#but then roxas shows up and axel like. Has An Emotion

[fauxfroot]

been listening to my akusai playlist again the last few days and making myself emotional about those two dipshits. axel really responded to his decade long divorce by cheating on saix with roxas. fucking incredible choice on his part

[yume127]

I find it interesting how Roxas is often described as the “angry one” or “short-tempered one” when compared to Sora or Ventus, mostly because I always felt Sora and Ven have a shorter fuse than Roxas.

The association between Roxas and anger is understandable, because many of Roxas’ most poignant moments in the series happen when he is very (and understandably) angry, but I also feel like it’s a disservice to his character to only reduce him to his anger, especially when it’s far from who he is in normal circumstances.

For example, during Days, many Organization members treat him poorly and insult him to his face and, for the most part, Roxas doesn’t react at all. In Halloween Town, Lock, Shock, and Barrel throw bombs in his face multiple times before Roxas finally snaps at them. He senses that many people around him are keeping things from him, but it takes him months before he confronts someone about it. That’s far from someone I’d consider short-tempered or easy to anger.

The only situation I can think of when we see him get upset quickly is if anyone does or says something bad to Xion and, even then, the most of his reaction is verbally snapping at Saix to make him stop disrespecting her. In Axel’s case (when Roxas is upset with him for attacking Xion), Roxas doesn’t confront him at all, he just avoids him altogether. Also, I think it’s important to note that every moment in which Roxas is very angry happens when his entire life is falling apart, which is a situation in which, I believe, everyone would be upset.

Roxas seems the kind of person who bottles everything up without much reaction until it becomes too much and he explodes, and that’s when he has a hard time controlling his anger/emotions. Having spent most of his life in the organization probably plays a part in it as, every time he brings up any emotion, his feelings are invalidated and suppressed. That’s not an environment that gave him the tools to process strong emotions in a healthy way.

Let’s compare that to Ventus. Ven is the definition of short-tempered in BBS. He’s ready to throw hands with Vanitas the moment he says something remotely bad about Terra, which was minutes after he met him for the first time. He fought the dwarves without a second thought just because they refused to talk with him. His first reaction when he becomes small and is trapped in a mousetrap is to shout. These are just some examples from the top of my head, but it’s clear Ven has a shorter fuse than Roxas.

Ventus usually expresses how he feels in any given situation and has a short fuse. On the flip side, he doesn’t seem to hold on to these feelings at all. He externalises them the moment he feels them, but then he lets it go and it doesn’t bother him anymore. Out of the three of them, Ventus seems the most open about his emotions and, from what I remember, when he opens up about feeling a certain way with his friends, his feelings are usually not invalidated nor brushed aside. In UX, Ventus seems calmer and doesn’t have much anger in him, but he’s still open to expressing his feelings of low self-worth and sadness with the other union leaders.

Sora, I think he falls in the middle? He seems to have a shorter temper compared to Roxas, which was especially clear in KH2, where he snaps at the Organization multiple times, but he also bottles up his emotions more than Ven, especially around his friends. This happens mostly with his sadness, which he always tries to hide or brush aside, but in KH3 we can also see, for example, how much he’s bothered by everyone constantly bringing up him not passing the Mark of Mastery, even if he tries not to show it.

I think Sora feels like he should always be happy for his friends’ sake, and even during the rare moments when he tries to express his sadness, his feelings are not truly welcomed (“No frowning. No sad faces. This boat runs on happy faces”), so he just tries to brush it off as a joke. He’s loud in expressing any kind of positive emotion, and he openly expresses his anger against his enemies (and to his friends too, sometimes), but he also doesn’t hold on to that anger and is pretty forgiving. However, he usually bottles up his sadness, low self-esteem and other negative feelings, and then explodes when he can’t hold it together any longer (like it happened at the Keyblade Graveyard when he thought all his friends were gone forever).

[kosmic-arts]

Roxas & the Reality That KH2 Was Good But Not Really

so you know how in kh2, roxas fights till his last breath to avoid having to go back to sora, and only reluctantly accepts it. he cries when sora leaves twilight town, and after axel's death, roxas somehow reawakens and fights sora in some mental battle for dominance when he reaches TWTNW. these are not the actions of someone who wants to willingly rejoin with their other half. but roxas is still cool and happy about it at the end of kh2 before the fight with xemnas. just, like. all of a sudden. yeah so, i understand why the story following kh2 would eventually retcon that and imply that roxas was never happy, and wanted to be his own person after all, but... i'm starting to wonder. it never should've had to go that route to begin with if the writing in kh2 was consistent with how they wanted it to conclude. nobodies are a half of a whole- a remnant of someone who once was, with an inescapable longing to be whole again; it is a good ending for roxas to return to his original self. roxas' life in the organization was a poor facsimile of what a normal life was like; a job(purpose), colleagues(relationships), and a home(the sterile nobody castle). and although roxas had axel, their friendship serves only as an indicator as to what roxas was missing. he could never find happiness staying in the organization with axel, because the place roxas truly belonged was on destiny islands with riku and kairi- because roxas IS sora! a mirror as to what sora could have been; maybe a bad guy in a black coat working to obtain kingdom hearts just like the other villians. thats why the real triumph in roxas' story is him realizing where he truly belonged and leaving the organization behind to rejoin sora. when roxas and sora fully fused by the end of kh2, sora should have gained most if not all of roxas' memories and experiences, to show that uh, two have become one.

Time For A Hypothetical

there never should've been a wacky wild vr simulated twilight town to trap a rebellious roxas. kh2 should have opened with another classic dive into the heart tutorial sequence reminiscent of kh1, but with the new nobodies instead of heartless. twilight thorn instead of dark side- and maybe a few sightings of a mysterious black coat guy(which on repeat playthroughs you could easily identify as roxas), after which, sora wakes up in the mysterious mansion. just like how sora was seeing visions of kairi in kh1 because he was carrying her heart, sora shouldve glimpsed apparitions of roxas every once and a while over the course of kh2. sora learns about his other self as the org members literally talk past him and to roxas, the version of him that they knew. sora has to grapple with the idea that on another side in another story(ha), he was a bad guy working with the organization. sora goes from insulting the org for lacking emotions and hearts of their own, to feeling remorse as he realizes the innate tragedy of their existence BECAUSE HE EXPERIENCED IT AS ROXAS. sora, like in kh1, actually becomes wizened over the course of his journey as he puts together the truth behind roxas and his connection to the villians of the story. god. it would've been so cool.

[eradicatetehnormal]

Posted this as a comment, but here's a repost to tumblr:

I think that unless something big centered around Kairi happens, I'll always have mixed feelings for her. When I'm playing the games, I don't pay her much mind, but when I go back and think about her, it's so frustrating. Sora was reckless when he stood up to Riku with no weapon but got rewarded for his courage and learning his lesson about the power of connection. Riku is reckless when he joins Maleficent but gets to redeem himself by going through castle oblivion and eventually becoming a keyblade master. Kairi though? As mentioned in the video, when she's reckless in KH2 by jumping into the pile of heartless, she needs to be given grace by Riku and his ability to apparently pull keyblades out of his bum-hole.

It's almost as if the narrative, the very universe of Kingdom Hearts is punishing her for daring to try to be more involved. It's sad. I get that that's the point, but when Sora gets to rebound and save the universe despite his mistakes, it can feel upsetting and unsatisfying to see Kairi be able to barely progress in terms of her position. I get, understand, and agree with some points about the people who say that Kairi sucks because she doesn't fight, having a bit of a sexist mindset. Here's the thing though, when it comes to action movies, cheezy shounen anime, or most relevantly, RPGs, fights aren't just two dudes slicining at each other with "d1ldo sticks," as TheGamer'sJoint calls, them.

Fights carry narrative weight behind them. They represent things. Roxas fighting Sora represented the former's last-ditch effort to get out of the latter's shadow and take control of his life, only to end in tragedy, confirming, for then, that nobodies are fated to be forgotten. Xion's fight with Axel represents the hardships of crumbling friendships and how some desperately cling to something that isn't working out.

Kairi though? She never gets that big narrative fight. Sure, there's the fight with Xehanort, but that's shared with Sora. I guess it's cool that she got to stick it to the guy who tried to "fRiDgE" her, but most of the truly emotional stuff comes from the scene before that fight. It showed how the relationship between her and Sora has changed over time, where she hasn't proven herself to some losers in the real world, Sora has come to recognize her strength and is willing to fight with her as an equal possibly giving her some confidence for the battle. Still, she never has that character that's a foil to her.

She doesn't have anybody forcing her to push past her limits. She's essentially her own cheerleader. I guess Axel's there too? They didn't do anything with that.

I used to feel irritated with how much of her character is centered around her relationship with and to Sora and Riku, but the more I think about it, it makes sense. Particularly with Sora, I always thought of them as parallels to each other. Sora is everything Kairi wants to be. Someone who defied fate and expectations by rising above almost any challenge that faced him in spite of his weakness. Kairi is everything Sora thinks he is. Someone who, despite their best efforts and endless potential, end up failing most of the time and having to rely on others, never quite being able to get out of those training wheels. Sora is what happens when you TRY to be the knight. Kairi is what happens when you are FORCED to be the princess.

I hope that KH4 can find time to make that undertone to their relationship, more of an overtone, even if they're just feeling the relationship change through their hearts or something. I feel like people (myself included) miss Kairi's character because, beyond our misogyny, we're so accustomed to arm candy bimbos in action media, that we'll immediately look at most leading female characters through that lens. I wonder if more people would appreciate her character, had KH been a character-driven TV show instead of an action JRPG. I would love to get some more side material of her, whether it be a short series, a 3-hour visual novel, or another rhythm game. Something that really picks her brain.

[briefobservationdreamer]

Kingdom Hearts Characters: Lea/Axel

What I think of the character: So many thoughts about him. Axel was a really fun villain in Chain of Memories and a pretty interesting morally gray character, being the devious assasin throughout his time as a Nobody but was friendly, fun-loving and had a soft spot to him that still made him likeable. However, he did a lot of awful things and deeply hurt a lot of people, but many of them get overlooked once he gets recompleted as Lea and I don't think they should be. I don't take issue with him being a flawed character as long as he learns and fixes his mistakes, but he has a lot of work to do to atone and earn trust and forgiveness. Giving him a keyblade might be fanservice but it was a good way to make him self-reflect, discover what's most important to him, show his determination to fix his mistakes and bring back the friends he lost by his own actions. Unfortunately that potential was lost in KH3 and he didn't really do anything for the war or to atone, he mostly became comic relief with a couple of emotional moments. Xemnas destroying his keyblade and beating him up was just the final insult to his arc. And I think that's a shame because he definitely deserved a character arc and deserved to be more than comic relief. While I don't entirely hate him, I can have a lot of trouble forgiving him for the things he did at times. I do really like his chakrams and keyblade though, and I've always loved fire powers and had a soft spot for characters who use them.

Headcannons:

How he got those teardrop tattoos. We know Saïx gave them to him to help him stop crying, which I like though I wish it had a slightly different context because it's not healthy to discourage crying. Maybe as a charm to wipe away tears, or ward away the need for them? I like to think it happened soon after they became Nobodies, with Lea struggling to cope with everything that happened, especially if Saïx got his scar just before that.

The manga showed that, despite being an extrovert who tries to befriend everyone and taking it upon himself to be the big brother to his group of teens, he isn't as socially smooth and can be a bit more awkward than most realise. He's surprisingly particular about personal space and being touched, and isn't comfortable about physical intimacy with just anyone, only people he's particularly close to. The games kind of hint at this too, so I'm not sure how much this counts as a headcannon, but I'll put it here anyway.

Has a magical connection to the sun, but far more subtle than Isa's connection to the moon. It makes his fire magic easier to use when outside during the day.

Relationships:

Roxas and Xion: I like the idea a lot, and the dynamic is cute. However, what I think a lot of people don't realise is that the relationship is not as wholesome, innocent and harmless as it appears on the surface. Axel used deception and force to keep them with him in the Organisation, and while none of the options were good, it was still toxic and manipulative, and he hurt a lot of other people for them as well. What he did in Days and 2 wasn't healthy, and it isn't cute seeing a grown man do those things because he was obsessed with keeping a pair of vulnerable children. I don't ship Lea with either of them because of the age gap, he's more of a big brother in the role of guardian.

Isa/Saïx: I like the dynamic a lot, and they play off each others strengths and weaknesses very well, and I'm really intrigued by their story. I take huge issue with Axel replacing Saïx and abandoning him when he needed him most, and it's the thing I find hardest to forgive Axel for. I am glad they were able to reconcile, but I wish Lea had taken more responsibility and done more to make up for it and show he really cared about him post recompletion, because there was no excuse. Also no, I don't ship them partly because of what I just said and because I'm not big on romance in general. I just like them as best friends/honorary brothers.

Kairi: It was nice to see them patch things up in KH3 and Lea trying to make amends. It's a shame KH3 was had too much going on to expand on this more, I like to think that Kairi was able to give him some much needed emotional support, help him come to terms with his past and process any guilt he feels about what happened.

