#but repliku thinks hes riku here

[tharkflark1]

so theres this german Kh:CoM fan stageplay from 2008,,,,

Photo this is based on

[plateauofmemories]

Anyway after watching like, half of the KHIII cutscenes last Friday I feel even more confident that they prioritized the game making emotional sense over having it make like. Logical sense. At all.

Almost any given scene feels good and true and emotionally resonant in itself, but trying to take any of the together gets nonsensical.

Like, what is the plot - Xehanort is trying to recreate the Ancient Keyblade War to forge the χ-blade and summon Kingdom Hearts. Sure. Cool. How are we going to do that? By gathering 13 Seekers of Darkness and 7 Guardians of Light to clash? Okay, then why is True Org XIII like, actively trying to disrupt Sora + co's attempts to gather their 7? Why is MX so like, triumphant in 3D when he points out two in Mickey's count belong to him? Like, if you need them to have a full team to achieve your goal, don't you... Want them to fill out their ranks? Why drown Aqua in darkness, you need them to get Aqua.

Okay, but maybe you don't want them to get their 7 because you'd rather get the princesses of heart and use them as your 7! And you don't want them raining on your parade. Except everybody is definitely describing that as the backup plan in KHIII. So. Y'know.

But what about the 13 Seekers of Darkness? We're gonna make a bunch of people Xehanort! Which, when done to Terra and almost done to Sora seems to be a process that totally subsumes the host's personality/consciousness (or at least should - Terra still being able to resist is what causes Xehanort all those problems!); the cast for KHIII, however, seems to basically be themselves but with yellow eyes. So maybe we decided we don't need to do all that.

Except when Larxene is dying, she makes some comment like "becoming that old geezer's heart tank? No thanks.". This gives us a look into her feelings/character! But also like, girl, we are in the Keyblade Graveyard barreling towards the endgame at top speed. What the fuck do you mean "becoming"? You're not already?? We are making the goddamn χ-blade right now.

Xigbar actively complains about finding a 13th vessel multiple times. They have two backups on deck.

Like.

More than one iron in the fire and a plan for every eventuality but also no one seems to know which iron is the priority and which eventuality we are supposed to be actively aiming for.

And I'd guess that's probably because each featured draft of the plot worked to showcase some of the characters' finales while cutting out others and they just. Decided to get everybody in, fuck whatever happens to the plot.

[pygmalions-ideology]

UGHHHHH

don't you recognise me?

[holleighgram]

I wrote a oneshot about Repliku arriving in the Realm of Darkness after his death in COM. Aqua finds him and thinks he's just another shadow hallucination but enjoys the company. She doesn't recognize him as "Riku," so for the first time he's able to be seen as his own person and not a copy.

I never finished it, but I made this art for it, so here.

[hollowwhisperings]

Riku & Keyblades: ???

It's been a bit since my last bit of KH tinhatting but I was looking at keyblades again and

HOW DOES HE KEEP SUMMONING THESE THINGS??

Keychains, I get! Something something, connecting with people's hearts, keyblades are "heart" swords, boom: your heartsword now resembles whomever you just trauma-bonded with! "Befriended", same thing.

BUT HOW IS RIKU MAKING NEW HEARTSWORDS??

Riku starts out as the "Chosen" of the Light Realm's Kingdom Key but, due to his being preoccupied by Teen Angst (Gay Panic), the Key instead passes to Riku's "Chosen": Sora. This is Keyblade 1.

Kingdom Key is happy to stick with Riku's Chosen but Riku's Villain Arc requires him to be armed so... Riku materializes a WHOLE SECOND KEYBLADE (how?? he's only got one heart! it wasn't like Terranort had one to spare!) to use instead of Kingdom Key. It starts out as the appropriately ominous "Soul Eater" (Devil Wing ft Eyeball) but turns into the much cooler "Way to the Dawn" (Devil AND Angel Wings ft Eyeball) when Riku has his Redemption Arc. Keyblade 2.

