And to return the favor, I’m going to tell you that Sora talked to me about your parents. He said how brave and strong your mother was, and how he was proud of her for that… And he was so sad about what happened to your father, and hated that he had such a fate... hated that your parents did, really. And I know Sora would have loved to meet you like I now am. He probably would have thought that you're a mix of the best parts of both your parents." Kairi knew that she thought that... from what she'd heard about Will and Elizabeth from Sora, anyway.

It was somewhat weird for Kairi to talk about Sora in the past tense in such a way. A few months ago, she would have rebelled against the very idea or it. But the Princess promised herself that she only spoke in such ways now, because she would bring him back.

"…Thank you for that, Miss Kairi. Thank you." And Kairi thought that Henry might have said more—Pip was cutely motioning with his hands that he should—if a ship hadn't rammed into the Pearl that very moment.

Fear stole its way into Kairi’s heart, as she thought Salazar must have been back already… but it wasn’t him.

And then Kairi was flying backwards—nearly over the edge—from where this boat was still ramming itself into the Black Pearl, but she thankfully regained her bearings… and not by grabbing onto the railing, like her weak, past self would have, but by summoning her Keyblade and digging it into the deck, until the Black Pearl had righted itself again.

“Oy! You’re wearing a getup similar to that of those Organizers… wonderful,” Jack moaned from beside Kairi, as he surveyed the scene. The person who now seemed to have everyone aboard’s attention, was the man standing on his decent sized, navy blue ship, who wore sky and snow colored robes large, a strange unicorn mask, and had long and silver hair, much like Riku’s old style.

“Who are you?!” Mister Gibbs demanded, as he glowered across the way at the man with the same colored hair as him. Kairi wondered if he was trying to find a camaraderie with the man, since they arguably seemed to be about the same age, to tell him that that he shouldn’t be acting like this… but Kairi couldn’t be sure. “And can you get your stern out of-“

At those words from Gibbs, Kairi noticed Carina laugh for some reason. But then she quickly became unsettled again, though not as much as she had been in having to admit once and for all that ghosts existed.

“I swear if you’re with The Master of Masters—or Organization XIII, like Captain Jack suspected—I’ll-”

But Kairi was cut off when the man literally threw dolphin Heartless her way. One had even smacked into Kairi’s chest, with its razor-sharp fin, and cut a deep gash into her… this day—for it was nearing day again—just kept getting better and better, and Kairi was fairly certain she was just numb at this point. Oh well.

The redhead slashed at every Heartless she could see—and all of her friends were taking a page from her book; Carina was even bravely hitting them with her shoes—but she wasn’t foolish enough to let the man go without answering her.

“Why would you send dolphin Heartless my way?! I’m assuming you know my name means ‘sea’, and so you’re making a reference here… but does that mean you want to hurt me? I thought your ‘Master’ wanted me to use my anger!” Kairi was taking a shot in the dark here, that he was one of the Master of Masters’ pawns, but she thought that he must be. Since the Master of Masters was the only one (until this guy) who was wearing a robe since they’d defeated the Organization in the Keyblade War.

And in another meeting with the Master of Masters that Kairi had had recently, he had told her that he had five followers… all of which who had an animal motif. Why he had told her this crucial information, Kairi wasn’t sure… but she was starting to make some guesses about it all.

“Because my Master isn’t yet sure what he wants to do with you… Kairi, is it? He says that you often cast a great darkness, but also a great light. If it were me, I’d end the threat that you are now… but he’s gentler than I am, so here I test.” The man’s voice was deep and strong, and it reminded Kairi a lot of what Leon had sounded like in the short time he’d helped to take care of her.

And despite how Kairi had been trying so hard not to cry lately (even after others dying because of her, because sadly… what else was new?), she nearly did here… in learning how much she must have fallen to darkness—for this man to be saying this to her—and she wondered what sort of plan of the Master’s she was allowing to fall into place by being this way.

“But why?!” Kairi demanded. “Why be so wishy-washy about me?! What’s-”

But Kairi didn’t get her answer. The Heartless—that were not truly being defeated by her allies, because only Keyblades could do that—were now using their blades to put holes in the ship. Great.

