#And Eraqus my favourite expression

[goldenchocobo]

I already did this kind of thing with the Union Leaders, so I thought I'd try the Dark Road Classmates too!

VERY inspired by Alphonse Mucha.

[quietarchivist]

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

So, thinking about it, I'm going to talk about The Weight of a Keyblade (https://archiveofourown.org/works/56050324) which is a Kingdom Hearts fic I wrote earlier this year.

--

The excerpt:

Sora falls into a routine after that, training with Ira and working his way through the book he was given.

The book Ira lends him makes Sora work for the information within its pages. It is the hardest he has ever done research and includes school projects. The pages are faded and the ones that he can read are dense and difficult to parse, with old words and turns of phrase that make him consult dictionaries and other sources. And he can’t exactly ask for help. Because asking for help will likely reveal Ira and even if nothing has been said, Ira wants to remain out of the way and Sora doesn’t want to betray that. So, if he wants this information, he will have to get it himself.

And he does, slowly but surely. Slowly but surely the book starts to open up to him and he learns.

He learns about the age of Fairy Tales, the way Keyblade Wielders used to work together in unions.

He learns about the way that Keyblades used to evolve and how materials had to be gathered to allow that to happen.

He learns about how Keyblades were often considered a reflection of their Wielder’s Hearts. And while that makes sense to him, it also makes Sora wonder what it says that his Keyblade is just the Kingdom Key.

The more he learns, the more questions he has, and he hopes that Ira will answer them all.

There’s a voice that suggests that maybe this is a dangerous path to be on. He’s seen what too much knowledge can lead to, but at the same time someone needs to recover this knowledge.

Sora doesn’t tell anyone about his training sessions with Ira. It's a decision he came to a while ago. For selfish reasons, he realizes. And then kind of smiles because he didn’t think he could be selfish. He tries to rationalize a practical reason, but outside of respecting Ira’s privacy, he can’t really land on one.

It’s selfish because he finally has a teacher all his own. Lea and Kairi have Merlin, and Kairi has been talking about training under Aqua. Terra and Ven had Master Eraqus. Roxas and Xion haven’t really expressed interest. Riku is already a Master. Sora knows everyone sort of considers him a Master, even if he doesn’t have the Mark. But everything he knows about Keyblades and fighting comes from learning on the fly. And maybe he wants to learn from someone.

And Ira has been teaching him. Ira takes Sora’s instinctual knowledge and hones it, how to trust his instincts and rely on them. How to get more from his strikes, and use his magic more effectively. How his Keyblade is his Heart and it will guide him. Ira is a tough Master, disciplined and stern but also fair and Sora can’t help but think of Phil in Olympus Coliseum, with the way that there is an unwavering belief that he can go the distance. It means he comes home sore and scraped and when he’s asked, he just says he’s training on his own.

It’s selfish because he can feel himself becoming untethered from this world. The effects of the Power of Waking finally coming home to roost. He should be spending time with his friends. He should be enjoying peace with Kairi and Riku. Instead he goes to a dark alley and trains with a stranger.

And if he’s being really honest, he doesn’t feel that bad about keeping secrets. And that probably scares him most of all.

--

So, Kingdom Hearts is bonkers.

We all know this and frankly, that's one of my favourite things about this ridiculous franchise. I love how bonkers it is and how with each successive entry into the franchise we get just a little more bonkers. Even if sometimes, my love for the franchise does rub up against my ire for it.

KHX/UX was one of those things. As a mobile game, I hated it. I found it a gacha-hell pay to win that seemed to rely on getting the latest medal to progress through the story, which was told in a really piecemeal way. But I love the Foretellers and the story of the Keyblade War. I think the Foretellers have really neat designs and I'm interested to see how they'll play in future games. And I'm going to keep playing in the Foretellers space until Tetsuya Nomura comes and upends my shit and we will nod at each other respectfully because we both knew this was going to happen.