Subject X: This is definitely a retcon and sudden thing to bring up now of all times, particularly with Axels many conflicting motivations, but I do like the idea a lot. It adds an extra layer Lea's and Isa's story and motivations, makes things more tragic. It also gives a personal perspective to enhance how messed up the human experiments done by Ansem, Xehanort and the other apprentices did really were, instead of just being facts and figures. Because it's one of many motivations Axel eventually abandoned, despite him claiming not to have given up, its a bit difficult to say how he really feels about it with the "content to miss what's gone" quote from his secret reports in Days. It could be taken to mean he gave up and stopped caring, which would have made his actions and situation with Saix make a lot of sense. But it could also mean he still cares and wants to look, but is 'content to just miss her' for the time being and isn't letting it dominate his life and stopping him appreciating what is going on in the present, which is a healthier attitude to have that is also in line with Lea's personality. We don't know what their relationship was like yet, but I hope they find her in the future.

[mysorokuheart]

Days with You, The SoRoku organization 13 AU An Essay

For Day 7 of SoRoku week 2/18

Written for SoRoku week explicitly about Sora & Roxas relationship & some characters didn’t make it into the au as it would make less sense ironically it’s about Sora & Roxas being in the organization together so yeah parts of this plot is totally crafted from my brain with the help of @eradicatetehnormal

Warning slightly long ass post!

Thanks in advance for reading!

Sora gets tricked into joining a group like cult like org 13 when he meets someone named xemnas who ultimately seems like an ok dude to Sora at first tells him he could help all of organization 13 get a heart by filling kingdom hearts including sora himself due to xemnas lying to sora telling him he’s also a nobody taking advantage of his memory loss. Xemnas figures by the time sora finds out or if he finds out about who he is they would’ve accomplished their goal.

the org ends up experimenting on him on castle oblivion until Roxas is created luckily the org creates a vessel for Sora while an embodiment of his memories stays at Castle oblivion. Making him a member of vexen’s replica program for a bit. Sora like the rest of them is told by collecting hearts they shall receive their own hearts. (Due to Roxas officially joining the org 1st within a few weeks before sora, he had the opportunity to make friends with Axel & meetings on the tower for ice cream first) so Roxas & the rest gasps when xemnas brings out Sora. “So this was the other keyblade’s chosen one Sora everyone’s been talking about huh?” As Roxas had heard the org’s whispers of a Sora with a keyblade they’ve of course made it like it wasn’t in connection to him. But overall he’s taken aback by when Sora is introduced he awkwardly smiles & waves saying heya! Full of life! Not a zombie like he was or brash attitude as others seemed to have.

However over time Sora begans to think the organization is a bit suspect at first as he has a rocky start fitting in with most members being coarse attitude but over the course of a year ignores most of his instincts due to Roxas inviting him to have ice cream with him & Axel every day as Roxas gravitates to Sora as his the only other person with a keyblade. Due to Axel one day, explaining to them about friendship & love,as nobodies they don’t feel these emotions but Sora & Roxas think about what they feel towards each other.

they end up doing the bulk of their missions together soon sora & Roxas become inseparable & care deeply of one other secret kisses in dark corridors & holding hands & all seem to be well as they collect hearts so that one day they may have their own.

On one of their missions Sora can’t wait to show Roxas this nice beach(destiny island) he discovered while on one of his other missions with Demyx. Roxas is excited to say the least as they step out of the corridor. They notice there’s hardly any heartless on this world so they spend most of their time wading in the ocean, building sandcastles & picking up shells for Roxas’s fascination

Roxas writes plenty in his journal about getting a heart for Sora so he can care for him properly when they finish filling Kingdom Hearts. Maybe even love as he already feels like he loves him. Roxas as a nobody knows better.

Axel who grows to care about the two boys knows their friendship is in peril & leading to where his & Saix did but feels powerless to stop them from getting close as it’s not in his nature to pull friends a part. That is until he comes across the imposter Riku, who needs someone on the inside to separate them long enough to grab Sora so he shares his plan with Axel reluctantly.

Meanwhile bits of Sora memories starts leaking back in after Roxas has a melt down nightmare headache at castle oblivion due to his connection with Namine who is still there & with soras memories while Sora has nightmares of bits of his past & how he came to the organization while a part of him rests in castle oblivion.Back at the clock tower Sora stops Roxas from falling to his death after Roxas feels weird & dizzy when some of soras memories pop into his view with a girl’s voice telling him to please take care of him. Him who? Sora? & who was that voice?

One day while having ice cream on the clock tower sora decides he wants to know about the dreams & wants Roxas to run away with him

ultimately setting up a conflict because before They can leave Sora fights the impostor Riku he’s not been a fan of this Riku pretending to be one of them & gets knocked out so he can return him to his memories where Sora finally meets Namine who explains everything she did for organization 13 to him unchaining his memories helping the organization use him & Roxas collectively to collect hearts for kh & experimenting on Sora before Roxas was created. Explains to Sora the Roxas is Sora’s nobody & needs him to be complete. Sora weeps as he’s told Roxas wasn’t meant to exist like this & he comes to the conclusion he must collect Roxas & bring him to castle oblivion to basically end his life.

Meanwhile Soras disappearance pisses Roxas off when Hes no longer is there to run away with forcing Roxas to leave on his own & fight some of organization including Axel who Roxas finds out help capture Sora & the impostor Riku with two keyblades as he did anyways quickly learning that he was the one who toke Sora away

Roxas“I’ll get him back & everything will go back to the way it was”

Riku has a last minute change of heart “maybe you should ask him if he wants everything to go back the way it was”

Roxas “huh what are you talking about?”

Riku “ yeah you should ask now that he remembers everything” “he’s not a nobody you know?” He was Just an empty vessel without memories kinda like you but less” Xemnas is full of lies, like this life with Sora, your ‘’friendship” with him is

Roxas heatedly “don’t talk about Sora that way, who the hell are you anyways? what business is it of yours? what have you done to him?”

Riku chuckles “after all this you could say I’m the biggest nobody of them all “….all I did was take him back to his memories so he’ll wake up it’s the least I can do for him. if you care about him, see him for yourself while you still exist”

Roxas numbly & defeated “fine,take me to him”

finally confronting Sora about the nature of existence.

Roxas “I just want to know did it all mean nothing to you?” “Friendship, love?”

Sora “oh yeah I meant every word” “were weren’t just best friends” “it’s just I remember who I am now” “Roxas, I have to be completed” ‘you are my nobody after all’

Roxas “wait what” you’re my original self?”

Sora “I’m sorry Roxas” but just know I fought for you for us against Riku” “you deserve to be your own person” even if I die trying I’ll make that happen” right now come to castle oblivion with me, you can be whole too.”

Roxas what? I’m me not you me! We’re so different we can’t be!

Sora “you’re right you’re you were not the same. I have to wake up now & you have some of those memories I need. Look Roxas please I’m asking you as someone who loves you very much to come with me

Roxas nearly stumbles over soras words. “sorry sora you’ll have to kill me first because I’m not gonna go quietly as Riku wants, to just give up who I am!

Remember that I loved you too” “now I hate that I need you”

With that sora & Roxas duel it out as they’re unable to beat each other until Sora makes a decision & throws the duel & dissolves into Roxas heart ending with Sora disappearing into nothingness kisses Roxas’s cheek to say “im with you”. As all of Sora’s memories return to him Roxas weeps softly wishing he would listened to Sora when all Sora wanted was for him to whole too remembering the good times he spent with Lovable spiky brunette ‘’who will I run away with?’’. “I don’t hate that I need you & I hope we meet in another life Sora.”

Thank you for reading this monstrosity everyone I’m not a writer this is me jotting down AU ideas & creating paragraphs & dialogue scripts not a fanfic in the making sorry no shitty fanfic from me just a long ass post mostly inspired by og days Normura’s work & ideas & the obvious missing beloved Xion who couldn’t be written in this properly lol but thoughts of her when into this also special thanks to @eradicatetehnormal For helping out with the ideas I appreciate you also special thanks to all my SoRoku supporters & those who’ve participated in SoRoku week! I loved seeing everyone’s stuff please stay tuned for special SoRoku organization au art piece

@starrattlerofprydain @skytsunrose @alphascorpiixx @kingphilipi @heartspocky @twilight-blaze @theonly-other-youneed @mewsomniac @paopubell @phoenix-yawning-fool @dogoncabrera @yume127 @storm-driver

[yzafre]

The longer I think about Coded's story, the weirder it gets to me, especially the Castle Oblivion arc. I didn't really care about it for a long time because it didn't actually impact the character arcs of the Original versions, and the data characters weren't set up to come back ever, so What Was The Point, but - but -

When I actually sit down to look at what's happening, it just gets Weird. And reveals some interesting things about the characters in a strange, sideways-direction.

Like... You've got an imprint of KH1!Sora, constructed by the Disney crew, in this extended stand-off with an imprint of KH2!Roxas, being master-minded by an imprint of Namine, both of whom were presumably pressed into the journal during the prologue-week when she had access to Roxas's data.

Which, there's my first point: Namine, what the fuck. She felt she needed to pass on a message, okay, but like... Okay. Okay, so if we just had the CO segment, then we could say this is, like... just a recording of her. Don't think about it too much. Except, the first arc was sort of showing that these data-versions are/become their own people. With their own hearts?

So, for someone who has angst about just being a shadow of someone else, to then purposefully create an offshoot, that's just supposed to be a shadow of herself.... Huh.

That's not even getting into the Roxas copy. Because what. WHAT.

Like, she made a copy of Roxas at his worst emotional state to help her in driving a point home to Sora. That's... hm. She needed help, but also that cannot be fun for this poor guy. (Don't get me wrong, I love Namine, but I love her as well-intentioned but distinctly flawed in execution, like everyone running around during the Days time-period)

And if I'm right about when she grabbed his data, then this is a Roxas who never saw Axel come try to find him, never saw Axel die. Because, okay, okay. Here's what real-world Roxas has by the time he confronts Sora at the end of KH2:

Saw Axel try to get him back, even if in a very questionable way and he had no idea what was going on at the time

Got a sort of closure with his friend with that fight (and, like "see you in the next life", did he think Axel was actually dying there?)

Possibly seen Axel doing... something? In the background through Sora's eyes?

Definitely saw Axel die for Sora, which is implicated to wake him up and prompt their confrontation

Also seen... everything Sora's done. All his friends, the worlds he's touched, the things he's done.

All this colors that final fight in KH2. But this Roxas. This Roxas presumably copied from before all that. He's just. Stuck there, in that horrible moment.

That's such an interesting what-if! What if Roxas really got to rail against Sora in person, and speak all the bitterness that was festering at the worst point in his life. Absolutely no catharsis of any type before he walked in - no seeing his best friend again, no symbolic end-of-vacation, just... this. An empty white space, and the guy everyone wanted more.

And he's so aware of being data. A copy of a copy. Like, Namine, I know you've internalized DiZ's propaganda on nobodies and turned it into a weird self-destructive peace, seemingly passing that on to your imprint, but this guy has not, and he is not handling it well.

And sure, here he gets some kind of resolution with Sora in the end - but it's not even a Sora that matches up with him!

Because! Okay! In KH2 Sora and Roxas are sort of, like, on the same track in the story. They've been alive through the same events, been impacted by the same-ish people. Sora is missing a lot of pieces, but he's aware of the Organization and Nobodies, and... honestly, he's in an entirely different mental & emotional state than he started in.

But this Sora? This is KH1 Sora! Younger! Has accumulated much less baggage! His real-world corollary may not have even reached the point where Roxas is a thing, if that makes sense!

So you've got an echo of Roxas at his most ragged, who hasn't gotten any of the things that helped real-world!Roxas to start processing things, versus an imprint of Sora at his freshest - his brightest, you could say.

It's just.... it's just such a strange "what-if" story, you know? In the end, data-Sora makes a very mature choice regarding hurt, and this version of Roxas gets... some kind of closure, thank god, but...

Well, for me, I wonder if this really accomplishes what Namine thinks it accomplishes? She wanted to see if Sora was ready to handle the 'hurt' of everyone connected to him. But, the Sora that made this decision... is not the Sora that will be making in the real world. They may share the same... base personality, soul, if you will, but a huge point of CoM is that memories make up so much of who you are. Your experiences change you, even subconsciously. So, the Sora stepping into KH3... Would he reach the exact same conclusion as data-Sora? Or would it be... slightly to the left?

I don't know. I don't know! I don't think my thoughts on this game have really solidified yet. The whole set-up is just so weird, it exists in this weird space where it has such little impact on the main arc of the series, I sometimes have to just sit and turn it around in my head. What does it tell us about the characters? Or maybe, what does it tell us about the themes of this world? I don't really know. Sure is interesting, though.

[nadziejastar]

Why I Wish the Sea-Salt Trio Had Not Been Reformed

"Kingdom Hearts is not too realistic, but I do want my players to grasp a sense of reality from it as well. For example, I'm sure you had friends when you were young, a good group of friends, but as you grow older things change and it doesn't always stay the same.” — Nomura

I don't dislike what the sea-salt trio added to the story, nor do I think it shouldn't have been created in the first place. But I do think that reuniting these three had a detrimental effect on the story. It felt very forced and it also took away a bit of the sense of realism that past KH titles had.