Then Maleficent somehow makes a "Keyblade of Hearts" via... daring Riku to de-heart some Disney Princesses? HOW DID SHE EVEN KNOW THIS WOULD WORK?? Why couldn't Xemnas have done this?? Why RIKU??? Is this the Darkness prodding Mal along or..? ugh, Keyblade 3.

It's very quickly brushed aside, in the midst of a big epic reunion between the Destiny Trio, but Riku casually pulls out a shiny new keyblade from nowhere and magically makes Kairi the wielder of "Destiny's Embrace". Aqua accidentally nudging toddler!Kairi with a keyblade always vibed like a red herring tbh: heartswords should require INTENT before being passed down! YET! SOMEHOW?? Untrained Riku can just... mediate on a heart's behalf? idk, man, nomura ain't said nothin'. Keyblade 4.

Fast forward to Dream Drop Distance where Riku AND Sora are now able to manifest their heartswords TO each other, across time and space, because... Best Friendship? Dream Eater & Dreamer? True Love? It's not a dream-only thing either - they summoned this "Combined Keyblade" (there's no official name for it yet but it's more commonly known as "The Gayblade" because... Rainbows) during the Aqua Rescue at the Dark Margin. Keyblade 4½ (Sora has joint custody).

Between the canonical appearances of The Glowing Rainbow Duet Heartsword in DDD & KH3, "Way to the Dawn" breaks. Riku leaves the broken heartsword for Repliku to use (oof), something something thinks of Sora yearningly, new keyblade summoned: "Braveheart" AKA Modern!Kingdom Key AKA Keyblade 5.

THAT'S FIVE FRIGGIN KEYBLADES! "Manifested" by Riku and handed out to FIVE DIFFERENT PEOPLE: Sora; Riku Replica; Terranort's Heartless; Kairi; and Riku himself.

(anyone else remember that one interview where Nomura casually implied Riku wasn't or wasn't entirely human? no? i haven't been able to track it down but it's haunted me ever since: what do you mean "what" Riku "really is" has yet to be revealed??? is he NOT just a dude from Xehanort's home world who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ephemer?? is Riku a changeling??? Kingdom Hearts' Humansona?? *pterodactyl shrieking*)

Oh and, just to feel even more agonized at how mysterious Riku somehow still is, I had a closer look at the symbolism of his keychains:

Keychains of Braveheart (L) and Kingdom Key (R). Mickey's Kingdom Key-D is This but "gold".

Something something the "Lucky Symbols" in KH3 aren't Mickey? What else could this be? Two moons much too close to one planet? A botched venn diagram?? Infamous World Destroyer, Eater of Worlds, Kirby???

Keychains of The Gayblade (L) and "Destiny's Embrace" (R).

Selphie says in KH1 that sharing one paopu fruit is romantic; Kairi says in KH3 that eating two paopu fruit, separately, means Friends Forever... there's a metaphor for Compulsory Heterosexuality in here somewhere, I just know it.

Keychain of Riku's "Way to the Dawn" (L) and the symbol for HEARTLESS (R)???

How heartbroken WAS this kid?!?

Keychains of the Uncombined Gayblade: Riku's Mirage Split (L) and Sora's Nightmare's End (R).

Oh, look! It's the "Riku" Symbol! AGAIN. ???

top: Keychains of KH2's Ultima Keyblade (L) & Brain's "Master's Defender" (R). mid: Ultima Keychains of BBS (L) and KH1 (R). bot: Ultima Keychains of DDD (L) and KH3 (R).

The outlying symbol amongst all the Ultimas is known in the Ultimania as "the symbol of Terra and his Friends". Its earliest known appearance is in Scala ad Caelum and it's just similar enough to Riku's Heart Symbol to feel like an intentional resemblance.

Yeah, this + "Riku is the Light" + "Riku casually becoming a different species (for Sora)" has just further cemented my supposedly crack "Prince of Kingdom Hearts!Riku" theory isn't that crack-y afterall.

