#this is like. the year between kh3 and melody of memory

[thetrashthatsmilesback]

I was going to do this in replies but decided this was easier. I hope none of this comes off as rude, I just got out of the shower 🫠 I say all of this with the tone of upmost respect /gen

@thelimefactory @favored-blade I actually also thought he should be 16 in kh4, but i saw regularpat, damo, and bioroxas all say he was 17 in kh4, and since youtubers are the most accessible part of the fandom I thought I'd just go with what they said ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I agree that sora being 15 in kh3 makes the most sense with there being less than a year between kh2 and kh3, but I can understand the argument that they might have aged up since it's still several months

@favored-blade youre so right about the 7 days thing, but that leaves me with even more questions. Either it's theory one from above that Strelitzia only recently came to Quadratum, or it could mean that the beginning part of kh4 is actually happening before Melody of Memory, and if the events of kh4 are happening at the same time as melmem, what does that mean in terms of who actually shows up? Does this mean Riku won't get to Quadratum until kh5? If kh4 is taking place immediately after re:mind then that's interesting regarding the timeline

@agentperezbian so i get what you mean but I actually dislike the idea that Sora, and frankly all the kids, haven't been forced to grow up too fast. A core theme of Kingdom Hearts is maturing/growing up. We even the idea that growing up is inevitable in Ven's arc. His arc shows that even if others are trying their hardest to protect you from growing up, it's going to happen eventually and you will lose your innocence. Sora's relationship with Pooh becoming weaker was also supposed to indicate that he's growing up. Sora's issue is with change of the status quo, not necessarily with maturity. He spends the entire first three games (kh1, com, kh2) chasing after Riku and Kairi, a sign that he has remained stagnant in a way, but he has matured in other ways. His darkness has grown. He learned to prioritize the bigger picture over just his friends (i love the Kh1 manga's emphasis on how much Sora didnt care about the apocalypse, he just wanted to fine Riku and Kairi. It's wonderful, and while the manga aren't full canon they were written with Nomura's input so idk).

"Sora, don't ever change." "Huh?!" Sora has attempted to remain stable for Kairi, but he has matured over the series. I dont think the kid that watched everyone he knew die twice (the destiny island fall to darkness and then the keyblade graveyard) has avoided being forced to grow up too soon, even ignoring all the times he's killed himself.

That being said, the narrative definitely emphasizes his inability to change through artificial means (primarily his memories). I just dont think resistance to change is the same thing as being unable to mature. Riku's more amenable to change as his arc is a redemption arc, but Sora's fear of change isn't necessarily the same as not growing up/maturing. For example, his fear of change definitely aligns with his fear of losing friends - but it manifests in him sacrificing himself for others (including what landed him in the situation he's in in kh4). But this leaves the question - is being willing to die so that you do not have to live without one of your friends still existing immaturity? Is that fear of change immaturity? I feel like they're different in a way. Part of growing up is losing those close to you, but an inability to cope with that isn't necessarily a refusal to grow up or mature.

Idk i just dont think the games have forced him the remain immature. Kid has gone through two apocalypses, all three Kairi, Riku, and yes Sora have been forced to grow up way too fast

(Also please remind me to return to the idea that Ventus had two people attempting to keep him from growing up and yet was forced to in the end despite their attempts, I like that idea and how it may play into kh4 if Sora's memories are the Aqua and Terra trying to keep Sora from maturing, Sora is Ventus, and circumstancesare the Vanitas of it all)

People keep saying Sora will be 17 in kh4, but that raises the question

Do dead people age?

Strelitzia appeares to be the same age she was when she died, but we both don't know how long she's been in Quadratum or if it's even Strelitzia (I remember ppl theorizing it could be one of the 13 original darknesses inhabiting her body when the trailer first dropped, and there's all the stuff with "this is not what I look like." It could be anyone taking the form of Strelitzia).

If they're in unreality, and fictional characters don't age unless time passes in their story, then it's possible that in Quadratum you stop aging or age differently than in reality. Sora /should/ be 17 in kh4, but there's nothing to verify that. If Quadratum's time is more similar to the real world, he could be 19 or 20. If it's stagnant then he's still 16.

We only think he's 17 because there's less than a year between kh2 and kh3, and then a year between kh3 and melmem. We have no idea if that was a year for Sora though.

[dawnwalks]

@skybright​.      →     from here.

‘ we’ve come a long way, you and i. ’

the sun is setting in twilight town  ,  just as it always is.  the beach here is  different  than the shores of the islands riku grew up on  ,  the water is warm even now  &  the tide never  quite  makes it to his toes.  sand is stuck to the bottom of his feet  &  the back of his legs  &  somehow  ,  riku is  sure  it found a way into his hair  ,  which he  hates  the thought of digging out later.

but  ,  he thinks  ,  it could be  pouring  rain  ,  or they could even be surrounded by  heartless  &  there’s still no other place he’d rather be  ,  because he’s  here  ,  alive  ,  with someone he cares about  &  who cares about him.

it’s almost  funny  to him  ,  that it’s  roxas  sitting in the sand next to him  ,  popsicle half hanging out of his mouth as they watch the waves.  riku’s expression is  amused  ,  humming as he looks over at roxas  ,  popsicle now in hand as blue eyes meet his  ,  &  riku’s almost  surprised  to find his heart flutter a bit.

we’ve come a long way, you and i. 

‘ to say the least. ’

riku gives a quiet  snort  in response  ,  shrugging as he leans on his hands  ,  watching the sun   inch  below the waves that roll in.  he  certainly  never expected to have  this  with roxas: holding hands when they walk through town  ,  finding any  &  every reason to be close.  because if you had asked him a  year  ago  ,  the person riku would’ve wanted next to him was someone else entirely.

but things are  different  now  ,  &  riku’s almost happier it’s  not  sora next to him as he brushes roxas’ arm with his own. 

‘ i didn’t think we’d get here, like this. ’ 

under the sand  ,  riku settles his hand over roxas’  ,  not quite holding it  ,  but not so far from it.  &  it wasn’t as though riku had ever been  immune  to seeing bits  &  pieces of sora in roxas  ,  but they weren’t the same  ,  &  maybe that’s for the  better  .  his fingers curl around the blonde’s hand gently  ,  looking at him only out of the corners of his eyes  ,  smile softening slightly.  riku was never  good  with his emotions  ,  always feeling too much or too  little  ,  destructive in both his anger  &  his care.  it was no secret that  balance  was not his strong suit.

perhaps it made sense he wound up like this  ,  with someone just as unbalanced as him.

‘ not that i’m complaining about it. ’ 

if he can tell the slight color in roxas’ cheeks is from  more  than the sun  ,  riku doesn’t say anything  ,  not right now.  he closes his eyes for a moment  ,  listening to the waves crashing on the shore  &  the sea breeze blow around them. 

‘ another year like this....i don’t think it’d be so bad. ’ 

he’s  grinning  now  ,  &  fixes his gaze on roxas fully  ,  who looks away in  embarrassment  .  it’s so very  roxas  of him that riku can’t help but  laugh  ,  the hold on roxas’ hand loosening slightly  ,  if only for riku to lace their fingers together.  it’s  adorable  ,  &  riku can’t help the urge to lean over  &  press a kiss to his cheek with that same grin  ,  giving his hand a squeeze. 

‘ c’mon, we should probably head back.  i don’t wanna think about all the sand stuck to me anymore. ’ 

no  ,  riku thinks  ,  another year of this might not be so  bad  after all.

[embraceyourdestiny]

I really hope the only reason Kairi has not been at the forefront of kh is because, like nomura often does with the series, he didn’t write a specific and concrete story for her so she could be used at a later point that fit her and the story more and gave him room to really work her in.

She’s the only main character in the series that we truly know basically nothing about which is bananas considering her significance to the story. She’s been a Princess of Heart since the beginning of this story and yet we hardly know what being a Princess of Heart even means? While we really don’t know much about the pasts of most of the main characters we at least know other aspects of their life and personality and abilities because of the journeys we went through with them.

Sure, we don’t know Aqua and Terra’s past and what life on the Land of Departure was like but we’re intimately familiar with their image of themselves, how they view morality and righteousness, their fears and shame and ambitions.

With Roxas, Naminé, and Xion we genuinely know every aspect of their life because we were there for it.

With Riku and Sora we’ve had deep dives (literally) into their subconscious. We’ve seen the worst sides of themselves and the best. We know their morals, their hopes, their feelings. They are easily the two main characters we know the most about.

Even Ven, though his past before and between Khux and BSS is still missing and he’s the most elusive of the main cast, we know about the things he’s chosen to hide from or forgotten against his will. We know about Vanitas and how he was abused by Xehanort (which even Terra and Aqua don’t know much about). We saw his struggle with jealousy and desire and we’ve seen the extent of his anger and his love.

But Kairi? We know a handful of things about her and most of them are just facts, not decisions she’s made or many aspects of her personality. Of Kairi we know,

•She was from Radiant Garden (KH1)

•She’s a Princess of Heart (KH1)

•Her grandma told her about the legend of Worlds and Light, which is connected to the Age of Fairytales (KH1)

•She enjoys writing letters, specifically to Sora (KH2)

•She trained with Axel under Merlin (KH3)

•She is the one who held onto Sora’s image and brought him back / kept him safe (KH1/3)

•She feels strongly about Naminé and thinks she deserves to exist (KH3)

•She was experimented on by Terranort and had her memories messed with (MoM)

And… that’s really it. Of course there are little, nuanced moments scattered throughout the series but they’re very small and rare that it really doesn’t add up to much. Melody of Memory gave us the most tease of the kind of person Kairi is beyond being kind and that’s 18~ years after she was first introduced.

What does Kairi look like at the end of her rope? How does she react under duty and responsibility? What makes her laugh, cry, sentimental? What insecurities does she have? Has she struggled with darkness? What would that look like to her? In depth, how does she feel being left behind beyond “it makes me sad?” There are so many questions to be asked of Kairi’s character and it feels too intentional for her to have “conveniently been forgotten” all this time. Out of 10 protagonists and dozens of other characters both major and minor, she’s the only one with minimal motivations and expressed emotions?

To me it feels like Nomura’s been waiting for the right place to put her and I really hope it’s true because Kairi has SO MUCH POTENTIAL. As a Princess of Heart, as a keyblade wielder, as a student, as a friend, as a person. And it feels like she’s just WAITING to be utilized. I really hope that finally that can happen for her because I know when it does it’ll be phenomenal.

[violethowler]

False Start: Analyzing Kairi’s Arc After Melody of Memory

In October 2019, I did an analysis of Kairi’s character arc as of the end of Kingdom Hearts 3 and what I felt was being set up for her going forward.

My major point was that Kairi's fear of change was holding her back from reaching her full potential and catching up to Sora and Riku, but that by the end of Kingdom Hearts III she had overcome that fear and was ready to move forward. 

In hindsight, I jumped the gun in assuming that the end of KH3 marked the definitive point where she got over her change and could truly move forward. While she had some good moments in Re:Mind, Limit Cut promptly put her to sleep for an entire year, trying to search the memories in her heart for a clue to Sora's whereabouts. 

But then Melody of Memory happened. 

When Kairi faces the memory of Xehanort, she says in the original Japanese version that Sora and the others being hurt was the result of her strength not being enough. I'll save the rant about how the English localization consistently removes Kairi's moments of self-reflection throughout the series for another day, but my main point is that this sets the groundwork for her decision to remain behind while Riku goes to Quadratum. When she chose to increase her training under Aqua, I was thrilled because finally this was the sign I was looking for that Kairi was really, truly, ready to move forward. 

A lot of people were disappointed by this decision because they felt like Kairi needing more training was the whole point of her being brought to the Mysterious Tower at the end of Dream Drop Distance. But there are a few things that set this moment apart and explain why her training in Kingdom Hearts 3 did not amount to as much as fans were hoping. 

First, it's that this time Kairi is exerting her own agency and making the choice herself. Her training in Kingdom Hearts 3 was never something we saw her actively choose. So Kairi making that choice on-screen has more weight than Riku bringing her to the Mysterious Tower for training on Yen Sid's orders. 

Second, while the memory of Xehanort notes that she did improve in the brief time she was training, the way she was being trained wasn't suited to her style. The description we get of her training in Kingdom Hearts 3 mostly seems to amount to her and Lea sparring each other repeatedly - which is exactly how Sora and Riku developed their sword fighting skills growing up. And when you look at her battle stance and the way she holds her Keyblade in Kingdom Hearts 3 compared to how she held it in previous games, her stance is an exact copy of Sora's. It's no wonder then why she changed into Sora during the final boss fight in Melody of Memory then when she was clearly trying to imitate him. 

In the 2006 Characters Report Vol. 1 book, Tetsuya Nomura's comments about Kairi in the early games identify the fear of growing apart from Sora and Riku as a major source of anxiety for her. The fact that her training and combat stance in Kingdom Hearts 3 imitate Sora so heavily indicates that Kairi is trying to catch up to Sora and Riku by trying to be exactly like them in that area as much as possible. With how much the series has focused on personal identity with regards to Roxas and Xion being their own people, it makes sense why Kairi doing that failed her in Kingdom Hearts 3. Because Sora and Riku's style isn't suited for her. 

Because she isn't them. 

For Kairi to achieve her goal of catching up to Sora and Riku's level, she needs to step out of their shadow and figure out how to be herself instead of trying to be Sora. And the best way for her to understand herself will be to understand her past. 