Nomura stated in a recent Q&A that he was very hesitant to revive Roxas and Xion, up until the very end. He originally had come up with a scenario where they did not return. But due to the fans’ opinions being so strong, he felt like he had no choice but to bring them back. Here is why I think he was so hesitant to resurrect them, and why I wish he had gone with his original story route instead.

“Kairi, who was a tomboy in KHI, became a little bit more mature in KHII. She changed a lot outwardly since at that age girls grow a lot faster than boys, but her lively personality didn't fundamentally change. Enough that 'with Riku and Sora gone, right now Kairi is the strongest person on Destiny Islands' is an actual premise. I like the scene in KHI, when she watches the sunset with Sora, and tells him not to change. I thought it showed very well her anxiety and loneliness over how as we get older we find a distance growing between us and our close friends.” — Nomura

Xion was Kairi the way Sora remembered her. In essence, she was the young Kairi from KH1. But that girl doesn’t exist anymore. The real Kairi is different now. She’s matured physically as well as emotionally. With Sora and Riku gone, she became the strongest one in her friend group. She spent the last year waiting, worrying, and being lonely. Kairi gets a new outfit and cuts her hair in KH3, symbolizing that she has changed even more.

Lea has also changed. He may not have a new outfit, but (at first) he has reclaimed his old name. He is no longer “Axel” but fully human, and he is trying to go back to being the person he used to be before joining the Organization. It was interesting to see a more emotional Lea interact with an older Kairi, while still maintaining the same chemistry he had with Xion. Their relationship was the same in some ways, but it was also different. Kairi related to Lea on a more adult level and it felt like their relationship had evolved beyond 358/2 Days. 

“It’s a place of lies Naminé made from his own memories, but, maybe, that’s the real Roxas. Not clad in a black coat, but playing with friends his own age, laughing, eating ice-cream, wandering around—like Sora.”  — Axel

The interesting and realistic conflict between Axel and Roxas from KH2 was also completely swept under the rug and left unaddressed. As Roxas matured, he wanted to know who he was as a human and live his own life. And more than anything else, he wanted to be a normal kid with friends his own age. That was why he left Axel’s side. It was the entire premise behind his summer vacation prologue in KH2. 

The real Roxas was the boy in the data Twilight Town, not the boy in the black robe. And the real Roxas had forgotten about Axel and made other friends. The Roxas that Axel knew was long gone. A lot of fans saw Axel’s obsession with Roxas in KH2 as a display of close friendship or maybe even true love. But I don’t think it was ever Nomura’s intention to depict it that way. I think he viewed Axel as a broken person who was unable to cope with his loneliness. His emotional dependence on Roxas was a character flaw, not something we were meant to romanticize.

“I was afraid of that... Everyone grows up—and grown-ups always forget. First you'll forget what it feels like to be young, and then you'll forget about me.” — Peter Pan

In KH3, Lea assumed that Roxas was Ventus, the same person he met way back when he was a kid. In KH3D, he went looking for Isa, not Roxas. While he was training, he never mentioned anything about bringing Roxas back. He had apparently accepted that Roxas, his “best friend” in the black coat, wasn’t coming back. He was looking forward to reuniting with Ventus instead. 

“Way back when I was a kid, I met this other weird kid. Somehow we became fast friends. Never saw him again— nearly forgot about him, too. Then I met Roxas. Couldn’t believe it. The two of ’em were identical. Oh, I didn’t tell Roxas. Didn’t want him to go vanishing on me, too. The kid’s name was Ventus. He’s one of the lost Keyblade wielders we’re looking for. Think he’s still got me memorized?”  — Lea

Their friendship would be different from how it was before. Ventus had his own best friends from his human life. But that was okay. It didn’t mean he’d forget about him or that he’d disappear from his life for good. Lea seemed like he had grown beyond his KH2 self in this scene, like he had faced some of his fears and become stronger and more mature. And that progress was undone later on, once he realized Ventus didn’t remember him and the whole “bring Roxas back” subplot became his sole focus once again.

“Talking to Roxas and Xion always brings back memories of my human life, back when I was a kid. It's a weird sensation. I ought to be able to share all this with Saïx, but I just don't feel like it anymore. It's strange, but I'm content with just missing what's gone. I'm not the one who changed. You did.”  — Axel

In the next cutscene, Axel acted rather strangely. He made a point of telling Saix that he wanted to bring everyone back, but especially Roxas, even pointing his ice cream at him for additional emphasis. Then Saix mentions his lack of tear marks. Axel looks away, then claims he doesn’t need them anymore. But his response doesn’t sound very convincing. Why did Nomura write the scene this way?

I think it was the most subtle way he could depict it, but his intentions all along were to show that Axel’s obsession with Roxas in KH2 had less to do with how close they were, and more to do with his relationship with Isa. Axel wanted to prove to Saix, and also to himself, that he had a new best friend now and he didn’t need Isa as much as he did when he they were kids. He’s not a crybaby and he’s outgrown those upside-down tears. His behavior was very childish. As if to deliberately signify character regression.

As soon as the sea-salt trio reunited, everything instantly went back to how it was in 358/2 Days, despite how much all the characters had changed since then. In fact, the Roxas and Xion in KH3 were literally time-travelling from the past. Xion was always a past version of Kairi anyways, so her presence clashed with the real Kairi. Roxas was back in the black coat again, implying that this Roxas was essentially the one from before the prologue of KH2. And Lea went back to being called “Axel”, a name he had left behind in KH3D, specifically in preparation for the reunification of the sea-salt trio. It was hard for me to feel happy because the trio felt like such a relic of the past. The resolution felt disingenuous and almost sickeningly sweet.

[heartlessfujoshi]

reunited - an akusai/isalea one shot

Title: Reunited Fandom: Kingdom Hearts Pairing: AkuSai/IsaLea Rating: General (all the feels) Word Count: ~2,115 Prompt: feeling their pulse

Summary: Lea is forced to battle with Saïx, something that he has no desire to do because he knows there’s only one way for it to end. Set during the events of KH3.

---

“Isa, stop this! Don’t do this!” 

Lea tries to reason with his former best friend, who he knows can be swayed. But it looks like that maybe their time apart has really created a place of friction that can’t be undone. Because Saïx is coming right towards him, swinging his claymore in a fashion that he knows is going to hurt if he doesn’t block the attack immediately. 

Holding up his Keyblade, he blocks it quickly, and then rolls to the side while Saïx stares down at him, the hatred radiating off of him. “Shut up and fight.” 

“Kairi! Axel!” 

The savior of the hour finally appears, making Lea relax a little. “About time you showed up.” He looks at Sora, who looks like he’s already been through the ringer. No doubt the rest of the Organization is making a mess of things. “Are you here to help out, or what?” 

“Sorry I’m late!” Sora holds up his Keyblade, and points it towards the smaller figure. “Let’s do this!” 

Lea wants the fight to end. He wants Saïx to be smart about this, instead of being in the constant berserker state he appears to be in. Damn it, Isa. He doesn’t want this to be a fight to the death, but it looks like he’s going to have no choice in the matter. “Isa, wake up!” He screams at his best friend, who is chasing after both Sora and Kairi, while the smaller figure is making their way towards him. “Don’t do this!” He repeats, hoping that he’ll eventually get through to Saïx. “Stop it! Just stop!” 

But as soon as Xemnas shows up, he knows it’s a lost cause. As his former ‘superior’ makes his Keyblade disappear, Lea has lost all hope. There’s nothing left now - he isn’t of any use to anyone here. His power, which he’d thought he’d mastered, has been taken from him with a simple snap. 

“Go.” The smaller figure standing in front of him no longer has their hood on, and a flood of memories hits him all at once. “We’ll take care of things, Axel.” Blue eyes look at him, and he sees a smile on her face, one that wasn’t present five minutes ago. 

“Xion.” 

If she can be turned, then maybe there’s a chance for Saïx. Trying not to get his hopes up, Lea watches the battle unfold in front of him. Now that Roxas has returned - Roxas. Geez, this day keeps getting better and better. He stays out of the way, but can’t help but keep his eyes on Saïx, hoping against hope that he’ll snap out of his state, and realize the error of his ways. 

But then, the final blow comes from Sora, causing Saïx to fall from the sky, his body now in a lump on the ground. Lea charges across the arena to where his best friend is kneeling, and tries his best to keep his calm, but tears begin to slip from his eyes. 

“I lost all sense of purpose.” Saïx looks at him, as he charges towards him, Lea now kneeling on the ground as he knows his friend’s time is coming to an end. 

Putting his hand on his shoulder, he keeps his emotions in check as his voice shakes as he speaks. “I didn’t forget you.” If there is one thing he could never do, is forget his best friend. 

“Yes, I know. You wouldn’t do that.” Lines of Darkness begin to appear around Saïx’ body, Lea knowing that their time is growing shorter. “But, I….was jealous.” 

“You admit it?” It’s the one thing he’s been waiting for Saïx to tell him. He knew that there was always a bit of jealousy running between the two of them for different reasons. Saïx was jealous of Roxas and Xion, and the bond that he’d formed with the two Keyblade wielders. And he had become jealous of Xemnas, who had manipulated Saïx’ time and drove a wedge between their friendship. 

Saïx leans forward more, struggling to breathe. “Well, if I make it back…you won’t get it out of me a second time.” 

Lea is there the second that Saïx falls, catching him to make the transition easier for him to fade from existence. A moment he remembers all too well. Blinking through the tears, he looks down at his best friend, and hopes that this won’t be the last time they’ll see each other. “See you, Isa.” 

“See you, Lea.” 

Saïx’ body disintegrates in his arms, Lea feeling an overwhelming emotion that hits him like a truck. He sobs quietly, wishing that Saïx’ body was still there, but since he’d become a Nobody again, it had vanished. 

A hand touches his shoulder. “Lea, you know that if he became a Nobody and disappeared, that means that he very well might be coming back as his old self.” 

“What?” He looks up at Sora, who is looking at him with a knowing smile on his face. “What are you saying? We have to go save Kairi!” 

Sora shakes his head. Roxas look at him, and then begins to speak. “No, you need to go find your friend. He’s going to need someone there to bring him back.”

Hearing his own words used against him, he can’t help but bark out a half-sob, half-laugh. “Fine. You all seem to know what’s best for me. But promise me you’ll wait to kill the asshole until I get back? Because I want to give a piece of my mind to Xehanort.” 

“You got it.” Sora holds his hand out and he quickly shakes it. “Go. Use the Gummi Ship to get where you need to be. You do know where you need to be, right?” 

Lea looks up at the sky and nods. “Yeah. I know exactly where I need to be.” 

He finds the Gummi Ship out on the outskirts of the Keyblade Graveyard and hops into the vehicle. Thankful that they’d gone over how to travel by this method, he pulls up a star chart and finds the world he needs to go to. He sets a course for Radiant Garden, and flies his way away from the big fight. I’ll be back. I promise. I just need to take care of this one thing first. 

The travel time from the Keyblade Graveyard to Radiant Garden doesn’t take long at all - he had expected it to take at least a few hours, but it had felt like more like ten minutes. Parking the Gummi Ship in the flower garden, Lea sprints across the field and heads towards the castle. He tries not to run into anyone, as there seem to be more people here than he remembers the last time he’d come here for a visit. 

Charging up the large staircase, he enters the castle and heads for the control room. It looks the same as it had when he’d last woken up here, after everything had happened. He knows the odds of Isa being here now are very small, as it had taken getting rid of Xemnas to bring them all back. Hopefully Sora is working on doing that now, and it won’t be long until he sees his best friend again. 

Lea rounds the corner, taking a path that is so ingrained into him that he could do it with his eyes closed. And so he does, because he’s almost too afraid of what he’ll find there once he’s made it. The sound of the machines keeping everything running the city hits his ears, and brings him to a sudden stop. It takes him a full minute to stand there, and wait for his heart to stop pounding so loud in his ears as he tries to prepare himself for disappointment. 

He opens his eyes slowly, and sees there’s a distinct body on the floor. “Isa!” He shouts, racing towards where his friend is lying, face down on the floor. He approaches him, still stunned that he’s here - it happened so fast. Is Xemnas gone? Sora - keep the fight going. Wait for me. He wants to help, because Kairi means a lot to him. But right now, he’s where he needs to be, because Isa needs him. 

Isa is asleep, or perhaps he’s dead. Lea isn’t sure as he turns his body over, putting his head onto his lap as he scrambles to get his arm. Yanking off his gloves, he puts his fingers on Isa’s wrist, desperately searching for any sort of sign that his heart is actually in his chest, beating on its own. But he feels nothing. “No.” He whispers, tears beginning to well up in his eyes for the second time that day. 

He tries with Isa’s other wrist, but meets with the same result. Searching his own neck, he finds his pulse point and then moves his hand to be in the same spot on Isa’s neck. Holding his breath, he waits to feel something - anything. It takes only a few seconds for him to feel a weak pulse under the tips of his fingers, causing him to sob loud as he lays his head down on Isa’s chest, so thankful that he’s alive. 

“Get….off….me….” 

Sitting back, he sees Isa is sitting up, and notices immediately that the scar on his face is gone. “Isa.” He whispers, reaching up with his hand to touch the blank spot on his forehead. “You’re back.” 

“And you were there when I died.” Isa looks up at him, and he can’t help but cry as his friend smiles up at him. “Oh, don’t cry. I’m not dead now. I’m here.” 