(dw guys: riku's not OP bc he forfeited his crown to his True Love when they were toddlers so King Sora of Kingdom Hearts = VALID! riku is just out here, our local half-devil half-angel, handing out new heartswords as the plot requires. what, like it's hard?)

...KH4 can't come soon enough. Hopefully Disney doesn't implode under the evils of its Empire before Squeenix grabs all the copyright permissions they need for all this. ugh, I need to find better screenshots. x_x

[goldenchocobo]

This took a little while, but here are the Destiny Trio (plus Namine and Repliku) with their ace Pokémon!

The different ages represent when the Pokémon evolved. I based each pose off of a trainer (or class), see if you can guess who I picked for who! (with the exception of KHI Sora because my brain only remembered what I was supposed to do after I lined his pose)

To read my musings, look under the cut

Sora: I was completely stumped as to what to give Sora. But when I gave Riku his Pokémon, I thought about giving Sora a psudo as well, and landed on Noibat, as they seem to be friendly and carefree dragon/flying types. I'd also like to imagine that Sora found his Noibat on the small island after a storm and nursed them back to health, and they stayed with him afterwards, only getting into a pokeball during the destruction of Destiny Island. I think that Noibat would evolve into Noivern during the final battle between Sora, Riku and Xemnas.

Riku: For some reason I imagine Riku inheriting his Bagon from his parents or relatives. He took care of them and often both him and his Bagon went up against Sora and his Noibat. Over the years, they both had to change and become strong enough to protect what matter to them the most. And yes- I chose Bagon for Riku because of its dex entry- of wanting to fly (wanting to explore other worlds), and eventually being able to after shrouding itself away (like how Riku hid himself from Sora)

Kairi: Originally, Sora had an Eevee, but I change it since I wanted Kairi to have a Sylveon. It all worked out since she has a type advantage over the boys! I see her Eevee evolving into Sylveon during her training with Axel.

Namine: I wanted Namine to have some kind of Pokémon that was lonely. Originally It was a Cubone, but I didn't think that'd fit, and I wanted to hold off on Smergal as well. I read the Pokédex on Galarian Ponyta, and thought it perfect, as they gaze into the heart of people, much like how Namine does the same to Sora.

Repliku: I imagine Repliku was just given a Zubat as a Pokémon by Vexen; just as a 'oh, here you go, kid'. That Zubat being a clone themselves (a la the Mewtwo clones). Repliku being Riku, I can imagine no matter the Pokémon, he'd treat and train them well, and thus they'd evolve into a Crowbat.

[firestorm09890]

Do you ever think about how one of the most emphasized elements of Zexion's character is that he does NOT like doing things himself? Multiple journal entries and multiple moments in Chain of Memories to let us know that he can and will make someone else do things he doesn't want to deal with. And then he goes to try to take out Riku by himself.

It could have been pride, and I bet a little of it was that. Zexion is displayed with a lot of it- Riku not dying when Zexion expected sent him into an entire breakdown. He might have thought there was no way he could have failed.

But Zexion also shows that he knows when to retreat and, crucially, here's where the first point comes in- he does not like proving himself. That's Vexen (and Zexion knows it and manipulates it to get Vexen to do certain things for him).

The Chain of Memories journal entry says Zexion was forced into action thanks to the demise of Vexen and Lexaeus, but... no he wasn't. Riku didn't know he existed and everyone else was off the radar, he wasn't in active danger. It would have been so easy and the smart decision to retreat and regroup, and I think Zexion has a certain balance of obedience and self-assuredness that would have allowed him to go back to the Castle expecting Xemnas to understand why he retreated. The operation is in shambles. It's only Zexion and Axel left, Sora's disappeared, Naminé's run off, and Riku and Repliku are still fucking around upstairs. He could try to salvage what he could and take out Riku, or he could leave Oblivion in tatters like Axel was clearly going to and make someone else deal with it (tbh because of how things played out I actually think Riku would have been worse off without Zexion doing what he did. that dire moment is when Riku had his breakthrough moment). I think the latter option would have been more in character-