The Xehanort that Kairi faces in Melody of Memory is explicitly identified as a construct of her heart. He tells her that the answers she seeks "lie in memories that are long gone," and tells her that there is nothing for her to find in her heart. However, that isn't really true with what previous games have established about how memories work in this universe. Chain of Memories establishes that memories are stored in the heart, and that while the connections between them can be rearranged, they are never gone for good. 

So while Kairi may not consciously remember her childhood before arriving on Destiny Islands, the memories are still there deep in her heart. All she needs is something or someone to help her restore the connections between them. To rebuild the links in her Chain of Memories, so to speak. Kingdom Hearts 3 and Melody of Memory both specifically call attention to Kairi's first meeting with Aqua in Birth by Sleep, as well as the fact that Kairi doesn't remember it. From a narrative standpoint, the series has set up that remembering that first meeting will help Kairi regain the rest of her memories from Radiant Garden. 

But remembering her past is not the only arc the story has set up to help Kairi understand herself better. Training with Aqua also puts her in a position to interact with another teen who has a heart of pure light.

Who was also in a coma for a time while his heart rested in Sora's body. 

It's not a coincidence that Union X first revealed the existence of the entity known as Darkness just a few months after KH3 revealed that being a Princess of Heart was a mantle that could be passed on rather than a permanent state of being. Then Re:Mind revealed that Darkness is still hiding within Ventus' heart in the present day. And following the release of Melody of Memory, the next Union X update revealed that Darkness had killed Streliztia because it saw her death as the best way to grant Ven's desire for strength. The ability for Princesses of Heart to pass on their powers serves as set up for Kairi to do the same, opening herself up to struggling with darkness in her heart for the very first time. 

Kairi wants to become stronger in order to stand alongside Sora and Riku. But she has not struggled with her negative emotions the way that Riku has or that the narrative framework sets up Sora will be in the near future. But her decision to train alongside Aqua puts her in a position that has the potential to force her to go through that struggle herself should Darkness try to grant her desire for strength in ways that she doesn't want. 

I know that I was wrong before about Kairi getting over her fear of change. But this time, I'm confident that Kairi's character arc is finally picking up momentum. What Melody of Memory has that previous games didn't is a clear sense of narrative direction. All Dream Drop Distance did was vaguely establish that she was going to start training. Kingdom Hearts 3 didn't give enough information to form concrete theories about the trajectory of her arc. 

But all the Kingdom Hearts content released in 2020 has set up foreshadowing for a very specific plotline in regards to Kairi's character growth. And not only that, Xehanort's monologue in the flashback to her childhood where he says "if you arrive in a world that is neither light nor darkness, but somewhere on the other side, your task will be far from easy" adds a significant connection between Kairi rediscovering her past and the mysteries of "unreality." Especially because Xehanort acting like it was actually possible for her to end up there instead of Destiny Islands raises the question of whether she truly went straight to Destiny Islands after Xehanort sent her off. 

Kairi's connection to "unreality" makes her the lynchpin of all the major story arcs being set up for the other characters while Sora and Riku are in Quadratum. The parallels between them foreshadow Ventus regaining his memories of the Age of Fairy Tales just as Kairi is set up to regain her memories of Radiant Garden. Ventus regaining his memories of the past logically connects the Birth by Sleep trio to Lauriam and Elrena through his role in Strelitzia's death, as well as to the Twilight Town crew considering that Subject X is heavily implied to be Skuld. Then of course there's Luxu, who is directly responsible for Subject X's disappearance, and the Foretellers, who are still with Luxu last we saw them.  

With Sora and Riku off in Quadratum with Yozora and the Master of Masters, Kairi is narratively set to step up and take charge in dealing with the major unresolved plotlines from Union X and KH3 that need dealing with. By the time Sora and Riku finally make it back, she'll be a whole lot closer to their level.

TL;DR: I was too hasty in 2019 when I declared that Kairi had gotten over hear fear of change. I only had nebulous ideas of what would come next. But now I can pick out all the subtle foreshadowing that illuminates a concrete path forward, and I'm confident that now she's finally on the right track.

[dreamdropcity]

The Dearly Beloved Theory

Hi I’m in my Soriku feels again.

I have been listening to the Dearly Beloveds a lot recently and I sort of came up with this theory over a few hours? I hope what I say makes sense. This theory might seem like a reach but it makes sense in my head.

So in Dream Drop Distance (3D) it was basically confirmed that Dearly Beloved (DB) is the song of Sora and Riku’s hearts in tune, correct? Their heart song, if you will.

I’ve been thinking. If Sora and Riku are connected to the song DB, and there’s so many different versions of DB, what if each version corresponded to their relationship in that game?

Now it might sound a little bizarre, but let’s go through the different DB’s.

Kingdom Hearts 1

Now this might sound like a reach, but bare with me. KH1’s DB is simple (and clean hehe). And it’s kinda... underwhelming compared to the others. This isn’t to say it’s a bad version, it’s just a simple tune. Not much to it. Straightforward.

Now in KH1, Sora and Riku’s relationship was at an all time low. They were friends, enemies, and friends again. Their connection isn’t very strong.

Chain of Memories

CoM’s DB is similar to KH1 in a lot of ways. Except it’s just a little more... lighter? Just a pleasant sounding song. Again, nothing much to it.

In CoM, Sora and Riku’s relationship doesn’t really do much, since they don’t interact in this game. But there is no longer a tension between them, and Riku even vows to wake Sora up at the end of the game, and begins on his journey to the Way to the Dawn. AKA, Light.

358/2 Days

Day’s DB is very soft. Very quiet and pleasant sounding. Almost like a lullaby. A kalimba (I think that’s what the instrument here is?) can be heard, along with a flute. You could definitely /fall asleep/ to this song.

And what do you know it, Sora is asleep. Riku is trying to wake him up. How fitting.

Kingdom Hearts 2

KH2 has, again, a soft version of DB- but not as soft as Days’. To me, it’s like symbolizing waking up (compared to 358’s lullaby.) It’s a happy, sweet melody. The violins and the notes at the very beginning really give me the “sun is rising” (? idk how to explain it) feeling for me.

In KH2, Sora finally wakes up and travels across many worlds to find Riku. When he finds Riku, he drops to his knees sobbing. It’s just a sweet scene, and I’ve always associated KH2’s DB with that moment. (Note: When Sora and Riku reunite, the song “Friends In My Heart” play, which is almost identical to DB.)

Birth By Sleep

Now BBS’s DB is sad. It’s just a sad melody with an occasional peak. Nothing much to say about it, really.

In this game, both Terra and Aqua meet Sora and Riku as like... 5 year olds (?) on Destiny Island. Terra asks Riku what he needs strength for, and he says, “To protect the things that matter.” (AKA, Sora.) At the end of the game, when Sora and Riku are done stargazing, Riku points out that Sora is crying. (Because Ventus got shoved into this child’s heart.) Riku then tells him that it’s probably because someone out there is really hurting, and that Sora needs to open his heart and listen. This doesn’t really tie into /their/ situation specifically, but then again, this game isn’t about Sora and Riku, so there’s not a lot to work with lmao.

Coded

Coded’s DB is very bouncy and light. Probably the bounciest out of all of them. Quick piano keystrokes and some instruments in the back. (I am not a musician I don’t know anything about instruments i’m sorry lmfao)

Data Riku and Data Sora have a great relationship in this game. The banter between them is so well written and the only time they fight is when Riku is infected with the bugs, which wasn’t his fault. Good game for a couple of good boys.

Dream Drop Distance

hhhheehhhoo hheHOOOhh

Dream Drop Distance’s DB is a WALTZ. You heard me right: a WALTZ. And it’s arguably one of the best DB’s, if not THE best DB in the series, in my opinion.

Do I even have to explain Sora and Riku’s relationship in this game? It is PERFECT. 3D shows us that Sora and Riku’s hearts are in tune, and their song is Dearly Beloved. It is some gooooood stuff.

Kingdom Hearts 3

KH3’s DB is a gorgeous powerful song. It is a triumphant anthem, and a great way to end a saga with style.

Sora and Riku’s relationship in this game is arguably at an all time high. Riku isn’t really grappling with darkness anymore, so he is free to be a Guardian of Light with no issue. He and Sora form the Gayblade, He sacrifices himself for Sora, and it’s some delicious stuff.

Re:Mind: Bad Ending

When you lose to Yozora, Sora is crystallized. Near the end of the cutscene, a sad, quiet Dearly Beloved plays, except Sora’s part is missing.

Re:Mind: Good Ending

Sora defeats Yozora and wakes up in The Final World, while Yozora catches an Uber. Both Sora and Riku’s parts are present.

Man, that took a while. I left out some DB’s like KHUX and 0.2, because they really don’t have anything to do with Sora or Riku. And I /really/ wanted to do both endings of Re:Mind because they really give me the “Next game is Sora and Riku centered” feeling. Some of these may feel like a stretch, but i’m very confident in my theory. If this theory has been done before, I am not aware, and I would appreciate if someone informed me. But the work I put into this and my conclusions are my own, I can at least say that much.

I will make a follow up theory as to why Sora’s ending goes missing in the Bad Ending, and why this may be crucial for the next game. Thanks for reading!

TL;DR: Sora and Riku’s relationship are tied to each version of Dearly Beloved in their corresponding games.

[asingleloaf]

kingdom hearts MoM master post

please reference my bio for context if you are confused as to why this is appearing in your feed.

Alright so I finished melody memories (because I got it late) and I am,, conflicted. It was fun! Like, rhythm games are not my forte but the way the controls worked and the layout of the game was good. I think I enjoyed it more because of how ingrained the soundtrack for the series is in my head.

However

There’s some stuff that I find just... I don’t know, funny, I guess, in terms of gameplay content. Like:

No Tarzan

No Pirates?

Could they just not get the rights back to either of these?

I would’ve liked to see a bit more from KH3 if I’m honest

Like, Darkened Worlds for the Darkqua or for the medley’s in the seekers fights in the keyblade graveyard (let me do the other promise/vector to the heavens pls)

No Scala?

I know canonically that this is looking through kairi/sora’s memories, but this is set after re:mind and Sora visited scala before getting Kairi back, so why wouldn’t Scala be there? was there just not enough time?

Some other things I liked:

Kingdom Hearts 3. Like genuinely I do think that it’s my favorite in the series now that we’re like 2-ish years removed from it (and 1 year removed from re:mind.) What a good fucking game.

Seeing Kairi and Riku interact at the end!! God it’s been what, like 10 years since they had a conversation one on one?

Hearing Riku describe Sora as “a friend of ours” when talking to the Nameless Star in the Final World. Bitch who are you kidding he’s both your boyfriend lmao

Kairi really said “i will commit murder” to xehanort, huh

Side note, is he still alive? Is he a ghost? A reconstructed memory? An ass-pull on the side of Nomura?

Kairi can fucking fly!! You go girl!

Did Sora use black hole in the final fight against Xehanort? Or was that just ars arcanum? Idk I couldn’t tell but I thought if it was black hole that’d be cool.

The credits music! It was nice to vibe to the jazz version of Dearly Beloved, and watching all of the protagonists fly alongside Sora was cute.

As a side note, watching Sora, Ven, and Roxas fly side-by-side was fun.

The fact that Mickey and Riku are like... lowkey boyfriends? Like it was a meme back in KH2, but like... dear god they really are married.

Kairi going to fucking train with Aqua. Thank you sir for this good content.

Some things I didn’t like:

Why did this game have to be the Kairi centered game? Like I know KH’s track record with it’s female protagonists/characters is dicey but like come on I wanted to kick ass, especially now that we know she totally can after re:mind.

Why was the final battle Sora vs. Xehanort? Like,, why couldn’t it be Kairi? Why is she still getting screwed over in the year of our lord two thousand and twenty?

The usual vague stuff from Nomura’s writing and the new lore just kind of slopped on us out of the blue.

The fact that Kairi couldn’t go with Riku at the end of the game. Very frustrating, but whatever. My expectations of Nomura writing Kairi at this point are... very low.

Lore time!!

I could do this as it’s own post but I don’t want to clog everyone’s feed more than it already probably will be, so I’m just gonna jot my thoughts down here.

So the world of Verum Rex is actually named Quadratum? And is a fictional world? Sidenote, fictional universes are it’s own thing now? However, Yozora said that he got stuck in Verum Rex and that it wasn’t his real body... So does that mean that the world of Verum Rex is like a connective tissue between the KH reality and his reality? Aaaaaahhh very confusing.

As a sidenote, does that mean the lost masters from union cross and whatnot went to Quadratum after they disapeared? Is that what they were implying? Because I think it’s so fucking funny to picture a man in a unicorn mask and a bathrobe wandering around what is essentially modern day Shibuya.

Was the Final World created by Kairi, or am I just interpreting that completely wrong? Also, the Nameless Star is like definitely Yozora’s girlfriend, but how did she get there if she died in Quadratum? Is she from Yozora’s actual reality, or is she from like the Verum Rex universe?

All in all, I don’t know what the fuck is happening anymore and I’ve given up trying to understand it lmao.

[casualtheoriesandthoughts]

The Other Side of Reality (SPOILERS FOR KH MoM)

In this post, I’m going to talk about a theory of mine that may not impact our understandings of the KH universe that much but one that I think is important to discuss. I’m not necessarily making hard claims about what is or isn’t happening (such as Kairi being a Chirithy or Xehanort being Riku’s dad), but trying to clarify the stuff happening in between. Warning again: Spoilers for KH MoM ahead!