“Yeah, but I need to go.” He looks around the room and helps Isa to sit up properly, and then helps him to stand. He throws his arms around him, and smiles as he feels him return the hug. It had been so long since they’d touched each other like this that it feels completely foreign, and yet it feels like home at the same exact time. “Sora needs me.” 

Isa touches his face with both hands, and then plants a kiss on his lips. “For good luck. And don’t die, ok? I just came back. I’d like to get to spend time with you. Please, Lea?” 

“I promise.” He lowers his head and leaves another long, lingering kiss on Isa’s lips, unable to stop himself as he’s just so damn happy. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Everyone is here. Go find Even. He’ll want to talk to you, I’m sure. And Ansem.” 

Lea grabs onto Isa again and hugs him tight, afraid that if he lets him go, then that’s it. It’s all over. “I’ll be here when you get back.” Isa whispers into his ear, helping to make his fear go away. “I promise. Go, Lea.” 

“I love you.” He blurts out, then pulls himself away before he can listen to Isa scold him for saying something so stupid. Because he knows that’s coming. He doesn’t look back as he rushes back out of the castle, and heads back to the flower garden where the Gummi Ship is waiting. 

The final fight is brutal - but the thought of Isa waiting for him keeps him going, leaving nothing up to chance. Sora saves Kairi, but in the process of doing so, disappears from their reality as a trade off. The mood is somber as they all return to Radiant Garden to recharge and regroup after putting an end to Xehanort’s madness. 

Isa approaches him and Lea falls into his arms. “It’s going to be okay.” Isa calmly tells him as he holds him, Lea crying softly against his shoulder. “It might not feel like it right now, but it will be okay. I’ll make sure of it.” 

“I’m so glad you’re back.” Lea whispers, hugging him tight. “You can’t leave me again. That was too much, Isa.” 

The gentle laugh that leaves his best friend’s mouth soothes his soul. “Can’t have that now, can we?” Isa cups his face, and then the two share a quick kiss. “We should see if anyone needs any help. Are you ready to go play the hero again, Lea?” 

“With you by my side? One hundred percent.” 

They look at one another and share a smile that makes him feel undeniably warm. While Sora may be gone for the moment, he knows that with everyone working together now, they’ll find him. And now that Isa is with them? He feels a total happiness that hasn’t been here since before any of this all began. Now they can be together, and can find their friends as allies instead of enemies. 

[drangeax]

Look At All The Thanks I'm Giving

Pairing: Lea/Isa, Axel/Saix, Terra/Aqua (minor)

Rating: T

Word Count: 6,827

Summary: Surviving. It was Lea’s goal for as long as he could remember, yet after the dust of the last battle settled, me became us, and he’d found himself with new concerns: Roxas and Xion. He had to set a good example, he had to care for them. He needed a job, he needed a house, and he needed to figure a lot of things out.

Read on AO3

*****************************

Something new

Surviving. It was Lea’s goal for as long as he could remember, yet after the dust of the last battle settled, me became us, and he’d found himself with new concerns: Roxas and Xion. He had to set a good example, he had to care for them. He needed a job, he needed a house, and he needed to figure a lot of things out.

Thankfully Ansem the Wise still felt guilty for the shit he’d put them through and gave them the old, run-down mansion in Twilight Town as their permanent residence. He grudgingly took it and little by little, made a home out of it. Breathed life into the agonizing structure as they tried to figure out normalcy.

However, something was missing, and Lea didn’t know what it was until Isa showed up in front of the tall iron gates. He had nowhere to go, nowhere to belong. They took him in. No questions asked and no hard feelings.

It was right. It was completeness. It was the start of a happy and mismatched family.

 XXX

 The alarm clock rings. Loud and angry.

Lea groans, blindly searching for the stupid thing on his nightstand until he finds the snooze button. He shifts back into bed and closes his eyes, determined to continue sleeping. But today isn’t his day as his gummiphone sets off with yet another alarm. This one vibrates and flashes—disrupting the dark and quiet room. He sits up and grabs it, tries to disable it but fails miserably, as he’d set up obstacles to prevent such a thing. Frustration wins, and he takes the battery off. Lea:1, Phone:0. He sighs in relief as he lies down in bed and pulls the covers over him, snuggling the warm body to his left.

There’s a buzz again with yet another loud alarm. It’s Isa’s phone this time.

He pulls the covers up and buries his head under the pillow to muffle the sound and ignore it. It keeps going and going and going…“Isa, I’m trying to sleep. Can you freaking shut that thing?”

Isa doesn’t respond to Lea's irritation. He knows he’s awake. The man's as bad of an insomniac as they come.

“Hey! Quiet that thing.”

There’s a shift next to him, and the man finally turns, greeting him with his usual poker face and a mess of blue hair. Sometimes Lea wishes he would show more emotion. "Are you not getting up?” Isa asks in a matter-of-fact tone.

“It’s like 3 am. Why would I get up this early? And on a holiday, forget it.” He moves closer to Isa, his hand reaching for his long hair when the other man stops him. Sheesh, grumpy first thing in the morning.

Isa stares at him. "Remind me which holiday is today?"

"Thanksgiving..." he answers, not seeing what this has to do with anything. "A day where we get to feast all day long."

“And did you not promise to host said holiday’s feast?” 

Oh. Shit.

He'd forgotten that tiny detail. The last time the group gathered, they discussed plans for Thanksgiving. It came down to Aqua or him hosting the celebration. Somehow, Lea had been stupid enough to open his mouth and offer. Blue—Aqua—would never let him live it down if he didn't come through.

With that in mind, Lea rushes out of bed, fishing around for his clothes in the dark. Next time he’ll make sure every piece of clothing lands in the same place to save him the trouble. "Are you coming to help me?” he asks, dressing in a hurry.

“Can’t you dress on your own?”

Lea's tempted to counter that with a not-so-innocent suggestion, but he has a feast to cook, and every minute is precious. Isa doesn't help as his eyes fixate on a certain place on his body until he slips on some pants. “I meant with food..."

Isa gives him what passes for a smile. "I wasn’t the one who made that foolish promise. Good luck,” he says, turning away from Lea and pulling on the covers.

 XXX

 Ready to tackle the task head-on, Lea walks down the long hall and downstairs, straight to the kitchen—too big for his taste. As a matter of fact, everything is too spacious in his opinion. They could easily fit comfortably in a small apartment, but nothing beats paying no rent.

Lea grabs a rag and gets to work, wiping the counter and leaving it spotless. He then searches the pantry for aluminum foil and roasting pans before setting them atop.

“Ok. I just need to preheat the oven and pop the damn birds in there, cross my fingers, and hope they don’t burn,” he says, preparing the oven. “Wait, how hot does it have to be?” He approaches the sink, glancing at the lumps of poultry in it, still in their packaging; 350°F, he reads. He adjusts the temperature and waits for the red light to signal the oven’s ready.

Red. Go. Let’s get on with this.

He sets his hands on the first turkey and to his horror it’s still frozen solid, cold, a block of ice harder than any Blizzaga spell can manage. Immediately he checks on the other one...yeah Arendele’s warmer than that thing.

Weird, he swears he set them to defrost two days ago.

“Shit. It should’ve been more than enough time.” He scratches the back of his head. “What the hell am I supposed to do now?”

Call Aqua, a little voice in the back of his head says. Nuh-uh, no way, he fights back. If he asks for help now, he would be admitting defeat, that he’s not capable, and that he’s the fuck up; the one friend nobody can count on. Plus, he wants to see Blue’s face when he pulls this off successfully.

If only he could do one massive burst of heat—Yeah, that’s it. That should do the trick.

He grabs the first one and takes it out of the wrapper. The smell of raw poultry fills his nose—Ugh, he’s never been able to stand it. “Alright, here goes nothing. Firaga.” The bird caught on fire, ice melting and water dripping down his hands.

“Yes, yes. That's it!" he vocalizes like a mad scientist.

The flames of the spell wane before extinguishing, leaving him with the charred remnants of what once used to be something meant to be eaten. Oh. Shit. He places the ‘thing’ on top of the counter and stares at it in disbelief. Then the smell hits him, and he runs to the first-floor bathroom, searching for an air freshener.

Just call Aqua, the annoying little voice says once more.

He sighs and pulls his phone out of his pocket. “Well, I guess that’s it. You win Blue.” He opens his contact list, searching for her number. It rings once, twice—

“What the fuck, Lea?" In place of Aqua is a male voice riddled with sleep and anger.

Lea stares at the phone screen. A picture of Terra stares back at him with the name Aqua's bitch next to it. I knew I shouldn’t have saved it like that. He might as well hang up since he doubts Terra knows anything about cooking a turkey. Close to dismissing the call, an idea hits him. He might not know how, but he has probably seen Aqua struggle with cooking one in all those years together.

“Lea, do you know what time it is?” Terra asks, definitely through his teeth.

His eyes dart to the clock hanging on the wall in front of the counter. It’s not even 4 am. “Time to get your ass out of bed? Don’t you wake up with the sun and the chickens and—

"Hello?" Lea blinks and stares at the dark screen of his phone. He hung up. “I’ll call him again. Be serious man. Get it memorized,” he tells himself, pressing the call button. It rings, and rings, and rings... He won't pick up. Surprisingly he does. “Wait, wait...I need your help man.”

There's a heavy sigh on the other side of the phone. "Hold on. Let me just..." Lea hears shifting and a long pause. For a moment, he thought Terra had cut him off again. "Shhh, it's ok. I'm alright. I didn't mean to startle you like that. Go back to sleep, don’t worry.” A female voice says something Lea can't quite make out in the background. "I swear...I'm good."

That is the sort of thing that makes Lea feel stupid. He's losing his mind over a turkey at 4 am. They're on the other side of the phone, trying to figure out how to deal with the cards life has dealt them. His heart aches for them, for everyone, really. Their whole friend group has problems (they should probably seek therapy). They've all suffered so much it's a miracle they're able to even think of celebrations and carry on...

A door closes on the other end of the phone. “Alright, what did you fuck up this time?”

Nevermind. That worry—that ache, shatters and scatters in the wind dissolving into nothingness. “See! That’s the problem with you guys, always assuming I fucked up something…”

“Why are you calling me again?”

"Good point," Lea says, leaning against the counter. He stares at the remaining turkey in the sink. “Do you happen to know how to thaw a turkey?”

“You just place it in the sink—

"I did. Still frozen.”

—and wait two days.”

“Two days!" Lea yelled. "Man, I need it to defrost like pronto. Or nobody’s eating dinner tonight.”

“Damn. I don't know what else to tell you. Did you try a Firaga?”

Lea snorts and turns his phone toward the blackened mess on the counter. He snaps a picture and presses send. “Unless charred outside, raw inside is a thing...”

Terra pauses for a moment. “Man! What the hell is that?"

“Firaga.”

At this point, he is ready to concede and tell Terra to tell Blue that he has failed miserably, as expected. “You know what man, just tell Aqua—

“What is it? What? No, of course not," Terra says to someone else. "Yes, I’m ok. No, I'm not fighting myself again. I’m talking to Lea…” He hears something unintelligible in the background again. “We’re trying to defrost a turkey. Yes, he tried that already, and this happened.”

A few minutes later, Lea hears a familiar laugh. “Is that Ventus?”

“Yeah. He said you could probably still hear it gobble for its life."

"Haha, very funny. Put the little twerp on."

Terra passes the phone to Ventus. "Sup, Lea. Can't handle the heat?"

"You think you're really funny, doncha?" Lea sighs. Now's not the time to mess with the boy. "Hey, do you know how to thaw a turkey fast?"

"Well, if you spatchcock it, it'll cook faster and be juicy all around."

"You want me to do what to the turkey?"

"Umm, spatchcock it, meaning remove the backbone and let it sit flat." Ventus pauses. Oh, that makes sense. They're talking about cooking, after all. "What did you think it meant?"

Something I'll never utter within five feet of you lest Blue kill me...

Lea shakes his head. "I need to be able to get to the bone first. I'm stuck with a lump of ice."

"Oh, in that case, why don't you put it in the dryer?"

Of course. Why didn't I think of that? “Ven, you're a genius. Thanks, man. I owe you—

"Chocolate chip cookies."

"You talking to me, or Terra there?"

"You owe me a batch of chocolate chip cookies from Gideon's Bakehouse," Ventus repeated. Here you go. My work here is done.”

"You little—

"I would keep an eye on the dryer just in case. Just call me if anything comes up,” Terra says before ending the call.

Skeptical but at a loss, Lea takes the remaining turkey and places it in the dryer. Ven didn't say for how long. He turns it on on the highest setting for an hour. As soon as the machine turns, there's a loud clank, over and over and over, as the block of ice tumbles around. It's loud enough to wake up the whole house.

Oh well, it's that or nothing.

Five minutes in, he yawns. This will take a while. Lying down wouldn't hurt, probably. He leaves the laundry room, closing the door behind him. Yeah, it's still loud enough, but at least Isa won't hear it on the second floor.

He flops down on the comfy couch and lets sleep take him.

 XXX

  Beep…Beep…Beep.

Lea wakes up in a smoky room, confused. The smell of something burning permeates the air. What the hell is going on? He sits, coughing as he breathes in the smoke.