"Miss, Kairi: can you use that special blade of yours to stop this?” Henry asked, as he plunged a sword through a Heartless’ would-be-heart… but only for it to pop up again beside Jack. Kairi dived over the pirate’s head to stab at it—imagining how Jack may have done this to protect Sora in the past, and thus she was paying him back for protecting her boy—and sighed.

More and more Heartless were coming—though Kairi didn’t get it, since the man didn’t seem to be summoning them… odd—and she was trying to destroy them as fast as she could, before they came back (how were they doing so so fast?!) and made more holes appear in the boat.

She used some of her pearl magic to get rid of ten going towards the Crow’s Nest here (well, as best as she could, anyway, since some of them were flopping away from her attacks as if they were break dancing), and used fire to get at some coming for Carina’s hair, and was about to do a third thing… when a mast fell down and landed on the Pearl. And with the massive injuries the Black Pearl had already sustained, it was now being split in two—while everyone screamed—until…

Until that man teleported onto the center of the wreckage and used a force field to keep the Black Pearl from breaking even more, and to even stitch parts of it back together.

“What are you doing?!” both Jack and Gibbs demanded; the words had very nearly been on Kairi’s lips, too, or at least they would have been if she hadn’t seen where Mister Unicorn was going with this.

“You want me to fight you to prove myself, don’t you? Well, here I am!” Kairi exclaimed, as she stood on opposite ends of the man and readied her Keyblade. “Let’s go!”

But Carina took Kairi by surprise. “No,” she said, as she put a hand on her shoulder and walked past her. “You did enough for us in defeating… those things. Let me do this for you!”

“No!” Kairi protested. But the… the monster—he could be no less to Kairi—had already cast a shield around Carina and himself, so no one could get to them.

Carina was being clever—in trying to find a good place to kick Blue in the shins, it looked like; and was the monster actually giving her a chance to do so?—but it wasn’t enough for Kairi. She summoned Thunder, not even caring that she might strike herself, to try and break the barrier and get Carina out of there.

“Here! Let me at it!” Pip shouted, as he got to the top of said barrier and attempted to clobber it with his paws. “I swear I’m good at things, other than just writing. And I don’t want the lady to get hurt!” And Kairi couldn’t believe that some of what Pip was doing was working… he was creating pressure points on the top of the shield. So, what was this? A power of friendship thing, or-

But Kairi didn’t get to finish that thought—or to warp-strike to the top of it like she would have liked to—because just then the fiend had summoned a Keyblade and stabbed at Carina’s arm. And he severely injured it—blood was sliding down down down her arm, as it seemed about to come off—and Henry was bellowing Carina’s name at this point, as he punched the force over and over again, thus creating more wear in it.

Carina wasn’t one who was helpless, however—not even in situations like this—and Kairi could tell she was going to attempt to press the monster’s eyes back into his skull, as he aimed for her neck, if she didn’t do anything.

And Kairi was sick of this—sick of all of this!—because even though she’d been in and seen horrible wars before, it had never been as brutal as this… the people hadn’t attempted to end each other in such horrible ways. It was so much… too much. And it seemed to Kairi that after Sora had been taken out of the world, all light had died with him.

And so Kairi found herself screaming for unicorn man’s fate—she couldn’t believe it!—just as Jack and Gibbs had decided to try and help Carina, instead of trying to save the sinking Pearl at the moment.

“Carina, no! Stop! Please stop! I don’t- I don’t want this amount of bloodshed, and neither should anyone!” Kairi wailed.

Carina listened to what Kairi had said and stopped—and she wore a look on her face there, as if she couldn’t believe what she’d been about to do, either—and fortunately, Unicorn Man didn’t use Carina’s distractedness as a way to defeat her. Instead, he began to make the barrier dissipate as he bowed to her. “You’ve done well, Princess Kairi. The Master will be most pleased. I’m Ira, by the way.”

But not caring about any of that in the slightest, Kairi found herself leaping into the air so she could get to Carina faster now that she was able to go in that direction… but just as she was, someone was diving down and reaching for Carina, too… and the idiots they were, they couldn’t change their trajectory in time and ended up hitting each other instead of getting to Carina.

