#Final Fantasy XV theories

[reflectionsofacreator]

Final Fantasy XV is like, the Dark Souls of FF lore. And it's not even intentional, which is bullshit. I have to piece together scrap bits here and there from different periods of production, figure out if that official manga contradicts what was laid out in the game, consult the scriptures of the canceled DLC-Turned-Novel, backtrack through game patches to see what item descriptions changed, consult different localizations, consult the goddamn pocket version...

Did you know that the Starscourge, the main driving force of the plot of XV, being a disease that can turn humans into daemons, the thing that Noctis has to sacrifice his life to get rid of because even the gods can't do it, is only revealed to have come from the meteor that Titan caught (and thus be from beyond the stars) in the German localization?

i hate it here

[midgarmosquito]

i'm just CONVINCED ffxv was supposed to have a "who's the traitor??" storyline.

gladio goes on a mysterious "hiking trip"? iggy also disappears for a bit? prom turns out to be a niff? conincidence? i think not!!

i assume the idea was scrapped at some point during development.

now, i don't think ANY of the chocobros were actually supposed to be traitors. those were just misdirections. there was DRAMA in store, with noctis being forced to suspect even his closest allies.

who was supposed to be the traitor then, you may ask? COR.

i mean, all the dialogue surrounding his 1st appearance?? people marvelling how mysterious he is? how he was the only one who survived the citadel? and gladio brushing it off as cor just being that good?

and cor's gruff attitude also played a part. is it tough love? OR is it actually a disguised resentment?

1st time i played ffxv i was SO SURE cor was a traitor and i remain convinced that was planned... at some point.

normally i'd wonder why they'd remove a story beat and leave the setup for it. but i see that a lot as i play ffxv - little story elements that seem to be leading into something, but never do.

anyways until i'm somehow proven wrong this is my,,, ummm, would-be-headcanon? 😅

i'm curious if i'm the only one who thinks this lol

[nirgilis]

SRNHNR Extra 1 - Unseen Realm & Night Final World

Part 1 | Part 2

"When the twilight of the gods at last descends upon this world, what emerges from the unseeable expanse beyond that Door will be but music, and that devoid of words: the lamentations of the Goddess Etro, as She sobs Her song of grief."

"Somnus" - Etro's song about sleeping Bhunivelze might be the "lamentations" described in FF13's Analect.

On FF15's main screen plays instrumental version of "Somnus," which is "devoid of words," as violin replaces the voice from version with lyrics.

While in FF15 main screen symbolises night to which Noctis has to bring dawn, in VS13 a similar main screen might've meant entering Unseen Realm.

In a way in KH "Somnus" appears 2 times:

KH3 secret ending which has its first accords.

Track which plays when Sora wakes up in Night Final World has "singing," or humming to be presize.

If the author isn't mistaken, track from Night Final World is one of a very few soundtracks from KH, which have any sort of voice in them.

That doesn't include Utada Hikaru's OPs and EDs, Disney and TWEWY's featured songs.

Few others namely being track from Verum Rex commercial, Mising Link's version of "Dearly Beloved" and possibly KH3 Data Fight arragement of YMX's theme.

[poz-patrol]

Playstation 4 Platinum Trophy

[scalefeathers]

Thinking once again about how Nobuo Uematsu and Masayoshi Soken are both completely amazing composers but in completely opposite directions let me explain

Disclaimer I am not a music theorist; most of music theory is black fucking magic to me. I barely know what a chord is and the circle of fifths makes me quake as though before an Elder God. I just really like both of their works and sometimes I have thoughts about things. Also this is all just my opinion, it's fine if you don't agree, etc.

So: Uematsu is first and foremost, in my opinion, an absolute master of melody. I believe it's what makes his work so iconic and makes so many of his pieces so instantly recognizable. The Final Fantasy theme, the chocobo theme, Dancing Mad, Vamo'alla Flamenco, fucking One-Winged Angel--Just from seeing those names, you've probably got one playing in your head already. You could start humming it right now. Maybe you are already.

And it makes perfect sense when you consider the era he was working in, because back in the 8-bit and 16-bit era, the melody was all you had. When you have such a tiny amount of storage space to work with, you can really play only one, maybe two notes at a time. You can't do anything that's layered, because you only have one layer to work with. I think that's why so much video game music from that era is so memorable and iconic. It's not just because you played so much Street Fighter II when you were a kid that the music is indelibly seared into your brain (though that probably doesn't hurt); it's also because Yoko Shimomura wrote really solid melodies that had nothing else competing for your aural attention (apart from the in-game sound effects, which are probably also seared into your memory). (Yoko Shimomura, btw, also composed the music for Final Fantasy XV, the entire Kingdom Hearts series, and like 50 other games over the past 40 years, another fucking icon).

But back to Uematsu: like I said, melodic genius. Even when his work is upscaled into full orchestral arrangements, that core melody is always front and center. And his affinity for melody makes even more sense when you consider that before he got into video game composing, he was writing commercial jingles. (Younger folks may not be aware, but there was a time when practically every product had to have its own theme song, and the best ones were short, snappy, and instantly memorable--and for that, again, you need a strong, simple melody. Ba da ba ba ba, I'm lovin' it.)

Compare: Soken. Soken only started at Square 12 years after Uematsu, which isn't that long in human terms (to me at least, cos I'm old), but it is a long fuckin' time in video game years. By the time he started composing for games, there was so much more you could do with game music in terms of layering, complexity, and sound, and you can tell from his work that he takes full advantage of that. His work is complex and dense, a rich layer cake of themes and motifs, all beautifully merging and weaving together, often to extraordinary effect.

And again, if you look at his pre-music career, it makes a lot of sense that he'd have that approach to music, because he first got into the games industry as a sound designer; I believe that he is the sound director for all the FFXIV expansions, as well as being the composer. So of course he'd be very aware of not just how a sound (or piece of music) works on its own, but of how it fits into the greater whole, and of how to layer and balance lots of different sounds to create something greater than the sum of its parts. And of course it makes sense that he'd bring that approach to his compositions as well.

