#braig save the worlds

[freezethunder]

Random question time! What are some of your favorite moments from the Kingdom Hearts series

I have a lot of moments, honestly. Some that stick out are the following:

KH1

-When Riku says the Heartless obey him and Sora responds with, "You're stupid. You're so fucking stupid Riku!"

-Sora earning his keyblade

KH2

-When Xigbar sends his nobodies to surround the heroes and it cut to him not there in his spot implying to have vanished with a dark portal like the others do, only to see him running for the door.

-Everyone defending Hollow Bastion and the 1000 Heartless fight

BBS

-Braig trying to shoot at Xehanort but they don't even faze him, and him just nonchalantly summoning his keyblade towards Braig's neck

-Ventus going back to Sora

-Lingering Will emerging as one last stand against Xehanort after he stole his body.

-Aqua learning and hearing all that Sora has done to save the worlds in her absence.

DDD

-Lea coming in clutch to rescue Sora.

-Lea getting his keyblade.

KH3

-"Yeetus Vanitas"

-Sora riding atop Baymax

-Aqua coming out of the Realm of Darkness and crying tears of joy.

-Reuniting with Ventus.

-The players/keyblades from Union Cross helping out

-Roxas coming down to save Axel, Sora, and Xion.

-Donald and Goofy helping out in the final push against Xehanort.

Kingdom Hearts may be a wacky series but it has its cool, heartfelt, awesome, sad, serious and funny moments.

[xehanortsreport]

Another introduction! If you've been with me long enough, you probably remember my AU Braig, Iustitia. Well, now he's his own original character in the FFXIV universe, complete with reworks to the Revenant crew!

Again, there are spoilers for everything up to the current patch (6.2) here!

The Brief Life and Times of Iustitia Fabius

Withekind pyr Fabius, formerly Withekind [REDACTED]

Current Moniker: Iustitia

Highlander Hyur

Ala Mhigan

46 years old (at time of death)

Aetherologist and Bard

Ashkin (Subtype: Self-proclaimed "Revenant")

Cis Man

Gay

6'1"

He/him pronouns

Former Lieutenant Commander under Fordola rem Lupus (Subunit "Skulls")

Prominent researcher and test subject regarding the experimental "Resonant" project.

Last seen within Garlemald proper in company of male Viera researcher known as Ramses (surname unknown). Reported dead at onset of "The Final Days".

Recent Backstory

As a man in his 40s, Withekind's old enough to remember living an unhappy life under the Mad King's rule and the devastation of being subjugated by the Garleans immediately after ousting him.

As a result, he is a man with no hope left in his homeland; he happily sold his sword to Garlemald for even a crumb of power and security, and unlike Fordola holds no illusion of even dreaming of Ala Mhigo's liberation. A man who lives only for himself, his survival, and his own satisfaction, he was content to be the Empire's lapdog, jovial and gleefully reveling in his own betrayal. 

Until…?

Being one of the foremost aetherologists in Gyr Abania, Withekind was tapped to be one of the very first test subjects of the Resonant project. Though he, unlike many others, survived, the power he was given was negligible at best. He was sent back to the field in the hopes that combat might further awaken his powers.

In the meantime, he continued his duty - long enough to see Ala Mhigo freed, and long enough to run, in his cowardice, to Garlemald in hopes of saving his own skin.

[Endwalker Spoilers]

Unfortunately for him, Garlemald soon descended into chaos even more stark than that of the King of Ruin, and word of a Resonant test subject residing on the outskirts soon reached Zenos's ear. Dragged into the horrifying palace by the Telophoroi, Withekind soon found himself in a starring role as the very soldier whose body the Warrior of Light would possess.

The violent experience pushed out Withekind's soul, and fractured it badly - yet, thanks to his miniscule Resonant powers, he did not fade. He somehow held himself together, wandering as a ghost, until he made contact with his assistant, Ramses. With Ramses's help, they created a container that could hold his broken aether in place, stabilizing it - essentially a jarlike core that had to be inserted into a body to survive.

Luckily, the Warrior of Light had vacated Withekind's corpse, and by installing the core into it, he was able to "live" once more as a peculiar flavor of Ashkin he would call a "Revenant".

Unfortunately, the effects of his aether shattering had drastic effects on who he was as a person. He was thrown into an imbalance, his emotions surging, and a raging anger was soon all that consumed his being. It burned hot like fire, and no matter what he did he could not quench it. It was then that he heard of the properties of "Dynamis" being applied in Thavnair, and realized that his own Dynamis had been severely altered.

Searching for a way to quench his ceaseless hatred and rage he renamed himself "Iustitia", after the old Garlean concept of Justice, and set out upon the world.

Eventually he did find a way to temporarily fill the gaps in his soul - by consuming the Dynamis of people with inordinately patient and kind dispositions to balance his soul.

Like a voidsent or sin eater, he now travels the realm feeding off of those rich in the flavor of Dynamis he seeks, leaving them violent, zombielike creatures in his wake.

Rumor has it that he and Ramses have found other shattered Resonant souls clinging to life, each afflicted with an overabundance of a certain "deadly sin", and treated them with the same experimental protocol in the bid for more test subjects to find a cure for his condition. 

Now, they travel the realm, glorified bottom feeders subsisting off of Iustitia and Ramses's temporary remedies until they are whole once more.

The Revenants...

(Revenant tl;Dr)

revenants are attracted to the dynamis considered "missing" or "warped" by their condition. I based them off the seven deadly sins and heavenly virtues i.e Iu is missing kindness and patience and therefore is attracted to souls that are very kind and patient in order to absorb that missing part

their dynamis is so warped that they're basically overrun by a negative emotion. think despair and meteion except it could be any negative emotion (again I based them off of the seven deadly sins, so iustitia is corrupted by wrath)

like the terminus monsters, revenants' bodies are warped by their fault dynamis. I just like giving ppl monster forms so this can be as little as just having cute little horns or as much as looking like a sin eater. iustitia maintains glamour accessories for everyone so they can pass as normal ppl, but removal of these accessories reveals their true form

additionally, the Revenants are ppl whose souls were corrupted by the resonant project. these range from ppl who died on the table but were able to project their souls back into their body/a different corpse to ppl who survived but we're irrevocably broken by the experience and seemed failures

the people whose dynamis is syphoned/eaten by them basically become "zombies" or tempered in that they lose the emotion eaten and have it replaced with a surplus of the Revenants overabundant negativity. for example, people iustitia feeds on become mindlessly angry, causing damage to everyone and everything in the process.

[bearpillowmonster]

BBS ReVisited (Terra)

Terra mentions how the stars in the skies are like a million lanterns of people's hearts and I mean...does he mean the Final World? Because that's literally a sky filled with hearts that look like stars.

The recommended order is Terra, Ven, Aqua and while that's the way it should probably be played, (with Aquas story revealing the most) I feel like it might've been more effective to save Terra for last and have him be the most revealing because seeing Aqua's story gives you reason to hate him and then seeing his story, you should be able to understand a bit more as to why he fell the way he did similar to how playing as Sora in KH1 gives you reason to dislike Riku at first until you reach the ending. It would be tragic.

There's a scene in Olympus where Zack says that Terra looks like a hero but he can't place why then Terra turns around, does that mean Zack sees his hair and is like "that's it!" And copies it because it's a little bit similar as he gets older.

Also that scene where Xehanort tricks Terra into going under Radiant Garden to fight Braig because he's "trapped" is so reminiscent of Anakin vs Dooku and the Chancellor saying "Do it!" as well as Vanitas acting as the scapegoat similar to Grievous. Terra wearing grey is also pretty symbolic, very reminiscent of what Riku would say about walking the road to dawn, an in between path. Both Eraqus and Xehanort sought to control Terra and make him an extreme, I think it would be really interesting to break his character from that, being scared of being controlled but also being mindful that fear leads to darkness. Imagine the loneliness he must've felt all those years, it's very glossed over in 0.2/3 because he isn't the main and there's plot to be had but I really wanna hear it from him. Now that the grip is broken, he has potential to have really cool characterization.

[pred1059]

Runaway Wind Chapter Thirty Eight

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Bit by bit, byte by byte, Ventus felt himself get put back together from the bottom up. He couldn’t tell if it was too fast or too slow, but either way the process of returning from the computer world was disorienting. But finally, the neon light faded, and he found himself back in the control room that Yuffie had found. He shook his head and turned to everyone else, “Is everyone okay after—?”

