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casualtheoriesandthoughts · 3 years

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The role of memories in Kingdom Hearts

I recently replayed KH Re:CoM and I have to say it’s one of the more brutal entries in the series, with very little light-hearted letup on the action of the main story. Marluxia and Larxene, more so than nearly any other antagonist (even more than Xemnas imo) in KH, are incredibly cruel. Ansem SoD is literally a ghost haunting Riku and taunting him with his grief (and honestly made me think this is why a lot of fans came to support Riku in the first place).

The scene where Larxene flings Riku Replica to the side? Positively gut-wrenching. Sora being uncharacteristically angry? It honestly made me slightly uncomfortable. Naminé accepting her fate to be forgotten by Sora (despite him promising to meet her again) was super tragic.

But more than anything else, I feel like Re:CoM is a somewhat overlooked entry in the series for its influence on the meta-universe of KH (even if it is a bit of a ridiculous game with the card system). Especially since Melody of Memory has been released (spoilers ahead!), I felt the need to revisit Re:CoM for its lore on the role of memories in KH. Memories are an intriguing dimension of what I’m going to start calling the metaphysics of the KH universe. In this post, I’m going to cover things that memories do in Kingdom Hearts, and the implications it has for Melody of Memory and the ending of Re:Mind (last warning: SPOILERS AHEAD).

Re:CoM - Memories and connected feelings shape the heart

As Sora enters Castle Oblivion, we are told that the deterioration of his memories has already begun. Naminé is actively altering the links in his memory to insert her presence therein (all at the behest of Marluxia, who is manipulating her desire to meet Sora and her loneliness). Despite the creation of false memories in Riku Replica and Sora, however, they still induce people to experience very real feelings. Before his final battle with Marluxia, Sora still feels a responsibility and desire to protect Naminé in spite of the fact he has no personal relationship with her in reality and that she manipulated his memories. He also goes out of his way to tell Riku Replica that his own feelings are real, and that even if the memories are false, his experiences are his own and even possesses his own heart. For Sora and Riku Replica, all feelings are genuine even if they arise from false memories.

It’s worth noting the way memories are referred to in Re: CoM, starting with the title: Chain of Memories. A chain can be either shackling or connecting, as Marluxia and Naminé allude to when speaking about Sora’s memories. Marluxia orders Naminé to control Sora by way of his memories, in order for the latter to do his bidding (help him to take over the Organization, that is). Naminé, on the other hand, refers to Sora’s memories as that which tie him to his friends and loved ones, especially Riku and Kairi. His feelings of friendship and love towards others never fade in spite of his memories being changed, and is even willing to allow Naminé to destroy his heart by erasing his memories.

But that’s where it gets complicated. It is highly implied that memories have the ability to shape a heart, but only at this point is it suggested that the erasure of memories can actually destroy a heart. Marluxia states that if Naminé were to erase Sora’s memories, he would become an empty shell incapable of feeling (which coincidentally describes a Nobody). That said, she doesn’t actually do it, and when she destroys Riku Replica’s false memories, his heart does not disappear. This is why Riku Replica is able to return right before Sora fights Marluxia, his heart intact. This seems to indicate that Marluxia was either speaking in hyperbole, or simply did not know the true relationship of memories to hearts.

It may then be more accurate to say that the destruction of memories traumatizes and numbs a heart rather than destroys it. Larxene comments during Reverse/Rebirth that Naminé’s magic almost remade Riku Replica’s heart by changing his memories, but not quite. In the KH universe, memories seem to be inscribed on a heart rather than fundamentally altering it. Yet, memories also bind hearts to the world by giving them meaning.

Remember that as Sora journeyed through Castle Oblivion, people outside apparently forgot about him and remembered him spontaneously when awoke from his pod in Twilight Town. It’s not just the individual memories that make up a person, but the shared memories and experiences which connect hearts together in a “chain” of memories. In the presence of others, characters acquire purpose and senses of self. In Reverse/Rebirth, Riku rediscovers himself after falling to darkness and battles against his insecurities by rekindling his connections to people like Sora, Kairi and Mickey. This is how he maintains the light within, by dwelling on his memories of his bonds to his friends.

In that context, we might see how memories play an important role in giving rise to new hearts later on.

358/2 Days - The case of Xion

Xion is one of the most curious and earliest cases of a heart being generated seemingly out of nowhere in KH (I’d say possibly even before Riku Replica). Just like Riku Replica, Xion in 358/2 Days is derived from the memories of her original persona (in her case, Sora). She is not a true Nobody, though Vexen muses that his replicas are a special kind of Nobody in the Day 23 Report of 358/2 Days’ Secret Reports. In addition Xion, unlike Riku Replica, actively embodies many of Sora’s qualities while being distinctly aware that she is not truly Sora. It is this crisis of identity which eventually leads her to believe that she must return to Sora, and forces Roxas to defeat her.

After that, people cease to remember Xion after she returns to Sora, a fact about which I’ve always wondered. Consider that Riku Replica, upon returning to Riku (or at least residing in his heart), does not fade from Riku’s memory or anyone else’s. Axel repeatedly doesn’t remember Xion even when hints of her come up (such as the fact that Roxas wields two Keyblades, his knowledge of the Replica Program and his many interactions with Kairi, even during KH3). Yet he clearly remembers Riku Replica as evidenced in the Day 194 Secret Reports from the 358/2 Days. This is well after the events of Re: CoM for both Sora and Riku’s stories, as Xion had already met Riku in his Organization XIII coat.

In theory, one might assume that Axel shouldn’t remember either Xion or Riku Replica because they have both returned to their original forms. Yet objects that belong to them or are about them remain in existence (ex. Vexen’s reports about the Replica Program). Even Xion’s personal memories and those attached to her are sealed inside Roxas’ heart. Presumably because Sora never actually met her or Roxas (a crucial difference from Riku and his replica), and Roxas lost his own memories in his fight with Riku, memories of her became doubly compromised when he returned to Sora. So this begs an important question: what do memories do when it comes to having a heart?

I would say that memories, especially independent ones, allow for the arising of new hearts. Riku Replica may have acquired a heart (and therefore a distinct existence) when he decided to defend Naminé and claim his memories of her, even though they’re not real. In contrast, it is not clear whether Xion has a heart at the end of 358/2 Days, and it is implied that she has one by KH3, and essentially confirmed in Re:Mind.

From where, one can only vaguely guess. Let’s look at other KH beings: darkness is the source of Heartless; nothingness of Nobodies; negative emotions (or rather Vanitas) of Unversed; dreams of Nightmares ,Dream Eaters and Spirits. It would seem that hearts arise from light, or perhaps Kingdom Hearts itself (seeing as it appears to be the bedrock of reality). It makes sense since Kingdom Hearts is composed of all hearts that exist. But crucially, it is memories which give hearts their forms. Xion returns to existence when Sora liberates her memories/essence from within Roxas’ heart during Re:Mind.

Memories clearly play some role in generating an existential niche for hearts. They also may very well be the reason that people can be re-completed: Axel recalls his memories as a kid as he spends time with Roxas and Xion (Day 118 Secret Report). He even says that he feels like he has a heart in the presence of Roxas, Xion and Sora (and very critically, is unsure if he in fact doesn’t have one in a conversation with Roxas). Marluxia seems to recall his memories as Lauriam from KH Union Cross, right as he is defeated in KH3. Terra’s memories occasionally surface in Xemnas, and his feelings of loneliness come up as he dies in KH3.

Sora states in KH Re:CoM that he was able to return to being whole after becoming a Heartless by holding on to his memories of Kairi, and her own ability to free him from the darkness. Roxas, Xion and Riku Replica all develop hearts distinct from their original personas as they experience the world and forge new memories. Xion is primarily able to return to the world because people’s memories of her are restored. Her true consciousness becomes freed through Sora’s actions, not unlike the way Sora’s friends and allies suddenly remember him at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts 2.

From this, we can deduce that memories are critical for three things:

existing as a unique, complete individual

returning from states of incompleteness (such as being a Heartless or Nobody)

verifying that someone actually still exists in a reachable place

The last one is the kicker with Xion, and bears on a working theory of mine about Melody of Memory and Re:Mind’s endings (which I’ll put in another post for clarity). Hope this interests some people, and inspires some discussion about the possible connections between Re:CoM and Melody of Memory!

#khrecom #chain of memories #kingdom hearts #kh #kingdomhearts #khtheories #xion #kairi #sora #namine #kh lore #kh3 #kh2 #kh3 remind #kh meta

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snowflake-of-destruction · 4 years

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A long one this time since I’m “cheating” again and posting a selection from a random old draft so I’m not empty handed.

The spray of hot water from the showerhead seemed like a blessing from a god who’d been listening to the appeals Hayner had made over hours of practice in the overcast and heavily damp--but not raining, naturally, since Roxas had promised to call struggle practice if it rained outright instead of misting on and off. Hayner adored his friend and could think no wrong of him usually, but he was beginning to develop the paranoid delusion the help of several hidden, trained water spirit monsters had been enlisted to soak up the water in the clouds and keep the rain at bay, since he knew from the pictures Olette had sent him that it had been storming heavily on the other side of town all afternoon.

Roxas kept saying he couldn't control all the weird monsters that still periodically appeared in Twilight Town, but those white zipper mouthed haunted onesies sure seemed to answer to him, and that Vanitas guy who'd dropped by last tournament had conjured three demon bunnies that he ordered around like servants, so it sure seemed like monster training was part of the whole "keybearer" deal. Roxas had explained the different between Heartless, Nobodies, Unversed and the special situations in the latter groups--Vanitas's relationship with the Unversed and the lesser Nobodies attuned to different masters that had once been more powerful Nobodies-- but it all seemed like semantics, excuses, and gibberish. To be fair, Hayner had a hard time paying attention when it had been explained because Roxas had ripped off his shirt after practice, and was standing with his Twilight Town University Tanukis struggle jersey slung around his neck, hair matted in ways that shouldn't have been attractive but were, and arms crossed behind his head, making it difficult to focus on anything but the muscles in his arms, the progress of a bead of sweat rolling slowly down his chest, or the flex of his stomach as he spoke, especially when the warm sound of his voice was so much more interesting than words.

If it had been strategies for their first match of the upcoming season which included a face-off for Hayner against Dawn State's champion struggler, Edward "Edge" Geraldine, he could have retained it. That was important. The ins and outs of what legions of mutants could be trained and by whom? Unless Roxas was going to tell Hayner how he could master his own mutant army, or at least cop to being chief mutant wrangler himself, it was not nearly as interesting as wondering how likely he was to be able to pass it off as testing Roxas's reflexes or just seeing what what the look on his face would be if he kissed him right then in the middle of the struggle lot. Not that he would actually do it. He respected boundaries.

Hayner knew it was pathetic to still be crushing on his best friend when Roxas had been dating the same guy for “longer than he’s been alive” as Kairi had put it (however that worked). Axel had been a constant right from the start, already wrapped around Roxas--literally, hugging him from behind, arms wrapped loosely around him and chin resting on the top of Roxas's head while he wore a rather superior look that already knew Hayner wanted what he had and that reveled in rubbing it in, or so Hayner read into it at the time--when Hayner first awkwardly, unnecessarily introduced himself to him, handed him the picture of them from the fake Twilight Town Sora had given him that he was reluctant to pass on as much as he thought Roxas should have it, and told him, "I feel like I've known you my entire life."

Hayner tended to write Axel out of that memory though, except when he was feeling especially masochistic, and only remember Roxas smiling so wide it crinkled the corners of his eyes and his voice warbling with emotion he'd rarely show easily in such force in times after, at least not directed toward Hayner, as he replied, "Please, can we pretend you have? I don't think my heart could stand it if we ever had to be strangers."

The friendship had continued like it had started. Roxas and Hayner were connected by invisible ties, instantly in sync, inside jokes about things that never actually happened already understood and able to finish each other's sentences. They challenged each other both to be better and, in other ways, so much worse than they were separately (The incident where they switched out the scheduled movie for the outdoor theater by Tram Common with a home video of various Twilight Town denizens not aware they were being filmed sprang to mind, as did the incident with Seifer and the feathers).

Even so, it was always Axel who had Roxas's greatest devotion, and he'd go spiraling back to the redhead like they were magnetized, even when they fought, even the year Axel took off with his ex-boyfriend ("His best friend! Isa's just his friend like you're mine!" Hayner remembered Roxas's protestations well, and the shadow of doubt and pain in his eyes that Hayner had cursed himself for not being quite selfish enough to encourage. "And they're not on vacation. They're on a mission. They're looking for someone. Axel invited me to go. I was the one who said I wanted to stay here") and they only kept in contact by gummi phone. Roxas loved Axel more than his own life; he said as much, often and with vehement determination like he expected arguments.

It wasn't that Hayner didn't want to argue, but the injustice of Roxas being skateboard in the sky, face scraping the pavement in love with Got It Memorized the Former Kidnapper instead of him was matched by the fact that Axel wasn't a jerk, a cheater, or any of the other things Hayner had tried to paint him as in his mind in the beginning. Axel was constantly mocking him, that Hayner had been right about, but, other than that, he was, as much as Hayner wished it weren't so, a pretty cool guy, funny as hell, always had your back in a fight, and loved Roxas to the point of stupidity--and Hayner was forced to respect it...mostly.

Hayner tried to tell himself that he and Roxas were too similar in all the ways that would make them get on each other's nerves (too much to prove always, too impulsive, too quick to lose their cool, too used and turning everything into competition and too committed to always being the winner) and too different in ones that would leave them working up hill when it came to trying to carve out any long-term plans as well as soon scrambling for things to talk about other than taste in bands, boards, struggle, or what a dick Seifer could be--and even those sometimes failing after Roxas had shifted to offworld music rather than local, solar boards over skateboards, and had seen a "entirely different Seifer" during his brief relationship with Xion. Even knowing each other well enough to predict each other's thoughts was a curse when you thought about how hard it would make necessary white lies or trying to end a fight when you weren't yet completely sorry, particularly considering that, when Hayner reflected on it, he found he didn't regret any mean comment he had made in his entire life.

Hayner also tried the tactic of reasoning with himself that he loved Roxas, but wasn't even really in love with him, or even consistently in lust as Roxas could ruin any effect he had with a single flash of self awareness, the kind that tended to solidify to outright conceit and smugness (gods Roxas could preen when he remembered he was pretty) that left a bitter edge in Hayner long after it faded. Even with all these tactics though, and every bit of good advice he could tell himself, Hayner couldn't shake that feeling he'd had since he first laid eyes on Roxas in the alternate Twilight Town's group photo outside the Old Mansion. He knew in his bones he was born to love that face as surely as if soulmate imprints had stepped out of science fiction and become real alongside the magic and aliens that had come to populate Twilight Town.

Hot water made everything seem better and brighter, loosening tight muscles and sweating out every problem until it existed no more. The memory of the fall he'd taken during practice, particularly brutal to his pride if not physically devastating, when he'd spun at a bad angle that made his left knee buckle, the ankle underneath it scream, and threw off his center of gravity swirled down the drain with dirt and grit picked up from the struggle lot pavement. Soon after it went the mud Roxas had smushed through his hair when he'd ruffled it after practice, laughing and ducking away as Hayner swung at him with the bat still in his hands and managing somehow to carry on laughing harder even while wincing in pain when the bat connected with a crack. A large purple splotched bruise had already been forming by the time Roxas left the locker room after the post-scrimmage strategy talk, still covered in a layer of half dried sweat and with his hair sticking up more than usual on one side (Roxas didn't shower on campus after practice. Hayner only made the mistake of asking about it once. Roxas showered at home. Hayner had been informed of this with a wink form Roxas and a cheerfully lewd remark about how Axel liked him dirty). Hayner was sure he'd feel guilty when he saw the bruise in full form next time he saw Roxas, but, in the moment, Hayner had thought Roxas deserved it--and even more once he started questioning where Roxas had gotten mud in the first place and what implications it had for the theory Roxas was controlling weather.

Lathering shampoo through his now mud-free hair and scrubbing harder at his scalp than necessary to also banish continued thoughts of his blond best friend, Hayner found himself startling and nearly slipping on the slick tile of the shower floor when he heard none other than the voice he was trying to banish calling out tentatively, "Hey! Hey? Sorry for bursting in on you."

Hayner recovered, head snapping from side to side comically as if he'd find Roxas lurking in the corner of the stall when he should have known from the distance of the voice that Roxas was likely on the other side of the locker room with the actual lockers and benches. If that was the case though, why was Roxas apologizing for bursting in?

Hayner was still puzzling through it when Roxas continued shouting to him, this time something with a lot higher stakes in possible meaning. "Axel's already left for Wonderland and I thought you might still be here."

Hayner let out a strangled noise of confusion that would have been him playing it cool and asking what he could help Roxas out with if his voice hadn't betrayed him. Shampoo dripped into his eye and it took him a second to even register the burn.

"I'll just sit out here and wait for you I guess, if you don't mind?"

Hayner was concerned he had actually slipped in the shower and hit his head and was now suffering from a dying dream or concussion.

"You're awfully quiet." The trepidation was back in Roxas's voice, and it caused an answering sympathetic flutter of nerves to tingle down Hayner's body and rest low. "I'm not talking to a stranger, am I? Or a ghost who turned on a faucet? That would be embarrassing."

"I'm here," Hayner found his voice but it refused to cooperate beyond those two words. His body was slightly more tractable, agreeing with his brain that he needed to wash the shampoo out of his hair and attend to washing the rest of him as swiftly as possible and not keep Probably A Dream Roxas waiting. He turned the water temperature up even higher. Maybe if he boiled himself until his flesh melted he might find a backbone under his skin and actually be able to carry on a conversation (and be able to follow through with whatever Dream Roxas was proposing so he wouldn't be left with a regret that would follow him until he died).

“Do you have a cold? Your voice sounds a little weird.”