As a consequence of this approach, though, his music often lacks the memorable melodies that characterize Uematsu's work. Like, I ground (grinded?) Dun Scaith a lot the last time it was on the Mogstone rotation, I know all the boss themes extremely well and can recognize each of them instantly. But if you asked me right now to hum one? I don't think I could. (This isn't a deficiency, to be clear; music doesn't need a prominent core melody in order to be good.)

And that's also not to say that all his music lacks iconic melodies. His vocal tracks, pretty much by definition, have to put a single melody front and center; and then on top of that (or rather, behind it), you have all that trademark Soken richness and depth. Which is probably also why his vocal tracks go so fucking hard.

I think that's also why, out of all the expansions, I like Heavensward's music the best. Most of Heavensward's score is written by Soken, but the main theme is Uematsu's, and you may notice it's basically a tasting menu of like 5 or 6 excellent, very recognizable melodies, one right after the other. And basically every piece on the Heavensward soundtrack incorporates one or more of these melodies. So it really does give you the best of both worlds, and gives the overall score a cohesion that I don't see as much with the other expansions.

TL;DR, Uematsu and Soken are both amazing composers with very different and complimentary styles that reflect their differing backgrounds and the different eras of games in which they have worked and I just think that's neat.

[rainingstorms1220]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers ♡

Oooh uh uh that's difficult. Let's see...

1. My OCs and stories

Literally my only motivation to live. I'm very, very attached to my kids—they are the culmination of my blood, sweat, tears and soul. So anything revolving around them makes me very happy, inspired and motivated. I will do everything for them!! Art, writing, even making games if I can! Merch too! Plushies, accessories, anything and everything. All for them. The thousands of little fictional people, worlds and stories living rent-free in my mentally ill brain.

Bonus happiness points when other people also like my kids and are interested in getting to know them better. Like, if you take the time to approach me and ask questions about them, are willing to sit through hours of me rambling your ears off about characters that spawned from the depths of my hellish critter mind, and also actively want to discuss them with me and tell me all of your thoughts—that is like the ultimate quality to my quality time love language right there. It's the most idealistic, unrealistic, impossible thing ever though, mostly because I have a lot of kids and like. 20+ different stories with several more AUs. To have someone else be able to digest all of that information? No way. But yeah.

Fanart and fanfiction of my kids also make me very happy. I will treasure each and every one of the art pieces/writing dearly. Basically anything related to my kids, I will cry over. I will explode over my kiddos.

2. Various media

As of right now, I'm fixated on Twisted Wonderland (LEONA), Bleach (HITSUGAYA AND HITSUKARIN), One Punch Man (METAL BAT AND BATAROU) and Blue Lock (RYUSAE AND KAISER). Very much waiting in anticipation for the TWST anime, Bleach TYBW Cour 3, OPM Season 3 and Blue Lock Season 2 + Nagi movie. I'm also really invested in the Final Fantasy series (III, IV, VII, IX, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, Crystal Chronicles EOT and ROF, etc...)! And I'm a casual player of Punishing Gray Raven (very much looking forward to Wuthering Waves by the same company)!

I also like books! Haven't been able to read as much as I'd like to these days, but I have books I've bought that I hope to read soon. Gotta read Six of Crows (yes, Lune, I'll finish it). Have also been wanting to collect Bleach's light novels (CFYOW currently). And TWST's novels and manga too, once they're translated (Savanaclaw manga and novel C'MERE)! Much to look forward to <3 Fanfics of media I like are also really nice to read. When I have more time, I'd like to write for the fandoms I'm in.

Pretty art is nice. Good games are nice. Good stories and wonderful characters are nice. Beautiful writing is nice. I'm very simple haha, as long as the media strikes my fancy, chances are I'll look into it and derive some form of enjoyment from it <3

3. Writing/Drawing

If it wasn't already evident from the above two points, as well as my own profile, I like to write and draw. Very much an arts kid (creativity is another thing that I'm not sure I have, but let's not get into that). I'm not good at speaking, so having visual representations of the things I feel, be it via written words or artwork, is the best way for me to express myself and communicate, I find. And it's also fun! When I'm not preoccupied with other IRL commitments and stuck in creative ruts, that is.

4. Music

I know nothing about music theory or playing instruments. Not a music kid. I just like listening to good music. In particular, I'm a big fan of J-Pop, J-Rock, Rock, Instrumentals, EDM and Dubstep, Gothic-sounding music, and others, depending on whether they strike my fancy or not. Favourite artists/bands include Tatsuya Kitani, Aimer, Mili and ONE OK ROCK. Banger musicians. You're free to drop recommendations too! I'm pretty open to most genres. Though extremely selective with a few others (K-Pop being one of those genres haha oops).

5. Spending time with friends

Pretty clear cut, I think. I don't have a lot of people I'm particularly close to, but I do cherish those I consider my friends a lot. Quality time love language—just spending time with them makes me happy. We don't even have to really be doing anything. I just like having their company, and if they willingly seek me out and want to spend time with me too, that's even better.

And yep, that's all. I can't think of anything else haha. Thank you for the ask, beloved~

[styrmwb]

Favorite Final Fantasy Music (FFI)

