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pred1059 · 1 year

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Just A Chance Chapter Twenty Five

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Journal: Day Seven

There was so much that happened today, I’m not sure where to start.

Well, Naminé has a keyblade now! She managed to call on it to keep me safe during our mission. Even if Marluxia and Larxene don’t care, I’m glad for her.

…

It’s strange. I shouldn’t have a heart to feel happy or sad, but ever since meeting Naminé it seems easier for me to understand what it’s like. And part of me just wants to say it. Wants to say how I am, what I feel.

I think I want to love.

But I was so close to slipping away in my fight with Kairi. To give it up to the darkness just to win. But then she managed to talk me out of it.

She seemed to care more about me than Marluxia and Larxene. Should we really be treating them as enemies?

“This has got to be one of the worst worlds I’ve seen.” Roxas groaned as he continued to trudge through the puddles of who-knows-what that lined Monstro’s guts.

Zexion shivered as he looked away from another spasm of the intestinal walls. “This is not exactly a world. Still, I agree his insides are far from pleasant.”

Axel ducked his head under some overhanging organs as they continued deeper into the depths of the creature and muttered, “Kinda makes you wonder why our target would wander around here in the first place.”

Roxas definitely shared the sentiment. Marluxia’s intended training for today was intended to simulate Sora’s experience here. To retrieve a lost puppet that could move on its own and wandered around in this world. The catch being that he and Naminé would be doing the bulk of the fighting. A way to make sure she was getting up to speed. Despite that, Axel and Zexion managed to persuade Marluxia to let them come along in case something unexpected showed up, like an out of control heartless or even Ansem. Crossing his arms, Roxas looked over the area the four of them had come to. An overlook on one of the larger rooms, or rather what passed for rooms in the intestines of Monstro. A variety of openings leading onward and, hopefully one of them was toward their target. “Now, where is that puppet?”

“Pinocchio,” Naminé spoke aloud before she looked over to Roxas, who glanced back in confusion. “His name is Pinocchio.

Roxas furrowed his brow as he realized, “It’s a little weird they wouldn’t tell us his name.” Especially if they were looking for him. Come to think of it, Marluxia didn’t even have much of a description for what they were looking for beyond ‘moving puppet’.

Did he really care about this training?

Axel rolled his eyes as he moved over to Roxas and crossed his arms. ”Do we really care about a wooden puppet’s name?” To be fair, it was a comparatively small detail, but it would still have been nice.

Zexion cupped his chin as he surveyed the room they were in. “To be fair, it does possess magic of some kind that gives the appearance of sentience. So a unique name isn’t unwarranted.”

Roxas couldn’t help but tilt his head at the words Zexion said. While they seemed to fit the sentence, he had no idea what they meant. Axel just shook his head and turned to Zexion with a smirk. “There you go again, showing off your thesaurus.” Roxas sighed, as he had no idea what that was either. Axel continued with a shrug, “Either way, it doesn’t have a heart, so it’s not much more of a person then us.”

It was a small fact. One that Roxas had known since the first day of his existence. But now hearing it stung. A reminder that his dreams and questions might not be anything of worth. That what little substance his being did have was insignificant.

Judging from the wince from Naminé, the thought crossed her mind as well.

The darkness began to gather into heartless before them on the level below. More and more soldiers had arrived, but now they were accompanied by large heartless with dog faced shields. Naminé took a step back from the edge and glanced over to Roxas. “They seem a bit strong.”

Roxas nodded as he saw the monsters sizing them up. Even from here, he could tell these were a bit more than most Heartless. But even so, he wasn’t alone, and neither was Naminé.“We can do it, together,” Roxas encouraged as he called on his keyblade.

Naminé slowly held out her hand and called out her weapon before glancing over to Roxas and nodding. The two jumped down, beginning to slash their way through the heartless soldiers. Roxas dashed toward the defenders, catching their attention and leaving Naminé free to stop them with a barrage of magic ice from her keyblade. As more of the group fell, Naminé began to smile. “It’s tough, but I think we can handle the heartless.”

Roxas grinned as he twirled his keyblade and shouted, “And if we can handle them, we can handle this mission!”

It had become very clear that they were having a hard time handling this mission.

Not exactly due to combat, the two had managed to keep up with the heartless so far. Even to the point that Axel and Zexion were at a bit of a loss of what to do. Granted, Axel didn’t mind the chance to relax a bit more. No, the thing which had vexed them was one simple mundane fact.

“We’re lost.”

Axel sighed at Roxas’ observation before giving a half hearted reassurance. “We’re not lost, we just got turned around.”

“A distinction without a difference,” Zexion muttered as he continued to avoid having some stomach juice fall on his book’s pages. Only for his movement to ensure a bit of bile landed on his shoulder. Though Roxas had been lucky so far, he shared the misery. All this world had been was heartless and guts.

As Zexion grumbled and wiped the gunk away, Naminé hesitated before turning to the group and asking, “Maybe we should go find Geppetto to regain our bearings?”

Axel and Zexion paused and looked at each other, Axel gesturing for the latter to give some kind of explanation. But for once it seemed Zexion was stumped, as he shook his head in silence. So Roxas asked the question that had seemed to be mutual among the three of them. “Who’s Geppetto?

Naminé glanced at Axel and Zexion, raising an eyebrow and asking, “You don’t know about him?” As the three shook their heads, she took a breath and began to explain, “He originally carved the puppet before magic made Pinocchio come alive. He’s like Pinocchio’s father.”

Even though he had never heard the word before, Roxas held a hand to his chest as something inside began to ache. ”A father?” From how Naminé described Geppetto, it sounded like a father was a creator, though perhaps something more.

Naminé nodded and began to lead down one of the tunnels. “He was very worried for his son, so he might know—.”

“It’s just a puppet, Naminé.” Only for Axel to bring her to a halt verbally and literally as he put his hand firmly on her shoulder “Not even that, this a memory of a puppet. Once we wrap up here it’s gone.”

Zexion began to chuckle as he moved over to Roxas. “Not to mention, It’s a bit silly calling the carpenter the puppet’s father.”

Roxas had no clue if it was actually silly, but from how Naminé had described Geppetto the connection he had with Pinocchio couldn’t be small. As Axel and Zexion began to move forward, Roxas couldn’t help but call out, “But he matters enough to him for Geppetto to worry, right?” His words caused the two other Organization members to stop and turn back to him. Glancing between themselves, they had no answer. Even as they were so sure Geppetto’s bond with Pinocchio was a joke, they had no idea what either of them were really like.

Again, it was Naminé who began to explain, “He left the safety of Traverse Town just to find Pinocchio.”

Axel sighed and scratched the back of his head. “He’s a lonely old carpenter. He’d be attached to anything that’d give him companionship.”

Roxas furrowed his brow and stepped forward, asking firmly, “Does Pinocchio care about Geppetto too?” They had to know this, especially if they were going to so much trouble to find him in this mission.

Zexion held up a finger as he began to recall, “From what I recall of the reports, he has a habit of running off on his own. Not exactly an obedient son.”

But Naminé wasn’t backing down, answering as she placed a hand to her chest, “But no matter what, he finds his way home. Even if he needs some help.”

“HEEEELP! GET ME OUTTA HERE!”

The four of them whipped their heads toward the other end of the room, where they heard a boy shouting from one of the passageways. Roxas looked back to the three of them before calling the Kingdom Key to his hand. “Guess we’re going to be that help now.”

The sound of yelling brought the four of them to the depths of Monstro’s stomach, right where the stomach acid had settled to digest whatever the whale ate. Roxas and Naminé had their keyblades ready for the heartless waiting for them. Though only Naminé knew what they faced.

But even though she had seen Sora’s memories of it, the actual Parasite cage looming over them was still daunting. It was about twice Axel’s height, with winding arms the monster held in front of itself. And in the second mouth of its enormous stomach, they could see Pinocchio trapped behind the massive jaw.

Axel stood by the entrance to the stomach and clapped his hands together. ”Alright, you think the two of you can handle this?”

Naminé tightened her grip, as she was a step away from her first fight with a major heartless. Even though she had some practice with a keyblade, this was going to be big.

But there was one fact that she held on to.

That she wasn’t alone.

With a glance to Roxas and a mutual nod, she firmly answered, “Okay, we can do this.”

And the two charged forward. The parasite cage began to swing its limbs, having plenty of reach to hit both of them with one sweep. But as they dodged its attacks, Roxas then parried one of its arms, knocking it wide and staggering the heartless. Rushing in, he began to attack the creature from its belly, fruitless as it was.

For a moment, fear tingled in Naminé’s mind. It would be distressingly easy for him to slip back into the dark to try and force the monster into submission. And while Zexion might be slightly interested in seeing if the heartless would break under a darkness powered beatdown, she was sure that was something no-one here wanted.

She took aim at the monster’s small, more vulnerable head and began to cast fire. If nothing else, to try and end the fight faster. The creature recoiled at the barrage, catching Roxas’ attention. Stepping back, he nodded in realization. ”Of course! That’s where it’s weak!” Naminé sighed in relief as it seemed the darkness was abating in the moment.

“Thanks Naminé!”

Only for that relief to vanish as two simple words left her stunned.

Shaking her head, she began to move to find an angle of attack while Roxas whaled away at the heartless’ front. Taking advantage of the distraction, she ducked under a flailing arm and began to strike the back of its head. The creature flailed its arms before jabbing the tendrils into the pools of acid. Realizing what was coming Naminé dropped back to the floor, as did Roxas. The strange appendages began to drink before the head began to spew a cloud of acid around its weak point. She held her keyblade, unsure of how to proceed. “We could wait for the cloud to clear.”

“Or we could show it that acid won’t work.” Roxas countered as he began to aim at the head with his keyblade. Nodding, Naminé followed suit, and the two began to pelt the heartless with all the magic they could muster. Fire and ice pelted the creature in both directions until their reserves ran dry. By then the creature was reeling, opening its jaw wide enough that Pinocchio could be seen.

Roxas ran up and jumped up to the open maw, crying out, “Take my hand!” A second later, Pinocchio was pulled free from the parasite cage’s mouth in stomach. Quickly, Roxas carried the puppet to a safe alcove and hurriedly reassured, “Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

He rejoined the fight quickly, a Firestorm blazing around him as he leapt to attack the exposed core. Following his lead, Naminé joined in the assault to finish the massive heartless for good. With one final swing from the two of them, the core cracked, and the heartless began to dissipate into darkness once more. Jumping to the ground, Naminé was struggling between catching her breath and wanting to laugh. “We…we did it! We really did it!”

Roxas smiled and put a hand to her shoulder, “You were great Naminé.” For a moment, they both enjoyed their first victory together. But then Roxas ran over to where he had set down Pinocchio to help him up. “Now hold on! We’re going to get you to your father!”

“Roxas, he’s not real. We can go.”

Axel’s voice didn’t stop Roxas from getting the puppet to his feet. As Pinocchio looked to him and to the group, Roxas turned to Axel with a small frown and quietly asked, “Do we really have to?”

Zexion shook his head as he began to walk towards the exit that appeared. “To be frank, I’m not sure if Geppetto is even in this memory.”

Naminé knew that Axel and Zexion were right. Not only was this just a memory, but Pinocchio and Geppetto had long since been freed and found their way home. Furthermore, she was ordered to keep the worlds Roxas was in streamlined, focused on fights and training instead of people.

On the other hand, Sora’s journey wasn’t just about the fights, wasn’t it?

And Roxas cared about it too, judging by how he hesitated to just leave Pinocchio alone.

So with that in mind, she nudged the memory ever so slightly.

“Pinocchio? Pinocchio, where are you?”

Roxas, Axel, and Zexion stopped and looked back at the unfamiliar voice of an old man. Pinocchio, however, recognized it immediately and ran towards the entrance of the room where the voice came from. “Father!”

As Geppetto walked into the room, his worried face brightened as he saw his son running towards him. As the two hugged in reunion, he looked to the four of them with a smile, “I don’t know who you are, but thank you for finding my boy.”

Axel scratched the back of his head before waving a hand and resuming his walk to the exit. “Don’t mention it.”

Roxas was more appreciative, as he seemed to return Geppetto’s cheer. “Glad to help.” He stood and watched as the small unconventional family began their walk back before heading to the exit. Naminé couldn’t help but smile herself.

“Was that really necessary?”

Zexion’s words caused that smile to falter as she turned towards him. He wasn’t angry, though with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow, it was clear he knew that the memory was shifted and wanted answers. “We had been doing fine with focused memories up to now.”

Naminé folded her hands behind her back as she explained, “It wasn’t a big change.” Granted, Monstro itself was more complicated due to Riku’s presence. But having him here would be far more of a liability. So a Denouement for the story wasn’t too much trouble. Especially if it mattered to Roxas.

Looking back, it was surprising how much Roxas had come to care. Not just about her, but about the people he’d met, memory or not. She didn’t want that part of him to just vanish.

For now, Zexion sighed in acceptance before making his way to the exit. “Well, I suppose he shouldn’t be distracted going into a fight with Sora.”

And with that reminder of Roxas’ other assignment today, Naminé was very grateful that she had intervened.

#my fanfiction #KH Fanfiction #Kingdom Hearts #fanfiction #fanfic #what if #Just A Chance #roxas #naminé #roxas x namine #roxas/namine #rokunami #axel #kh axel #zexion #kh zexion

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kingdomhearts-and-soriku-trash · 3 years

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OH BEFORE I FORGET. I JUST REMEMBERED THAT I HAD A SORIKU DREAM.

OKAY SO IT WAS SHORT BUT SO GOOD.

I got the context that we (as in me and some other people even if they weren’t present??) were watching a trailer for KH. I think it was a new game?? Or at least something related. And it looked VERY professional so I think it was an actual game trailer in the dream. Anyways it showed Sora talking to someone (my mind keeps telling me Ansem (the form Riku took but it’s not Riku) but I don’t think it was him) and it said he was going to tell him an Easter egg?? Or a hint?? To something??

The man was saying that Sora called out to someone and something something. But all I know is that it lead to the man saying

“I love Riku.”

BUT IT WAS THE MAN LIKE QUOTING SORA YA KNOW?? ITS HARD TO EXPLAIN. BUT THEN LIKE A SCREEN FADED TO SOME TEXT!! Text of like a company which made me think it was a trailer.

Anyways in the dream I kept thinking “HAHAHA SORIKU IS REAL” but yh that was my dream and I loved it-

EDIT: When I say very professional I mean it showed Sora looking like he did in KH 3. Like it had his model and everythint and I think it showed the place where he was in the secret ending (I forgot what it’s called-)

EDIT 2: OH WAIT MAYBE THE MAN DID SAY EASTER EGG AND HE WAS TALKING TO USSSSS!!! AND THEN SAID ALL THAT STUFF (the I love Riku and some other things that I think were said) IN SORAS VOICE TO TELL SORA AND USSSSS!

Easter egg as in a hint or a reference to something else idk.

#soriku #I almost forgot it-#Sora x Riku #Riku x Sora #kingdom hearts #kh #it was more detailed in the dream and I really don’t know how Sora was talking to #BUT it felt like a trailer and UGH THAT WOULD BE THE BEST TRAILER EVER EJWBSBW #*who Sora was talking too

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daylighteclipsed · 2 years

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you know maybe kh1 riku had a point about sora forgetting about him- /s

jokes aside you can really see the progression from "woo adventure time" to "head full (of riku)"

But actually!!! I think I’d be hurt af by Sora’s initial behavior, too, especially with earlier context, knowing Riku already feels like Sora doesn’t really care — cause Sora would rather laze around (with Kairi) than work with Riku on their raft, to achieve what is supposed to be their dream of discovering other worlds together...

Imagine you’re Riku, okay. You finally find one of your friends, Sora, after days, weeks of searching. Sora’s happy you’re alive, he claims he’s been looking all over for you and Kairi, but it doesn’t seem like he really wants your help — he certainly doesn’t need it anymore. “So, you’re coming with us, right?” The question indicates, to Riku, that Sora is going to stick with his new friends even if Riku declines the offer. There is, to Riku, no chance that Sora is going to go with him if Sora’s new friends (Donald) refuse to let Riku come along.

Sora is your most precious friend that you would give your life to protect, he’s the reason you’ve always wanted to get stronger, and this is your chance to make your dream come true — you guys can finally have real adventures; you can be real heroes that save the princess (Kairi) together — and it looks like he’d rather adventure around with people he just met. He trusts these strangers more than you, and, as usual, he seems hardly concerned about anything, including you. Bad enough you were being replaced by Kairi, now you’re being replaced by strangers? He’s seriously prioritizing strangers over you and Kairi? Is it that easy for Sora to toss aside his friendships? Did any of it ever mean anything to him? If I was Riku, I would’ve exploded.

And if Riku overhears what Sora says so nonchalantly after he vanishes? “Riku? Oh, well. At least he’s okay.” Forget it, man. Riku’s heart has to be in pieces. “Oh, well.” That’s his best friend. And I know Sora doesn’t mean to come across as uncaring — Sora thinks Riku can take care of himself because he sees Riku as way better than him at this point (also he’s naive and immature like Riku is) — but, to Riku, it really does look like Sora doesn’t care about him as much as Riku cares about Sora. So yeah, you know, I don’t think Riku’s anger is completely unfounded. Not at first.

I’d have to like completely rewatch KH1 to break down the “head full (of Riku)” progression, cause I don’t remember any details lol like I was completely blindsided by just that one scene. But it is fun watching Sora progressively lose his mind over Riku the more real the possibility of losing him becomes. You don’t know whatcha got til it’s gone! Or almost gone… But wow yeah I really forgot how tense and complicated their relationship is at first. They’ve come a long way.

#they’re so good together now. such sweeties #it’s really hard to believe they’re the same characters #kingdom hearts #soriku

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lilblueorchid · 3 years

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Thought process and easter egg on the Digimon Anniversary Illustration!

Hello everyone, today I feel like explaining some stuff over my Digimon Illustration, mostly why I drew thing this way or point out some little details and easter eggs you might have missed. ;)

Click on read more if you want a LENGTHLY explanation with a lot of rambling from me, or if not you can just enjoy the process gif. <3

The Digimon illustration was a special one for me for different reasons. Firstly, obviously, Digimon! It was a show I grew up with, and I find it quite fitting that after a tough year of graduation movie under a pandemic, in which I really experienced the pain of growing up, I ended up finding back Digimon.

Secondly, as a child, I remember spending HOURS looking for fanarts online! I would save all the ones I found pretty and keep them preciously, i still have the folders actually haha. While pursuing art, I always had in mind thatI wanted one day to make a fanart my child self would have gone crazy over! And, i think I achieved that with that one haha.

Anyway LET’S START! Shall we?

