#yozora spec

[hollowwhisperings]

What's In The Box? (KH Spec)

in KH3 & KHUX, the Master of Masters (MoM) tasks Luxu with lugging around a big, fancy black box.

MoM never tells Luxu (or ANYONE) what's actually IN this box... but Maleficent decided it (& its Assumed Connection to MoM's Book Of Prophecies?) was worth the effort of... stalking Sora & his enemies for multiple games, spectating on the latest Keyblade War, and, presumably, tricking some Keyblade Wielder (Kairi, maybe?) into Opening The Box for her.

KH3 namedrops Pandora's Box & the Chest of Davy Jones outright: Pandora's Box has two variant contents, Davy Jones' Chest holds his heart (& his heartbreak).

KH3 also, indirectly, reminds players of IRL 'Black Boxes' by using datacubes in the BH6 World, referencing memory chips, backups & data throughout the level. Datacubes & the corruption thereof first appeared in KH re:Coded, a game featuring a Data Riku (bearing KH1 Riku's likeness) being preyed upon by Maleficent (she & her connections to Riku are Important to this theory).

There is an IRL kind of Black Box which, like the Baymax memory chip, acts as the protective case of a Backup Copy of a plane's movements & data entries so that, in the event of disaster, the Black Box will survive & serve as a record of everything that happened.

THAT kind of 'Black Box' is invoked in KHUX with its 'Data Daybreak Town'. It's also likely that the Lost Masters Luxu summoned at KH3's end were retrieved from a similar data backup.

The MoM's Black Box, however, predates KHUX entirely: so what's in HIS box?

I suspect that the Box contains something that is all these boxes COMBINED (remember that Pandora's Box has 2 variants):

a black box built to Survive Disaster, Containing Records & Data Thereof.

the Chest of Davy Jones, a box holding the Human Heart of an Immortal... and his heartbreak with it.

a Pandora's Box that kept all of Humanity's Innate Goodness, the opening of which doomed humanity to corruption & sin. One 'Good' remained in the Box & with Humanity: 'Hope'.

a Pandora's Box that kept all Evils from the world, the opening of which doomed humanity to mortality, war, famine, etc. The only 'Evil' left in the box? Hope.

Yes, depending on the version of the Pandora Myth you're reading, 'Hope' is seen as a remaining virtue OR as a cruel 'gift'.

The MoM named each of his six pupils for one of the Seven Deadly Sins ('Evils', if you will). These pupils became known as the 'Lost Masters'. None of these pupils are named for 'Pride', generally understood to be the 'worst/heaviest' Sin: the absence implies that MoM himself is 'Pride'.

Incidentally, there is one readable word engraved on MoM's Box: 'super'. Following the naming conventions of the Lost Masters ('Luxu' = 'Lust', in latin) this translates to that missing sin, 'Pride'.

Considering that the Black Box is the MoM's, I speculate that it contains HIS heart: this makes Additional Sense for KH because Disney's Snow White features this 'heart in a box' concept... and, in BBS, the role of Huntsman was assigned to TERRA (which he, obvs, did not do). Terra DID, however, end up 'stealing' a heart later on... the heart of Aurora, as in Disney's Sleeping Beauty, and as tricked by MALEFICENT (oh look, here she is again, how INTERESTING).

What's Inside The MoM's Heart?

Well, following the premise of Davy Jones, MoM's mortality... and his capacity for love. Given that the MoM lead his pupils toward CIVIL WAR, standing by as this war repeated itself not only in KHUX but in Dark Road and in BBS AND IN KH3-

yeah, it makes sense that this guy has survived his immortality via being incapable of genuine compassion.

(there is also the possibility that he's outlived all these generations of keyblade wielders due to getting trapped/hopping over to UnReality, blissfully helpless to Those Wars He Instigated... buuut this theory assumes his Conveniebnt Absence & his Prophecies of [Ragnarok] were Deliberate)

I am Assuming A Lot about MoM's abilities: that he is immortal, that he can conceal his presence, that he is a He, that he is a form of Nobody, that he not only COULD but DID witness every iteration of the Keyblade War in the KH series. That seeing that war & its tragedies repeat is WHY that war keeps happening.

My theory is that MoM's Heart, safe in its Box (until Maleficent manages to open it/use it as blackmail), is MoM's "backup": his memories and love and despair from an Even Earlier Keyblade War, one where Darkness and the person who became MoM were the ONLY survivors.