I've had this idea for a minute but have Struggled to start it so HAHA we're finally doing it Final Fantasy music is Really good and I want to share my favorite songs so I'm just gonna go by game and list like my top 5 FFI was hard to pick cause there's not a lot of songs? Also I wasn't sure if I wanted to exclude certain songs because they became series mainstays but i decided I don't care and if it stands out to me I'm doing it Linking the PS remake versions cause those are the easiest to find 5. Temple of Chaos Mysterious......... I like the melody in this one :) I think I like the original NES version more cause it sounds like, super heroic and final like you're a party of 4 warriors who traveled back in time to go kill the final evil (almost like you are???? wooooow) 4. Mount Gulg This is absolutely a case of I like this song more because of how it's used in later games (have you heard mythril mines from chocobo racing????? SLAPS) and again this is a fun melody; I like this PS version cause of the flutes it sounds like a volcano (I will not elaborate) 3. Final Battle Kill Chaos. This song is one of two reasons why I used the PS OST cause it exists there first, but my personal favorite version of this is the PR version cause of the guitars and drums in that one (i am a sucker for Rock Instruments), I think the beginning of this song is cool cause it has that evil build up vibe, then the little bit of piano, then GOES HAM; it rocks 2. Miniboss Battle I definitely attribute part of me liking this to DFFOO cause it's Garland's BT theme, but this is like, peak FFI music to me, this is what I think of when i think of FFI. I can picture in my mind Garland and the Warrior of Light battling it out relentlessly, swords swinging wildly and clashing; I am not going to continue to try to paint a picture because I cannot but I hope the vibe is created in your mind's eye too. This is the other PS OST original song, and again, I think the PR version is the best version because of its super loud orchestral hits. (I wish I could find an upload of it cause I'd use that instead) 1. Opening Theme You might be asking, Styrm, why did you say the miniboss theme was peak FFI music and then not put it at #1? Because I'm a Bitch and the opening theme that becomes the main theme of the whole series makes me cry like an idiot every time I hear it. Uematsu was COOKING when he made this. I'm probably not going to put this in future lists but this is the time where I say how good this song is; FFXI, XV, and XVI also have Really good versions of it. I'm sure there's some music theory term for notes that emotion you harder than others, whatever it is, this song does that (I am shit at writing and explaining but I like this song aaaaaaa)

[garbria]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Final Fantasy XV Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Cor Leonis/Nyx Ulric Characters: Cor Leonis, Nyx Ulric Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Blood and Injury, Cave-In, Mutual Pining, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Tumblr Memes Summary:

Cor glanced at their surroundings. “Where are we?”

“Fuck if I know.” Nyx shrugged, ignoring how the movement aggravated his bruises. “Somewhere under the mountain you blew up, at a guess.”

“That wasn’t my fault,” Cor grumbled.

Nyx snickered. “Well, you can’t blame me. I wasn’t anywhere near the blast.”

“And yet, you’re here,” Cor pointed out.

Nyx shrugged again, looking away. “I’m not about to explain to the king or the Captain that I let you fall down a hole by yourself.”

Cor sighed. “I hate warping. I really hate warping.”

For the lovely @whostarlockeda03

Did I write a fic just to make a joke about Color Theory?

Yes, yes, I did. Enjoy!

[linkles-art-blog]

So, back on the 15th of last month, I had made a colored sketch version of this post, as I wasn’t really sure if I would be up for committing the time necessary to finish the artwork in full for quite a while, if ever; however, since I was, in fact, able to complete it after all, I would now like to make a much more proper post for it here on my art blog.

This is my take on the “Meet the Artist!” type of posts that you occasionally see floating around the various parts of Tumblr (except, seeing as that I’m also a writer, I added ‘author’ to it, too).  As stated above and as most of my blogs’ urls imply, the name that I most typically go by online is, of course, Linkle — although, there are some exceptions on a very select few other platforms.

My main hobbies are (obviously) writing and drawing, although I am also a gamer who loves playing video games, listening to music, reading books and poetry, and watching various shows and movies on TV — including a few anime series.

My favorite series out of all of the fandoms I am in is, without a shred of doubt, Bungou Stray Dogs and its related topics, but I also am a very big fan of the Legend of Zelda, Doctor Who, Stargate (particularly SG-1 and Atlantis), Final Fantasy, Xenoblade Chronicles, Ace Attorney, Pokémon, and so, so many other (for me) somewhat minor fandoms that I haven’t mentioned here, but still love dearly all the same. 💖 If I’ve ever loved a series, chances are I will love it forever and ever.

As a creator, I am primarily an artist, writer, and theorist, who takes great pride in drawing my favorite characters and pairings and writing meta articles, analyses, theories, and fanfics for the fandoms and topics that are close to my heart (with my primary focus being especially centered around Bungou Stray Dogs and the general topic of Arthur Rimbaud — both in BSD and in real life, the research of which I take extremely seriously).

As a gamer, some of my favorite games of all time are Xenoblade Chronicles, the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Majora’s Mask, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Code Vein, Final Fantasy IX, X, and XV, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Pokémon Platinum Version, Rime, Super Mario Galaxy, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE! (And there are probably some others I’m forgetting as of writing this, too. lol)

If you have any other questions about me, you should check out the Informational Grand Directory that I have pinned on my main blog! ^-^ Thanks for reading, and I hope to maybe see you around sometime!

Do not repost this artwork anywhere without my explicit permission or claim it as your own. See F.A.Q.s for details. Songs I listened to while drawing this:

Santa’s Real by Sasha Sloan

House with No Mirrors by Sasha Sloan

Carried Away by Shawn Mendes

Rip Up the Recipe by Shawn Mendes and Constance Wu

Take a Look at Us Now by Shawn Mendes and Javier Bardem

[mandala--moons]

Hello! Thanks for reading. This is part of a collection of head-canon postings I wanted to make regarding my current fanfic’s universe and lore. The fanfic takes place in an altered omen!verse, along with bits and bobs from the alternate ending of Episode Ignis, as well as when FFXV was still Verses XIII. I’ve always been super fascinated by the Omen trailer, and what would have to occur for said trailer to end up happening. Also, I deserve to be self-indulgent. This is a VERY personal, non-factual imagining of my own headworld regarding FFXV and is really not meant to be taken as a legit theory. Please don’t come for me I’m just a nerd. 

——

The origins of the Six, as gods of the Cosmogony are murky at best given the lore we’re exposed to within the game, only giving us bits and pieces through Noctis’ eyes. However, a theory I’ve always liked and enjoyed is the idea that the Six are not innate protectors of only Eos, but have traveled to and fro from various worlds and planets, where they deem themselves needed, or perhaps out of necessity. 

It’s been stated I believe, by a few producers and directors, that FFXV, FFX, and FFVII all take place within the same universe. (FFXIII is probably in here too, but I’m not done playing the series lol)  It’s never really been truly elaborated too much about what this means, or in what way. A popular speculation is that all of these games are within the same universe but, different planets. We see, in the only opportunity we really have in the ruined Insomnia that both Spira, and Shinra are mentioned. It could of course, be written off that these are just winks for final fantasy fans, and implications, I however like the idea that FFX, and FFVII are different instances of the same planet, different time periods. 