And feeling a concussion coming on, as she smashed back down onto the deck—but saw him getting up much easier, and already fixing the sinking boat with his own magic—Kairi couldn’t help feeling irritated with the figure.

“Riku, why are you here?!” she snarled. “Did you not trust me by myself here? I swear I’m fine! You may be messing up our chance to find Sora this way… if he’s sending me to places for me and just me.”

And Kairi felt awful after those words had left her mouth—of course she did; and she thought that if that Ira had still been here, he wouldn’t be giving her his blessing anymore—but she also couldn’t deny it was true. But how horrible had she become, to always be hurting Riku like this (she could see it in his eyes), whilst he only built her up these days?

“Kairi-” Riku began, as he helped Henry get Carina to her feet… and now everyone was staring at her. Great.

Kairi bit her lip, and again resisted the urge to cry… or to punch Riku in the arm like she had used to.

“Kairi, I swear I didn’t come here to spy on you. Master Yen Sid said that he sensed a certain power, and I-”

Except that Kairi didn’t believe him. How could she, when she’d been being babysat since everything had started when she was fourteen? the only time they hadn’t babysat her was during the Keyblade War, but maybe they should have. Maybe if they had then, Sora wouldn’t be- he wouldn’t be.

Now, Kairi had thought she’d gotten better and stronger this past year… but now it was apparent that Riku (and perhaps others?) were scared of her darkness. And so, it was back to being babysat again.

She also honestly felt like he was here to steal her spotlight, like always.

And with the strong array of emotions she’d felt since coming here, Kairi was done with it. She was done with everything.

So, before anyone could say anything more to her, or judge her, Kairi leapt into the air and began gliding away… to some island a ways away from them all. And she heard Riku calling her name as she did so, and Jack saying how she’d suspected that Sora would go for a nicer girl… and now she did let all of her emotions out.

…

On the island—that housed rum for some reason; and how Kairi was tempted to try drinking some now, to drown all her sorrows—Kairi fought back the urge to destroy the White Mushrooms around her, like she’d thought about doing before… since for whatever reason, there just happened to be some on this island who were dancing around her and asking for magic.

She probably would have slaughtered them in her fury, if she wasn’t trying to find her old self again, since everyone apparently hated who she was now… and maybe they were right for it.

“Sora,” Kairi spoke to her boyfriend now, as she clasped her hands together and raised her head towards the sky—hating herself for this, too, because why was she acting like Sora was in heaven? She was going to find him before he got there. She was!—“Part of me wonders why I’m bothering with all of this. I’m so different now… maybe you wouldn’t love me anymore. Not that I only want you back so you can love me. I want you back even if you hate me… but I wish I knew how you’d feel about this, even if I don’t think I’d change who I am now… even if you asked.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Kairi thought she could see some ghostly image of Sora nodding his head and smiling at her… thought she knew it was all in her head. But it still made her feel better, so she got off from the log she’d been sitting on and flew back to where the Pearl was.

Well, the Black Pearl wasn’t exactly where it had been—how glad Kairi was, that ships were slow compared to some of the vehicles she’d seen in other worlds now. And when she got there, she saw Barbossa standing beside Jack and among everyone else?! That’s who Kairi assumed it was, anyway, based on Sora’s descriptions of everyone in this world (had she mentioned that this was Sora’s favorite world that he’d been to?)

Kairi landed down in the ship and summoned her Keyblade. She may have been above fighting innocents now, but she also wasn’t going to suffer a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Kairi knew that Sora had said Barbossa had changed for the better the last time he’d been here, but she also didn’t want to risk it.

“It’s okay, Kairi. We’ve got it figured out,” Riku said, as he came up to Kairi and slung an arm over her shoulder. And she appreciated that he wasn’t telling her to dismiss her Keyblade…

"Missy, I'm her' because I promised Salazar Sparra's head. But given that it's still on his shoulders, that there must mean I'm helpin' him with a plan to keep it there, don't it? So, I would quiet yer suspicions if you really want to find the Trident of Poseidon."