IF NOT FOR THE FACT THAT AS FAR AS ZEXION WAS AWARE, RIKU WAS THE ONE WHO KILLED LEXAEUS

We don't even know how Zexion "felt" about Lexaeus's death since Axel came in like immediately and Zexion refuses to let his peers know he has facial expressions and honestly an analysis of Zexion and Lexaeus's relationship would be too long but Lexaeus cares about him and in some strange way, Zexion cares back. And Lexaeus lost. And Riku was the one who did it. And... was the level of psychological torment Zexion put Riku through really necessary for killing him?

The most fucked up thing about this interpretation is that it means Zexion's final decisions were guided not just by emotion, but by emotion felt for someone else. and it killed him

[meiloorun-notthefruit]

Tearing up thinking about Riku encountering the illusion of Sora in Chain of Memories as he pleads for him to recognize him while all that Sora does is attack him and disparage him for falling to the darkness.

Almost the exact same look of terror Repliku gives Larxene as she approaches them to brainwash him. Sora doubting him, rebuking him, breaks Riku for a second here….

[aitsuheart]

Sometimes I stay up late and start thinking about Vanitas and Repliku because they're anti Soriku.

The two of them are together.

They are the ones who created the love-hate relationship because that is what the two of them have.

Vanitas and Repliku will mess with Soriku. They will mess specifically with Riku for believing that Sora is better off without him and that he doesn't like Riku which is obviously not true here.

[psychopomp-namine]

wait. so KH3 riku was holding out his hand to namine because he was acting as a stand in for repliku, because repliku in chain of memories saw namine as "the person he wanted to protect" from the meteor shower in the childhood memory that he got. namine was that precious to repliku.

namine was also the stand in for the person sora wanted to protect from the meteor shower in the childhood memory that he got.

I've always wondered why we still haven't gotten the promised "thank namine" scene because it's been forever and it feels like we should have gotten it already, and yet. we're still here. so I'm wondering, what will take it for sora to remember to thank namine? what is namine's final role? like sure, sora in quadratum probably has way more memory issues than he ever had in chain of memories, which namine could help with. but I feel like restoring sora from "concept/fiction" to "individual person" is gonna be a group effort that isn't (and shouldn't be) solely namine's responsibility to fix.

so what is namine's personal future role that will get us that thank you? it has to still be related to chain of memories somehow, or her personal memory powers over sora. the only thing I can think of now is that she fixes that one childhood memory of sora's and makes him remember who actually promised to protect who during the meteor shower when they were kids. something something the person who promised to protect was also holding a toy sword. something something the keyblade's chosen something something. oh my god. is that it?? really??

I'm not being coherent in this post but my brain is zapping in different directions right now. I'm sure everyone else has thought of this already and I'm just late to the party, but cut me some slack, I literally have not thought about kh that much for the past like 3 or 4 years. I'm getting back into it now for some reason and I am. Remembering things

[hezuart]

https://www.tumblr.com/hezuart/658977816690540544/kingem-hearts-au-sketches I love your crossover AU, but how the hell did Sora get shattered?! Is this like in Chain of Memories where Namine had to reconstruct Sora’s real memories or something?

Yes! But what happened here is a little different because Namine as a pearl doesn't have memory manipulating powers. Sora heard he might be able to find Riku, whom he had gotten separated from, at a sapphire spire (this is where Xion originates too)

Sora discovers its a case of mistaken identity, this Riku is Repliku, a different gem from the one he knows. Because he's a member of the rebellion against the Xehanorts, the Organization attacks him. He fights back thinking he's gonna rescue Riku. In the process, he ends up getting cracked. Namine has been watching him and ends up liking him. She panics and tries to stop him from being shattered, protecting him from the Organization. Repliku, worried his pearl (who he cares about) will also get shattered, he fights back. Repliku and Sora both end up getting shattered by the organization. Namine is distraught and doesn't know what to do.