First off : the illustration process

When I do an illustration I always do a quick draft first, and most of the time, in colors. I think I’m more of a “color” person than a “line” person, I tend to need to see colors quickly in order to see if it’s ok.

For this one, I’ve always had in mind it would be a double illustration, with the older Tai’s silhouette acting as a frame for the children illustration. It was a bit tricky, I had to make the children illustration fit nicely into his silhouette, it was hassle around the neck area, that’s why I made little Taichi stand up haha. Also used Mimi’s hat to balance the picture : the bottom part is very heavy and there’s only sky in the upper part, adding the hat helps making it more balanced.

The character were the longest and the most challenging part by far. As you can see I had 3 different steps : super rough, they’re almost like stickmen and smiley face, a more detailled one in which I figure out their actual pose and anatomy, then a last one in which I fix some proportion, add details and clean. Fun fact I don’t clean over a new layer... i just erase the unwanted part of my sketch. :’D

I did a quick pass over the BG after that, then I colored the characters in flat colors before rendering them. It was a back and forth between the BG and the characters to make sure everything was working together nicely.

Now was the time to render the BG, I did the tramway first, the flower field after. Fun fact, I did my flower field study in order to know how to approach the flowers in this illustration! If your have the time, i totally recommend finding a photograph close to the kind of BG you wanna do, and make a study of it so you can try your hand at it first and go into your own BG later with an idea of how to approach this.

Adjust colors, add flower petals and butterflies and emotional text, slap over a paper texture, and THERE. You have it! On to the next part now...

The meaningful details and easter eggs

Be aware there will be spoilers for Digimon Adventure 01 (but I assume you already know it), but also for Digimon Adventure : Last evolution Kizuna, which is the conclusion of the first serie. So read at your own risk!

The tramway is obviously a reference to the end of Digimon Adventure 01. The kids used it to go back to their world, so It was their goodbye to their Digimon at this moment. In Kizuna, Tai and Matt find the tramway trapped in crystal in Menoa’s fake memory world. Hinting that had they been caught by her, their memories would have brought them back here.

Tailmon has Kari’s whistle! At the end of Digimon Adventure 01, Kari gives it to her as a memento.

When I drew Sora, I had in mind how she was in Kizuna, very stressed out by her mom’s expectation, which led her to neglect Piyomon. She realized it too late, and after that she refused to fight because she wanted to keep Piyomon with her as long as possible. Tragically, she was the first one to lose her Digimon. Here I tried to convey a softness and a kind of “I won’t forget to appreciate you” vibe in the way she holds Piyomon’s hand. As for Mimi and Palmon, in Digimon adventure 01 Palmon was very emotionally affected by Mimi’s departure, so, a hug was fitting. :’)

The screens on the Tramway display DA for Digimon Adventure, and also 01.08.1999 which is the date of the children’s journey’s beginning. :)

The little drawings also show the 8 crests.

There are butterflies flying over the illustration, it’s a reference to Butter-fly, the first Digimon opening, by the late Koji Wada.

"I'll become a happy butterfly, and ride on the glittering wind, I'll come and see you soon. “

Now, let’s the see the counterpart of the illustration. The one with the grown up Tai from Kizuna.

I made him wear the hoodie he had in his very last adventure with Agumon.... but truthfully the reason is that I think hoodies are cool lol. And the hood’s volume gave me more space in the silhouette, which made it easier for me to do the other illustration inside.

You don’t see it clearly, but he is holding his Digivice, albeit the darkened version once his partner bond with Agumon is broken. The Tai in this illustration has already lost Agumon. (Yes it was painful for me to go fetch the screenshots)

He is also holding his dear signature google he used to wear as a child. Fun fact, I rewatched the older movies, and as a kid he even used to sleep with it, how cute haha.

Also yes, the crest of Courage over his hand, which is his own. I’m so dumb I realize I should have made the time counter from the movie instead of the crest for a maximum emotional hurt impact.

And the quote is from one of the trailer for Kizuna, I think.....................

But then you go : Oh that illustration is so depressing then! Well. Yes. But no. but yes. But not really.

One of my favorite shot of the movie is this one : this is after Tai and Agumon learn their time together is limited. Agumon asks him if they will have to go separate ways once Tai is all grown up. Tai doesn’t answer, and takes him to eat something instead, as Agumon was hungry. In this shot Agumon eats to his heart content next to Tai, who’s not eating at all and just watches him fondly. I love that the framing doesnt show agumon. It’s a foreshadowing of their unavoidable separation.

At the very end of the movie, Tai write in his thesis about Human and Digimon’s relationship that Agumon was like a part of himself.

In a way, Agumon symbolizes childhood, the carefree days we would spend as a kid, with our big dreams and hopes. When you grow up, you tend to forget those simple emotions because you get swallowed into the stress of studies, figuring out your carreer, your life path. Just like us, Tai forgot this part of himself. In the madness of growing up, he lost Agumon.

However, it’s not the end. He will pick himself back up. He will move forward in life despite his worries and incertainities, and he will find himself again. Therefore, he will find Agumon again. The kids in the illustration are waving goodbye, but it’s not goodbye, it’s a see you later. In the meantime, Tai is holding on to these precious memories, until they meet again.

#Digimon #Digimon adventure #Yagami Taichi #Digimon adventure : last evolution kizuna #illustration process #kinda analysis #listen im actually writing this for myself #I spend 4 days on that illu with a lot of feels and I need to write them down #This is basically what my close friends have to endure each time I get an obsession

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putschki1969 · 3 years

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「Wakana Botanical Land “Music Party Vol.2"」 Live Report/Commentary

Don’t forget to tune in to today’s event! A live stream option IS AVAILABLE for these two fan club exclusive performances. There is STILL time to buy a ticket so be sure to use that chance! If you can’t watch it live today, you can rely on the archived version which will be uploaded after the event and is available until June 6! (Tweet by Wakana staff)

EVENT DETAILS (find ALL details and a tutorial HERE): ■ May 29, 2021 ◇ Day performance Open 14:15 Start 15:00 (JST) ◇ Night performance Open 17:15 Start 18:00 (JST)

Note: I will try my best to do a live commentary/first reaction kind of thing so this post will be updated as the day goes by. I really hope they have fixed the streaming problems they had last time with the Spring Shark Festival. It worked fine once they got it working but it took quite a while to get there. They don’t have that luxury today since there is an on-site audience, it’s pretty much impossible to delay the performance should any streaming issues arise. On a side note, I am keeping my expectations low as far as the audio-quality is concerned but we will see, maybe it’s good. Without further ado, let’s get to it!

Live Commentary

Okay, it’s about to start, there are some weird noises in my headphones but it’s manageable. Otherwise, it works totally fine! I think they fixed the weird noise issue for the evening performance. Haven’t heard it yet. Video/stream-quality is perfect for me (no freeze so far), they have a few different angles which I appreciate. A bit of shaky-cam here and there but nothing too bad. I feel like they improved quite a bit on the camera work for the evening performance. Sound is also surprisingly good.

Setlist

Happy Hello Day: The atmosphere is already so nice, everyone is clapping enthusiastically. I love it! The arrangement with piano and guitar is perfect for this song. Poor Wakana forgot the lyrics though so they had to start again. Awww, so precious, I wanna cuddle her already! Loved the “lalala” at the end! No mistakes for her night performance. Everything went smoothly. I feel like the atmosphere is a bit more toned down compared to the day performance.

瑠璃色の空 / Ruriiro no Sora (DAY): Okay, I have never really liked this song but this acoustic version is actually pretty nice. I may have actually become a fan! :P Thank you Wakana, for this beautiful rendition. Hard Rain (NIGHT): YESSSSS! So much win! While I didn’t mind this version of Ruriiro no Sora, I MUCH prefer Hard Rain.

ひらりひらり / Hirari Hirari: Not my favourite of the “magic moment” album but I really enjoy listening to the live version like this.

442: OMG, I am already blown away! This IS SO GOOD!!!! The live version (especially with this acoustic arrangement) is a REVELATION, everyone needs to listen to it! I am so glad we are also getting this on the Blu-ray this summer!

Talk Corner: Awww, once again Wakana embarrasses herself by introducing her host Bunta Nagamatsu with the wrong name. Seeing her this flustered is super cute but on the other hand, I feel sorry for her T_T They are answering some of the simple/casual questions that fan club members were able to submit in advance. It was interesting to find out that she stretches for quite a long of them a few hours before a live and that she carries pretty much all of her belongings in her bag on a performance day XD Will be summarising them properly once we get the archived version. They are using different questions for the evening performance! YAY! At the end they are demonstrating their kendama skills but Wakana fails to catch the ball the first two times but then on the third try, SUCCESS! She is so happy! At the evening performance she looked like she pulled a muscle doing the trick but yay, she managed to catch the ball on her first try

海を見ていた午後 / Umi wo miteita gogo: Yuming-cover chosen for Takebe-san due to a connection. They picked this song because it features places in Yokohama (today’s live is taking place in Yokohama). Too short but very nice. Not a particularly big fan of the voice she uses for the song though.

アイノカタチ / Ai no Katachi: Misia-cover chosen for Ishinari-san due to a connection. His guitar playing is actually featured in the original recording of the song. Wakana also sang this in one of her fan club videos (where she did her nails). Wahhhh, I am in love!! Such a beautiful cover! This hit me right in the feels, even more so the second time around! *bursts into tears*

I have a dream: Kalafina-cover chosen for Wakana due to a connection. *sobs* Ahhhhhh, this is beautiful. I have no words. Not all Kalafina songs work as a solo song but this one certainly does. Wakana nailed it!! That Kajiura-go part!! Btw, random question for everyone who has been watching the stream, where is that drum/percussion-like sound coming from? It’s noticable in almost all songs but it’s obviously not coming from the piano or guitar. Just curious since I am not an expert on that kind of stuff so I wouldn’t know what tools they have to create this sort of sound without an actual drum set or whatever. Thanks to @sa-nyan for replying, it is INDEED Ishinari using some sort of pedal.

翼 / Tsubasa: Oh wow, already digging the acoustic arrangement. Can I just say how much I appreciate it that Wakana has two super talented and passionate musicians on her side. She deserves to be accompanied by the best. This is one of Wakana’s oldest solo songs so you can tell she is very sure of herself, no hesitation whatsoever, just powerful vocals. Perfection!

恋はいつも / Koi wa Itsumo: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! You all know this is one of my faves so I couldn’t be happier!! Wakana showing the audience how to clap :P SO CUTE! I can’t clap in rhythm for the life of me so I am kinda glad I am not there to embarrass myself :P Too bad the audience was able to sing along this time (probably because of COVID regulations). A little lyric slip-up at the beginnging but Wakana dealt with it professionally.

ENCORE: 金木犀 / Kinmokusei: Ohhhhhhh! And another one of my all-time faves!! Such a good setlist!! As always, beautiful!

ENCORE: あとひとつ / Ato hitotsu: Wakana explains the reason why this hasn’t been released on CD yet. She wants it to be a special experience that is reserved for live performances. She feels this exclusivity is nice. The PERFECT ending just like every other time she sings it.

DAY: Wakana is wearing a lovely salmon/orange/pink (?) coloured toga/tunic-sort of dress. She looks so pretty! It’s off-shoulder (always the best look for her!) and there is a white skirt layered underneath. There is also some binding around her waist. her hair is in an elaborate up-do. NIGHT: She changed into a lovely wide blue gown which goes well with the evening flair. Her hair is in a cute high ponytail. She is wearing her clear chain earrings again.

During the first MC of the day performance Wakana is already getting carried away talking about this and that so Takebe-san has to remind her they are on a tight schedule. XD At the end of the live Wakana announced an online release event for her Blu-ray. It’s gonna take place on August 21. The after-talk is now available. They filmed it after the evening performances answering a few more fan questions.

The archive videos for the day and night performance are already available! Please enjoy!

Be sure to fill in the survey to let Wakana and her team know how you felt about the event!! There will also be a Bokutachi no VOICE thread to share your impressions!

#kalafina #wakana #report #live commentary #summary #music party #wakana music party #music party vol 2 #fan club exclusive content #botanical land #long text post

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kessielrg · 3 years

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[Kingdom Hearts] Old Habits, New Reasons

Summary: Three times in which Namine shies away from social functions just to draw, and the one time someone joined her. [oneshot][character study][NamiXi if you really wanna squint][also Namiku if you squint a little less]

Rating: K

Word Count: 3,469 words

If you liked this story, please reblog!

---

Their question had thrown Namine off slightly. She sheepishly looked down at her small sketchbook as if it could answer the question for her. The white page stared back at her in silence.

A part of Namine knew this would happen eventually. There was always that fear that someone would follow her, ask her what she was doing, and then tell her to rejoin the others. But that wasn't what they were asking, was it? They wanted to know why she was drawing. It was a simple question, and it was a bit odd that someone would have lugged a caboodle of art supplies with them to a banquet.

"Well?" the other girl asked. "Is there someone who would get mad you're drawing, even if you did it around your friends?"

"I don't think so." Namine decided, slowly. "But sometimes... it's just easier to draw without other people around you. And sometimes, when people find out that you're good at something, they make you do that something for them. It's not very fun."

"Do you always leave to draw, though?"

At first, Namine wanted to disagree with all her heart. But in introspection, it was more of a vice than she cared to admit. She loved drawing, but didn't like others watching her as she did it. When did that happen, she wondered. That didn't used to be the case...

"Sometimes." Namine finally said. She held her sketchbook a bit tighter before adding, "But only on certain occasions."

"Like?"

Namine looked over at the other girl with curiosity. She was greeted with a look just as inquisitive as her own. Maybe even more so. There was a genuine interest; that much was certain. Maybe there was a budding artist in their midst?

"Well..." she carefully said, moving her sketchbook a bit to flip through the earlier pages, "There was this one time..."

. . .

It was a small comfort that, while she wasn't a Keyblade wielder herself, the others considered her when they all got together. She still made sure that her presence didn't disturb anyone. Being quiet and observant was Namine's most reliable vice. That, and drawing. There wasn't much else she knew how to do. Her time as a Nobody barely ranged a year, and after that she was placed safely inside Kairi's heart until recently. Being a Somebody was... confusing, to say the least.

Being asked to join in on a slumber party with Kairi and Xion had been a surprise- perhaps even more so because Master Aqua herself gave her the invitation. Namine certainly didn't expect it to take place in the Land of Departure either. The world seemed far too grand to her -far too important in the history of Keyblade wielders- that it could be used for anything beyond a training arena. She was proven wrong after entering the Great Hall with Kairi. Aqua had given them a spot in front of the thrones, already decorated with sleeping bags for all four of them and a small assortment of snacks.

"I've never got to have a proper slumber party before, since it was me and Terra for most of our childhoods." Aqua admitted at some point. "Feels weird having one with you guys now. I feel like a mom."

It was Xion who, without skipping a beat, cheerfully declared, "And you're the best one I'll never have!"

"Xion!" both Aqua and Kairi declared, each with their own level of bewilderment. Namine only offered a stifled laugh. So proud at their reactions, Xion gave them all a smile so big, it almost rivaled Sora's.

After that, they started to talk about various things since they all met together. Apparently everyone's training was going rather well. Kairi was beginning to get a handle of second tier elemental magic, while Xion was working on personal techniques on and off for the past week. It was around this time that Namine politely excused herself from the others. They had been so caught up in their conversation that they didn't even notice.

Namine went to where she and Kairi had placed their personal things to find her caboodle. The caboodle was a neat little box with drawers that opened the same time she opened the lid. She was able to put all her art supplies in it. Most of them, anyway- her normal sketchbook was too large to fit. Instead, she used a smaller pad that was placed where the mirror in the caboodle was. Once Namine made sure she had everything, she carefully found a spot far enough away from the others so she could draw them. It honestly wasn't very far, but it was still far enough away that the other three didn't really notice her. That was fine. If anything, it was perfect.

The sounds of the others almost masked the sound of her pencil against paper. Spending most of her life locked away with nothing but drawing to distract her gave Namine a slight skill in speed drawing. However, she took her time when she started to work on her friends. She wanted as much detail as she could.

But she didn't bother to sketch her own sleeping bag. She tried to tell herself that it was because it ruined the composition. But deep down she knew it was because she didn't fit with the others, and so it didn't need to be included.

Namine finished her drawing without the others ever knowing she was gone. She placed everything back in her caboodle, then went back as Kairi went into a long story about Tidus and Wakka back on the islands. It was nice; the sounds of friendship. Namine had been the first to go to sleep that night.

. . .

At first, the only response she got was a quiet, "Oh..."

"It was a really fun time!" Namine quickly insisted. "And it really was a treat to be included."

"But you drew yourself out."

Namine flinched slightly. "It worked out better that way. From the angle I was at, it would have looked weird because I had the really light sleeping bag, and everything was so dark anyway..."

The other girl only looked more guilty.

"Do you still have the picture?" she wondered.

"I think so." Namine agreed. She adjusted herself so she could better go through her sketchbook before flipping through the earlier pages. "Here," she then offered as she handed it over.

There was a small hum as the other ran her fingers over the drawing. Namine had made deliberate choices in lighting around the three Keyblade wielders- light coming off of them as if they were lighting up the whole room. If you looked ever closer, you could see the detail of the castle's floor, and even make out the silhouettes of the three thrones in the background.

"Does anyone know that you go somewhere away from everyone to draw?" the other girl asked, handing the sketchbook back to Namine.

Namine gave a fond, almost bashful smile.

"There is someone..."

. . .

"There's a lot of people here." Namine noted as she tried to look over the crowd. Riku wasn't making the same amount of effort. Instead, he just casually looked on with a hand at his hip. Curse him being a full head taller than she was.

"Aqua said that Disney Town holds the Dream Festival every year." Riku agreed with a small nod. "Can't be that easy since Queen Minnie has almost been reigning the kingdom alone for the past few years. The effort is definitely amazing though."

Namine agreed with a nod and a small noise of affirmation. Disney Town looked absolutely splendid for the festival. All the colors, and the smells, and the energy was enough to put anyone in a good mood. The grip Namine had on her caboodle tightened slightly. A frown crossed her lips as she considered that there might have been too much commotion. There wasn't a good place to just sit and zone out without some kind of noise maker going off.

Riku must have noticed this. He looked over at her, and quickly saw her firm grip on the caboodle's handle.

"Are you sure you don't want to leave that in the Gummi Ship?" he asked. He even made a mild gesture to the box, which only made Namine hold it closer to her.

"No. I'm going to use it." Namine insisted. "I just... I just need someplace a bit more quiet..."

Riku nodded. He looked up again to see that Queen Minnie had taken the stage. The queen looked as beautiful as always in her formal pink and red ballgown. The jewels on her crown glittered under the multicolored overhead lights. Everyone cheered at seeing her- the love and admiration they had for their leader was enough to be felt from miles away. Minnie was a good queen, there was no contest about that.