"What? What the…?" Xion stands next to him, rubbing her eyes. "Lea. What's going on?" she asks between coughs and covers her nose with her shirt.

Beep…Beep…Beep.

Roxas pokes his head from the second floor. "Hey! Is there a fire?" He asks, anxiety thick in his voice.

Lea grabs a cushion and waves it around, trying to dissipate the smoke. "Looks like it, but it wasn't me this time. I've been accident-free for a week, dammit."

"It looks like it's coming from the laundry..." Xion points out.

"On it!" Roxas rushes down the stairs, extinguisher in hand.

Between the smoke and the alarm, it takes Lea a minute too long to realize where Roxas is going.

"No Roxas that's the—

Too late. Roxas pulls the trigger, covering the contents of the dryer with a white powdery substance.

—turkey."

 XXX

 "What do you mean that was the last one?" Isa asks, crossing his arms and giving him a look.

Lea rubs the back of his neck. "Well, the first one burned..." His voice drops.

"How exactly did you burn it?"

"Look, that doesn't matter. Just pop over to MoogleMart and bring me two, preferably the least frozen ones you can find."

Isa sighs. "You know it takes several hours for it to cook properly. Lea, wouldn't it be easier to give this whole thing up?"

"What? No. I said I could handle it, and I will handle it." Sometimes he wishes Saïx—Isa had more faith in him. But it's his fault he doesn't inspire trust. None of them do.

The blue-haired man crosses his arms. " Fine. Is that all you need from the store?"

Yes." Actually, there is a couple of things, but—

"You can't remember right now. Typical."

"I'll send you a text when it comes to me, okay?"

Isa rolls his eyes. "Xion, Roxas, any of you fancy a trip?"

Xion glances at him from her spot near an open window after fresh air. "No. I'm alright." She coughs a bit. "I believe I'm all set for the thing too. So I don't need anything."

"Roxas?"

"Same, minus the thing, obviously," he says, fanning a piece of cardboard, attempting to dispel the smoke faster. "Oh, wait! Can you bring us sea salt ice cream?"

“It’s not on the way,” Isa says flatly. Xion leaves the window and grabs onto the sleeve of his jacket.

“Are you sure?” She asks, making cutesy eyes at Isa. "Pretty please!"

"Fine."

Lea smiles. These kids, I swear...

 XXX

 An hour later, and all the windows open, the smoke clears up, yet the smell persists.

In the meantime, Lea begins to clean up the place. It has to be spotless for when their guests arrive for dinner. Not that there was much to tidy up since Isa made sure everything was in its rightful place.

He walks past one of the couches, sweeping up whatever debris he finds in his way. Roxas and Xion laugh hard from their spot in said seat. They seem to be watching something on their gummiphones.

"Oh! Did you see that?" Xion asks the boy nudging him playfully. "There, look closely." Roxas looks at her phone while she replays what presumably is some random funny video.

Lea rolls his eyes. Thank you so much, Ienzo. Roxas and Xion got distracted easily. The fact that Ienzo had singlehandedly built something he called Kingstagram and HeartTube—distractions popular with kids their age—doesn't help. He can only hope he doesn't manage to make that Heart Beats app he's been talking about.

Curious, he eavesdrops. Not for any of the previous reasons...

He thought that at some point, Roxas would look at Xion differently or maybe the other way around, develop romantic feelings and such. Funny enough, he's been keeping an eye on them only to find out they seem to define their relationship as that of brother and sister.

"Holy shit! I never thought a frozen turkey could be lethal," Roxas says between laughs.

Lea snaps out of his thoughts. Did he say frozen turkey? He approaches them and immediately stands in front of their faces so they can't ignore him. "What are you guys watching?"

Xion hides her phone. "Umm, nothing. Just a video Hayner sent me…"

"Let me see," Lea says, stretching out his hand. Xion glances at Roxas, who shakes his head. "You guys want a repeat of last week?" Eyes wide, they shake their heads. "Then hand it over."

"Alright." Xion hands her phone to Lea.

Lea taps on the screen to replay the video. The first thing he notices is Hayner's backyard. Hayner, Pence, and Roxas place down a cannon-like cylinder facing away from the camera.

"You guys think this will work?" Roxas asks. 

Hayner looks at them. "Trust me, it does. I saw it on a video. "Olette, how many do we have?" 

"Well, after the first two attempts...there's still two of them."

"Sweet. Load them up." He signals while Roxas and Pence finish pointing the cylinder. "Alright, on my mark...1,2,3 fire!"

There's a low boom as something shoots out of the makeshift cannon, and the camera follows its trajectory. It's big. It's pink...it's a turkey. Oh, oh, look at it fly, they yell simultaneously. Lea looks up from the phone and stares without blinking. Xion gives him one of her sweet it-wasn't-my-idea smiles, and Roxas gazes at the floor with interest.

"I'm going to ask this just once." Lea pauses, praying to Kingdom Hearts it isn't what it seems. "Were those my turkeys?" His right eye twitches. "All I want is the truth. I promise I won't be mad..." So he says, but there's an imaginary ticking temperature gauge in his mind about to go off.

"Well...yeah. It was Hayner's idea," Xion confesses.

"Xion!" Roxas stares in disbelief.

"We thought if we replaced them, it wouldn't be a problem."

He returns the phone to Xion. No wonder they were stiffer than—'Ding’. Lea checks his phone. It's Terra.

  "Don’t forget to season it. Nobody likes bland turkey." 

 He laughs. Oh, big guy. Bold of you to assume I got my shit under control. Still, he sends a text to keep up the illusion.

"What should I use as a seasoning?"

🤔

"Hold on. I'll ask."

XXX

 Terra sits by the counter, watching Aqua go back and forth in the kitchen. She checks on the oven, glances at the clock, and stares at the pie crusts as if trying to solve a riddle.

“I feel like I’m missing something?”

“A break,” he says, looking up from his gummiphone. She rolls her eyes at him. “You’ve been baking all morning.”

“And you’ve been following me with your eyes the whole morning…” she says, leaning over the counter, kissing him on the lips. “I shouldn’t have told you.”

He cups her cheek, and she leans in. “I would’ve found out anyway," he says, checking his phone. Lea's been texting nonstop, asking all sorts of questions.

  “Did you ask her?!”

  “Give me a break. I gotta be subtle.”

  “Subtleness isn’t your forte, you know.”

  “FU”

“That stands for…you know what it stands for.”

 Terra sighs. “Babe, what do you usually season the turkey with?”

Aqua crosses her arms and stares at him with an intensity he swears she's mentally disposing of his body. “We talked about this. No pet names. Ever.”

“Sure, whatever you say, Aquamarine…” he teases.

She flicks him on the forehead. "I'm dead serious.

“Ow. Understood. You don't have to be violent about it." She glares at him menacingly. "So umm…what do you put in that delicious turkey of yours?” he asks, trying to cool her down.

“Pff. What, you're making one?"

“I was just wondering what you put on it.” He avoids her gaze. “You know, back in our training days.”

“The year before the exam or the one before that?”

“Does it matter?” he asks.

“Well, if it’s not the year before the exam, I can’t help you. Master Eraqus did it that year, and honestly, I don’t know what he put in it.” She makes a weird face. “Those leaves were too big to be oregano, now that I think about it. As a matter of fact, I can’t remember much about that Thanksgiving…”

“Do you think that was…?” They remain silent for a few minutes before looking at each other. “He did keep it in the spice rack...it could’ve been. You know his eyesight wasn’t the best.”

“But anyway, the year I did it, I used a recipe from the Destiny Islands cuisine book, which calls for: adobo, sazón with annatto, black pepper, olive oil, garlic, cilantro, salt, and butter…” she says, letting out a breath. “Did you get all of that?” he nods. “Good. I’m not going to repeat myself. Don’t forget to send it to Lea.”

“Ok, I’ll send it right— wait. How did you know?”

“Terra, as long as I’m alive, you’re not cooking a turkey. Not after the one time Ven and you tried deep frying it.”

He smiles. “But it made you laugh.”

“Yes. I also remember we didn’t eat any turkey that year. So you’re never ever cooking one.”

"You said that like it was a terrible thing. Come on. We even made Master Eraqus laugh."

"I don't want to end up covered in turkey again."

He laughs and sends the text to Lea, who immediately asks another question.

 “Any chance you could ask her about the sides?"

  “Seriously?! "Man, just call her at this point."

😝

“Nope.”

 Terra sighs. "So what about the sides?"

 XXX

  “Rice, potato salad, dinner rolls”

“Green bean casserole and mashed sweet potatoes.”

 Lea stares at the text. “Man, anything else?” As if Terra heard him, there’s another text.

  “Don’t forget the rice! Please, I beg you.”

 He chuckles and places his phone on the countertop. “Alright, how is that coming along?" he asks, checking on Xion chopping potatoes. At least he guessed one of the dishes.

“Umm, my finger is bleeding, but I’m ok,” Xion says, putting the knife down. Maybe he shouldn’t let her chop anything.

“Let me see that.” He inspects her finger. Definitely bleeding. He pulls a band-aid out of the mess of the miscellaneous drawer and slaps it on her finger.

“How about I help you cook instead?”

Lea gives her a curious look. “When did you learn to cook?”

“Kairi taught me,” she says, smiling.

“Alright,” he says, moving aside. “Wait. Kairi doesn’t know how to cook.”

“Oh, right. I guess I don’t know how to cook,” Xion says, sheepishly scratching the back of her head.

“You say it like it’s something to be proud of,” Roxas says, sticking his head out of the bathroom.

“At least I’m not stuck with cleaning duty,” Xion says, sticking her tongue at him.

“Don’t make me extend the punishment another week," Lea warns them. His phone buzzes on the counter. A call…? A picture of Isa on the screen stares back at him with his usual poker face as the device vibrates. "Hello..."

“Lea, there’s a problem. There are no turkeys left at MoogleMart.”

 XXX

 “What do you mean there are no turkeys left? What kind of store runs out of turkeys on the one day everyone eats turkey?!" 

Isa keeps his phone away from his ear. Lea’s loud enough that he’s sure the whole store heard him. Yes, definitely. Strangers stare suspiciously at him as they walk by. It doesn't matter. He’s never cared what others thought of him.

“Nevermind, I just answered my own question," Lea says, letting out a sigh. "I guess what's left is ordering from Scrooge's last minute." 

Now is he who sighs. Wonderful. There goes my paycheck. "You know that's not going to be cheap, right?"

"Well, I'm out of options."

If you’d listened, we wouldn’t have to worry about this. 

Lea tends to do this. He often commits to the point of absurdity and beyond his capacity. He should’ve known that Lea volunteering in the Twilight High parent committee would be the start of this madness. And all because he needs approval. If there's any validation Axel—Lea, should care about, it’s his and the kids.

Yet a part of him understands that need. He craves the connections he lacked during his childhood.

“Lea, at this point the most feasible option is to call Miss Aqua and explain the situation. I’m certain she’ll think of something.”

"Of course not! I'm sure she can whip up a feast last minute, but it wouldn't be fair to Blue.”

And then there’s that compassionate and soft side of him. “Alright, if it means this much to you, I’ll stop by Scrooge’s.”

“Oh, this is why I love—

Isa hangs up, effectively cutting him off. He then heads for the wine sale he spotted earlier.

 XXX

 After paying for the delivery, Isa found himself staring at the facade of Le Grand Bistrot.  

I’ll regret this for the next two weeks.

Two turkeys, doable—even within their budget but an entire feast from this place...expensive as hell. No, scratch that. Hell’s more affordable.

The place’s bustling with; old and young couples, mostly. They probably had other plans besides cooking and listening to other people’s lives. 

The four of them would’ve been just fine. He doesn’t have anything against Lea’s fellow Guardians—who, by default, became his friends—but he likes that thing their small mismatched family has going on. And he believes it should be private and cherished. 

Like the life, he had years ago. 

Isa lived with his Nanna in Radiant Garden. His grandmother had been their connection. She had a habit of picking up strays, nursing them to health, and sending them on their way. Eventually, she did the same with orphans, who bolted after being fed without even a thank you. 

Lea was the only one who stayed and became a dear friend. Isa didn't need anything else in life after that.

“Oh. Hi Mister Isa.” A brown-haired girl waves at him from the entrance. He snaps out of his reverie.

“Evening, Olette. Is McDuck available right now?”

Her bright eyes study him with curiosity, frowning slightly. “Is there any trouble with the food? If so, I can take it back to the kitchen and ask Little Chef—

“No, I’m here to place an order, but I’m afraid I might have to make arrangements personally.”

Olette nods in understanding and motions for him to follow. As they walk past the kitchen, staff work in teams: prepping ingredients, cooking, and plating the food. All runs smoothly, given how busy the restaurant is. Plates are taken from the stainless steel tables to the customer in no time.

Once in the greedy duck's office, Isa explains the situation. McDuck agrees without even mentioning the price. "How much?" Isa asks, clutching the leather wallet in his pocket.

“It’s on the house, lad.”

Isa blinks not once but twice. The old duck isn’t known for being the most charitable of creatures. There has to be a catch. “I insist. How much is it?”

“It’s paid for already. A well-mannered lass took care of it."

It’s paid for already? Who in their right mind would…Miss Aqua. He accepts and gives the details for the delivery before making his way out, where he finds Olette cleaning a table. Why would she work instead of spending the day with her family?