Ansem finds her and takes the shards, experimenting on them through forced fusion. While under Ansem's lordship as his assistant, Namine is working behind the scenes, experimenting with warp pad sealant goop, attempting to create a type of liquid healing that could repair cracked gems (like Rose Quartz's tears, basically Diamond fluid) When Roxas and Xion come into the picture, Namine just about perfects it. That's when Roxas decides to use it on a fellow Spinel's gem (Sora) instead of Xion, because he lost her shards and he was becoming corrupted. (Namine is the one to find Xion's shards and put her back together again)

[starsurfacekingdomhearts]

Could I request little Vanitas and little Repliku playdates (kinda)? Like. How they first meet/learn about the other's regression and then slowly warm up with each other to the point that if one is little and near the other, then the other is probably gonna slip too?

Repliku's actually one of my top favs ngl <3

Also I assumed you meant Hcs, so that's what I did :3

Warning: I don't think there needs to be a TW, but there's the lightest mention of child abuse in here

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Regressor Repliku & Vanitas Hcs

💟 Repliku knew about age regression since he was basically born, because Riku practiced it!

💀 I put down in this where Vanitas learnt that he practiced age regression, but Terra basically sat him down and said his ‘outbursts’ really seemed more like tantrums and inquired about it

💟 I actually Hc these two as really good friends, but that doesn’t mean they know about each other’s regression for a long time

💀 They’re both, in a sense, evil. Or alteast they started out being evil

💟 And when only unfamiliar kindness is surrounding you, it’s hard to find someone to stick with against the crowd

💀 Repliku was the one to find out about Vanitas’s regression first

💟 Burst into his room so they could hang out, only to find Vanitas completely knocked out, pacifier near his mouth and cuddles his favorite plushie (Mothman Build-A-Bear plush, Terra thought he would like it)

💀 Since he already knew of age regression, he just kinda went “Oh!” and put it back in his mouth before leaving, never really brought it up

💟 Until one day, when Repliku snuck into the Land of Departure again, only to find Vanitas debating with Ventus over what activity they should do, both in their headspaces

💀 A lot of shouting, screaming, and even a small fight, the two didn’t speak for days, in the sense that Vanitas locked himself in his room and Repliku was too upset to reach out himself (although he did send Aqua and Terra after him to make sure he was okay)

💟 ^ Everything eventually got figured out when Namine forcefully sat the two down (I Hc the three as good friends, love the Lost Trio) and they talked it out, with only a few tears, and surprisingly minimal shouting

💀 This was mostly because Repliku didn’t need an explanation, he was more upset Vanitas actually started a fight to start a fight, not play fighting like they normally do to mess with each other

💟 They still don’t regress around each other for a while, but things to eventually go back to normal, and surprisingly neither try to force the other to talk about

💀 The first time Vanitas regresses around Repliku is mostly involuntary, a sleepover with a movie whose villain is just a little too much like Xehanort, and he drops way harder than he meant to

💟 It’s all okay though! Since Repliku’s quick to change the tv to something Vanitas would normally enjoy, and find all of the things Vanitas hide around his room to help

💀 And after Vanitas cries in the corner for half an hour, he’s much more willing to allow Repliku to semi force him to have a little night instead

💟 And then refuses to talk about it in the morning -_-

💀 It isn’t until Repliku regresses around him that Vanitas is genuine open to hang out with him while little

💟 The two had a really bad day, and Repliku seemed really upset about whatever scolding they got while having ‘fun’, but it wasn’t until they meet up with Namine that he dropped into his headspace and kinda burst into tears

💀 Vanitas was going to just leave, since Namine knew what she was doing, but Repliku gave him big puppy eyes, and it allowed himself to go with it this once… And actually had a really fun time with little Repliku

💟 After these two events, the two plan little days together… Or randomly text the other asking if they’re free to have some little time