“Weird how?” He squeaked and then overcompensated like a sitcom character, rumbling, “Weird how?” in a gravelly tone as he turned off the water and reached for his towel.

“Less like listening to a recording of my own voice,” the wry and completely nonsensical in Hayner’s opinion, reply came, Roxas’s voice quieter but a lot closer.

“I never thought we sounded alike.” Hayner finger combed his hair and wrapped the towel securely around his waist before performing a mental countdown to pysch himself up before stepping out of the stall to meet what turned out to be a complete stranger. Hair too long and a shade too light to be Roxas’s falling over the collar of a pale blue and sunflower print kimono jacket Roxas wouldn’t be caught dead in. The absence of a tan and the addition of freckles were further confirmation of an eerie but imperfect doppleganger, but the dumbfounded look with lack of recognition in the eyes was the real cincer.

“You’re not Roxas!” Two voices chorused in near unison.

#hayner #hayrox #hayven #haynus #fanfiction #snippets

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phoenix-downer · 4 years

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Thanks for Waiting Chapter 1/2

For Rikunami Day 2019. Chapter 1 will be posted today, and chapter 2 will be posted next Monday. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Length: ~3300 words

Summary: Riku and Naminé are an unlikely duo working towards a common goal: helping Sora. But as they spend more and more time together, they start to question if they’re doing the right thing. It’s easier to focus on that than on what might be happening between them. After all, a Nobody doesn’t have feelings of her own, and a human wouldn’t fall for a Nobody… right?

Characters: Naminé, Riku

Relationships: Riku/Naminé

Additional Info: Romance, Friendship, Angst, Mutual Pining, (Mostly) Canon Compliant, Missing Scene(s)

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Naminé rubbed her eyes, then picked up the pencil and continued her work. This memory was an old one; Sora wore a white shirt with red pants, and there was a light shining in his hands. It was one of those memories he probably didn’t even remember, but it was a part of his heart all the same and needed to get put back together.

“Naminé? You’re still awake?”

Naminé looked up from her sketchbook. A figure wearing a black coat and a blindfold had entered her little sanctuary, a blank white room with drawings of Sora’s memories attached to the walls.

“Oh, hello Riku,” she said as she turned her attention back to her drawing. “I take it our hideout is still safe?”

Riku took a seat at the opposite end of the table from her. “For now,” he said with a sigh. His silver hair was getting long, including his bangs. Between that and the blindfold, Naminé wasn’t sure how he could even see anything.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” she asked.

“I guess. I just… don’t feel like I’m doing anything.”

“Well, there’s not much you can do right now other than stand guard over Sora. And it’s an important job. His life is in our hands.”

He rested his head in his hands. “That’s just it. After what I did, I don’t know how I’m gonna face him when he wakes up.”

“Well,” Naminé said as she put her pencil down, “if it makes you feel any better, there are plenty of good memories of the two of you together. And Sora forgave me for trying to replace Kairi. He wasn’t happy about it, but he didn’t hold it against me. If he can forgive me, he can forgive you too.”

Riku was silent, and Naminé stole a glance at his face. With his eyes covered, it was harder to get a read on what he was feeling, but not impossible.

“Riku,” she said softly, and he lifted his head. “I think you’re being harder on yourself than anyone else is.”

“I could say the same about you. How long have you been working on Sora’s memories without a break?”

She pursed her lips. “That’s different. I have to make it up to him. I have to fix my mistakes. With each day that goes by, he’s apart from his friends for that much longer.”

He sat back in his chair. “And how is what you’re doing any different from what I’m doing?”

“It’s not,” Naminé finally admitted.

His lips twitched, ever so slightly, and for a moment Naminé caught a glimpse of the Riku Sora and Kairi must know.

“Listen to us,” he said. “Two people bumbling around, trying to atone for what we’ve done but probably doing more damage in the process. What a pair we make.”

Naminé stilled at that. “I’m not a person the way you are, Riku. I’m not… human. I’m just a Nobody. Kairi’s shadow.”

He said nothing for a long time, and she picked up her pencil again and continued. When he stood, she glanced up at him one last time.

“Goodnight, Riku.”

“Goodnight, Naminé.”

With that, he stole out of the room as quickly as he’d entered it. The only sound left was the scratching of pencil against paper.

The more Naminé spread her drawings of Sora’s memories across the walls and tables of this lonely room, the emptier Naminé felt inside. Like she was pouring everything into those drawings until there was nothing left. She set her pencil down, the drawing of Sora as a child finally finished, and rested her head in her hands.

His memories mocked her. They were always waiting for her as soon as she closed her eyes. Reminding her of the life she could never have. It didn’t matter that Sora had promised to be her friend. Once he woke up, he wouldn’t even know who she was. She was alone again.

Riku was trying, he really was. But a human like him couldn’t understand what it felt like to know you were never meant to exist. That you were a mistake, an accident. Naminé could hardly blame him for thinking that way. She and Roxas and Xion were all just fakes, and he and Sora and Kairi were the real ones. The humans. The ones with actual hearts. And even though Roxas and Xion were never meant to exist, either, they still had Axel. Who did she have?

No one. Sora had chosen Kairi over her. Riku wanted his friend back, and so did Kairi, even though she couldn’t remember his name.

There was one person who had wanted to be with her. The Riku Replica. But he was gone now, and his feelings had been fake. Given to him so Marluxia could manipulate Sora. Given to him so she could toy with him and break him. No one had ever cared for her out of their own free will.

What she wouldn’t give just to have that, for once. But she could never ask for it, for if she did, she would simply ensure the same thing would happen again. Love without a choice was not love at all.

When she left the white room for the night, a shudder went down her spine. How could a Nobody like her be haunted by ghosts of memories that weren’t even her own?

But it didn’t matter. Her time was limited. In the end, she would have to return to her Other, just like every other Nobody did in the end.

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Riku sighed as he sank into his creaky bed that night. The Old Mansion was hardly a nice place to live, but somehow it was still less creepy than living in Maleficent’s lonely old castle with its big empty room back on Hollow Bastion.

Being away from Sora and Kairi was hard. But it wasn’t their fault Riku was currently in this mess, struggling with his darkness as he tried to fix his mistakes. And Sora wouldn’t wake up unless he went to questionable lengths to get his friend back.

His thoughts wandered to his task at hand. Sure, DiZ kept saying Roxas and Xion and Naminé weren’t real people. But if that was true… why did Xion have a face now? A face that looked like Kairi’s? And why did Roxas seem so much like Sora? Why was Riku reminded so much of his friend when he saw him?

And Naminé. Naminé, with her gentle smile and earnest manner. Naminé, who was just as determined to atone for her mistakes as Riku was for his. How were the two of them any different, really? Why was it that he was human and she was a Nobody? Did it even really matter?

Yes, it did, because if he accepted Naminé had a heart, then he’d have to accept Roxas and Xion did, too, and he couldn’t do that. Couldn’t do that and still bring Sora back.

DiZ was right. Nobodies and Replicas weren’t real people. They were just fakes with fake hearts, and no amount of wishing would ever change that.

But as Riku fell asleep, Naminé’s face was in his thoughts, and a part of him wished he was wrong.

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When Naminé woke up the next morning, faint smells were coming from the direction of the mansion’s kitchen.

Curious. Usually she was the one who did the cooking. Riku was in and out too much to be a reliable cook, and DiZ had probably never made anything more complicated than a sandwich in his entire life.

She had no clothes but her white dress, so she slipped it on now and folded the oversized Twilight Town t-shirt that was her nightgown in a neat pile on her creaky old bed. She’d managed to snatch it when no one was looking, because Diz didn’t think a Nobody like her need worry about things like clothes or even food.

But her body, faint and ethereal as it was, still needed sustenance of some kind. She had made do by scrounging around in the woods near the mansion or snatching scraps from food stalls in town until Riku put a stop to that and started bringing back actual groceries for her to cook with.

Taking the stairs as quietly as possible, she made her way down to the kitchen. The smells drifting to her nose triggered Kairi’s memories of other mornings spent with Riku and Sora, mixing batter and adding in chocolate chips.

Sure enough, Riku was hunched over the stove with a metal spatula in his hand. The stove had been a little too short for him before, but after his recent growth spurt, it was comically so.

“Good morning,” she said as she peered over his shoulder. A plate of pancakes was next to the stove, and he scooped the latest one off the skillet and dumped it on top of the pile.

“Morning,” he replied. “Pancakes are about the only thing I know how to make, so I figured I’d take over cooking duty for once. Grab yourself a few and take a seat. Syrup’s already on the table.”

“Thank you.” She found a chipped but clean plate to use, along with a mismatching fork and knife, and took a seat on one of the creaky old chairs. Miracle of miracles, the table didn’t wobble as she set her plate down, and she gave Riku a curious look.

“I tried to stabilize it this morning,” he explained as he brought the remaining pancakes over along with another clean plate and took a seat. She watched as he poured syrup over his stack of pancakes, leaving a few for DiZ.

So that was what you did with the syrup. She copied him and then tried a bite. The pancakes were warm and fluffy, and the syrup was just the right level of sweetness.

“These are really good, Riku. Thank you.”

“Yeah, well, you can thank Kairi. She’s the one who taught me how to make them.”

But of course. Riku wouldn’t make them for her sake; he was making them because he missed Kairi.

“I hope I get to meet her soon,” she said. Well, more like she knew she would, she just wanted to talk to Kairi before she merged with her.

“She’d like you,” Riku said. Not a question, a matter-of-fact statement.

“She would? Even after I made Sora forget her?”

“She’s not the kind of person who holds things against other people.”

“Why don’t you go see her then?”

Riku sighed. “I can’t. Not without Sora.”

Naminé didn’t know what to say to him. What she wouldn’t give to have real actual friends of her own. He had friends who cared deeply about him, and yet he wouldn’t even talk to them.

“Well,” she said at last, “I hope the three of you can be together again soon.”

He coughed and quickly changed the subject. “What will you do, when all of this is over?”

“I suppose the same fate that befalls all Nobodies will befall me eventually. I’ll return to Kairi like I’m supposed to.”

He was silent for a while, then finally replied, “Doesn’t that make you sad?”

She shrugged. “I don’t have a heart, remember? So I can’t really be sad about it.”

But Riku’s head drooped, and she had the curious thought that perhaps he was sad for her.

No, that was impossible. Humans didn’t feel any empathy for Nobodies. How could they, when Nobodies were just empty husks masquerading as people?

She couldn’t let Riku get attached. That would just lead to heartache for him and make it harder to do what had to be done.

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Naminé sat in the white room, staring blankly out the window at the courtyard below and the woods beyond that. Xion had made her promise to look after Roxas, and…

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

She glanced at Riku, who must’ve entered the room without her noticing. His eyes were still covered, but she didn’t need to see them to sense something was on his mind, too.

“I don’t know why,” she said, “but something about this feels wrong. I know I’m not supposed to be able to feel, and yet… I can’t help but wonder… are we really doing the right thing, Riku?”

He didn’t answer her for a few moments as her question hung in the air. Was he having a crisis of conscience over what they were doing? Was it possible he felt guilty? Ashamed?

But this was all to help Sora. That was what mattered, right?

“Right or wrong, Xion made up her mind in the end,” he said at last, his voice heavy. “There was no stopping her.”

“You’re sad for her?”

Riku didn’t reply; he just sat down and stared at the drawings on the wall. As the memories of Xion faded one by one despite her attempts to cling to them, Naminé couldn’t help but wonder. Would anyone remember her after she’d returned to Kairi? Or would she just fade away? Would everyone forget her like Sora had forgotten her, or would someone, anyone, remember her? Would she become a part of Kairi, or would she…

She shook her head. Roxas. She was supposed to look after Roxas, for some reason.

Riku stood and walked to the door.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“Xion… I’m supposed to… face Roxas.”

With that, he was gone, and so were the last memories of…

That was the thing about memories fading. Once they were gone, they were gone for good. Hoping that someone would remember her after she returned to Kairi was pointless. She was doomed to be forgotten in the end, just like every other Nobody.

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Diz’s secret basement laboratory, with its blue glowing lights and creepy monitors, was usually somewhere Naminé merely passed through when she wanted to visit Sora. But someone had entered the Old Mansion and was in the lab now, and she wanted to know what was going on. Otherwise she’d never find out, as Diz wasn’t going to tell her otherwise.

She took the steps one by one, clutching her sketchbook to her chest as she peered down. What she saw at the bottom of the stairs made her breath catch.

A tall figure was there, dragging an unconscious Roxas along with one arm as it favored the other. Her promise to help Roxas rang clear through her head, and she cast her sketchbook aside and addressed the figure.

“Who are you?”

“Naminé, it’s me.”

She gasped, and her hand flew to her mouth. “Riku?”

Sure enough, the memories were his. His heart was his. But his appearance was not. He… he looked like Ansem now. Like his own worst enemy. He still wore a black coat, but he was taller and bulkier than he should be. His hair wasn’t messy anymore, either; it was perfectly smooth, and he was no longer blindfolded. Instead of the beautiful green eyes she had come to expect, golden ones stared back at her.

“I know what you’re thinking,” he said, averting his gaze. “But I had to do this to defeat Roxas.”

Naminé’s lower lip trembled as she looked from Riku to Roxas back to Riku. How was this right? How was any of this right? Why had Riku transformed? And why did Roxas have to be sacrificed? Why did bringing Sora back have such a high cost? She didn’t know helping him would… would—

Her eyes rested on the unconscious Roxas once more. Maybe she and Roxas weren’t human, but surely they didn’t deserve to just—

“I see you’ve brought Roxas back,” Diz said, and Naminé stiffened at the sound of his voice. “Place him over there. The digital Twilight Town is ready.”

Riku moved to do as Diz asked, and Diz turned his attention to her.

“Naminé, now that we have Roxas, you must make haste. The Organization will begin searching for us.”

“Of course.”

She still owed it to Sora to put the rest of his memories back together. She’d promised.

But… she could at least comfort Roxas in his final few days of life. It was the least she could do for him, for the only person left who might understand.

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“Dispose of Naminé.”

DiZ’s command to Riku rang through his head as he listened to Axel and Naminé speak to each other. And then Axel brought up the elephant in the room, the reason why Riku had come to Sunset Hill overlooking the real Twilight Town in the first place.

“DiZ? Wants to get rid of me?” Naminé asked. Her voice wasn’t angry or accusatory, just sad and a little surprised. She stared at the sketchpad in her hands. “Well, I suppose it makes sense. He doesn’t want a Nobody with powers as dangerous as mine around.” She looked up at him, and her eyes were heavy. “I don’t blame you, Riku.”

As he stared at her, he thought of all the days they’d spent together over the past few months. Thought of how she’d treated him kindly, even after he’d taken on Ansem’s form. Thought of how she’d smiled when he’d made pancakes for her. Thought of how she always knew just what to say as well as when to be silent. Thought of how upset she’d been over Roxas’s fate. How she’d defied even DiZ’s orders after she’d cooperated with him for so long. And why?

That was when it hit Riku. She was lonely. She was trying to bond with the only person she thought might understand her. If she really didn’t have a heart, then why was she trying so hard to connect with someone else?

DiZ was wrong. Riku had made a terrible mistake. Naminé had a heart. Roxas did too. Maybe even Axel as well. And even though it was too late to help Roxas now, he could still do something for Naminé. He could still show mercy on Axel.

“Go,” he told them, and Naminé’s eyes went wide and her lips parted. “I owe you both,” he explained after Axel questioned him. What he didn’t say was that a part of him couldn’t bear to see Naminé dead. Couldn’t bear the thought of her not existing anymore.

“Thank you,” was all she said after a few moments, but it was all she had to say. He watched as she disappeared inside the portal Axel had opened. Now he was the one defying orders, but he didn’t care. She was gone, but at least this way, she might be safe.

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As Naminé merged with Kairi, she realized at long last the truth that had been staring her in the face: she did have a heart of her own, a will of her own, a mind of her own.

While she was glad that she continued to exist at all, a part of her still wished that she could feel the breeze on her skin again, the sunshine beaming down on her face. Wished she could talk to Roxas and Kairi and Sora face to face again. Wished she could see Riku again—

She caught herself. Where had that thought come from? Strange, unbidden, and yet… here to stay. The more she tried not to think about Riku, the more she thought about him. Thought about his wry humor and dry wit and teasing smiles. Why had he spared her? Was it really because of guilt, or could it be something more?

No, it had to be guilt. There was no other explanation. He felt bad about what he’d done to Roxas, and this had been his way of making up for it.

There was no way he felt anything for her. None at all. And that was how it should be. She might be her own person, but she had no hope of being distinct from Kairi ever again.

Did she?

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A/N: I’ve been wanting to write something that delved into Riku and Naminé’s bond in more detail, as well as what might have happened behind the scenes during those moments the games can’t include because of time and budget restraints. This chapter covered the material leading up to KH3, and next week’s chapter will cover KH3 itself. Hope you enjoyed!

#rikunami #namiku #rikunamiday2019 #namikuday2019 #riku #naminé #kingdom hearts #kh fanfiction #phoenix writes #phoenix-downer #long post #romance #friendship #angst #pining #mutual pining

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nadziejastar · 4 years

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Let's imagine an alternate universe where Isa/Saix is female, but otherwise she's written exactly the same. How do you think audiences would react differently from the male version? Would she be more popular or less?

I think Saix would have been very popular in a similar way to Larxene. People are longing for female characters that aren’t stereotypically nice and feminine. Saix was cold and sociopathic, and I can see a female version being popular in a similar way to Azula from ATLA. If we were just going by KH2 and Days, I think a female Saix would have been more popular.

BBS, now that’s a bit different. Isa was already a very feminine pretty boy in that game. He is described as shy and only comes out of his shell for Lea. There was nothing creepy about him; he was very cute design-wise. He was sarcastic, so he might have been seen as slightly tomboyish if he had been female. Either way, Isa steps outside the gender stereotype box. I think he/she would have been equally popular either way.