“Olette, may I ask why you're here?” he asks, approaching the girl.

“Just working for a little extra cash,” she says, gathering the plates, not looking at him.

Something about that statement doesn't sound right. “And later?”

“Umm, I’m stopping by Pence’s for dinner, and so is Hayner…” she says, twisting the cleaning rag between her fingers.

Hayner lives with his brother—Zell—who’s rarely around since he goes to some college abroad. It would make sense for him to spend the holidays there. As for Olette, she’s been private about her home situation. Isa suspects it's similar to Lea’s back then.

“Would the three of you like to join us for dinner tonight?”

Olette stops her and faces him. “We wouldn’t want to impose.”

“I’m sure Xion and Roxas would appreciate it.”

She smiles brightly and hugs him. Isa stands awkwardly stiff until she lets go. “I’ll let the guys know. That way Pence’s mom could visit his grandmother and not worry about guests.”

He nods in agreement and bids her farewell. On his way home, a strange feeling swells in his chest. Joy. Olette’s smile brought him joy. Something he doesn't experience frequently. The feeling intensifies upon setting eyes on the familiar brick walls and tall iron gates of home. Roxas and Xion would be happy to know their friends are coming over. Knowing that made him happy.

“When you help someone, you help everyone. I see what you meant now, Nanna…”

 XXX

 “Isa, you're the best!"

“We love you.”

The blue-haired man stands awkwardly, emotionally stunned, while Roxas and Xion pull him into a hug. It's pleasant to feel joy and happiness, but this is too much right now. He's drowning in it.

Lea raises an eyebrow. “Why can’t I get that kind of love from you guys?

"Cause Isa," Roxas says, looking through the bag in Isa's hand and pulling out two popsicles. "Brings us ice cream."

Lea makes an over-the-top gesture. “I'm offended. You guys say that like I'm not easy on you two. He's the grumpy one. I'm the loving one.”

"But you don't have ice cream right now," Xion says, sticking her tongue out at Lea.

“The issue is solved. The food should be arriving on time.” Isa says monotonously.

Lea sighs. “Phew. At least we figured it out in time."

Isa glares at him. “Barely. I hope you learned your lesson.”

“You know he never does,” Roxas says, a popsicle in his mouth and walking away. Xion leaves with him.

"Hey, plug in one of those scented things. We need the smell to disappear," Lea calls after them. He then turns to Isa with a smile.

"Wipe that silly expression off your face. Do you know how stressful this whole ordeal was?"

He places his hands on Isa's shoulders. "Chill out. We figured it out, and that's all that matters."

"You should know your limits and ask for help."

"And you should relax. Get it memorized," Lea says, leaning in and kissing him. "Thanks." He walks after the kids, leaving Isa to reflect on their relationship.

Lea's an idiot and a walking disaster. Even though he needs to bring his feet back to the ground every now and then, he would rather have the disaster called Lea than the stranger named Axel.

 XXX

 The doorbell rings. Roxas and Xion hurry to greet their first guest. It turns out to be Naminé, along with Dilan and Aeleus.

"Nams!" Xion and Roxas say at the same time as they hug her.

"We thought you wouldn't make it," Xion says.

"Well, I asked Ansem for a day off. Researching does wear you." The blonde smiles sweetly at them. "Plus, I have to visit my family every now and then."

"I know the weather is nice this evening, but I think we should catch up over dinner," Ienzo says, peeking from behind the two burly men.

"Ienzo!" They let go of Naminé only to jump on Ienzo.

Lea stands on the threshold, watching the scene. "You guys plan on letting our guests in or what?"

Naminé is the first to enter. Aeleus and Dilan carry multiple bags behind her as if they're her private butlers. Ienzo walks in shortly while bringing Lea up to speed on their day-to-day happenings at the lab.

"By the way, Ansem and Even said not to expect them as they are far too busy to take a break," Ienzo says, sitting next to Naminé. "Those two live, breathe and eat science."

He could care less about Ansem but Even should've taken some time off, in his opinion.

Shortly more of their friends began to arrive one by one, slowly populating the long table they set up. Between exchanging pleasantries and catching up, Lea and Isa serve their guests, even when everyone insists on helping themselves. The aroma of the Thanksgiving feast fills the air, along with happy chatter among their friends. Lea couldn't be more content.

Of course, it still doesn't change the fact that a chair remains empty next to Kairi and Riku. Sora, the one that made all of this possible and brought them together, is still missing. According to his closest friends, the search has proven fruitless.

"There’s a lot of places we haven’t looked at yet," Kairi says, lowering her head. "But I know he's out there. I can feel it."

"We'll find him," Riku says, placing his hand on Kairi’s.

"And we'll help however we can, I promise," Aqua says from across the table.

Kairi shakes her head. "You've already sacrificed so much."

"We couldn't ask all of you to keep risking your lives like that," Riku says.

Lea looks at them. "You guys have all of us to lean on. We're one big family. A weird one, but a family nonetheless." He stands with a glass of wine in his hand. "We'll stick together no matter what." The others follow his lead. "To Sora."

"To Sora," they say together.

The rest of the night went smoothly. Laughs flood the room while Ventus, Roxas, and Xion are up to their usual shenanigans with Terra. They seem to like him a lot, and Lea can't help but think he would be a great father. He's the one that helped him out with Roxas and Xion when he was trying to get parenting right.

Eventually, the party comes to an end, and their guests leave. All except Ventus, given Roxas and Xion, don't want to let go of Ventus. Terra and Aqua linger with no choice in the matter.

"Guys, I'm coming back. It's just a few days with Lauriam and Elrena. It's not like I'll be gone forever," Ventus says tiredly for the fifth time.

"I'm a nobody without you," Roxas says.

"Pleaseeeee," Xion begs.

Lea laughs at the sight and leaves them to their own devices while he checks on the two in the kitchen. He stands by, watching their back and forth. The perfect picture of domesticity.

"No, I'll take care of that."

Aqua crosses her arms. "Terra, you're making me feel useless."

"Listen, I'll put the leftovers away. You go sit. You've been on your legs all day." Aqua opens her mouth to argue. "I won't take no for an answer."

"Are you hoping to learn something from them?" Isa asks softly, joining Lea by the archway.

"Nah, I'm just happy for them. He gives Isa a look. "But that could be us you know..."

"It is us. We just express it differently," Isa leans in. "An hour. Get them settled first," he whispers and leaves, taking the stairs to the second floor.

Lea remains in place, pondering his words until it connects. Oh...Oh! However, a tap on his shoulder makes him very aware of how weird he looks, spacing out against a wall.

"Lea, dinner was delicious," Aqua says, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Thank you for having us over."

He scratches his head. "Actually, about that, I have a confession." He points at the leftovers. "I didn't cook any of this. Neither did Isa. I messed up two turkeys, and we ordered from Le Grand Bistrot."

Aqua laughs."I know. I called them two days ago.”

His heart sinks. That’s how much faith she had in him. "How much do I owe you?" he asks, his mood deteriorating fast. "I mean Scrooge ain't cheap so…"

“Wait, are you upset with me right now?

“That’s an understatement.”

"You think I overstepped? I’m sorry if it came off that way,” she says. “It’s just when I saw that video, I put two and two together, and well, I knew you wouldn’t have enough time to get everything ready. Heck, I wouldn't have made it either."

He blinks. "You didn’t do it because you thought I would screw up?”

“Of course not,” she says. “You didn’t have to cook in the first place, but you insisted. I didn't want to say no and make you feel like I didn't trust you."

"It must have cost a lot. I still insist on paying," he says, watching Terra put away the leftovers.

“You don’t have to. It was courtesy of King Mickey. He owes me favors." She rubs her stomach subtly. "Which I intend to call at some point."

He feels like an idiot. "And you used a favor for a Thanksgiving feast? Blue, that's like wasting a wish from a genie."

"Oh, don't worry. I have a lifetime of favors,” she mutters, hand resting over her stomach.

He raises an eyebrow. "Are you still hungry?"

She blushes. "Ahh, yes. Very much so," Aqua says, moving her hand away. "Although it's more of a craving for some of that Paopu cheesecake Kairi brought."

"I think I put a whole one away earlier." He says, pointing to the fridge. “Hey, by the way, you guys could stay tonight if you want. It's kind of late to let you guys travel the Lanes Between."

“I appreciate it, but we wouldn’t want to bother you guys,” she says. “You do remember how loud Terra snores, right?”

Lea chuckles. “I insist for making today happen. Besides, there’s a couple of guest rooms that will never be used otherwise. Just take the one furthest from our room, and it should be fine."

“Thanks, Lea.” She smiles. "Now, where's that cheesecake?"

One cheesecake later, he helps Aqua settle into the room. He returns downstairs to turn the lights off. He's about to go to bed when he notices the sliding doors to the back slightly open. Terra sits outside, looking at the night sky.

"Hey, you ok man?" Lea asks, popping his head out.

"Mmm?" He glances at him before setting his gaze on the sky again. "Yeah, just got to wait until she's sound asleep, you know."

"Does it usually take her a long time to or...?"

"Sometimes."

"Hold on a sec. I'll be right back."

There's a certain weight to his words. One, Lea doesn't believe he's fit to delve into it, but it doesn't feel right to leave him alone either. He returns to the kitchen and grabs a couple of beers—which he doesn't like much, but if he touches Isa's wine, the blue-haired man will kill him. He makes his way outside, where he joins Terra.

"Beer?" he offers, cracking one open for himself.

Terra accepts, and after two drinks and a couple of minutes, he loosens up a bit. Enough for Lea to ask a little something he noticed earlier. "Hey, man is Blue pregnant?” 

Terra’s eyes widen. "Shh. How did you know? Not even Ven knows."

"Really? She kept putting her hand on her stomach, turned down a drink more than once, and ate a whole cheesecake she was craving .” He gives Terra a mischievous grin. “Doesn’t surprise me. Not with the way you guys were screwing around the castle.”

Terra chokes on his beer. “Lea!" Lea laughs heartily. "Honestly, it sort of took me by surprise.”

"Well, what do you think was gonna happen if you—

"Please don't finish that if you still want to be my friend."

They drink in silence for a bit. "Don't tell anyone. She doesn't want anyone to know yet. Just to be safe..."

Again, there's a delicate line he knows not to cross, and he steers the conversation onto more neutral grounds. "She doesn't want anyone to know she's pregnant or that you two fool around the whole place? Seriously, you guys should limit it to the room.”

Terra gives Lea a friendly bump on the shoulder and laughs. 

Lea raises his beer. “To an ever-growing family.” 

Lea later went to bed to a less-than-thrilled Isa.

[threadmonster]

Do you have any hc for (please take your time there's no rush)

Axel (kh)

Saruhiko (k)

Shizuo (drrr)

and my adorable yukine (noragami)

Axel

He's a Sad Boi

Dude had lost all his friends! But it gave him the motivation to break away and be better. Did he believe he was worth having the second chance? Idk, maybe, but he believed in Roxas and Xion.

He had this vague sense of what it was like to have a heart but he would push it aside. Like Roxas would ask about what it'd be like to have a heart and that would trigger the feelings but he had no grasp on them.

It was against his better judgement to be friends with Roxas and Xion and to really care about them

It was essentially his choice to become a Nobody. He and Saix willingly took part in Ansem's experiments. Those two had no choice and we're subjected to the fate decided for them and Axel wasn't able to save them.

He had also decided he was going to save Saix. It wasn't last minute during the battles. He was going to save Saix. And if possible he is going to save the unnamed girl.

He'll help save Sora.

He came back after he had willingly sacrificed himself. He refuses to lose. He wanted to be a keyblade weilder because he won't feel helpless or hopeless ever again.

Fushimi

We know that the way he left Homra and treated Yata was just easier for him. I know his "betrayal" of Scepter 4 was for show, to convince everyone.

However! It hurt him. He willingly went along with it and probably helped come up with the plan but he didn't expect it to hurt.

Both Munakata's words and being labeled a traitor AGAIN.

He had never really been a traitor. Even betraying Yata wasn't about betraying Yata, he was protecting himself the only way he knew how.

Baby boy has such low emotional intelligence and terrible coping skills.

But even if it hurt him and even though he trusted Munakata to save him... part of Fushimi had a bit of doubt. He's still Fushimi after all.

And that part of him with doubt was comforted by the thought that everyone would think of him as a traitor. It's easiest if people hate him. He'd miss them, be sad that he didn't see them, but nobody needs to miss him.

Shizuo

I have a really vague aroace headcanon for him. I've just been making characters aroace lately and for Shizuo I think that's a rather sad/angsty pipeline to acceptance and understanding it doesn't affect his worth as a person.

Separate from that. This is more of an AU idea.

Izaya wasn't so involved with people prior to middle school? I think? He was more withdrawn.

So say they went to the same elementary school instead of Shinra. Maybe Shizuo wouldn't have hated Izaya at first sight. Maybe Izaya didn't have his weird fucked up philosophy of humanity. Maybe they could have been acquaintances even for a short time.

Say they'd be in the same room, like Izaya's just in the library and Shizuo goes there to cool down and avoid people talking about him.

He just looks at Izaya and thinks he looks sad for some reason. Izaya probably just had some melancholy face by default, but Shizuo didn't know that.