💀 Most times only one of them is regressed, but when Vanitas overheard Sora’s and Roxas’s little playdate, he wanted to experience it too

💟 Vanitas doesn't regress very big, and Repliku is a little more toddler, so they both have someone they can phone incase they need help

💀 ^ It was a blast and probably one of the best little nights both of them ever had

💟 Both also go to the other when they negatively regress, since they can both handle the others problems really well

💀 Eventually they regress around each other long enough that when Rep starts feeling little, Vani starts getting the biggest urge to be small, and vice versa! Only difference is that Vanitas will hold it off for as long as he can, vs Repliku is very quick to call someone

💟 ^ It’s Namine. They could be in any situation in the world and it will always be Namine, and sometimes Riku

💀 Repliku calls Vanitas “Vani” when he’s feeling small, or when he’s trying to coax him to be small

💟 “Rep” is a common nickname that only Vanitas mostly uses, but little Vanitas only calls him that

💀 Repliku is a master at telling what Vanitas’s scribble pictures are, Xion is too surprisingly

💟 Both adore play wrestling, although neither have the best strength control, Repliku is a little better at controlling his with other people though

💀 The only problem with them wrestling each other is that both can go a bit too extreme 😬

💟 It’s fine if they do it in an open area or training room, but when Repliku pokes Vantias too much and Van lunges at him, there’s going to be a lot of broken stuff

💀 Bumping into a chair and knocking it over was strike one, breaking a vase and sending both spiralling was when Aqua called it for both of them

💟 Now wrestling has to stay in either training rooms or open area that have nothing they can crash into, or else they get a huge lecture

💀 While Vanitas isn’t the biggest colorful cartoon person, he’s more willing to let Repliku take control of tv time

💟 Which means the two watch a lot of Pinocchio! Especially when Rep’s having a bad day and just wants to be small and exist beside Vanitas

💀 Although the two have more common interest than the other regressors do, so their activities can normally fall into each others categories

💟 The biggest problem about them regressing together is the chaos they can, and will, cause

💀 It’s mostly Repliku’s fault, but once Repliku plants an idea into Vanitas’s mind, why would Vanitas ever disagree against stealing another slice of cake? Only a silly person would do such a thing!

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Quick note, the reason there's so much Namine mention is because I view her as Repliku's main CG

[drowning-in-cabbages]

Trying to make a family tree for my new fanfiction idea where Vanitas, Repliku (Rei), Xion, Namine, and Roxas start up a band with Xigbar as the driver

but there's lore

and now I need to make family trees so I can remember who is the parent of who

and who is whose sibling vs cousin because I want Sora and Vanitas to be cousins not brothers

but i also want Xion and Roxas to be twins

and there's just a lot to do because I want Xehanort to be related to Vanitas but not Ventus which means they're half brothers

so anyways

here's how that's been going below the cut

and all characters are college age and older because it's easier on me since i'm in college and i don't want to relive the hell that was high school

I don't currently have a name for Vanitas' mother, but I don't think she's going to get one. She was Zack's wife before Aerith, but had Vanitas after they split. She later died which left him with Xehanort who was an abusive grandfather in every sense of the word.

As Xehanort usually is

Vani's two uncles on his mother's side are Xemnas and Ansem because they had to be related to Xehanort in some way.

Zack later remarried and had Ventus with Aerith. Because Tifa is his sister, this means that Sora, who is hers and Cloud's son (don't mind that it says Cloud Lockhart, I forgot how the program worked), this means that he is Ventus' cousin and Vani's half-cousin.

Cloud and Tifa would also have the twins, Xion and Roxas.

Xigbar and Zack are also brothers, and after Xehanort loses custody over Vanitas, Xigbar would become his legal guardian until he turned 18. After his 18th birthday, Vanitas chose to stay with Uncle Xigbar while attending college which turned into Xigbar being the band's designated driver since he had the largest car and the most connections.