As Minnie tried to settle the crowd down so she could speak, Riku bent down a bit to quietly tell Namine something.

"There's a sewage grate somewhere behind us. If you take it, there's a gizmo that will lead you up to one of the buildings overlooking the racetrack. Don't know about you, but a good aerial shot might be something to capture for later."

Namine grinned. "Thank you Riku." she said before giving him a small peck on his cheek. The young Keyblade master's face gleamed with a humble blush as he stood tall again, almost as if he had never moved at all. Namine laughed a bit at it before leaving.

Finding, and getting into, the grate had not been an issue. It did take her awhile to navigate the gizmo, though. But it was all worth it once she got to the top of a particular building. Namine let out a soft 'Oh...' of wonder as she sat down near the edge facing the racetrack. Riku was right- this was a good place to work. If only she was able to use larger sketch paper in her travelling kit.

When she was finished, Namine very quickly tried to find Riku again. She shouted his name after spotting him. He barely had time to turn around before she proudly displayed her new drawing to him.

"Do you think Queen Minnie will like it?" she asked, rather breathlessly.

Riku looked at her before looking down at the drawing. He put on a wide smile before telling her, "She's going to love it. It's perfect."

. . .

That story had brought about a rather brighter mood in the other girl.

"Did Queen Minnie like the drawing?" she asked. "You did give it to her after the festival, right?"

A sense of pride welled in Namine's heart, leading her to sit a bit straighter. "She loved it." she grinned. "She immediately had the brooms take it to the gallery to be expanded and mounted. You should have seen the look on Riku's face. He was as proud as I was, and probably more surprised!"

"I could only imagine." the other girl laughed. "Oh!" she then said, "Have you ever gone someplace with a view so nice that you just couldn't replicate it no matter how hard you tried? It's hard to recreate any atmosphere, in my opinion. I wanna know if you ever tried to as well."

Namine let out a soft hum as she thought about it. She let out a small noise of realization when it came to her.

"I did once before, yes." she agreed. "Since Kairi's parents don't mind me staying with them, I was able to join her, Riku, Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie to a beach party they had. It was still summer vacation, if I remember correctly. And Tidus really wanted to have a girls versus boys match..."

. . .

"Head's up!" Tidus shouted before serving the volleyball over the net.

"Cheater!" Selphie shouted back as Kairi managed to spike the ball back. Tidus only gave a rather sinister cackle back. However, at that point, no one was able to break their concentration just to smack talk each other.

Namine watched as Kairi and Selphie worked against Tidus and Riku in a rather well matched volleyball tourney. Wakka wasn't too far away- he had lost a bet earlier and had to make food for everyone. The smell of pineapples and fish hung in the air. It was the warmth of the midday sun that Namine loved the most. The feeling enveloped its way around her like a comforting hug. She let out a soft sigh as she got a bit more comfortable.

The sudden urge to draw made her fingers twitch.

This wasn't a good spot for it, though. She was too close to the others for anything but sand to get onto the paper than color. As much as she loved watching the volleyball match, it was still a bit too distracting. Namine started to get up and casually looked around for a better spot to draw. It didn't take long for her eyes to train to a crow's nest not far from the shore. It was part of a large treehouse that seemed to encompass the island. She looked back at her friends for a moment before quietly leaving them. If anyone noticed she was going, they certainly didn't question her about it.

After getting herself situated at the higher point, Namine found herself gaping at the scene below her. Her friends happily playing on the beach, the light reflections off the water, and even the island holding the paopu tree providing a view so beautiful, so rich, that she wasn't even aware that she was opening her caboodle at first. Seeing the Destiny Islands through Sora's heart was nothing compared to the real thing. Was it possible just to freeze time here and let everything else wash away? She smiled a bit to herself. She did have a way to freeze time, in a way.

The only unfortunate thing was that she wouldn't be able to capture it all. She couldn't encapsulate the smell of the sea, or the sounds of Tidus demanding the girls had leverage over him for some reason. She gave a small smile as she continued to work. Most of her effort was spent trying to reflect the sea around them. A certain impatience came over her as she carefully did each detail. You always had to start with the big stuff, then go down smaller. She was just so eager to capture this moment, anyway she could, that she was always picturing this drawing when it was done.

Namine had to force herself to stop after an hour. Her hands were starting to hurt, and her stomach was growling for food. She cracked her knuckles, barely relieving the tension in them, before putting her stuff away. There would always be time to clean the picture up later. For now, she needed to rejoin her friends.

. . .

And so, we were brought back to our initial setting- the banquet in Radiant Garden.

Namine had thought at first that this would be the perfect opportunity to work on drawing food. But the actual banquet itself had a lot more activity than she was anticipating. There were too many people at the tables to have space to stand at for a few minutes, and she had tried to get a plate for herself to take elsewhere- the allure of delectable aromas wouldn't let her go far without wolfing everything down. So she decided to get a higher view.

To her luck, there was a balcony overlooking the main area. It wasn't blocked off or anything, so Namine quietly crept her way to the top. She found a place to carefully overlook the area and found herself at awe. Even if she was aware that someone was behind her, she probably wouldn't have known it at first.

"Namine!" a voice suddenly said in surprise. Namine jumped a good foot before turning her attention to the newcomer. She relaxed a little when she found it was just Xion.

"Xion..." the blonde girl sighed. "It's just you."

"Am I interrupting you? I'm sorry. I'm not interested in food, and the boys are really going at it, so I really wanted to do this writing exercise where you describe an atmosphere, and..."

"No, no, no. You're fine." Namine insisted. She moved her stuff a bit before gesturing for Xion to sit down next to her. "Here," she offered, "Sit next to me. The view is nice from this area."

Xion smiled in thanks before carefully sitting down. She looked out over the balcony and gasped.

"You're right, this is a good view!" Xion marveled. Her eyes expanding in wonder. "This is the perfect place for Ebba to plant a listening device onto an enemy!"

"Ebba?" Namine wondered. "Who's Ebba?"

At Namine's confusion, Xion's face lit up in a deep scarlet.

"She's my... I think Pence called it 'self-insert.' It's a character that's based on me, but sometimes has a few differences. I've based most of the stories I write on stuff I did in the Organization. It's helped a lot with trying to cope with it. You know?"

Namine shrunk a little. "Yeah..." she agreed in a tiny voice.

"But it's real fun too!" Xion told her, trying to divert the heavy topic a bit. "I base everyone in story with someone in real life! You should see the guy I based on Xemnas... I do a lot of mean things to him."

Namine let out a small chuckle. But then a thought occurred to her.

"You based the characters in your story on us?"

"Of course I did!" she happily declared, her blush growing a bit, besides. "Roxas is Lucas, Master Aqua is head knight Meikai, I even have Pluto as the brave pup Mercury!"

"Do... Do you have someone based on me?"

Xion paused for a moment. Her face going still. However, just as quickly, her smile came back as wide as ever.

"Not yet, but I can!" she decided. She hummed a bit as she thought it over some more. "But I don't have to if you don't want to. I think I'll call her... Syrena."

"Syrena..." Namine hummed in thought. She then gave a bright smile in appreciation. "I like it."

"Great!" Xion beamed. She let out a rather contented sigh before asking, "What about you? Why did you come here?" She looked down at Namine's sketchpad and art supplies for a moment then added, "Did you come all this way just to draw?"

After some hesitation, Namine told her. Carefully, and in her own time. Xion listened intently- only asking questions when Namine was done relating a certain day. When the subject came back around to where they were, Xion seemed to understand much better.

"I get it now." she said.

"You do?" Namine wondered.

Xion gave a thoughtful little nod before explaining, "It's easier for you to draw when it's more quiet. That was how it was before. I think it's great that you're still drawing, even though you started because you were held hostage by the Organization. But the Organization didn't give you the skill you have, Namine. That’s all your own. Kinda like how writing is my special thing. We have ways to just... be ourselves, you know? It's comforting. It's like knowing that, even though we didn't start out in this world with our own goals or ideals, we can make them on our own now. We're free now, Namine. Free to do whatever we want."

Namine absently hugged her sketchbook. "I like that thought." she admitted. "I never really saw it that way before, either. Drawing is something that I know I can do. Something that won't harm others. But you are right- it's what makes me... me. Thank you."

Xion grinned. A wide, bright grin that could have lit up a room. It gave Namine an idea.

"What does Ebba look like?" she questioned, at the same time she pulled out one of her sketching pencils. "Does she look just like you, or are there a lot of differences?"

There was a moment of confusion on Xion's face, then a bright flicker of joy. Not a second after, she burst into a long babble about her character. She even used her arms to illustrate certain concepts and mannerisms. Namine laughed, and did her best to keep up. Xion was so passionate about her characters- it almost made Namine jealous. For the next few hours, Namine did a blend of Xion's idea for Ebba, while Xion herself got to writing about how Ebba got to meet a new acquaintance; a mysterious girl named Syrena, who -while mostly shy- was very well loved.

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whyarewecalledtheshipname · 3 years

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soriku little mermaid thread part 7

(Part 6)

Part 7: Yozora is Vanessa

The biggest thing resulting from Sora’s amnesia.

We start with Eric, the night after the tour of the kingdom with Ariel. He’s on some balcony/rooftop of the palace, and for the second time, he’s playing Ariel’s song, to the ocean. Despite having fallen for Ariel by now, Eric is still holding out hope for his mystery girl, the one who saved him.

He’s still calling out for her.

So like as a crack suggestion, if Sora finds himself “falling” for someone, correct person or not, would he still keep calling out with his and Riku’s song??? Idk, Eric’s hope and devotion to this dream girl just really gets me 😭😭😭

Grimsby comes along and basically tells Eric to stop chasing a dream and to recognize what’s right in front of him. “If I may say, far better than any dream girl, is one of flesh and blood. One warm and caring, and right before your eyes.”

Now Eric is the one looking up at Ariel in her window while she brushes her hair. It’s an interesting little reversal of the night before, when Ariel was the one looking down at Eric while he played with his pet dog.

Again, how initially only Riku is looking at Sora, then perhaps Sora looking back once he understands his feelings. Idk I just think it’s neat.

Eric looks down at his recorder/instrument one more time, before throwing it out to the sea. He’s letting go/giving up on his dream girl, and deciding to choose this random shipwrecked girl, Ariel, instead.

Again, when it comes to Sora, I have no solid idea how this could play out because it could go any which way 😭😭😭 my feeble brain

But right when Eric turns to the light of Ariel’s window, to go find her, he hears something.

Ariel’s voice. Her song. Eric turns back to look out at the beach and sees a girl walking along the shore. Singing that song. That tune. A weird light flows from the girl’s necklace, and the light enters Eric’s eyes, putting him under some kind of spell.

Like? Again! It’s the wrong type of light, leading Sora astray. I don’t know/I doubt Sora would be straight up brainwashed but like I still think it could line up in some way.

The next morning, Ariel hears news of Eric planning a wedding.

*looks at Nameless Star* *sighs* smh

Ariel runs to find Eric, thinking he intends to propose to her, but instead, by Eric’s side...is another girl. The girl Eric plans to marry at sunset. Vanessa.

Eric. Chose the wrong girl. A girl who roughly matches Eric’s vague memory of his rescuer in appearance. A girl who sounds exactly like his rescuer because she straight up has her voice, which is the only solid memory Eric has of the girl who saved him.

THIS is what spawned my little mermaid brainrot in the first place RIP

A trio. A guy, and two lookalikes. And because of one missing detail, he can’t tell who’s who.

Sora, missing the memory of the sacrifice, and who saved him. Riku, the guy who saved him. Yozora, the Riku lookalike. (and then Yozora goes and acts like he half-recognizes Sora, acts like he is the one meant to save Sora??? BITCH—)

Yozora is Vanessa.

So I MUST ask,,,, What if Sora chooses the wrong guy???

Or comes close to it?

Ugh but it hurts to see Ariel run away crying—this scene just speaks for itself.

So. Yozora is the other girl, Vanessa. That’s cool. (i'm so fuckin done)

(Part 8)

#the little mermaid #soriku #the little mermaid thread #little mermaid part 7 #yozora #soras sunset death rip #everyone thinking aurora would return with philip and marry him at sunset #sora following the wrong light #sora's parallels are always getting screwed over at sunset wtf #random sleeping beauty tags #ariel clone #riku clone #bruh

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maddrmatt · 3 years

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A Beautiful Future: A Premonition or a Punishment?

New to this fanfic? Click here to properly begin!

Greetings, readers and fellow SoKai fans!

Time for a certain Princess of Heart to take the spotlight in this story!

Fair bit of warning though, I sort of used this chapter to showcase a few headcanons and speculations regarding the future of the series.

Also, there’s a little challenge within this chapter that you can take on if you wish.

Enjoy!

________________________________________________________________

Chapter 3: Writings of a Princess

Land of Departure

Dear Sora,

I know it’s been a while since I last wrote to you. I haven’t really had anything really important to tell you since I came here.

Now something incredible has just happened and I had to tell you first before anyone else. But before that, here’s a few updates on what’s been happening on this side of reality.

I’m still training hard. No offense to Merlin, but I think I’m getting way better with my Keyblade training under Master Aqua than him.

My days here at the Land of Departure are filled with learning various fighting techniques or improving my magic skills. And to test them, I often spar with Aqua, Terra or Ven. One day, I might even get a perfect score against one of them in our matches.

All of three of them and Chirithy have been very good to me. They’ve really made me feel like part of their family.

But as great as it’s been with them, they’re no true replacement for everyone back home. I miss everyone: Mom, Dad, Selphie, Wakka, Tidus, Riku, and you. Especially you.

Sorry, Sora. It’s just so hard every day knowing that you’re trapped in that fictional world. I really wish I could’ve gone there with Riku to save you. But after being out of action for a year and the fact that I couldn’t even land a single blow on that memory of Xehanort, I knew it was the better choice to stay behind and train even if I didn’t like it.

I really hope Riku finds you soon. We’re all so worried about both of you. Since nobody really knows anything about this Quadratum place, we’ve all thought Riku was a little hasty in just taking off there alone.

We still haven’t heard anything from Mickey yet either. Hopefully, he’ll come back soon from Scala Ad Caelum, and he’ll have found something we can use to help you and Riku. Until that happens, all the rest of us can do is wait.

Anyway, time to tell you the real reason for this latest letter, Sora. And you are not going to believe what it is. I can hardly believe it myself.

Last night, I had a dream. It was actually the first dream I’ve had since I came to the Land of Departure.

Not that I’ve minded not having dreams just in case they ended up being recreations of my worst memories. I’ve already watched you vanish twice. I don’t think I could bear to watch it happen again in my dreams.

But the dream I had was nothing like that at all. It was of a wedding, Sora. Our wedding.

It was an amazing sight. It was in this gigantic chapel that looked like it was in Radiant Garden, and it was filled with all your friends from around the worlds.

Many of our fellow Guardians of Light and closest friends made up our wedding party. It was hardly a surprise to see Selphie as my maid of honor or Riku as your best man.

You looked so handsome in the suit you were wearing. And judging from the stunned look on your face when you saw me coming down the aisle, I must’ve looked pretty beautiful to you.

It was truly incredible, Sora. It felt so real and so wonderful. I wished it never ended.

But, unfortunately, as it is with dreams, we all have to wake up eventually. And when I did, the happiness I felt ended up giving way to other emotions as I reflected on the dream.

First of all, I felt a little confused. As good as that dream was, I couldn’t help but wonder why I had it at all. I mean, wouldn’t you find a little strange to have a dream about a wedding especially since we haven’t even had our first kiss yet? It’s kind of rushing things a little.

But don’t get me wrong, Sora. I know, deep down in my heart, how we truly feel about each other. I wouldn’t have shared that paopu fruit with you otherwise. And when the time is right for it, the idea of getting married to you is something I will embrace wholeheartedly.

So, I thought more about the dream and believe it or not, I started to think that it was not merely just a dream. I wonder if what I saw was our future. It definitely did feel like that since there were so many unfamiliar parts in it.

For example, I had no idea there was a tradition in Radiant Garden weddings for the bride and groom to crown each other with symbolic flowers. Then again, I could have known that if the knowledge came from a memory from when I lived there. Maybe I attended a wedding there when I was young.

But what really stood out to me and made me believe that this could be our future was the many unfamiliar guests. I knew that because I’ve been studying the details of your last two journeys from Jiminy’s Journal and the Gummi Phone. And even though the Journal of your first journey was erased (Naminè’s still really sorry about that), I still remember everything about it from being in your heart through it all.

So, I was able to recognize who you had met and who were strangers. They were far too numerous to mention. But here are some examples that really stood out to me.

A tall woman with long black hair wearing a tan colored dress and a beautiful turquoise necklace with a raccoon, a dog and I think I saw a hummingbird flittering around her.

A pair of robots, one yellow and box-shaped, the other white and cylindrical, who were holding hands.

A couple that consisted of a redhaired woman and blonde-haired man who appeared to have some kind of hairless rodent on his shoulder.

A teenage boy and girl along with a younger boy and a company of animals such as a bear with gray fur, a panther, an elephant with a tuft of brown hair and a quartet of vultures.

A large family that appeared to be a mix of humans and skeletons along with a very colorful winged dog and a giant winged cat.

A boy with red hair (whose head looked triangular) along with another boy with green hair and a bunch of other teenagers as well as some kind of strange teal animal that looked like a cross between a duck and a beaver and a man with brown hair, poor posture and wearing a lab coat (who wears that to a wedding?).

A princess dressed in a beautiful green gown accompanied by a prince in a green suit with a blonde woman dressed in pink, a short old woman dressed in white and wearing sunglasses and a snake around her shoulders as well as an alligator who was carrying a trumpet.

A very unusual group consisting of two men and a woman with blue skin and pointy ears along with a dog-sized dragon, a centaur, and a winged lionlike creature with horns and a scorpion’s tail.

A girl with bushy brown hair among what appeared to be a family of giant frogs.

A woman dressed like she was some kind of islander with a burly man with numerous tattoos (I think I saw one of them move) over his body along with a pig and a chicken that didn’t look very smart.

A family who seemed to be some kind of royalty consisting of a princess in a simple green dress with long curly red hair along with three identical boys with the same kind of hair, their big, strong father with a peg leg and their very elegant mother.

A boy and a girl who looked like they were twin siblings who were accompanied by a pair of old men who looked like twins as well.

A redhaired boy in the company of a group of what looked like various human-sized bugs.

There were so many more, but I think I’ll stop here. With the large number of guests at this wedding, I could go on listing them for a long time. But it does seem there’s a lot more friends for you in the future.