As I said in a previous post, memories in Kingdom Hearts are almost like the existential glue of reality. They are what ties beings to reality and to their full selves. Nobodies require their memories (at least some of them) to be able to pursue re-completion. Memories can rescue someone from the brink of falling into the darkness (Sora, Aqua, Ventus and Terra). In the absence of memories, one could legitimately fade from existence (Xion being the notable example, and also Sora while he’s in Castle Oblivion).

This all ties into a theory I have about Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory’s  basic premise and its connection to Sora’s fate. People have been speculating about what the actual nature of Sora’s disappearance is, especially since Chirithy provided critical details as to the costs Sora incurred at the end of KH3 and Re:Mind. Then we get Apprentice Xehanort (aka Terra-Xehanort) telling us about a “world that’s neither of light and darkness”. Ansem the Wise interprets this to mean a realm that is on the reverse of reality: unreality, or fiction. 

Some believe that this is a meta-comment on Sora’s transportation to a possible proxy for the real world. However, Yozora and the Verum Rex-FF Versus XIII connection make this less likely to me. I found some interesting speculation on YouTube about the latter, namely that Quadratum could be the world of FF Versus XIII repurposed (since it became FFXV, Versus XIII never came to be, hence unreality). Then we have the original epilogue of KH3, where the Lost Masters (minus Ava) return. Where they come from is not known, but as Yen Sid remarks at the end of Melody of Memory, the ancient masters (presumably people in Union Cross, if not only the Masters) had the ability to travel to other realms beyond the universe of Kingdom Hearts.

But what does this add up to for Sora? I believe that Sora has not been erased (as Xion was) and that it is indeed possible for him to return. My theory consists of three connected premises:

Sora still “exists” within the ambit of Kingdom Hearts (the embodiment of all hearts, not the universe; I’m going to use KH as the abbreviation for the latter)

Kairi and Riku both use the power of waking the wrong way

Quadratum exists on flipside of Kingdom Hearts

I’m going to call this the Other Side of Reality theory for convenience (OSR). Without further ado, let’s get into it!

1. Sora exists accessibly

Before anything else, we need to establish conclusively that Sora actually exists in an accessible way (please note my previous post about access to hearts and memories). 

In my previous post on memories, I attempted to show that memories are proof of someone’s existence. Xion is the best example, as she literally disappears from people’s consciousnesses despite the mark she left on many characters like Roxas, Riku and Axel. Sora also similarly vanishes as he progresses through Castle Oblivion, though this is more due to Naminé’s magic than the castle itself. In the strictest sense, Naminé is not eliminating but tangling and obscuring Sora’s memories (and she can only do this to Sora). Therefore, we can say that if someone remembers an individual, that person has and does exist materially and metaphysically.

Sora is clearly not forgotten given that his friends are searching desperately for him. This, all despite Chirithy and Young Xehanort’s warnings about how misusing the power of waking would cost him greatly. In the end, Sora is shown to disappear from the world, but as I theorize, not from existence. Hearts are also the fundamental necessity to exist, which themselves require memories to take form. Sora’s accessibility is demonstrated by the fact that Riku is able to travel to Quadratum through the Nameless Star’s heart-portal.

The notion of accessibility is important, because Kingdom Hearts is the bedrock of reality. Sora cannot be found or even known to exist if Kingdom Hearts does not encompass him in itself. Worlds and beings all arise from Kingdom Hearts, so I don’t think it’s unreasonable to make this claim. Anything in Kingdom Hearts’ sphere of influence (or rather all things that it creates) are accessible by beings within it, which includes those beings themselves. I believe that this is the premise of the power of waking, as one might say that the user “awakens” to the nature of reality through its use. 

This brings me to my next point:

2. Kairi is using the power of waking in MoM, and Riku is too; but both are using it the wrong way

MoM takes place as Kairi traverses her memories of all the events of the Xehanort Saga. It is important to note that this is from her perspective, not a simple recap of everything that has happened in the Kingdom Hearts games to date. We’re explicitly told that this takes place over the year when the Guardians of Light are searching for Sora. 

However, there are potentially some discrepancies here. Many of the events displayed in the cutscenes are not things that Kairi could have personally witnessed (even as a disembodied heart inside Sora). However, if we consider that Kairi’s Nobody, Naminé, is able to manipulate memories connected to Sora’s (a power no other character is known to have), this may make more sense. Because Naminé is her Nobody, I believe that the power of memories is tied to Kairi somehow (since Sora can’t do it), which isn’t outlandish considering she has a unique Nobody despite being a Princess of Heart. Kairi is then traveling the links of memories connected to her, even if they are not her own. Now, what does this sound a lot like? The power of waking. 

The power of waking (PoW) is described by Yen Sid in KH3D as freeing a heart from sleep. However Young Xehanort goes further, describing it as the power to traverse hearts to find worlds, contrasted with traversing worlds to find hearts. Multiple characters, but particularly Young Xehanort, point out that the latter is a “misuse” of the PoW, which Sora does when he rescues his friends in KH3. This is because it is essentially the inverse of the normal PoW, as he rapidly traverses worlds in search of his friends’ hearts and apparently across time. It is stated by Chirithy that the inverted PoW transgresses the laws of nature by altering history.  

Memory Master Xehanort (the apparition in the Final World Kairi encounters in MoM; MMX) says that Kairi’s journey took place across her own memories and her own heart. However, that doesn’t explain why she witnesses events that didn't happen in connection to her (ex. BBS and 358/2 Days). Sora also travels back in time and witnesses events from his friends’ hearts, which makes many important events in the final chapter of KH3 happen. Chirithy even states that this much closer to the true PoW, but still isn’t because he causes an event to happen that wouldn’t have happened otherwise (Kairi remaining whole). If we accept that Kairi traveled across memories and events that didn’t happen to her, like Sora did, it makes sense to suggest that she is also using the PoW improperly (albeit much more safely since she doesn’t alter any events). 

This reveals important information about where Sora is metaphysically because Kairi embarked on her journey under the assumption that Sora’s heart could be found in her memories (and those of others). Chirithy mentions that Sora can only return from the other side of reality through the PoW which would ordinarily suggest that Quadratum is in the Realm of Sleep. However, let us remember that Kairi is using the PoW the wrong way, and was attempting to find Sora but failed to do so. MMX’s statement about where Sora is suggests that the version of the PoW Kairi was using was the right one but not in the right place. 

This brings us to Riku, who travels to Quadratum to find Sora. Quadratum cannot be in the Realm of Sleep because it is implied by Ansem the Wise to be on the other side of reality, at the exclusion of the worlds of data, dreams and memories (as well as of darkness, nothingness and light). Therefore, Riku isn’t using the ordinary PoW to reach Quadratum. He seems to successfully arrive in Quadratum after using the PoW through the Nameless Star. Even though he’s using the heart-portal of the Nameless Star, he is also traveling across the boundary of reality and unreality to find Sora’s heart. He is deliberately using the PoW the inverted way to find Sora. 

The million-dollar question is: where is that? My claim is essentially that Sora must return through his novel, “inverted” use of the PoW, which is why Kairi and Riku were using it the way they did. 

3. Quadratum and the flipside of Kingdom Hearts

This may come across as the most bizarre part of my theory, but bear with me! I believe that Quadratum is located on another side of Kingdom Hearts, not unlike the allusions to Roxas being the other side of Sora’s heart in Re:CoM. 

Despite the numerous attempts to summon and control Kingdom Hearts’ power, we never actually witness what it is. Not even in KH1, where Ansem SoD vainly calls to Kingdom Hearts to fill him with the power of darkness. That door in the abyss of the End of the World is the Door to Darkness, a gateway to the Realm of Darkness. It seems that Kingdom Hearts shined its light from within, perhaps as the manifestation of the hearts lost in the depths.

But we are left without any clues as to what Kingdom Hearts might be, other than the collection of all hearts that exist. It manifests as a heart-shaped moon, though likely as a representation of the greater reality. It seems most accurate to say that Kingdom Hearts is the “heart” of existence, through which any of the realms may accessed. This is the reason it can be witnessed in the Realm of Light and Nothingness, and why Xehanort believes it can grant the ability to literally unmake and remake the universe. 

Quadratum is anchored to Kingdom Hearts in a realm of its own, precisely because it can be accessed through the inverted PoW. That anchoring is clearly demonstrated by the fact that Sora still exists throughout the various realms as the chain of memories that bind him to his loved ones is intact (and that he can project his “voice” across the boundary to fight MMX for Kairi). Just as the Realm of Darkness, Nothingness, Memories, Data and Sleep all require special means to be entered (and conversely, this is true of re-entering the Realm of Light, as seen in KH2′s ending), Quadratum’s own realm can only be accessed by the inverted PoW.

Clearly this realm is special, not being accessed ordinarily by the PoW and Sora needing to disappear to go there. However, it’s not as if no one knew about it. Xehanort apparently was aware that it might exist, and Yen Sid’s comments about the ancient masters suggest that the Lost Masters could freely travel to it by special means. It even seems that the Lost Masters were sent into hiding  as Luxu mentions in KH3 Secret Reports 12 and 13. In Secret Report 12, Luxu writes that the “The Lost Masters will awaken” (emphasis added). 

This suggests the Lost Masters are dormant or otherwise sequestered, perhaps not totally free to traverse from their present positions to the Realm of Light or other realms for that matter. This is suggested by the fact that Luxu summons the Lost Masters, which indicates he has the power to beckon to beings across realms, like the Master of Masters (who appears in the alt-Shibuya in which Riku and Sora find themselves). 

The Lost Masters’ unreachability by most characters in the main realms further points to a connection between Sora and the Lost Masters’ conditions. That said, I’m not necessarily suggesting that the Lost Masters’ used the inverted PoW themselves, though this is possible seeing as Ava “didn’t make it”. The Lost Page of the Book of Prophecies may have something to do with it, as Luxu states that he disclosed his own role to Ava, which prompted her to take action of her own. This could mean Ava is on the move elsewhere, or has perished in the conclusion of her own role. On a related note, the reappearance of the Lost Masters in the ending of KH3 is the second reason that Quadratum must be in a unique realm, as time flows differently between realms and none of the foretellers aged (from what we can tell). Similarly, Aqua didn’t age at all despite spending ten years in the Realm of Darkness.  

If all the known realms are existentially anchored to Kingdom Hearts, the nature of Quadratum becomes more plausible. 

Concluding thoughts

Only time will tell whether or not Quadratum is going to be the start of a more Square-Enix-leaning KH multiverse with more Final Fantasy characters. Although Nomura might have gone and dashed this idea by saying NEO TWEWY and KH3′s ending aren’t connected at all. 

Personally, I have a head-canon where FF characters in KH are in fact from across the boundary and that their appearances and forms are changed in the process of coming to the KH universe. 

This is a working theory, and there’s stuff I still need to learn/incorporate from KHUx Dark Road, so that’s all for now! Hope this theory interests some people!

[nadziejastar]

The entire KH-series seems to revolve so much around fanservice, lazy or contrived/convoluted writing and this 'new plot' for the second saga these days that it just upsets me, the timespam between KH3 and KH4 feels like it's gonna be another up to 10 years or something, people might as well give up on this series and move on with better game-series since Square Enix doesn't seem to get anywhere with this, it's already as good as ruined and lost it's true colors from KH1.

Yeah, I definitely feel like the series has lost most of its magic and has been irreparably ruined. I also think FF has, too. FFXVI doesn’t look bad per se, but after the XIII trilogy and XV, I’m not that excited. The FFVII Remake is more my style. I like the older FF’s more. Other than that, I’m looking forward to Neo TWEWY. It seems to honor the original well and it has that old Square-Enix JRPG feel.

I also prefer old KH over new KH. My favorites are KH2FM, BBS and 358/2 Days. All from the 2007-2009 era. That’s when the series was at its best for me and I’ll always love those games. The series was popular back then, but not modern day AAA big. And also, the timeline wasn’t SO confusing, like it is now.

Nomura seems have lost a lot of his passion for KH nowadays. I’m definitely curious about Yozora and Quadratum, since it will no doubt shed light on what Nomura envisioned for VSXIII, which is interesting. But as a KH plot, this whole “Sora disappearing into a fictional world” is really uninteresting to me. It feels VERY shoehorned in and contrived.

The rest of the “new” Phase 2 plot is just leftover stuff that SHOULD have been resolved in KH3. It’s basically the unfinished second half of the Dark Seeker Saga. For instance, look at the “new” plot of Melody of Memory. What is new exactly, other than Quadratum? Kairi’s childhood? No. That’s something that should have been covered in KH0.2, back when it was meant as a FULL game. Scala ad Caelum as a full-fledged playable world? No. That shoulda been in KH3.  All the things I’m looking forward to in the “new” plot are things that were meant to be part of the Dark Seeker Saga. Like what is Darkness? Who is the Master of Masters and what was in the black box? What was Xehanort and Eraqus’s childhood like? How did Ventus meet Xehanort? What happened to Strelitzia and how did Marluxia and Larxene join the Organization? Who were Luxord and Demyx as humans? This is all really just DSS stuff that’s being stretched out and passed off as a “new” plot.

Also, I loved the DSS because of the original characters. I always wanted to learn more about the members of Organization XIII and their pasts. SAIX was the one with the X-shaped scar and the orange eyes. I wanted to learn more about HIM being experimented on. I hate how in Phase 2, mobile game OC’s have basically replaced the old OC’s like Organization XIII who were FAR more complex and interesting.