But I wanted to play in the space before that and imagine what a meeting between our current cast and these mysterious masters might mean. I wrote a fic a while ago (Struggle of Sorts) that focused on Aced meeting the Twilight Town gang, and then a few years later, I guess it was Ira's turn. (They are my favourites so that makes sense). And Ira and Sora were a good match (also inspired by some rp threads). In the fic as a whole, Sora discovers Ira in a empty corner in Radiant Garden and Ira agrees to train him, taking place in a timey-wimey AU post-KH3 where the power of waking consequences took a little while to catch up. And the reflections the two of them go through.

Sora's an interesting character to write for. He's the kind of character who is earnest, bright and trusting, and I think it's really easy to tip into him being too much of those things, when he's really not. So it was fun to write him in a way where he has to be a bit more thoughtful and studious, which I don't think comes naturally to him. He's a very charge ahead kind of character. And for being such an open character who wears his heart on his sleeve, finding that he has the capacity to keep secrets and maybe just have a little shred of the things the game kind of defines as belonging to Darkness was fun. But I only ever want to keep him at a shred. Sora's too good for that otherwise.

I also liked the idea of Sora kind of feeling like he's behind since so much weight has been placed on the idea of Masters and Mastery in the games. And lamenting not having a Master and having to figure things out on his own. (And I recognize part of that is just the result of the games being what they are and how they're structured and all that). It's easy to consider Sora a Master via experience rather than formality but I think that also weighs on him. So finding someone who is willing to work with him I think is really validating, and something he kind of wants to keep secret. He's got to catch up to Riku somehow and he can only get so far on his own. Even if it means avoiding his friends for a bit.

It was also fun working in some of the oddball details from KHX/UX and how that has changed. I like the idea of these time-seperated keyblade wielders talking shop.

Ira's motives in the fic are a little more muddled, but that is more from the fact that we don't actually know what they're doing, and until the games tell us a bit more, I'm reluctant to stray from the vague. But I do think Ira would be a good master. He successfully led a union after all, and I like the idea of trying to combat the melancholy with trying to help someone.

tl; dr I like these guys a lot and it's a fun space to play and I hope Tetsuya Nomura doesn't upend too much of my shit.

--

[dominuslucis]

● — || There was a little smile that managed its way onto his lips as he looked at Xehanort . While it was not a [ [ l a r g e ] ] victory by any means , it was still one nonetheless that he could be happy with .

" I'll take the compliment and run with it . "

He mused warmly . Though his expression did have to soften with the words that followed shortly after .

" I'm - . . . I'm not implying that you stopped , " He fumbled , " I am implying that I think we could both be better at reading what the others is thinking . We have much growing to do . . . Much learning . "

Eraqus didn't know that his words had [ [ e f f e c t e d ] ] Xehanort in such a way . Truth be told , he thought he was just being honest ; but , it would seem that honesty managed to cause a stumble in words . Perhaps . . . he had said something wrong ? He [ [ c e r t a i n l y ] ] hoped not but all is good . Though , the words that graced his ears brought about a hue of pink to his cheeks while he lifted his gaze to his dear friend .

" As you embrace my light . Ever am I fortunate to be your light , as you are mine . "

Eraqus' softened expression soon turned [ [ p l a y f u l ] ] as the younger became excited with what was to come . He turned on his heels and then began walking , hoping more than [ [ a n y t h i n g ] ] that Xehanort was not far behind .

" Come ! I think our favourite spot is available . And , if I am to win , we must keep the surrounding areas the same . Just for luck . "

Let's just say , he was a little excited to test these new waters . Would he actually win ? Only time would tell . . . but something in his gut told him that today might be the day that something special happened .

A little indication of a scowl had slipped onto the silver-haired boy's face all too quickly, as he looked then away. '' .. Fine. I'll give you that,'' he emphasized, before glancing right back at the other. Fuck, he couldn't resist not looking at the other, soaking him in .. He had to ask the other out at some point, but nothing ever seemed like the correct time.

Xehanort tsk'ed. ''Are you implying that I've stopped, then?'' he questioned, lifting a fine silver eyebrow, eyes curious.