Kairi sighed when she’d heard this Barbossa’s explanation of things, but for once it wasn't an aggravated sigh. This captain had rightly pointed out she was too trigger-happy lately, and so she'd calm down.

And Pip, seeming to sense Kairi's resolution, climbed up her arm and patted her shoulder, too, before he went beneath her hair again.

Kairi would have liked to talk to Captain Barbossa more—to try and get them through this little hurtle, as she wished she could have talked to many people on her last adventures. Because maybe that could have helped solve a lot of issues—but before she could, the water below her was literally being ripped in half (so that Kairi was thrown to the other side of the Pearl, as it tried to be torn apart itself… again).

And as it happened, Kairi could see that Barbossa’s eyes were all for Carina. And she had a lot of suspicions there… but she didn’t have time to deal with that right now.

“Kairi!” Riku yelled her name, as she began falling back into the ocean as a part of the ship finally completely broke off and began tipping over. But she refused to be saved by him—or to ever need rescuing again—so she stuck her Keyblade into the part of the boat that was still active and pulled herself back up. And she fell into Riku’s arms as she made her way back towards her friends… but this time, she didn’t care. She’d managed to help herself… and it felt good to be appreciated like this.

But Kairi couldn’t dwell on maybe having fixed her relationship with Riku for too long. Captain Jack and Barbossa had managed to get what was left of the Pearl to a nearby island, and Henry and Carina were getting off there and jumping into the opened-up ocean beneath them, and Kairi meant to do the same.

And before she knew it, she was in that area—with Riku once again shouting her name, as he followed after her—for she had used a variation of Sora’s “quick run” in order to get where she was faster. But though Sora had moved in circles in order to do that, Kairi mostly moved in a straight line… and Riku seemed to be copying Kairi to try and do the same thing. Kairi would have laughed at all of this, if things hadn’t been so sad lately.

Once they were on the ocean floor, Riku asked her the million munny question. “Kairi, what are we doing here?”

Kairi didn’t answer at first. And she could tell by his hurt face, that he at first thought she was doing it out of spite. But as she let Pip climb out onto her arm, she swiftly showed him that wasn’t the case. “Riku, meet my friend Pip. Pip, Riku.”

“Nice to meet you!” Pip exclaimed, as Kairi saw him get into Riku’s face so he could see him better. “Make sure our girl here keeps a good head on her shoulders, okay?”

“…Right,” Riku answered. “Nice to meet you.” And while Riku seemed to do better meeting Pip then Sora had always thought he would with his friends Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet—and whoever else—Kairi could tell he still wasn’t thrilled. And here she did laugh… because that was Riku for you. And she was so glad to have him after losing Sora. She was.

“To answer your question, Riku,” Kairi responded, as she began running after Carina and Henry now—since something seemed to be going on up ahead—“we’re trying to find this Trident that has powers over all sea curses… and I’m wondering if it’ll save Sora, since he gave his life for me. And my name means that.”

While Riku began running with her, Kairi tried to gauge his reaction to her words. How did he feel about Sora having died for her and not him or any of the others? Kairi didn’t know the answer to that… and she selfishly didn’t know if she wanted to. Whatever the answer, it would probably make her hate herself more.

But Riku didn’t really react to her words in the slightest. He simply clenched his fist and muttered, “Let’s go get it, then.” And suddenly he was taking off faster than even she had been.

And up ahead… Kairi saw Salazar—how had he gotten here so fast?! Carina had just figured this all out! Was it because he was a ghost and could teleport?—had seemed to possess Henry and had the Trident, and was attacking Carina with it!

And Kairi understood why Salazar would do this… he knew that if Kairi’s friends got ahold of the Trident, he would be destroyed… so now he was trying to show Carina that if she wanted that weapon, she’d have to kill Henry to get it.

Captain Jack Sparrow darted past Riku and Kairi now, and was fighting against the possessed Henry for his and Carina’s sake. And Kairi had never felt so moved by him.