As for future games, I still wanna learn more about the experiments and Subject X. But it’s not because I care at ALL about Skuld. I’m mainly following the series so I can create a better headcanon of how the Dark Seeker Saga should have been. I don’t care at all about the new plot. IMO, the KH series ends with the DSS and any new plot is only useful for providing details to fill in the plot holes.

[khhcfi]

Melody of Memory in KH Timeline

Not sure if anyone else said this in other platforms, but I wonder if the rhythm game section of Melody of Memory takes place in what I call as "The Gap Year", taking place between the KH3 Ending and Re:Mind cutscene.

It's not specified whether or not the rhythm game is part of the canon story in any relations, so fans have made theories. Others might think it's just some rhythm game.

This ties in to what I mentioned in my previous posts where I questioned and theorized that the rhythm section is related to Kairi's 1- year slumber to find clues of finding Sora. She resided in his Heart during KH, so she had seen/ witnessed Sora's journey and is using those memories that are now stored hidden in her Heart.

It might not make sense as we saw in the 2020 trailer that Sora was in fighting Xemnas (KH2), in 358/2 Days scenes, and in the Keyblade Graveyard-- all while retaining his KH original appearance.

I fancied the idea that the scenes for 358/2 Days were memories of Roxas, and having established a brief yet important connectionn between him and Kairi in KH2, it's possible the memories between the 2 were unintentionally and unknowingly linked.

But I have doubts of that idea, yet it's an interesting concept. It may not apply to the fight against Xemnas.

As for the Keyblade Graveyard -- and if ignoring the KH original appearance temporarily -- then it's possible that that memory is a combination of both Kairi and Sora during KH3.

Comments? Thoughts?

[PLEASE LIKE / REBLOG]

[oveliagirlhaditright]

I’m half-awake, so now might not be the best time to do this. But I’m doing it, anyway. I’m trying to think of all the Sora and Kairi parallels in Kingdom Hearts. And if you guys have any that I missed, be sure to add them here:)

But there’s Sora and Kairi drawing giving each other paopus. 

And how Kairi’s journey through the secret place at the end of KH1 is just like Sora’s at the end of KH2.

Actually, Kairi’s journey in the cave at the end of KH1 is also a bit like Sora’s movements in there at the start of KH1, too.

And credit goes to this one video that used to be on YouTube for pointing some of these out (like this one), but the camera movement when Sora is first surrounded by Heartless in KH1 (zooming in), is the same one that’s used when Kairi’s first surrounded by Heartless in KH2. 1:12-1:13 of this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPPYDk8Qmf4 compared with this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taZudWzTxwg (1:28-1:29)

There’s also the fact that Kairi gets her Keyblade like Sora got Riku’s (that later became his). There’s all this darkness around him, and then a light and Sora has Riku’s Keyblade (later his) via the “Delivery Boy Principle). Kairi’s surrounded by darkness--Heartless--and there’s a light, and Riku has her Keyblade (via the Delivery Boy Principle), but since Kairi’s right beside him... Riku’s easily to give her Keyblade back to her.

Sora and Kairi are both dog piled by Heartless when they see each other again in KH2.

Sora and Kairi, in KH2, both refer to the other as someone who means more to them than anything. Sora says this to Saïx when he asks him, “Is she that important to you?” and Sora replies, “Yeah, more than anything.” And Saïx says to Kairi: “I’ll take you to see Sora... you don’t want that?” Kairi - “I do. More than anything. But not with you around!”

Sora has a line in KH2 where he says, “Kairi, where are you?” I think it’s when he’s in the Realm of Darkness after Maleficent saves him. And Kairi also says “Sora, where are you?” when Xemnas pulls him into a fight at a fake Memory’s Skyscraper or something.

Usually, Sora says “Riku! Kairi!”, but there are actually a few moments in KH2 where he instead says, “Kairi! Riku!”, and Kairi always goes, “Sora! Riku!” in KH2.

Both Sora and Kairi say “what is this place?” when they reach Betwixt and Between in KH2.

There’s a shot of Sora’s feet at the edge of the water in a text bubble scene in Chain of Memories (when he’s on Destiny Islands), that matches Kairi’s feet at the water at the beginning of KH1. Likewise, we see Kairi’s feet touching the turf during her first scene in KH2 (when she’s about to send Sora her letter). And we see Sora’s feet touching the ocean at the Dark Margin at the end of KH2 (when he’s about to get her letter).

Some could argue that Sora meeting Naminé and Kairi meeting Roxas are similar.

TV Tropes talks about how Kairi’s attempted journey (in KH2) to find someone dear to her that she doesn’t fully remember, is like Sora’s quest to find Naminé (who Sora was basically brainwashed into thinking was Kairi) in CoM.

There’s the fact that Kairi, like Sora, is the only Other who’s ever wanted to save their Nobody. They also wanted each other’s Nobody to be saved, too.

Neither Sora nor Kairi were chosen to be Keyblade wielders. Sora wasn’t chosen at all, and Aqua chose Kairi by accident.

Kairi, in Re:Mind, waking up when Sora calls her name, reminds me of when Sora “wakes up”, when Kairi pulls him out of the darkness by calling his name in KH1.

Kairi catching Sora in KH3 is like when he caught her at the end of KH1.

Kairi has now gone to sleep for a year like Sora did. And Kairi’s doing it to get Sora back, and he did that to at least get his memories of her back: because he didn’t want to live without them.

I think Sora telling Kairi he’ll give her “a hint” about his name in KH2, is a reference on how Kairi would be like “I guess I can give you a hint” about where Sora could find things on the Island in KH1.

Them both getting stopped by Xemnas in Re:Mind is a parallel.

Kairi sitting where Sora usually does on the paopu tree at the end of KHIII is a parallel.

Their hugs are sort of parallels to each other. In KH1, Sora hugs Kairi and she doesn’t hug him back (because of her shock). In KH2, Kairi hugs Sora and he at first doesn’t hug her back because he’s all surprised and guilty feeling. And since you could argue that Kairi at first is more enthusiastic about their hug in KH2 (since Sora doesn’t think he deserves it), Sora’s the one hyped to see Kairi from the get-go in Re:Mind (partly because she was asleep at first). And then they sort of reach for each other at the same time. But before that, in KH3, when Sora’s saving Kairi from Terranort, he’s the one hugging her again, while it takes her a minute to respond.

Sora saving Kairi at the end of KH3 has shades of, “She did this for me. I’m going to do the same for her.” Especially since both are acts of true love.

This one may not be intentional... but Kairi taking Sora aback with some of her words on the dock in KH1, may be called back when Kairi’s confused by Sora at first in Re:Mind. Sora - “Kairi, are you ready for this?” Kairi - “Huh? ...Yes.”

Kairi’s now on an adventure to save Sora, like he’s always been for her.

Likewise, Kairi’s now in the Final World trying to find Sora--seemingly succeeding--like he earlier was for her.

And there maaaaaaay, in Melody of Memory, being a parallel to Sora finding Kairi’s heart fragments in Re:Mind. Is Kairi sending Sora hear heart fragments so she can track his location and find him or something? We’ll see.

You could arguably say how they both wanted to see other worlds, but were less gung-ho about it than Riku was and always want to come home, really.

Edit: Perhaps both of them forgiven Axel for his kidnapping Kairi. And how they forgave Riku and both held his hand in KH2? Them both being best friends with Riku (and Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka). They both forgive Isa, too.

And oh! When they’re both nodding at Riku, that he has friends like them.

Edit 2: Them both having temporarily forgotten each other because of memory shenanigans, but them still remembering each other, deep down or trying to hold onto the memory of the other hard.

Edit 3: The two of them having Nobodies. And the parallel scene of Roxas returning to Sora and Naminé returning to Kairi at the end of KH2.

Edit 4: And while not a scene, Kairi having her paopu fruit in the Re:Mind menu art parallels Sora having his in the KH3 menu art. Sora and Kairi in crowns in KH3 art for him and Melody of Memory art for her.

Edit 5: Sora wielding Kairi’s lucky charm on his Keyblade when he uses Oathkeeper, and Kairi’s Keyblade has a king chess piece on it--connected by a red thread--that represents Sora. Also, a paopu.

Edit 6: Kairi in Re:Mind having attacks that look a lot like Sora’s.

Edit 7: How could I forget the “Wherever you go, I’m always with you” parallel? -sobs-

Edit 8: Sora and Kairi--in the KH3 opening movie--Sora nor Kairi summoning their Keyblade against Master Xehanort until Riku, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy show up.

Edit 9: Sora and Kairi smiling at each other, and Roxas and Naminé smiling at each other through them.

Edit 10: Sora and Kairi both throwing their fists into the air when they think they’ve defeated Xemnas.

Edit 11: Sora and Kairi pretty much have the same personality, tbh.

Edit 12: Both of them seeing Xion.

Edit 13: This probably wasn’t intentional... but Kairi and Naminé holding hands, and Sora and Roxas holding hands. And both Sora and Kairi holding Naminé’s hand.

Edit 14: Kairi leading Donald and Goofy for five seconds in KH1, like Sora usually leads them.

Edit 15: Merlin and Yen Sid teaching Kairi like they did Sora.

Edit 16: Sora and Kairi’s friendships with Hayner, Pence, and Olette.

Edit 17: The Restoration Committee looking after Sora, and then looking after Kairi for a little bit in KH1.

Edit 18: Ansem Seeker of Darkness, Xemnas, and Master Xehanort treating both Sora and Kairi like crap.

Edit 19: Sora of course helps protect Ven and Aqua. But Kairi does too, in KH3, when she tells them not to go on a suicide mission.

Edit 20: Sora and Kairi--and many of the other people she meets--is what keeps Aqua from giving up.

Edit 21: Sora now believes in Kairi, like she always has in him.

Edit 22: A really minor thing, but they’re both also friends with Mickey, of course. They both also know Pluto... and arguably Jiminy, and maybe the Fairy Godmother now?

Edit 23: Them drawing each other’s faces when they were young!

Edit 24: This is more a thing they have in common, but they arguably both dance. That, and the fact they both wear necklaces.

Edit 25: The getting separated and reaching for each other thing.

Edit 26: They’ve both sent kingstagram posts to each other now:)

Edit 27: According to Riku, they’re both lazy.

Edit 28: Kairi maybe remembers everything Sora does from his first journey. And is now maybe learning all of his memories in Melody of Memory, and other people’s too?

Edit 29: They have a similar stance when the stars are returning to the sky at the end of KH1.

Edit 30: Kairi has the same battle stance as Sora. 

Edit 30.5--more art stuff--Kairi, on the KH3 cover, is holding her Keyblade like Sora did in that one KH1 image.

Edit 31: Sort of these shots of them at 1:22-1:23 in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZWhr7Bmv50.

Edit 32: Sora and arguably Kairi both saw Riku get locked behind the Door.

Edit 33: Probably not really a parallel, but Kairi doesn’t run towards Sora--as he runs towards her--at the end of KHII. But in the KHIII opening that recreated that event, she does.

Edit 34: Probably not really a parallel, tbh, but Kairi flipping her hair after she fights for the first time and showing off towards Sora, could be like him showing-off(?) in coming to help her and Axel in KHIII.

Edit 35: In Melody of Memory, is Kairi seeing Sora’s memory and he seeing hers?

Edit 36: In the Melody of Memory trailer, when Kairi says things are far from over because Sora was dead, reminds me of when Mickey says “it’s finally over”, but Sora says “no” because Kairi’s dead.

Edit 37: Sora and Kairi both raising their head in the KHII openings.

Edit 38: Some of the poetry in KH may be some of Sora’s writing to Kairi, like she writes to him?

[nobodies-png]

OKAY, SO I DEADASS CRIED WHEN AQUA ASKED “When did the destiny islands fall to darkness?” AND THEN HOW RIKU SMILED AND SAID “Aqua, you’re in the realm of light.” LIKE. I CRIed ACTUAL TEARS??? So I was wondering if you could do headcanons for how the water baes (Aqua and Demyx) react after seeing their s/o for the first time in a LONG time? Oh man, please and thank you my heart was so damn happy during that scene like you would not believe

deadass just decided to scroll into the depths of the hell that is my ask box and found THIS gem so lets go gamers

Pretend Demyx’s part happens right after KH3 when he like runs off to meet you or something - and also that Aqua’s part happens right after she’s free from the realm of darkness. yknow, for more sad effects 

Demyx :

Demyx can be rather clingy when it comes to people he trusts, given how rare those are when you work for such a shady group of dudes with silver hair who are planning to summon a really big heart on the sky. And even with how forgetful he can be, you never left his mind. Not for one second. The thought of you is more than enough to make his heart flutter - so when he finally has the chance to run, run away and look for you, he doesn’t even stop to think twice. (bro look at me adding tWO KH references into this)

However, on his way to you, Demyx might start to doubt himself for the first time since he became a Nobody - he always assumed you’d wait for him, that you’ll welcome him with open arms. But what if that wasn’t the case ? Had you moved on ? Should he move on as well ? Excitement turns into anxiety as he passes by all of these familiar streets, all the places he’s visited with you, of all the memories he holds dear. After all these years, would you remember him ? Were you EVEN in this world anymore ? 