He had been all but ready to combat Eraqu's next statement, but he quickly fell short as he heard those certain words. Embrace me? A flush colored his cheeks, letting embarrassment readily supply the situation. "J_Just ..'' Shit, he stuttered. Even worse. ".. as I embrace your light,'' he finished, thankfully stronger than previous words.

He scoffed. How sickeningly sweet was that? Could he end up asking Eraqus today?

He had remained silent for perhaps a few beats too long --

''Yes. Maybe it will,'' he said neutrally, not particularly liking to lose, but .. It was nice to see how glad Eraqus would be if he did win.

''Let's see if it's in the cards, this time.''

A grin. He wouldn't change this for the world ...

[karla-the-elemental-dreamer]

Terra Has A Younger Sister...?

First of all, to get context for later, my in-dream adventure pathway has made it so Terra has graduated to be a dream guide alongside Riku. This statement is true since 2 OCT 2021 (AEST).

Now for the explanation as to what's going on here? I will put most of what I wrote on my DA piece:

-------------------------------------------------

She likely wouldn't exist if she didn't show up in my dreams last night. This dream character showed up and claimed to be Terra's younger sister. She looked slightly different in-dream: She had more pale skin, her hair was black and more straight, and she was also wearing her hair down. I have revamped her look a bit to be more similar to Terra, as well as to more accurately express her short and snarky, 'entitled' personality (she was mean to me in the dream). She was wearing the exact same clothes in the dream as she's wearing here. I thought it was so interesting that when I woke up, I felt I wanted to develop her as an actual character. Her name is Tenebris Masakato. Tenebris: This actually means 'Darkness' in Latin. I thougbt since Terra is 'Earth' in Latin; she also got a Latin name. But because her parents literally named her darkness, this is why she turned into a really nasty person (basically taking the exact opposite road to Terra). Masakato: For each character that is a dream guide to me, they let me know their last names. Terra's last name in a dream was shown to be 'Masakato', so it only makes sense that this is Tenebris' last name too... I don't know if she'd be married to anyone.

Extra note: She had NO name in-dream; so Tenebris is one give to her by me today. Terra has been marked an official dream guide (now alongside Riku) since 2 OCT 2021 (AEST). Here is some backstory and extra facts that I have written up for his sister Tenebris: --------------------------------------------------------

Name: Tenebris Masakato

Age: ~2 yrs younger than Terra.

Overview: Tenebris means ‘Darkness’ in Latin… Her parents literally called her darkness. Whereas her older brother Terra left behind a life of darkness (after escaping his fate as Terranort), Tenebris leads a normal life (non keyblade-wielder) but has been continuing in a downward spiral into evil and corruption. Tenebris wears trendy clothes and cute accessories, and is a social butterfly, but looks can be deceiving. Through loopholes in modern day law, Tenebris can be a silent killer (hence why she is not accepted into any KH promotional materials by Disney). Due to their vast differences, Terra and Tenebris do not speak to each other. Overall, Terra and Tenebris are almost exact opposites of each other.

Extra fact: Her favourite colour is peach/nude.

Backstory: Tenebris is the younger sister of Terra. At the time when Terra first set foot on the Land of Departure to study under Master Eraqus, Tenebris came with him. However, Eraqus turned Tenebris away as he noted that her name was literally Darkness (in Latin). At the time, Terra and Tenebris were none the wiser about this and Terra wasn’t happy that his sister was denied occupancy. Tenebris went back home to be with her parents while Terra continued on with Eraqus. Terra meeting Aqua and befriending her made him forget about his sister and feel better about studying under Eraqus. Creating the bond of Eraqus as the ‘honorary father’. Back home, Tenebris went to middle school (high school – AUS), and this is when she started to change and show early signs of who she is today. She had a very ‘exclusive’, ‘status quo’ friendship group who would pick on other people. Tenebris only remained friends with these people for about 1.5 years, until a huge disagreement happened and Tenebris left the group (she was the troublemaker). In her upper years, Tenebris studied law and politics, as well as many other English subjects, with only one maths subject. This is the reason why Tenebris is very well spoken and lot sharper than her brother Terra. She also knows how to say the right words to appeal to people, but then can mistreat them, finding the right time to show her true colours. From Terra speaking to his mum on occasions, this is how he found out about Tenebris’ change and became shocked, realising the legitimacy of Eraqus denying her. Hearing that Terra recovered from his darkness underwhelmed Tenebris, but then angered her. Terra’s principals and beliefs were nothing like hers, and she often thought of her brother as a failure, saying bad things about him to other people that she met.