Unfortunately, while I was mulling over the dream further, a horrible thought came to me. I started to wonder if the dream, as beautiful as it was, wasn’t meant to bring me happiness at all because it was actually showing the future that we could have had but now would never have. And the true reason of it was to punish me for my failures in the fight against Xehanort.

I know you wouldn’t like to hear this, Sora. But there are still days where I can’t help but feel responsible for your disappearance and think that if I had made some different choices, you’d still be here.

I know it was my choice to fight alongside you because I wanted to keep you safe the same way you’ve always done for me. But looking back, I now see it was foolish to assume that my training alongside Axel would turn me into a Keyblade wielder on yours or Riku’s level. And it was probably an even worse idea for a wielder with very little actual battle experience to go from basic training to a high stakes battle with nothing in between.

We may have been desperate to stop Xehanort before he went after the New Seven Hearts especially since he had already assembled all his darknesses. But we probably could’ve and should’ve explored some other options instead of going to fight the Organization right away after you woke Ven.

Since Ienzo told us that they had a replica body ready before we even left for the Keyblade Graveyard, we could’ve gotten Roxas or maybe even Xion out of your heart before the fight. In Axel’s words, they were the old hands when it came to Keyblades.

We also could have made a bigger effort to find and save Terra first even if our chances were pretty low. That would not only have gotten us a more experienced wielder, but it would’ve also lowered Xehanort’s ranks by one.

Maybe if we had done things that way, we would’ve had more experienced Keyblade wielders to fill out the Seven Guardians of Light. And even if it would be disappointing to be put in the reserves, it would’ve been worth it if it led to you being safe.

So, those are the reasons I believed that dream was a punishment. But you’ll be glad to know, Sora, that I only entertained those beliefs briefly.

After thinking it over some more, I decided that it didn’t matter what that dream’s purpose was. Comfort or punishment, I’m going to actually use it to serve my own purposes instead.

I’m going to let it remind me of what my ultimate goal is and drive me to be the best Keyblade wielder I can be. One that’s going to make the forces of darkness think twice before causing trouble and one that you and Riku will be proud to have fighting alongside you. And hopefully, that will lead us to a future like the one in the dream or at least one that’s pretty close.

In fact, after seeing that dream, I think I may end up actually proposing a couple of ideas to Aqua and Master Yen Sid. I’ve been thinking about them a lot and maybe now is the time to try to put them into action.

Since I need to get some real battle experience to become a stronger Keyblade wielder, I’d like to go on a journey throughout the worlds to gain some. Hopefully, Aqua will think it’s a good idea. And even though there’s been little sign of the Heartless and Nobodies since Xehanort’s defeat, there is one thing I really wish to do.

I’d like to try to find and identify the remaining three of the New Seven Hearts. After all, who’d better to find them than someone who’s part of the same group? And if we knew who they were and what their home worlds were, we’d be in a better position to protect them if someone tried what Maleficent and Xehanort did.

Who knows? Maybe all those unfamiliar faces at the wedding were not only friends you’ll make on future adventures, but ones I’ll make on my own adventures. Maybe even the remaining New Seven Hearts were among them.

I also have an idea that may be able to help in the quest to bring you home. If Fairy Godmother could bring me back to the Final World, I could talk to that girl from Quadratum again. She may not be able to remember certain things. But she might be able to tell us something about that world that could help.

Naminè might even be able to help with this plan. Even if you only met that girl briefly, that may be enough for her to be considered connected to you and therefore, Naminè’s memory powers can work on her.

Hopefully, the Masters will think that these are good plans. I really want to do any part I can to not only help bring you and Riku home, but also to protect the worlds as both a Keyblade wielder and a Princess of Heart. After all, with you two gone, someone’s got to pick up the slack.

Well, I think that’s enough for now. It’s nearly time for breakfast and then it’s training until lunch. But before I go, there’s just one final thing I’d like to say.

Whether that beautiful dream shows a wonderful future that is meant to be or not, it doesn’t matter. Because the only kind of future I’ll ever wish for is one in which we’re safe, we’re happy, and we’re together. That’s all I really need.

See you soon,

Kairi

________________________________________________________________

Much later, the training hall in the Land of Departure was filled with the sounds of clashing Keyblades and various shouts of magical invocation. While those sounds were nothing uncommon in that location, there was an unusual intensity that day.

As Aqua, Ven and Chirithy watched, a heated sparring match was taking place between Kairi and Terra. But much to their surprise, the more experienced Keyblade wielder was actually struggling as the young rookie was keeping him mostly on the defensive.

“Wow! Kairi’s on fire today!” exclaimed Ven.

“She is, indeed,” concurred Chirithy.

“Well, she has improved a lot in her skills since she came here. But you two are right. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this driven before,” said Aqua.

“You’ve got that right, Aqua. If she lands one more hit on Terra, this’ll be the first time she’s won by a perfect score,” said Ven.

As the match went on, Terra blocked blow after blow from Kairi. Then, strangely, she ceased her attack.

Terra saw his opportunity and charged toward her with a downward slash. The Princess dodged to the right narrowly avoiding the hit.

“Light!” she cried out as she fired a small but powerful Light spell at Terra’s side. He grunted as the magic struck him and knocked him off his feet.

“Point to Kairi,” declared Aqua.

“That’s three to nothing! Kairi wins!” exclaimed Ven as Chirithy clapped its paws together.

“Well done, Kairi,” said Aqua.

“Thank you, Master Aqua,” Kairi said as she walked over to Terra and helped him up.

After exchanging bows with each other, the Princess of Heart said, “I hope that didn’t hurt you too badly, Terra.”

Terra chuckled. “Not at all. It helps that you’ve learned how to restrain your magic during training. But I’ve got to say, Kairi that I am impressed. That’s the first time since you’ve come here that I’ve been unable to land a single hit on you.”

“You’ve certainly come a long way, Kairi. Today, you showed some truly exceptional skill and strength. You should be very proud of yourself,” said Aqua as she, Ven and Chirithy approached.

“Well, I’ve had a good teacher and some great sparring partners. But I think it really helped that when I woke up today, I just felt a little extra drive,” said Kairi.

“Yes. We noticed,” said Aqua.

“Why is that exactly?” asked Chirithy.

A certain smile came to Kairi’s face which caused her four friends to exchange knowing looks. They had spent plenty of time with her by now to know what exactly brought out that special smile of hers: thoughts of a certain someone close to her heart.

“I had the most amazing dream.”

________________________________________________________________

Notes from the Mad Doctor:

I thought the best way for Kairi’s spotlight chapter would be to do in the style of one of her letters to Sora. I’ve used it before as readers of my big fic Kairi’s Epic Journey would know.

So, in case it wasn’t obvious, the challenge I mentioned at the start is that list of unknown guests. It was quite a challenge to write all those characters by description alone. I hope you all will take a shot at identifying them. Some are pretty obvious, but some may be a little more difficult.

I hope I did a good job in trying not to make this chapter’s narrative too similar to the previous chapters. I actually tried having Kairi leap to the punishment notion before the premonition notion. But unfortunately, the flow didn’t work right.

Fortunately, the views on the punishment notion are a little different. Sora has absolutely no regrets for what he did and believes that he’s being unfairly punished for breaking rules he had no idea existed. Kairi, however, believes her punishment is deserved since she blames herself for what happened to Sora. Fortunately, both are able to use that dream to keep on fighting.

I hope you all aren’t put off that this is more like a series of one-shots centered around a certain plot device (the wedding dream) instead of a congruent storyline. That was what this project ended up being.

I give my thanks to whoever reads this chapter.

I also give my special thanks to @fandomchanger, @flynn-science, and @ladylucky for their likes on the previous chapters as well as @sokaiweek, @phoenix-downer, and @the-secret-place for reblogging the previous chapter.

Comments, likes and reblogs are much appreciated! Stay tuned for what comes next because it’s going to be a real feel-good chapter!

________________________________________________________________

Onto the next chapter!

#kingdom hearts #kh fanfiction #sokai #sokaiweek #sokaiweek2021 #kairi #aqua #ventus #chirithy #terra #maddrmatt

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aeoki · 1 year

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High and Low: At World’s End - Chapter 3

Location: Australian Town Characters: Tetora, Tomoya, Hinata, Touri & Mitsuru

Season: Autumn Writer: Akira

< The next morning, near a village in the most northern part of Australia. >

Mitsuru: Woohoooo ☆

Our fun school trip is finally starting~! Yay ♪

Tomoya: Not “yay”! This isn’t fun at all!

Why’re we in this awful situation!?

Mitsuru: …Tomo-chan, you’re not having fun?

Tomoya: Huh?

Mitsuru: I wrapped up filming the drama early to meet up with everyone just so I could have heaps of fun with you and Hajime-chan.

Tomoya: R-Right, you were actually supposed to meet up with us later, huh.

Mitsuru: Yeah… But I asked the director and the other actors a huge favour by saying I wanted to go on the school trip no matter what and filmed my parts ahead of schedule, y’know?

But was all of that pointless? Was it just me that wanted to have fun with you and everyone else on this school trip…?

Tomoya: Aww, are you crying? Don’t make that kind of face! You know, I’ve always dreamed of going on a school trip with all of you guys too–

Mitsuru: Tadaa ☆ I’m not crying! I’ve got a smile on my face 100% of the time! Ahahahahaha!

Tomoya: Hey! You were just acting!? So much for me worrying!

Sora: Tomoya-chaaan! Mitsu-chaaan! Anzu-san and the others wanna talk so they’re saying we should meet up over there!

Why are you guys over here? People say it’s dangerous to go off on your own like that!

Tomoya: Sorry. Mitsuru said he wanted to run around on Australian soil and just started running off all of a sudden.

Sora: It’s really dangerous so restrain yourself, okay~?

The environment overseas is really different and Sora can’t really see anything, so even if he took a look, Sora might interpret things wrong…

Tomoya: ? I don’t really know what you’re talking about, but Anzu-san was calling for us, right? I wonder if they’ve found a solution.

Hey, what’re you doing, Mitsuru?

Mitsuru: Look, look, Tomo-chan! There’s a weird animal here! It’s not running away even if I get close to it!

Tomoya: I’m scared of infections and parasites, so don’t touch the wild animals so casually like that! There was something like that written in the guidebook, you know!

Sora: HaHa~ Stop playing around and let’s get a move on~

Location: Australian Town

Hitsugi: Everyone in “Late Departure Group 2”.

We are currently in a rather helpless situation.

Touri: E-Everyone knows that already! We all know we’re in a pretty bad situation!

Tetora: Yeah! What we want are details on our current situation and a specific solution!

Hinata: Calm down, guys~♪ We’re overseas right now and if we make a fuss like we’re back in Japan, the police might come and question us.

That’ll be annoying, yeah? We’re already in a complicated situation but we don’t want things to get even more complicated, right?

Hitsugi: Yes… Please refrain from acting on your own and listen to what we “producers” have to say.

We’re doing our best. We’ll find a solution out of this situation, okay? I can’t do anything myself but I’m sure Anzu-senpai will think of something.

Tetora: We’ve gotta rely on others, huh… Well, we’re in the same boat since there’s nothing we can do either, so it’s hard to complain as well, I guess.

But really, how did things come to this…?

Touri: Yeah! I don’t get it at all! Who should I sue?

Why’re we in a different place from everyone else!?

Tetora: Yeah… That’s the mystery. We were originally supposed to arrive at a pretty developed area in the southern part of Australia.

Hinata: We’re supposed to be in the city with an “ES II”, a building that’s like the knock-off or the twin of ES.

According to the pamphlet for the school trip, we’re supposed to be leisurely touring around Australia with a tour guide…

While also carrying out our idol work.

Touri: Yeah. It’s like a TV programme where we introduce Australia, right?

I thought that’s what we’ll be doing so I read up on a lot of the local history!

Tetora: Touri-kun, you don’t look it, but you’re actually super diligent, huh.

Touri: What did you say? I’m exactly what I look like: an honour student. I’m gonna be the student council president next year! If anything, you guys are just shrimps with nothing in your brains!

Hinata: Woah, now… Don’t get so riled up. It’ll be really bad if we start panicking and arguing amongst ourselves. We’re already in the worst-case scenario as it is.

Touri: Ugh! But I’m so irritated! Why do we have to put up with something so awful~!?

← Previous Chapter ᠂ ⚘ ˚⊹˚ ⚘ ᠂ Next Chapter →

#high and low

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mimiplaysgames · 3 years

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Terra Week Day 7 (Bonds/Fave Scene)

Summary: Terra lets his friends love him. | Word Count: 3,462

Read on AO3

A/N: For Terra Week 2021! You can find that account on Twitter!

~*~*~*~*~

At the end of the day, your chains weigh a burden. Share them. At the end of the night, your Bonds make you free. Mend them.

The stars wink sometimes, if you stare at them long enough.

Terra’s been lying on his back at the roof of the residential tower, where the slats are at a gentle slope so he’s not doomed to fall off. A small, square window behind him gives him easy access; he and Aqua used to waste many nights at this spot for years. Here, they can watch the sun rise behind the mountains, so they get the best of night and day.

The sound of the window slipping open means she’s here—he just wasn’t expecting the plop of an open book landing in his face.

“Look what I found,” she says, and he pulls darkness out of his eyes to see detailed drawings of a fox with a bow and arrow, talking to a large bear who is spying from behind a bush. Robin Hood and his sidekick, Little John. They used to role play as these characters when they were children for hours. Aqua lies down on the space next to him, careful not to slide too close to the edge.

“Thanks, I was looking for this earlier.”

“It was in the potions section. Do you remember putting it there?” He doesn’t, and she shrugs and rolls over to her side. “I forgot there was a part where he dressed up as a blind beggar to sneak into the prison.”

Terra flips pages. Many of them have multiple bends, bookmarks to areas of the story that the two of them enjoyed to play with. That is one of his favorite scenes, Robin Hood dressing in a long cloak and dark sunglasses to hide the fact that he is a fox (despite that it’s still obvious), shaking a beer jug for coins. Those goons he fooled are so dumb.

“It’s still kind of funny after all these years.”

“You would do something like that.” She hides her smile behind her fingers. “Dress up to trick the enemy so you could sneak in and save the hungry.”

“You’re making fun of me.”

She slaps his bicep. “I am not.”

It’s the greatest compliment he could receive but it’s also the greatest cringe. He’s always wanted to be compared to his hero... yet it’s still something he can’t quite believe, like there’s a twist to the joke, even though Aqua would never. She’d speak from the heart.

“Dress like this with me”—he shows a drawing of Robin Hood and Little John in their signature thief green tunics and hats—“and I’ll believe you.”

She rolls her eyes. “They don’t have any pants on.”

“That’s the point. We’d be wild.” Terra hides a smirk behind his finger.

“Only if you pay me a thousand munny.”

“... You know, that’s not going to be hard to collect.”

“A bold claim.”

“Okay, but if I end up collecting it all—”

“You’re seeing nothing.”

He laughs and she joins him, warm and painful in the stomach, something that hasn’t happened so sincerely since they have come back. Nights so far have been tight and insecure, as though laughing would expose them to an enemy hiding around the corner.

Out here, graced with the breath of fresh air, they’re safe under the guidance of the stars. It feels like a young night when their dreams for the future come uninhibited.

“I talked to Yen Sid,” she says once she’s able to slow down.

“And?” Terra swallows air down the wrong pipe and coughs.

She wipes a tear from her cheek. “I convinced him to change the standards of your Mark of Mastery.” Picking herself up by the elbows, she sighs. “Though I still think it’s unnecessary, if you want my opinion.”

Terra doesn’t agree, flipping towards the end of the book where Robin Hood and his love are sent off by a carriage, free from persecution. “What are the new terms?”

“Everyone is splitting up to look for Sora and… I proposed searching for him in the Realm of Darkness.”

Terra rolls to his side, dropping the book, all joy that stayed with them minutes before now drained away. He speaks softly. “You want to go through that again?”

She purses her lips. “I don’t want to, but if it helps with finding Sora, then what other choice do I have?”

Terra hums. “I understand. It’s just… you’ve been through so much already, Aqua.”

“It’s crazy it’s been twelve years,” she mutters before perking up and pretending it’s not a heavy subject. “If you survive the Realm of Darkness, then Yen Sid will name you Master.”

Terra sputters. “Are you serious?”

She giggles. “Partially, but that did come out of my mouth in the meeting. Ven would want to come with us of course, but Yen Sid is most concerned about your affinity to Darkness… which isn’t fair.” She brings her knees to her chin. “We all carry Darkness, and you have already shown, twice now, that you are able to face yours and defeat it. So, I suggested you come with me and face the Master of Darkness yourself.”

“What do they look like?”

“Whatever you think it looks like.” She shrugs. “Yourself.”

Terra doesn’t know what to say. He traces the ridges of the slats in front of him. The Realm of Darkness is a different plane of existence entirely, one where the rules of Light don’t apply, where logic makes no sense and there’s only the constant pressure of regret and succumbing, based on what he’s read from the books. From what he’s heard from her, Darkness is the never-ending fight of giving yourself reasons to keep waking up the next day—when there’s no reason to.

“Twelve years,” he muses. “I couldn’t have survived if that were me.”

Aqua sombers, watching the horizon for the outlines of mountains that you can only see in the night if you squint. “It’s not so different from what you have told me.” She looks at him. “About Nowhere and not knowing when it would end. If it would ever.”

Terra rolls back to look up at the stars. Darkness gives them room to shine. “So all I have to do is survive while we search for Sora?”

“When you say it like that,” she says with a mock-wave. “You know, twelve years isn’t that long. How about we make it twelve days? Survive twelve days and you’re Master. That sounds fair.”

He does a double-take. “That’s not funny. What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m taking a page out of your book and making inappropriate jokes.”

He groans. “This is why you’re not funny.”

“I am, you just won’t admit it.”

He shakes his head, but he can admit it brings a smirk to his face.

The window slips open again with a thud, Ven’s golden head of hair sticking out but not joining them. “You two are the most predictable ever. It was easy to find you.”

“You’re predictable for looking for us,” Terra reminds him.

“Did you find the thing?” Aqua asks, her head leaning back to address him.

“We did.”

That’s right. We. They accepted another member to the family the day of the Master’s memorial, when a talking cat-thing appeared out of nowhere and crashed the end of the eulogy. Terra and Aqua haven’t found a trace of its breed in any of the books in the library (five floors of it). They call it Cheers (because “Chirithy” is a ridiculous name; how in any star can anyone pronounce such a thing?), and every time they ask it questions about its past and how it knows Ven, it responds with more vague questions. Otherwise, it doesn’t offer much opinion. Much like that stupid book, Affairs of the Heart.

But Ven inexplicably has a bond to it, and they are simply going to have to trust his heart.

“What thing are we talking about?” Terra asks.

“Can’t tell you,” Ven quips. “Sworn to secrecy.”

“To who?”