His heart stops when he spots you by chance among the crowd - and his fears fade away when he meets your eyes, lighting up in realization. You remember him just like the day you lost him, disheveled, looking confused but overall content to just feel the sun on his face. Demyx doesn’t even realize that he’s running towards you, he doesn’t even notice that the people around have stopped to stare at the way you jump into his arms, twirling until you two end up rolling on a patch of grass. 

You’re holding each other so very close, as if challenging the universe itself to try and separate you again. As much as Demyx adores feeling your weight on top of him, laughing and crying and calling him stupid for disappearing so suddenly, he needs to see your face. He desperately needs to smother you with all of the love he had to hold back, with messy kisses all over your cheeks, on your hands, on every part he can reach. Because for once in his life, Demyx has no words and no melodies to express how happy he is to finally see you again.

Aqua :

Aqua is very patient, like. REALLY patient. So a few days without seeing you wouldn’t hurt, nor would a few weeks or a couple months. But actual years passing by without having the chance to even hear your voice, le alone know if you’re safe or doing well ? It’s torture for her. Still, she’d force herself to stay strong, deciding to look on the brighter side. 

And she’d continue to do so the next time you finally meet - but you can see it in her eyes, the way she holds back the tears and replaces them with a calm and relieved smile. You notice it in the way she holds you, committing your scent to memory, while holding you a little tighter than you’re used to. 

 Aqua knows that she should be able to cry from happiness, just like you’re doing while burying your face into her chest, nuzzling and clinging onto her. But she still believes she needs to be strong for your sake, so you can rely on her when you’re vulnerable. And yet, the second she hears your voice saying that you’ve missed and that you love her so, between sobs and sniffs - she breaks. It’s not a graceful or elegant sight, but it’s powerful like a tidal wave. 

For the first time in years, Aqua finally allows herself to cry. She trembles and her voice breaks as she steps back to look at you, arms safely secured around your shoulders, finally admitting all of the fear she felt all this time. The fear of being trapped, of not being able to see the light again - to see you and the rest of the people she loves. Aqua would cup your face between her hands, afraid that you’ll disappear if she looks away. The thing she missed the most was your smile, the one that could easily brighten up her day - the one you give her as you lean in to kiss her for the first time in so long, to reassure her that this is real. That you’re finally here, with her.

[swapauanon]

Touching Up Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory

So... Not really much in regards to gameplay, but while Melody of Memory has been mostly positively received, the general consensus seems to be that they could’ve “left it in the oven” for a bit longer and it PROBABLY would’ve done the game a favor. Having watched multiple LP’s, and having put the game on my wishlist, I know that there are a couple of missing songs.

Regardless, I’ll be dividing this up into different sections, based off of how the World Map was arranged.

In General

Upon making a new game, after the brief “Simple and Clean” Memory Dive sample, a cutscene would play, where we see Kairi and the researchers discussing the whole “put Kairi into a coma so she can explore memories related to Sora” plan. Outside of that, the opening of the game would play like normal.

Also, the Gummi Ship in World Tour MIGHT get replaced with a gliding KH3!Kairi to further visualize that she’s the one sifting through all these memories.

Finally, “Boss Battles” would all have a gauge similar to the one from “Ursula’s Revenge”, which depletes with every note you hit, dealing more damage the higher your strength and the better your timing. Depleting it before the song ends would results in a Rhythm Point bonus.

Additionally, much like the Boss Battle music stages from the REAL game, you’d get a Field Battle version of any Boss Battles upon beating the bosses.

Also, in regards to Team Days: Roxas would wield Two Become One while Xion would wield Oathkeeper.

Kingdom Hearts I Worlds

All I’d add here are three Music Stages divided up between two worlds.

Halfway through KH1′s Disney Worlds would be the Hundred Acre Wood, with two Memory Dives: “Winnie the Pooh” and “Bounce-o-Rama”.

Right next to Hollow Bastion, the End of the World, and the “Squirming Evil” Darkened World would be a Darkened World would be a Darkened World corresponding to “Night on the Bare Mountain” titled “Melody of the Mountain”.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories Worlds

Another instance of Destiny Islands would appear in the COM worlds, with only one Music Stage: the re:COM version of Destiny Islands’ Overworld Theme.

Additionally, “Lord of the Castle” would be a Boss Battle Music Stage. Marluxia’s “super move” would be his “Scythe Wheel” attack.

Kingdom Hearts II Worlds

... I mean, MAYBE Port Royale would be here? I can’t really think of anything else...

Kingdom Hearts: 358 Days Over 2 Worlds

Once again, only two changes: A new world, and a boss battle.

The new world would, in this case, be the World That Never Was itself, with it’s two tracks from Days: “Mystic Moon” and “Critical Drive”. Also, in regards to aesthetics, it would be the KH2 version of the World That Never Was, but in reverse to reference Roxas’ escape from the castle. It would be located before “Vector to the Heavens”.

Finally “Another Side (Battle Version)” would be a Boss Battle Music Stage. Riku’s “Special Attack” would be Dark Aura. Also, just like in Days, he’d wield Oblivion.

Kingdom Hearts coded Worlds

Some of the enemies would be replaced by Blox Bugs, and all of the Giga Shadows would be replaced by Metal Bugs.

That’s it.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Worlds

“Dismiss” would be a Terra-Xehanort battle in Radiant Garden. Terranort’s “Special Attack” would be his “Rock Storm” attack (i.e. the attack from his Keyblade Graveyard battle where he summons rocks from the ground and launches them at the Lingering Will). Mostly because I don’t want him to rehash Ansem’s attack.

Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance Worlds

The Symphony of Sorcery would be one of the Disney Worlds, but it’s two tracks would be Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral” Op. 68 and The Nutcracker Suite Op. 71 as Field Battle music stages, with the “All Clear” reward being “L’Apprenti Sorcier” Field Battle MS Material that can be used to synthesize a Field Battle Music Stage. Both Music Stages would use the appropriate environments from DDD.

Additionally “L’Impeto Oscuro” would be a Young Xehanort battle, with his “Special Attack” being his “Zero Shot”, but with multiple volleys of the dark projectiles.

Additionally “The Eye of Darkness” would be an Armored Ventus Nightmare battle, with his “Special Attack” being the attack where he turns the background white.

Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep ~a fragmentary passage~ Worlds

... Keep scrolling.

Kingdom Hearts III Worlds

This is where the most comprehensive changes will be.

First of all, Olympus would be present with TWO Music Stages: “Mt. Olympus” and “Heroes Fanfare”.

There’d be a Darkened World corresponding to “Titanic Clash“.

Secondly, the “Secret Forest” would be a world you’d have to clear to access the bulk of the KH3 worlds, with one track: “Dearly Beloved ~The Secret Forest~” as a Memory Dive Music Stage.

Finally, each of the Disney Worlds would have two Field Battle Stages.

Toy Box would have “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” and “Toy Box Jam”, plus a Darkened World based off of “Skyward Strike”.

The “fairy tale kingdom” who’s name was not spoken aloud in the English version would have “Happy Hair Day” and “Swinging Free”.

Monstropolis would have “Monstropolis Now” and “Monster Smash”.

Arendelle would have “Frozen Wonderland” and “Miracle on Ice”, with “Let it Go” Memory Dive MS Materials as the “All Clear Bonus”. “Anger Unchained” would be attached to an Arendell-themed Darkened World, with THAT being where you’d get Arendell’s All Clear Bonus from canon.

San Fransokyo would have “AR: Augmented Rhythm” and “Robot Overdrive” with “Eye of the Storm” being a Darkened World.

“Aqua (Dark Dive)” would be included as a Boss Battle music stage you have to clear to access the Keyblade Graveyard. Anti-Aqua’s “Special Attack” would be her take on the “Spellweaver” Style Change.

The Keyblade Graveyard would be unchanged, but “Hearts as One” and “Dawn of Hope” would be Darkened Worlds.

Scala ad Caelum would be a world with “Scala ad Caelum” and “Edge of Existence” as its Field Battle Music Stages.

Melody of Memory’s End

You’d actually be prompted to select a difficulty as soon as you enter.

Additionally, it would actually be possible to FAIL the first two Music Stages if you run out of HP. However, each Music Stage would serve as a checkpoint.

“Stranded Beyond” would be a Field Battle Music Stage, with Kairi replacing you’re currently equipped Team’s Leader as a “Guest Character”. Her abilities, triggered by Ability Crystals, would be “Seven Wishes” for melee, and “Heart of a Princess” for magic. Heartless, Nobodies, Unversed, and Dream Eaters would stand in her way.

“Kairi III” would play more or less the same.

The Master Xehanort battle is where things are shaken up a bit. Instead of Kairi wearing herself out and needing Sora to save her, when Xehanort tries to strike her with her Keyblade, Kairi would use her “Light Barrier” to protect herself, then the “Counterblast” to knock Xehanort away and disarm him, before flying right at Xehanort, forcing him to summon his Keyblade to parry her, at which he’d do that thing swordsmen do in anime where they launch their opponents. This is pretty much the point where the Boss Battle begins, a duel between Kairi and Xehanort. Other than that, it plays like canon.

From there, the ending basically plays out the same, except Kairi stays behind because she needs to regain her strength from sleeping for a whole year.

All three of the Music Stages from the Final World would be unlocked upon clearing it.

Finally: instead of “Difficulty Master Xehanort was defeated” you’d get “Difficulty Final World was cleared”.

Playing them in Track Select with Guest Characters turned off would result in the Team Leader taking Kairi’s place, allowing anyone to 1v1 Xehanort or glide over the Final World alone.

One-Winged Angel, Rage Awakened, and The Other Promise

All three would be optional bonus bosses.

Sephiroth’s “Special Attack” would be Supernova.

The Lingering Will’s “Special Attack” would be its Keyblade Glider Attack.

Roxas’ Special Attack would be the one where he turns the background into the twilit sky and surrounds himself with a barrier of thirteen beams of light to launch a barrage of light attacks from within.

Everything Else

Face My Fears Memory Dive.

Maybe Memory Dives and Boss Battles in VS Mode.

Co-op Memory Dives?

[thirteenthspirit]

Not a Very ‘Organized’ Organization (XIII)

I thought hard about this week’s topic of choice. Brexit was on my mind - I pondered about doing a comparison between parliament’s never-ending struggle with delays and failed agreements, vs Harvest Moon’s unending gameplay, farming and shipping and eventually marrying and digging in the mines and COLLECTING ALL THE DAMN SPRITES in that DS one. But that’s as far as it goes… I didn’t think I’d be able to milk it like those cows (hey!).

Speaking of Hey, I still want to get Space Channel 5 in there somewhere, those Chu’s and Hey’s have been on my mind like crazy…

So I settled on writing about one of my favorite topics – Organization XIII!

Organization XIII was always one of my favorite parts of the Kingdom Hearts series. They are cool and mysterious and (debatably) heartless, ranging everywhere from the mute heavyweight champions (*cough* Lexaeus *cough*) to the twink rockstar wannabes.

So, Organization XII is, like the name implies, a group of 13 nobodies – wait, scratch that – a group of 14 nobodies (eyeroll) who have banded together to… um… depends on who you ask. And in which game. Their primary goal was to be whole, to be granted a heart/soul, even if practically EVERY ONE OF THEM had a different agenda and there was a whole underlying separate reason for the creation of the Organization. NO WORRIES, let’s stick with that, because it’s more fun.

Ok so, breaking down the members, should we go by number? Order of appearance? Relevance? Element of choice? Maybe click (you know, high school clichés)?

Well – first you have the Mains. Roxas (no. XIII), is the counterpart of Sora, the main character in the whole series. So you know he’s gotta be pretty high on the list. The most interesting thing about Roxas is surprisingly NOT that he’s voice by Jesse McCartney, but the duality of elements he controls. Light and Darkness are everywhere with this guy – his outfit has chess squares on it and he wields both Oathkeeper and Oblivion, not to mention having an incredibly sad and traumatic origin story! He’s like, a slightly smarter and moodier Sora. I like Roxas, I’m sad they didn’t give him anything to do in KH3. Dual-wielding keyblades is pretty awesome and his light attacks can hit pretty hard. One of my favorite moments of the series will always be his fight with Riku in the secret ending of KH1, over 10 years ago! Seeing Roxas clash with Riku in mid-air in front of that clock tower (not to be confused with the one from Neverland – I mean England) really made my heart race as a kid. He can also boast to having shared quite a couple of awesome struggles (go Vivi), with Sora in that “Station of Awakening” place where Destati usually plays, and then with both his best friends - while trying not to be kidnapped by his “Flurry of Dancing Flames”, best friend Axel, and when dispatching Xion.

Xion (no. XIV) is a “puppet”, made to take over Roxas’s place and role in the Organization, should anything happen. She is an interesting character, tragedy befalls her and her journey with coming to the realization that she must sacrifice herself for Sora’s behalf (in order for him to become whole again) is a beautiful one to see. Vector to the Heavens plays when you’re fighting Xion for the last time, ending with Roxas effectively killing her and is a beautifully crafted piece. Xion suffers a bit from that ‘unintentional retcon’ where she didn’t really have a place, story-wise, and was created solely for 358/2 Days. So she was effectively written-out of the main storyline until the later games, with every character practically forgetting about her (literally losing their memories of her).