Opposites (Terra/Tenebris):

Terra – May not have been worthy of becoming a Keyblade Master back then; has potential now. Tenebris – Could have become a Keyblade Master (if a wielder) back then; evil and corruption has taken over her life today.

Terra – His darkness wasn’t his fault; he was tricked and deceived by others, and even then, not given ample opportunities to prove himself. Tenebris – She was treated well in her early life and given plenty of opportunities; the road to darkness was her choice.

Terra – Gentle nature, kind-hearted, genuine, soft spoken, slightly ditsy at times. Tenebris – Social butterfly, overly-enthusiastic, may come across as aggressive at times, deceptive, cunning, sharp, good with words.

Terra – Traditional outlook, traditional clothing. Tenebris – Modern/High-Corporate beliefs and principals, trendy clothing.

Terra – Has a few friends (Aqua and Ventus esp.); keeps them for a long time (if not for good). Tenebris – Has many people claiming to be her friends; only ‘uses’ them when needed; she's high profile but has no good, loyal friends.

---------------------------------------------

Tumblr extra: Here is a comparison in appearances for Terra and Tenebris:

[jezzode]

A list of sickeningly adorable Terra/Cinderella headcanons

Terra's fear of darkness is only mildly stronger than his fear of dancing with a beautiful woman. Yet he couldn't bring himself to say no when Cinderella took his hand. 

His face grew redder with every incorrect foot placement he made. It's alright though. Cinderella couldn't find it more endearing.

It took the entire night for Terra to gain the courage to kiss her. He probably would never have done the deed, if she hadn't impatiently asked "Are you going to kiss me or not?"

Cinderella had never smiled wider than when she rode Terra's keyblade glider, high enough to see the entire land in all its beauty from amongst the stars. Likewise, Terra's heart had never melted like it did when he saw the look on her face. 

Watching Terra elegantly slaughter his opponents with the Keyblade never fails to make Cinderella feel rather hot and bothered. Something she'll never admit.

Being looked down on for so many years, Cinderella can never fully understand what she did to deserve Terra's kindness and affection. But he always does his best to remind her.

When Cinderella told Eraqus that her carriage was a pumpkin and her talking mice friends turned into steeds, he reacted with an expression that quite clearly communicated "You're insane!" Terra laughed.

Terra had never been more nervous than when he started training for the Mark Of Mastery exam once again. The only thing that could calm his fear of failure was when Cinderella would sing "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes".

When times get rough, Terra can sometimes feel darkness beg to fly out of him. But even a thin ray of light from Cinderella's heart always calms him down.

Cinderella made sure to describe how gentlemanly Terra was when they first met. Ventus and Aqua's favourite pastime is making fun of him for it. 

When she's in the mood, Cinderella will deliberately act as sweet towards Terra as possible, calling him names like 'honey-bun' or 'my little buttercup' just to embarrass him further. The first time she did this, Ventus wound up choking from laughing so hard.

Alongside Aqua, Cinderella is practically a second mother to Ventus. Always taking care of him and ruffling his hair. But her favourite thing about him is how red he turns when she kisses his forehead.

Terra spent weeks learning the correct spell to repair Cinderella's pink dress. But once he showed her the result of his efforts, there wasn't a single part of his face that she didn't kiss within the following minute. 