“Let the boy go, Salazar,” Kairi could make out the captain saying with a calmness that belied the situation. “Your fight is with me… I destroyed you and your men years ago—gave you a fate worse than death, even—and mayhaps I apologize for that. But even so… fight me.”

And Salazar was battling Jack now…. while Carina seemed desperately to reach out to Henry’s heart. “Henry, I know you’re in there…” she cried, while trying to get in edgewise, so she could try and grab the Trident from “him” while Salazar was preoccupied with his number one enemy. “Think of all we shared, and fight back!” Carina pleaded.

“Kairi,” Riku said now, as he spun her away from the scene before her, so she could focus on the matter at hand. “Maybe you should do the same that she’s doing… if you sensed that Sora might be here—and you know how Yen Sid and I think he’s trying to go to worlds you might be in. So, if you came here, he might be—then try contacting him, too.”

And Kairi would’ve—perhaps again becoming the girl who used to try and use light and do support from the side—if she hadn’t just then heard a voice she now somehow knew so well, whispering behind her ear.

“Really, Kairi? Really? You’re so easily going to go back to the delicate girl you were before your beau sacrificed himself for you? I’m disappointed.”

“Leave her alone!” Riku stepped in between the Master of Masters and Kairi, probably so she could continue to try and reach Sora, she thought. “She’s not going to fall into your plan! She’s not going to-”

And Kairi wasn’t going to do that. She was sick of her friends and herself following the Organization’s plan!

So she decided to just completely ignore the Master of Masters for the time being, and instead went to help Jack and Carina against Henry. “I think you were getting through to him, Carina,” Kairi said, as she gave the other girl a one-armed hug before jumping into the fray. “Keep at it… and I’m sure things will work out. But at the same time… you’re a smart girl. If you want to use your head and work something else out, I believe in you there, too.”

“I wouldn’t believe in anything you say, little girl, since I bested you earlier.” And before Kairi could say anything to that—or try to parry his incoming strike—she was stabbed through the stomach by Salazar. (And was Kairi imagining it… or was Riku trying to teleport to her side now, while the Master said an exasperated “Wow”?)

But she’d become too strong to be “bested” so easily… as she was still impaled on the sword, Kairi grabbed a hold of the butt of it and used it as leverage to throw Salazar—who was still holding onto it—hard to the ground. She then did a quick curaza spell to fix the damage. But she still didn’t feel one hundred percent yet.

“Are you okay there, lass? I may have misjudged you,” Captain Jack asked, as he knelt down beside Kairi and put a hand over her wound.

“I don’t think so!” the Master of Masters bellowed towards Riku, as he froze him in place so he couldn’t get to Kairi? What? Did he think the help she was getting from Jack was more than she deserved? Kairi had before thought she didn’t hate anyone more, than those who kept her away from Sora, she now imagined that those who kept her from Riku were just as annoying.

“Hold on, Riku!” Kairi called his way. “I’ll give you a panacea, and-”

But Kairi lost her train of thought, when she saw Carina had again taken a page from her book. She’d jumped towards the possessed Henry, not even caring for the weapon that was in her way, and though it seemed to nearly slice her side to smithereens… but she was able to wrest the Trident out of Salazar’s hands with this motion, and she was using it instantly. “As the one who now has power over all the sea, I command you—gods and goddesses—to release all your curses!”

But perhaps the Trident in and of itself was a curse, because it turned into water… never to be seen again, Kairi presumed.

Then, the sea above them all began to close… and Kairi thought she might faint. She was too injured to make a Corridor of Light to get herself and her friends out of this. And though she supposed Riku could try and use a Corridor of Darkness again—if worst came to worse—she knew the ill effects that it would have on everyone.

And now the Master of Masters was laughing without humor. “I have no desire to have a watery grave. You all work this one out. And Kairi… continue to be strong. Otherwise, I’ll have reason to kill you! And who wants that?!” As soon as he’d said those words, the Master of Masters was gone… but amazingly, he’d let Riku out of the spell he cast on him before he did—maybe he had plans for him, too—and Riku noticed immediately what was happening and muttered a curse.