And then he saw the black cloaks of the Organization standing behind everyone, and realized they were far from okay. The process to bring them back to the real world had left them sitting ducks for anyone to grab them.

Ventus tried to jump into action, but two arms from behind grabbed him and threw him to the ground. An iron grip pinning his hands together so he couldn’t summon his keyblade. Ven could only watch as his friends were ambushed. A mountain of a man grabbed Leon as he materialized, wrenching the gunblade from his hand as he forced him to the ground as well. Yuffie reached for her kunai, only for multiple Larxenes to grab her and hold her up against the wall. 

And as Naminé reached for her sword, a pink haired man placed his hand on her head as he held a scythe to her throat. As Ventus watched her freeze with widened eyes, he began to have the sickening suspicion that this man was another of Naminé’s former tormentors. The man simply smiled as he watched his allies work with brutal efficiency, and glanced at the figure no doubt behind Ventus. “Nicely done Erxart.”

The name caused Ventus to desperately try and look up to see if it was truly his friend. The strength holding him down now certainly matched, as Ventus desperately tried to wheeze out a plea to the one behind him, “Erx…Terra, please stop!”

But if he heard his words he gave no heed, as he heard Terra’s voice from behind address the pink haired man. “Save the compliments Marluxia, we need to be quick.” Ventus could only feel his heart sink as Vanitas’ earliest taunt only seemed to ring more true. One of his first friends, wiped away while someone else had jumped in their body. Ventus could only feel a sinking sense of defeat set in as Terra continued to slip away.

Leon was a bit more defiant, as he tried to get some kind of grip against the huge man holding him down to turn the tables. Yet his captor seemed unperturbed as he called a colossal tomahawk to his hand and asked, “Should we dispatch them?”

“No need for undue violence Lexaeus,” Marluxia shook his head with a smile as he glanced over to the three Larxenes holding a thrashing Yuffie and nodded, “All we need is information.”

Though one of the duplicates let go of Yuffie, the other two were quick to re-adjust their grip to stop her from escaping. The clone walked towards the computer, pulling a disk from her cloak before inserting it into the disc drive. As she began to type away at the keyboard the word ‘ANOTHER’  appeared on-screen and then vanished. For the moment, Larxene was pleased only to groan a few seconds later as six more prompts flashed onto the monitor. “Ugh. Looks like our fearless leader is properly paranoid. It needs six more passwords, and if they’re anything like the other Organization confidential files, I only know five of them.”

Lexaeus narrowed his eyes before asking aloud, “Would those five passwords happen to be Ienzo, Aeleus, Even, Dilan, and Braig?” With a hum of confirmation from Larxene, he nodded even as Leon tried to escape. “Then the last one belongs to the man shown in the picture…”

“Xehanort.”

Once again, Ventus felt the bottom of his gut fall out at Lexaeus’ answer. But now it just seemed to keep going. Why?! Why Xehanort?! He was gone! He had to be! But then why?! Why would Ansem say he was Xehanort!? Why did he look like Terra?!

“How on earth do you spell Xehanort?” 

Uncaring of Ventus' mental turmoil, Lexaeus answered Larxene’s question with a sigh before muttering, “It starts with an X.” Yet even through that, Ventus thought he heard something else. A gasp from Erxart as he heard Xehanort’s name, shortly followed by his grip tightening. For a brief moment, Ventus could hold onto a scrap of hope. There was something in Erxart that was still Terra. But what?

Naminé furrowed her brow and began to ask, “But isn’t—!” 

Yet as soon as she began her sentence, Marluxia’s scythe came dangerously close to her throat. “Do you have a question, Naminé?" He asked with a smile as he leaned down next to her head. Pinned down as he was, Ventus couldn’t help but try to thrash a bit harder to break free, futile as it was. Marluxia shrugged nonchalantly before giving her a pat on the head. “I suppose I can allow you one.”

Shuddering, Naminé tried to compose herself lest her throat nick the scythe blade and asked,  “I…Isn’t that picture A…Ansem’s?”

Lexaeus shrugged at the hesitant question, “I suppose I can explain, for a time, we needed to keep our activities secret from the real Ansem, so Xehanort decided to use a pseudonym to hide some of our research in existing papers.” 

“So what,” Yuffie struggled as she tried to wiggle out of the clones’ hold and asked, “he just stuck with the name when he turned into a Heartless and Nobody?”

Leon narrowed his eyes as he stopped fighting against Lexaeus’ iron grip. “Either that or he wanted to hide from other keyblade wielders.”

Of course, most people wouldn’t even know about keyblades and their place in the universe. Even so, Ventus didn’t like the implication. That the person in the picture had an agenda and a name worth hiding from anyone with the power of a keyblade.

“Don’t know, don’t care,” the Larxene at the keyboard waved her hand before she hit the enter key with a slight flourish, and watched the prompts disappear. But her grin faltered as she saw the window that opened with only one command. “Stair control!?” She slammed her fists on the keyboard as her duplicates around Yuffie scowled and tightened their grip. “We went to all this trouble for a set of stairs?!”

However, as he heard Larxene’s findings, Lexaeus’ eyes widened and he spoke up. “Not just any stairs. Given our location, they should be the ones leading to our most guarded research cells at the bottom of this room.” 

Marluxia narrowed his eyes and asked with a strained voice, “And potentially some information on what Xemnas as Xehanort was researching years ago?”

“It is our best option for now.” Lexaeus took a deep breath, and soon a dark portal appeared in the room. “If you open the hatch, this portal should take us down.”

“Now, there is the matter of being followed.” Marluxia smirked before removing his hand from Naminé’s head and placing it on her shoulder. “Fortunately, hostages work particularly well in this case, and I can think of none better than keyblade wielders.”

This got Leon to try once again at breaking free from Lexaeus as he growled out, “You think we’d just let you walk away with them?!”

“If you want your defense against the heartless to live, then yes.” Marluxia answered with a smirk as he moved Naminé towards the portal. 

As they passed by Larxene, she took the sword from Naminé’s side and pointed it towards Leon as she sneered, “Or are you so willing to throw away your friends?”

Either way, they all could tell the answer by how Leon screwed his eyes shut while Yuffie hung her head and clenched her teeth. Helpless as they watched two friends just get snatched away as leverage. As Ventus was pulled to his feet, he felt Erxart hit his pauldon. And in a flash, he was covered head to toe in his keyblade armor. “It will protect him against the darkness.”

Larxene rolled her eyes before snapping her fingers. In a flash, her two clones exploded in electricity, dropping Yuffie to the floor. In that same moment, Lexaeus flung Leon to the wall, causing the built in circuitry to spark and short out. As he was quickly ushered into darkness, Ventus could hear Yuffie try and shout, “Ven! Naminé! Hold on, we’ll—!”

And then there was nothing but the shadow and Erxart’s hand guiding him deeper into the shadow. 

Yet even now, Ventus felt a dread set in that this was only going to get worse.

From the moment he set foot on this world, Erxart felt a sense of dread creep in. Each step deeper into the fort building it up, each small mystery fueling his unease. Stepping into the corridor of darkness only made it worse, the black cloak almost seemed feeble against the darkness clawing away at him. Even so, he had to hold on. To try and keep his terror at bay long enough to get some answers.

Of course, another reason was to ensure he didn’t give away anything to the traitors. As he exited the portal with Ventus, Marluxia looked down the spiral staircase before asking, “This is as far as we can go?”

Nodding, Lexaeus began to walk down the staircase as he explained. “Xemnas warded this area in particular against magical entry and exit.”

“Again, properly paranoid.” Larxene groaned as she began to follow. 

Marluxia and Erxart were close behind, hostages in tow as they descended. Granted, Marluxia had a far easier time keeping Naminé under control. His mere presence seemed to be enough to keep her compliant while Ventus continued to struggle in his grip. Of course, the methods Marluxia had pursued to ensure such compliance were anything but admirable. And the sooner Erxart could drop this charade to bring him down the better. 

Thus, the descent into the depths of Hollow Bastion was made even more intolerable. The massive spiral ramp only illuminated by faint red light was already ominous. Keeping up the charade of treachery was excruciating. And yet both of those feelings were overshadowed by how his memory seemed to burn as he saw this place. As if trying to piece together a puzzle with a chunk of pieces missing. Pieces he desperately hoped were at the bottom.

Beyond the sound of footsteps and Ventus’ weakening sounds of struggle, it was otherwise quiet. Nobody seemed ready to speak, lest it ruin this chance for answers. Yet soon enough, they saw the end of their path. A balcony to a set of double doors.