No Dandelions. No MoM "and his best friend". No "lost, separated but not forever". No "True Love's Sacrifice" and DEFINITELY no "time-travel fix-it where No One Dies (except Xehanort & Sora, kind of)".

Just MoM. And Darkness.

...and THAT'S why MoM keeps setting generation after generation up for Ragnarok. THAT'S why MoM showed himself to Xehanort (who helped avert HIS generation's War, if not its Tragedy), why MoM was so DELIGHTED to discover Sora (& Riku): SORA ESCAPED HIS TRAGIC FATE.

MoM's Plan(s)

Sora (& Riku & Kairi) have proven that it is POSSIBLE to Change Destiny, to have Everyone Live.

So, naturally, MoM needs to test Sora (& Riku) AGAIN, in a controlled experiment, to figure out "How" KH3's ending was possible... and if it can be REPLICATED.

The x-blade is an additional factor in MoM's efforts to recreate the Keyblade War as he lived it, changing players & adding variables to figure out how (& 'where') Things Go Wrong.

If MoM hails from the FIRST Keyblade War, where Kingdom Hearts itself summoned the x-blade to protect itself yet ultimately cut its losses to prevent Darkness triumphing entirely... then Sora's 'Ultima' keyblades, his Nobody's ability to dual-wield, his 'Combined Keyblade' with Riku? These are all VERY INTERESTING to MoM!

Look at the previous attempts to summon or artificially forge the x-blade:

collecting 'Lux' (Unions, failure)

posession by Darkness (Baldr, failure)

Xehanort (experiment ongoing)

cutting a heart into 'Light' and 'Darkness' then having them Fight (Ventus, partial success)

the keyblade war in BBS (failure)

Whatever That Original Nobody Experiment with Ansem Was (..?)

multiple layers of possession of a Chosen Host, collecting the Hearts of Worlds & the Seven Lights, etc (MoM's Note to Future Self: "That Fairy Might Be Onto Something")

Roxas dual-wielding (???)

Xion dual-wielding (!!!)

Whatever The Heck Xemnas Was Up To in KH2 (fai-)

Sora & Riku's Boss Fight with Xemnas (-PARTIAL SUCCESS!)

Data Hearts..? (MoM's Underlined Note to Self: "KEEP EYE ON MALEFICENT")

Sora & Riku's Hijacked Mark of Mastery Exam (PROOF OF CONCEPT! req. further testing)

KH3 (...failure WAIT WHAT'S HAP-)

KH 2.9 (???)

Sora's Hijacking of the Aqua Rescue Mission (success??)

KH3's 2nd/3rd Keyblade War (SUCCESS: ISOLATING VARIABLES FOR FOCUSED TESTING)

quadratum (experiment ongoing)

MoM's Goal?

replicate results of Sora (& Riku?) testing of 99% survival rate & successful x-blade utilization in 1st KBW. save everyone. win.

Or, in Other Words...

learn method of summoning x-blade & replicate method for personal use via proxie (Yozora)

return to the origin story of KH's universe, the First Keyblade War (memories preserved in MoM's heart, a touchstone between Then & Now)

change what was destined to be a tragedy: unchain fate (overwrite ancient history)

everyone survives to build a new, brighter world (return heart to body)

...and the future, that Sora & his friends are from? Erased from Ever Existing in the first place. (pandora's box: saving the past at the cost of the future)

#kh spec #MoM #the master of masters #the black box #kh spoilers #kh theories #riku is the light #riku is the child of destiny #sora is the child of destiny #the gayblade #yozora spec #i don't think soriku can defeat MoM unless he has his heart #so i don't actually know how soriku could prevent MoM from overwriting reality to save his past #maybe darkness would help soriku? darkness is the only other surviving witness #the first keyblade war #worldline theory #sleeping realm theory

[kicktwine]

*slides in on fuzzy socks* hi hello i was wondering. If you have any fic recommendations for kh. Because I just finished kingdom hearts three and am looking at the number of fics on ao3 and am Very intimidated so,,,, (dont feel like you gotta resp to this tho!)

oh anon, yes

I’m gonna break this into two categories, not because I have 100 bookmarks for you, but because organization makes me happy and I think just coming out of KH would make u more inclined to canonverse than aus or more conceptual fics… all of which I have!! And keep in mind a lot of really good fics on ao3 are ships. So let’s see here

canonverse/canon-adjacent

(I don’t need you to) worry for me - cigna_hime - I present you with an amazing fic about vanitas seeking out ventus way before he was supposed to, and ending up a wayfinder. Fic that makes me feel soooooo many emotions