I present to you this idea FFVII’s Midgar, is in fact XV’s ancient city of Solheim.

I don’t particularly have any hard evidence for this, mind you, just a collection of loose brain worms that have been clunking around in my mind since XV’s release. 

For my fanfic, the first human, upon whom Ifrit bestowed his gift of fire to, was a longstanding predecessor of Rufus Shinra, and that it is remnants of Shinra’s technology, that form the civilization of Solheim. 

And thus, this introduces us to the real meat of our head-canon/theory, where the six come into play. We see the Six deities, Ifrit, Shiva, Leviathan, Bahamut, Ramuh, and Titan appear as materia summons in Final Fantasy VII initially. The timeline for FFXV calls the period of Solheim, the Cosmogony, the Age of Myth, so let’s start there. 

THE AGE OF MYTH 

I’ve always been a big fan of the idea that the scourge was something infecting the planet, perhaps due to the gods themselves. A lot of people posit that the gods traveled from world to world, and while I like this idea, I imagine gods spend quite a long time on their particular world, and that civilizations don’t particularly seem all that long to them. Shiva and Bahamut in the 2nd FFXV Comic Anthology compare humans to flowers, and state that they’ll only grow if cultivated correctly like particularly grouchy botanists. 

I believe the Six and their messengers and minor deities arrived in a similar fashion to Jenova (I have another head-canon post planned bearing the similarities between the Goddess Eos from Verses, and Jenova and think that they MAY be one and the same)

 they both got lil weird wings. lol The gods are quite eldritch and almost unfathomable in their states in XV, which is one of the things I really like about the series, and I like the idea that the parts of them we see, are in fact their true forms. The summons in VII are more minor forms of the Six that we know and love, perhaps like the way grecian gods interacted with the world around them in their own myths. 

It’s loosely possible, that this was the the beginning of the starscourge, and that even directly interacting with minor forms of the Six could transmit the parasite known  as Plasmodium that causes the scourge. We’re shown in XV that even interacting with the gods for long periods of time had detrimental effects on Luna’s health, and that was her whole bloodline’s purpose. Who’s to say ancient Midgar/Solheim stood a chance.

 However, as Shinra became more more corrupted, and post advent children the more these magical crystals or Materia were used for humankind’s own ends. Ifrit believed this to be a betrayal of mankind, and was a denial of the sacred bond between humans and their deities, thus igniting the war that struck FFVII’s world to ruin, the gods warred over this, and eventually slept to allow themselves a clean slate. Jenova, or Eos, was then imprisoned in what we know as Pitioss. 

Afterwards, the gods then slept, awakening next to bestow the ring upon the Lucis Caelum line some centuries later. 

I'll be updating this with a part 2 soon!

[drysaladandketchup]

Writing Meme

Tagged by my dear @irrelevanttous <3

RULES: go to your published works on AO3 and list the first fic you ever published there, the last fic you published, any fic that you wrote for a fandom/ship only once, your favorite fic you wrote in the fandom/ship that has the most works, the fic you wish more people read, the fic you agonized over the most, the fic that sprang fully formed from your mind without any effort, and a work you are proud of—for whatever reason

first fic you ever published on Ao3: Spirit of Champions, for the Supernatural/Destiel fandom. I don't even know why I'm linking the fic, it was ten years ago I'd like to think my writing has improved a lot since then so... maybe don't read it lol. I actually have another fic that says it was posted on the same date but I think that's because I moved them both over from livejournal at the same time, so whatever

last fic you published: Acts of Devotion for the Hockey/Mattdrai fandom. Much prouder of this fic haha, though I was still getting a feel for hockey and these guys during it's construction. It hopefully won't be my last mattdrai fic though. Got a few ideas and WIPs sitting in my drafts

a fic you wrote for a fandom/ship only once: I don't think I've ever written just one fic for a fandom. Though I certainly have many abandoned WIP's and a few unpublished fics from days gone by. Also due to a lack of ideas or energy, I often end up publishing nothing for a fandom, despite my love for it. But I'll go with the fandom I only published two fics for. After Life's Fitful Fever, He Sleeps Well for The Terror. It's actually a platonic ship (if that counts? Depends on your definition of 'ship' I suppose), but it's still one I'm quite fond of overall

favorite fic you wrote in the fandom/ship with the most works: well I already mentioned Supernatural, so that would be the obvious answer lol. But I already did that, so I'm going to go with a fic from the next biggest fandom I've published for. Which I would say is String Theory for Final Fantasy XV. The only FF game I've ever played, but I had a grand old time, made a lot of friends and had a lot of growth in that community

fic you wish more people read: Can I say any of my fics from the Dunkirk fandom? No? Boo. It's a tiny fandom so I don't expect a tonne of interaction haha. But it is the fandom I've written the most for. Ideas just kept on coming (probably because I love history and angst). So I'd say... Where You Were, Where You're Needed. My first for the fandom, and one I still love dearly

fic you agonized over the most: Skybound, for Dunkirk. It's the only novel-length fic I've written, and it took me two years. I also didn't publish it until it was completely finished, edited, re-drafted, and remodelled within an inch of it's life so... yeah that one. Plus all the history research and story planning that went into it was a lot more than I usually do. It was fun, I'm glad I finished it, but fuck I don't know how people write novels regularly. Stephen King tell me your secret

fic that sprang fully formed from your mind without any effort: For The Glory, for the Hockey/Mattdrai fandom. Maybe the fastest I've written anything. Basically wrote it from start to finish within a couple hours, not including food and sleep. Not a monumental fic, no, but for someone with chronic fatigue and adhd... astounding. It was very much a result of conversations with M. and her determination to drag me into hockey and mattdrai. Successfully, clearly haha

work you are proud of: I'm going to say Skybound again. Small fandom, but a huge fic for me. One I could probably turn into an original piece with minimal finagling if I wanted. I would also like to think one could enjoy the fic without having seen Dunkirk. That being said, now that it's been over a year a half since I finished it, I'm already looking at it thinking 'I could have written this differently. I could have removed this or tweaked that.' Editor hell. But I'm leaving it as is, using it as a benchmark for my (hopefully) continued improvement as a writer. I think I improved over the course of writing it, even. A lot changed from inception to publication. But I'm no less proud of it, as a written work or as a story. I did what I wanted, and I wrote the exact story I wanted to read. So I'm happy :)

Thank you for the tag, M.! <3

[nirgilis]

SRNHNR 2 - KH and FNC

Part 1 | Extra 1

1) KH and Unreality, aka now Final Fantasy within KH, might have certain concepts in common and theirs colors.