Rounding out the trio is one of everyone’s favorites – bad-guy good-guy Axel (no. VIII). Axel’s portrayal changed throughout the series. In CoM, he is responsible for unmasking a conspiracy and dispatching rogue members of the organization. He is the de-facto assassin. With not a hint of remorse. As his friendship with Xion and Roxas builds, he regains access to some degree of emotion – perhaps it’s caused by the (stick with me on this one) Lea-Ventus-Sora-Roxas-Axel connection, or perhaps he grows a heart, sitting on that clock tower overlooking the (ALWAYS SETTING) sun of Twilight Town and eating sea-salt ice cream. Eventually he turns on the organization, proving his loyalty is to his friends and even joins the main cast as a Keyblade wielder, turning the tides on some occasions (he really makes the end of DDD worth it). It helps that he has a wicked-cool design. His element is Fire and he wields twin Chakrams, boasting two tear tattoos and incredibly spiky hair. His relationship with Kairi is a cute element to the story, I wish (aside from some more combat or like ANY AT ALL) they had more scenes together and overall relevance to the main storyline. My favorite moment, aside from him rescuing Sora from his peers in DDD, has to be when he executes Vexen in Castle Oblivion.

From Axel, the most closely linked member, aside from Roxas and Xion, is SaÏx (no. VII). SaÏx is a warewolf. The moon sends him into a trance and he is often plagued with anger management issues. Berserk is his Nirvana. Him and Axel go way back and there is still a storyline to be uncovered there, judging from the secret reports found in KH3. In the end, his motivations aren’t really clear and fully explored, so his presence is not much more than Axel’s right arm, who happens to have a big “X” scar on his face. Sorry SaÏx – maybe see a therapist. At least you got a happy ending! SaÏx was one of the last Organization members to fall, in KH2. One of the last defenders of the Castle in (one my my all-time favorite KH worlds), The World That Never Was.

Another of the final defenders and members of the Organization to be vanquished at Sora’s had is – *drumroll* arguably MY FAVORITE OF THEM ALL, the incredibly hot and suave Luxord (no. X). Now – this guy is blonde. Has facial hair. Earrings. A British accent (maybe that’s just in my mind) and makes me look up his voice actor just to drool over that sweet sweet voice. He is the “Gambler of Fate” and shows up in the POTC world to basically taunt you and play a few games. Everything’s a game to this guy, even fighting. Which I can’t say he is great at… For someone able to control the element of Time, he’s kind of a pushover. But he’s still got a place in my heart – and maybe we’ll get to see him again, since he was the one who gave Sora that “wild card”… “Parlay!” more like “Let’s play strip poker pls”.

Who next… well let’s round out the oddballs with this guy. Ladies and gents, fans of the underground metal, garage bands and mohawks – I give you… Demyx (no. IX)! The Melodious Nocturne! …although there is nothing ‘nocturnal’ about him. This guy irradiates happiness and excitement and joy. I suppose he is just pretending, since Nobodies can’t really feel, rather they remember what it was like. Dem-dem too is a fan favorite. He is very young and has a different disposition than the rest of the members, he’s just your lazy, average Joe that just wants to spend his days jamming out on his Sitar. He is the first Organization member to fall in KH2, and is considered “not much of a fighter”. I would obviously disagree with this BECAUSE DANCE WATER DANCE MOTHERF***** is hell. Hell! Still, Dem-dem brings some lightheartedness to the game and the entire group, so he is a welcome addition. He is shunned even in KH3 but that’s just a side note of his… personality traits, I suppose. Never forget when he ‘drops the act’ just before turning on Sora, before what would be his final battle. Demyx controls the element of Water.

And since when it rains, it pours; and when it pours, usually it thunders (at least here in Portugal), that seems like a decently-crafted segway to the next member – Larxene (no. XII). Larxene is… a bitch. I don’t say that lightheartedly, I consider myself a feminist and I never forget that quote “when a man is assertive, he’s called a Boss. When a woman is assertive, she’s called a bitch.” But Larxene is just MEAN. She’s the mean girl of the bunch – together with her GBF Marluxia. Larxene poses some of the hardest fights in CoM but sadly, and like most female characters in this series, she’s shunned in favor of other members. This is a critic I have with the entire KH series – Aqua is virtually my favorite character but she’s really the only female character that is given storyline, relevance and overall strength. And like most fans I was DYING to see Kairi kick ass in KH3, but… we all know how that went. Not much to say about Larxene, her lightning-fast attacks and knives give her a pretty sharp demeanor and she’s not afraid to play every trick to her advantage. Standout moment is, unfortunately, her demise in CoM, fading into darkness. Oh and that laugh.

Larxene’s ‘somebody’ appears in KH: Unchained, together with Marluxia’s somebody. Marluxia (no. XI) controls the attribute of Flowers.

Yes.

Flowers.

He also boasts pink hair and – the best part – a huge pink scythe. His nickname is “The Graceful Assassin” but aside from plotting to overthrow the Organization and posing as the main antagonist in CoM, he doesn’t really do a lot of killing. The fights against him in KH2: Final Mix are among my favorites, especially with that countdown as he swings about the field. It seems he has quite a role in the Mobile game, so maybe we’ll get to see more of his backstory in the future. His final parting words were somewhat mysterious. Together with Larxene and a sneaky Axel, Marluxia betrays the Organization and his fellow members in Castle Oblivion, for his own agenda.

The assignment to Castle Oblivion introduces us to 3 other members of the organization – Vexen (no. IV), Lexaeus (no. V) and Zexion (no. VI). And 3 character tropes. The mad scientist, the jock, and the emo kid.

Vexen, aka “The Chilly Academic”, controls my favorite element, Ice. He is, ironically, killed by Axel in a flurry of flames, in a very dramatic moment in CoM. Vexen merely wants to conduct his experiments in peace – he doesn’t care who rules, what happens to the worlds, even who might or not be possessing him. He only cares about his “Replica” program. The Replica program consists on the creation of “puppets”, bodies able to function who are only missing a heart. He plays quite the role in KH3, effectively redeeming himself. Vexen is one of the creepiest characters around – he has long blond hair and green eyes, but really that ‘mad scientist’ vibe is all that transpires. Shout-out to his English voice actor, Derek Stephen Prince, for giving him a creepy vibe. He’s not much of a fighter, with his weapon of choice being an icy shield called “Frozen Pride”.

Zexion is one of the younger members of the Organization – perhaps even younger than Demyx. He is also arguably one of the smartest. Like Vexen, he cares mostly about his research and specific topics of interest *cough* Riku *cough*. However, his young demeanor reflects some innocence – he is the only member you don’t fight against in CoM, ending up murdered at the hands of Axel (with a little help from a Replica…). I really like Zexion, to battle he wields a book (the Lexicon) and would rather dazzle the opponents with some crafted illusions than hit them hard. He is one of the most prominent figures in KH3 and his reunion with his Master, Ansem the Wise, is very touching and reveals once again his innocence. He is often accompanied by Lexaeus, who is essentially a shadow of Zexion, a silent guardian to the smaller member. It is suggested he has been protecting Zexion since the latter was a small child.

Lexaeus fights Riku at one point, effectively forcing Riku to unleash the darkness in his heart just to defeat him. The Organization member is a towering figure and barely ever talks – he is just muscle, but emanates a safe and caring feel outwards, especially in his interactions with Zexion. To battle he wields a huge hammer-like weapon (which totally reminds me of Rikku’s weapons from FFX) called the Skysplitter and commands the element of Earth.

These 3 members are one half of the initial 6 apprentices, who formed the Organization. These founding members all worked together under the tutelage of Ansem the Wise and range from the scientists like Vexen and Zexion to the guardians like Lexaeus and Xaldin.

Xaldin (no. III) is very much… wasted. His virtually only appearance is in KH2, in his vain attempts to turn The Beast into a heartless. His most evident feature is his sideburns. Xaldin’s sideburns are thick, dark and intimidating. He also wields a lot of lances – like, more than 3, which he uses his wind powers to attack you with. He has a really cool attack where he forms a dragon out of wind and blows you to pieces with. Other than another “werewolf” look, that’s pretty much it. Mickey to the rescue!

Then we get to Xigbar (no. II). Xigbar, or Braig, or Luxu, OR ONE-EYED PIRATE, I’m not sure there is much of a difference, became a usual presence throughout the series. Apparently he’s been around for a loooooong time, ever since the forgotten time of the mobile game. He is a cool dude. His “As If” will go down as a pretty cool quote. Xigbar’s nickname is The Sharpshooter and he immediately stands out from the bunch. We are still unaware of his agenda and interests, not knowing to what extent he is controlled or, rather, he is controlling the narrative. He is overall an awesome character, essentially sniping you from afar with his stylish gun-like weapons. He even fakes his own death in KH3! In what is one of the best moments from the final act. His interactions with the rest of the Organization are always funny to watch, especially with his on-and-off younger lover, Demyx. The standout moment against him is undoubtedly that moment during his fight where he corners you and forces you to run around trying to avoid the millions of blue bullets being aimed at you. One of the best members overall.

And then there was I. Mr. Xemnas (no. I) aka “The Superior of the In-Between” (seriously bro, that’s the nickname you’re gonna pick?) aka “MANSEX” among the fans, aka “Xehanort’s nobody”. He is the man behind the Organization, the one really pulling all the strings. I’m gonna skip the part behind his motivations, they’re murky and the writers decide to change them between games, and I’ll get right down to the cool bits – THE SWORDS. Yes, Xemnas wields two red lightsabers. No, he is not Darth Maul, just a fan. He is calm and has a raspy voice, never really getting too flattered (that one’s yours, Axel). The coolest interaction with Xemnas is the final battle against him. Besides his black and white coat, he eventually summons a plethora of red projectiles which surround Sora and Riku, as they (in a very realistic, grounded and believable moment), deflectem with their respective keyblades. Xemnas ends up falling a bit short when compared with Ansem, Seeker of Darkness… He was just never that menacing of a villain, especially with his always calm behavior.

And that’s it. That’s the full list of the organization members. This turned out to be more of an exposé on each of the members, than anything else. I thought about trying to find real-life personalities to match each of the members, but eventually came up short on that. Organization XIII’s struggle to “be whole” and regain the part of their humanity they had lost – their soul, the ability to feel, always struck me as a really interesting motivation. For quite some time, the idea that you could shed the part of you that is able to “feel” struck me as something good, something to be envious of. I was, of course, wrong – even the dark feelings within us are what gives us the ability to connect and empathize with others.

So be sure to deflect those projectiles, and someone PLEASE give my number to Luxord,

                                                                                               -João A. (Pachiren)  

[anime-grimmy]

Favourite Gaming Soundtracks of the 2010s

It’s the end of another decade and what a decade it’s been. So much has changed in “just” 10 years, so many cool things have happened, so many amazing games have been released. Since it’s the end of the year I thought I could talk about some things that are dear to my heart. I love music and with so many dope games came just as amazing soundtracks. So, I just wanna let out my thoughts for my favourites. This is not really ranked, but I’ll tell you which my favs are from my favs.

But first, some “honorable mentions” for soundtracks I really enjoy, even though I’ve never played these games.

-        Dark Souls / Bloodborne Mystic and gritty, but strangely calming from time to time

-        Hollow Knight It came coming on with YT Autoplay and to be honest, I can’t complain. All in all a great soundtrack

-        Persona 5 Dude, talk about style. It’s not quite my type of game, but holy fuck, the music is my JAM

-        God of War (2018) I DID play this game and I loved it, but the soundtrack didn’t really stick out to me THAT much. Some tracks are downright bone-chilling and epic, but it didn’t have such a big impact on me all in all.

 Anyways, on with my list.

Pokemon Sword and Shield

I’m gonna start with a recent one since it’s still fresh in my mind.

I always liked the Pokemon Soundtracks. Though most of the time simplistic, some tracks just have such iconic melodies. However, from Sinnoh onwards, I started liking single tracks more than the soundtrack as a whole. For example. even though most people say Cynthia has the best Champion theme, I can agree an the melody being amazing, but for me, the theme is so loaded, I don’t like it (best Champion theme is still Lance). Alola, for me, started having an upcurve on the soundtrack. I liked it as a whole, though I can’t really remember what exactly stood out to me.

Now Sword and Shield. Dudes, keep going on that route, your OST is amazing. I’ll be honest, the BEST thing of this game is the soundtrack. All have this kinda sporty/cheery sound and even though, let’s say, the normal battle theme isn’t that of a banger, the number of amazing single themes is just so high. Bede’s theme is basically the only thing I like about him, Marnie’s has such a cool tune (and all the metal covers on YT, BRO) and even if many people don’t like Hop’s theme, I really dig it. Some parts remind me of Mirror B.s theme, I dunno why.

And then you have my fav tracks, Rose’s Final Fantasy theme, Toby’s amazing Battle Tower theme AND THE GYM BATTLE MUSIC. I really didn’t like the gym leader theme at first but while playing the game, after each gym leader, it got me more and more stoked when the battle began.

All in all, Pokemon Sword and Shield has an overall enjoyable soundtrack. Filled with bangers, for me it made the game itself so much better.

Animal Crossing

Though I haven’t played the game in a long time, I still listen to the music.

Animal Crossing is just laid out to be this chill and calming ensemble of melodies. And it works. When I’m stressed or have to work on stuff I don’t want to, I usually just put on Animal Crossing music. It calms me and just gives me this warm and fuzzy feeling. It also helps when I have problems sleeping.

A soundtrack to just lie back, close your eyes and just enjoy life.

Legend of Zelda – Breath of the Wild

Continuing with calm music, let’s talk about my favourite Switch title.