“It could only be here.”

The door opened to now silent cells.

“Let us now surpass the flesh.”

Something in Erxart’s chest hurt.

With a beep the doors slid open, and Larxene looked over the black and white hallway. “So which of these doors has prizes?” 

“Let us leave the past behind, to seize the future.”

He walked onward with purpose towards the end.

“To lay the foundation for Thirteen and Seven. Dark and Light.”

“Hey Erxart, you there?”

Larxene’s words briefly shook Erxart from his rumination. Just long enough for the realization to sink in as he murmured, “I know this place.”

“Erxart. Mind the hostage.”

Marluxia’s words refocused Erxart’s attention, preventing him from dropping Ventus to the ground in his shock. “Sorry, it’s just that,” he muttered as he made his way down the hall. “I remember this! I was here!” He had seen the chained cells, heard the cries of those imprisoned. But most of all were the doors at the end, the ache in his mind and heart screaming that the answers lie deeper inside.

Laxene peered through each of the bars along the way with a deeping scowl. “Nothing but empty cells.” Soon, all that was left were a set of double doors, a nobody insignia engraved on each of them with a chain leading to the bottom. As the six of them approached, the doors slid open in a second.

And in the second he saw that room, his heart was ensnared in pain. 

A gray round room, chains running from the throne in the center to nobody symbols along the walls. Yet those details meant nothing to what lay on the other side of the room.

“Is that a keyblade?”

He paid no heed to Naminé’s murmured question, even if the assumption was correct. In the corner was beaten, charred, black and blue armor. Sitting next to a keyblade that had long since lost its shine. The connection to its original wielder was cut, either through force or separation. Even if he lacked certainty, he knew who it belonged to, and so did Ventus. “Aqua,” the boy muttered as he hung his head. The only other word he could muster was a quiet little, “No.”

“Lexaeus, please hold onto him.” Erxart hurriedly asked as his eyes were on the armor. Ventus offered little resistance as he was handed off, though Erxart wasn’t too much better. Slowly he made his way to the scattered collection of plates and a helmet. With a shaking hand, he touched the aged steel, carefully trying to re-organize it.

But as he moved the cuirass, he froze.

“This was…”

It was five leaves of steel and orange cracked glass. Though a string had still connected it, they were loose. The center pin had come out, a small piece of metal that had Eraqus’ symbol.

“This was mine.”

Carefully gathering the pieces, Erxart held the charm in his hands. The memory of it breaking scarred his mind, a final moment of pain before splitting agony. But there was one problem. Wincing, Erxart cried out as he held the pieces to his chest, “I know this was mine! I know this was important! So why can’t I remember what it is!?”

Larxene scoffed and crossed her arms. “Well, what do you remember?” 

“Anything about the room, or the owner of the armor?” Marluxia tightened his grip on Naminé as he waited for an answer.

An answer that Erxart was desperately trying to piece together himself as he closed his eyes. “I remember coming here, but someone else was talking. Saying something about laying the foundation for thirteen and seven. Dark and light.” He held out the leftover pieces of the cham to the group. “He came here, took this out and,” Erxart shuddered as the memory burned his mind once again, “broke it. Then stabbed himself with a keyblade after saying something about making two from one.” 

Silence hung over the chamber at Erxart’s recollection. But Ventus eventually broke the silence, “Was it a black keyblade with a blue eye?”

Starting at the spot on description, Erxart quickly approached Ventus in Lexaeus’ arms, “Do you know this keyblade? Who has it?!”

“Master Xehanort.”

Larxene pinched her nose at Ventus’ answer. “Master Xehanort? Why on earth would two people have the same ridiculous name?”

Though there was one important caveat to all this that Erxart knew all too well. “If they have the same keyblade and the same name, I’m not sure they’re different people.” Keyblade inheritance was not unheard of, but over time each wielder changed their blade. Their own experiences marking their legacy. For Xehanort’s blade to not only go unchanged, but for its new wielder to carry on the name?

“Well look at this! The gang’s all here!”

And with a cheerful voice coming from the end of the hall, those concerns came to a halt. The group looked out the door to see a certain red-headed organization member coming their way. Still holding on, Marluxia began to smile as he called out, “Axel. It has been some time. I’m impressed you found your way here.”

Axel chuckled as he moved closer. “Well, I did grow up on this world.” Erxart simply tensed, waiting for the right moment to turn the tables. Even if he wasn’t sure that Xemnas was worth assisting, Axel certainly was.

“That, and he had help.” 

A calm voice echoed through the hallway as two other members of the Organization walked through the door behind Axel. Neither one seemed to be nobodies Marluxia wanted to see as he tensely greeted, “Saïx. Xigbar. To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“You can dispense with the pleasantries.” Saïx flatly answered as he summoned a claymore to his hand. “We are ending your rebellion.” 

Punctuating the point, a pack of sniper nobodies materialized at the end of the hall near Xigbar, aiming their lasers at the four of them. Larxene was the first to move, splitting into electric clones to evade and close the distance. 

Xigbar only seemed to smirk as he slammed his foot to the floor. And immediately, Erxart could feel and see the hallway begin to bend and twist. Xigbar’s power of space was put to excellent use as Larxene and her copies struggled to keep up with the twisting architecture. Walls became floors, floors became ceilings, and even her nimble footing had a hard time keeping up. 

As the clones stumbled to approach the target, Xigbar cackled as he took aim with his guns. “Boy, I don’t get tiny corridors like this to play around with often, but it’s a blast when I do!” He soon began to shoot down the approaching Larxenes.

With a scowl, Larxene began to split again and again in flashes of lightning. Desperately trying to overcome the barrage through all the bodies she could muster. As some of the copies arrived at the opposite end of the hall, they dived towards the snipers in a burst of electricity to thin their numbers. However, one copy seemed preoccupied with a clash against Axel, who had summoned his chakrams. She pouted as she pushed against the flaming wheel with electric knives, “So this was your angle, Axel? I thought we had something.”

Axel simply chuckled as flames began to gather around him. “Yeah, no. We both know that’s not true.” With a spin of his wrist, he knocked Larxene back to a waiting Saïx about to bring his claymore down on her head. Only a quick dodge kept her in one piece.

Marluxia grimaced as he began to call out, “Everyone focus, we need to—!”

And that was the moment Erxart decided it was time to act, a chance to keep them from regrouping. Slipping behind Marluxia, Erxart grabbed his arms, pulling the scythe away from Naminé. The commands died in his throat as his hostage was slowly freed.  “Erxart? Are you—?!

“Putting an end to your coup? Yes!” Erxart shouted as Naminé slipped out of Marluxia’s grasp. 

Spinning around to face Lexaeus she called cards to her hands and grabbed a handful. She threw them forward with her eyes on Ventus and gave one simple command.

“Save him!”

A flurry of figments burst forth from the cards, barraging Lexaeus with strike upon strike. Even he would have trouble enduring such an onslaught for long, or at least maintaining his hold on Ventus. Sure enough, after one last blow from the figments, Ventus finally was able to get a hand free. In a flash he called on his keyblade and drove it into his captor’s side.

With a cry, Lexaeus finally released the boy from his grasp. Capitalizing on the chance, Erxart flung Marluxia into him as Ventus scrambled away to join Naminé. As the two began to run, Marluxia growled as he picked himself up from the ground, “It seems Larxene’s faith in you was misplaced.” In an instant, a gale of petals began to gather and grow. And as the wind blew over Erxart, he could feel the petals cut at him like razors.

Erxart called Chaos Ripper to his side, trying to mitigate the mounting damage. But as he tried to block, Marluxia vanished in a blur. Frantically, Erxart glanced around to find him only to hear his whisper right…behind…

“As the flower withers and dies, you shall face your Do—.”

“Hey, Marluxia! Miss me?” And with Axel’s voice, the spell was broken as Erxart felt a burning chakram pass behind him to collide against Marluxia’s scythe. Gasping for breath, Erxart refocused his attention on the rising Lexaeus. Wounded from Naminé and Vetnus’ sneak attack, but still dangerous. With a swing his keyblade collided with the summoned tomahawk as their powers collided. 

Glancing back Erxart saw Marluxia’s scythe ring against the burning Chakrams as he seethed, “Axel! I will deal with you later!” 

“I’m not sure you’re going to get the chance.”