I think really, the main thing Isa needed was a proper backstory and character development to explore his/her friendship with Lea. If he/she received that, then he/she would have been a very popular character. Isa never got that, though. If he had been a girl, I think it would have been FAR more easy for people to see the intended romantic hints between her and Axel/Lea, especially in the novels. I think the only reason people couldn’t see it was because Axel and Saix were both guys.

One of the creators of The Legend of Korra made a comment about watching with a hetero lens. Well, that’s exactly how I feel about Axel and Saix. They were intended to be a gay couple that would kinda slip under the radar due to it being so subtle. But for some reason, Square changed their minds and became terrified of LeaIsa/AkuSai by the time KH3 came out. I definitely think it was more than just Nomura changing his mind on a whim. It was self-censorship. They needed to focus on a girl so they didn’t seem too gay.

I think if Saix were a girl, people would have been a LOT more critical of her relationship with Lea and what it was reduced to in KH3. Saix’s relationship with Axel/Lea was handled in such a dismissive and hands-off way in KH3. Saix, even after he admitted he was jealous, simply grumbled that Lea wouldn’t get it out of him a second time. That was their heart-warming reconciliation. Without a doubt, it came across as extremely homophobic to me. But homophobia is normal in society, so many people didn’t really see the problem. Saix and Axel were just normal dudes being bros. And bros don’t get all touchy-feely with each other, right?

If Saix had been female, people would have been extremely confused about why the story was so quick to resolve her relationship with Lea, and why it was so insistent on focusing on Subject X instead. Why would a female Saix be so obsessed with a girl she barely knew and completely destroy her relationship with Axel over it? On top of that, almost ALL the focus went to the Sea-Salt trio’s reunion. Perhaps that was because that trio was less controversial. There was no potential homoerotic undertones with them. They were deemed as “safe” to depict. LeaIsa? Nope. Too risky.

If Saix had been a girl, I think her bond with Axel would have been given waaaaaay more focus. I definitely don’t think the game would have been so terrified to show their closeness and intimacy, like it was in KH3. That was solely the result of them being two men. KH3 went running and screaming in the opposite direction at the idea of two men expressing that type of intimacy.

Kairi

Kairi, who was a tomboy in KHI, became a little bit more mature in KHII. She changed a lot outwardly since at that age girls grow a lot faster than boys, but her lively personality didn’t fundamentally change. Enough that ‘with Riku and Sora gone, right now Kairi is the strongest person on Destiny Islands’ is an actual premise. I like the scene in KHI, when she watches the sunset with Sora, and tells him not to change. I thought it showed very well her anxiety and loneliness over how as we get older we find a distance growing between us and our close friends. –Nomura

If Isa had been a girl, I think a LOT more people would have been able to notice that her story line was unfinished. One of the main recurring themes in KH is the idea that things change as we grow older. We grow apart from our closest friends.

“Kingdom Hearts is not too realistic, but I do want my players to grasp a sense of reality from it as well,” Nomura said. “For example, I’m sure you had friends when you were young, a good group of friends, but as you grow older things change and it doesn’t always stay the same. I think all I can say is please play to the very end and see what happens. But I think Kingdom Hearts 3 does depict how each character feels about each other in this new storyline.”

This idea was carried on even in KH3. For better or worse, it influenced the ending.

RoxasA lot of thought was put into this character. Based on the premise that he was ‘an expression of the reverse, hidden inside Sora’, I gave him pretty much the exact same face as Sora, just with slightly narrower eyes. And then, I made white the basis for his clothes, in contrast to KHII Sora. The black and white checkered pattern, ‘neither darkness nor light’, was to be a hint. My absolute favourite scene of his has to be the one at the end of the opening of KHII, when he says 'looks like my summer vacation is over’. I put a lot of feeling into creating that, as I intended it to feel, for a moment, like the end.–Nomura

Roxas had the same issue to deal with in KH2. He was growing up and things weren’t going to stay the same between him and his friends. The end of Roxas’s summer vacation was an iconic scene.

This was also one of the main themes of Roxas and Xion’s tragic relationship. When Xion stood up slowly, the shot was extremely similar to the one where Kairi slowly stood up in KH1, with Sora just watching. Then they were watching the sunset and Kairi told him to never change. Xion literally changed—into Sora.

IMO, Roxas and Xion’s romance was a further exploration of Kairi’s relationship with Sora. Only the roles were reversed. Xion was even based on the KH1 tomboyish Kairi. The day Xion disappears is called “Tears” and Roxas cries. Afterwards, that’s when Axel discovers the WINNER stick that Roxas left him.

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

Axel was dealing with the exact same thing. After a while, there was a distance growing between him, Roxas, and Xion. Not to mention the fact that Axel wasn’t growing up. He was already grown, which presented a unique hurdle. And at the same time he was growing apart from Roxas and Xion, he was remembering how Isa had changed. This was something that needed to be resolved. Clearly, this was something that caused Axel a tremendous amount of pain. Did his relationship with Roxas and Xion need to be resolved? Of course it did. But I’d argue that his relationship with Isa caused Lea more pain than any other. Yet, it got comparatively little focus.

“Yeah. As long as we remember one another, we’ll never be apart. Got it memorized?” Roxas grinned.

A wish that they could always be together—was longing for the impossible. But at least they could always remember one another.

Saix stood up very slowly in their clock tower scene in KH3, like Kairi and Xion did. He also got a WINNER stick, which I’m sure had a lot to did with the backstory of Axel’s tear marks and him being a “crybaby”. All very deliberate. If Saix had been female, I don’t think anyone would have had trouble seeing that Axel was thinking about Saix all the time in Days. He wasn’t just the friendly “dad” of the sea salt trio. He was NOT happy in Days. He was watching Roxas and Xion grow more intimate, and remembering how he and Isa used to be the same way. He was miserable the entire game.

Axel cared about Roxas and Xion, but he didn’t really want to be a dad to them. At least not from what I could see. He wanted to protect them from experiencing the pain that he felt. And he also wanted to relive his lost innocence through them. I think if Saix had been a girl, people would have cared more about her relationship with Axel getting an actual resolution in KH3.

I wanted us to stay together. All I wanted was to hold on to our happiness as a trio in the Organization. But I told myself to grow up and stop wishing for the impossible. Well, I’m done with that. That’s not the answer I want.

If Saix had been a girl, people wouldn’t have treated Axel’s relationship with Roxas and Xion as SO much more important than his relationship with Saix. There would have been no mystery about the origin of his tear marks. They were due to Lea wanting to be together forever with Isa, and crying over thinking that would be impossible. Lea couldn’t bear to lose Isa. If Saix had been a girl, Axel would have been able to cry for her without shame, the way a Roxas was able to cry for Xion.

If Saix had been a girl, I don’t think anyone would have been okay with their relationship suddenly revolving around some random new girl that was never mentioned by either of them before. That wouldn’t be something exciting that players are meant to look forward to. People would have been wondering: what happened to their bond with each other? If Saix had been female, I think waaaaay more people would have been confused about why Axel and Saix weren’t a couple at the end of KH3, the way Roxas/Xion or Sora/Kairi were.

#akusai #leaisa

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iamoncewas · 5 years

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By the end of KH3 Sora has become aware of his "fate". He says he knows that it will lead him "home". YMX told Sora he was done, and his time in this world was over. We see in the secret ending that he is not home, and is, I think, in the "abyss." Where no one should be able to find him. So why would the intro monologue suggest his mental state when he seems to be in a not great situation?

Sora's home is Destiny Islands. I believe Sora, Kairi, and Riku and their name choices reflect the island itself, land in the middle of sea and sky. The island itself then, is Riku. Their home. So one of the intended meanings of this statement, I think, is that Sora now knows that what he feels for Riku is beyond friendship, or romance: it's fate. He knows that they are fundamentally connected, and even though they are seperate they are a greater whole. They were destined to be by each others' side. He shows that he kind of instinctively knows this in DDD, but he doesn't yet understand the scope. But Joshua gets it.

Even though Sora is lost in the deepest darkness and no one should be able to find him, Riku does. They are seperated, but they aren't. This is what the Power of Waking was intended for, traversing hearts to reach worlds. Riku was led by Sora's heart. Sora also used the power correctly when he opened the door to the Realm of Darkness following Riku and Aqua's hearts, and when he woke Ventus.

When they do their Mark of Mastery exam, which Sora only agrees to after hearing Riku question if he himself is still worthy to wield, it culminates in Riku literally unlocking Sora's heart. Once Sora is freed from the Armored Ventus Nightmare [which I think was Vanitas possessing Ventus's armor] he sinks deeper into his heart's darkness. Riku picks up Sora's dropped Kingdom Key, which was once his, to do this, instead of using Way to the Dawn. Keyblades could be said to be the key to ones heart, and he gave his to Sora. He then used it to unlock Sora's heart, freeing him. This is literal and metaphorical, and I think this is why, in KH3, Sora can now Formchange instead of using Drive Forms. Drive Forms incurred a penalty for overuse in Anti Form. Formchanges do not, and I think this is Sora's true power as a keyblade wielder, the ability to change the manifestations of his keyblade, and to be able to wield so fluidly. Which is why they no longer incur a penalty, because Sora is using his powers as a keyblade wielder properly for the first time. Final Form has been replaced with Ultimate Form, which is Sora's true... ultimate form.

So Sora did achieve the Power of Waking during his exam, and like Ventus said, he never lost it.

So then why the hell did Yen Sid only name Riku a Master if Sora achieved all this power? Why did he send Sora to find the Power of Waking when he already had it?

Because Riku discovered the source of true strength, which is what truly matters; true love. His motivation is Sora.

This is that "untold power and wisdom" Kingdom Hearts holds that people covet so much and start Keyblade Wars over. It's just the power of true love. And it resides in every heart.

While Sora was affected by Riku unlocking his heart, Yen Sid knows that he hasn't yet discovered what the source of his true strength is, his love for Riku. Which is why he sends him right on over to Hercules, so Herc can tell him about his act of sacrifice for Meg. Yen Sid knows what's up, which makes me think he might have the Book of Prophecies and is aware of Sora and Riku's ultimate importance.

While Sora derps around Olympus, Riku and Mickey talk about his newfound inner strength, his resolve, and how it comes from his desire to protect what matters. Sora. When Way to the Dawn breaks, this is reference to him completely overcoming the darkness within him, his jealousy, fear, doubt. It manifested from Soul Eater, which manifested from his heart's darkness. His new keyblade is Braveheart. It has 9 notches, the 7 at the tip I believe representing the hearts of the 7 Princesses, the 7 Pure Lights. And the other 2 near the hilt representing himself and Sora. It also has a Mickey token, whereas Way to the Dawn did not. This is significant because the only other keyblades with Mickey tokens are the Kingdom Keys. So Braveheart is of the same nature as Kingdom Key, directly tied to Kingdom Hearts. And Riku and Sora's combined keyblade, when complete, has a Hidden Mickey near the hilt.

It's hard to tell when Sora actually realizes that's hes meant to be with Riku. In the tunnel, after rescuing everyone's heart but Kairi's, when he finds her, he gives her all the credit for his surviving. So this to me implies that when he said this, he didn't get it yet, since he doesnt mention Riku at all. And he says the light was her even though he instinctively called out Riku's name when he first saw it, contradicting himself.

But right after that it shows scenes of Rapunzel and Eugene, and Anna and Elsa after their respective acts of sacrifice. Specifically, it shows the joyful embraces afterwards. In Arendelle that scene went like this:

This is when he realized what exactly Riku was saying to him through his act of self sacrifice. Which was, "I love you." And I think he also realizes that love is what reversed death in both of these cases. Like Elsa says, "Of course. Love!"

And then upon arriving back, this happens.

When he reached for that light, I think he saw Riku reaching out to him [which has kind of become his... signature stance, reaching out his hand to Sora]. Even though Riku isn't standing there when they arrive. Nobody is. Which is why he looks so flabbergasted that theres nothing there. Sweet Kairi then asks him if hes okay, and shes talking about on an emotional level. Kairi knows Sora had a profound realization through this ordeal. Kairi knows. So I think Sora also knows at this point, which would have been the turning point in the timeline. So in the first timeline that ended with Riku's death, he apparently didn't get the message for whatever reason. He never heard Riku's "I love you." Or, if he did, he did not take it seriously enough. [I'm now convinced one of the stars in the Final World was the Riku who died in the original timeline, and he showed Sora those visions. If it was, this would have been why Sora didn't get the message originally. Because Riku wasn't dead yet. So this Riku star is waiting in the Final World for HIS Sora, the Master of Masters. Who isn't dead. Once the MoM gives his heart to the present Riku and is healed, I believe he will pass on like Repliku did, and join his Riku in death. He won't need to exist, because the world already has Sora. Like what Repliku said to Riku.][Also, its heartbreaking that Riku had to die for Sora to realize how much he means to him. Keep in mind the meanings of the Re:Mind title Nomura gave: reminder, being reminded of something, reconfirmation, confirming it AGAIN, and hearts regeneration.]

Data-Namine said Sora had very painful memories that would be too much for him if he became aware of them, but they are not his memories. I believe there are memories in there related to the fact that he was going to have to choose between Riku and Kairi eventually. He originally sacrificed Riku to save Kairi and he lost everything. In chess, any piece except the king may be sacrificed.

Kairi's sacrifice allowed Riku to live in this timeline. [I see people refer to what happened to Kairi as fridging, but really, it was a sacrifice that I believe she was aware had to happen. A noble act of true love, just like Riku's act of self sacrifice] So to me this confirms my suspicion that Foreteller Ava is Kairi/Namine/Xion. Which is why she never appeared in the Epilogue. She carried out her role, which was to ensure the survival of the light. And she did. Riku survived through Kairi's sacrifice [showing that Kairi holds immense love for both Sora and Riku]. This is why, when she questioned the Master about her given role, if she were the right person for it, he replied thusly:

The 7 hearts that must be saved not only referred to Sora's friends after their death, but also to the hearts of the Master and his 6 Apprentices. Ava has been saved. She is safe, or the... many manifestations of her are. The others still have parts to play, and Sora is now following his heart to Riku, [his fate] and as long as he does that, they will be saved. I also find Ava to have the most devotion to, belief in, and trust in their Master than any of the others. I find this parallel to Kairi's unwavering belief in Sora. Only Luxu may have equal devotion, weirdly enough. He went through quite alot at the will of his Master, and his face shows it.

Gula's role was to find the traitor and stop them. I believe Gula must be Demyx. This just sounds dumb, since Gula is so cool and Demyx is a goon. But there is one Demyx moment everyone remembers because it was so very out of character for him.

While many Org members referred to Sora as traitor in reference to Roxas, I believe this is a hint to Demyx's past, now that its confirmed that hes an ancient keyblade wielder. And like he says to Sora:

So Demyx/Gula will play a part in Sora and Vanitas's reunion. If Vanitas's heart is lost Sora will never be complete, so they must unite in order for Sora to become what he was destined to be, the Master of Masters. Along with Riku, the True King, they will be the World's defenders, just what Kingdom Hearts made them for, and what their entire journey has led to. Everything happened exactly the way it had to for them to become what they are.

Almost like it was their fate or something.

#kh3 spoilers #soriku endgame actually #kh3 theory #kh theories #soriku #kh spoilers #riku is the light #master of masters #this post is killing me with gifs not working so replaced them with screenshots lol

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ravenaveira · 4 years

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Just wanna clarify a few things after my long review/rant at the end for KH3 Re:Mind

My comments about the Sokai stuff I stand by, but I wanna be clear because I see Sokai shippers claiming antis complained about the lack of Sokai for it to be a believable relationship and now that Sokai has more moments we’re complaining about them shoving Sokai down our throats.

I cant speak for all antis on this, so I’ll be strictly speaking for myself on this issue and anyone else who feels similar to me. Warning it gets long again so be ready.

Yes Im one of those antis who complained about the lack of Sokai which made it underdeveloped and unbelievable, and yes I am also complaining about them now shoving Sokai down our throats.

Why? because Kingdom hearts is not a romance, and throughout every single game so far romance has taken a severe back seat and handled very subtely. For example Sora’s drawing in the cave of him giving Kairi the Paopu fruit, Riku teasing him about wanting to give one to Kairi, Sora saying hes always with her and promising to come back for her, Roxas calling Kairi ‘the girl he likes’ etc

All these moments were very short, subtle, and to the point. It was not a primary focus nor was it blatantly shoved in your face like

youtube

I mean in almost EVERY shot they were together Sora was holding her hand, which isnt something he usually does? keep in mind Sora and Kairi’s feelings have been known to eachother since KH2 and Sora still didnt behave the way he is now. He was always very awkward and uncomfortable/shy when it came to romance.

In KH2 Sora didnt hug Kairi, nor did he hold her hand, it was KAIRI who initiated the hug out of relief and happiness to see Sora again and that hes ok. Sora did not show the same sentiment and treated her like he always has, just casually walking up to her and just nonchalantly saying ‘You are different Kairi, but Im just glad your here’ as if she wasnt kidnapped and being held hostage this entire time. He should have showed the same concern for her as he did for Riku and Kairi for him but he did not, he just said that and then turned away and apologized.

But in KH3 Sora/Nomura pull a complete 180, Sora hugs Kairi to shield her from Terranort with his body instead of pulling out his keyblade and blocking his attack. Him hugging Kairi there was not only stupid, but it doesnt even defend her, Terranort will just kill Kairi AND him now. That was just a forced out of place Sokai moment for the sake of shoving a Sokai moment that was completely unnessecary and could of easily had the same impact by having Sora do the common sense thing and BLOCK with his keyblade like he did for Riku when they were in THE EXACT SAME SITUATION.

See the difference? good, then I need say no more.