“Come with us, Terra.” Aqua stands up, brushing dust off of her drapes and bending to squeeze through the window.

Just when he was getting comfortable.

Lanterns light the way. Aqua likes to be in charge of how bright they get, and tonight they shine for a feast, bright with a cheery kick, glistening the golden halls of the castle as though it’s sitting in daylight. She marches to the entrance hall where they held their Mark of Mastery years ago. Cheers is already here with two books and a bouquet of flowers on one throne and more knick-knacks on another that Terra doesn’t have a reference for.

“What’s this about?”

“An honorary title ritual.” Ven cranes back into his own arms, proud of himself. “We found a couple of books on how they did it in the Age of Fairytales. A lot of it we can’t translate, but it’s pretty cool.”

“A title ritual?” Terra asks Aqua, who is stroking the middle throne where the Master used to sit, eyes closed in prayer.

“An honorary one.” She brings her hands to her heart. “I believe the Master really wanted to name you Master. And I agree. Riku does, too. I know you want to prove yourself and do it traditionally, but we wanted to do a little something special for you. A title that only we know of so you can keep it to yourself and no one else has to find out.” She steps down. “Until you want them to.”

“Aqua…”

“This is my thanks for what you’ve given me.” She summons Rainfell, and it springs in her hand among glowing petals and a swirl of waves, a second quicker to respond than the aged and wise Defender. She’s whole.

“It looks like so much fun, too,” Ven says with puppy-dog eyes.

“You deserve it,” Aqua says.

“Pfft,” goes Cheers.

“We’re supposed to be equals,” Aqua continues, twirling her Keyblade like it’s as natural as wiggling her fingers. “The Master said so that day.”

“Just say yes.” Ven nudges his elbow. “Roxas already calls you Master.”

Terra coughs on a snort. “Does he?”

“He calls all of us Master for some reason.”

“Maybe it’s because he thinks you’re all old,” Cheers mutters but Ven continues—

“When I tell him there has to be official recognition and an exam, he just shrugs.” He raises his shoulders too high to his ears for a good imitation. “He says, What difference does a dumb test make?” Ven is trying to act voguish, but it makes him look dorky instead. “Master Ventus sounds pret-ty cool if I say so myself.”

“Ahem,” Cheers announces, broadening its arms to command attention. All it needs is a conductor’s baton. “Shall we begin?”

“Do it with us?” Aqua pouts and raises her eyebrows, joining Ven in the ridiculous charade of coaxing Terra into playing along.

Terra huffs. “Okay.”

Both of their faces beam, Aqua throwing a sheepish high-five to Ven’s enthusiastic holler, giggling like they’ve won a game. It’s touching.

“I’ll need your Keyblade,” Aqua says, handing over Rainfell. “Trade?”

“Huh?”

“Standing Masters must accept the Blade of the candidate. To bless it,” Cheers says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“If you say so,” Terra says, straining a chuckle from pouring out in case Cheers gives him a death glare. He summons Earthshaker and lends it to Aqua by the hilt. Rainfell is as light as a feather, as it has always been—he held it when she first called it at the age of thirteen, surprised by the paper-lightness of its weight, wondering How in the stars do you expect to hit anything with this? when he’ll learn the truth later that she hits just as hard as he does.

It doesn’t feel arrogant and big like a Master’s Keyblade. It just feels like Aqua’s, the longest friend he’s ever had.

“Terra. How on earth—?” Aqua grunts and pulls. Earthshaker screeches across the floor, and she takes breaks before inhaling and dragging it more. “So impractical.” She cries a sigh of relief when she reaches the throne.

“Now the masks, in accordance with tradition,” says Cheers, peeking into one of the books.

“Oh.” Ven hurries over to the other throne, grabbing thin, plastic masks Terra’s seen in amusement parks, with the rubber strings that cut into your circulation. “Masks apparently were really fancy in the old days.”

“Yes,” Cheers says. “Made of porcelain and leather. Very tasteful.”

“This is what we got.” Ven showcases three tacky half-face masks of a pig, a bee, and a frog like a deck of cards. “Which one do you want to be?”

Cheers wrinkles its snout in disgust.

“The pig is kind of cute,” Terra says. It’s bright pink, with holes cut out in the eye sockets and a tout nose. The string squeezes him around the temples, so he hopes the ceremony will be quick.

“You be the frog, Aqua.” Ven hands over her mask and dons the bee, complete with springy pom-poms for the antennae.

“Don’t forget the robes,” Aqua says as she slips the frog on, lumpy and shiny, bracing herself so that Earthshaker leans on her hip.

Ven comes back with three of the Master’s hand-me-downs. They smell like dust from a damp dresser. The one given to Terra is too short, and the one Ven is wearing drags on the floor. Aqua’s hangs off the shoulder (We’re going to need to hire a seamstress, she mutters).

“Now we shall truly start,” Cheers says.

“Why does Cheers get to lead this?” Terra asks.

“Because Aqua is the one to honor you and Ven is the witness,” Cheers says. Duh. “Master Aqua, you understand what you must do.”

Aqua holds Earthshaker by the hilt like one of those knights in the attic, its point at the floor. It’s bigger than Rainfell, reaching up to her chest. She gestures for one of the books and Cheers is too eager to turn to the right page and hand it over.

“That book?” Terra rolls his eyes, remembering that no one else can see.

“Yep.” She brings Affairs of the Heart closer to her face, frowning before checking her attitude and reciting:

Thus a wield'r and a cousin, so longeth as thy heart stayeth true, and thy duty vows to who, a mast'r to the endeth, so longeth as thee behold not backeth.

She sniffs and double checks the passage, her chin wrinkling.

“That’s it?” Ven asks. “What the stars does that even mean?”

“You shall also honor your bonds,” Aqua says, whipping her nose out of the book.

“You’re improvising,” Terra says.

“And never scare me again.”

“Mmm—”

She slams the book on his head with enough pressure to make him nod. “Say yes.”

“Yes, Master.”

She chuckles.

“Now we shower the room with flowers,” Cheers says.

Ven gathers up the flowers he plucked—a mix of withering vanity plants, such as tulips, and weeds, such as dandelions late into their development, where they spit white fuzz.

“That’s all you have?” Aqua says.

“It’s late into the season,” Ven says, defensive. “And you didn’t want to wait too long for me to get more.”

He throws them and they droop down to the ground, crinkling on the floor in an unceremonious finish and lack of climax. Terra brushes two petals off of his shoulder.

Cheers stares in contempt. “Well… it is done.”

“Now I call you,” Aqua says, licking her lips as they tremble, and she stops to cup her cheek and compose herself. “Master Terra.”

Master Terra.

He doesn’t know how to feel when she leans his Keyblade toward him. Earthshaker feels the same–not more powerful, not more wise, but a friend patting his back. But what for?

“Has a nice ring to it,” Ven says. “Master Terra.”

“How do you feel?” Aqua says, slipping fingers under her mask to wipe her eyes.

“I don’t know, I guess I expected to feel… something that justifies it all. But I’m still me.”

“Isn’t ‘me’ the person who spent all these years studying for Mastery?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t make sense in my head.”

“I felt the same way,” Aqua says quietly. Cheers is closing books and picking up dry flower petals, urging Ven to help. “Without you by my side, it just felt… a little empty and confusing.”

“I never congratulated you.”

“I’ll do it first. Congratulations.” She smirks, her cheek wet under the frog mask.

Terra pulls off his mask—ignoring Cheers when it squeaks, Excuse me, but that must stay on for the rest of the night out of respect for your appearance—and studies her. “What’s that look for?”

Aqua pulls hers off as well, her eyes red but soft and happy. “I want to see Yen Sid’s face when he names you Master and I get to tell him that I already did.”

He snorts. “What if he objects?”

“What if he’s too stuck up in past grievances and can’t appreciate you for who you are or what you’ve accomplished?” Cradling Rainfell in the grip of her hand, she nods to herself. “Who gives him a say? I spent twelve years in the Realm of Darkness. Not him. There were some things the Master was wrong about. Do you know why that is?”

Terra wants to say it’s because the Master was afraid, but he won’t speak over her. “Why?”

She looks away at a wall, blinking too much. “I’ll never use it again. It makes me feel like I’m not thinking straight, that I’m too close in making a fatal mistake I can’t take back. But I can’t help but feel there’s a purpose for it. Darkness exists not to put us astray on our path but to help us understand ourselves and our needs better.” When she speaks with this much conviction, Aqua seems the tallest in the group. “Within us, it needs comfort as much as the Light needs faith.”

“That’s what makes the heart strong enough to protect what matters.”

Aqua smiles. “That’s why.” When he’s about to object, she places a hand on his shoulder. “The Master is no longer with us. If you continue like this, who’s to say you’ll be okay with Yen Sid accepting you as well?”

She’s right. “I just think I need to do more to atone.”

“Atone?”

“I faced the Darkness, and maybe I’ve won. Sure.” Terra shrugs, and the change in tone catches Ven attention, who ignores his immediate chores to come close and remove his mask. “But I’m still missing the same Light you have, Aqua. The one that made you, Master, as you deserve. Mine is not that strong.”

Ven sighs.

Aqua opens her mouth to say something but stops herself, searching his eyes with a gentle mix of love and skepticism. “There’s something I never told you.” She rubs her palms together. “In the Dark Realm, I… there were many moments where I wanted to give up.

“I saw you once, a bright light standing in front of me. You talked to me. You protected me from Xehanort, and you told me to never give up.” She breaks, swiping her eyes and sniffling loudly, willing her body to breathe normally.

Terra stares at her. “I thought I made that up.”

“No,” she says, smiling and shaking. “You never stopped lighting me back, either.”

Ven holds her hand, silently crying with her. He looks up at Terra, as he’s done for years, worshipping the ground Terra walks in, thinking he is a prime example of what a Keybearer should be. They did this because they believe in him.

“Thanks for doing this for us,” Ven says quietly, and Aqua nods in agreement. And Terra takes them in his arms, Aqua under his right and Ven under his left, letting them sink their faces into his chest and wraps their arms around his waist.

“Thank you for always being there.” Terra doesn’t know what else to say that would measure what they mean to him. Forgiveness is not a real friend, and they don’t have reasons to give it to him, but he hugs them close without going too tight, his tears falling on their crowns.

“We still have things to clean up,” Cheers mutters.

“Come here.” Ven opens an arm to which Cheers happily accepts, nuzzling its nose into Ven’s neck. It’s only cheerful with him. Terra is most cheerful with all of them. A broken home renovated, a hearth revived, a clear sunrise over the mountains.

Those who know him as Master Terra hold onto him dearly, under a night sky that waits behind stained glass in a moment they keep to themselves, where the future is irrelevant and the past goes to sleep.

#terra #kh terra #kingdom hearts fanfiction #kh fanfic #aqua #ventus #AHHHH it's finally done OMG #i'm so burnt out and tired hahaha #my fic

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bluerosesburnblue · 4 years

Text

On top of my recent watching of this Kingdom Hearts 101 video, sometimes I browse KH forums when I’m bored and it just hit me doing that that, like... no wonder nobody knows what the hell’s going on! There’s so much misinformation being spread around that people can’t keep anything straight!

The things I’m seeing cropping up the most are:

“Somebody” being stated to be the name of a fully complete being (Fact: Not actually a canon term. Fully completed beings are just called “people,” usually. The misconception comes from Axel’s line in Chain of Memories: “We Nobodies can never hope to be somebodies.” It was wordplay, not an actual term with an in-universe definition. Otherwise it would’ve been said... literally anywhere else in the franchise)

The Realm of Sleep (Fact: It doesn’t exist. The Sleeping Worlds are their own entities that don’t exist in any particular Realm. The Dive to the Heart is simply a metaphysical representation of the heart in a sleeping state that is connected to The Final World. The misconception comes from early fan translations of Japanese marketing material from Dream Drop Distance translating the Japanese term for the Sleeping Worlds, 夢見る世界 “Yumemiru Sekai” lit. “Dreaming World,” as “Realm of Dreams/Sleep,” which the fandom then applied the definition of the official English translation of phrases using “Realm” to. This was spread around and then brought back into fandom consciousness via a certain fan theory that came out after KH3)

[From @rainixdra] Dream Eaters can only exist in the Sleeping Worlds. (Fact: Nope. Several Spirit Dream Eaters follow Riku [who is still a Dream Eater himself] when he enters the real world at the end of Dream Drop Distance, Chirithy is a Spirit Dream Eater that was born directly into the real world, and the Player’s Spirit Dream Eater in KHUx is thriving in the data worlds. The Sleeping Worlds are just where they’re native to. No idea how this one started because it wasn’t even true in Dream Drop Distance where they first showed up, but it’s also got spread around by the above theory)

The Princesses of Heart’s hearts are the seven light fragments from when the X-Blade shattered (Fact: They are not. The misconception comes from misunderstanding Xehanort’s final speech in Dream Drop Distance. All he says is that he intended to use them to forge the X-Blade because they had pure light hearts that were necessary for the clash of light and darkness to summon the X-Blade, not that they were the light parts of the X-Blade. This one is still up on khwiki.com with no source despite being false. [EDIT] Just glanced at their talk page, their supposed source is this line from DDD and is still a misuderstanding of Yen Sid’s line. He’s saying that the X-Blade’s seven light fragments were made to protect the seven pure lights that already existed. Some of them got confused about Mickey’s response. It’s not like Xehanort’s Thirteen Seekers of Darkness are literally the X-Blade’s dark fragments)

Sora has multiple Keyblades that he loses between games (Fact: Those are keychains. Sora has one Keyblade that he changes the appearance of using keychains. When he dual-wields, the second Keyblade is Ven’s. The keychain thing is mentioned in the Kingdom Key’s description in a lot of games, the confusion probably coming from the fact that the games occasionally use Keyblade and keychain interchangeably, and the keychain detail is mentioned scarcely)

Nobody can die in Kingdom Hearts; they’ll always come back to life (Fact: almost nobody in Kingdom Hearts has actually died, a lot of what the fandom calls “dying” isn’t. Death is explicitly when the heart and body perish together. Having your heart consumed by Darkness and creating a Heartless and possibly Nobody is not dying, it’s a forcible separation of a person’s component pieces that does not count as “perishing.” And the fact of destroying a Heartless and Nobody recreating the original person has actually been in Nomura’s mind since at least KH2 Final Mix. So I imagine that the heart kinda has to be in the body for them to perish together)

[I can’t believe I forgot this one] The Heartless must be destroyed before the Nobody for the original to re-form. (Fact: Nope! Same source as above: they can be destroyed in either order. Misconception comes from a misunderstanding of Yen Sid’s line in the Re:coded secret ending... because he mentioned Ansem before Xemnas)

[Here’s another] Worldlines are alternate universes/timelines. (Fact: Nobody knows what the hell a worldline is except for the writing team at this point. Mentioned in Luxu’s Secret Reports in KH3, all he says is that the Dandelions fled to one after the war. KHUx says they’ve been in data worlds this whole time, ergo, data worlds are a “worldline.” Japanese KHUx updates hinting at the data world thing came out before KH3, but the English version came out after which I’m sure left anyone who didn’t follow the Japanese updates or doesn’t play KHUx confused. Even then, the fact that the term doesn’t currently have a definition really throws people off. If anyone says they know for sure what a worldline is, they’re wrong because not even the Ultimania defines it)

If I think of any more I’ll probably edit them in, these are just the ones I can come up with right now but I’m sure there’s more

#kingdom hearts #the great big book of lore #that kingdom hearts 101 video is decent though pretty outdated and with some cringeworthy humor #there's some things that are just wrong in there but actually not that much until it gets to coded and ddd #the 'somebody' one drives me NUTS though #it's been on my mind since i watched gamb try to explain the kh plot to barry when kh3 came out #which is what started the srt debunk in the first damn place

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kathyrealmstales · 3 years

Text

NEW SMP THEORY! (I cracked the plot!)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- The Other Side evidence

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

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

Eggpire evidence

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

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

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

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

Pandora’s box evidence

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

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

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

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

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

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

Organizations evidence

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

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

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

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

Bad guys with correlations

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

The plot is the same

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

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

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

Ohhh boy!

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

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

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

THAT IS ALL! GOOD DAY!

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

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curewhimsy · 3 years

Text

Symphony Saga Resonate Outline So Far

This outline has gotten so long... by the way, chapters 1-4 have been written and are on AO3.

—————

Each Arc is 25 chapters.

ARC 1

Chapter 1

(Brief cold opening where the big underlying plot is vaguely explained...)

(Monochrome is trying to ban music.)

(Queen Rainbow is recruiting people to form a magical music group.)

(Motivational message that we all have stories, we all matter, and can all reach our dreams...)

(Brief run-down of Haku’s life, and her grandmother’s recent death.)

(“Haku’s grandmother was the most magical person she knew.”)

(Snowbell was a gift from Haku’s grandmother.)

Lonely Haku had lost 3 important people...

Her brother Dell, her friend Miku, and now her grandmother...

Chapter 2

November 29...

Haku and Neru are two misunderstood, troubled, 16-year-old students who meet at lunch and break period. They both have autism and are ostracized for it. Haku shows Neru her stuffed kitten Snowbell, and they bond and talk about nice things.

There was pizza for lunch, but it ran out because the bullies pushed Haku and Neru to the end of the line. Haku and Neru had to eat nasty asparagus

coleslaw casserole instead. The day isn’t looking too good for them... but at least they met each other.

Haku is happy to have met a new friend.

Chapter 3

Everyone starts talking about Haku and Neru and teasing them.

Bullies start sticking Neru with needles during her walk to gym class.

In gym class, Neru can’t walk far because the lunch upset her stomach. During the 5-mile marathon outside that the boot camp teacher made the class do, Neru lags behind in the rain.

The rain turns into a thunderstorm while Neru is outside. The entire school loses electricity during this time. Meanwhile, Haku has a breakdown in math class because the rain reminds her of her grandmother’s recent death, and has to go to the counselor’s office alone in the dark. And the school is big and even scarier in the dark. Haku then trips and falls down the stairs.

Neru ends her school day in the nurse’s office, and getting painful rubbing alcohol being put in where bullies sticked her with needles. The counselor’s office is nearby, and they see each other there.

Haku and Neru have both had a horrible day. But finally, they can see each other again.

Chapter 4

Haku and Neru meet again after school, and decide to run away together. Haku’s mother is always late home from work, and Haku’s dad is nowhere to be found. Haku’s mother is very neglectful and Haku is convinced her mother wouldn’t miss her. Meanwhile, Neru is an orphan and lives with her mean grandmother.

Haku and Neru pack away their important things and run away to the mall where they find a secret room with a magical mirror. They get sucked through, and end up being transported to the magical world of Whimsica, in the town of Speckle Town!