At Axel’s confident answer, Erxart and Lexaeus couldn’t help but look at each other in confusion. Their contest of strength slowly stopped as they both took stock of the situation. Axel was busy with Marluxia of course. Ventus and Naminé were trying to run to the exit, dodging shots from Xigbar.  Saïx was handling Larxene, batting away her electric duplicates just as soon as she made them.

And a figure in a black cloak was standing in the doorway.

“Enough.”

With one word, streaks of nothing raced through the room to ensnare the weakened traitors. Pale thorns that were commanded by only one member of the Organization. Xemnas began to walk forward, his voice echoing as he approached, “You thought you could out-maneuver me, Marluxia? Scheme behind my back to seize control?” Saïx and Xigbar gave a slight nod as he approached, dismissing their weapons. Larxene growled as she tried to break out of the ethereal bounds, while Ventus and Naminé had no choice but to back away wide eyed. “I have had lifetimes to prepare many paths for my victory. Physical bait, digital commands,” Xemnas looked to Axel who crossed his arms with a smirk, “And accomplices.” Backing the children to the end of the hallway where Erxart and Axel stood with Lexaeus and Marluxia, Xemnas slowly began to smile. “Though I confess this timing is fortuitous for them to snare so many at once.”

“Xemnas! I can explain! We—.”

Whatever plea Marluxia had was cut off as Xemnas ignited an ethereal blade and pointed it at the traitor’s throat. “You have nothing more to bargain with. All that is left is for you to face the consequences of failure.” Glancing at the children, he pointed the burning light towards them, “As for you two, we must speak in private.”

With that command Xemnas ushered the two into the rear chamber at bladepoint, the doors closing behind him.

Erxart released a breath of relief, the battle over and done with and dismissed his weapon. Axel clapped and began to laugh, “Man, Erxart. You had me worried hanging out with Marluxia’s gang. But you pulled through where it counts.” He turned to Xigbar and Saïx, the latter carrying Larxene on his shoulder. Axel began to stretch and asked, “So once our boss wraps up his business with the keyblade wielders, we’ll get the ol’ RTC back home?”

Xigbar hoisted his gun on his shoulder as he walked past Axel and Erxart. “Well uh, one last detail we forgot to mention.” 

Erxart raised his eyebrow, before he felt a heavy blow to his back. As he fell to his knees from the strike he could feel Saïx slam him to the ground saying, “Erxart is not leaving here alive.”

As his vision began to swim, Erxart’s mind ran with a million questions. Was it because of the appearance of treachery? Was this their plan the whole time? Did this have to do with Xehanort? He struggled to try and get something out there with the weight on his back.

He shouldn’t have bothered.

Axel did it for him with a very loud, “Wait, WHAT?!”

Ventus heard a slam and a shout but it didn’t matter. 

Naminé held tightly to his hand, but it didn’t matter.

Not when the man before him looked down at him, smiling all the while. “It has been far too long,”

Because even if he called himself Xemnas, Ventus knew exactly who he was.

“My apprentice.”

[cadday]

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Kingdom Hearts Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Xigbar (Kingdom Hearts), Braig (Kingdom Hearts), Dilan (Kingdom Hearts), Xaldin (Kingdom Hearts), Even (Kingdom Hearts), Vexen (Kingdom Hearts), Ienzo (Kingdom Hearts), Zexion (Kingdom Hearts), Aeleus (Kingdom Hearts), Lexaeus (Kingdom Hearts), Ansem the Wise | DiZ, Xehanort (Kingdom Hearts), Luxu (Kingdom Hearts) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Fix-It, Found Family, Luxu is a dick, braig has ptsd, braig-centric, Braig save the worlds, or tries too, Angst, Feels, ienzo is a good kid, maybe romance later, maybe not, Trauma, Trauma Induced Amnesia, Hearts remember Summary:

'He’s not sure how long it’s been. He remembers, or at least his heart and what’s left of him does, that he should be fighting back. But he’s too tired most days and fighting hurts. '

Braig is desperate, it's been dark for so long. Ending it seems like the best option but he's not sure how. It was never his intention to go back but now that he's hear he's got to change things. Now if he could just remember what those things were.

[kyberled]

LIFEDAY GIFTS || ACCEPTING

@rcvival​ asked:

[Four days after Life Day, there's a small velvet pouch hanging from the door to Braig's quarters. Within it is a wooden handmade whistle. When blown gently, the whistle produces a low gentle sound akin to the coo of a Drayberian hawk, when blown harshly however, the sound is more like the shriek of a Clawbird. There is a note on the pouch, it reads "From Maul".]

He's not sure how this got here. He's also sure he'd rather not ask. Maul has his ways. Given that nothing else seems to have changed and nobody is in a panic, those ways aren't a problem. It's progress. 

Those brief thoughts out of the way, he turns the pouch around in his hands a few times. The fabric is soft and clean and warm, luxurious both in texture and sheen. He's not sure he owns anything like it. Or rather, anything else, since apparently, this is his now. He takes a moment to prod at the outline of what's inside, trying to guess what it might be. 

Of course, this is from Maul, and he never knows what to expect from him. It's a futile effort. He steps into his room and lets the door close behind him. His attention is focused onto the gift. 

He stops in the middle of the room, opens the bag, and carefully rolls its contents onto his open palm. 

It's beautiful. Simple but elegant, the whorls of the wood grain contrasted by the smooth tones of the metal. The Force thrums with faint echoes of the concentration that had been poured into this and Braig can't help but wonder how long its construction took. He turns it about in his hands, letting the light play off the surface. It's got a little loop at one end. He'll have to find a cord to string it on - he's got to have one around here, somewhere - so he can wear it around his neck. And he'll need to find the perfect place to keep it when he's not keeping it with him.

But before that, he has to try it out, doesn't he? He's alone in this room, and he knows Obi-Wan isn't in the adjoining chambers. (He's at a council meeting, right?) Still, it's a careful first attempt. A soft breath and an equally soft note. It sounds distant and mournful and ethereal. Another attempt at the same volume. It's a beautiful sound. 

But as the saying goes, a starship in harbor may be safe, but that's not what starships are for. He inhales deeply, glances towards the door that connects his room to Obi-Wan's chambers - still empty - and this time, the sound is much louder. It almost makes him jump, reaching to something primal in the back of his mind that defines that noise as predator. 

Oh. 

Well, this is going to be extremely useful. He carefully returns the whistle to its bag and sets the pouch upon his pillow. First, he has to find that cord. Then, once he's accomplished that, he'll have to get in contact with Maul to thank him properly. 

This really is a wonderful gift.

[nadziejastar]

If Square DID eventually make a kind of BBSV2 game (events between BBS AND KH1 basically) what kind of lore or plot points would you want for them to expand upon? (ex: how Maleficent took over radiant garden)

-Radiant Garden's fall is definitely one of them. Like the FF characters' past, what happened to Rinoa, and why Squall changed his name to Leon.

-Everything from the Ansem's Reports, basically. I would have liked to see Ansem's apprentices get far more development to make their redemptions in KH3 feel less out of the blue. Show them being ignorant/conflicted about the experiments, guilty for the victims, afraid of Xehanort, etc. Why did they help him? Did they truly believe that their world was doomed when the Heartless first arrived and they had no choice? Did they give up their hearts because they felt guilty?

-Was Even working on Replicas even as a human? How did Braig handle things when he learned that Xehanort had amnesia? Was he interested in the Replica Program because he knew Xehanort needed empty vessels?

-What was going on in Xehanort's head during that time? His eyes switched from brown to gold (then brown again in the KH2 Mickey flashback). Why did he send Kairi away in a lifeboat? Was he really trying to save Radiant Garden? How did he know she might end up in the Final World? How much of Master Xehanort's memories did he have? How much did Terra's mind fight back during all of this? Why was Xemnas unable to use the Keyblade? At what point did he banish Ansem the Wise?

-Kairi's full backstory. Why was she in the castle in KH1? Was she a test subject? Is that how Xehanort realized she was a princess of heart? What was she like when she first got to Destiny Islands? How much of her past did she remember? What inner demons was Kairi facing that gave birth to Namine?

-The Subject X experiments with Lea and Isa. How did Isa become Norted? What is the meaning of his scar? Why are Saix's eyes orange like Xemnas?

-Mickey's meeting with Ansem the Wise. Mickey knew that Ansem's apprentice was named Xehanort. Did Mickey know about Subject X? Did he make the connection between Subject X and the X-blade? Did he help Ansem take Subject X to twilight Town?

-Riku's blank period from KH1. BBSV2 trailers show him in Neverland where he found Kairi. I'm sure there was a lot more of his KH1 journey we were meant to see.