Using KH's theories like Necklace theory, Riku being the Light and him kinda being a personification of Kingdom Key L.

Baldr looks like another personification of Kingdom Key L, but inverted due to bigger presence of white and black in clothes.

There's another character from not that distant game, who shares yellow-blue colors. Also in his design from the first part, like Ventus he recembles X-Blade a lot.

FF13 Hope, Riku and for this case Baldr, all look quite like they're Bhunivelze's boysband from different universes. Their likeness to him mght be also reflected in their names and for some in stories.

Hope - throughout FF13 he was called the hope (of humanity) numerous times, and while his project couldn't come to fruition due to what other characters were going through, his merits didn't go unnoticed.

Baldr - in Norse mythology Baldr is the god of light, radiance, sun, summer etc. The spring won't come until he will be revived or he will be revived when ragnarok will pass. That's pretty close to the theme of Bhunivelze as the God of Light in FNC being related to dawn or light returning to world, as he is the one who can rebuild it.

Riku - he doesn't outright represent light-releated aspect in name as Hope and Baldr do, but as Bhunivelze is the ruler of everything that has physical/material form, Riku's name meaning "land," so earth, might tie him to Bhunivelze through that.

2) This scene of Noctis and Stella from VS13's trailers with opposite or complimenting colors is compared a lot to the scene of Sora and Riku combined keyblade from DDD and KH3.

Due to FNC's termynology needed to be changed for FF15, Bahamut might've taken Bhunivelze's place. He has Bhunivelze's colors and has similar to him worldview, making allowance for the fact that concepts of life and death aren't the same in FNC and FF15.

Like Hope having similar colors to Bhinivelze, Luna for FF15 might've been given "Bahamut's" yellow and blue, in the game through her eyes being changed to blue, in the movie through the colors which Oracles seem to wear.

Stella may have yellow seal of deity opposing to Noctis' one, but like her eyes, glowing that appears when she enters and still present when the seal is active is purple, so exactly yellow and blue might not be initial colors reserved for this character, or not in this meaning.

There's no 100% way to tell since in the end Ravus wasn't shown, but for FF15 Fleuret siblings might have swapped colors and roles to a degree along with them.

3) In KH Kingdom Hearts represents the brightest light in the darkness, as itself it's a very powerful light with surrounding it equally powerful darkness. It's a conglomerate of all hearts, and located beyond the Door to Darkness.

What might be the closest analog to both KH and tDtD is Etro's Gate, which like in KH separates realms of light and darkness, in FNC's terms real world and unseen realm.

Unlike its analogs in FNC which are only the source of such power, KH has another property to be able to create new universe, the next world. In FNC's terms, KH is as if it's own Bhunivelze or fal'Cie he created.

Bhunivelze exerts that much light to the point of being blinding, similar to Riku's light blinding Sora in KH1's OP.

There's a theory based on Re:Coded's plot, that in a way it propheses future events of KH, and KH will make Riku its avatar. With the fact that that's kinda what happens to Hope in FF13-3, it might add to the possibility of that happening.

Bhuniveze is the highest deity in FNC by time events in games' stories take place, but he's not omnipotient. He can build worlds, but the natural order of death and rebirth is systeined by chaos, which he can't see and control.

In ways Data-Riku is similar to him. He's the journal/data-world himself, kinda the ruler of digital world, being able to separate the data which is supposed to and not to be in the journal. But it's quite interesting that as a program he can't repair himself and the moment he tried to fight, Maleficent captured him. So there's something in data-world beyond his control and he needs Sora to solve this problem for him.

Both FNC games and KH have a story of a prophesized messiah, who will banish the darkness and restore the light. Savior/Agito/King of Light and Child of Destiny. With Verum Rex adding to the roster, by logic of Agito and KH, in that world the role might be called either "King of Truth" or "Verum Rex." But it's also possible that those titles will be how the highest deity analogous to KH or Bhunivelze will be referred to.

As FF13 is the only FNC game which managed to release with Bhunivelze's awakening from his slumber. What might await that prophesized messiah isn't becoming the light themselves, but becoming the chaos/darkness to help the highest deity to sustain the balance of the world.

4.1) White coat Strelitzia was showed to wear in UX is similar to the coat Ravus wore in one of VS13 trailers. And both of them remind assassin's robes.

Between Pulse and Lindzei, as they both represent Bhunivelze in some ways, Lindzei is the one who has heavenly portrayal. "Commanding from his throne on high. The Solemn Ruler."

VS13/FF15 is supposed to be closer to reality, so a country flying in the sky like Cocoon is probably impossible in that world, but Tenebrae having an illusion of its islands floating and its buildings as if reaching out to the sky might be close to it being Cocoon's analog. Fenestala Manor possibly derives from "Fenestella" - "small window," and "small window" is what's depicted on Lindzei's playing card. Image-wise Tenebrae might've been a nation founded by Lindzei.

Scala ad Caelum being "Stairway to Heaven" somehow seems to be close to Tenebrae.

As Lindzei's methods of operating are more on manipulating humans side, both in encouraging mind work-way and sacrificial-way, he's viewed both as protector of mankind and untrustworthy trickster.

Assassins robes, like the one Noctis has from collab, especially its hood, might allow wearer to blend-in with scholars or people with religious calling. If like in FF15 in VS13 Tenebrae had an image of being a country with its rulers being religious leaders in the world. That might make Ravus Lindzei's representative at some points in the story in both ways Lindzei is viewed, as protector/religious leader and untrustworthy trickster/assassin.

4.2) In VS13/FF15 Noctis had a degree of subtety of him being red, as his eyes only glowed red and red soles of his boots weren't something which could be seen outright. As Yozora now, through his heterochromia, his outfit having red and red glow from weapons and powers, he's parading it quite freely.