This game often gets flag for “having no music” or too little of it. I know where you’re coming from, but I just think the limited use of the soundtrack makes you appreciate it even more. The moments when the music is used is carefully chosen and that makes it special. Be it the few piano notes that play while the day goes on, the little notification that you’ve entered a new area, the unexpected high energy when you’re fighting (most of all bosses) or the indescribable fear you feel when a Guardian spots you.

There are a few favourite moments I have of the game.

First is the start, when you first leave the cave, run out and this vast landscape opens before you. Just those few piano notes made me all excited for this new adventure. Like dawn is breaking.

The first time I rode on a horse over this wide field and suddenly, the music starts swelling. It was almost magical, the music rising just like my excitement.

The last thing I love is the difference between being in villages and outside. When I noticed that you always have some kind of melody playing when you’re in a settlement it dawned on me how quiet it was outside of them. I love this contrast between being alone in the wilderness with all the quiet and the sudden swell in music when you’re with other people.

This OST amazes me with how much emotion it can convey with often just the smallest amount of notes. An amazing soundtrack for just as an amazing game.

Super Mario Odyssey

So, last Nintendo game on this list, I swear.

This one is a small surprise, but at the same time, it really isn’t. I’ve never really been a fan of the main Mario games, they just aren’t really my thing. (the spin-offs are my jam). However, I’ve always enjoyed Mario’s music. The upbeat tunes really get stuck in your head and the melodies are always so recognizable. Heck, my favourite OST was from Super Mario Sunshine back in the day!

With Odyssey, I really enjoyed both the game and the soundtrack aspect. The worlds are colourful and the gameplay is super fun. Combine that with the stellar soundtrack and the game was such a fun experience, it’s definitely in my top 10. But what I really enjoyed is the diversity of the track. When you listen to the soundtrack on Youtube and you just click on two different parts of the video, I can guarantee that they’ll probably sound completely different but at the same time somehow coherent. The best tracks, in my opinion, are the upbeat ones for sure. The feeling of excitement and adventure just swells so much it’s amazing.

Then you’ve got “Jump up Superstar”. I fucking love this song. It’s so much fun, has such a great tune which gets stuck in your head and the lyrics are so easy to sing along. All things I love in a song. I actually listened to the song on repeat before I even got the game and I couldn’t wait to get to New Donk City to LIVE the song. And I wasn’t disappointed, it was one if not the best moments in the game.

Great game, great soundtrack, 100% fun.

Bravely Default / Bravely Second

(technically on a Nintendo Console, but whatev) I’m just gonna lump this two together, since BS’s the sequel.

Now, JRPGs aren’t really my thing. They often take too long for my tastes, I can’t for the life of me concentrate on the story and characters and after some time they just get stale for me. But now and then, I pick up a series I actually finish and that was Bravely Default and Second. I think I just have such a huge soft spot for the series cause of the art style/atmosphere and the fact that I played 8 hours straight of BD on a flight from Canada home.

I haven’t played the games in forever but when I think about what I like about them, there are 3 things I always think about: characters, art style and soundtrack. The songs might sound generic to most, but to me, with my little knowledge of JRPGs, find them quiet unique. It does at some points remind me of Final Fantasy but I think something just makes the tracks just sound like Bravely, though I can’t put my finger on it.

I don’t know the names of the themes, but even now there are just certain tracks which I link to a certain reaction. Like “oh no, not them again” or “Now shit is getting down”. Or every time the main theme plays, I get absolutely pumped.

Haven’t played the games in forever, but the soundtrack’s still in my mind.

Kingdom Hearts

From one RPG to the next, here’s a very special soundtrack. Kingdom Hearts is a franchise near and dear to my heart. It’s one of the first, if not THE first, RPG I ever played. I just get so nostalgic with this game. I can just remember watching my brother playing KH2, seeing two characters from my favourite franchise run around with this spiky haired boy with this stupidly big key. So much stuff happened I didn’t even understand back then, but just seeing these animated characters laugh and cry and go on this grand adventure, little me was mesmerized.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t too happy with KH3. I’ve waited so long for it, just like hundreds of other people, but the end product just, I dunno, lacked the heart it used to. One thing however didn’t, the soundtrack. As sad I was to not enjoy the game as a whole as much as I wanted to, the soundtrack became one of my instant favourites. It sounds grandiose and has so much emotion. Each track sounds amazing but the OST really shines in its more calm and beautiful themes and its epic ones.

My favourite songs are the serene ones, however. “Sincerely Beloved” and the other Utada songs are some of my favourite songs ever and I can’t tell you how close I came to crying with the Sea Salt Icecream Trios themes. Heck, I played Xion’s theme back in the day on the piano and I still can play it now.

As much as KH has gone down in heart, the soundtrack stands up there as one of the best, much thanks to Utada Hikaru as well. It will always be important to me and just reminds me of my childhood. Some very fond memories.

Undertale

Well, let’s get outta the nostalgia feel and turn it up a bit!

Ah, Toby Fox, you madlad. Creating such a great game and subverting so many expectations. Undertale really had a big impact on the gaming scene but for me, the soundtrack really lasted. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the characters and story very much, but I still listen to the soundtrack regularly.

Undertale’s OST is comprised of sad, melancholic, upbeat and downright hype tunes. It has a wide spectrum but Toby Fox really does know how to push Leitmotif. All themes kind of flow great into each other but still manage to stand out and are recognizable. Each character theme fits the character perfectly and I love how their themes usually have some melodies/instruments from the area they’re in. And speaking of areas, as much as I love the character themes I just might prefer the atmosphere tracks even more. I mean, “Snowdin” just sounds like this super laid back, cute little town, “Home” is such a calming song and “It’s raining somewhere else” has such mystique. And, of course, the fact that the tracks have character/plot relevance is just amazing.

Not to mention, Toby Fox created one of the best Meme songs in existence.

Love the game, love the soundtrack even more and I’ll listen to “Death by Glamour” til I die.

Horizon Zero Dawn

I’m so happy I picked up this game. I never bought it cos A, I feel overwhelmed by open world games, and B, it COSTS SO MUCH. But I found it for half the prise and I bought it right before exam week. I know, smart move.

But anyways, the soundtrack. There aren’t any tracks that really stand out to me but I just like it as a whole. It’s such an atmospheric OST and when listening to it as BG music you just HEAR where you are, which tribe you’re in, what you probably did in the game when it played.

And that’s actually a big factor. All in all, I don’t think it’s such a special OST. It sounds great, most tracks are solid, but what really makes it shine is how much it enhances the experience of the game. The gameplay and story are great, but the OST just makes everything so much better, with setting the tone and atmosphere and all that.

I could go on and on about this game, but the soundtrack can be shaved down to a few words. Solid, great and atmospheric.

Monster Hunter World / Iceborne

So, I’ll drop this to second to last because I already made a super long analysis of the soundtrack. I’ll link it here.

https://anime-grimmy.tumblr.com/post/188601659768/some-monster-hunter-ramblings-possible-spoilers

But to put it simply, this is probably my favourite soundtrack at the moment. I just haven’t experienced so many emotions while listening to an OST since a certain game that’s next on the list. I still can’t listen to “Succession of Light” without almost crying (who am I kidding, I cry every time). I dunno why, but so many tracks make me feel such a barrage of emotions, be it excitement for adventure, hype for the hunt or just simply a childlike wonder.

Simply a great soundtrack that will be on top for a long time.

Okami

Technically a game from 2006, but the PS4 version came out like 2017 and I REALLY WANNA TALK ABOUT THIS GAME.

This is my absolute favourite game of all time. Since I played it first when I was about 9 years old, I just really loved this game. I replayed it more times than I can count and dude, I speedrun this game in record time.

For people who don’t know this game, you play as the Sun God Amaterasu, who has been summoned in the body of a white wolf. You job is to banish the evil from Nippon. To say this game awakened my fondness of Japanese culture is, well, spot on. I’ve played this game before I even knew what anime was. The atmosphere, style, themes and mostly the music mesmerized me. It was all so, well, foreign. Even nowadays it stands out from anything else I’ve played.

But on to the OST. Next to it being just amazing in general, it just is so Japanese and that’s what has always stuck out to me. I grew up with very traditional and classical music, back then I didn’t even listen to English/American music. So to hear these melodies and instruments that just sound so unfamiliar was very intriguing. And that just topped of the already amazing tracks. Okami does a great job of having super epic, exciting but also sombre and atmospheric music. It’s also very animated and comedic with it’s use of music. So, the mix of foreign sounds and great timing of amazing tracks just makes the experience all so much more memorable.

Even after 10+ years, Okami never gets boring and no matter how much I play it, the moment I face a boss and the epic music swells, or the moment a calm scene passes and the melody slows, my heart fills with emotion and I’m so glad I played it again.

Well, that’s that! I know it probably often sounds kind of sappy, but music is very special and important to me. If music doesn’t evoke emotions in me, I don’t care about it, even if it sounds great. For me it’s important that, when I listen to a soundtrack, I can remember the game or the scene it played in and the emotions I felt in that moment.

Soundtracks are supposed to make a emotional connection between you and the game and that’s why they are essential. At least that’s how I see it.

Anyways, if you made it this far, I bow my head to you. Thanks for reading and I hope you could somehow share my perspective of these games’ soundtrack. Feel free to tell me about your fav tracks!

 It’s been a nice decade, enjoy the rest of 2019!

[thechocobros]

My little (not so little) Kingdom Hearts III’s review :)

(possible spoilers under the cut)

Somebody asked for my personal opinion about the game, so, here I am! I’ll try to be as objective as possible, even if you probably know already my deep affection for this saga and for its creators XD

Let’s start with the positive things, the things that really impressed me the most about KH3, which are: the graphic (even the in-game one), the gameplay, the huge amount of enjoyable exploration. And then I’ll start voting the rest, by giving my opinion. 

 - Graphic: 10/10. I was able to see the pores on Sora’s face and on Terra’s hands. I was able to zoom on the smallest details with my Gummiphone and still find some amazing details in the landscape. Literally EVERYTHING was so well done i had to stop more than once to admire what i was playing. It was stunning. Let’s not even talk about the Disney cutscenes, because those were a masterpiece and i have no words to describe them. 

- Gameplay: 10/10. Listen, i never played a game where there were so MANY options for the gameplay. I beated the 13 darknesses by using attractions, limits, different forms, combined moves, special abilities, combos, different keyblades ... There were so many minigames, ideas, i fought on Baymax, i fought as a captain of a ship, i cooked, I did treasure hunts, took pictures, the gummiship style too ... every fricking world offered so many different gameplays options i even freaked out because i wasn’t able to learn them all. It was so FUN!

- Exploration; 10/10. Let’s be real, every world (except Twilight Town lol) was as huge as all the Disney worlds of the previous KH games together. Really, i was lost. It was even too much. It will take me a lifetime to explore all the worlds in all its beautiful details xD for ex in the POTC’s world we are able to access to at least 6 different islands + Port Royal + underwater + the battles setting + we command an entire sailing ship. Also, have you try to collect all the lucky emblems? Because I think they all are in some areas i still don’t know they exist. It was AMAZING. 

- Music: 8/10. I love “Face my fears” so much, i like “Don’t think twice” a lot, Utada is always a queen. As for Yoko, she never dissapoints me either, even though this time she didn’t came out with “new” brilliant melodies like she did in the other games. She mostly arranged differently songs and themes we already were familiar with, which is nostalgic and happily welcomed anyway. + Bonus Points to Somnus song mixed together with Hikari. Wow. 

- Plot twists/Surprise/content/plot elements: 8.5/10. Every Kingdom Hearts game needs a huge amount of “WHAt-THE-moments” and KH3 makes no exception. The final battles and the endings were a concentrated of twists and turns, starting from Yen Sid, to Ephemer, from Sora dying (like twice, during this game? the last one almost got me tho), to Kairi dying, from Xigbar’s real identity to Yozora officially inserted in KH’s main plot etc etc. It was a rollercoaster. And I loved it. Funny enough, the only “secret” that didn’t feel like a “secret” was the “secret” that Nomura defined the “biggest secret” XD ... aka Roxas xD I mean, they talked about making a replica for Roxas all the game long, so when Roxas actually appeared and claimed that Vexen made a replica for him, i was like ... yeah, thanks, that’s not a brand new information xD Talking about Vexen, him and the rest of the Organization had some really nice surprising elements, their story was worthy. 

- The narrative/structure/pace: 6.5/10. Ok, here’s the thing. Even if the actual story content was interesting and pretty good, there were problems in the pace and we all hardcore fans noticed it. Why was that? Because they changed some things they shouldn’t have changed in order to give more space to Disney worlds. 

For ex, I’m talking about the fact that we started our adventure in ... the Olympus world. I have nothing against that world of course. But in KH1 we started in Destiny Islands/Traverse Town. In KH2 we started in Twilight Town. In KHBBS we started in the Land of the Departure. In KH3 we should have respected traditions and start from an original world. Why? Because original worlds are strictly connected to the original characters’ development + main plot. By making Sora starting in a Disney world, they cut out an extremely important part in the KH3 story’s development, aka the very own basis. And  no, Twilight Town arrived 3 hours later, and was half as big as the other Disney worlds, so it doesn’t really stand the competion. 

  So, by putting so many Disney worlds and cutting out the original worlds, they confused the storyline’s pace. The actual story’s progression was reduced to some cutscenes between a world and another which is ... not a really good idea. We needed at least one or two more playable original worlds somewhere there in between, like KH2 had Radiant Garden and KH1 had Traverse Town, so that the story could have been developed  and the characters would have been able to meet and interact properly.