-Also, Mickey's journey in KH1. He started in Traverse Town, then ended up in the dark realm. What happened in between? Also, how did Pluto end up where he was in the ending when he had the king's letter?

[dandelionvirus]

Hello friends it’s time for another crack theory.

What if Luxu body hopped into Brain twice?

I know what you’re thinking, insane. Yes. But there’s a possibility. The idea that Brain is far enough in the future to be Eraqus’s grandpa is there, and that he mysteriously went missing.  

 Of course this is if Eraqus’s genes are from Brain and not from a descendant of Luxu in Brain’s body.

But anyway. What if. Whatever number body Luxu was on was either on it’s last leg, or Brain once again was in trouble. And to save him, he took that bod and fucked off. For all we knew, Brain might not have been too much older. And considering time flows differently between worlds, Luxu could’ve gone to a world that turned at a much slower rate than Scala ad Caelum or other worlds. 

Where am I going with this? Well I know when Eraqus was first announced in his glorious dilf form, we were all comparing him to Braig. There were a lot of similarities in their design, their scars, and just some basic things that weren’t too common in the designs of other original characters of the Kingdom Hearts universe. 

My biggest think is that with Ventus gaining his memories back, either Master’s Defender or something within scala ad caelum is going to act as a waypoint. Brain could come back AGAIN. 

Or Ephemer. Or both. 

But I have hope.

[isthemedia]

And since I didn’t want to world salad all over @xiiiwayfinders post:

OTHER BRAIG AND LUXU HC’s I enjoy: 

Braig made a deal with Luxu, and Luxu intentionally misled him and thus why Braig couldn’t overpower Luxu’s possession.

That one star in the Final World being Briag because his heart was taken instead of Luxu’s, while Luxu played pretend to be a Nobody.

(Granted I do also like some of the lighter Luxu HC’s-like him saving the UnionX kids by sending them into the future and slowly getting them back together. But his relationship with Braig is something that’s intrigued me)

I do really hope we get SOME conclusion to Braig’s storyline cause like he’s a dangling plot thread right now.

[atomic-taco-muffin]

May I ask for a KH boys x reader post? When the reader is dying in their arms or is announced dead?

KH Boys Reacting To You Dying

Warnings: so much angst, grab your tissues!

Sora: 

You and Sora were fighting against Xehanort but he was stronger than the both of you (which is surprising. I mean have you seen how old he is?). You were about to attack him but Xehanort sent a keyblade through you. You fell to the ground, clutching your stomach. Sora immediately ran over to you. He cradled you in his lap while you tried to put pressure on the wound. 

“You’re gonna be okay. Just take these potions. Please don’t leave me.” he said. You lifted a shaky hand and cupped his cheek. 

“Defeat Xehanort for me.” you said before you fell limp in his arms. 

“No..baby...please. Don’t leave me.” He felt tears streaming down his face. He took his keyblade and charged at Xehanort. He took his baby away. He needs to pay. 

Riku: 

Riku was currently possessed by Ansem SOD. You, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were doing your best to break the possession, but it wasn’t working. Something inside of you was saying that you need to sacrifice yourself in order to save Riku. You took your keyblade and stabbed yourself with it. Riku broke out of the possession and ran to you. 

“You idiot! Why did you do that?!” he yelled. 

“It was the only way to save you.” you groaned. Riku tried to use a potion but it wasn’t working. You whispered something that you thought that he didn’t hear but did. 

“I love you, Riku.” you whispered and the fell limp. He hugged you close and cried. 

“I love you too.” he whispered. 

Terra: this broke my heart so much🥺

You, Ven, and Aqua were fighting against Terranort. You tried everything but that stupid guardian was in the way. Sora was able to provide support but it wasn’t enough. When you thought that you defeated Terranort, you were wrapped up in chains. You all struggled in the chains but you couldn’t break free. 

“And now you shall all die. Starting with you, pretty girl.” he said pointing at you. You gasped as you fell to the ground. Everyone screamed as they saw you hit the ground hard. When Terra broke free, he went straight to you. He put you in his lap and tried to see if you were still alive. 

“I’m so sorry baby. Please wake up. I can’t live without you.” he cried. When you didn’t wake up, he felt so heartbroken. He killed his girlfriend and soon to be fiancée. 

Vanitas: 

(note: this takes place during BBS)

Vanitas had orders from Xehanort to kill you. He wanted to refuse but if he did, he would get abused. When everyone was at the Keyblade Graveyard, Vanitas tried to stay away from killing you. But when you got attacked by a giant unversed, his whole world came to a stop. 

“NO!” He ran over to you and tried to heal you but nothing was working. Unversed sprouted out of him everywhere when finally passed. These unversed wanted to attack Xehanort and not the others. 

“I really am a monster.” he whispered as your blood was on his gloves. 

Ventus: 

You and Aqua were battling against Vanitas(in ven’s body). You did everything to break the possession but nothing was working. You could tell that Ven was trying to fight Vanitas by the look in his eyes. Something snapped in him and Vanitas stabbed you with the X-Blade. You groaned in pain and fell to the ground. When Ven broke free, he saw Aqua trying to heal you. 

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry. I-I didn’t mean to do that.” he said as he held you in his arms. 

“I-It’s not your fault.” you groaned. Ven stayed by your side as you took your last breath. He took your wayfinder as a way of you being a part of him and faced on Braig and Xehanort. 

Axel: 

Axel and you were fighting Saïx and losing. But when Sora and Kairi arrived, you two had the upper hand. At least that’s what you thought. When you weren’t looking, you got attacked by Saïx’s claymore. Axel quickly caught you before you fell to the ground. Saïx snapped out of his berserker mode and saw what he did. 

“I’m sorry, Axel. I didn’t see it coming.” you whimpered. 

“Don’t apologize. You’re gonna be okay. Just don’t close your eyes.” he said. The pain and the blood loss got to be too much and you closed your eyes forever. Axel cried softly as your body went cold. 

Roxas: 

note: thanks to @winterstarqueen for helping me out figuring out his. 

You and Roxas were trying to escape the Organization but Saïx found out and was now having a battle. You saw how Saïx had summoned the dusks and went to go take care of them. You quickly defeated them and saw Saïx about to kill Roxas while Roxas had no more strength left. You ran up to roxas and took the hit for yourself. You fell to the ground in pain. Roxas realized what you did and knocked Saïx unconscious. He quickly ran to you and held you in his arms. 

“What the hell were you thinking? Why did you do that?” he said crying. 

“I couldn’t let the person I love the most die.” you whispered. roxas was so confused. Nobodies can’t feel love. But with you, it was different. He remembered that he had some potions left and gave them to you. 

“Here. Take this. It’ll help.” You shook your head and looked at him. 

“You need to go on by yourself. But I’ll see you soon, okay?” You finally closed your eyes and he watched as you disappear. 

“Baby...no.” he whispered as he silently cried. He remembered that he had to leave. He stood up and ran away from the castle. 

[thecupcakewritesmorethings]

Amgry Kingdom Hearts Theory: Fox in a Box

Hi I’m mad.

I’m mad because of Kingdom Hearts. I’m aLSO MAD BECAUSE I THOUGHT OF THIS THEORY AND IT MAKES SOME(?) SORT OF SENSE.

Caplock rant over, crackpot theory Under The Cut.

Before I actually talk about the theory itself I have to establish a few things that lead me to believe any of this is a plausibility aside from how it’s Kingdom Hearts; and it’s just like though.

.Basis.

First of all, I am running with several theories here which haven’t been outright confirmed, though it’s pretty blatant a few of these things are meant to be implicitly deduced, not downright explained. Whether it’s because Nemura may decide to re-neg on some of these or not is anyone’s guess.

I’m running with the ideas that Ava is The Traitor, Is Darkness, and is also the Disembodied Keyblade Wielder in the final world at the end of Melody of Memory. Also, I feel like I should note that Ava is technically alive/has the chance of becoming a force in later games.

Ava, however, NOT Subject 0. Such an honor belongs to Skuld... For reasons you may already be guessing.

In fact, I’m going to do you a solid. The only game events you need to know in order for this to make sense is the general plot of Union X, The Kingdom Hearts 3, and Melody of Memory. Or even just the general plot of Union X, the end of Kingdom Hearts 3, and the end of Melody of Memory.

In Union X we uncover the general back bone of the theory. When we get through the entirety of the Keyblade story foam we come with the pieces of evidence we really need to back up this theory.