This is only one of many situations where they would shoehorn in a Sokai moment that was completely out of place, didnt make any sense, or just forced in trying way too hard to convince you how much Sora cares for Kairi and how much they love and want to be together forever etc etc

Another example being when everybody ‘dies’ in the keyblade graveyard being swept away by heartless. Sora only loses his mind and breaks down emotionally after Kairi is the last one swept away, he then says the most inconsiderate line he could have ever said.

He says this while RIKU IS RIGHT THERE BESIDE HIM, even if you were arguing he was just speaking figuratively thats still no excuse, he was NOT alone but at that moment he just completely disregarded Riku as if his presence there was the same as being alone.

Not only that but seconds later he does one of the most out of character things for him.

Sora just WATCHES Riku risk his life holding back the heartless to protect him and Sora just WATCHES him fighting off this huge horde of heartless BY HIMSELF and not ONCE does Sora make ANY attempt to get up and help Riku despite knowing his life is at risk trying to hold them back alone.

Even if you wanna argue Sora was in shock, when has that ever stopped him before!? when have you EVER known Sora to just sit back and watch his friends put their lives in danger and NOT help them?

What makes this worse is thats not even the first time he does it, he sits back and watches AGAIN as Axel gets bodied right infront of him just to have him exhausted next to Kairi because you know, Sora’s never fought strong opponents and gotten right back up to protect his friends before.

Remember Terranort? Sora was overpowered by him and still made the effort to run over and hug Kairi to shield her from his attack, but Axel and Riku? nah just gonna chill and watch. This is BEYOND out of character for Sora.

When Axel told Sora to hurry and save Kairi, who was being held hostage by the organization and was in danger, Sora refused to leave him and stayed behind to help him fight. Sora chose helping Axel over Kairi, he put saving his enemy before his own friend/love interest.

When Neku betrayed him, Sora still helped and protected him when he was in danger

When Riku stole his keyblade and Donald and Goofy followed him and left Sora behind, yes Sora was discouraged but when he saw Beasts determination to save Belle no matter what, it encouraged Sora to do the same for the people he cared about

I could go on but you get my point, Sora saw Riku risking his life, literally dying and he did NOTHING, try to justify that all you want but that was incredibly out of character and was obviously put there to show how losing Kairi broke him.

I know your probably gonna argue it wasnt just Kairi it was everybody, and to that I say this, if it wasnt just about Kairi why didnt Sora snap when Ven and Axel got bodied? he froze for a few seconds but then snapped out of it thanks to Riku. After that everybody gets swept away, but the game made sure to put EXTRA emphasis, slow motion and all, to Kairi and Sora reaching out to eachother and then Kairi being swept away by the tide.

THATS when he snaps, if it truly werent just about Kairi they wouldnt have made sure to put emphasis on her being swept away, EVERYONE would have gotten the same treatment if it were truly their deaths also that made Sora fall apart. Im not saying he wasnt upset or heartbroken over them, Im pointing out how they made sure to single out Kairi as the most DEVASTATING loss out of all of them.

Yet again, he has Riku one of his closest bonds if not the closest right beside him yet he doesnt even acknowledge him? he says hes alone even though Rikus right there? you cannot justify that as anything other than downplaying Riku to boost Kairi up.

You do not see the other trios treated this way, every trio has equal focus for ALL of them and even the romantic hints for some of them [Roxas/Xion, Terra/Aqua, technically Namine/Repliku] have all been treated equally and did not feel forced or out of place but very natural and they still made sure to focus on the friendship bond between them overall.

Axel doesnt get played down in importance to Roxas just to boost Xion up, their friendship and bond with eachother are equally important to one another despite whatever ‘romance’ there might be. Same applies to Terra and Aqua, Ven is not played down in importance to them. As for Namine and Repliku they arent a trio but their romance was still handled well and it didnt overshadow their platonic bond or attempt to play down the real Riku or vice versa to boost the other, Namine was equally important to both of them.

So balancing romance and friendship CAN be done in their trio, but for some reason Nomura insists on pitting one against the other and playing down one over the other, in Sokai’s case thats Riku, which is an insult to his and Sora’s bond. The same way Sokai shippers felt the over-focus on Sorikus bond was a disservice to Sora and Kairi’s bond, its the same issue.

But lets get back to Re:mind because besides a few bad moments, overall KH3 was atleast passable with the Sokai nonsense. Then comes Re:Mind and oh boy...the damage control was strong in this one.

Again as I said earlier the Sokai moments in this game were very forced and out of place and in many ways out of character for Sora.

For starters the excessive hand holding, why? to convince us their a thing? but Sora suggests otherwise

Even after all the excessive hand holding, the hugs, the forced moments etc, in the end Sora still calls Kairi a friend. After aaaaall the forced Sokai bs they shoved down our throats Sora still friendzones her, which is it Nomura? you either want them together or you dont, stop playing games and pick a side already.

Dont get me wrong Im glad he hasnt made it official yet but after all this its like enough is enough, either follow through or cut this shit out and go back to being subtle like before.

Another huge insult was Sora constantly saying how his journey started with Kairi, since when? I remember Sora losing Kairi AND Riku that day not just her. I recall Sora not going back to Destiny Islands with Kairi BECAUSE he wanted to continue his journey to find Riku, but apparently in Re:mind it was just all about Kairi, nothing about his journey involved Riku no it was only Kairi that was his main motivation, gtf outta here man.

You can say something over and over but that doesnt make it true, Sora’s journey started with BOTH of them, lets stop playing down Riku’s importance to once again boost Kairi up.

That hug when Sora finally reunited with Kairi after restoring her was so obviously trying to make up for all the years of people complaining about Sora’s lack of reaction to Kairi in KH2 in comparison to Riku, so having him hold her for several seconds floating in the sky should rectify that right? you believe he cares about her now right? fuck off man. If your gonna do damage control than atleast dont make it so obvious that thats what your doing because then it comes off disingenuous, forced, and fake.

But my biggest issue is the ending where they really shoehorned Sokai where it didnt belong, literally stalking everyone else with the exception of returning Namines heart and Sora helping to reunite Chirithy with Ventus. But in Twilight town, why were Sora and Kairi there? they werent with Roxas but just sitting above them

Why were they at Mickeys castle? again their just in the background sight seeing.

These scenes were completely unnessecary and completely out of place and made the ending WORSE rather than better. Why? because these are Sora’s final hours ALIVE whether you argue only for a day or a couple days, in all of these ending scenes only one thing matters to Sora and thats Kairi.

Before we assumed everything that was shown all happened the same exact day and we didnt see Sora with any of them. But now we have confirmation Sora WAS there yet he only spent his last remaining time with Kairi in the background while quietly stalking everyone else? even if he didnt spend time with anyone else, he should have spent his last remaining time with Kairi AND Riku, after all hes his best friend and would like to spend what little time he may have with Sora too but we dont see any of that. Hell this contradicts Soras own danm words to Chirithy prior to this.

Instead of just shoehorning a bunch of Sokai in the background why not show the three of them FINALLY all together again like the old days? this is wtf Im talking about. We saw ALL the other trios together but the Destiny trio? hell naw fuck Riku lets have Sora spend all his remaining time with Kairi, thats the only one who REALLY matters here. After being separated from eachother constantly, now they finally have the chance to be together again and spend time together as friends and they DONT.

Instead Sora decides to take Kairi around the worlds hes visited, something he said he wanted to do with Riku as well, and just spend all his remaining time with her, even though in the base game before the final battle Sora was concerned why Riku was all alone and not spending time with them together. But here? nah fuck Riku. I remembered how important it is to share moments with friends only applied to Kairi.

So personally idc that theres more Sokai moments, my problem is the execution. It doesnt feel genuine, it feels forced and awkward and just doing damage control to pander to the rabid fanbase thats been screaming for this type of content for years, well congrats, you got it.

My problem is Kingdom Hearts was never about romance, it was always subtle and not shoved in your face, it felt natural and not forced and like there was atleast SOME heart behind it, but this? just felt hollow and forced.

Just stop, Im glad in the end Kairi just sleeps for a whole year and probably still will be sleeping when the next game comes out and the focus will shift to Riku and his search for Sora along with the other keyblade wielders doing their part as well.

So Im thankful it seems like we’re done with this crap and getting back to what ACTUALLY matters and what people really wanna see from this series.

Notice how nothing in either of my posts had to do with Soriku as a couple but about their bond as friends, enough said.

So dont try to twist this into just being about pairings because its not, its about what this series has always been about being forgotten for the sake of a fucking trash ship that nobody cares about besides rabid shippers and Sora’s bonds with his other friends being completely thrown out the fucking window to shorehorn in a bunch of unnessecary Sokai moments as a desperate attempt to convince people that these two love eachother which at this point if you have to try so hard to CONVINCE people of your pairing its obvious your doing a very shitty job at it.

Im done, this is my last long post about this for a while but I really needed to get that all out there since nobody else seems to be calling it out for what it is. My anger and frustration is still very fresh and it shows so I really need to stop talking about it because at this point? Re:Mind just ReMinded me why the Destiny trio is the worst out of them all, it is the most unbalanced and quite frankly feels more like Riku is a third wheel at this point and not even a part of the trio anymore. Before Kairi, it was always Sora and RIku yet hes the one whos being pushed aside and forgotten about in all this. That pisses me off.

So Im done with this topic, I need to cool off for the next couple of years till the next game comes out where hopefully Kairi stays asleep the entire time and NOT ruin another game.

#kh3 remind spoilers #kh3 #kingdom hearts 3 #anti-sokai #anti-kairi #FDB-kairi

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yo-namine · 4 years

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Okay, time to talk to myself about Re:Mind and Limit Cut Episode.

Spoilers galore under the cut!

I'm just gonna start off by talking about how the DLC handled my biggest gripe with base KH3, which was obviously how Kairi was written in the last few hours of the game. Like I said in my other post, Re:Mind doesn't totally fix those problems, but... Well, here's what we get:

Kairi's "murder" is reframed a bit in the DLC. Base KH3 presents it as Xehanort killing her just to provoke Sora et al. into "clashing" with him to make the final key. In Re:Mind, we learn that Xehanort was actually stowing Kairi away (by "crystallizing" her, which... means she wasn't dead? But Sora still takes all the steps Chirithy gives him that are specifically for restoring a heart from death, and it works, so...?) as a fail-safe of sorts in case he needed another Light. Xemnas foreshadows this a bit when he says that Kingdom Hearts needs the Princesses of Heart in case the whole 13 Clashes of Light and Darkness thing doesn't work out. And for what it's worth, I do think this is a little better for Kairi as a character just because it shows that she was "killed" due to something unique and special about her, rather than what she was to Sora. She's still being used, and she's still sapped of her agency, but presumably no other character could have worked in that role against Xehanort, so... that's something, I suppose.

During the Xemnas/Saix/Xion fight, there's an added scene where all the Lights get to take a shot at Xemnas, and Kairi actually broke that motherfucker's guard and made him stumble when no one else could... And then she got captured, bloop, but at least this time it was because she was actually fighting and simply got bested. I can appreciate that. I liked seeing her shield Axel from Xion's attack, too.

And of course, she does get the chance to take on Xehanort later. She has a nice battle set-up (a sort of warp dash ability similar to Riku's and Roxas's, shotlock, reflect, and a GORGEOUS link attack with Sora), and it's a little cathartic to play as her taking Xehanort down. However, I don't think she ever learns that Xehanort took her as a safety measure for his plan or why she was the one chosen for this in the first place. She doesn't speak to Xehanort at all, which makes her big battle with him at the end feel rather... impersonal? And never mind him "killing" her in KH3; Xehanort's ultimately responsible for her losing her family when she was four years old, as well as the destruction of her home world. I'm not saying Kairi and Xehanort needed to have some long overwrought conversation or anything, but there definitely should've been some dialogue between them.

Kairi's actually involved in Naminé's restoration after all!!!!!!!! I remember the Ultimania's explanation of Naminé's return leaving a bad taste in my mouth because it seemed like they framed Kairi's death as ultimately a good thing, because hey, at least her murder freed Naminé from her heart. But that's not what actually happened; instead, Kairi and Sora go to Radiant Garden at the end of the game, and she lets him use the keyblade to release Naminé's heart from hers. And honestly, that scene right there? That was probably my favorite part of this entire DLC. The fact that Kairi really did play a part in restoring her Nobody is a much better payoff to her earlier lines in the game about wanting Naminé to have her own experiences. She wanted to give Naminé her life back, and rather than that being something wrenched from Kairi against her will, it was something she did for Naminé of her own volition. I just. 😭

/tl;dr thoughts on kairi

As for everything else in Re:Mind:

I loved the background moments with Sora and Kairi in the ending cinematic. Each one is framed so that you can't see their faces, so they all feel like you're looking in on something secret. The "Behind the Curtain" trophy name is pretty fitting (and just downright cute, lol). And like I said above, I loved the scene where Kairi and Sora restore Naminé's heart. You just see him pull the keyblade away from her chest, and then she cradles Naminé's heart in her hands and fjsldfjskd. I teared up at that. It was just such a sweet and gentle little moment. Sora and Kairi taking Chirithy to Ven (and Sora even giving them a little push, lol) was really sweet, too. I loved their body language while they watched Ven run off, how you see them turn toward each other just slightly.

I also like how Sora and Kairi's relationship evolved from "Even if we're apart, our hearts are always connected" to "Heart connections are nice and all, but I'd much rather actually be with you."

Demyx and Riku interacting was something I never knew I needed. Riku's like "PLEASE be careful with that vessel, it's very important--" and Demyx is just "Bro, I got this," and hoists it over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Sora and Roxas actually talk to each other! I liked the scene where Sora's Station of Awakening starts to peel away to reveal Roxas's, and you get little glimpses of Roxas's memories. And it turns out that Sora actually did release Roxas's heart from his, and it wasn't just Xemnas kicking Xion into his chest that did the trick, lmao. I like that change.

Xemnas mentions that the original Organization doesn't remember Xion, but they do have records of her. That's a nice little tidbit to have for my Day 4 AU. 👀

Saix says the Guardians must be desperate if they're getting a Princess of Heart involved in the war, and Axel's like "Nah, she's our trump card." Aw. I also thought it was interesting how Saix purposefully uses Axel and Roxas's names to try to trigger Xion's memory of them.

I had to watch the recusant's sigil bit like four times before I understood what the hell was happening, lmao. The sigil represents the Sea Salt Trio's actual connection to one another that they had to "reclaim" from Xemnas, which... okay, but why was that needed? The thing I always liked about this trio is that they're the only one that we see develop fully from the beginning to the end of their relationship. They were always the most believable (canon) trio to me because of that, so throwing in this whole "The sigil binds us together!" thing just seems kind of stupid and unnecessary. They're friendship is good enough as-is. You don't have to add in this nonsense to represent their bond; their relationship development itself already did that. But whatever, they still had a really cool combo attack.

Scala ad Caelum is expanded on! I really enjoyed exploring it and solving the little puzzles to put Kairi's heart back together.

I LOVED THE GUARDIANS VS. NORT REPLICAS BATTLE SO MUCH I HAVE TO YELL ABOUT IT. I ACTUALLY DIED THE FIRST TIME BUT I DIDN'T CARE THAT I HAD TO REPLAY IT BECAUSE I WAS HAVING SO MUCH FUN. THE TAG TEAM ATTACKS!!!!! AQUA, XION, AND MICKEY'S COUNTER-ATTACK!!!!!! EVERYONE ACTUALLY WORKING TOGETHER!!!!!!!! IT’S ALL I EVER WANTED!!!!!!!!

There are so many cute dialogue exchanges during the Guardians vs. replicas sequence, too! Ven and Roxas compliment each other, Aqua scolds Axel for talking too much (twice, I think? Axel fusses at her the second time, lmao), Terra says something to Riku that I couldn't quite catch, and Riku's like "All thanks to you!" It's just so cute and charming, and it really made the Guardians finally feel like a team.

Mickey Mouse straight-up Boromir-ing his way through the Nort replicas was... I think I loved that? Yeah, no, I loved that. I was laughing through half of it because I kept getting knocked back, but it was a great sequence (visually and gameplay-wise).

Connecting all the keyholes was very satisfying, and was just a beautiful visual altogether.

Sora and Kairi's reunion was adorable. And then Sora sees Goatanort enter the scene, and he just looks at Kairi and is like, "You ready, B?" and Kairi's like, "FUCK yeah, I'm taking his trachea through his kneecaps!!!!!" Okay, not really, lmao. Actually, Kairi's surprised when Sora asks her that, like she didn't expect him to let her help, or maybe she felt like she wouldn't even be able to, but she says she's ready anyway. Kairi’s under-confidence in her fighting skills is a little more apparent in the DLC. Like she says "I can do this" right before the final battle, but it comes off as her trying to reassure herself. She even has a counterattack where her battle quote is "Please work!" and I don't remember hearing her say that in the base game. Girl knows how outclassed she is compared to most of the other Guardians (and Xehanort), but she fights like hell anyway. Attagirl. 🎉

And as for Limit Cut:

Aww, I love that Terra calls Riku "a great leader."

Cheers to David Gallagher for saying "Are you sure about this?" with the exact same inflection as the John Cena meme.

Riku's a master now, right? When will he get some spiffy keyblade armor???????

Okay. Riku is having dreams about looking for Sora. Sora is dead (?), and "the edges of sleep and death touch." Kairi has been asleep for the past year so that the Radiant Garden team can study her heart in effort to find Sora. Nomura? Nomura? Nomura. You cannot fuck this up, man. You can do this. You can write the Destiny Trio working together again. You can write a full story in which Kairi has an active role. You can write her and Riku interacting. You can do it. I believe in you.

The data battles are so hardddddd. I wound up just watching all the LC cutscenes on youtube, lmfao. But I do want to try to beat at least some of these bosses. Tragically, Riku is TRAPPED IN MERLIN'S HOUSE, so you can't leave to grind or anything. Boo.