“We have to get out of here… now,” Kairi stated the obvious. She quickly healed Carina, and then went to Carina’s side to help her pick up an unconscious Henry. What she’d done with the Trident had freed him, so now Salazar was standing in front of everyone again in all of his hideous, undead—yet human—glory.

Captain Jack had just motioned for Gibbs—who was still in the ship above them—to send the anchor down, so they could all ride it to the surface… but now Salazar and his crew were trying to kill all of their enemies, so they couldn’t get to it first.

But there was no guarantee they’d even survive if they made it to the surface, since sooner or later they’d have to face the fate they’d missed out on long ago. And Kairi had to wonder what kind of desperation drove Salazar… was it what existed in her heart now?

And to try and get to her new friends and to save them before it was too late, Kairi warp-striked to try and get back on what was left of the Pearl, so she could then pull them up. And she could tell that Riku was doing the same thing, having been inspired by her to do so. And he was rescuing Jack and Henry before she could blink... Kairi, then, went to rescue Carina... but it was all over.

For just as she had gotten Carina to the surface, Salazar had grabbed ahold of Kairi and was ramming her into the water wall beside her, as the pathway began to close above her. "If it weren't for foolish people like you, no one would have to suffer!" he hisse.

Kairi wanted to argue that—because maybe she was becoming better again—but was unable to, with how much pain she was in and the water filling up in her mouth.

Kairi tried to get her Keyblade into a position where she could use it... but then she accidentally dropped it into the wave and was losing consciousness.

Above her, Kairi could hear Carina screaming for someone to save her... but then Carina starting to change her mind when it became clear that someone was going to have to sacrifice themselves to fulfill her wish.

"What am I to you?!" Carina cried. And Kairi heard the voice of Barbosa answer "Treasure", before he willingly fell on Salazar—and towards his death—to free her from his hold. And then Kairi felt Riku sharply tugging on her arms to bring her to safety, as she sobbed.

…

For the first time in what felt like ages to Kairi, she had chosen to be selfless and stay with her new friends for a few months—foregoing her search for Sora for that long—to help them deal with the aftermath of everything that had happened.

Captain Jack was the easiest. It seemed to Kairi that he was... just lonely, in seeing Will and Elizabeth—and Henry and Carina—together, even if he was secretly happy for them. And once Kairi learned that there was an "Angelica" in his past, she helped chart a path for him to find her on "Rum Runner Island"—the island that maybe she had unwittingly found?—since he still didn't have his magic compass back.

And Jack looked at Kairi with something like warmness in his eyes, when he chose to shake her hand. "Yer a good lass, Kairi. Don't let anyone tell ya different. And you go on and remember it yourself, savvy?"

"Savvy," Kairi replied, with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes--since she thought it was proven with Barbossa’s death (and perhaps Pintel and Ragetti’s before that. And- and Sora’s), that she wasn't very good at all.

And it was Mister Gibbs who seemed to notice Kairi was feeling this way. He told her not to feel too bad about Barbossa, since at least she’d tried to help everyone—unlike him, in his eyes. It seemed to Kairi that Gibbs hated his own inaction on this recent quest of his now. Something she could relate to—and since he thought Barbossa had been happy to give up his life for his daughter’s good spirits, anyway. Kairi didn’t have much to say to that, other than trying to put two-and-two together to try and figure out where the compass Jack had lost was at. He’d promised it to Gibbs, hadn’t she? Kairi swore to the man she’d figure it out and come back and get it to him. Someday.

After that, Kairi had gone with Henry, Carina, and Riku to meet Will and Elizabeth. And her heart soared for Henry and Elizabeth being reunited with father and husband respectively... but Kairi wished Sora could have been here, too, with the Trident having been destroyed… but he wasn’t. And Kairi could tell that Riku was just as upset about it.

For days, Kairi trained with Carina—to help her learn how to fight, as Carina now wanted to be a pirate—and while the other lady had informed Kairi that she didn't at all blame her for her father's death, she didn't seem to sense that Kairi thought people around her in general seemed to die, and didn't comfort her about it. But Kairi thought that it was more that Carina just didn’t know how to, since as a scholar… she seemed to spend most of her life in her own head. And that was fine. Kairi got it. Maybe she’d even been the same in the past, somewhat.