After stepping through the mirror, Haku’s plush cat Snowbell comes to life.

They are sent out through a portal mirror that is in the magical world. This mirror is a one-way portal, meaning they cannot go back through it to get back to Earth.

The mirror is located in a wooded area in Speckle Town.

“Where am I?” They both ask each other.

Snowbell, who is now alive, jumps from Haku’s arms and begins to wander off.

Alarmed, Haku and Neru follow after Snowbell, and notice a very magical feel about the woods. They eventually make their way out of the forest and into Teto’s magical bakery, which is connected to the Cozy House.

Luka is there too.

Chapter 5

(Magical and whimsical food is at the bakery)

(Rhyming parts to introduce characters?)

(Mako and Luna)

(Yowa)

(Sora)

(Emi, Nova, Roy)

(Ian)

(Muffin and Merengue)

(Happy and Banana)

(Slumber the owl)

(Add more details)

(Music themes)

(Haku and Neru learn about Monochrome from chatting with the cafe guests and with Teto and Luka...)

(Introduce Luka’s pet, Tako Luka)

Chapter 6

(Haku and Neru move to an empty housing space in the Cozy Building, which is a large apartment complex that also has things like stores, restaurants, movie theater, auditorium, recreation center with a park, swimming pool and wildlife reserve, and clinic. Some of the others who live there are Ame and her parents and cat, Joy and her parents, Teto and her parents, Luka and Tako Luka, Ruko, Momo, and the Kagamine family. There is additionally a portion of the building that is said to be haunted...)

Chapter 7

November 30.

Haku and Neru attend their first day of the wacky, 300-floor Adventure Academy.

Haku and Neru have two classes out of six where they are together. (Gym and piano.)

Snowbell also gets to go to school with Haku.

In one class where she is without Neru, swimming class, Haku meets friends named Ame and Joy. Snowbell makes friends with a small talking lioness cub named Buttersotch.

Neru hangs out with Luka a lot. She also meets a friend named Emi in snowboarding class in the snow-cone hills.

Teto hangs out with her childhood friend Momo and tells her about the new students while they are in first-period baking class.

At lunch, everyone meets together. The lunch food is cooked in a volcano.

Chapter 8

During lunch, a villain attacks. However, they don’t show their face.

The villain targets Ame. Even though Ame seems cheerful, she has low self-esteem.

The villain creates a gloomy rain monster to possess Ame, who is compatible with the monster because she has sadness in her heart. (Also, Ame’s name can mean both “candy” and also “rain.”)

When Ame is possessed with the monster, she suddenly becomes really sad and cries, and begins to cause blind destruction out of frustration.

“Ame? Why are you doing this?” Neru asks her.

Ame’s puffy pigtails become swollen rain clouds and heavy rain begins to fall from them.

Storm clouds begin to fill the school, flooding it.

Haku and Neru run away scared. They ask Teto what’s going on. Teto looks back to the one time her hair became real tornadoes, because she was possessed by a monster herself!

“Ame is possessed by a monster!?” Neru reacts. “How did that happen!?”

“It must be those Monochrome goons attacking our school again! I’m sure of it!” Teto says.

All of a sudden, a harsh gust of wind blows Teto away. Haku and Neru are alone.

Two magical, colorful anthropomorphic cats named Sparkle and Twinkle show up and tell Haku and Neru more.

“Don’t be scared of Ame.” Sparkle says. “She needs you to save her. A monster has ahold of her body and is making her rampage.”

“That’s right.” Twinkle says. “This isn’t her fault. The villains used their monster to posses her. That’s not the real Ame! In order to defeat the monster, you must separate it from Ame.”

“How can we do that?” Haku asks.

“You have to give the real Ame strength.” Sparkle says. “Talk to her. Make sure she listens.”

Haku and Neru agree.

Ame is hiding in a sad painting. Haku and Neru tru to coax her out, but she keeps firing mini tornadoes at them from inside the painting, while telling about how much she hates herself.

“Ame...” Haku says to her. “I haven’t known you for long but... I know how you feel. Okay? I know sometimes it’s hard to believe in yourself. But... I believe in you. So does Neru. I understand you. I don’t have many friends either but... let me be your friend, okay?”

“And me too!” Neru says. “I know what it’s like to be lonely. I know what it’s like to have doubt. But nobody deserves to feel like that. And if you need someone, I’ll be here. So please...”

“Let me help you.”

Chapter 9

Ame turns around and looks at Haku and Neru. Suddenly she smiles, the painting becomes happier, and the monster is out...

But now Haku and Neru have to fight it!

Suddenly, they both transform into magical girls.

“Just in time! By cheering up Ame, you two fulfilled yourselves!” The cats say. They explain that In Whimsica, magical transformations are unlocked when the user “fulfills” themself, symbolizing that they’ve overcome a difficult hurdle, accomplished a wonderful goal, or opened the door to their true self.

By cheering up Ame, Haku and Neru had also told important words of encouragement to themselves.

Now that they have magical powers, Sparkle and Twinkle guide them.

The monster is strong and they get hurt. Ame doesn’t have strong magic, but she jumps in and risks everything to help her friends.

This is when a transformation happens to Ame. She fulfills herself too, because she summoned bravery and confidence during a crucial moment!

The magic of Ame’s transformation ended up healing Haku and Neru. All three of them join their powers, and they are able to defeat the monster together with a magical song!

After the battle, they look for Sparkle and Twinkle to thank them, but the mysterious cats are gone...

Meanwhile, Sparkle and Twinkle have fled off to tell Queen Rainbow that they have found pure-hearted heroes that could surely help defend Whimsica from Monchrome. They are discussing Haku, Neru, and possibly Ame being members of the group they are forming...

Chapter 10

Neru and Haku’s final period is music class, where they are with Snowbell, Luka, Teto, Momo, Joy, Ame, Emi, Butterscotch, and a lot of other significant characters.

Class lets out late. They miss the school bus and they have to ride the Tragic School Bus to a land called Eeby Deeby...

(Marko and Hirao)

(A surreal rhyming dream part?)

Chapter 11

After the Tragic School Bus ordeal, Haku and Neru are back in their room and talk about the day and stuff. Suddenly, Luka joins them. And Ame too, and she thanks them.

Chapter 12

December 1...

In one of Neru’s classes, magic class, she notices a person who is quiet and seemingly standoffish. Apparently his name is Wallace.

Wallace is quite tall, doesn’t talk much, nor does he show much expression. He is always working on something secret under his desk, and he’s very good at hiding it. Everyone spreads rumors that Wallace is doing something “bad.”

Neru doesn’t believe the rumors and senses that Wallace is misunderstood. She wants to confirm that he is a good person, so she sticks around after class. Neru doesn’t mean to be eavesdropping, but when Wallace thinks nobody is around, Neru catches sight of what he creates. He makes small stuffed toys. Neru thinks it’s nice that he has a hobby he’s so passionate about, but she sees something else unexpected. Wallace passes by a drop-off donation box for children who cannot afford holiday gifts and drops the toys he made in it.

Neru comes out to talk to Wallace then. He has a startled and flustered reaction.

“Ah! Please tell me y-you didn’t see anything... I mean... um... I wasn’t doing anything... okay? You saw NOTHING?”

“Huh?” Neru asks. “I don’t get it. You’re doing something so nice, but... you don’t want people to know or see?”

“Ah... well... it’s....” Wallace turns red. “It’s... embarrassing.”

“...Why?” Neru says.

“Well...” Wallace says. “The toys I make... they aren’t very good... I guess... not yet, anyway...”

“But... I don’t think that matters at all.” Neru says. “I’m sure the kid who receives your gift that you put so much heart and care into will be overjoyed when they see it.”

Neru looks in the donation box, even though Wallace tries to stop her.

“Aw, they’re not bad at all.” She says, seeing what he made

“Ah, well... my father... used to make stuffed toys.” Wallace says. “They were much better than mine. He passed away a few years back. Lately I’ve been feeling down, so my uncle told me I could use the skills I learned from him to make people happy... and well...”

“Well... does it feel nice though?” Neru asks. “Knowing you’re making people happy?”

Wallace’s face lights up with an unexpected smile.

“Yeah!” He says.

“That’s great.” Neru says. “Well, I’m Neru. And well, I already know your name. Wallace, right?”

“Yeah, but... um... I’d like to be called Wally, please...” Wallace says. “That’s what I’d want my friends to call me.”

“Oh. All right then, Wally.” Neru says.

However, two ridiculous villains (Maddie and Sadie, the mad and sad clowns) show up and try to destroy Wallace’s things he worked so hard on.

Stelle, Lunette, and Celestine show up. They give Haku and Neru advice and tell them a message from Queen Rainbow, the Queen of Whimsica...

Apparently, Haku and Neru have been recruited into a group that fights for justice all around Whimsica. All they have to do to participate is to continue to be true to themselves and to continue to use their magic, determination, and kindness, to settle problems.

Maddie and Sadie reveal they attacked because they hate people’s happiness. They think “If we can’t be happy, nobody should be.” Haku and Neru tell them that just because their feelings are understandable, doesn’t mean they are correct.

Haku reaches out to them and says she’s unhappy a lot, and sometimes is even jealous of people who are, but she still tries her best to spread joy. Neru joins in, saying that even though Wallace is unhappy because his dad died, he still tries to make kids smile with his toys.

After this fight, Maddie and Sadie end up reforming and becoming good. We find out that they always wanted to spread joy, but gave up because nobody laughed at them, and therefore became cynical mad and sad clowns. Haku and Neru, along with Wallace, inspired them to try again. After reforming, they join Gladys, a glad clown, and form a trio to make people laugh together.

Intermittently in the story, Haku’s backstory about her brother Dell, who she lost before her parents divorce, had been told. We also get to know of Haku’s cousin Miku, who mysteriously disappeared.

Chapter 13

They have to ride the Tragic School Bus Again... And then the Cash Cab shows up! The driver is Kiyoteru. But after that, they group goes straight to the auditorium!

That night after school, Maddie and Sadie have a fun comedy and music show to perform alongside Gladys in the Cozy House auditorium. Luka, Teto, and Momo have parts in the show as well, and Wallace is also in the show playing the saxophone!

Chapter 14

December 2

Haku and Neru get ready for school.

That day, it’s the birthday of Simone, an outgoing, popular person at school. They are a musical idol. They get to have a school-wide party that cuts through class time.

At the party, Haku catches sight of Miku, her cousin and treasured friend from childhood who mysteriously disappeared one day. She also is friends with Simone. They have an emotional reunion. Haku offhandedly comments to Miku about her lost brother Dell, but notices Miku grows a sour expression on her face at the mention of his name.

However, soon enough, things are attacked again... but the villain this time is... Haku’s long-lost brother, Dell?

Chapter 15

Dell has been notorious in the school for being evil and causing trouble for the innocent.

Miku, who also has magical girl powers, transforms and begins to fight Dell. Haku is in disbelief and is saddened watching two precious people from her childhood fight.

“Dell... this can’t be!” She cries. “I know you aren’t like this... you were so sweet to me. You can’t really be on the side of Monochrome. You just can’t!”

Dell has a completely different and mean look in his eyes than the gentle look Haku remembered from childhood.

Dell doesn’t even seem to remember Haku. He appears completely cold, and he seems sinister. Dell is creating monsters to terrorize and destroy peace, while not even seeming to bat an eyelash.

Haku is heartbroken at having to fight Dell, but Neru urges her she has to do it. Eventually after a strong attack is fired at him, Dell retreats...

Haku is left crying, deeply affected at what she just experienced.

Chapter 16

That night, Haku thinks of what she can do if Dell shows up again. Haku is a bad cook, but she stays up all night at the bakery with Teto and Snowbell, making a batch of the cookies Dell used to eat when they were still living together as children. She doesn’t give up until they taste exactly the way they did that time.

Chapter 17

December 3

Haku and friends spend a day at school and eventually help out another character. The character they help out is Lita.

Chapter 18

Dell shows up again to mess things up. Haku begins pleading to him.

Dell begins charging an attack, getting get ready to hit Haku, but Haku just stands there. Everyone watches, thinking Haku is nuts.

As a last resort, Haku starts singing to Dell. She sings to him the song Dell always sang to her when they were little.

Dell suddenly remembers Haku. Precious memories begin flooding his mind. It shows, because he grows a soft expression stops charging the attack... But all of a sudden, he shakes them off and charges at her with a punch. Miku pushes Haku out of the way and continues to fight Dell.

While fighting, Miku notices Dell isn’t fighting with full force. Miku even notices he seems like he‘s fighting back tears. Eventually, Dell retreats.

Haku is crushed once more. She realizes she forgot to give Dell the cookies she baked.

Chapter 19

That night, Haku feels down, so her friends try to cheer her up. They go to karaoke. Haku is shy but her friends coax her to sing and be confident.

Chapter 20

Meanwhile, Dell is walking down the street after a fight with his abusive dad. He hears Haku sing from the karaoke building.

Dell is affiliated with Monochrome, the planet who wants to ban music. He’s should hate music... but it makes him feel so warm and nostalgic... and painful.

Remembering the times he and Haku sung as children, Dell flees to an abandoned building down the street where nobody would enter to sing by himself. Dell sings the song he and Haku sung together as children, before becoming emotional and sobbing loudly for the first time since childhood.

Dell is letting out years upon years of pain caused by his dad. He can’t believe he ever forgot about Haku. She was really the only friend he’s ever had. As kids, they were an inseparable pair of siblings, before their parents divorced. His father brainwashed him to be evil and forget about Haku, but hearing Haku’s song that day cleansed his heart and restored his memories.

Chapter 21

December 4

The next morning at school.

Haku and Neru join a music club after the urging of Miku and Luka, and meet a lot of new friends.

Teto and Momo, however, say they are too busy with clubs already to be in music club, so they are left out. (Note, they will join in a later part of the story.)

Miku

Luka

Ame

Joy

Emi

Wally

(Rin)

(Len)

(IA)

(Yukari)

(Shun-ichi)

(Octavia)

(Sonata)

(Aria)

(Tempo)

(Lita)

(Aisha)

Chapter 22

Dell shows up again, and this time, a group is with him. Dell has a really sad and forlorn look in his eyes this time...

Haku tries to give Dell the batch of cookies she made, but Dell forces himself to harshly reject them and begins to fight Haku.

Suddenly, all targets are on Haku. Haku defeats most of the group except for Dell and the mysterious leader of his group, and is in bad shape.

The leader of Dell’s group attacks Haku. He is very powerful, and if this goes on any longer, Haku could possibly even get killed.

Dell absolutely cannot let this happen. To Haku’s surprise, Dell desperately jumps in and helps Haku fend off the attack.

“Haku...” Dell speaks to her. “It’s okay now. I’ll fend him off myself. You stay safe. I don’t want you to get hurt!”

“Dell... Dell! No! I can’t... You’ll get hurt too...” Haku begins crying.

“It’s fine.” Dell says, choking up with tears. “I deserve to get hurt. I’ve done nothing but cause people pain... I’ll take the damage for you. So run, before something happens to you!”

To Haku’s surprise, the man says something strange...

“Betrayal, huh? From my own son?”

Chapter 23

“I’m NOT your son!” Dell shouts.

Haku’s face turns white.

“You can’t deny facts.” He says. “You are my son, Dell. Also, Haku... I am your father.”

Haku is too shocked to speak for a couple seconds, but...

“No!” She shrieks. “You are not! You’re a part of Monochrome! You’re evil. You’re the one took Dell away long ago. You made him like this! You raised him and brainwashed him to be just like you! Dell... he was always very sweet to me. He was always protecting me. He’s even protecting me now! He never wanted to be a part of Monochrome! Now I will protect him from you! Begone!”

Haku hits Gin with an ultra-strong attack, and Dell joins in. Gin decides he cannot handle it, so he retreats so he can live another day.

Haku and Dell did not defeat him this time. But at least they chased him away...

Haku pretends to be optimistic after what happened, but her fake cheers quickly turns to sobs. Dell hugs Haku and tells her everything is okay. To Haku’s surprise, Dell is crying too.

Haku had never before seen Dell cry.

Chapter 24

After calming down, Dell begins to talk to Haku and Miku about how evil his and Haku’s dad is. Gin mistreated Dell. Dell always loved music and wanted to be a singer. However, whenever Dell sang, Gin punished him by using evil magic to brainwash him bit by bit to be evil just like him. Eventually, the magic closed the door to Dell’s heart, and his memories, causing him to forget about the happy things in his life, including his love of music, and his memories of Haku.

Chapter 25

December 5

Haku, Miku, Dell, and all the others spend a fun day hanging out.

Dell decides he will join the music club.

————ARC 2————

Chapter 1

(Introduce the lore and conflict as Uta/Defoko and her life/surroundings are introduced.)

Uta Utane (AKA Defoko,) 14 years old, is an artificial humanoid from a dystopian planet (Discord) where music is banned and kept a secret by the government. This planet mass-produces androids. This planet is at war with another dystopian planet (Monochrome) and they both produce androids for the purpose for fighting the war. Due to a manufacturing error, the one of the “Default female-1” (codenamed “Defoko”) androids ended up significantly more sentient. She hated the war and fighting, so she rebelled. Defoko feels very depressed and empty about her life, and hates being a machine.

Chapter 2

One fateful day, Defoko, using her advanced aerospace engineering intellect, completes a high-speed “disappearing” spacecraft she was building so that can flee from the planet unnoticed. She arrives at the magical world of Whimsica where things are better on December 6th. Defoko changes her name to Uta Utane, after some kanji she saw on the sign of a karaoke cafe around her new home.

Uta chose to name herself after kanji from the cafe, because the musical sounds coming from the building made her feel something “warm and poignant.” The night when she visited the cafe, Taya and his friend Ritsu were inside, having a session of singing karaoke. Taya was singing a solo in attempt to get over his shyness. The sound Uta fell in love with was actually Taya’s singing voice.

Uta begins living alone in a small, worn-down apartment in the Cozy House. She acquires a part-time job repairing computers to make ends meet.

Uta would describe herself as being self-aware, but lacking the ability to feel euphoria. (Think of it as a sort of depression.) She wishes she were a “real girl” so she could feel this emotion. Despite this, Uta is a very kind, considerate, wisecracking, and compassionate spirit...

On Whimsica, she is still very lonely for now.

That night, Uta sleeps and she has her first dream, because she experienced something that gave her life a meaning (music.) She hears music in her dream and it makes her happy, but when she wakes up, she cannot explain the sensations she felt.

Chapter 3

Uta enrolls herself in the local magical high school, as she is still a young teen and she wants to meet friends. It is her first time going to a proper school. Her new school is very strange. Along with human students, there is also an array of supernatural humanoids, talking animals, anthromorphs (furries,) other creatures, and even... talking objects!?