So he just keeps glancing at him, wanting to say something but thinking it's better not to. Maybe he's already got some worry about how people are talking about him.

He's embarrassed when Izaya asks if there's something on his face.

They go to different middle schools but are at the same highschool and Izaya's different. Shizuo had missed him but he's different. Suddenly Izaya thinks he's a monster and he looks at Izaya and hates him.

It's the usual canon nonsense, but deep down Shizuo is hurt and doesn't know what to do.

Yukine

I know it's already canon but I just REALLY LIKE that he'd sacrifice himself for Yato and Hiyori and that he's scared of Hiyori forgetting him.

He was such a brat but was able to accept things. He cares about more than just Yato and Hiyori. Because of losing his life so young, even if he accepted it, he still hates things that are unfair.

He has a grudge against Bishimon for how she neglected so many of her shinki, but in order not to blight Yato he talks to him about it.

Like he doesn't want to be mad but for awhile it just rubs him the wrong way and he doesn't know what to do.

If it came down to it and Hiyori's life was truly in danger by being tied to the far shore he'd lose it

He'd be mad at Hiyori for risking her life so much, as if she didn't care about it. He loves that she cares so much, but she should value her life more. Her getting hurt because of him is worse than her forgetting.

He'd decide that they have to cut ties and would only accept parting if it was only between the three of them.

Even Yato would be depressed for days, weeks, maybe longer.

He'd still acknowledge when Yato is being horrible but he'd be defensive for awhile. Insulting the god that Hiyori had believed in, who she had decided was worth his own shrine and built it herself was insulting Hiyori too and no one has the right to do that.

I mean, honestly they are all sad bois.

[themadauthorshatter]

I need to wrap this up.

Kh 358/2 Days RWRITE Part 3!!!

Picking up where we left off, Xion indeed talks with Riku and learns about Sora, Kairi, and just about everything else. She also learns that she has a piece of Sora in her and needs to give it back because he's a goner, otherwise(I'll get there when I get there).

Xion is surprised, but Riku continues. He needs either Xion or Roxas and he's going to need one of them to help Sora wake up.

Xion hears all of this and asks if that's why he's coming after her and Roxas, to help Sora.

It is, and now he has a question for her: will she help him help Sora or not? If she stays, the organization's going to keep using her and Roxas until they either stop existing or Sora is found and killed, so which is it?

Bad time to answer because Xemnas enters the room with a nervous Axel next to him and greets Xion, asking her why she's in the dungeon with the prisoner.

Xion lies that she's been doing some interrogations of her own and warns Riku that he hasn't seen what she can REALLY do, so he'd better start talking.

Cue a 'WTF?' face from Riku before Xion winks at him, showing that she's totally BS-ing to cover for him.

Xemnas has none of it and asks Xion if she could demonstrate her methods, so he could see her progress. Xion summons her keyblade and points it at Riku, demanding he repeat what he told her, giving another wink and facial expression to say, 'think of something, I'm gonna need your help.'

Riku complies and states he and his leader, DiZ, have been looking for both Xion and Roxas, but it was so that the two could help them ultimately deal with the Nobodies for good as they know more about Nobodies after doing some research.

Xemnas asks how much they know and neither talk, Xion admitting she stopped when Xemnas walked in and Riku biting his tongue, saying he was going easy on Xion because he felt bad. Now that he's dealing with someone more his size, he's back in the game and not holding back.

Great, because Xemnas has a new lesson to teach Xion: what to do when your prisoners get mouthy and try to get their way.

Both Xion and Axel are surprised and Xion politely declines, but Xemnas insists as this is a valuable lesson for her to learn.

Xion goes to Axel's side and Xemnas instructs her to watch carefully as he summons thorn-like barbs and uses them to restrain Riku before electrocuting him. Game perspective, we do not see this happen. All we see is the scared and sick reaction that Axel and Xion share, though Axel hides it better. Xion tries to look away, but Axel tells her not to, as Xemnas will have her share in Riku's torment.

Xion asks how they they can help, how they can save him, but Axel tells her to stop talking of she'll be next.

The torture ends with very new information gained and chides Axel and Xion before he leaves, Riku exauhsted and in agony for obvious reasons. Before Xion can move to heal him, Xemnas calls her and Axel so they can follow him, as he has something he'd like to tell Xion anyway.

They follow him and Xemnas reveals that he will be personally training Xion for a little while, so that she can catch up with Roxas, who's excelling ahead of her.

Xion has no choice but to agree and Xemnas has Axel spread the news to Roxas so that he knows he won't be seeing Xion for a little while.

Axel does indeed tell Roxas, who asks when he CAN see Xion again, but Axel tells him not to worry because Xion's not made of bread and jelly; she can take a lot, so he has nothing to worry about.

Over time, we see Roxas actually get lonely as Xion is MIA due to training and Axel, who is guarding most of the time, spends more time alone because he can only imagine Roxas being tortured after seeing Riku be brutalized. The loneliness sets in until one day, after a returning from a mission and finding the lobby empty, Roxas has an Arcane/Powder style emotional meltdown/breakdown, as he is alone and cannot take it as he hears the voices of Sora and Ven asking where everyone is. Just as he's about to shift into Non-form, he hears someone screaming and follows it to find Riku, who tried using magic and failed.

Here, the two start talking, Roxas asking why Riku impersonated one of the Organization Members and Riku asking Roxas if he's ever heard of Sora, if he wants to know more. Roxas doesn't answer, but instead gets a sharp ache in his chest much like the one Sora got in KH1, but this time Roxas is just alone in front of a cell, which has Riku inside of it. Roxas, in a moment of distress and confusion, pleads with Riku to make the pain stop, to make what he's feeling stop, even bargaining to let Riku free if he can make the pain and the voices stop.

Riku's hit right where it hurts, caught in a moment of 'Do I or Don't I?' as he realizes that Roxas truly is Sora's nobody and that this nobody is an actual person, so bringing him to DiZ is going to be A LOT harder than expected. In a moment of, 'I'm going to Hell for this,' Riku tells Roxas that he knows someone that can help Roxas, a sort of friend of his.

Roxas asks if this friend can REALLY help him and Riku says that he can and they can visit him, but Roxas HAS to let Riku out first. Roxas, desperate and just glad to be woth another person again, lets Riku out and the two hightail it, settimg off a bunch of alarms as they use a dark corridor to get out.

These alarms do not go unnoticed as Axel and Saïx see them, and Xemnas and Xion also hear them, and they all go out to see what happened.

Outside, Riku sprints through the city as nobodies chase them, though a few dusks and samurai stand down upon seeing Roxas. Speaking of, Roxas asks where they're going as Riku summons another corridor. Before they can get away, Saïx diminishes the portal and asks Roxas what he thinks he's doing with the prisoner.

Roxas is about to go into Non-form, Xion attacks and chases Riku, much to the surprise of Saïx and Roxas.

Xemnas and Axel catch up and Saïx throws Roxas under the bus, saying he let Riku out and now the imposter's gone.

Xemnas is obviously not happy amd summons a number of Dusks to follow Xion and help her home when she succeeds in destroying Riku.

They return to the castle, but Xemnas GLARES at Roxas for his screw ups, something that hurts Roxas deeply, as Xemnas has always been soft with him and treated him well.

Axel does give Roxas a rub on the shoulder to make him feel better.

To catch up with Xion and Riku, they parkour around and fight before they stop and Xion dismisses her keyblade and asks to come with him so she can help him. It surprises Riku, but Xion explains that she cares about Roxas and that she knows he's Sora's nobody and just doesn't want him to stop existing because... come on. She also knows that Riku PROBABLY won't stop until he has either her or Roxas, so now's his chance to help his friend.

Here is where Riku BREAKS because Xion, despite being a nobody and a replica, is just so human(not that he calls her a replica) and he can't bring himself to hurt her. Xion asks what she can do, then, as she's adamant to keep Riku away from Roxas.

He reveals that theu need her and Roxas to wake up, and if they do, Riku has no idea if she'll make it out alive. He gives her one last chance to go back, but Xion refuses and tells him to let her tag along.

Heart broken, Riku agrees.

This is all seen by the dusk, who report it to Xemnas, who tells everyone else that Xion is gone with a capital G and they are not allowed to look for her.

Roxas is devastated, and Xemnas pulls the worst of manipulation cards and says she left him in favor of disloyalty, her friendship being a farce and her kindness towards Roxas a ruse to know his strength. Roxas is stunned, even as Xemnas pulls him into a hug and basically guilt-trips him into swearing he will never betray the organization.

Axel sees this, and Xemnas draws an ethereal blade behind Roxas's back as he meets Axel's eyes, warning him against betraying the organization as well

[sensitive-charmy]

For as much as I didn’t enjoy KH3, the part where Xion starts attacking Sora and he says, “It’s alright. You can stop now. It’s alright.” And then Roxas’ voice comes out of Sora. And then Xion’s hood falls off and Axel remembers her and then Roxas shows up and is mega cool with his two keyblades and how everyone is just looking at him in shock and he’s all like, “Hands off my friends.” And then gives this whole speech about how the Organization isn’t as good at their job as they think and how his connection with Xion and Axel brought him back all while The Other Promise is blaring through the speakers. And then Xion, Roxas, and Sora go to beat Saïx’s butt and how you can literally do nothing and Roxas will get Saïx down to one HP in no time all while Hearts As One is playing. And then how the Sea Salt Trio finally has their emotional reunion and it starts off with just Xion crying, but they all hug and eventually they’re all crying messes. And I love Axel’s little trip as he’s running to embrace them. It’s so desperate and raw. And that’s really the most amazing climax in the entire series. That’s the best scene. Top tier.

[imagine-organization-xiii]

If i may ask; can i please have how the org 13 members act around their crush? Thank you in advance ❤️

Masterlist - Incorrect Organization XIII - Tip Jar!

You might also like: when they realize they’re in love with s/o

This was a long-ish one that’s been sitting in the back of my drafts forever lmao - I hope you all enjoy, especially since it’s a bit of long read!

Special thanks to Miss Silverspoon, PhantomMuze, and Sam for helping with Luxord, Saix, and Vexen. Such babes.

-

Xemnas - Least likely to actually show it. I mean, there will be signs, but it won’t be blatant that he’s acting a certain way because he’s attracted to you. There might be some favoritism (giving you better missions, not scolding you when something goes wrong, looking the other way in certain situations.)

Overall, it’s going to be subtle. You definitely won’t pick up anything weird, but the other org members might. Saix will definitely be the one to come up to you, grab you by the shoulders and give you a good shake. “Please, he’s driving the rest of us crazy.” And you’re like “what the hell???” Saix: “Xemnas has been giving you the best missions and staring at you for five minute intervals. In his language, that means he’s practically a wanton hussy.”

Xigbar - Not ashamed in the slightest. He won’t even act any different. He finds you attractive, you find him attractive (Xigbar: “Everyone finds me attractive, obviously.”) So why bother wasting time?  He doesn’t really call it a crush, though. He thinks crushes are for children and he’s a man, god damn it, he doesn’t have crushes.

An unintentional sap. Before he plucks up the courage to say something to you - and it takes him longer than he will ever admit - he finds himself going soft for you. Thinks you’re pretty, instead of hot; wants to hold your hand instead of slam you against the wall. It’s a bit infuriating to him at first, but also maybe kind of worth it.

Xaldin - Ohhhh, man. He’s been in love before; he’s been hurt before. So he is ready to rein in that shit immediately. But it’s so difficult because he likes you so much and you’re so awesome. He’ll decide to give it a chance eventually, but it will take some time. He would definitely be content with just being friends, though, because he really doesn’t want to ruin what the two of you already have.

He makes sure to always be there for you. Always helps you when you need it. A gentleman in the ways that matter and a feisty, flirtatious beast in the ways that don’t. The type of guy to flirt by making sure that he takes his shirt off after a sweaty workout and casually flexes/stretches when he knows you’re watching but also makes sure you’re hydrated and wrapping your fists correctly when you spar.

Vexen - You’ll probably know about his crush before he does. He’s so absorbed in whatever his task is - his experiments, his theories, etc. - that he doesn’t even notice that his eyes linger on you and his posture automatically straightens when you walk into the lab. He’ll instinctively turn his body in your direction so that you’re almost always in his line of sight.

Doesn’t yell at you for walking into his lab when he’s obviously busy. Actually asks you for your input, likes talking to you and discussing his theories with you. You’re smart, but some of his experiments are beyond you, and he doesn’t mind explaining in simpler terms when you ask questions. It blows Zexion’s mind because he has a running tab on the different ways that Vexen throws people out of his lab and he’s never done it to you.

Lexaeus - not much for flirting. He’s come to terms with the fact that he likes you, but you’ve both known each other long enough that you know him, so there’s no way that he can pretend to act a certain way because you would know that something wasn’t right. It’s very difficult to tell that he has a crush on you - there’s no blushing, no flirting, no favoritism. He’s just his normal self.

When you finally figure it out, you realize that he showed his crush in subtle ways instead - offering a hand to pull you up after sparring, holding open a door for you, and apparently glaring at people who come up to flirt with you when he accompanies you to the market for groceries.