I don't really care about Yozora. I think we got a confirmation from Sora that Nameless Star is Stella (?), and that's cute for her I guess, but I genuinely don't care, lmao. But I definitely understand the compulsion to include beloved characters from old cancelled projects in your newer ones, so I hope Nomura has fun with that. ...That sounded sarcastic, lol, but I meant it. I hope he gets to do something cool and creative with this recycled cast. It just might not be a story I'll end up following, is all.

Data greeting is SO much fun. I sank a couple of hours into that the other night just creating scenes and playing with effects. The controls are really easy to use, and it's even fun to just explore environments like Radiant Garden and Scala ad Caelum without messing with photos at all. I hope we can unlock more character outfits and poses in the future, but I can definitely enjoy it as is for now.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with this DLC. True, about half of Re:Mind is a rehash of the Keyblade Graveyard scenes with some extra content here and there, but it's sort of justified story-wise since we're in a timeloop. I enjoyed the extra Kairi scenes and the interactions between the Guardians the most. Limit Cut is mainly just bonus bosses, but like I said, I do want to actually beat those once I can figure out a strategy for them. And I'm obviously having way too much fun with Data Greeting, lmao, so yeah. Not a bad update.

#my posts #kh3 bloggin #dlc spoilers

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khtrinityftw · 4 years

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Part 7: Blank Check

But despite all that I've said, Birth by Sleep didn't truly ruin the Kingdom Hearts series until the very end, with the secret ending video "Blank Points".

Unlike previous secret ending videos which were FMV concept trailers for Kingdom Hearts II and Birth by Sleep respectively, "Blank Points" was a few consecutive cutscenes that presented a clear path forward for the series. And it was a path that I was utterly horrified to see it go down.

There is a talk between Terra and Master Xehanort within their conjoined heart that indicates that Eraqus didn't really die and is somehow inside of Terra, and then Master Xehanort makes it clear that he intends to stick around and has some master plan at work. Then we cut to Braig being further positioned as some important, manipulative figure. None of this set me at ease when first watching it, and then it only got worse.

We cut to Aqua in the Realm of Darkness, where she meets Ansem the Wise, who has been retconned into having been transported there after his heart encoder exploded in KH2. Ansem the Wise already had a completed character arc and a perfect, definite ending, but it's being tossed aside for what exactly? To use him as an exposition machine here?

Ansem the Wise tells Aqua about Sora and how he can save everyone who is suffering, and then we get to see Namine, Roxas, Axel, Xion, Terra, Ventus, and finally a tearful Aqua herself look up at the sky and say "Sora", with the music and on-screen text narration pushing this blatant religious, messianic vibe. Sora, whose appeal was largely in his ordinary background, is now being pushed as some kinda Jesus figure who will be the savior of everyone's personal problems and even bring the dead back to life so that they can have a perfect happy ending.

Finally, we cut to Sora on Destiny Islands, who tells Kairi that he has to go because "he is who he is because of them", and he needs to save them. Kairi, in stark contrast to what KH2 showed of her, just smiles and takes this, giving Sora her lucky charm again and making him promise to come back soon. And that's when those accursed words flash onto the screen for the first time ever: "Reconnect. Kingdom Hearts."

"Reconnect. Kingdom Hearts." is basically the tagline for the Dark Seeker Saga, and this video that it debuted in encapsulates that saga's goal: to twist the series inside out in order to make it some kind of vast, inter-connected story that the KH Trinity, which was already a complete story in of itself, is merely a part of. The real story, "Blank Points" claims, is Sora saving everyone with even the vaguest of connections to him from their 'hurt', and thwarting the master plan of Master Xehanort. And this is a major trade down.

The story of the KH Trinity worked so beautifully because it was a personal story: we wanted Sora, Donald and Goofy to reunite with Riku, Kairi and King Mickey because we came to care about all of those characters and their direct relationships to one another; we enjoyed Sora, Donald and Goofy as a heroic party because we believed in the friendship they developed over the course of their journey. And even the villain's motivations were rooted in the realm of the personal: he was a nihilistic scientist who felt insufficient as he was and desperately wanted to be something more.

There is nothing personal about this new set-up: Sora either doesn't know or remember any of the people he's been charged with saving due to some bullshit about owing who he is to them, a notion that also goes against what made the KH Trinity so great since it was a coming-of-age story where Sora made himself a hero through connecting his heart to others; he put in the work to do that, it wasn't just handed to him. And Master Xehanort's plan has nothing to do with anything personal or relatable: no matter what justification he attempts to make or what retcon is applied to his backstory, there's no solid reason for him to do what he's doing other than because he's evil and the plot requires it from him.

The series was no longer telling the story everyone fell in love with, and that would have been fine if it wasn't now trying to rewrite that story in order to accommodate its new meta-narrative. It's fitting that it happened in a game that rips of a Star Wars prequel, because this is the exact same bullshit George Lucas pulled when tried to use the Prequel Trilogy to recontexualize the Original Trilogy as just the 4th, 5th and 6th acts of "The Tragedy of Darth Vader".

I guess Xehanort would be the Darth Vader equivalent here, and honestly given that this saga bears his either name or title, he deserves a deeper look.

#Plinkett-Style #Anti-Series Beyond #Anti-Nomura

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blackasteriia · 4 years

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Xion in Re:Mind

So, today I’m going to go through all scenes that are Xion relevant and do some basic analysis. I’ll also talk about her data fight.

Spoilers under cut, obviously.

Keyblade Graveyard-- Counting with Saïx

In this scene, Saïx, Xigbar, and Xehanort, gather together to learn how to count-- AKA they’re filling out the ranks of the Organization. They come-up two short. Xehanort reveals that Terra-Nort is still up his sleeve. I don’t understand, and don’t ask me. Alright, lets get onto Xion:

Vexen creates 20 original puppets. The first twelve were the original set of the Replica Program from CO. It is of these twelve that the Organization is pulling from to put people into. They get-up to Ansem, Xemnas, Vanitas, Repliku, and Young Xehanort, to make five, and then + Xion.

Repliku is referred to as the ‘prototype,’ and then Xion is of course, No. i.

“The plan for the last replica is to give it a heart that is connected to Sora.”

Cool. Cool. Cool. Why not Roxas? Literally, why not Roxas?

Xion doesn’t have a heart. That is the entire point of Days, if Xion had a heart, then why did she die? How does she have a heart Nomura, you’re skipping right over the question I want answered.

FURTHERMORE, the only memory that exists of Xion is of the No. i, notes. Xion as in the girl that is in Sora’s heart, is not No. i. They don’t know about Xion because they can’t remember her. So why would Saïx mention ‘someone connected to Sora?’ As far as Vexen is concerned, his creation never attained sentience. Vexen was dead before Sora’s memories were put into Xion. Sora had not lost his memories until the end of Chain of Memories, so it’s just-- very confusing.

This throws such a gear in the machine because Saïx doesn’t remember Xion. Why would they bother to resurrect a dead replica that was obviously an abject failure, instead of Roxas, the nobody of Sora? How do they know about Xion?

“No. i, an imaginary number, how fitting.” Thank you for the exposition Xigbar.

Then Saïx goes and gets Vexen.

No one should give a shit about No. i, because No. i was just an empty, insentient replica that followed orders. Xion was the person that formed from No. i. There’s an argument that Vexen would return for Repliku, but as far as he’s aware, No. i was a shell.

AKA this entire thing threw a wrench in character motivations, raises more questions, failed to answer old questions, and tells me nothing new about Xion. All of the information in this scene is in supplemental material, now it’s just in the main game.

Cool.

The return of my Salt.

This is the Seasalt trio reunion with some extra pizz-zazz and playable Roxas. We get a little more exposition on No. i and Xion. Kairi is also here.

Reunion of the old Organization members with Axel, Xemnas, and Saïx + No. i. Axel asks who Xion is.

“This ‘guest’ of ours has an old score to settle with you.”

Okay, Xemnas, you said you can’t remember Xion. First, of all, you don’t know that Axel and Xion ever fought. You don’t know that they were friends. You don’t know anything about Xion beyond the notes Vexen left of No. i. What are you talking about?

Literally five seconds later: “It is a being of whom we have no memory.”

Still misgendering Xion, nice.

“A true nobody, hailing from the edge of oblivion.”

This means nothing and is just a cool line, but you know I’m going to run with it.

So, if No. i, was recreated from the notes left by Vexen, then it is not Xion. That is not Xion. Xion is still inside Sora. No. i is a completely different thing than Xion. Xion developed a personality, memories, and ‘heart,’ supposedly over time. So Xemnas alluding to ‘it has no memories of what it truly is,’ is bogus and dumb. Never mind that Xemnas wouldn’t know that.

He can’t even remember why Xion was destroyed in the first place and even why he has no memory of it.

Saïx is acting like he knows something when it comes to Xion and even encourages her to remember Axel and Roxas-- for no apparent reason.

Because he doesn’t remember the friendship between Axel, Roxas, and Xion, why would he even think to prompt her on this.

Xion remembers Axel and immediately goes for Lea’s throat-- this is canon and valid.

Okay then we get the usual scene with Xion getting.... her memory back? More on this in a bit.

This is also good and valid.

E N R A G E D S C R E A M I N G

The only assumption I have is that Xion begins to remember Axel and Roxas. Then that starts to return pieces of memory to Xemnas. This is not at all implied in the text but it’s the only rational explanation for his behavior in this scene.

I wanna use a few more images for this because it’s all visual through this part.

Sora’s Station of Awakening peels back to reveal Roxas’. Roxas’ station now has an image of Xion in it.

Then, these leaflets type thing start to float away and Sora calls them, ‘the memories.’ So, my previous theory that Xemnas was beginning to remember is dashed out of the water because, according to this scenes the memories had not been released yet. After this, Axel remember Xion.

(This would be a great time to reveal Xion’s station of awakening and cement her as a unique person, even have her interact with Sora-- but no that would be too much to ask from Nomura).

This scene is also really dumb because it basically just stops the original scene, has Sora make an obvious statement to explain what’s going on, and then continues the original scene. Roxas’ returns, with a brief break into the void for exposition, and lets get into the meat of this.

Roxas and Xion fight Xemnas. So on and so forth--

This crap.

What is this.

Where did it come from? Why is it important? Axel says, ‘get what’s ours,’ and they get this. Which is the recusant symbol that is in all of their names. That’s, easy to figure out. It is then implied that this is the... symbol of their connection. AKA, the symbol of their membership in the Organization is also the symbol of their connection. Okay. Except, Xemnas was the character who brainwashed and assaulted Xion; The character that lead to Roxas and Axel’s death. The Organization is why their friendship fell apart in the first place. I could get deep into like, the psychological implications of the symbol it’s just--

Why use it for this reading. In this way.

Ugh.

Whatever. Kairi gets kidnapped and the scene continues as usual. Xion has no new dialogue. We learn nothing about her character. She just has the blank, default female character. The sole personality that Nomura can write for women.

Xion is shown fighting wth the keyblade wielders. Nothing, really, to see here. She’s just in the climax, she doesn’t do anything unique. Heck, Roxas even has to save her at one point. So, lets move onto her data fight.

Xion’s Data Fight

When I heard Xion was going to get a data fight I was very excited for the potential of that fight. Perusing the internet netted potential fights pulling on her replica abilities or the final forms from 358/2 Days. Imagine fighting a boss that can pull at least one move from all other bosses previously fought. Which was my first hope. My second hope was for the form changes from her previous final battle, different movesets, different abilities and powers. A wide challenge.

My worst fear was that she would be a copy of Roxas’ fight from KH2.

Well, never underestimate Nomua’s ability to disappoint because that is exactly what we got. I suppose, looking at the previous content of Re:Mind I could have seen this coming. Xion did not receive any new dialogue. We did not learn anything about her character. All we learned was a few chunks of lore information that... we basically already knew. Anything new was confusing, useless, and irrelevant. I knew that Xion’s power mimicked Roxas’, that’s obvious.

The addition of her using Saïx claymore in the graveyard was interesting because it implied something new about her powers. She could copy someone other than Sora or Roxas. In Re:Mind however, Xion shows-up in the graveyard without ever encountering Sora or Roxas, with the kingdom key. There is no, from a story or lore standpoint, for her to have that. She has had no chance to copy it. The keyblade is not inherent to Xion. So, really, we fight Roxas in Re:Mind, dressed-up as Xion.

Nomura isn’t creative enough, or cares enough, to take Xion’s character in any new direction. He brings her back in KH3 not because he has a character arc for her, or anything to do for her. But only for fanservice, for Roxas’ and Axel’ character arcs. He won’t give her a unique moveset because he doesn’t consider her a unique enough character to warrant one. Light is Roxas’ element, not Xion’s, she doesn’t have an element. She doesn’t have a keyblade. Her face is Kairi’s face. Her value is rooted in her connection to Sora.

On the other hand, she has, what I’ve seen and been told, is one of the hardest fights in the game. She will wood chipper Sora if the player is not on their toes. Through her teleportation trick she’s fast and has extended invincibility frames. Unlike Saïx, she is pointed and aggressive, with seconds between assaults. I will gladly keep the headcanon that Xion is an aggressive, hard-hitting, and fast fighter.

#✰*✦ This is the idiot speaking ⎧OOC⎫#Re:Mind Spoilers #salt ahoy

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wingblade1357 · 5 years

Text

Yellow Roses

Yellow roses— the symbol of friendship

A short story of Hikari’s first love.

-x-x-x-

“Sweetie, it seems like you love him. I can feel it. You care about him more than yourself.”

“I’m certain this boy cares about you too.”

“Your love is pure. It’s true love, my dear.”

The sunset was as beautiful as ever from the top of the Clock Tower. It was peaceful up there. The wind was gentle despite the height and the warm rays of the setting sun was comforting. Twilight Town was always a world that has a calm and homey atmosphere.

Hikari sat on Clock Tower alone, staring off into the distance. In her hand was a bracelet—a good luck charm her friends made for her 14th birthday. She’s going to be 16 now. Two years have passed in a blur, with the keyblade war and the aftermath occurring just a year ago.

Now, everything is peaceful. Their mission has been completed.

“I didn’t expect you to be here.”

A voice.

“Hey, Isa.” Hikari greeted and watched as the blue-haired man took a seat beside her. “Huh—that’s weird. Isn’t this the time you magically pull out sea salt ice cream from your pockets?” She joked, sniggering behind her hand.

Isa cracked a smile at her joke. “Very funny. I just so happen to walk by and saw you here.” He explained. He never expected the girl to visit Twilight Town. Usually when she does, she would go straight to look for them in town. Not sit alone at the Clock Tower looking so troubled. “Is there something bothering you?” He asked straightly to the point.

There was no use lying to him.

“...just a little something.”

“It doesn’t sound like a little.”

Hikari sighed softly.

The two of them sat in silence. Isa never pushed her to talk when she wasn’t ready, instead he waited and waited.

“Do you promise you won’t talk to anyone about this?” Hikari asked, turning to look at Isa with a serious look.

Isa raised an eyebrow. It was rare to see her like this. “My lips are sealed.”

The brunette took a deep breath, exhaling loudly, “There’s this... guy that I like.”

“A guy?” Isa chuckled. A boy. He thought it was something serious involving life or death. He has heard stories from Sora, Riku and Kairi about the youngest having the worst of luck when it comes to romance. He smiled when Hikari shot him a look, giving him the stink-eye. “Sorry, sorry. Please continue.”

“Okay... So, I asked the Love Experts in Arendelle and they say that it’s true love or something, but I dunno. Like, I like him, but I dunno if I can really tell him or if he likes me back. I think he likes me too, but maybe I’m just overthinking it and——“

Isa placed his hand on her shoulder, “You’re rambling.” He stopped her and smiled.

Hikari sighed and tilted her head up to look at the sky. “What do you think I should do?” She asked him. “I don’t want to sound stupid or anything.”

Isa hummed, his arms crossed and eyes closed. “I think you should go ask him. Tell him how you really feel. Start telling him from when you begin to like him.” He advised, telling her a step by step guide.

Hikari gave it a thought, “Do you really think he likes me back?”

“You won’t know until you try.” the blue-haired man said and the girl pouted. “Who’s this lucky guy?”

Hikari pursed her lips, considering if she should tell him or not. If she tells Roxas and or Xion, they would definitely pester her into confessing. Same goes if she tells either Sora and Kairi.

“.....”

“Come again?”

“...it’s Riku.” Hikari said a little louder, though it was a mumble, Isa heard it.

“Riku, huh? I can say you’re already a match.” Isa gave a nod of approval. The girl whined, covering her face with her hands out of embarrassment. “I used to like this one girl too.”

Hikari spluttered, “WHAT?! Really?!”

“You looked surprised.”

“Duh! Who is it?” Hikari asked him excitedly. “What did she say? Yes?”

“I never asked.”

Hikari slumped her shoulders, “Aw man... I really wanted to know.” She said in disappointment.

Isa laughed, “It’s all in the past now. It was one of my regrets not to ask. That’s why you should never waste a chance. Go and ask him.”

“Okay! Thanks, Isa!”

-x—x—x-

It was the next day.

“Hey, you coming to the beach, man?” Hayner asked the tall man. The gang was all dressed and ready, except for the blue-haired man who was still wearing his regular outfit. “You know, you’re going to get heatstroke if you wear that.” He joked, pointing to the jacket he’s wearing.

“You’re not coming, Isa?” Xion asked, holding the inflatable beach ball in her hands. “Everyone’s going! You’re going to miss all the fun!”

Lea nodded his head, sliding his sunglasses up. “Yeah man, don’t tell me you forgot?”

They were all at the station, waiting for the train to depart. Lea, Roxas, Xion, Hayner, Pence, Olette and finally Isa, were all there. They all came dressed ready for the beach, all except Isa.

Isa remembered. He just have to meet up with Hikari before going. He promised to listen to her about her confession to Riku. He wondered how it went. During his time as a Nobody, he saw how much Riku and Hikari cares for each other. A cute couple, might he add.