Time Travel works, but with limitations (Tm). Everyone from the Original Keyblade War is saved to the Book of Prophecies all USB style,but this doesn’t stop people from potentially dying. WHEN SOMEONE “DIES”, or more precisely their heart gets destroyed, their body vanishes (in the case of Strelitzia). 

WE ALSO know, in the case of Luxu/Braig that bodies outside of this Data world still age. This is why Luxu has apparently hopped multiple hosts, and also why Braig’s body ages when he’s a Nobody.

I also would like to propose another tag-along theory that doesn’t ultimately change what I am about to say; but Braig and Luxu are very much so aware of each other and while Luxu is riding passenger on Xigbar’s consciousness; they are in fact separate people. Xibar/Braig will just do things for Luxu when Luxu asks. It’s not super important, but I think it does add another layer of depth to the role Luxu had since his only job was to observe, and he chose to observe through Braig’s eyes. Braig/Xigbar is entirely at fault for his actions which led him to becoming a Nobody/Nort.

Get it? Got it. Okay. Moving on.

.Schrodinger’s Fox.

The overwhelming problem that is in Union X that isn't in the other games is actual consequences one would normally think of when considering wars: death and permanent injury.

In the span of the series we have seen ONE person die for real, and despite how sad it is; Strelitzia is likely never going to come back. The good news is for everyone playing Union X after KH1-KH3 (ish) is that this sets up the stakes of the game perfectly. The fact she hasn’t miraculously re-appeared due to some Keyblade Miracle really sets the stakes for that time period. When people die; they stay dead in Union X.

This provides the foundation of the problem. The Master of Masters KNOWS a war is going to happen due to the use of No-Name, and the efforts of Luxu passing from body to body in the future. This is also why I believe Braig/Xigbar has agency and isn’t just possessed. Either way, he knows a lot of people, potentially great and revolutionary Keyblade wielders, are going to die.

Whether or not his motivations are noble, just, or even at all reasonable: MoM sets out to try and stop it. By sending Luxu forward to do his observations MoM has a direct lay-line to the future which allow him to make the book of Prophecies... Which, as we all know from playing Union X, act as databases that the participants of the Keyblade war are stored to... Or maybe just their memories? It’s rather unclear.

Basically the people died but their memories were backed up, giving them a potential chance to live on in memory. Just... You know. Literally.

However, this is not just some grand gesture. MoM uses the Foretellers to set up his data world and keep the proverbial fires stoke while Luxu and the Traitor (Ava) confront each other.

This is where a lot of speculating begins. If Ava is that soul in the Final World; then she must have lost her body at some point, right? Well. She did.

MoM, knowing Ava is the traitor and she will inadvertently set of the war herself, travels into time to go and retrieve her body before she totally fades away and stuffs her into a device devoid of time, space, light, dark, and meant to keep her body functioning without perishing. Luxu doesn’t seem to have realized that Ava perished, or hasn’t realized he’s carting around her life support.

Anyway, MoM returns to the past, and he gives the box to Luxu, and tasks him to keep it safe and never to open it. The reason WHY it’s crucial the box is never opened is because Ava’s heart is in the Final World chilling with the people who died in the Keyblade war. If he were to open the box without going to the final world, Ava would actually perish.

Luxu probably suspects that Darkness is Ava, which is true, but that’s not the entire picture. In order to keep Luxu from figuring out too much, MoM makes a backup copy of Ava and names her darkness. This is something he could have easily done in the Data World, since he basically did this to create it. We also see data copies of Kingdom Hearts characters later in the series.

.Scientific Revelation.

Anyway, we jump forward several games. We could stop at Birth By Sleep, but aside from Braig appearing canonically for the first time not much happens here to serve the theory. All we do know is that Luxu and Braig are DEFINITELY rocking the same body by KH2 (not a phrase I ever thought I’d say). At the end of Kingdom Hearts 3 Luxu pulls the other Foretellers out of the Data World from the book of Prophecies.

There has to be a reason for this; and I propose Luxu’s goal was to wait and observe until the ability to bring people back from the dead/ bringing people out of the data world became a possibility they could achieve.

The Xigbar and Repliku fight was the second big fight in the maze, and I gather that Xigbar/Luxu chose to back off then because of Replica Riku’s sacrifice left him speculating something big may have been happening.

And lo and behold, something did. Xion is back and Xion has a heart? Old Xemnas becomes Tera again? ROXAS EXISTS AGAIN AND HAS A HEART? Yeah this has to be the sign he was looking for. He packs up his box, goes to the Keyblade Graveyard and summons/waits.

It is unknown whether or not he knows that Namine is walking around, but at this point he knows what he knows. Sora and Co can now bring people back from basically thin air, even giving life to people who shouldn’t exist, provided they have a vessel.

.”Ava had her own Mission, and she carried it out”.

I would say FAMOUS last words, but these weren’t Luxu’s last words. At least, I don’t think they will be. It seems rather uncharacteristic of Xig/Luxu to let things be, and even if Luxu’s task is done Xigbar lives for chaos. I doubt either of them will be gone.

Anyway, Ava did complete her task. By being duped into becoming the “Traitor” and having her body and heart separated, she was able to take care of the memories in the Final World, where the Fairy God Mother takes Kairi to meet at the end of Melody of memories. It’s unclear if she knows her body is in the waking world stuffed in a box, but I’m going to say she doesn’t, just like Luxu/Xigbar.

.”Like a Seeds of a Dandelion, Let them Fly to the Another World”.

I would like to cycle back to the beginning on this... Why Ava? What makes her so special out of the other Foretellers, barring Luxu? Something must have made her specific for this role, and it may have been Ava’s own good nature that made her the candidate. After all, if any of the other Foretellers took her role, it’s entirely possible that Ava could have quelled any infighting among the Foretellers, especially if one of the more hot-headed Foretellers was put in the box instead.

Another possible theory is that it was a fail-safe. When MoM speaks to Ava he’s not as dramatic as he is with the other Foretellers, so it would not surprise me if there was a large grain of truth to what he said to her. He told her that she was the last chance of hope for Light, but unfortunately that may have lead her into the box. Ava was tricked into being the traitor, but by becoming the traitor, she actually managed to land herself a very safe place. I think that the Master of Masters wanted her to be revived if his plan didn’t pan out. Just to be sure that Light survived.

[fuzz-onyx]

I have recently completed all 3 routes for KH: Birth by Sleep and I wanna talk about it:

This one made me feel more things than the accumulation of the past couple of games. I love it. (SPOILER WARNING for GAME)

But I'm also sad now, and kinda dislike Terra a bit. Speaking of Terra:

The Terra route:

- Him having darkness in his heart makes no sense! It made more sense for Riku to have darkness since it was obvious that he wanted power, as well as exploring more shit than an island. There is motivation, and there's conflict with Riku and his old life.

But with Terra, there is a one sided conflict, he's learning all the good things about light and dreams and beliving and stuff, but he got no desire for power as the people around him claim to be. He isn't drawn to darkness AT ALL. Yes, there is hades trying to get Terra to conquer/master the darkness in him, but it was all deciet anyway.

Yes, he did some bad shit, most of it was unintentional or being controlled. Not the greatest keyblade warrior ever.

- Xehanort is a conniving bitch who is obviously evil. That is all.

- I do find it interesting that instead of using the power of friendship when saving Ventus, he drew on darkness. Very neat.

- At the end of his route I was pressing f to pay respect to the dearly departed. Especially after Aqua's route, but I'll get to that later.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

but first ✨

The Ventus route:

- baby, baby boy, child who protec and attacc. Little harbringer of death that one.

- The X-blade is pretty interesting. It kinda made me wonder why an X-blade wasn't formed near the ending of the first KH game since Riku at the time was a consumed by darnkess and Sora is good-boy-friendship-light-kachow. Like the clash of the two. I dunno.

Also finally getting some sort of idea as to why Xehanort wants kingdom hearts, so sorta a villain origin story but not really?

- Ven and mickey together... that is all.

- Also because of Ven's route I think I finally understand the whole Roxas debacle. Its gonna take a bit to explain my theory, but here we go:

In beginning of whole game, Xehanort thought Ven was gonna die and took him to Destiny islands where our first protags were. My theory is that Sora gave Ven a piece of his heart in so he could live. Its also this connection which is why Vanitas looks like Sora, since Van and Ven have a bit of a connection, and Sora's heart piece was in the place of Van's heart-piece.