Zexion - “IT’S NOT LIKE I LIKE YOU OR ANYTHING, GO AWAY.” This emo little bastard doesn’t know how to deal with his emotions. He lost his heart at a really bad time, when he was still growing into himself, learning balance between anger, frustration, patience, euphoria, etc. so he’s very unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the idea that he likes you.

There may be a few gentle shoves and punches in the shoulder. He has so many feelings and has no way to put them into the world other than violence - because that’s really all he knows nowadays. But it gets better!!! You learn together.

Saix - Honestly, God help you if Saix gets a crush on you because he really doesn’t make it easy. If anything, he’ll be making your life difficult. He overcompensates about not giving you any special treatment, giving you harder and more difficult tasks/missions, or your workload might remain the same but his expectations are almost impossibly high. He’s not only trying to prove himself to the others; he’s trying to prove to himself that he doesn’t care.

He’s more difficult to be around tbh, and yeah, he’ll definitely seek you out which is a pain in the ass when you’re trying to avoid him. You’ll have to be the one to barge into his office, slam open the door, and yell at him that he’s being an asshole. He’ll probably back off a bit, but.... he’s really only rough on you because he knows you’re capable of more.

Axel - Axel falls in love unapologetically. He’s head over heels almost immediately and not even ashamed of his crush on you. Flirting becomes almost a part of your friendship because he’s just that comfortable with you. His mood is already so bright when he’s around you, but now it’s like the sun and you can’t help but meet his smile with your own grin.

But it gets to be kind of weird on his end because... you don’t realize that he’s being serious when he flirts? So many pick up lines. So many compliments. But you’re just like “oh that same old Axel haha,” and he’s left banging his head against the wall because he likes you so much but you’re so oblivious.

Demyx - He won’t even notice that he has a crush on you tbh. It will take him forever to notice. He knows he’s attracted to you, but he’s attracted to a lot of people so he didn’t think that it would be any different! A crush?? In this economy??? But he’s grateful, you know? Because there really couldn’t be a better person for him to have a crush on - like he could have a crush on Xemnas, of all people, and that would just be disastrous.

Doesn’t act differently until he realizes he has a crush. When he does realize, he’ll get nervous and clumsy. Shouting from across the hall, “HEY LET ME GET THE DOOR FOR YOU” and runs, trips, and knocks out a tooth. Just completely ridiculous stuff. You kind of notice that he’s acting strange, but it’s just Demyx, and it will probably take Vexen going up to you and saying “please put him out of his misery before he accidentally kills himself trying to flirt with you”

Luxord - Luxord is so charming, more charming than he usually is. He always has this endearing aura around him, and man, he turns it up when he tries to flirt with you. A gift giver - small things, a dessert you might like, a flower he stole from Marluxia’s garden, lunch when you’re busy, etc. Very aware of how to approach you; also knows where to stop before he goes too far. Knows how to read you pretty well in that respect.

Loves the romance that comes with having a crush because there’s so much raw potential. Feelings are confusing, they take a while to grow, but the idea that something amazing can be coming in the future is a great feeling to him. Great potential hangout ideas that don’t necessarily have to be dates, but they help you both metaphorically test the waters about what a real relationship could be.

Marluxia - arguably the most romantic out of everyone. Surprisingly?? Also the most sensible. Of the mind that, you know, if you like someone then do something about it. He has a crush on you? Why not just give it a shot, then? He’ll bring you flowers! Accompany you when you go somewhere! Take you for garden walks! Take you out to dinner!

Somewhere along the line it just becomes a relationship and not just a crush and he’s like, yeah I did this. When everyone’s like “omg how did you get her to like you back” he’s just like “because I did something about it unlike all of you idiots.”

Larxene - Listen. Listen. Larxene is a strong independent woman who doesn’t need someone else in her life to make her feel loved and powerful but damn, you’re so awesome and she has the biggest crush on you even though all of her instincts say that she’s being dumb. Will ask you to spar with her as an excuse to get close to you and don’t be surprised if she’s extra harsh when sparring - she definitely won’t be pulling her punches.

When you get closer, she’ll open up to you in a way that she won’t open up to anyone else, which is a big, obvious flag for you that her feelings may be more than friendship. She doesn’t like talking about herself or her past, so hearing things she’s never told anyone (except maybe Marluxia), makes you feel really great about being her friend.

Roxas - Man, he is such a cute little marshmallow, not shy in general but shy around his crush. He’ll do his hardest not to blush around you, but he does get nervous. So nervous, in fact, that he might make you think he doesn’t like you because he’ll tend to avoid you when he can. He doesn’t want to look stupid in front of you.

This baby feels things deeply, despite the lack of a heart. He always has felt things more deeply than others. Likes physical contact so when he gets over his fears of being around you, he’ll probably end up asking to hold your hand, randomly hugging you, giving high fives, etc.

Xion - Only really falls for people that she’s already friends with, because she knows them and she’s comfortable with them. It’s subtle for her, though. She’ll realize her crush one night and suddenly she can’t even speak to you without blushing, cheeks a bright pink against her pale skin. She’ll stutter, too, and she hates that’s she’s so nervous for no reason because you’re friends!!! And she has no reason to be nervous!!!

She’s also so helpful when she has a crush! Like Demyx, she’s eager to help you with whatever you’re doing, whether that’s mission reports, cooking, cleaning, etc. Unlike Demyx, she actually gets the job done and doesn’t get injured when trying to help. You’re always so grateful and thankful and that just makes her blush even more.

[embraceyourdestiny]

It’s just so interesting that Roxas’ journey in Days is literally just “what if Sora was forced to face everything alone? How far could be pushed? How much would it take to break him?” and that’s what they do. At the beginning of Days Roxas is “empty” of memories, feelings, and emotions, and yet he’s still innocent, asking questions that mean everything to him to help him find his place in life but nothing to people who don’t care about him or have no time to think of these questions. He’s portrayed almost like a child, wide eyed and naive and believing of everything he sees. This could be because he was a “new heart” but it could also be because his heart was the remains of Sora’s heart stripped to its most bear. Sora’s heart had no memories inside Roxas because although his heart was used to create Roxas that didn’t suddenly mean he was Roxas. And this explains how and why they kept telling Sora “the other side of his heart” had memories of Twilight Town that he didn’t, because his heart was used to give Roxas a chance. Like how Sora repaired Ventus’ fractured heart with his own, only instead of fusing their hearts together, he gave Roxas a piece of his own.

But back to the original thought. Roxas at the beginning of Days is both a new person and as earnest and naive as Sora because he was made with a piece of Sora’s heart. From this point on, everyone is telling Roxas he’s Sora, whether outright or ambiguously. Roxas has memories that feel familiar but he knows aren’t his. Roxas is being held to a standard he wasn’t aware of or isn’t even sure why it exists because everyone thinks of him as Sora.

Now, let’s think of this in the inverse. Sora wakes up in Twilight Town and immediately feels something is off. The place feels familiar, and for reasons more than his hazy memory of his time there in CoM. He feels like he’s actually been there because he has, his heart piece was inside Roxas and it saw and felt all the things Roxas saw and felt. They switched roles, and in fact Sora took at backseat to Roxas’ heart first. Many fans like the idea of Sora’s heart mates being an “audience” to his life while they’re in his heart, but Sora was in fact just that first. Since we know Nobodies can grow hearts and nothing in Kingdom Hearts happens for no reason, it only makes sense that Sora’s heart piece was how Roxas was able to grow his heart and in the end help the rest of the org grow theirs. Like he says with Xion in order for him to come back he needed a connection. In order for the rest of the Nobodies to grow a heart, they would also have to have a connection. It’s why Axel starts to question things and feel conflicted over his duties, because he develops and connection with Roxas and Xion, and why Saix becomes jealous and combative to Roxas and Xion, because of his connection with Axel.

Throughout KH2 the org constantly messes with Sora, calling him Roxas, comparing the two of them, and all around making Sora feel insecure and unsure about things because “who’s this Roxas person and why do they keep comparing me to him?” They do the exact same thing they did to Roxas to Sora, and you can see how the longer it goes on the more frustrated Sora gets. No one likes to be compared, especially not to someone you don’t even know, but we don’t get to see Sora’s full reaction to this because story beats happen and Roxas and Sora eventually reunite. But we do get to see Roxas’ full reaction to that kind of treatment and boy is he pissed. This is where the “Roxas was a way to show how Sora would react to this situation” because if they had done this with Sora, people would’ve probably not liked it. They might’ve said it didn’t fit his character or they simply didn’t like the direction of it because “Sora’s happy” but that’s what adds yet another layer to Roxas and Sora’s connection; if Sora is so happy, how could someone with such darkness and anger come from him?

Of course, Roxas is his own person, no denying that, but his origin is from Sora and that can’t be ignored. If his heart was grown from a piece of Sora’s heart, than at some level what he thinks, feels, and does has to be somewhat related to what Sora would think, feel, and do. People become their experiences, and while I do think that if Sora went through the same thing Roxas did (and he even kind of did on CoM which backs up my point) Sora still would’ve been pissed but he most likely wouldn’t have been so destructive like Roxas was. He would’ve convinced Xion and Axel to take a different route than the one they did take, and because he’s Sora, they would’ve had a different outcome. He would’ve tried to talk to others because he has memories of friendship and having fights and resolving them. Roxas has none of that. He only knows what he’s experienced, and that’s bitter, cruel people having little regard for others. He doesn’t have the experience of witnessing his friend fall to darkness and then come back loke Sora does, all he has is the knowledge that once people fall, the result after that is unknown. He doesn’t know if Xion can come back or not because he’s done experienced anything like this before so he has no prior experience to base his actions off of like Sora does. Even though Sora had never fought monsters or saved the world on KH1, considering that he was a normal kid he would have the memories of movies and shows of heroes saving the world and helping their friends and even if it wasn’t his lived experience it was something he witnessed and it’s something he could strive for in his own life. They basically took Sora, stripped him of everything he knew, and said “but what if he was raised in this kind of environment instead? How would he turn out then?” Roxas is still his own person but he’s also Sora’s Other, literally meaning another version of him. No one else ever calls them or anyone else their “Other” that’s something exclusive to Sora and Roxas because the whole reason for their existence is entirely unique to them, Roxas was an experiment and god did it work well. I’m not sure how far the storyline was written and if Ven was made with this purpose in mind or after the fact, but this is also probably why originally Roxas and Sora look different, because if we watched this “other Sora” go on this journey while he looked like Sora, you would just think of him as Sora, but he isn’t.

[vio1315]

I was tagged by @sunheart to list my ten fav male characters.

Aw yeah, let’s see if I remember more than five at any given time (thanks!)

1. Slaine Troyard 

To this day I still am not sure if Slaine is such a great character because he comes from such an awful show, or if he could hold his own, but man alive he goes through every trope I’m weak for, so. Emotional character who holds their own in political ish situations is very 👀 you don’t get to see it all the time.

2. Kano Shuuya

MY BOY! His voice actor was so great, what an absolute vibe on this hecker. I really like characters who have some grime over their heart of gold traits, and he does it in such a fun way.

3. Shintaro Kisaragi

I know he’s the butt monkey a lot, and because he’s an antisocial loser you’d assume he deserves it, but legit in the manga he’s just??? So nice??? A lot??? He’s a very fun character.

4. Roxas (Kingdom Hearts)

Listen.... listen I love him. I know he’s from the funny Disney game and all BUT HE DESTROYS ME. And that’s really all I ask for in a character.

5. Axel (also KH)

As a kid idk if I was so into Axel, but revisiting it.... what the heck? Man just comes in and adopts two kids? He literally could have been jealous, but no? ‘These are mine now’. And then proceeds to just continuously be a good friend to them or something. I feel like some of his nuance etc was lost to me when I was younger but man aged like fine wine.

6. Gene Forrester (A Separate Peace)

Idk if I am the only person who likes him but.... man I just found him real compelling iejdjwjd

7. Artemis Fowl

😔😔😔 I need to reread it but love me a brat. A snarky little man.

8. Tim (Marble Hornets)

On first viewing I didn’t appreciate the characters as much as I could have, but rewatching it has been 👌

Tim literally goes through so much and makes it work. Most loyal friend, but takes no crap. Also he’s a person who looks like a character design. Like, you couldn’t blame people for looking a bit standard or generic, but he really has very like ‘I drew a character just to be iconic’ vibes, but as a person. Would not mind more live action being that way.

9. The dad from Luca

I don’t remember names but 🥺🥺🥺🥺😭

10. Shad from Zelda Twilight Princess

I am sure I could eventually remember someone I like more (especially considering I’m skipping Pandora Hearts, Pokemon Special, and MP100 and so on in this list, because then the list would just be them.) But this is my iconic ‘you have no reason to like this man so much’ character, so.

Like. Idk, just LOOK at him? And he’s such a brat to you at first for like No reason? Love that stuck up attitude. And then he just becomes full on ‘I love my area of study’ nerd. What a fun dude, what a stand up guy.

Why is this absolute nerd in the resistance? Why does he have such guts? Idk but fantastic.

Thanks for the tag!

I will tag ((⚆·̫⚆‧̣̥̇ )) uh idk who likes to speak on this...

@enjoliquej @niwawings15 @mentaowl

Also anyone who wants to be tagged @v@; I can’t keep track, but tell me about some fantastic boys