  In fact, the biggest problem is that the entire main plot is rushed in the last hours of the game. 35 hours of funny happy Disney gameplay. 5 hours of actual plot. It’s not balanced. The player didn’t feel the rising pressure for the final battle of light against darkness. No matter how epic the Keyblade War actually was, of course it felt a bit rushed, because it popped out all of a sudden and wasn’t smoothly inserted from the beginning of the game. 

  I can actually justify this choice though: KH3′s purpose was to give a conclusion to Xehanort’s saga. Which means they didn’t plan to develop the story or the characters more than what they already had in the previous games. They just wanted to show a proper “conclusion”. Not “development”. 

  It’s not the choice i would have taken in terms of storytelling, but it’s an option so i’m not really angry about it. It worked anyway because almost all the characters really had a solid background plot. .... almost. Which sadly leads to the sore point of the game. Here we go.

- Characters development: 7/10. Kingdom Hearts has a large quantity of very developed characters. Kingdom Hearts’ original characters are the ones who entered in out hearts years ago and we love them for a reason. They’re all well characterized, with specific strengths and weaknesses. Which means that no matter how weird the pace of KH3 could have been, the characters have been so well written in the previous games that they were able to tollerate everything in terms or story telling. Sora, Riku, Aqua, Roxas, Axel, Ventus, Xion, Terra, Naminè .... they all had a major role in KH’s plot on their shoulders and unique facets. But one character was strongly penalized by this the rhythm of KH3: Kairi. 

  Unlike most of the other characters that belong to the famous trios, Kairi could never count on a strong background, nor a good characterization. 

  Even though i liked her in KH1 (where she at least interacted with both Sora and Riku multiple times and had a part in the main plot, even if she was comatose for 80% of the time), it’s not a secret that she got benched immediately after that. KH2 didn’t make her justice with all that being kidnapped, and in the next games she completely dissapeared even. She was never involved in the story ever again. What am i referring to?

  In Birth By Sleep, only Sora and Riku met all the members of the wayfinder trio and played an actual part in their lives. Kairi barely meet Aqua once, and never played an active part in her life anyway. I mean, Aqua never needed Kairi for anything, never. On the contrary, both Sora and Riku were vital for all the members of the wayfinder trio, back then and later on.

  In Chain of Memories, Coded, 358/2 days ... Kairi was replaced with two other girls that quickly became more interesting than Kairi herself, aka Naminé and Xion. In those stories Kairi is barely mentioned and almost never appears. But Sora and Riku ... oh, Sora and Riku! They’re the PROTAGONISTS. They always interact, they always appear, they always do stuff. 

  Let’s not even talk about Dream Drop Distance, where it’s JUST Sora and RIku. 

  What’s my point? The Destiny trio isn’t a trio, it’s a duo. Kairi is ALWAYS put in a corner, she never has a part in the story. 

  I’m not talking about ships, i don’t care about ships, I don’t ship Soriku nor Sokai, it’s not about this. The problem is Kairi’s character development, which did not exist. Not only a development, but even a purpose was missing. 

  So, since i kinda liked her in KH1 and the potential was there, i thought that KH3 would have set things right for her. I had high hopes especially because of Axel, I was like, “WOW here it is a great potential for a good, healthy, platonic relationship, finally Kairi found someone to be paired with and do stuff. We will finally see her being weak, finding her power again, maybe she will be a playable character, maybe she will interact with BOTH Sora and RIku too, making jokes, express her preferences etc etc” yeah and what we got? Kairi is reduced to a mere man pain object again. She almost forgot about Axel once that Sora appeared. She got kidnapped here and there all along. Again. She kinda forced Sora to eat that fruit and never asked for his opinion, while Riku was having an existential drama going on just some steps away. But i don’t think she cares for Riku anyway since she never had any kind of bond time with him and isn’t interested in his problems. She fought once (badly), revealing that her training was somehow useless (she had to be saved by Sora and the others). She gets killed (pretty stupidly too) and Sora had to sacrifice to bring her back. And what made me angry the most: Sora’s heart gets lost in the process of saving her but it’s NOT Kairi the one going after him in the secret ending. IT’S RIKU. LIKE WHAAAT?? Riku?? She can’t even take her girly keyblade and go after the boy she is supposed to love and that died for her?? Riku has to do it? Really? It’s ridiculous. ... 

  Furthermore, she wasn’t a playable character. The only characters that we were able to play were Sora, Riku and .... Aqua! Pretty funny. (I think they are Nomura’s favorites, i don’t know.)

  Kairi’s only part in KH3 was changing outfit and “being Sora’s light” somehow but ... that was so much out of the blue and most likely an isolated moment. It could have been a nice coronation for a developed love story but the problem is that no development was there before.

  So, going back to my point.

  Even if i would have chosen another way to tell the story, the rushed pace of KH3 worked for everyone anyway, except for Kairi. Kairi needed a different treatment.

  But at this point i don’t think she will ever get it, probably Nomura doesn’t like her too much since he decided to make another DreamDropDistance game settled in Insommia next time xD so i give up on her. I’ll focus on the other beautiful female characters of this game.

  Anyway, even if i talked a lot about why Kairi was another flop, i want to point out how interesting some characters got instead. I’m talking about Xigbar (great plot twist), Saix, Demyx, Vexen (Vexen had so much importance, i mean, i didn’t expect him to be the one moving kh3’s plot), Luxord, Marluxia, Larxene and Repliriku! They used to be marginal characters and now they turned out to be protagonists, it’s amazing.

- FF characters: 7/10. I really loved Verum Rex’s surprise, it’s a clever idea to recycle the Versus characters and concepts Nomura couldn’t bring to life. Now that Nomura turned them into original characters, he has the copyright over them again thanks to Disney and he can use them as much as he wants, bringing the “ff characters cameos in kh” on a brand new level. Starting from the next game, we will have semi-FFcharacters included in the main plot, not just having a cameo here and there, which is amazing!

  But. This doesn’t mean i didn’t miss actual FF characters in Kh3. Cloud, Leon&Co left a hole in kh’s tradition.

Let’s sum it up my notes: 

Graphic: 10/10 +

Gameplay: 10/10 +

Exploration: 10/10 +

Music: 8/10 +

Plot twists/Surprise/Content/Plot elements: 8.5/10. +

The narrative/structure/pace: 6.5/10. +

Characters development: 7/10. +

FF characters: 7/10. +

Total = 8,3

AND ... THAT’S IT FOR NOW I GUESS? xD

[plumedesimili]

Who I used to be

Word count :  1430 Note : This is free from KH3 spoilers Read on AO3 | FFNet

When he opened his eyes, his mind was hazy. He could tell he was in a comfortable bed, tucked a bit too tightly. His head hurt a bit. The light in the room burnt his eyes that he quickly shut again, taking some time to get accustomed to it, to open them again.

He knew this room. He was sure of it. But he couldn’t remember where it was.

He grunted, twisting, trying to escape his cell of blankets and white sheets. There was a man sitting next to him, a cup of coffee (now cold) resting on a table. His eyes were closed, his head resting on his chest. He frowned. He knew him.

“Lexaeus?”

There was this strange feeling inside his chest, a melody that wasn’t there before, drumming with a regular rhythm. A heart, he realised with a shudder. He had a heart. He was complete again.

Lexaeus stirred in his sleep, then finally lazily opened an eye. When he realised he was awake, he opened his second eye and gave him a smile that he had not seen in a while.

“You’re finally awake, Ienzo.”

“Ien...zo?” His brand new heart started racing at the name. Why did it sound so familiar? It suddenly hit him. “It’s… my name.”

The other man furrowed his brow. “Of course it is. We are Somebodies again. We don’t need the X.”

“Right. So your name is…” He tried to remember, tried harder and harder, but nothing came to his mind. His hands started shaking. Panic seized him. He had not felt panic in so long, and yet here it was, and he was lost, and he couldn’t remember Lexaeus’s true name, or anyone else’s, and that scared him a lot.

“Aeleus. It’s okay. Don’t force it. After all, you were just a child when all of this happened.”

All of this. Ienzo wished he remembered exactly what all of this was. He knew Lex… no, Aeleus meant the day they lost their hearts, but he couldn’t remember. He didn’t remember his first years with the organization. As far as he remembered, his name had been Zexion, wearing the number VI, and not feeling anything. That Ienzo Aeleus was talking about was a ghost from the past, a kid that would sometimes haunt his nightmares.

“Vexen. Where is he? And the Master? And everyone else?”

“Follow me.”

Carefully, he left his bed, taking a couple of hesitant steps before being completely steady. He was in an infirmary, with several beds separated by drawn curtains. Aeleus stopped in front of the first one.

“Here’s Even. He hasn’t woken up yet.” The man he used to know as Vexen was sleeping on the bed, his face paler than it used to be. Ienzo gasped. Back when he was Zexion, he had been taught to not care about others. But there were things he remembered. When he was still a kid, a Nobody but still a boy, he used to have a lot of nightmares. Vexen always took care of him when no one was watching, spending some time with him and listening to him. Then, as he grew up, the man took more and more his distance, and Zexion did the same ; but deep down, he knew this was only to protect them both from Xemnas. Vexen, Lexaeus, Master Ansem ; he was an orphan, but he grew up with many parental figures. His heart remembered. And his heart ached to see Even looking so lifeless.

“Is there anything we can do?”

“Be patient. You woke up. He will.”

Ienzo nodded, staring at his feet. He wasn’t used to have feelings, and he felt overwhelmed with all these emotions rushing to his heart, to his mind. It was hard to name all these unknown feelings, so he just followed Aeleus in silence, sparing a last glance at Even. On the next bed, there was another figure, another familiar face. This time, Ienzo learnt his lesson. He just looked at Aeleus, not saying the name, knowing he’d get it wrong.

“Dilan…” The massive man muttered, but it was hard to tell if he said it for Ienzo or for himself. He looked very serious. Ienzo knew that Lexaeus and Xaldin spent a lot of time together back at the Organization, and he wondered if they used to be friends before that too. Dilan looked as weak as Even, which was somehow more alarming, given his imposing stature. Weak wasn’t a word often used to describe him.

“You might want to take a walk? Visit the town, and see if you remember anything?”

Ienzo frowned at Aeleus. He did not understand. Were they done with the infirmary?

“What about the others?”

“The others?” It was only a shadow on Aeleus’s face, but Ienzo saw it. Aeleus wasn’t telling the complete truth.

“The others. It can’t just be the four of us that are back. We were thirteen.”

“Well, Luxord, Demyx, Larx-”

“I know some of them weren’t from here. But eight of us were. Where are they now, Aeleus? And is Master Ansem back as well?”

Aeleus looked like he aged ten years in a second. His shoulders collapsed as he sighed, and he stared at the sky.

“Lea is back. You knew him as Axel. “ Ienzo took a short step back. It wasn’t that he knew Axel. It was that his very last memory as a Nobody was Axel staring at him as the puppet dragged him to his death. He wasn’t sure he was ready to face him right now. But Aeleus just shook his head even before he could say a thing. “I saw him wandering in town, but I don’t know if he noticed me. He’s looking for Isa -Saïx- but I’m not sure he will find him. When I woke up, it was the five of us. Braig -Xigbar- and Xehanort weren’t here. As for his Majesty… I don’t know. He’s not here either. I’m sorry.”

That was a lot to take on. Master Ansem taught him how to write, how to tie his shoes, how to be a proper human being. Even taught him all he could about science, about theories regarding the heart, the worlds, the Light. Aeleus taught him how to defend himself. Dilan showed him every hidden passage in the town. His memories were fuzzy, but he still knew all of that. And now, one of them was missing, maybe dead, two of them laid unconscious in beds, barely alive, and only Aeleus remained. How could things ever turn that wrong?

Talking about wrong, they had reached the castle’s gates and could see just how destroyed the town was. It felt nostalgic to Ienzo. He knew the place, even though he didn’t recall much. He grew up there. In this place that now was in ruins.

“We did that, didn’t we? With the Heartless. We destroyed our home.”

Aeleus grunted. “It’s time to make amends. We were misguided. Let’s fix that.”

“We have been recompleted…” Ienzo whispered, suddenly feeling incredibly exhausted. There was a lot to take on. He took a deep breathe in.

“You’re right. We need to right our wrongs. I’m going to study all I can from Master Ansem’s work. Since Even is unwell, I need to work twice as hard. There is just too much we still don’t know about the heart. If we want to help people, and stop the Heartless and the Nobodies from spreading, we need to know everything we can.”

In the distance, he could see a group of people working to rebuild houses. There was a girl running between everyone, bringing refreshments and cookies. Everyone was helping. Even Lea, in his way, looking for the missing ones, was helping. Ienzo couldn’t just sit there and watch.

“This town is ours, and we have to make sure it is once again a safe place. Next time we meet the Guardians of Light, I want to be able to greet them with a smile on my face. Not as opponents. But as friends. I want to help this town, and I want to help the Light. What do you say, Aeleus?”

Aeleus chuckled and put his gigantic hand on Ienzo’s head.

“I say we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. We’d better start looking for the Master’s books.”

Last time he stood there, he was six and wanted to become a scientist.

He was now eighteen, and his dream never changed. But for that, he needed to reach one more goal.

To make Radiant Garden home again.