Also Ventus route ending is the reason why Roxas looks like Sora. So yeah. Not going to indepth but the summary is that they got a connection. It explains alot.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Now for the final character and best girl✨

The Aqua route:

- I didn't really notice it with the others Until I was playing with Aqua, but I found the association with side characters very interesting. Like: Terra was with the Villains for most of his playthrough, Ven was with the princesses and their friends, and Aqua was with the people helping said princessess and getting their happy endings. Neat little character parallels, very nice 👍

- Aqua is the only Keyblade master out of the three, and that really isn't saying much. She's super weak in the beginning, and that's saying something - since i was playing proud mode for all their routes. It was hard, but I eventually figured it out. Also I died alot in Aqua's route the most. so that's a thing.

- Something that I'm pretty happy about while playing the three routes, is that while each character moves in the same areas and overlaps at times, each have their own section of the world to explore. Very nice 👍

- Now for the ending... Oh boy:

So we got terra fighting Xehanort - he lost and got possessed :(

Ven fighting Vanitas - externally and internally - forging the X-blade ... sorta - he won, but broke his heart in the process, not great :(

As for Aqua.... we get some context to everything. After fighting Braig (Xigbar but in the past) we fight a possessed Ven weilding a completed X-blade. I thought that this would be the hardest fight out of the entire main story... So after using the power of friendship we help Ven break the X-blade and free him.

So, at the end of Aqua's route, we got a sleeping Ven, a possessed Terra, and a sad Aqua. AT LEAST WE GOT A FINAL EPISODE AYY?

Now for the final episode of the entire game:

- All the levels are higher and easier to level up in..... wanna know why? haha-hahaha-HAHAHAHA--

- Possessed Terra is the hardest fight in the entire main game and he was scary. So I died SEVERAL times. So I leveled up a bunch and changed spells and attack stuff, and I eventually defeated Xehanort... but I didn't get terra back D':

So now I'm stuck in the realm of darkness and feeling hopeful but SAD WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Now for some final notes:

- Its cool seeing all the characters from the past games, including the organisation 13 characters before they became nobodies.

- This game had some slightly different mechanics, but after I got used to them, it was so much better than the previous ones.

- Leveling up in this game is actually FUN. Merging spells together, also cool.

- Seeing new disney worlds was great, love it, 10/10.

- Seeing the development of not only the characters, but the development of how the story is told and the quality of it all... its great, I can see why people like it apart from the gameplay.

so that's my thoughts on the game, can't wait to play more :D

[kimium]

As some of you may know I've been replaying the Kingdom Hearts games since I own the entire remix collection and Kingdom Hearts 3. I've been meaning through this week to write a post basically talking about my favourite things in Kingdom Hearts (and now I have the time!) This is self-indulgent (sorry but I've recently spent so many hours replaying through the remix of the games and that has to manifest on my blog in some way) but this is my blog and I really wanna talk about KH ahaha.

Anyways, the rest is under a cut.

First KH game

Technically KH2 was my first game, but that was because a friend of mine in elementary was playing it. Whenever we hung out I'd watch her play it. The first KH game I played myself was 358/2 Days.

Favourite KH game

A tie between 358/2 Days (due to it being my first game) and Birth by Sleep. But if I had to pick between the two I'd say I like BBS a bit more.

Least favourite KH game

You'd think it would be Re: Chain of Memories since the card mechanic is terrible but CoM is saved because it has Great Cut Scenes and adds to the story in a very direct manner.

No, my least favourite KH game is Re:Coded. While I did play it and I do remember enjoying the game play for the most part, it felt like it didn't add a lot to the story and was extra padding.

Favourite Worlds (Disney and Non Disney)

My favourite Disney world is Fantasia. Before Dream Drop Distance I would have said "Alice in Wonderland" since it is one of my favourite books. I love Fantasia because of the aesthetic. Fantasia as a movie was already packed full of classic Disney animation set to beautiful classic music. Fantasia's world also has all of the sounds (including sound effects) as classical music. I love that attention to detail!

My favourite Non Disney world is a tie between Twilight Town and Scala ad Caelum. Twilight Town is largely due to the atmosphere. I adore the feeling of a sleepy little town on the borderline to dreams. The warm tones in is palette also make me feel cozy. Scala ad Caleum is due to how Breathtaking Beautiful it is. The real life inspiration for the architecture was captured perfectly in the world too and I appreciate the effort from the dev team.

Least favourite world

My least favourite world is Tron's world, specifically in Dream Drop Distance. The main reason why I dislike this world is because of the colour scheme. Somehow the dark and neon colours on the screen make me nauseous. It is better in the Remix Version, on a bigger screen, but I remember when I first played DDD I could only spend so much time in Tron's world before I needed a break.

(Also a shout out to Pirates of the Caribbean only because I hated racing Luxord in KH3.)

Favourite character (KH original)

While I love all the characters in their own way my favourite character has to go to Xigbar. Originally I was neutral to him but the more I saw of him (especially in BBS and DDD) I began to like him. I really like characters who are a bit smug and snarky, always hinting they know more than they let on. Of course, the ending to KH3 blew my mind but also made me excited because now we'll definitely see more Xigbar/Braig/Luxu.

(I also really like Saix. Again, someone who had to grow on me, his themes of jealousy, insecurity, and fear over losing Lea as a friend are Top Tier. If you ship Axel/Saix like I do, then they really are "friends to strained friends to "work only" to enemies to tentative friends to lovers". I respect that journey and dynamic.)

Favourite character (Disney)

I LOVE Maleficent! So much! In Kingdom Hearts! I love that they took such an ICONIC villain and gave her motivation and goals so she could be a reoccurring villain in the series.

Favourite keyblades

Aesthetic wise I LOVE the TWEWY keyblade from Dream Drop Distance. It has so many little references to all the characters in it and I find that really fun!

I really like Oathkeeper and Oblivion because they're meant to be opposite keyblades in design yet they're used together and I LIVE for that sort of imagery.

Beauty and the Beast's keyblade in KH1 surprised me with how good it was and I enjoyed using it near the end of the game.

I love all of the final keyblades in Birth by Sleep but especially Aqua's in the Final Episode.

The Pirates of the Caribbean keyblades in KH3 is so cool because it transforms into a flag pole that I can beat people with and honestly I live for that aesthetic. I also like the keyblade from Tangled.

Favourite boss fight

I'm a simple person. I like Darkside because it's Iconic. I also like the final fight in KH3's DLC because that's just Hype and Awesome to see everyone fighting together.

Non final boss fight has to go to Beauty and the Beast's from KH2 because you get to swing the chandelier and use it. I love that.

Least Favourite boss fight

Young Xehanort's boss fight in Dream Drop Distance is the WORST. I hate it so much. Also, Terra's fight his possessed body when you control Lingering Will/his armour is a headache and a half.

(If we're talking non final boss fights, Sora's boss battle in the second visit to Traverse Town in DDD is utter BS.)

Favourite line

Even though it's cheesy I like the line "May your heart be your guiding key."

I also like Terra's line to Xehanort when he says (something along the lines of) "Was my master... no was my father not enough?"

Speaking of Terra's lines I also really like his lines regarding passing the keyblade to others. ("In your hand take this key and so long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you shall one day be.")

(Special mentions to Ventus "He said to take... he said to take two grown ups." because of the TONE was Spot On.

And of course... the ICONIC and SAVAGE Woody line in KH3.)

A world I'd like to see in Kingdom Hearts

I want to see TWEWY properly!!! I want to see more of Sora in Shibuya with interactions with the TWEWY cast. And, given the Secret Ending to KH3 that COULD be a possibility. (When I saw Sora wake up in Shibuya I Screamed Internally out of Excitement.)

Favourite songs

If we're talking openings Passion/Sanctuary holds a lot of nostalgia for me. The orchestral version of Hikari makes me FEEL things. Also, of course, Dearly Beloved is great. Destiny Island's main theme is nice too (though I do have War Flashbacks to it as a song in Ice Cream Beats).

Anyways, that concludes my self-prompted rambles about Kingdom Hearts. If you want to ask me anything or just talk about the series with me (provided we're not getting into too heavy of a discussion) then feel free to hit up my ask box. If not (and that's fine) I hope you enjoyed reading my rambles.

[bearpillowmonster]

KHUX SPOILERS ⚠️

Is Player Xehanort?! Or maybe just his heart rested in him? Or did he actually go to sleep and that was just a tease for Dark Road? If so, that's a good explanation for why Dark Road is the way it is, it seemed out place before Right next to Union X but now it has purpose.