Yozora and Riku may have very similar clothes, but color-wise theirs meaning might have to be opposite.

Like Ravus has similarities with Riku and Hope, Yozora might share similarities not only with Sora, but with Noel too.

Pulse and Lindzei were given the task to search for Etro's Gate, with Pulse searching by corporeal means. Lindzei was also given another task, to wake Bhunivelze when the Gate would be found.

In FF13 it wasn't stated what actually woke Bhunivelze up. Hope rising new cocoon called "Bhunivelze" might in a way symbolize him fulfilling task given to Lindzei to wake Bhunivelze up.

"Gaze held aloft, his strides bring ruin," words on Pulse's playing card refer to Pulse destroying the world to search for the Gate.

Noel by killing Etro's heart, thus unleashing Chaos from Etro's Gate, might've fulfilled Pulse's task to find the Gate through corporeal means.

"If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain." Pulse and Lindzei couldn't find a way how to enter the Gate, so they brought what was in the Gate into the real world.

On Pulse's playing card it might be depicted Cocoon, but it also looks like red moon.

4.3) Since VS13 as its name suggests in many ways was supposed to be the opposite of FF13, and if it was really supposed to be a tragedy.

While Lightning in FF13 resisted Bhunivelze's offer to become Etro, VS13 might've ended pretty similar to FF15 in regards to Noctis' fate, but with lots of meanings being switched. Noctis might've supposed to accept Bhunivelze's offer and become new Etro.

Despite Lightining being Etro's Champion, she never got submerged into Chaos on different levels as much as Noel, Caius or Yeul did, or as Noctis might've been. So, Noctis might've not been the Light that will banish the darkness, but darkness that will take Chaos with him to the Unseen Realm back. That might be the result of his actions, i.e. him really being the antagonist of his own game, or in way similar to FF15 becoming the King of people's hearts in FNC's terms quite literally.

As conclusion of a sort, author would like to say, that especially the last point is just a theory and author's personal guess based on everything described before.

Author's thoughts on Sora's mini-existential crisis "is Yozora him or Riku," is that Yozora is neither Sora or Riku, he's "Sora," but different kind of "Sora."

Since Stella or "Stella," which is for now mostly called Nameless Star, doesn't seem to be a character fulfilling yellow-blue-green-white palette quota, a "Riku"-character, Yozora's "Ravus" has to exist.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

So... I was thinking about it the other day, and I think I might be somewhat (not too seriously, but maybe partly. I don't know. I don't know if I'm really big on KH theorizing anymore) back on my "Yozora is the Master of Masters" theory train again.

Why? Well, because I do think it's suspicious that we've never seen the two of them together at the same time. Even the KHIII secret ending that featured the both of them in Quadratum showed them separately. (I also find it weird--that even though we don't know much about KHIV now, and perhaps that's the explanation--it's seeming like there might be a possibility now that we might not be getting both the MoM and Yozora in the same game now. If that does happen, maybe it's just because it would be too much to juggle. Or because Nomura's waiting to do the Yozora stuff until the Verum Rex game, but hmm...)

But that's not what got me thinking again. If anything, that may just still be in support of the theory, perhaps.

A lot of people think that the Master of Masters' real name is "Light" based on the scene where he tells Xehanort his name, but you don't hear it, but there's a shock of light over his face/the screen. And I do think people are right to theorize this/that there might be something there.

How does this tie to Yozora, you ask? Who is Yozora a remake of? Nomura's character that he lost: Noctis Lucis Caelum, whose name meant: Night Light Sky (I feel like they fudged the Latin, and it was probably supposed to be "Light of the Night Sky", but that's neither here nor there).

But the point is the "Lucis"/"Light" part of Noctis' name. Now he's made the character Yozora to live out all that he wanted to with Noctis, since that character was essentially stolen away from him. Yozora's name means "Night Sky" in Japanese, like Noctis Caelum did in Latin. But though this hasn't been confirmed yet, I would not be surprised if Yozora has more to his name that we don't know of yet--a last name, perhaps--to give him the "Light" part of it he's missing (and make him more 1:1 Noctis, like Nomura clearly wants him to be), and fit this idea about the Master of Master's name being "Light," or perhaps part of his name being that.

Furthermore, what does Yozora say when Sora meets him in Re:Mind that's had people scratching their heads for so long? "This isn't what I normally look like. How would you recognize me as Yozora?" I think he's either saying here that he usually looks like the Master of Masters. Or people who have theorized that eventually Nomura is literally going to make Yozora look like Noctis, and thus Yozora's saying his Yozora appearance is "wrong" because he's supposed to look like "Noctis," are right... Which would be just too fitting in the same game where Nameless Star was saying her name and everything was taken from her. *cough* when Nomura got kicked off of Final Fantasy Versus XIII/Final Fantasy XV, and Tabata changed the story some, and now Nomura has to put some of his ideas from it into KH to reach his vision at all. *cough* Either way, you want to look at why he said what he did, Yozora could still be the Master of Masters with these explanations.

Also, there's that whole thing with the Master of Master's gazing eye, that's in "No Name" and allows it to see the future--and don't forget there was stuff with Noctis' eyes in Versus XIII: like how his one eye would be red at times, while the other would remain its natural blue.

The real kicker if all of this is true, is that Ray Chase--the English version of Noctis--voicing the Master of Masters seems like it's just a coincidence. o_0 As Noctis' VA doesn't voice him in any other version of the game, I don't think. Unless Square Enix NA knew that was where the story was going--if it is--and decided to just go ahead and cast Ray Chase as the Master of Masters partially for that added bonus. LOL

[itsgeecheebitch]

TITLE: Until Darkness Descends

FANDOM: Final Fantasy XV

CHAPTER: 37/?