Henry, like Gibbs, was there for Kairi, however. One day, when she was jotting down some things she thought Destiny Islands did better in terms of sailing to help the people here, Henry interrupted her.

"You can't blame yourself, you know," he gently reprimanded her, as he laid a hand on her wrist. "I used to blame myself for my parents' situation... and told myself that if I hadn't been born, my mother could have freed my father from his terrible fate long ago, and not be trapped in a life she hated... But I also knew that my parents loved me, and that the lies we tell ourselves can be the deadliest. So you know that, too."

And it was after Henry told Kairi this, and she felt light return to her heart once more, that she finally decided to leave the Caribbean. She'd been dreaming of healing these people, but here they had done that for her.

"You know..." said Will, as Kairi was about to leave alongside Riku, with a knapsack over her shoulder. "Even though I was dying at the time, and it was hard to tell, Sora was very angry about what Davy Jones did to me... and even then, I assumed it was because he didn't want to be taken away from someone, like he didn't want me to have to be taken away from Elizabeth."

"And when Will went missing in searching for the Isla de Muerta, it was Sora, Donald, and Goofy that I trusted to help me find him, not Jack. And I suppose it could be because Sora reminded me of Will—of us—if he had someone like you waiting for him at home,” Elizabeth added on to her husband’s claims, as she winked at Kairi.

"Thank you," Kairi said shyly, before making the rash decision to hug the spouses. And though it clearly shocked them both, they swiftly hugged her back. They were parents, after all.

And to partly thank Will and Elizabeth for that and so much more, when Kairi just happened to see barnacles under their bed, she took them outside and burnt them... so the memory of this Davy Jones would hopefully leave them alone forever.

And it was when Kairi was outside on Elizabeth’s (and now her family’s) beautiful green island, that she found Riku sitting there as he let the wind dance over him.

Pip bound up to Kairi then, as it looked like he'd just been on the gummi ship with Riku, and he excitedly told her, "Kairi! What happened with the Trident seemed to give Riku a vision! He says Sora's in a world of... data? Though apparently, it's not the Tron world or Datascape, whatever that means. Isn't that good news?!"

And trying to hide the fact that she was sad Riku had seen this and not her, too—because hadn't Riku and Master Yen Sid and Riku theorized Sora was trying to get to worlds she'd like?—Kairi sat down beside him and said, "Then I guess we should see if Cid can get our phones to search for worlds with data."

#mine #my work #Shanna writes #my writing #swallow #kairi #sokai #kh #kingdom hearts #swallow chapter 4 #swallow chapter four #chapter four #chapter 4 #long post

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lightheartedwarrior · 4 years

Text

Disney Headcanon Prompts!

@nibelheimraised Sent: The Lion King - Is your muse prepared for the responsibilities laid out for them in life?

In the beginning of his journey Sora believed he was one hundred percent without a doubt ready for it. Was it scary sometimes? You bet! But, he was given the power of the Keyblade and he was told that he was the only one who would be able to harness it’s power and save the worlds, save his friends and be the hero everyone needed. He was told he was the Keyblade Master. He took all that responsibility on his shoulders with a smile and without a second thought.

When he found that Riku and Kairi could also wield Keyblades he was excited. Finally they could share in the adventure and work together. After all, their whole lives leading up to this they’d been the best team. A force to be reckoned with, even if their previous adventures together had been mundane on the sunny island they’d called home.

Then... Riku got hurt badly trying to help him defeat Xemnas.

Then The Mark of Mastery happened and he found out he wasn’t truly a Keyblade Master despite being told for so long he was and when he took the test... He failed.

The confidence he exuded was slowly fading away, though to anyone but, himself you wouldn’t notice the subtle differences he let slip past his joyful mask. He wasn’t allowed to journey together with his friends. People he loved kept getting hurt and suddenly he wondered if he wasn’t the great hero he’d lead himself to believe...

Maybe, he’s not as ready as he once thought.

#nibelheimraised #ask memes #answers #THIS ONE HURT #headcanons

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