Chirithies become dream eaters?! YO!

And Nomura with his: ※ (apparently that's a Japanese footnote, so it was just bleeped out) I see some people saying that the X is an intersection and the dots are the four districts or a square but I think they're thinking too far into it.

LUXU TOOK OVER BRAIN! I wasn't even being serious when I predicted it. I bet that box has something to do with turning the Union Leaders dark. Is Darkness in the box? I heard Nyctophiliac talking about how Brain just hid the box and that's why Braig couldn't find it in KH3 which is plausible but I also think maybe being "controlled" by Xehanort had something to do with his memory, I'm not too sure but Brain does appear to have No-Name so...but I kind of like the idea that Luxu was the only one that lived from Union to present and that the person we see now is just an older version of Brain but who knows?

They can take Dearly Beloved and make it sound like anything, it's gorgeous and stunning every single time.

Does this mean that Ventus disproves the Master's theory of having to kill the host to get rid of darkness? Because essentially we are just now figuring out Xehanort's backstory so when we beat him, it was no big deal, we had more reason to fight him than not to but with the Union leaders, we know what's up and I think if Sora ever found that out, he would try to save them somehow. It kind of falls to that scene where Xehanort finds Vanitas and Ventus and how they split apart.

Also, did Xehanort KNOW the plan, because if he did, is that what he was doing all along or maybe setting Sora up for it? Really, Sora's been through it all too, his best friend betrayed him, he lost Kairi, he died and went to the Final World, failed his Mark of Mastery and fell...really its all kind of made him stronger and made him more likely to be a victim to darkness.

My boy is the founder of Scala! Eraqus has the key now but we don't know whether Ephemer passed it down to someone else or if he had kids but then what about Skuld? I ship those two too hard to say that Ephemer just moved on. I almost don't doubt that we'll see him again though, even if he is dead, I mean, time travel dude! Also, I'm a bit divisive on this but here it goes:

So Aqua might have that keyblade as a sort of "mark" or birthright, passed down from master to master for whoever appears from the Union X days to identify her. At the same time, I like the idea of Aqua having NOTHING to do with it and it just shows the generational gap and everything that Keyblade has been through. (That would make Terra the only one without connections to Union X) Then we have Skuld who I noticed doing a similar gesture as Aqua, I know most of the KH characters do that but Aqua especially because she has her wayfinder and holds it to her heart but I don't know, I'd like to see a scene between the two. But I'm not trying to give characters connections that aren't there.

[beastenraged]

Thinking out loud here, many questions with no answers...

Why did Braig save Subject X? Look, I know it’s a kid game, that he couldn’t have shanked her without severely screwing up its rating, but it’s more than that. 

Why did he take her to another world where she seems to be safe, to have grown up even without her memories of the past? Judging by that secret report at least. And if it was about keeping her secrets, then Braig could have let Xehanort do his memory experiment that had apparently “collapsed the Hearts” of everyone else he tried it on and her death would have revealed nothing. 

Why save her from that fate? She plays no role in the end of the Book of Prophecies’ story, bringing Darkness to the land. Her existence is the merest mention on another’s lips. 

Luxu, do the last Dandelions have to live? Have to survive for whatever the next step is, for your fellow apprentices’ return?

Or.

Do they live because you want to preserve what of your past you can?

[imagine-organization-xiii]

Xigbar doesnt seem to like his child that much or just doesnt want to show he cares... what if his kid goes to live with Ansem the scientist in Radiant Garden instead? how would Xigbar react?

this reminds me of a discussion we had on discord about even actually being ienzo’s biological dad, but that’s a subject for another day

ALSO PLEASE NOTE that this turned into an almost fic but definitely an au so it really isn’t meant to be canon-compliant - you’ll see what i mean once you start reading LOL also, this probably won’t turn into anything more, so i hope you enjoy all the same

WARNING - like i said, it’s a kind of au and SPOILERS for the game if you haven’t played it, just in case

oOoOo

Braig - Xigbar - Luxu

He does love his child. Really, he does, don’t get him wrong, but the distinction is that he never wanted to be a dad. He didn’t even know he was a father until years after his child was born, so... it’s understandable that he would have a few grievances.

He has no idea who the woman was, only that one day there was a new kid in the castle with Ienzo and Ansem the Wise was pulling Braig into his office to explain what was going on. Ansem made it clear that they could keep the secret from his kid or not, but he felt that Braig deserved to know the truth of the circumstances.

And of course, Braig feels like an absolute asshole because, like, what kind of guy doesn’t own up to and take responsibility of his own kid? But he’s hesitant because he thinks he would absolutely be a shitty father and... and... it’s just too much.

So he’s distant. More so than he needs to be. The other apprentices have no idea that his kid is walking around the halls, playing with Ienzo, being taught by Even, being lifted into the air and playfully tossed around by Dilan and Aeleus. Braig was distant from Ienzo, too, as much as he could be, so the others don’t really pay it any mind, but... well. He feels overwhelmingly guilty and he hates it.

Because. Well. He’s. Not even really Braig, is he? He has his own ulterior motives that don’t really go along with having a kid so he thinks that maybe if he doesn’t tell the truth and he lets Ansem raise his kid the same was that he was raising Ienzo, then maybe everything would be okay.

But then Organization XIII happens and it all turns to shit.

Braig doesn’t want to join the organization, but he has bigger plans than Radiant Garden and this seems like the best way to go about them. Becoming Xigbar feels like he’s releasing his guilt. Kid? He sometimes thinks. What kid? He isn’t Braig anymore and he doesn’t think he can be Luxu either, and Xigbar doesn’t have kids so... problem solved, right?

And then Xemnas pulls a move when he isn’t paying attention and he recruits everyone else, and that includes Braig’s kid and he just kind of... snaps. He knows that confronting Xemnas wouldn’t work out for anyone involved, but he has to do something because even if he doesn’t feel emotions and he doesn’t have a heart, he can’t let his own flesh and blood lose everything just like he did.

That’s what he was doing in the first place, wasn’t it? Trying to make this stupid world a better god damn place in any way that he could and - damn if he isn’t some sort of weird, screwed up saint with good intentions who always gets bad results from their actions.

But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that he kidnaps his own kid from under Xemnas’ nose and disappears before Xemnas could steal their heart. Taking one of the others doesn’t even cross his mind. He’s too focused on holy shit what did i just do, where are we going to go, how am i going to take care of a kid - and he’s like... a dad or whatever, and he may be a shit dad but he’s still a dad.

And his kid kind of hates him. They remember him as Braig, a figure that happened to be around the castle sometimes, always there but never really stepping in to the spotlight like the others, but they are wary of Xigbar who is the same but still different, and of course his kid has to be a little asshole like he is because this is his life and how could it be any different?

So Xigbar - no, he can’t use that name anymore, because he’s gone completely AWOL and he’s sure there’s a death warrant out there somewhere for him on at least 14 different worlds, so it has to be luxu, now - tries to block out the noise as the little brat tries to bribe him, bargain with him, talk his ear off, kick him in like five different places, attempts to bite him several times, scratch him with sharp nails, and make at least four escape attempts that, if he was that kind of guy, he would have been kind of impressed by.

But he stops them every time and says, ‘look kid, if you go out there again then Xemnas will eventually come after you and that is not something you want to deal with, so cut me a little slack here because i’m trying to save your ass’

And eventually, the kid stops trying because... well, Luxu hasn’t hurt them, so that might be a big red flag that they don’t know all the facts, and they’re smart, okay? A lot smarter than he’d ever dream of being and there’s some amount of fatherly pride in his chest that he has to fight down before it bursts out of his throat.

They spend some time in Agrabah, first, with their faces almost constantly covered as Luxu does a few odd jobs around the town for spare change to cover their meager stone lodgings. They become too noticeable because of their pale skin so they migrate to the Jungle, where they live for a long time before the kid gets sick and needs actual treatment he can’t give, so they then do a sporadic hopping back and forth from San Fransokyo, then Athens, a little town in France whose name he can never remember, until they finally settle in Traverse Town (which, he thinks, is both good and bad, but he can’t bring himself to keep them moving around)

He’s not stupid. He knows that they can’t run forever, but hopefully the foretellers can get off their asses and Sora can do what needs to be done to seal away the darkness and he can hopefully go back to living a good life where they can actually stay in one place and, you know, live.

And if, somewhere along the line, he realizes that he and him became we and us, and mine and his became ours and theirs. Well. That’s no one else’s fucking business, is it?