MAIN PAIR: Ardyn Izunia x Reader

SEC PAIR: Gladiolus Amicitia x Reader

RATING: Explicit

SERIES: The Fall Part 1 of 4

Six marching footsteps thudded against the cracked earth. The air was heavy and crackled with silent tension. You could taste it, see the seriousness of it marr the space between Ignis' brows. Sighing, your eyes scaled up the rocky walls of the crater. Today couldn't have gone more sideways than it already had. At the beginning of this trip, you thought you would’ve been midway through collecting evidence for your theories by now. Instead you were walking over bockety ground, covered head to toe in red dust.

You guessed it would have to wait for another day, if you all survived that is. Another shockwave rippled across the ground and made it tremble. It tore through the earth like a hungry worm, eroding the edges of the path until it revealed a black scar below where you stood. A bolt of electricity stung the back of your eyes. Closing them did nothing to relieve the ache.

When you opened your eyes again it wasn't the crumbling remains of an impact sight you saw. The cracks and fissures on the ground were covered in a smooth layer of limestone. A mosaic of white two story buildings sprouted from the earth like trees in a dense forest. There were people walking around you, walking through you, people who weren't there before. The air was filled with the chatter of thousands, along with the savory scent of smoked meat. Off to the side was a row of street merchants and robe covered bodies crowded around the stalls like clusters of stars.

An airy laugh rode on the wind, cutting through the noise of the bustling market. Seemingly out of nowhere a little girl shoved through the crowd, a smile on her face as she ran. The clank of beads hitting each other followed her head as she turned. Following close behind was a little boy with shoulder length auburn hair. His golden eyes carried the same mirth that lit up hers.

Something landed on your shoulder and you were snapped back into reality. "Are you alright, Aera?" You looked at Ignis with groggy eyes as though you had been roused from a dream.

Disoriented, and maybe even a little confused, you looked around, expecting to see a prosperous city where only dirt and rocks remained. Embarrassment rippled through you and you nodded your head to ease your adopted brother’s concern.

The smooth skin between his brows wrinkled with frustration. He rescinded his hand and gave you his back. “You must remain focused, we’re running out of time.”

He didn’t wait to hear your apology and instead marched towards the slither of ground that remained from the earthquake. Fissures crawled up the sides of the rocky bridge. He took a step onto it and watched as a cloud of dust fell into the deep wound in the earth below. “The path is precarious.” He warned. “Move slowly and try not to disturb the ground.”

You followed Ignis’ lead and placed a hesitant foot onto the cracking bridge. The fissures shot towards your foot in a not so subtle warning. You heard Prompto swallow loudly behind you, his unease so obvious you could probably hear it a mile away.

“Is this thing stable enough to cross?” His voice wobbled as he asked.

“Obviously not.” Ignis answered tersely. “But there is no other way across. The sooner we get to the other side the better.”

Prompto didn’t move even as you made room for him to join you. You gave him an empathetic glance and offered your hand. “It’s alright, Prompto, here, take my hand.” A heavy inhale lifted his chest and he placed his hand in yours. His fingers were tight around your much smaller hand but you didn’t complain as you helped him across.

All the while he was mumbling, “please don’t collapse, please don’t collapse, please don’t collapse,” under his breath. Now that did aggravate you some.

“You know, saying that isn’t gonna make it anymore stable.” You said dryly.

“Yeah, but it’s keeping my sanity intact.” His wide blue eyes dropped to the black pit sixty feet below you. “That’s a long drop down. Imagine if this thing crumbles and we all go splat, gah!” He cried. No matter how many perilous adventures he went on, he would always be a scaredy cat at heart.

“Prompto, focus before you slip.” Ignis admonished him. Your friend was quiet for the rest of the way, his eyes squeezed shut to avoid the gaze of the charred earth. You would be lying if you said you didn’t feel fearful as well. Every step was met with a deeper crack, and the sound of the bridge slowly crumbling away was hard to ignore.

Your friend squeaked when the bridge collapsed from under his feet. You tugged on his arm just as you reached solid ground. A loud bang sent a puff of dust into the air as the bridge crumbled into the pit. Prompto hunched over his knees, his nerves glistening on his skin in layers of sweat. “Somehow we survived!” He declared in disbelief.

“Now’s not the time for celebration. We still have a long road ahead.” Ignis said, his eyes on a path sandwiched between two cliffs. Following his lead, the three of you jogged towards the incline between the rocky hills. There was a faint sound in the air, like the roar of a massive beast overhead. Your eyes tracked the narrow blue sky as it crawled past your jogging feet.

A boxy metallic shape peaked above one of the cliffs. You skidded to a halt just as the shape became more emboldened and slipped away from its hiding place. The deep rumble of an airship engine made your comrades look up as well.

“Imperials, now of all times?” Prompto cried.

Unease prickled your skin as you watched. They were flying west to where the Titan was, to where Noctis was no doubt heading. The empire would see him and you already knew what they would do upon first sight of him. “Do you think they know Noctis is here?”

A myriad of emotions flew across Prompto’s face. Even without reading his mind, you knew he was entertaining the same conclusion you came to. “I knew we shouldn’t have trusted that guy!” He said. Dread stuck to the back of your throat as you watched the last of the airships fly above you. You didn’t want to believe that Ardyn would betray your trust, but there was no other explanation for why the empire was flying towards the center of the disk.

He, besides you and your friends, was the only person who knew Noctis would be here. Ardyn did say he had some influence amongst the Niflheim ranks. What if he made a deal with them to deliver the prince to their doorstep? But would Ardyn do such a thing? You didn’t want to believe so. Despite the mystery surrounding him, you wanted to believe that he wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. Hurting one of your friends would be the same as hurting you.

Maybe this was a coincidence. Perhaps the MT forces were mobilizing in response to the titan. Yeah, that had to be it, you nodded to yourself. He wouldn’t put you in harm’s way just to collect a bounty on one of your friend’s heads, right?

The sound of a digital dial being pressed made you look at Ignis who had his phone in his hand. “I’ll relay a message to Noct.” He explained, bringing the smartphone to his ear. “He is with Gladio so he'll be alright.”

For some reason that didn’t make you feel better at all. You trusted Gladiolus with all of your heart and knew he would stop at nothing to protect the prince, that wasn’t the issue. The issue was the mental image of Ardyn’s hands wrapped around your wrist, his weight pinning you to your bed. A shiver wracked through you. If you counted the dream you had last night as real then did that mean….