Also related but not really related to Vanitas is Terra. Terra is the adopted son of Eraqus, who used to date Xehanort in High School and College before they fell apart. (I can't get rid of the mother, so you're stuck with the Unknown Mother. It was just Eraqus and Terra)

Eraqus was also a violin tutor to Aqua, who would come over and practice with him, which is how she and Terra became friends. Ventus would of course become friends with them a bit later.

Riku and Rei are also siblings, with Riku being Rei's older brother. Rei knew Vanitas and Namine in high school, which is how they became friends.

Ienzo is Riku and Rei's cousin on their mother's side who works with Even in their college lab (they do chemistry).

Speaking of Even, he's Kairi's uncle. I wanted him to be related to her somehow because of the blond hair Namine has. I finally figured out how to get rid of the other parent, keeping Kairi's grandmother, but forgot to do it to the previous families. Oops.

Not much to say here, but Kairi was friends with Sora and Riku, and Namine was friends with Roxas, Xion and Rei.

Vanitas would later join Namine and Rei, making them a trio.

That's as much as I've got right now, don't know when I'll start or if it'll just be a bunch of unrelated posts.

I'm going to be tagging this idea under "Band of Copycats AU" because Namine, Xion, Vanita, Roxas, and Rei's band is called "Copycat"

[dreamsy990]

Sooo... about your ghost roxas au, are there, mayhaps other ghosts like riku replica or Xion or is it just Roxas?

OH OKAY SOSOSOSOOSO THIS COULD BE SUCH A COOL CONCEPT !!!!! sadly its not within the scope of this specific au? but theres definitely a lot to play with with xion or repliku,,,,,,, anyways im going to explain a bit of the lore:tm: being ghost roxas au here since i never really properly explained whats going on in this au i think?

so the explanation of how this au works is kind of 90% "whats an explanation that allows my idea to happen while also seeming plausible in terms of kh lores uhhhhhh. im going to call it "narrative flexability" (bending like a rubber ruler to let whatever nomura wants to happen make sense) so the idea is at the start of kh2 when roxas "returns" to sora it doesnt like. fully work? leaving roxas in a sort of frightening liminal space between life and death !! dfgbhgfrerfhg anyways. sora is the only one who can see him also (hence the last comic where he was asking if he was hallucinating).

this au is like. entirely self indulgent i dont think its particularly interesting with like. whats actually going on more with the relationships which was always the focus to me. so theres not really that much to explain with the plot? its mostly true to kh2 but roxas is there and its a lot less focused on the actual events. idk it is but a humble character drama to me because thats what i like to read and write! i am SO fucking serious when i say the xion or repliku concept could be cool as hell however,,,,,,,,,,,,,, someone else should go insane about those guys and write that

[kairithemang0]

Alright. Hear me out. This is only going to make sense to me. And maybe 5 other people. The timing of each picture is important. I'm literally just gonna be rambling pls ignore this (or don't)

These two

These two

And these two (this one is half joking but here me out)

The parallels between Riku and Owen to me are so batshit insane I can't not talk about them. I've held back on mentioning them for so long but I truly can't stop thinking about it. Riku starts out as the best friend to the main character, he's a little in over his head, he teases him, but it's clear that their relationship is a tight bond and matters to him. Sora, the main character, leaves him. Riku goes into the darkness.

Curt saw Owen as his best friend, at least post fall, and I'd like to believe Owen felt the same towards Curt. Because it felt like they were all the other had. They're the only one that knows their secret, they're the only one who they can ever talk about it to because they'll lose everything if it's even thought of that they may in any way be gay. When Curt leaves Owen, he spirals. He loses himself, maybe he even thought this was who he was supposed to be all along.

Riku-Ansem is the Ansem possessed version of Riku, the one who's under his control and doesn't have much say in what he does. To me, this is the DMA. He's following orders he probably doesn't want to follow, he doesn't care about BVN's plan, he wants to get his deed and get out of there, in the end he also wants to get his revenge on Curt. Riku-Ansem doesn't care for the plan with the princesses of heart, he doesn't care if Kingdom Hearts is light or darkness, he wants to save Kairi and take Sora down. Other motive, and revenge.