Even if that is true, Uta sadly feels she still doesn’t fit in.

On her first day at school, Uta‘s first period class is cooking class. She ends up making the confections explode, and gets a scolding and awful grade from the teacher, Miriam. She doesn’t feel like she fits in. On her way to her second-period class, Uta ends up meeting Taya Soune, her shy 15-year-old classmate.

Taya is very late to his second period class because a mean bully girl named Tei Sukone threw Taya’s monocle (also his power source) in the giant wishing well and ran off, leaving Taya having to change into his wetsuit, dive in the well and find his monocle, and then go back to the dressing room and change back into his suit and tie outfit. Uta meanwhile is wandering the chaotic hallways of the school, completely lost.

Sometimes in Adventure Academy, when class is in session and students are supposed to be in class, there is a small chance of a monster called a grungle spawning in the hallways. If a student needs to visit the bathroom or walk down the hall for any reason during a class session, a hall pass can protect students from these monsters.

A grungle ends up spawning in the hall as Uta and Taya cross paths. It’s nine feet tall and looks like a cross between a penguin, bear, and snake. And it has lots of neon spikes. Neither Taya or Uta have a hall pass on them, so it attacks them!

In Whimsica, grungles are creatures with no souls that typically do nothing but cause destruction. They are mostly made of negative emotions.

Taya may have some magic, but isn’t very good at fighting, so Uta uses her epic android powers to protect them both ad defeat the grungle. Uta has a magical machine gun type of pistol, a force field shield, and teleportation powers, and something like The Force to fling large objects with psychic power.

When grungles are defeated, they sometimes drop various kinds of items. This one drops game tickets to use in the arcade. Uta doesn’t know what they are.

Taya thanks Uta profusely for defeating the beast. He is in awe of the new student’s powers and asks where she is from. Uta is very shy, which Taya doesn’t expect since she is so good in battle. She has a quiet voice that sounds monotone and a bit artificial. Uta finally spits out that she is an android from space. Taya realizes Uta may be sensitive about this, so he vows to try and keep this secret...

Taya tells Uta his name and begins to get to know her. He is quite friendly and guides Uta on her way to her second period class, magic class, which they have together. After school, Taya says he will go to the mall with Uta and show her the arcade, and use the game tickets they acquired from the grungle.

Chapter 4

Uta’s third period is math class, which Taya isn’t in. She feels lonely again and thinks about Taya. But then, she ends up meeting two new friends named Teto and Momo, who welcome her to the school. Taya’s third period class is music class. He has this class with with Ritsu, along with Ritsu’s other good friend, Ruko. Taya tells Ritsu about the kind and cool new student named Uta, but not the fact that Uta is an android from space. Ritsu notices that Taya seems to be fond of Uta, which is great, because he notices Taya seems lonesome a lot and wants him to come out of his shell more. Ritsu then offers to help Taya become more social, by offering him friendship and introducing him to Ruko as well. Taya is overjoyed to have a closer bond with Ritsu and another friend in Ruko.

After third period class, is lunch break, and everyone meets up together. Uta introduces Taya, Ritsu, and Ruko to herself, Teto, and Momo. Neru and Haku also get introduced through Teto and Momo, along with other characters from Arc 1.

For fourth period, Uta has computer coding with Ritsu. Taya has music class with Teto and Momo, and Ruko is alone in language arts.

In fifth period, everyone (including Haku and Neru) has gym class together.

Finally, in sixth period, Uta and Taya have Whimsica Geography class together. Everyone else is together in dance class.

Uta starts opening up to Taya when she feels she can trust him. By the end of the school day, they are friends.

“I want to be a real girl.” Uta somberly tells him then. “I want to have a soul. As an android, I cannot truly feel joy.”

However, Taya believes that Uta is already a real girl, and that she has a beautiful soul. He is determined on his quest to help Uta feel true happiness.

Chapter 5

After school, everyone else is busy, and only Uta and Taya have free time. Taya takes Uta to the arcade. Uta hears all kinds of music at the arcade. Taya has never seen Uta so entranced before. Uta asks Taya why these sounds make her feel so alive. Taya tells Uta that they are more than just sounds, they have feelings and soul, and are called “music.” Uta falls in love with music. When she hears it, she becomes indescribably enthralled.

At the arcade, Taya plays a dance game and gets a pretty high score. Apparently, it’s Taya’s favorite game at the arcade and he has had a lot of practice every chance he could get. Uta is mesmerized as she watches Taya dance to the music. Uta is a bit shy to dance herself, but a spacecraft piloting game catches her attention. Uta plays the game and gets an incredibly high score, and ends up attracting a crowd of people in awe of her skills. Uta ends up getting a huge output of coins to exchange for prizes. When Uta and Taya put their coins together, they have enough to buy a brand-new karaoke machine that even comes with three karaoke albums to sing to!

Music had awoken something deep in Uta’s soul. It’s a feeling of excitement, thrill, and comfort, but also immense yearning. Uta feels she wouldn’t be truly happy unless she would be able to compose music and sing. Taya sees Uta staring longingly at the karaoke machine.

“Oh, would you like the karaoke machine?” Taya asks Uta. “If so, it can be all yours. I already have something like it. I think it would be great for you. You want to sing, don’t you? You’ll get to experience music even more!”

“Thank you.” Uta says. “But... I’m afraid I can’t.”

Uta looks incredibly forlorn.

“Why?” Taya asks softly. “What do you mean?”

Uta explains that she feels she wouldn’t be able to sing or compose music, since one needs a heart to be able to make music. Uta is convinced she doesn’t have one. Also, can a being with an artificial voice really sing?

Taya can tell how much Uta longs to create music. He hugs her gently and tells her a story. Taya thought he couldn’t sing either at first, because he was too shy. But thanks to an old friend he had, he found the courage to keep trying back then. Taya promises he will help Uta however he can as well.

Taya ends getting a bit emotional... Uta ends up getting emotional too. They end up holding up the line. Galaco, a snobby girl from school, is next in line. She rolls her eyes and says “Oh PLEASE.”

Taya ends up developing feelings for Uta. Her story and dream pulls at his heartstrings. He feels very sincerely for her.

Chapter 6

They end up buying the karaoke machine and go back to Uta’s apartment. Taya calls his parents and tell them he is at a friend’s house. Taya supports Uta with her dream and teaches her the first steps to singing. They have their first singing lesson.

Taya is a bit shy with singing in front of Uta, but he is determined to be a good vocal coach. He looks back to the exercises he did with Ritsu in attempt to get over his shyness. As Taya sings, Uta recognizes his voice as “the sound that awakened her soul” back when she first came to Whimsica, but she keeps quiet about it due to being bashful.

It takes a while, but Uta finally figures out how to match pitch. She is able to vocalize simple tunes, but still has a long ways to go...

Chapter 7

The next day before first period, Teto sees one of the non-humanoid students in the school getting bullied in the hallway. The bullies are Galaco, Mayu, and Mizki, the snobby girl clique. They are surrounding and throwing paper at poor Inuhebi, a cute, sluggish limbless creature with a snake’s body and a dog’s head.

Teto is a little apprehensive to face up to them, but knows she has to do something.

“Like, wow. Being fabulous is like, so last year.” Teto says.

“As if. Last time I checked, you weren’t exactly a notable figure.” Mizki says.

“Who needs to be? I’m so sorry you guys can’t just have fun without worrying about who’s on top.” Teto rolls her eyes.

“Shut it, clownface.” Galaco says.

“Yup, that’s me! I’m clownface!” Teto laughs. And laughs, and pulls out a horn and honks it and does a cheesy little dance.

“Ugh. Like, let’s get outta here.” Mayu says.

Teto successfully chased away the mean girls.

Teto goes up to little Inuhebi and asks if he’s okay. Inuhebi isn’t hurt, but he’s sad because he can’t move very fast, and is bullied a lot and is usually late for class.

“Hmm... how about you be my buddy? I’ll carry you on my shoulder. We’ll always be together!” Teto said. “Then you’ll never be late again, and I’ll always be there for you!”

Inuhebi is so happy that he cries tears of joy. Teto lifts him up and lets him ride on her shoulder.

It turns out that Uta, Taya, Teto, Momo, Ritsu, and Ruko all have first period together, but they just didn’t notice before. Inuhebi also has first period with everybody. Teto introduces Inuhebi to the rest of the group, and they are now a group of seven.

“Oh yeah... you were the girl who made the kitchen explode!” Ruko says to Uta, remembering the previous day. Uta is a bit embarrassed.

Momo is the best cook in the class, so she offers to teach Uta a bit how to cook on the side. Taya is very great with cooking and baking as well.

Taya, trusting the others, tells them about Uta’s dream, but is vague about the fact that she is an android from space. Everyone in the group finds that they have an interest in singing in common.

“Hey, since we all like to sing, how about we start up a music group?” Inuhebi suggests.

“Sure!” Momo replies. “That would be fun!”

“That would be great!” Ritsu says. “But what will we name it?”

Everyone begins thinkng long and hard about it...

Chapter 8

Later that day, the group of seven go to the music store together.

Afterwards, everyone goes to Uta’s house and have a karaoke party session.

Uta feels awful and dejected however when it’s her time to sing, however. Everyone else sang so amazingly, and Uta can barely carry a simple tune at this point.

“It doesn’t matter how well you sing, Uta...” Taya reassures her. “It’s about being happy and doing your best. We all want to hear you.”

Everyone cheers Uta on. She takes a deep breath and begins singing “When You Wish Upon A Star” but messes up a bit and stops the music.

“I can’t do it.” She says, her entire body shaking.

“Uta, don’t give up!” Taya says. “I’ll sing with you this time. Will that help?”

Uta nods and tries to calm down.

They take turns singing lines from the song. Uta finally is able to sing the last few on her own. Taya comes in and harmonizes with, her and Uta is amazed at how they were able to sound together.

Everyone claps for both of them. It’s a wonderful feeling Uta wants to treasure forever.

“This moment resonates with me...” Uta says.

Uta ends up practicing her singing all night that night. However, she eventually grows discouraged when she just can’t seem to control her voice as well as she did when Taya was there with her.

Chapter 9

Tei Sukone, the bully, shares first-period class with Uta and everyone else. She is usually skipping class, but this time, Tei actually shows up to first period and causes a lot of trouble.

Tei picks on Taya and Inuhebi because she considers them timid. She picks on Ritsu, because Ritsu is Taya’s friend, and has a tendency to come to people’s rescue.

In the days before, Tei noticed that Inuhebi had become friends with Taya and Ritsu.

Tei’s nasty cronies, Jern and Kild, show up to class too. They both have ugly names.

Inuhebi doesn’t know Jern and Kild, so before class, she bakes a biscuit filled with wasabi, which Inuhebi can’t stand. During class, Jern and Kild give it to Inuhebi as a “present.”

Inuhebi is trusting and bites into the biscuit, only to cough it up seconds later because of the wasabi. Tei can’t conceal her laughter, and Uta notices the scene and figures out what happened.

Uta begins to glare at Tei, who notices Uta for the first time.

“Oh wow. You’re like, so plain-looking.” Tei says to Uta. “I didn’t even notice we had a new student because of how totally plain you are, wow.”

Uta, who underestimates her own strength, takes out her laser cannon...

“Oh, what does that thing shoot? Flowers?” Tei scoffs.

Uta fires a laser at Tei’s hair and burns off part of it.

“AAAHHHH!” Tei shrieks. “THAT... That’s not a normal thing you see on Whimsica! This girl... she must be an alien robot!”

Everyone in the class begins to uproar.

Jern and Kild begin laughing maniacally (and rudely.)

“SHE’S A ROBOT!! SHE’S NOT EVEN REAL!” They screech.

“SHUT UP!” Ritsu belts above all the chaos like the madman soprano he is. “Uta is a precious friend of mine, and she was trying to defend Inuhebi! Robot or not, it doesn’t matter!”

“That’s right!” Taya yells. “Uta cares about us! She’s more real than any of you who put her down!”

Suddenly, Uta is running out of the classroom, unable to handle the stress.

“Ah, Uta! Wait!” Taya runs after her

Ritsu, Momo, Ruko and Teto follow. Teto had gotten Inuhebi as well, and put him on her shoulder.

Uta is running off, But Taya calls her back and stops her. Taya gives her a hug.

“Taya, do I belong here?” Uta asks him.

“Of course you do.” Taya says. “You belong. Everyone belongs here.“

“Tei and her nasty cronies are the ones who don’t belong.” Ritsu says.

After a while, the teacher comes out and tells the group to get back to class. The group does. Tei and her friends are now out of the classroom, because the teacher punished them and sent them to detention. However, because of the “distraction” Uta had created, the crappy teacher also orders Uta to also go to detention.

The rest of the group think this is outrageous, to they volunteer to spend time in detention with Uta.

Chapter 10

In detention with Tei, there is no teacher keeping watch. Therefore, all sorts of madness and fighting could break out.

“So. You do realize you volunteered to have detention to defend something that can’t even dream.” Tei says. Jern and Kild laugh.

“As if!” Ritsu shouts. “Uta is not a thing, and you’re the ones who can’t dream. You three DESTROY dreams. And Uta DOES have a dream! She wants to be a singer and inspire people.”

“She’s very passionate about it too!” Ruko says. Everyone else nods.

Tei bursts into laughter along with her two friends.

“A singer!? Oh, come on! Don’t make me laugh!” Kild says.

“Right? Like, how could Uta possibly sing with such an artificial, robotic voice! She doesn’t even have a soul!” Jern says.

“She’s trying her best.” Taya said. “I know Uta can do it. She’s improved so much since she’s first started.“

“Well, I think she should just give up though. I’m saying this for her own good.” Tei says. “She’s just a robot after all. Robots don’t have souls. They really don’t have what it takes to sing.”

Suddenly, a crushed feeling falls over Uta. She feels discouraged. But she tries her best to hide it.

“That’s... that’s just too far!” Teto says. “Why are you three so joyless and mean!?”

Ritsu goes up to Tei and slaps her, and Tei shoots a beam at Ritsu. Defending her, Teto grows her chimera wings and tries to cast magic on Jern and Kild.

Jern and Kild swiftly dodge the move and use wind powers to blow the desks at the other group. A full-fledged fight had broken out.

In the midst of all the madness, Uta had left the room in tears. Nobody noticed.

A teacher eventually comes in to stop the fight, and sends everyone home with a note to their parent or legal guardian that they were fighting in school.

Since Taya’s parents are strict, he gets grounded.

Chapter 11

After school, Ritsu calls Taya and tells him to sneak out while his family is supposed to be asleep, even though he is grounded. Taya is a good boy and has never done something so... rebellious before.

It takes a bit of coaxing, but Taya eventually agrees. Ritsu, Taya, and Uta make their way to the auditorium, which is empty this time of night. They turn on one spotlight, and shine it on Uta.

“There you go!” Ritsu says. “Don’t you feel like a star now, Uta? The whole stage is yours! Now sing your heart out!”

Uta takes a deep breath, about to sing... until she remembers Tei’s words. They painfully cut through her again, like a knife through butter.

“I can’t.” Uta says.

“Uta...?” Ritsu says. “Why are you saying that? You were getting so good!”

Ritsu notices Uta looking down, with a sorrowful expression.

“Is... is this because of what Tei and her stupid cronies said?”

Uta nods.

“Ritsu... Thank you... But maybe I was not meant to sing.” Uta says sadly, her voice shaking and glitching.

Ritsu grows outraged, mostly at Tei for breaking apart Uta’s self esteem... but also at Uta for letting those words get to her.

“Uta!” Ritsu begins raising his voice. “Are you really going to give up just like that!? Don’t be so weak-willed! If you are gonna give up, your dream will NEVER be reality.”

Uta begins crying and wiping her tears on her sleeve.

“Ritsu, that’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?” Taya says.

“It’s only the truth!” Ritsu says back. “You never know what you can do until you keep trying!”

“Ritsu, can’t you see how hurt she feels already?” Taya wraps his arms around Uta and comforts her. “I’d say give her some time to heal.”

Ritsu looks at Taya for a couple more seconds, sighs, and walks off.

Chapter 12

Taya spent a couple more hours that night trying to cheer up Uta. By the time he got back to his apartment, it was almost morning, and his parents had discovered that he had snuck out and was not in his bed. As a result, Taya becomes grounded for an extra week.

The next day Uta doesn’t give up on singing. Wanting to be alone, she runs off somewhere far away and secluded to practice singing alone.

Uta ends up in the outer reaches of Tragic Woods, a very dangerous forest that also happens to be a Dissonance. A Dissonance is like a cursed land, labyrinth, or dungeon. Monsters tend to spawn inside Dissonances, and they are very hazardous and erratic.

In Tragic Woods, there is a deathly array of dangerous plants, and even though the forest seems devoid of wildlife at first glance, there are monsters such as giant mutant bears and wolves at times. While Uta is singing, a plant temporarily paralyzes her body from the neck down, meaning she can really only move her mouth and use her voice...

It is almost nighttime. After dusk, monsters start to come out in Tragic Woods. Uta can only do one thing—Just keep singing. She sings louder and louder, hoping her voice can reach someone and that they can hear her and rescue her. The effects of plant that paralyzed Uta are temporary, and can be reversed with an injection provided at the emergency room.

Once it is noted that Uta is missing, Ritsu instantly becomes the most worried, considering he hurt her feelings the night before.

Taya is grounded, so he has to stay in his house.

Ritsu, along with a bunch of other characters, form a search party and search around town for Uta. Everyone is extremely worried.

Suddenly, Ritsu hears something as he leaves the town and is standing in the windy field. It’s Uta, singing a powerful and really sorrowful song. (-ERROR.)

It’s coming from the direction of the woods. Tragic Woods.

“Idiot... what’s she doing in Tragic Woods!?” Ritsu says under his breath. But he is extremely, painfully worried.

By the time Ritsu gets there, Uta is in bad shape, as her voice is almost wearing out, she is freezing cold, and the sun almost is below the horizon.

Uta is rushed to the emergency room where she is administered a dose of the injection for her paralysis.

Ritsu gets a chance to apologize to Uta. He says he just wanted to see her fulfill her dream and would’ve been as crushed as Uta if she were to have given up. He didn’t mean to be so harsh.

Ritsu and the rest of Uta’s friends reassure her. Taya gets to come to the hospital as well, and upon seeing Uta, begins crying and apologizing he had to have been grounded.

Uta’s friends help her the best they can, and Uta begins practicing singing nearly every chance she gets.

Taya can tell that Uta really loves music and is truly determined. Eventually he’s impressed and blown away by how far she gets.

Even though Uta was never programmed to be able to sing, she eventually begins to develop a unique singing voice through hours upon hours of practicing painstakingly.