Your face blanched as all the blood in your body drained to your feet. What if this was about your boyfriend? In your dream Ardyn was livid, his touch was cruel and possessive, and he mocked your newfound relationship with Gladiolus. What if Ardyn did notify the empire about Noctis in the hopes that Gladiolus would get hurt, or worse, while protecting him?

The thought made your heart slam against your chest. You dug your nails into your palm and relished in the pain that brought you much needed clarity. You were being absurd. You had no evidence that the dream was real and there was no reason to believe Ardyn would betray your friends to the empire. You exhaled and dragged your hand down your face.

It was time for you to confront Ardyn. Your unwillingness to do so was only causing your questions to fester. At this rate, you would be completely decayed from the inside out. A wobbly breath stuttered out of your nostrils as you contemplated what you must do. Ardyn didn’t deserve your silent suspicion. If you truly considered him a friend then it was only right to go to him with your concerns.

An uttered curse made you whip your head towards Ignis. His eyes were narrowed in a dangerous glare, a look you’ve never seen on his face before. He glared at the device in his hands as though he could slice it in two with just his will alone. “Dammit, the call dropped!” He huffed. You looked at him worriedly. Ignis was always a mild mannered person, never one for uncouth language. So to see him unraveling at the seams was unnerving to say the least.

His usually relaxed shoulders were as stiff as a board, his back was rigid stone. A sneer pulled on his lips and he angrily shoved his phone into his pocket. The situation was getting to him. No doubt Ignis saw the prince’s predicament as his fault. As the advisor to the heir of Lucis, it was his job to guide Noctis, to take care of him till he matured, and protect him. Out of everyone here he had the most responsibilities on his plate. You couldn’t believe it took you this long to realize it.

Ignis jumped slightly when you smoothed your hand over his shoulder. A calm smile was on your face that made the taut muscle in his arm flinch. “It’ll be alright, Iggy.” You promised soothingly. “Like you said, he’s with Gladio and those MT assholes got nothing on my big guy. For now let’s just focus on getting to them.”

Your adopted brother visibly relaxed. His shoulders dropped from his ears and his mouth smoothed into a placid line. “You’re right, I apologize for losing my temper. The reception here is spotty at best, but I was able to have a word with him.” He looked away from your face. “Let’s take that path over there. I have a feeling it should lead us to them.”

[the-fandom-crossroads]

Blog Promo

Doing a blog overhaul and figured I'd share our new header!

Hi I'm Terry! Are you interested in 2 or more of the series above? Then feel free to follow for fanart, theories, headcanons and more! And check out our Twitch! Dougligaming where we've played games from a good chunk of these franchises and discuss the others as well!

The main fandoms we are currently making content for are Genshin, Kingdom Hearts, and Yugioh. But I reblog fanart from all the other ones often. That's why it's a crossroads! A place where multiple fandoms meet!

So follow if you like

Genshin Impact

Yugioh Duel Monsters (The anime but also sometimes the cardgame)

Kingdom Hearts

Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core, and XV

Pokemon (all gens)

Danny Phantom/DC crossovers

Marvel

and Star Wars!

[obinya]

Reposting my Ardyn stuff for his birthday.

Here’s most of the Ardyn stuff I have dating back a year+ to the present.

To Die or Not to Die Complete

Did Ardyn see his immortality as a curse?

Did he desire death?

My answer is No. I provide interpretations of his lines and developer interviews. I conclude with my thoughts on Ardyn’s misunderstanding of the Light and Truth (referenced in Magna Insomnia). Perspectives on the Truth (of the True King) include: “You are not alone” , “The Reality of Death-Life”, and “ You are Empty”.

Complete refers to the added page on the Kimya/Ardyn allusion.

I have since had more thoughts on Ardyn’s use of “mottainai”, the “waste” is the lost potential due to Ardyn’s rejection. It’s worse!

Ardyn is Not Saved (Part 1)

The title refers to Terada’s vision of EPA. I have many thoughts about Episode Ardyn and Dawn of the Future. On one hand they are incongruent with Final Fantasy XV, on the other they underline the thrusts of the main story.

Dawn of the Future is not Revelatory, it is Illusory.

This piece covers some observations on the imagery in EPA that work as visual foils with FF15 proper, contrasting Ardyn with Noctis, underlying his villainy— his radical evil. For whatever reason this is ignored.

I conclude again with my thoughts on the Truth of the True King, with an excerpt from Religion and Nothingness (What is Religion?) by Keiji Nishitani. Absolute vs Relative Nothingness::Noctis vs Ardyn.

I’ve since tried working through Kitaro Nishida’s work. The field of bonds, I guess, is like the field of Absolute Nothingness in that contradictory identities are unified there… as is Reality. Removing the contradiction by saying the two are only one or the one are actually two stops short of Reality. The contradiction of many are one and one are many has to remain. I think the image for this is the Night Sky. Nishitani wrote about Overcoming Nihilism by going through it, I visualize Ardyn as stuck in the darkness of the night sky. Like each star is now the one light, one oppressive light, the predicate of King is cruel and cunning and no different from Bahamut - despite the choices of each star... ? Idk. It’s complicated.

But not as complicated as how Dawn of the Future contradicts established FF15 plot while seemingly contradicting FF15 story and themes until you snap out of it— Oracles speak to Messengers not the Crystal given to Lucis. They speak to exchange the Wills of mankind and the Six, necessitating 1.) the existence of both and 2.) a unity. FF15 is the story of the True King not a Prisoner of Fate.

Ardyn Lucis Charlie Complete in 8 Tweets

Commentary of my old Ardyn music video using Charlie Big Potatoes by Skunk Anansie with a bit of Nishida’s Inquiry into the Good and some of my NN Unitary Theory.

Basically, Ardyn’s a hedonist. That’s not good enough.

I still missed actually doing a play-by-play of the scene and shot choice… but I did include a mapping of Axis Memorae! The twitter version has an alternate Turks ending… maybe I’ll upload to YouTube someday…

I see EPA as a 4th wall breaking troll by Ardyn… a bored dream where he tells us what we want to hear… which isn’t what he already told us.