Riku-Ansem, now back as Riku, gets a slightly happier ending than Owen. He gets locked in the realm of darkness, and yet finds his way out. Owen, well Owen gets shot in the head.

ALRIGHT NOW HERE'S HOPE REPLICA RIKU AKA REPLIKU IS FLOPPY DISK OWEN.

So to me, Ansem is the person who invited Owen into Chimera. Organization 13 is Chimera, and Xehanort is the Chimera head. So Organization 13 makes this replica version of Riku, basically a robot with a fake heart and memories, to taunt Sora into thinking Riku still hates him. THIS IS LITERALLY JUST THE MADE UP PLOT LINE FOR LIVE AND LET SPY WHERE FLOPPY DISK OWEN IS REAL.

Oh and for my own personal thing, Dream Drop Distance Riku is Guardian Angel!Owen :). I'm just gonna link my post to that if anyone has made it this far and is for whatever reason care, here.

anyways uh yeah :) not gonna main tag this yall don't care

[firestorm09890]

actually sort of unbelievable how much Zexion haunts the narrative compared to the other Organization members in Castle Oblivion. Vexen also does, but like, he actually deserves to. It's his replica project that's a central plot device in both CoM and Days, him not being there to keep it on track causes many problems. but Zexion? it's. a lot, especially considering back in 2004 people on game forums were calling him the most useless organization member (no respect for strategists smh, it's aaaalways about powerscaling and combat ability to these people)

we start with Replica Riku going to fight Riku after realizing that even if he has "newfound power" (Zexion's) it's still not actually his. in the Days novel Axel brings up Repliku devouring Zexion like two other times when thinking about Xion's state of being. I'm not even counting this. novels don't count and it's not like Repliku uses any illusions or anything, it's just his raw power.

In regular canon Days, Axel makes explicit mention of him when talking to Saïx.

He also mentions Marluxia, but it's in the middle of their conversation, when talking about how Marluxia was a traitor after all. This, on the other hand, is like an important thing Axel almost forgot to mention.

He later brings up getting rid of Vexen and Zexion, but the first time is just Zexion. These two are true for both DS Days and HD Cutscene Days.

And then! Zexion gets a voiced cutscene in the middle of Days! The game that does not do voiced cutscenes except for when they want to do something really big!

my beautiful wife nintendo ds dual screen

And they couldn't just reuse things from Re:CoM either because the memory Riku's having was of a moment that used dialogue bubbles, they put in work for this.

I think?? The scene is supposed to showcase Xion absorbing thoughts from other people? It's really weird since it's the only time it happens to someone who isn't Roxas but you know what this means? Riku was thinking about it. 8 months later, Zexion's accusations are still burned into his mind. This is REAL NARRATIVE HAUNTING, BABEY and it KEEPS GOING

Before Zexion put the idea in his head, Riku didn't even consider that Sora might not accept him with the darkness in his heart. He had his big moment in CoM where he accepted himself, but it still scared him badly enough that he did... basically everything he did in kh2 instead of trying to find Sora and talk to him. Zexion's actions "lived" this long. I think it's 3/4 that Sora's memories of CO were erased and 1/4 that Marluxia simply did not have the presence in the Organization to leave a gaping void after his death but man, the final boss left barely a whisper in comparison to this.

And then finally there's this of course

done to keep his weapon a mystery but how weird do you think it must've felt for the characters to see it? did they wonder what happened? I sure wonder what happened

also I lied this somehow isn't the end. for whatever reason in Melody of Memory Zexion gets more spotlight than almost every other member of the original organization except xemnas and the sea salt trio

in conclusion i hate it here. I would also say Vexen deserves more respect for leaving the most obvious void in the group after his death except that someone wrote a full 358/2 Days au longfic about it so I really don't need to