Some nights, Cinderella will suddenly wake up, shaking from a horrible nightmare of Lady Tremaine coming to get her. But Terra is always up moments later, ready with his arms around her. It only takes a kiss or two to calm her down.

Terra and Cinderella's relationship made Eraqus realise the importance of light and darkness balancing each other out. Because that's exactly what Terra and Cinderella were.

Terra has only seen his father shed a tear once; out of the corner of his eye when Cinderella walked down the aisle.

The Fairy Godmother told Terra to go with Cinderella to the ball, because watching her dance would inspire him to believe. That's what she told him at least. In reality, it was because she knew he was the one for her.

[thenobodyfromdownunder]

My Somebody's Connections

My somebody has come to know and love all the guardians of light. However, there are some she has more special connections with. She calls Riku one of her dream guides, which means that he has a dream eater branch attached to him, and is a force for good in her dream reality. Riku protects my somebody from nightmares as well as the harmful qualities that some nightmares may bring with them. Being a keyblade master, Riku also gives my somebody sound advice with her life choices. Sometimes I find she is too human that she can easily be hurt by others or 'slip on banana peels' as it were. I think she needs to have a thicker skin and not be so open about things, especially when not everyone will return that love back, and some may even spin that love in the wrong direction. Riku is helping her see that slowly. My favourite piece of advice that Riku gave to my somebody is, "You can't change people if they don't want to". My somebody needs more people in her life, but I'm thankful that Riku is there for her, and that as a person who got over his own darkness, he listens to her without judgement, and helps her through hers. Riku has been her dream guide for a year and a bit.

If you're wondering, I don't have a dream guide like my somebody does. I am definitely not Riku's 'little one' and I don't even know if he has a nobody. I feel I'm more like Namine. I could be known as a 'witch', and a lot of the time, I don't even know what my purpose is. The only reason I co-exist with my somebody, is because like Sora and Roxas, she loves me too much for me to go away.

But back to my somebody. She has also recently created bonds with Terra. She wanted to give Riku somebody else to 'lean on', as she perhaps thought that her personal circumstances would be too much for Riku to coach alone at times. She chose Terra as the 'second hand' as even though he wasn't a keyblade master, he had already been through so much, and if Eraqus gave him the role to look after Aqua and Ventus, then surely he would know how to look after my somebody, especially more willing if he knew she had ties to Riku... The boy he passed the power of the keyblade onto.

Terra is not as brutally honest to my somebody as Riku is. Terra seems to be more the 'teddy bear'. So if we think about good cop bad cop; towards my somebody, Terra is the good cop, and Riku is the bad cop. Riku is the one that will tell my somebody what they really need to hear (partly because she trusts him and allows him to do this). It's Terra, most of the time, that tries to soften the blow or bandage the wound as it were.

Things aren't always bad though. Riku does take my somebody out to places, but Terra seems to do this more often. Terra knows she likes shopping, and going out for food and drinks. To date, Terra has happily shared a milkshake and a bag of lollies with my somebody (/his successor's dreamer). I think Terra secretly has a sweet tooth, and I think it also provides a beautiful distraction at times on his road to recovery from his traumatic past. Terra has also taken my somebody to the beach, to the park...

I wish I had somebody who would take me out for milkshakes on the beach, but I'm a nobody, what I am even supposed to do in life? Eh, I should shut up anyway. My somebody said that I am forbidden from getting personal on this blog. Especially suitable because I wish she wouldn't be as 'expressive' sometimes.

Speaking about nobodies, my somebody also has a closer connection with Roxas, but nowhere near as much as Riku and Terra. Roxas does not 'work full-time or part-time' in her dream world. He only filled in for Riku on a couple of occasions but that's because he wanted to. And then when Riku and Terra took my somebody to Twilight Town to see her friend who was ill in Namine's mansion; Roxas hosted them.

As I said before, my somebody loves all the guardians of light, and has had gatherings with all of them before, but those are her top 3 when it comes to her connections.

I look forward to sharing more of my somebody's experiences.

- The Nobody From Down Under