Isa smiled, “I didn’t. I’ll catch up with you all soon. I just need to meet up with a friend first.”

The redhead gave a grin, wrapping his arm around his best friend’s neck. “Ohohoho! Alright! Catch up with us soon.”

“But he’s going to miss—“ Roxas gave a look at Lea.

Lea tsked, “Roxas, Roxas, you don’t understand.” He said as he pushed the boy into the train. Everyone else followed suit, saying their goodbyes and for Isa to hurry and catch up as soon as possible. The redhead stood by the door of the train, “I want details, okay? Details. Tell me who she is.” He grinned.

“Whoever said it was a she?”

Lea almost tripped.

Isa crossed his arms, a chuckle escaping his lips. “I made a promise not to utter a single word.” He said with a smirk and Lea shot him a halfhearted glare. “See you later, Lea.” He raised his hand.

“Yeah.”

There was a whistle and the doors closed. The train left the station and Isa made his way to the top of the Clock Tower. He hoped that he didn’t made Hikari wait long, but he did say he would be late.

When he reached the top, Hikari was already there, but there was something off. She wasn’t sitting at the edge. She was sitting on the floor inside the small space under the roof of the tower.

‘That’s why I didn’t saw her.’

Isa walked closer and stood beside her before taking a seat. They sat in silence. He knew something was wrong when he saw her form. She was curled up into a ball, her face buried in her arms.

Rejection. He thought.

“Hikari—“

“I didn’t ask him.”

Isa raised an eyebrow.

Hikari opened her hand, staring at the object in hand. “He confessed first—“

Isa didn’t know why this made her feel down and upset.

“—to Naminé.”

Oh. Oh.

Isa felt sympathetic. Her first crush liked someone else. It was her first heartbreak and it pains him to see her like this. The girl who was always encouraging and supportive. “Hikari—“

“It’s okay. I’m happy for them.” Hikari turned to face him, a grin on her face. She raised her good luck charm made by Naminé and Riku, a smile on her face. “It’s a good thing I didn’t ask him or else it’s gonna be super awkward.” She laughed.

“I’m glad Riku asked Naminé out. They’re really cute together! Did you know they’re going to Disney Town for their first date? It’s a bummer though... I wanted to be the one who takes Naminé out for her first date to Disney Town. Riku stole my thunder—“

Isa pulled the brunette close, wrapping his arms around her in a comforting manner. Her words doesn’t match her heart. He could actually feel it. How sad and heartbroken she is.

“—and... and...” Hikari trailed off as the tears she has been holding began to fall.

“It’s okay.”

It’s okay.

Isa waited until Hikari calms down. He offered a handkerchief for her and she took it, wiping her tears away. “How are you feeling?” He asked.

Hikari laugh a little. “Okay. Sorry about that.”

Isa shook his head, “You don’t have to apologize.” He said. Truth be told, he never expected this outcome. He thought will all of the things they’ve been through together, he thought they might ended up together. But fate has other plans. “Do you want to talk about it?” He asked.

“Nah, it’s okay. Besides, you have to meet up with the others at the beach right?” Hikari said as she stood up, looking at Isa with a grin. “I’ll return this to you later.”

Isa didn’t stand, “I have plenty of time. They can wait for a couple of hours.” He stated and after a thought, the brunette sat back down. “Tell me from the start.”

And she did.

“I see...” Isa lowered his gaze, a hand on his chin. When Hikari wanted to tell her feelings to Riku, the silver-haired teen had already confessed to Naminé and came to her for advice. No wonder Hikari was so hurt. “Have you told Sora about this?” He asked.

Hikari shook her head. “Nah! You know how much of a snitch he is.” She was already back to her old self, trying to brush the incident off as nothing but a mere dust. “One word of this and he’ll tell Riku! Can’t tell Kairi either... Roxas and Xion too... actually can you keep this as a secret between us?” She clapped her hands together.

“One day, you need to tell him about how your really feel, Hikari.” Isa advised seriously, although agreeing with her terms, he didn’t answer it.

“I know...” she sighed, “I rather keep our friendship than have it broken apart. Who knows? Maybe my feelings for him will go away by the time I tell him.”

Both Naminé and Riku are important to her. She didn’t want to break their relationship just because she likes Riku and besides, Riku doesn’t think of her that way. It would just be an awkward situation.

“Let’s make a deal.” Isa suddenly said. “I’ll keep this secret, but you have to tell Riku how you really feel one day. Do you agree?”

“...sounds fair.” Hikari smiled, shaking her hand with Isa, sealing the deal. “Not now, but maybe a few years later?”

“Hikari.”

The keyblade wielder laughed. “Sorry.”

Isa smiled and stood up. “Let’s go.” He offered his hand and helped her up.

“To where?” Hikari asked curiously.

“The beach. Roxas and Xion will be happy to see you come along.” Isa replied as they both made their way down the stairs. “Don’t worry, I’ll pay for your ticket.”

Hikari stopped on the stairs. “Hey, Isa.”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

-x-x-x-

Ta-da!!! A short little one shot about how Isa is the first person Hikari talks to. And now you guys know who the special girl is!

I actually like Namiku sooooooo yeah! They really do look cute together!

I realize that Naminé wants to see Repliku the most in the interviews, but I thought of this wayyyy before so I decided to go with it.

Tell me whatcha guys think of this little one shot haha

You can read how the “confession” go in a comic I drew for Valentines day. It’s actu written and drawn in a crossover with BNHA.

Part 1//// part 2

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts 3 #kingdom hearts 3 spoilers #kh3 spoilers #oc #kingdom hearts oc #isa #hikari #lea #riku #olette #hayner #pence #roxas #xion #sora #kairi #namine #one shot

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star-shapedfruit · 5 years

Text

A sort of KH3 review.. thing

Well dang that was a wild ride wasn’t it? It’s been about 2/3 weeks since I finished the game (took me 5 days which is record time for me considering it was a pretty big game) so I’ll try my best to condense my thoughts on it below

Please note this is my opinion so you may agree or disagree with me on some parts and that’s totally fine!

And it’s gonna be long

Alright let’s get the bad out of the way:

-The pacing

I’m not the first and I definitely won’t be the last to complain about the goddamn pacing. Kingdom Hearts in general is pretty bad when it comes to a well balanced pace and this was the same. Everything felt rushed and crammed towards the end with it feeling like ‘quick let’s wrap this up ASAP!’.

It was literally Disney world after world with bits of important story in between and then the actual plot of saving everyone kicked in and probably made up of about 3 hours of the whole game. It could have been better if we’d have rescued Aqua and Ven earlier then towards the end save Roxas, Xion and Terra (and Namine) but nah.

Even the ending itself felt rushed and half assed at times. We didn’t get to see Sora save Kairi it was just Keyblade Graveyard ending- everyone being happy at the beach- credits. That was... kinda dumb? Also when you’re wrapping up a 17 year old saga you don’t tend to end it like that. You know what I’m talking about.

-Characters

They gone did Kairi dirty again. AGAIN. How many times are we gonna do this? My poor girl got shafted right at the end just to fuel Sora’s anger and then didn’t explain how she got back to the islands anyway but who fucking cares y’know.

She was hyped up after being confirmed to be a guardian of light and in training with Lea and they did fuck all with it. It’s like you’re so excited to see Santa and you get up on his knee to ask what present you want this Christmas only for Santa to laugh and smack you in the face.

I could go on and on about Kairi but I’d probably be saying what everyone else has already said. I was expecting more character interactions ie the famous Roxas and Ven one we’ve been looking forward to for years but we got a funny glance and that’s it. Again, probably due to pacing but there was so much potential for some great new friendships to blossom and they just... didn’t.

-Worlds

Ok this is mainly Twilight Town being so teenie weenie. Come on, in KH2 we had TT, Hollow Bastion, TWTNW, Yen Sid’s Tower but for 3? Two sections of TT that’ll do. ??? Why??? It looked gorgeous and I couldn’t wait to explore the whole town but for some reason we were reduced to it being two rooms. Also missed out a good opportunity to have RG playable again but nah.

I get the feeling Disney we’re very pushy with this title? Like they had more input than usual and Square couldn’t really argue with them which would explain why the OG worlds were kinda dull? Idk I hope they learn to butt out a little and let Square do their thing. I’m not saying get rid of Disney god no. I just think there needs to be less Disney and more OG in the next title.

Alright the good stuff now!

- The graphics

Holy shit this game was BEAUTIFUL

Everything was gorgeous to look at and Unreal Engine made all the worlds look unique and specific to their Disney world. Like o can’t fault how this game looks it’s just that pretty

-Voice acting

Hayley, Hayley my man you did fantastic. I was getting worried that he’d sound off like in DDD but the man delivered. Everything was spot on and his emotions came across so much better? That scream? The crying?? The joy?? Beautiful. And Vanitas sounded so goddamn evil and Hayley sounded like he was having a blast voicing him 👌

Jesse did amazing as always with Roxas and Ven making them sound different. Just wish they coulda talked to each other xD I really liked Alyson’s Kairi too! I miss Hayden but for the most part Alyson pulled it off great along with Xion.

Like everyone sounded so much better I could go on and on. Can’t really fault much of the voice acting tbh. Xehanort grew on me but Nimoy will always be the better Nort

-Minigames/side quests

I absolutely SUCK at the cooking mini game but I still found it loads of fun. The only one I could do properly was the salt and pepper shaker one 😅 The 100 Acre Wood stuff was very samey samey but still cute and fun regardless.

I only did one flan mini game (the one in Toy Box) and that was awesome too! Hunting for ingredients and lucky emblems was tricky in parts but I loved the satisfaction when you finally find the damn thing! They were just a nice little touch and even though I only got 17 out of 90 I enjoyed looking for them.

Also that Tangled dancing game. My FAV IDK HOW MANY TIMES I’VE PLAYED THAT ITS JUST SO WHOLESOME AND GOOD

-Attraction Flow

LOVED this gimmick. What can I say I absolutely love Disneyland and being able to use the rides to fight in battle was a blast. I especially loved the mad tea cups (“Bring it in!”) and the pirate ship they were loads of fun :D shame I only got to use Thunder Mountain twice because it’s one of my favourite rides xD

-The gummi phone

Who doesn’t love this. Finally I can take selfies with Disney characters! It was so cute I’m glad they added it. I’m definitely gonna use it more on my next gameplay at inappropriate times during the final battles 🌚

-Final battles

Being able to fight alongside Riku, Mickey, Aqua, Ven, Kairi, Lea, Roxas and Xion was at the top of my wish list for 3 and it finally happened ;-; Ok we’re with Kairi and Lea for two minutes but I ENJOYED THOSE TWO MINUTES. Kairi actually does some decent damage too so she can fight. You did amazing sweetie. And how OP is Roxas? You can just sit back and let him do all the work while you and Xion chill out. Granted they weren’t difficult bosses but I don’t care I got to fight with my sons and daughters by my side <3

I’m nearly done now promise. Just wanna say my favourite worlds ❤️

Corona: Gorgeous and (mostly) tranquil. Rapunzel and Eugene make great partners and the hair swing thing was awesome to jump to different areas. Also the little quests with Rapunzel were adorable and made the world feel more alive.

Monstropolis: I think what made this world for me were the character interactions and the music. The world itself was just inside the factory but the way everyone played off each other and dealt with Vanitas at the end was amazing. And Sora doing his funny face again. You little treasure <3

Toy Box: YOU. ARE. A. TOYYYYYY. Everything was so gigantic and interactive and gsjsksksla it was just loads of fun! Loved Woody and Buzz as partners and the whole world was such a treat- nothing like we’ve ever had in a KH game before. Can we also talk about Woody absolutely wrecking Xehanort though? Iconic.

Well I think that’ll do me for now. Overall I’d give it an 8.5/10 with the major issues being plot pacing and lack of character development. Also the camera sometimes did this weird thing in attraction flow mode where it’d just zoom into a rock or a tree :/ I really enjoyed KH3 despite its flaws and what was done well was done really well

Maybe get some more new writers and let Square properly take the reins for the next one yeah? And let Kairi finally have her time to shine. You’ve set up a rescue mission after all, Square 👀

#kh3 spoilers #kingdom hearts #kh3 #god that was... long. sorry

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ryusoraiko · 5 years

Text

Please wait and read this! (spoilers for 3D and kh3 (only what's given in the official trailer))

It's about Saix – yeah, old „I don't have feelings and feel perfectly fine about Xehanort's plan” Saix. But does he really think it?

Please hear me out because I don't think that's the whole truth.

In my opinion he still appreciates his friendship with Axel. I even go so far to say that he wants to protect him. Yes, he doesn't show it like the “normal human” does but there are moments where it's quite obvious. Why? Well, let me show you!

The German BBS journal entry about Isa states that he is rather cold towards everyone except Lea. They have to have a real tight bond. He even laughed!

Then there is good old 358/2 days. Let's go through it in the chronological order.

Day 23: cutscene with Axel and Saix. Saix says he has a massage from Xemnas that there are traitors among the members who are going to castle oblivion and Axel needs to find and dispose of them.

Axel answers with a somewhat question: “I trust, that really came from Lord Xemnas himself.”

Why should he say this?

Maybe because both or at least Saix is working against Xemnas – or trying to. Why? Let's talk about that later – got it memorized?

Day 72: Saix visits Axel in his bedroom and they are talking about what happened in castle oblivion. At one point Axel says that Saix knew all along what's going on and after Saix left he just says “I moved things along just the way you wanted... at least for now.”

Annihilating the traitors was Saix's plan? Why would he do something like this without Xemnas' explicit permission? ← Talking about working against Xemnas.

Day 117: Again, Axel's bedroom. Saix is asking what Xion is doing and Axel replies – rather pissed – that he doesn't spy on her and that he don't have to report to him about his friends.

I dunno, it just seems like both of them have their own little agenda going on. It all seems so mysterious.

Well, it doesn't end there. Axel even says, “As far as the castle goes, you're the one who really wants to go there. By finding the room that Xemnas is searching for... You would find out everything about Xemnas's true agenda. Am I right?”

At this point, 3D jumps in because: Saix already know his true agenda. Making all of them vessels for Xehanort blah blah blah. But still, why does he take the chance that Axel might find out instead by finding the chamber? It's just not like him.

Saix answers with “The Chamber of Repose as well as the Chamber of Waking... Xemnas has an agenda he hasn't told to anybody. And we are bound to find some clues in the Chamber of Waking. And once we obtain those clues, we'll have the upper hand for our own objectives.”

Right, like I said: he knows about his true plan, Xiggy knows but... that's not the point here. The point is: It can't get any more obvious that Saix is planning something – something against Xemnas.

Sure, he might just wanna find those Chambers to help Xemnas but like Saix said: should they find it before him, they could just steal sleeping beauty Ventus and hide him somewhere else. (okay, that's really only my own opinion with no proof except that Saix wants to protect Axel).

Day 118: Saix and Axel meet again – but this time in a hallway. Saix remarks that Axel gets too attached to Roxas and Xion and that he has changed and just goes away. Jealousy calling there *wink*

Day 172: Both of them meet again in the hallway. Axel accuses Saix that he isn't honest with him and wants to know about Xion. Saix replies without a second thought “Do you mean just like you are always honest with me?” You know it. That's pure jealousy. It shouldn't bother him, right? Riiiiiiight?

Day 175 (I think? Not sure if that's right): Xion collapsed, Axel and Roxas bringing her back, meeting Saix. Saix asks if it's broken again and Axel answers “keep your mouth shut.” After those three are gone: “You have changed.[...] Does the past mean nothing to you?”

So basically: Their shared past still means something to Saix. He keeps those memories treasured, which means he stills sees Axel as a friend – or as his best friend.

Day 299: My favorite scene which actually triggered my obsession with the belief that Saix still holds his friendship to Axel close. “If you could save one of them... why would you choose the puppet? Or put it this way. Which would you rather suffer the loss of: some make believe-friendship, or a real one? [...] There is simply too much on the line, Lea.”

First, I thought Saix was talking about choosing Xion or Roxas but why should he care? They don't have feelings, right?

Saix shouldn't be bothered – but over time (and thanks to 3D) I realized he was talking about Axel's friendship with Roxas and Xion or with Saix. Because, let's be honest: No matter how you put it: even Roxas is a “make believe-friendship because of those “Nobodies don’t have feelings” agenda and the fact that Sora is still out there. Now, he could have said it to make Axel feel remorse but let's be honest: he's jealous. Just pure jealousy and this cold guy just can't express it better.

Now the last thing for 358/2 days: We had to fight Saix in order to escape from the Organization XIII, right? Why was it so easy?

Don't get me wrong: I enjoyed the fight and I just loved fighting against Saix but... he never really used his Berserker-mode, did he? He could have stopped us easily but we still got away rather fast.

Maybe because he respected Axel's feelings? Perhaps because he knew the escape was fruitless, but to have one or none keyblade wielder? I'd choose to have one and just beat him unconscious to get him back instead of letting him run off. I'm sure he did it for Axel – somehow. Just don't take away my belief!

Finally moving on to the next game – Dream Drop Distance. Not really much Saix-quality-scene but some other things I want to mention!

First of all: Nobodies have hearts? They don't remember their feelings – they actually feel them. Point for my “Saix still clings to his 'old' friendship with Axel”-theory. It's much easier to be attached to something if you know that it isn't just a memory but actual feelings! And the best part: he knew it. He knew that he still has a heart and has feelings instead of memories – like the others thought.

Why? That's because of the second thing I want to mention: The real purpose of the Organization XIII: Make more Xehanorts. Or better: make more vessels for him.

Saix and Xigbar both knew about this because both have a part of Xehanort in them. That is why Saix had to know that he still has a heart and doesn’t remember his feelings but actually feel them. Which leads me back to my assumption that he's working against Xemnas – in a way – to protect Axel. Perhaps even sacrificed himself and took a part of Xehanort just to have Axel spared? That's really just speculation – and I don't have any proof but that's what I believe. Why else would you give up yourself and keep going?