—Eventual chapters idk—

The story goes back to the slice of life, monster of the week, helping people formula. There are also adventures involving the Tragic School Bus and magical mishaps in the school. The old heroines Haku and Neru, along with more characters from Arc 1, begin appearing more during these chapters.

Uta soon discovers her singing voice has magical power and that it can defeat monsters and evil!

Uta and the rest of the group also join the music club established back in Arc 1.

Eventually there is a part where Taya, along with the rest of the group of Uta’s good friends (Teto, Momo, Ritsu, and Ruko) are captured because they were accused of stealing “Defoko” away from the planet that produced her. (Or as Discord calls it, “Deforcing a Defoko.”) Uta is taken back there as well.

Uta is taken back to the android containment center, in a prison-like ward for severely malfunctioning androids. She uses the combat powers she kept hidden for a long time to bust out.

Uta then travels all over the center, fighting aliens and setting up her plan... she is putting speakers all over the premises and connecting them to her microphone.

Suddenly, she finds herself surrounded by the aliens who built her, and they plan to destroy her for “malicious behavior.”

“You’re just one malfunctioning android.” They say. “You’re not that important. We’ll do away with you, and we’ll have plenty more.”

Uta is not having it. She takes out her microphone...

“What are you going to do with that? Announce your defeat?” A couple more aliens surround her and say.

But Uta gives a smug smile and starts warming up her voice. Since there were speakers everywhere, her voice reverberates around the entire place. Since music is banned on Discord, the aliens can’t stand the power of it and cover their ears... The strength of music is downright foreign to them...

Uta can fight the aliens with music, with her singing, the skill she learned in Whimsica.

Once she’s finishing warming up, Uta fights her own creators with a power that is unknown (and deadly) to them.... The power of song! The power of love, and passion, and heart, and... joy! The evil aliens do not stand a chance against the power of Uta’s magical song and voice.

“Default-female model-1 DF01fx-0057! When the heck did you learn to produce a singing voice? This isn’t what you were programmed to do! Stop this madness, right this instant!” They tell her

Uta does not give them mercy and starts belting out GHOST RULE. They took her precious friends. They continue to manufacture androids that cannot feel joy. This needs to stop right now!

Uta ends up destroying the entire sinister operation, and also starts the dystopian planet Discord down its path to peace. The aliens who run the operation get blasted into space. The rest of the aliens are innocent and never wanted to be part of the operation in the first place. They also have finally heard music for the first time, as Uta’s song was broadcasted around the entire planet live on the news. It fills the depressed aliens’ hearts with love and joy.

Discord is finally a peaceful place.

However, Monochrome, the ultimate enemy in the story, still won’t budge, and continues to be an evil force...

After this feat, and rescuing her dear friends, Uta fulfills herself and unlocks her magical girl transformation. In Whimsica, magical transformations are unlocked when the user “fulfills” themself, symbolizing that they’ve overcome a difficult hurdle, accomplished a wonderful goal, or opened the door to their true self.

Uta is the first among her friend group to become fulfilled. In Whimsica, the average age of fulfillment is 16 years old. (Uta, Teto, and Momo are 14. Taya, Ruko, and Ritsu are 15. Inuhebi is 12.)

Now that Uta is fulfilled, she unlocked the power herself to be able to experience euphoria. All the other androids that were produced by her shady manufacturer also gained full sentience and the ability to feel joy as well.

Uta had slain the chains in her heart and will live on happily with Taya and the rest of her friends.

“This moment resonates with me.” Uta says.

“Wait, that’s it...” Taya says. “Resonate... that’s a perfect name for our music group! We should call ourselves Resonate!”

However, after this is over, and it’s time to go back to Whimsica, everyone finds themselves started on the planet.

“Mind if we give you a ride back, Uta Utane?” A default male-2 android created by Discord pulls up in a high-speed spacecraft, along with a default male-1 and a default female-2 android. “I hope you don’t mind. You’re our hero. You’ve done so much for us.”

Uta feels a bit embarrassed and blushes.

The rest of the group steps inside the spacecraft and are given a ride back to Whimsica.

While in the spacious vessel, a conversation is had.

“Thanks to you, we can finally feel the thrill of a good movie, the comfort of a hug, or the satisfaction of hard work... Thank you, Uta.” The default female-2 android says. “And... I have a request for you. Can... can we be sisters?”

“Um...” Uta suddenly feels embarrassed and put on the spot.

“We... were designed to be sisters after all.” The android continues. “Your codename is Defoko... short for “default-ko,” and mine is Defo-Imouto... basically, “default little sister.” Like all of us, I was never given a real name. We were never treated with any love or care. We were all just cold machinery, until you came along...”

Uta suddenly hugs Defo-Imouto, along with the other two.

“We’re all family.” Uta says. “We were all created by the same company. If you want, we can stay together.”

“On Whimsica, with you?” Default male-1 android says.

Uta nods.

“Whimsica is my home now.” Uta says.

“Well, we have nowhere else to go. Why not?” Says default male-2. “By the way, I’m called Defosuke.”

“I’m Defota.” Says default male-1.

“How about I show you a special place?” Uta says. “It’s the place where I got my name. Maybe you’ll find new names there too.”

When everyone gets back, other kanji on the Japanese karaoke cafe read, “Koe” meaning voice, “Hibiki” meaning reverberation, and “Kanade” meaning playing instruments.

Default female-2’s new name is Koe. After all, it was Uta’s voice that saved her.

Default male-2’s new name is Hibiki. Uta’s song echoed around the world and saved everyone.

Default male-1’s new name is Kanade. He recently felt very passionate about learning to play the piano.

“Why did you choose to name yourself after this building, Uta?” Kanade asks.

“Because...” Uta says. “This place was where I first heard the music that awoken my soul.”

Afterwards, there is a chapter about Uta spending time in her apartment with her new siblings.

———————————————

Arc 3

Resonate, the group of Uta, Taya, Teto, Momo, Ritsu, Ruko, and Inuhebi, merge with the unnamed musical group formed by the music club, that includes Haku, Neru and Ame.

They retain the name Resonate, and become a huge group! Queen Rainbow, witnessing Uta’s feat, and sensing that everyone in the group has pure hearts, recruits them all as official members of the Monochrome-fighting musical magic group!

But this is not the end of the story for everyone.

Now it’s time for Taya’s story.

Taya hasn’t seen his friend Saya for years... He is beginning to lose hope that she’s still alive...

Taya Soune and Saya Toune were childhood best friends who grew up someplace else. However, one day when they were both 12, Saya became depressed, and it was hard for Taya to watch his friend suffer. Some time afterwards, an earthquake hit the area and everyone had to take only their most important items and evacuate rapidly before a tsunami were to hit. Taya had to move to his current location, and had to leave Saya without saying goodbye. He never saw Saya again.

After this incident, Taya never got a phone call from Saya, or a letter or any hint she might’ve still been alive and out there. It wouldn’t have been unlikely that Saya and her family had died tragically in the earthquake or aftermath tsunami.

Taya is now left with a heavy, broken heart, and an intense fear of earthquakes. He is most torn apart that the fact that Saya had depression and the last few months before her departure to be so sad.

One day in the present, Uta, Taya, and the rest of the friend group are out at the mall. A song comes on that reminds Taya of his memories with Saya. He begins fighting back tears, but eventually starts sobbing and splits from the group, telling everyone he needs a moment alone. Everyone is concerned. Uta approaches Taya gently after he calms down. Taya then tells Uta about Saya, their story, and how much he misses his friend.

Uta is the first person Taya tells about Saya since he had moved. None of his other friends knew about the sadness he hid in his heart.

It had been years since Saya’s disappearance. Taya has pretty much lost all hope at this point.

Uta reassures Taya that he still shouldn’t give up hope. Uta’s words uplift Taya with a new hope that he had never before felt.

So Taya decides to use that glimmer of hope to look for Saya, who may still be out there.

(He releases the song From Y To Y and writes a play in order to get his name big)

Leeds, a girl with an illness, becomes a big fan of Taya’s musical play.

Sometime in this arc, everyone gets to meet The Queen...

Meanwhile, Uta bonds with her siblings.

One day when Taya is feeling useless, Uta consoles him and tells him something she was too shy to say before.

“Taya, your voice was the sound that awoken my soul. When I first came to Whimsica, I walked past the karaoke cafe, and I heard you sing. It was the first time I had ever heard music. You sang so wonderfully, and I felt so warm. I felt then, that music was a truly amazing thing. It was you who changed my life Taya... So please, don’t feel sad.”

Eventually, there is drama with a girl named Qingxian who takes advantage of Taya’s kindness and asks him to do lots of favors for her. As a result, Taya ends up getting sick right before a big day.

Eventually, it turns out that Saya is actually still alive. One fateful day, Taya and Saya reunite at an airport.

At the busy airport, Saya at first doesn’t recognize Taya because he’s trans-masculine now. They are both transgender, with Saya identifying as trans-feminine since childhood. Taya, however, discovered his true identity a bit later.

Taya eventually finds Saya in the crowd and runs after her. Saya sees Taya and passes him by.

Taya loses Saya in the crowd and becomes heartbroken...

Saya had to find Taya within a certain time period before her mom urges her to go back on a flight home.

Taya is completely heartbroken and starts crying because he doesn’t know why Saya just passed him by.

Taya calls out again and speaks how much he misses his friend from his heart. Saya recognizes his mannerisms and how he says he misses her.

Saya eventually recognizes Taya’s voice, even though it’s changed.

“Taya..? Taya...! Is that you?” She says, emotionally running forth.

“Saya? You didn’t recognize me?” Taya says, tearfully and relieved.

“I’m so sorry...” Saya sobs. “I missed you so much!”

“Me too... It’s so great to see you again...”

They hug.

Meanwhile, Ritsu is watching at the scene, crying happy tears for them. Ruko comments on how much Ritsu must care about Taya, despite how different he and Taya are.

Saya becomes a part of Uta and Taya’s group of friends.

Arc 4

At the beginning of this arc, we learn about Saya’s side of the friendship story.

Then, Uta has a new goal. She wants to become a musical artist, but feels discouraged wondering if she can make people happy with her music.

Taya, wanting to motivate Uta, has an idea of a gift to buy her. He buys her a dharma/daruma doll, a Japanese decoration.

Uta and Taya now live next to each other in the cozy building. Taya presents his gift to Uta.

“I bought you a gift! It’s called a daruma.” Taya says. “As you can see, the eyes are blank. You draw in one eye when you set a goal for yourself. When your goal is complete, you fill in the other eye. Here, I’ll give you a permanent marker.”

Taya doesn’t notice it yet, but Uta is shaking and getting a very painful flashback looking at the familiar shape of the toy.

Taya puts a permanent marker down on the counter.

“Uta, look.” Taya says. He pushes the daruma doll down with his finger, but it balances and comes back up. The way it comes back after being knocked over triggers traumatic feelings for Uta.

“See? Daruma dolls always get back up after being knocked down! So remember that whenever you’re feeling discouraged, okay?”

Taya notices Uta is silent.

“...Uta?” Taya says again. He looks at Uta and notices she is trembling with tears streaming down her cheeks. She wipes her face with her sleeve, and suddenly she’s hyperventilating as if she’s panicking.

“Uta? Are you okay?” Taya asks. Taya puts his hand on Uta’s shoulder, but Uta brushes him off. He notices an expression of fear is on her face as she backs away.

“Uta, what’s the matter? What’s wrong? You can tell me... please...” Taya offers comfort again in a calm voice. Uta shakes her head.

“No...” Uta manages to choke out. She begins to flee.

“Uta!” Taya promptly follows her in an attempt to calm her down, but sensing that his being there is only distressing Uta more, Taya lets her go.

“Uta...” Taya mutters. Once she’s out the door, Taya is left with worry and heaviness in his heart.

The shocking scene replays in his head a few times. Taya had never seen Uta in such a state before... He could sense every bit of her pain. But what could it have been? What could have triggered it?

Taya calls Ritsu on his cell phone. Ritsu hears the heaviness in Taya’s voice and figures out he’s about to cry. Ritsu tells Taya he’ll be there for him. Taya only gets a few words out before he starts crying over the phone.

After a few minutes, he calms down and tells Ritsu what happened.

“So... I got Uta a daruma doll and I showed it to her, if that part matters. I was in the middle of showing her that no matter what pushed them down, they get back up. I thought that would inspire her to always get back up no matter that pushed her down. But when I looked at her face, she was crying and hyperventilating... I tried to calm her down, but she began to panic and reject being comforted... It was if I was suddenly a stranger to her... It felt so scary. But I couldn’t imagine what it must’ve felt for Uta herself. I wonder what could’ve triggered such a response in her?”

“Hmm...” Ritsu starts thinking. “It sounds to me like Uta was having a panic attack. Was she acting as if the entire world was caving in on her?”

“Yeah...” Taya responds. “She kept trying to get away, so I just let her. Me being there only seemed to be stressing her out.”

“I see...” Ritsu says. “Perhaps Uta is just the type of person who prefers to be alone during times of distress. Or perhaps she just didn’t want you to see her in such a state. Either way, please don’t take it personally. Uta wouldn’t try to reject you on purpose.”

“Okay...” Taya says. “But... what could’ve caused her to panic? I hope I didn’t do anything to hurt her...”

Tears begin to pool in Taya’s as he recalls how painful Uta seems to feel.

“The last thing I want to do is hurt my dear friends.” He says sadly.

“Taya, based on what you said, I have a theory that maybe daruma dolls could be Uta’s trigger.”

“A trigger?” Taya asks. “Ah, you mean... like how I have a phobia of earthquakes?”

“Yeah, sort of like that.” Ritsu says. “A trigger is anything that brings negative feelings or flashbacks to someone. Even though daruma dolls are innocuous to you and me, a trigger could potentially be anything. I’m wondering if perhaps Uta had a traumatic experience in her past that had to do with daruma dolls.”

“Ah... that would make sense!” Taya says. “Poor Uta... Now I feel awful for hurting her.”

“Well, you didn’t do it on purpose.” Ritsu says.

“Well... what should I do now?” Taya asks.

“I say, give her some space.” Ritsu says. “Wait until Uta is willing to open up with her trigger and willing to tell you her feelings and confirm it. Don’t forget to apologize, and try to make her feel accepted.”

“Okay. Thanks, Ritsu.”

“Anytime.” Ritsu says.

“Um... Ritsu?” Taya asks. “You’re... a really good friend, you know? You may seem wild, but... you’re wise when it comes to this stuff, and really caring! So thanks!”

“Oh... it’s nothing really.” Ritsu says. “I just know how to deal with this stuff because... I know what it’s like. To deal with these emotions and stuff. But... I’m fine, really!”

“Oh... well, at least you’re ok now.” Taya says with a bittersweet smile. “Bye for now!”

“See ya!” Ritsu says.

They hang up.

It turns out Uta’s trigger of daruma dolls indeed has to do with a traumatic memory from her past.

Back when Uta still was a combat android on Discord, before she fled, she and a team of other combat androids were in a traumatic battle with a tremendous monster shaped like a daruma doll. The monster was ultra-powerful and seemed to never tire out.

Just like a real daruma doll, it would always get back up, no matter what pushed it down.

Many of the other androids succumbed to their battle wounds, or used up all their power and were wiped out, and could never be brought back.

The monster was eventually defeated, but not without a substantial amount of androids never returning to life. Uta was one of the lucky ones involved in the battle who survived.

Needless to say, Uta was incredibly traumatized. However, her feelings were never validated since she was treated as a machine. Also, even though the other androids didn’t have quite the same emotional capabilities, she could tell they were very traumatized too, and felt awful for them as well.

This arc will eventually be focused on Ritsu however, and reveal his depression and insecurities. Uta’s PTSD will also be a theme along with Ritsu’s depression. They will help each other grow and overcome their negative feelings.

Other themes brought up will be Haku and Neru’s autism and depression, Ame’s low self-esteem, and Taya’s insecurities. Saya was also diagnosed with depression right before she got split apart from Taya, and it comes into her life on and off.

In this arc, Taya also cheers up and befriends a boy in the hospital named Jay, who has leukemia. At the end of the arc, Jay becomes dispatched. Jay gets to become a member of Resonate after being their fan, looking up to Taya especially.

However, this arc won’t be all depressing! It will feature a lot of bonding, friends having fun, and of course, wholesome humor and cheer.

Resonate grows and develops as a group as well. Monsters are fought, and some songs are released!

Koe and Nana become friends.

Teto’s cousin Ted comes into the story!

Arc 5

The backstory of Haku’s (and Miku’s) grandmother is revealed... slowly.

Swim class

Celestine and Nika’s friendship backstory is told, leading up to how the curse set where royals and commoners can’t befriend was broken.

Kanade and Momotaro become a couple... Momotaro is Momo’s older brother!

Ame goes on fun, eventful adventures with friends.

Hibiki meets Demo one sleepy day.

Arc 6

Fun times for everyone.

A mysterious guy appears at school... But it’s actually just Ruko’s silly cousin, Rook.

Haku follows in the footsteps of her grandmother in this arc. It’s revealed she was once a powerful magical girl in Whimsica.

Ame is feeling down on her birthday... but it turns into an awesome adventure and surprise party!

Taya finds an ice-blue egg (size of a chicken egg) outside in the cold when the Tragic School Bus takes him and friends to the Northern Seaside Peaks one day. The nest was destroyed and abandoned. Aside from the single egg with a small crack in it, only eggshells of its siblings were left behind. The egg is cold, so Taya keeps it warm all the way home. He brings the egg to a shelter, and begs the rescuers to put it in an incubator, even though he was told it has a low chance of survival. The egg unexpectedly survives and hatches into a tiny species of harp seal called pocket seal three days later. Pocket seals are commonly kept as pets. Taya is attached to the seal, so he decides to keep him as a pet and names him Mochi, after how fuzzy and round he is. Mochi is a bit weak at first, but grows stronger with love and care. Mochi lives in a terrarium installed in Taya’s house, and eats kibble made for pocket seals, and fish. Taya sometimes even prepares Mochi gourmet fish dishes.

Tei also reforms in this arc after accidentally sending Inuhebi to the hospital...

At the end of this arc, Haku falls asleep and gets to see her grandmother again in a dream during a beautiful moment.

Arc 7

This arc is when the previous slower pace starts to get broken.

The plot begins to thicken!

Uta experiences android prejudice.

A jerk named Carl Carlson forcibly dates Uta, then dumps her once he finds out she’s an android.

Haku and Neru get an important job!

New, stronger villains show up.

Teto uncovers the secret of her chimera side?

Momo feels insecure... then gets brainwashed by a sneaky villain...?

The Princess Trio needs help with something...

#symphony saga #symphony Saga resonate #symphony Saga: resonate #utau #vocaloid #my writing #brainstorm #idea #life of pastell #whimsica #my art #fic #whimsica saga

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