Dandelion seeds - corishadowfang - khux likers do you want more dandelions? And Union leaders? Of course you do dandelion seeds is a collection of oneshots following ephy and the other leaders as they try to run daybreak town for four years together. This has made me cry as well. If you like this read her other work it has subject x skuld and treasure planet in it yes yes yes

Like some pitch moon - alcor - this one is very violent and it is also VERY SATISFYING, im not even a leaisa and leaisa go BRRRRR. also there’s some really cool stuff with ymx and kairi in here. Lea and Kairi enter the final battle of kh3 together, and something sure hits the fan.

runs on happy faces - bukkunkun - short, sweet, so sweet, so so sweet, sora grows up on the gummiship

the joining of unlike things - mousapelli - love this one!! worldbuilding about keychains!! Forging keychains! Roxas and riku and sora and aqua!

reminiscent - therasia - REMINISCENT GOOD. Ventus misses Vanitas (or at least the challenge) and goes to fight the vanitas remnant about it, to the detriment of literally just himself a lot. Tagged as ship but as it’s unfinished, it’s not really there yet

like old times (before we had a care in the world) - prototyping - I could prolly have a whole category about wayfinder fluff. I do have a whole category about wayfinder fluff psst hey kid

aus (outside of canon)

See you in shibuya - end-alls - TWEWY TIME this one is FUN. It’s a whole what if about yozora, Sora, and riku in the reapers game, and I love the spec worldbuilding and character stuff. also vanitas gets a leather jacket. What more could you ask for

they may pass - magicites - ventus vanitas ffx au! a sellsword and an al bhed summoner complete their pilgrimage. I’m on the floor sobbing my eyes out and the author knows I’ve done this multiple times and she laughs at me (not really she’s very nice.)

cough it out - ??? - verrrrry cute soriku confession fic. sora is sick and riku accidentally gets roped into not avoiding him anymore. Also sora is obsessed with Disney movies

cool sea turtle beats to relax/rehabilitate to - frootlups - dandelions run a sea turtle rescue and it’s literally one of the only chatfics I have ever found that feels like an actual discord server they would have. this one is so fun and Ephemer saying “I’m literally obsessed with you. Like wtf is wrong with you” is in my head forever

at the edge of hope - bookwormally - PACIFIC RIM AU!!!!!!!!!!!!!! currently being updated WHAT more could you WANT they pilot JAEGARS TOGETHER

umbra, penumbra - end-alls - vanitas-ventus roleswap. Ventus is spooky scary, and gets his hand licked by a darkness rat. I made fanart for this one it makes me go :]

a lot of these authors have many other very good works, and I have a stockpile of fics that are Similar (like my ten wayfinder fluff fics) - so, like if there’s only one oneshot here or only one cool au and you want more, lemme know and I’ll let you know if I have em! I kind of guessed and went for the medium long, some shorter

#I love fic and fic authors but I’m very picky about my fic #so this is my curated collection here AJFBESKGB NOT TO SOUND. PRETENTIOOUS? I GUESS? #ch’boy has. fics that are less conventional but make my brain explode #A ton of fics just about ven I think he ties sora for - nope 57 sora 53 ven #fics that are weird but I love them #MORE aus etc etc etc etc #pineovercoat. (explodes) #there are fics I love but didn’t put here is what I’m saying. Thought abt your just finishing 3 and went hmmmm what fics would I like then #hope it works dghfhjvgdj #ask #anon

[dragonaea]

    ( tag dump )

#*. PIERCE THE SKIES ( SELF ) #*. PRETTY BOY ( NOCTIS ) #*. BLONDIE ( PROMPTO ) #*. SPECS ( IGNIS ) #*. MUSCLES ( GLADIO ) #*. POUTY ( YOZORA ) #*. V: DARKNESS BEFALLS THE LAND & SKY ( CANON VERSE ) #*. V: CONQUEROR OF THE LAND & SKY ( PRE CANON VERSE ) #*. V: MASTER OF HER OWN PATH ( MERCENARY VERSE ) #*. V: I’LL TELL YOU THE TALE OF THE PIRATE QUEEN ( PIRATE VERSE ) #*. V: OH HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN ( BNHA VERSE ) #*. V: HEED THE CALL ( FATE VERSE )