Now to the trailers that send my mind spiraling down this line: Kingdom Hearts 3 Teaser. We're reaching the end here!

The extended big hero 6 trailer was the first time I doubted everything I thought/knew about Saix. Don't get me wrong – I love him since 358/2 days. At the end (3:15) multiple, short scenes are shown.

One of them is a scene where Axel – I mean Lea – is sitting on top of the train station in Twilight Town where he and Roxas used to eat their ice cream together, and Saix comes around the corner. Why? Why would he go there? Why even visit/search him? What does he want?

Well, we don't get an answer. At least not in this trailer. You can't even say that Ax-- Lea has invited him or something like that because he seemed too surprised/shocked.

At last there is the Final Battle Trailer. Again, there are two scenes I want to mention. The first one is the “continuation” of the Twilight Town scene. It's at 2:15. Saix and Lea sitting there, Lea has two ice cream in his hands and Saix sits peacefully beside him.

First of all: Why does Lea have 2 ice creams? I mean... I'm pretty sure he wasn't expecting Saix to show up. Did Saix bring it? Well, I don't know and I don't want to dwell on this little fact – just wanted to say that it's weird! What Saix says is more important: “In time I awaken to a new purpose.”

Why is he saying it? It sounds like some kind of goodbye. As in a final goodbye. He doesn't even have a reason to go to Lea and tell him this. They are on two different sides now, aren't they? Saix isn't acting like we got to know him in 358/2 days or KH2!

Second scene is at 2:53. Lea is standing in front of Xemnas and berserker-mode Saix. Well, to make it short and painless: Lea's getting finished off by Xemnas' “Finisher” and Saix is just standing there, watching. Just watching. …

Something seems wrong, doesn't it? Could be because berserker-Saix can't control himself and just attacks. Like everything – maybe not Xemnas but pretty much everything else. You can even see this when you fight him during KH2. He's just thrashing around the place and even throws his weapon through the room (more or less). My point here: He can't control his anger and I doubt he got anti-aggression therapy. There can me so many reasons why he's standing there like a statue. For example, Xemnas or some real training to have more control when in berseker mode but I doubt it. Given all those moments I listed, I think he cares about Lea and doesn't want to be the cause of his death. I’ll go so far to say that he wanted or still wants to protect him but he can't just attack Xemnas, can he? So he just controls him really hard to just. Stay. Still.

To summon everything up: Saix feels more than he shows and still cherishes his (old) friendship with Axel/Lea – maybe even misses it. I wouldn't be surprised if it comes out that he did everything to protect Lea and there is something fishy. I just don't know what. Need to play KH3, I suppose.

If you made it so far: congrats and thank you! Never thought someone would read my rambling.

#kingdom hearts #saix #fan theory #kingdom hearts 3 #kingdom hearts 358/2 days #kingdom hearts dream drop distance #kingdom hearts 3d #organization xiii #character analysis #spoilers #spoiler for kh3?#kh #kh2 #kh3 #talking about friendship #some love for saix #please don't kill me #please let him survive kh3 xd #square enix

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snowflake-of-destruction · 3 years

Note

Shipping ask game:

SoRiKai

AkuRokuXi

TerAquaVen

Wow, how could I have forgotten about this one?

SoRiKai

Ship it so much

What made you ship it?

The depth of emotion between these three is one of the cores of the story, the degree to which they are entwined is shown multiple times though arguably best/most memorably captured in the small scene of Kairi recognizing Riku in KH2 and then joining Riku and Sora's hands. I would never, could never devalue their friendship but the fact that their feelings are (or at least were confused as) romantic is some of the tension right at the forefront of our very first installment with the many different ways to take the simmering jealousy seen on multiple sides. That the three of them together as a unit is their collective hearts' desire, their goal, and, sometimes, as in the end of KH3 where Riku and Kairi both were needed to bring Sora to a place where he could give them and everyone else a second chance, a necessity is, to me, apparent. I have a storm of emotion and opinion on Sorikai and sometimes forget that not every Soriku or Sokai shipper is going to share these emotions or ship Soriku, Sokai, and Rikai all about the same amount, but all you need to do is gently bring me back to earth if that happens.

Read more placed for length

What are your favorite things about the ship?

That time and separation makes no difference. Also, the way they look at each other and say one another's names.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

That Riku and Kairi are just as close as Sora and Kairi or Sora and Riku.

AkuRokuXi

1. Why don’t you ship it?

Okay, honesty time

Probably the way that I was introduced to Xion as not even a character but as a function--to "prove" Sora and Roxas don't have feelings for Riku and Axel respectively and that Sokai is the only valid tie, and to give Roxas a female love interest. Now, obviously that is an extremely reductive and downright nonsense take on 358/2 and Xion as a character, and the type of thing I would normally not only argue against but then develop a strong spite reaction where I attach to the character/ship/story harder even with a character less developed than Xion (who actually gets more time spent building her as a character than most KH females) and a story less compelling and with a lot less going on in it than 358/2, but, as I wasn't connected with wider fandom then and thus subject to a much smaller pool of people I knew in real life that played the games, it was sometimes easy to internalize some "bad takes" that you don’t examine for awhile.

With that said, I grew to appreciate Xion a long time ago, and I adore the friendship between the three of them--and every subset, because, even though you see more of Axel and Roxas's bond or Roxas and Xion's connection, you can't tell me Axel doesn't care deeply for Xion, and that the scene of him crying without knowing why in KH3 got me.

I just still get odd feelings and have personal hang-ups about Xion and either or both of these boys romantically, though I have read some cute ones and it's something I can get past.

2.What would have made you like it?

Probably if I had encountered more diverse opinions/interpretations on Xion and her importance other than her being a narrative "no homo." Yes, yes, we think for ourselves too, most definitely, but you do, especially when you are younger, absorb something of popular opinion. It also would have helped if 358/2 already existed when I got into KH so Xion wasn't someone who "appeared out of nowhere after the fact" but an already accepted part of the series, the other great hang-up.

3. Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

They love each other, they would have the most fun and tease each other the worst all through their negotiation of the rules and boundaries of their relationship (you know I love banter), and they arguably have the closest to a canon vow to be polycule with their resolve to all share an apartment together.

TerAquaVen

1. Why don’t you ship it?

It is such a narrow edge, and sometimes I think I could easily ship this one a lot/do ship it, but, ultimately, I feel like Aqua looks at Ventus as a little brother, emphasis on little, in BBS. She's always the responsible friend/mom friend, but you get more of the sense that Terra is an equal still but Ventus she sees as her charge as much as Eraqus's.

2.What would have made you like it?

Just a slight tweak of a line or two in canon and I probably would have a lot more ot3 feelings alongside the found family feelings.

3. Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

They have the most heart tugging and epic scale love story of all the trios if you see them as a ship.

#sorikai #teraquaven #akorokuxi #zelinksupporter

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phoenix-downer · 5 years

Text

Phantom Dreams

Read it on AO3 / FFN.

Three months. It had been three whole months since he’d last seen Kairi.

When would this end? When would Xehanort realize this was pointless and let him go? He was no closer to succumbing than he had been at the start, and it was all thanks to Kairi.

He pulled out her charm, the sign of the promise he’d made to always return to her. It had often brought him comfort, and now was no different. As he lay back on the stiff mattress and ignored his aching limbs, he closed his eyes and imagined seeing her again.

All thoughts of Xehanort left his mind because she was all that really mattered. Her cute smile, her red hair, her teasing looks. Her kind heart, her gentle light, her unwavering belief in him and in a better future.

“Kairi,” he said softly, a faint smile tugging his cracked lips. Memories of her flooded his heart and banished the darkness, kept it at bay. His grip around the charm tightened, and for a moment he imagined her hand held tightly in his.

So long as he kept her in his memory like this, he was safe.

Right?

The following night, he was back in his room (well, more prison cell than room), lying on the unforgiving mattress, trying to ignore his injured wrist (thanks a lot, Xigbar) when he thought about Kairi again.

Thinking about her eased the pain, both in his body and in his heart. Xehanort had been pretty ruthless today, trying to force the darkness inside him. Which was why he’d ended up with a busted wrist.

Ouch. That was going to take a while to heal, unless Xehanort decided to heal it tomorrow. One thing was for sure though. Sora would be punished if he tried to heal it himself.

Kairi’s lucky charm was gripped in his other hand, though, and as he thought of her, the bed, the room, even the throbbing pain in his wrist, all seemed far away. She was what was real.

“Kairi,” he murmured, her name soothing on his lips, healing to his heart.

“Sora.”

His eyes flew open.

“Kairi?” He sat up and winced. “Is that you?”

The light in the room was dim, and flickering shadows danced across the walls. The wind whistled through the barred window high above him, his only link to the outside world.

“Kairi?” he asked, pulling his threadbare blanket tighter around him. This tower got downright freezing at night, and tonight wasn’t any different.

A giggle came from behind him. He whirled around, but all he saw was a flash of red hair. Nothing more.

“Kairi?” he repeated. But there was no response this time.

He flopped back on the bed and sighed. “Must have been my imagination.”

A part of him wished it hadn’t been. What he wouldn’t give to see her again.

He heard her voice again the next night.

“Sora,” she said, light and lilting and playful.

“Kairi?”

When he glanced behind him, though, the same thing happened. Just a flash of red hair, and then she was gone.

He raked his hand through his hair. “What’s going on? What’s happening to me?”

He got no answer except the cold wind whistling through the window, the moonlight flickering across the stone floor. He curled up in bed, still gripping her charm, but it took a long time for him to fall asleep.

When he checked his reflection in the mirror inside Xehanort’s throne room the next day, a strand of his hair had turned silver.

The third night, he tried to ignore the voice, tried to tell himself it was only his imagination.

It didn’t work.

“Sora,” it called. He could picture the pout Kairi would be making right about now, that was how real the voice sounded. “Why are you ignoring me?” it asked.

“I’m not ignoring you, I—” He groaned and smashed the pillow against his ears to block it all out, wincing when the straw inside poked and prodded at him.

“Forget it, you’re just an illusion, anyway,” he spat. “Another way for Xehanort to find the cracks in my heart. I don’t know why I’m even talking to you.”

“An illusion?” she said, and he felt a strong tug on the pillow. “Can an illusion do this?”

The pillow was gone and the blanket was, too. And in their place were her warm arms wrapped around him and her soft chest pressed into his back.

He gasped and reached back, but she was already gone. All that was left were his lumpy pillow and hole-filled blanket.

The night was cold, but the places where she’d touched him stayed warm long after she was gone.

An illusion couldn’t do that… could it?

It was the fourth night. He hated himself for looking forward to her visit.

“Sora,” she cooed, and when she wrapped her arms around him again, he didn’t try to touch her this time, just held still.

“That’s a good boy,” she murmured, her breath hot on his icy neck. His heart sped up at her praise. Kairi usually just gave him a hard time, which made any compliments from her that much more special.

“You wanted this, didn’t you?” she purred, her fingers stroking his chest. “You’ve been thinking about me all day.”

He had.

Her hands tightened around him, bringing her body flush against his. His breath caught, it felt so good.

“It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other,” she said, and he hated how sad and lonely her voice sounded. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too.”

Her hands traveled lower, and he found himself wishing she would—

His face burned. No. He couldn’t think things like that. Kairi would never—

She paused at his hips, and her cute giggle filled his ears. “Feels good, doesn’t it? We were always so shy before, but right now you’re letting me hold you the way you’ve always wanted me to.”

It did feel good. It felt better than he’d imagined.

But the real Kairi would never do something like this. Not with how things were right now. Maybe someday. Maybe after he’d finally told her how he felt, confessed the kind of future he wanted to share with her.

But not now.

He sighed deeply. “It does feel good, but it isn’t real.”

He tried to extract himself from her arms, but she was already gone.

He hated how much that stung.

Talking to her on the fifth night didn’t help. Any time he tried to look at her, the most he could see was a glimpse of her red hair. And any time he tried to touch her, she would just slip through his fingers.

So on the sixth night, he tried to ignore her again.

It didn’t go well.

When she tried to do the hugging him from behind thing again, he sat up and shielded himself with the blanket, much to her annoyance.

“Sora, why are you doing this? Why are you treating me like this?” she said, and there was real anger and frustration in her voice.

He put his head in his hands. “You aren’t real. None of this matters.”

“Is Roxas not real? Naminé?”

“You keep them out of this,” he ground out through gritted teeth.

He felt her settle against his back and sigh. “I’m as real as they are.”

“No, you’re not. You’re just an illusion sent to torment me. Probably another one of Xehanort’s tricks.”

“Torment you? Torment you?” she said with a whine. “Holding you in my arms is torment now?”

“Yeah, it is, because you’re not real. You can never replace the real Kairi. All you can do is remind me of how much I want to be with her.”

She was silent for a long time. “How do you know who you want to be with is the real Kairi?” she asked when she finally spoke again. “How do you know she’s not just as much of an illusion as you think I am?”

He sat up straighter, and his shadow against the wall did, too. Maybe he should be bothered by the fact that he could feel her leaning against his back but couldn’t see any shadow from her, but for whatever reason, he wasn’t.

Maybe because what she’d just said seemed a lot more important right now.

“What do you mean?” he asked, not really sure he wanted the answer.

“Sora, you haven’t been around me for more than a few weeks at a time for nearly two years now. Do you really even know me anymore?”

Sora considered this. It was true, he and Kairi had been separated a lot lately. But they’d known each other for years. She was his closest friend besides Riku. He had changed and she had changed, but that could never erase the bond they shared.

“I do know you,” he said, but his voice came out sounding more defensive than he’d wanted it to. “You’re Kairi, my friend, my—”

“Your what, Sora?” she asked, and her question made his heart pound. “Are you sure you haven’t just built me up in your head to be something I’m not?”

He hesitated. Sure, he’d imagined he and Kairi sharing something more than just friendship someday, but that was normal when you had feelings for someone, wasn’t it?

Kairi felt the same way, didn’t she?

“You say you know the real Kairi,” she began, “but this ‘real’ Kairi you claim to know so well is just as much of a fake as you think I am.”

“That’s not true!”

She sighed. “Yes, it is. She’s too perfect. She isn’t ever angry or annoyed with you. She’s always there for you when you need her to be. She exists only to serve you and help you without so much as a peep about her own wants or needs.”

“And what are her wants and needs?” Sora asked, his fists balling at his sides.

“You tell me. What do I want more than anything?”

Before he could answer her, she was gone.

“Me. You want me,” he said when she came to him on the seventh night. How could he have been so blind? The answer was obvious. It had been staring him in the face all this time. She wanted him, and he’d done nothing but run away and leave her behind.

Some friend he was.

She giggled. “Bingo. I want a man who will always be by my side.”

“But I haven’t always been by your side.” It was one of his greatest failures, his biggest shortcomings. He couldn’t keep his promises to her, not even once. And that wasn’t about to change, not until all their friends were safe.

“But you are a man,” she purred in his ear, her arms going around him again. “Aren’t you?”

Sora didn’t know what to say to that. He’d hardly call a sixteen-year old a man, but… He knew he wasn’t a boy anymore, either. Not with how good it felt to have her pressed against him like this, her arms tight around his waist.

“This is real,” she murmured, her soft lips playing with his ear and brushing against his neck, teasing him, tormenting him. “This isn’t just one of your fantasies.”

“Yes it is. Kairi would never—”

“You’re right. She wouldn’t. So which will you choose, Sora? Me, or that unattainable angel you’ve put on a pedestal?”

With that she was gone. The only sound was the howling of the wind.

Sora hated how badly he wanted her to come back.

The eighth night arrived, but she didn’t. He tossed and turned in his bed, trying to get her out of his head, trying to get her out of his heart.

He couldn’t. Not her teasing, lilting voice, not her arms wrapped around him, not her lips kissing and caressing and tempting him with what could be his. All he had to do was ask.

It was what she wanted, right? It was what he wanted, too.

Then… why did it feel so wrong?

The ninth night came and went, and so did the tenth and eleventh. Each night he grew more and more miserable, and his sleep became less and less restful.

He missed her. Missed her voice, missed her touch, missed her presence.

Being separated from her was more than he could bear. He’d been separated from her for too long now and it was killing him on the inside.

He could end it. All he had to do to end it was say her name. But the rims of his eyes were yellow now and his hair was filled with silver streaks and he knew his heart was this close. It was this close to succumbing to the darkness completely.

Then why… why did a part of him want to give in, if it meant he could finally be with her?

His dreams during the twelfth night were feverish, desperate. She was high up on a pedestal while he was stuck on the ground below. Whenever he figured out a way to jump higher or get closer, the pedestal got taller. She was always just out of his reach, just beyond his touch.

Well, he was sick of that. Sick of being denied what they both wanted.

His life wasn’t even his anymore. He was always helping other people and never asking for anything in return.

Surely he could have just this one thing for himself, right?

The thirteenth night was here. It had been twelve nights since she’d first started visiting him.

He couldn’t take it anymore. He was lonely. His friends weren’t coming for him. They didn’t even know how to find him in this cold, dark tower. He wanted Kairi and he wanted her badly.

He couldn’t have her.

He could.

He shouldn’t.

He wanted to.

Her lucky charm was in his hand and he was sitting on the edge of the bed, completely unable to sleep as he warred with himself over what to do. His body pulled him in one direction, his mind the other, and his tortured, tormented heart was caught between the two.

His hand shook as he stared at the charm. “Kairi—” he choked out, a broken, desperate plea. He wasn’t even sure who he was calling to anymore. The real Kairi, or the illusion.

But she came all the same. “You called?” she murmured, and it was so good to hear her voice after six days of agonizing solitude that tears welled up in his eyes.

“You’re here. You’re really here.”

“Of course I am. I would never abandon you, Sora.”

He didn’t care if she was fake anymore. What he was feeling right now was real.

