#i dunno. i gotta think about the other worlds and what sora would do in them

[rxcusant]

one day but im gonna have a nice long think about the kh3 timeline for my soranort au and mainly what hes doing in the disney worlds and write that all out for reference but i was thinking about san fransokyo a little bit earlier

i like to imagine he gets paired off with each worlds respective org member (marluxia in corona, larxene in arendelle, etc) with specific orders in mind (either seek out the new seven hearts or search for the black box) but i feel like san fransokyo would be the one they send him off to alone with very little orders to go off on. probably something like “we need you to investigate the world, do so at your leisure” and he’s just ‘???yeah yall are definitely up to something but like hell im gonna look this gift horse in the mouth’

and then things play out kinda similarly. he arrives on the world, alone, and thinks “i have GOT to tell riku about this!” and then he remembers Oh Yeah. I Cant See Them Right Now :(  (((side note, riku is the one to rescue aqua. it all plays out the same up to the point where hes like “SORA....” and much like aqua when fighting vanitas asked for terra and ven to lend her her strength his keyblade glows and he goes in to STRIKE and yeah you get the idea)))  and thats when baymax and hiro and the team arrive and sora helps them take out the heartless and they go back to garage with the AR Device etc etc etc It plays out pretty much the same. 

then we get to the darkubes. And rikunort appears. sora says he doesnt know WHAT rikunorts doing. (“As if this stupid experiment wasn’t already a hassle.” “Experiment? Riku, what are you talking about? What’s the Organization doing?”) Hiro explains the thing with the red chip and Riku disappears and they punch it again. Riku comes back to take the chip and Sora asks him again to explain himself. It’s less about revealing Time Travel BS and Replicas and more what the Organization is doing and how Baymax’s heart contributes to the Organizations goals. So the conversation kinda skips to ‘To see if we can recreate a heart from data’ and even the ‘that walking balloon has a heart, or thats the nonsense im supposed to believe’ line. Hiro butts in about the chip, Soras still confused with what the Organization wants,  Riku leaves. 

BH6 needs to rest and regroup and back at the garage is when they ask Sora whats the deal with him and Riku cause like... they obviously know each other and wear the same coat. its hella suspicious. Sora really doesnt like to talk about it and he insists he doesnt know what Riku is doing and asks the group to trust him. They may dress the same but Sora doesnt consider himself an ally (“There’s this... group. They don’t fight fair and say things to get under your skin. I don’t like them or agree with that they’re doing. But I can’t just walk away. That was... one of my best friend’s back there-- Riku. I don’t know what they’re making him do but I need help him. It’s my fault they’re coming after you. Let me help you take back Baymax’s heart.”). BH6 is kinda on the fence but Darkubes are attacking so they head out.

they do the ITS NOT THE SUM OF OUR PARTS BUT THE SUM OF OUR HEARTS and Riku literally jumps in and says THE TERROR OF BEING ATTACKED WITHOUT WARNING etc and Sora and BH6 interject and Riku drops the THATS WHY I MADE SURE OUR CREATION FOUGHT YOU / YOURE GOING TO DESTROY HIM IN FRONT OF HIRO lines. its plays out pretty much the same from here with some added Sora like This is why the Organization wanted me to come here! hes not surprised just disappointed he didnt see this coming sooner. Like he anticipated it but not quite to this degree kjhfdkg

but sora and baymax punch dark baymax and all ends well and pretty much the same. although i imagine theres a final scene in the garage where hiro asks if soras going to be alright dealing with that Organization group and riku and sora smiles his usual smile like ‘yeah dont worry i’ll okay! there’s still a lot left i have to do, and everyones counting on me to do it!’ as if thats not one of the major stressors in his life. BUT HES FINE HES OKAY REALLY : ) and hiro and the team wish him well and sora wishes them the same and then he asks to take a baymax with him 

the post-world cutscene is sora like HEY! RIKU. WHAT THE FIZZITYUCK WAS ALL THAT BACK THERE and i dont know rikunort enough to come up with a response but im sure its antagonistic and soras like WELL I KNOW YOU ARE BUT WHAT AM I like the baby he is. but for reals they prob have a brief chat about what the organization wants with creating hearts from data and tricking sora into it and i feel like riku gives some half hearted “How should I know, I just do what they tell me to do so I don’t get beat black and blue like you :/” and walks away. with no answers from riku i dunno if sora would try another member or not cause he knows its not like theyll tell him much else.

but as a little side note im p sure the Anti Aqua stuff happens after this and i know i said earlier that riku is the one to rescue her but when theyre fighting and riku’s like “SORA......” i feel like soras just sitting in his room and feels his heart go like BA-DUMP and he gasps like RIKU?! as he puts his hand over his heart cause KH would do something like that and Then rikus keyblade glows and punches aqua and then saves her and Yeah! cool. 

this got much longer than i anticipated.