When she rested her hand on his knee, he didn’t stop her. He put his hand over hers and she was real. He let out a soft cry of relief at that. Her shadow danced across the wall next to his and her skin was solid beneath his hand and she was real. After all this time, they were finally reunited. She had come down off that pedestal just so they could be together like they’d always wanted.

And when he turned to look her in the eye, he saw more than just a glimpse of her hair. He saw her lovely face, her cute smile, her golden eyes.

“Kairi,” he cried, then took her in his arms, crushing his lips against hers. He needed this. He wanted this. He moaned into her mouth as she kissed him back in a way that made his heart race. She wasn’t being gentle, and neither was he. There wasn’t any time for that anymore. Not when they’d had to wait this long.

He didn’t even notice the poison slip from her lips to his, the silver leech into his hair and the gold into his eyes. Because this was what he wanted, more than anything. His Kairi was in his arms like she should be, solid and real and obtainable at long last.

When they finally broke apart, they were both left gasping for air.

“See?” she said, running the tip of her tongue across her swollen lips and smiling. “I’m always with you, Sora, here inside your heart.”

She put her finger against his chest, and it was icy cold. He looked down, and darkness was pouring out of him and flooding the room. He gasped and glanced up, and when he did, Kairi was no longer there. Xehanort was standing in front of the wooden door to his room instead.

“You tricked me!” Sora wailed, scrambling to his feet and tripping over the edge of the bed and sprawling onto the cold stone floor. “You used her against me!”

Xehanort towered over him and smiled, a horrible, chilling smile. “Don’t act so surprised. She is both your greatest strength and your greatest weakness. It didn’t take much effort on my end at all to get you to hear what you wanted to hear, see what you wanted to see.”

Sora froze. “You mean—”

“Yes.” Xehanort sat on the edge of the bed and smoothed out its wrinkly sheets. “Your feelings for her are so strong you created an illusion of her, a phantom. Fascinating, isn’t it? You relied on her to keep you safe, but once I figured out a way to use her against you, it was only a matter of time before your heart succumbed.”

“I created the phantom Kairi? That was me?”

The phantom’s words came back to him. She was right. He didn’t know the real Kairi, not anymore. All he had was this fake inside his head, this illusion in his heart.

That was more crushing to realize than knowing his heart was now lost to the darkness.

“Yes,” Xehanort replied. “Not at first, but over time your heart took over and turned her into something beyond my wildest dreams. Not yours, though. It seems as if she is exactly what you wanted, what the real Kairi could never be. But it doesn’t really matter, because either way, I have you now. You’re mine.”

The others had arrived. As Ansem yanked him off the ground by the hair and Xemnas forced him into one of those horrible black coats, he called out to Kairi, the real Kairi, one last time.

“Kairi, if you can hear me— I’m sorry—”

“Hush, boy,” Xehanort commanded. “Your heart is mine now.”

It was true. Sora hated it but it was true. With the last of his consciousness, the last of his control, he cried out:

“Maybe I don’t know the real you anymore, Kairi, but I want to! I’m still here, I swear! Come find me, the real me. I want to see you again. Please—”

It was dark and cold and not even the phantom was here to comfort him anymore. He was trapped inside his own body, a spectator to whatever Xehanort decided to do with his heart and soul.

The phantom Kairi had never been real in the first place. That was just his own heart, so desperate and needy he’d accept even a fake version of Kairi.

“I’m pathetic,” he whispered. “I deserve whatever happens to me.”

What would Kairi think, knowing this was how he’d succumbed? Giving in to his lust, his loneliness and desperation, less than two weeks after Xehanort had figured out how to use her against him?

He couldn’t bear to face her. Not like this. Never like this.

He buried his face in his hands. “Maybe what I thought was love wasn’t really love after all. Maybe it was all just in my head.”

And that was the saddest thought of all.

He didn’t know how long he sat like that. Time lost all meaning down here. But when he opened his eyes again, he wasn’t alone.

“Kairi?” he sniffed, wiping his eyes. A faint glow radiated off her, and she smiled sadly.

“You forgot something.”

She took his hand in hers, soft and warm and real. It felt good just to hold her hand again. She placed something in his, something familiar. When she removed her fingers, all he could do was stare.

“Your lucky charm. But how—”

She gave him that same sad smile again. “You’re not the only one who dreams, you know.”

And with that, she was gone. The lucky charm remained in his hand, its soft glow lighting up the depths of his darkened heart.

His grip around it tightened. “Kairi, I swear. I swear I’ll make our dreams a reality. We won’t have to imagine a future together any longer. It’ll become real.”

Maybe this was all just a dream. Maybe it was all an illusion. Maybe the Kairi he’d seen just now was only a phantom.

But if it gave him hope to keep on fighting, if she gave him hope to keep on fighting—

Was it really so bad to dream after all?

A big thank you to @rapis-razuri and @fairyveil for inspiring me to write this story! The three of us were having a really interesting discussion about Sora and Kairi the other night, about what might happen if his feelings for her were pushed into the realm of obsession.

Fairy in particular had some really great insights about that that got me thinking – what if Sora really does put Kairi on a pedestal a little? She’s his dream girl, but they’ve been separated so much lately that he might be more than a little fixated on being with her. That could easily turn into obsession if he let it, if he’s always thinking about her but doesn’t ever get to interact with her anymore.

Then Rapis brought up the Rose-Haired Phantom stuff from Final Fantasy XIII, which I am a sucker for because it is A+ angst material. And I thought, hmmmm, what if I applied that to Kingdom Hearts? And thus the idea for this fic was born.

Credit to Rapis for helping me come up with the title as well; as she pointed out, it’s a play on the phrase “phantom pains,” which refers to how people who are missing limbs can sometimes feel pain like the limb is still there. The dreams part of the title refers to how Sora has built up this fantasy version of Kairi in his head, and of course the phantom part is a shoutout to the Rose-Haired Phantom from FFXIII, though in this case it’s the Red-Haired Phantom.

As always, thank you for reading!

#kingdom hearts #soranort #sokai #sora #kairi #xehanort #angst #romance #obsession #psychological manipulation #illusions #slightly risqué #potentially disturbing content #never going to happen in canon but interesting to explore anyway #kingdom hearts fanfiction #phoenix writes #long post

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nadziejastar · 3 years

Note

Imo Kingdom Hearts could have been a lot different if Disney was never involved or if it was it's entire own francise with no crossover with FF or Disney, imo that would have been great. Since KH1, the Disney-worlds had barely to no connection or revelance to the main-plot anymore, Sora just travels to the worlds because he can, in KH1 there was more at stake in those worlds too, now they just feel like filler, as much as SE has tried up untill KH3.

Well, “Quadratum” means “Square”. It’s possible that Nomura wants to move away from Disney worlds and focus more on Square worlds. Although I like the Disney worlds, and think they help give the series a unique identity, I can understand that Disney is a is large, powerful, greedy corporation. And Nomura’s relationship with them has changed over time.

It’s telling that instead of coming up with a new plot that gives us a good reason to travel to the Disney worlds again (the real ones, not data worlds, memory worlds, dream worlds, etc.) he’s sending Sora and Riku off to a new alternate dimension based on Versus XIII—a Square property. It may indicate that he’s tired of Disney worlds and they will be getting less focus from now on.

KH1

As the series has gone on, the implementation of the Disney worlds has become worse and worse as Nomura has struggled to come up with reasons to travel to them. I think you’re right that KH1 did the best with incorporating the worlds into the plot. Sora was trying to seal all the Keyholes, giving him a good reason to be in each one. He was looking for Riku and Kairi, which was a more personal goal. And then you had the seven princesses and the villain alliance. And each world contributed to the overall theme of the story.

KH CoM

Pinocchio: Gee, Riku, don’t you have a Jiminy like I do? He’s my conscience. He’s taught me all kinds of important stuff. Maybe you just need somebody to show you what’s right and wrong.

Jiminy: Sure. You can’t shoulder all your problems alone, ya know. You must have somebody–a friend you can talk to?

In CoM, the Disney worlds were pure filler. Only existed for gameplay. On Sora’s side, the story within them was almost the exact same as it was in KH1. Even on Riku’s side, the Disney worlds were pointless. For instance, the whole Monstro level in KH3D could have happened in Re:CoM, since it’s basically reliving Riku’s memories from KH1, but having him make a different choice that time.

KH2

Iago: I wanna be a good friend, like Genie, but I can't do anything to help you. What kind of a friend is that?

Sora: Oh, no---it's not like that, Iago. Friends don't have to "do" stuff. As long as you have fun hanging out together, that's all that matters.

In KH2, the worlds are a mix of new and old. But they’re not really important to the plot. Sora’s just looking for Riku and the King, they’re not there, you participate in the movie’s plot, then move onto the next one. All the actual story happens in Twilight Town, Hollow Bastion, or TWTNW. Each world usually has a theme and a moral lesson, but it doesn’t always relate to Sora that much, so they feel filler-ish. In the second half, the organization appears in the worlds, which makes them a little more relevant to the story. But not much. They were still fun levels, though.

358/2 Days

Roxas had a good reason to go to the worlds, to collect hearts for the organization. I don’t mind if the Disney worlds aren’t directly plot-related, as long as there’s character development in them. I like that they took certain worlds from KH2 that felt like filler and expanded on the main theme of them, contributing to character development, particularly for Axel. For instance, in KH2′s Agrabah, the moral lesson was: best friends don’t have to be “useful”. This idea doesn’t have much to do with Sora, though, so it felt kinda pointless to his quest.

If you didn’t need me, then I no longer held meaning. However, reality is different. It wasn’t about whether I was needed or not. If I could just connect to others’ hearts, that would be enough.

But it was implied that this idea was very relevant to Axel’s memories of his past and his best friend.

“Because they copied my powers, the Keyblade’s power, and then they didn’t need me anymore— is that it?” Roxas spat.

He couldn’t bring himself to confirm it.

“I guess you felt the same way, huh, Axel?”

At those words, something wrenched in his chest, and he could hardly breathe. No, not me. I wasn’t thinking like that. I would never. “That’s not true. You—you’re my best friend.” The words spilled out of him.

The story of Days was all about how Roxas and Xion help Axel remember his past and what it felt like to have a best friend (an idea that connects to CoM). And the Disney worlds at least contributed to that idea in a meaningful way.

“Set in a circus and playing off the story of Pinocchio, a puppet with a heart, and the Nobodies who possess no heart, we planned for a sad episode with Roxas and Xion looking for hope for themselves”.

I would have preferred Prankster’s Paradise as a world, though, instead of, say, Halloween Town. It sounds like Roxas and Xion would have developed more in that world and it would have been more relevant to the story. Plus, it would have been new. But I think Days did a decent enough job with the Disney worlds. At least Roxas learned something new when he went to them, spurring on interesting discussions with Axel about friendship, love, the heart, etc.

KHBBS

Bagheera: It was bound to happen. Mowgli is where he belongs now.

Three new characters. In each world, the character learned something new and developed slightly. The worlds were mostly new, too. I don’t have a problem with BBS’s Disney worlds. I do wish they would have kept the Jungle Book worlds in, though.

“Riku… Do you think Nobodies have a home? Somewhere we belong?” Naminé wondered.

Having a home, somewhere to belong, was one of the main themes of the Xehanort Saga.

Master Xehanort: Darkness that you channeled.

Terra: No, I succumbed to it. Just like when I stole Princess Aurora’s heart of light. I can never return home now. I’m a failure.

Terra felt like a failure, and that he could never return home. And Aqua was tasked with bringing Ven home. This world could have been really good in BBS.

Coded

Mickey: Yen Sid… I think we’re finally close to figuring out where Ven’s heart is.

Here’s where things start going off the rails. In Coded, Disney worlds are yet again retreads of KH1, only this time they’re data instead of memories. The whole purpose of the plot was to explain why Mickey sent Sora, Riku, and Kairi that letter at the end of KH2. But you didn’t really need a whole game of travelling through virtual Disney worlds for that, especially involving convoluted ideas like data Namine implanting bug blocks in the journal or Jiminy’s Journal embodying itself as Riku (WTF?). You could have just added a scene into KH2FM+ like the above one from the manga. When Mickey saw the photo of Roxas, he recognized him as Ventus. Then he tells Master Yen Sid about it later, leading to Coded’s ending and him writing the letter.

KHUX

Ephemer: The worlds we visit—the worlds of fairy tales—are nothing more than holograms. You know, projections. The light we collect there is actually this world’s light. To put it simply: There are lots of worlds, right? And they’re all connected by land. But it’s impossible to go around all of them. That’s why there’s a mechanism that projects those worlds here and allows us to collect Lux from faraway lands. I’m gathering information, trying to figure out how the whole thing works. My hunch is that the Book of Prophecies held by the Foretellers is what’s creating these holograms.

The Disney worlds were extremely boring to play through. More than any other KH game, they have scenes that are just copy/pasted straight from the movies. Your main character, since they are mute, has little involvement. They do not grow, change, or develop, after any of these worlds. They have nothing interesting to say and they can barely interact with anyone (Chirithy does it for you).

And all, except for Wreck-It-Ralph, are just retreads of plots that we already experienced in other games. The worlds are digital holograms of the future generated from the Book of Prophecies. It’s all a VERY convoluted excuse to have you play through the same old plots from the Disney worlds. AGAIN. Only with a FAR less interesting main character. Since this was supposed to be just a F2P gacha with little story, it could have been excused. But since KHUX has become so important to the main story, it is inexcusable how poor of a game it is.

KH3D

Sora: I get it now. After this, Pinocchio and Jiminy’s world gets dragged into darkness, and they end up cast into the sea between worlds, along with Monstro. And then…they end up in Traverse Town, and the belly of the whale. That’s when we meet for real. It’s like Master Yen Sid said–I’m in the dream Pinocchio’s world is dreaming. And that world will never be right again until it wakes from sleep.

I don’t have any real issue with a game focusing on the mark of mastery exam, where Sora and Riku travel through Disney worlds. Riku develops along the way in a satisfying way. It’s the first time you actually go to new worlds as him. The test was for Sora and Riku to acquire the power of waking, so they had to go to dream worlds. Fantasia was perfect for this idea.

But the concept of Sleeping Worlds is convoluted and confusing. They’re dream versions of the worlds? Who is dreaming them? The Dandelions? They’re stuck in a time loop of the past? But visiting the Sleeping Worlds doesn’t rewrite the present. So, are they connected to the datascape? Again, it’s so convoluted, because there really is no reason that Sora and Riku would have to go on another adventure in the REAL world. Again, I would have preferred Prankster’s Paradise in Days. Pinocchio would be a human, it’d be set in the present timeline so no awkward dialogue, and Honest John and Gideon would be involved, giving it more of a plot.

KH3

The game’s worlds could have been okay if Sora wasn’t just wandering about aimlessly. And if they had developed the power of waking better. The power of waking is essentially the power to wake a sleeping heart by connecting with it. It’s the power of love, basically. Most of the Disney worlds are about love. And also, a member of the organization appears in each one.

Dark Road

In BBS, it’s revealed that Xehanort wants to open KH to create a new world. But in KH3, he wants to reset the world. How is this different?

Nomura: The most essential part is that he thinks the current world is a failure, and wants to remake it.

I’m interested to know why Xehanort came to think that way (that the world should be remade).

Nomura: Initially, I wanted to dive deeper into the naive, untainted Xehanort who we see playing chess in the next installment (before KH3 was made), but if I did that, the dark seeker arc wouldn’t have ended (lol), so I decided to shelve it for now.

Wonderland is the only Disney world that has had a plot so far. But this was still the most interesting usage of Wonderland in the series, IMO.

Envy (Latin, invidia): Invi Gluttony (Latin, gula): Gula Lust (Latin, luxuria): Luxu. Anger, or Wrath (Latin, ira): Ira Greed, or Avarice (Latin, avaritia): Ava Sloth, or Laziness (Latin, acedia): Aced

The Foretellers are named after the seven deadly sins.

Nomura: As I was writing the scenario for Kingdom Hearts Back Cover, I was careful so as to make each character look neither like a hero nor a villain, however in the end it seems that only Ava was received as a good girl (laughs). At any rate, if you think of the story progression as a gun, where Ava is the only one with the capacity to pull that gun’s trigger, I’m not so sure about how devoid of sin she really is…

I think there were a lot of parallels between the age of fairytales and the Book of Genesis.

Pride (Latin: superbia) is considered, on almost every list, the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins. Out of the seven, it is the most angelical, or demonic. It is also thought to be the source of the other capital sins.

The MoM is probably really Darkness, the original sin, Superbia. And Xehanort has his Keyblade, becoming his successor. Pride was his deadly sin. He could never admit that he lost to Eraqus at chess because of his pride. In the Bible, the source of sin was the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden. After acquiring knowledge of good and evil, he developed a god complex. Pride is the ultimate sin, where all the other sins originate from.

I need only play the role of a fool desirous of the Keyblade’s power.

Luxu is lust and Braig lusted for Xehanort’s power (as Luxu probably did with the MoM). The story in Dark Road is actually interesting. Xehanort is a FAR more interesting protagonist that the Avatar in Union X. As a wielder in training, he actually has a good reason to travel the worlds, and develops as a character along the way. I think Dark Road deserved to be its own real KH game, released on the Vita or 3DS a long time ago. It’s a shame it’s only a mobile game.

Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known as Wrath.

Pride is excessive belief in one’s own abilities, that interferes with the individual’s recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity.

Envy is the desire for others’ traits, status, abilities, or situation.

Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.

Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.

Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called Avarice or Covetousness.

Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work.

The story of Dark Road will likely be Xehanort encountering the seven deadly sins as manifested in Disney villains and coming to the conclusion that the world is too corrupt and needs to be reset. That is actually a decent enough plot and good justification for travelling through the Disney worlds. It’d be cool if they added new worlds. Maybe like Pocahontas, and Governor Radcliffe could be Greed, etc.

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