[guessmonsta]

hello my queen... returned to her castle I see? Could you please do a thing just like the Kuroo one except Kuroo is Bokuto's wingman? I'm so soft for them and you ohmygoodness

You’re adorable and I appreciate you so much. For legal reasons I created a fake cafe called The Gazelle. I’ve used it like twenty times if this is a real place I’m so sorry

It was a very rare occurrence for Bokuto to be awake before noon on a weekend. It was even rarer that he was sprinting across campus to get to Kuroo’s dorm at nine in the morning. Campus custodians gave him weird looks, girls walking to their professors office hours giggled at him, but he just kept running.

Kuroo lived on the eighth floor in the farthest dormitory building from Bokuto’s. He ran up the stairs, skipping two as he went, and once he finally got to Kuroo’s door, he didn’t even bother to knock, he just slammed his fist against the door in one harsh blow.

From inside, he heard Kuroo mutter a quick, “fucking hell,” to his roommate before the door swung open in his face. Kuroo didn’t look amused, and scanned Bokuto up and down before he snorted, covering up his mouth with his hand.

“I’m not gonna judge your lifestyle bro,” Kuroo snorted, “but literally, what the hell.”

“Listen, hear me out,” Bokuto began, still slightly out of breath. “The cute girl who works at The Gazelle has a shift right now.”

“What?” Kuroo stared at him dumbfounded. “How do you know that?”

“Me and, and a couple of my friends from statistics have been taking notes on each time she works. She always works Saturday mornings so-” Kuroo cut him off by laughing again, then stepped out into the hallway and motioned Bokuto to start walking. No matter the situation, no matter how ridiculous it sounded, Kuroo was always readily available for anything Bokuto had in mind.

“So you’ve been stalking this girl?”

“Bro, I’m not stalking her, I’m just admiring her. A-and that admiration has gotten to a kind of unhealthy level to me personally, as a person.”

“Wait, so have you actually ever even talked to this girl?” Kuroo asked, and was faced with Bokuto widening his eyes. “Dude, you’ve gawked at her every single time we’ve gone, and you haven’t even talked to her?”

“I ordered a hot cocoa from her that one time-” Bokuto sighed, “I sound like a simp.”

“Bro, you aren’t a simp. What you are is stupid. How the hell are you going to work together with your statistics friends to recreate some random girls' work schedule but you all have a D in the class?”

“Listen-” Bokuto laughed. “Sora says that she has dyscalculia, and that the rest of us probably have it too. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, Kuroo. Sorry I can’t be a perfect chem major like you.” He teased, socking Kuroo in the arm. Kuroo winced slightly, then punched him back.

“Yeah, you have your strengths for sure.”

“Okay, so I’m probably gonna actually talk to her today.”

“Wow, making big boy moves.” Kuroo laughed, “Where’s this coming from?”

“I can’t tell if it’s fake confidence or adrenaline!” Bokuto shrugged. “Both work!”

Once they entered the cafe, the familiar smell of coffee beans, warmth, and just a tinge of something else hit Bokuto and made him so much more nervous. Why should he be nervous? He was hot. He was sexy. He was 6’2 of big beefy muscle and fat ass, he shouldn’t be afraid of rejection!

But then he saw her. __ hair pulled back into two pigtail french braids as she politely took a stoners order at the counter. He finally got to see her eyes, they were __, pretty __ eyes and the cutest little smile and this cute little way her nose scrunched up when she did-

Kuroo was laughing at him. Kuroo was doubled over Bokuto’s shoulder, absolutely wheezing at him, and Bokuto no longer knew how to feel.

“Bro, not cool!”

“You’re just-” Kuroo started cackling, his signature loud witch cackle, and Bokuto felt his face flush red. The pretty barista made eye contact with him at the sound of Kuroo’s laugh, cocked an eyebrow, then went back to her order. The butterflies promptly returned to his stomach.

“The way you looked at her bro-” Kuroo hiss whispered. “Priceless.” 

“Get your shit together dude, you gotta be my wingman!”

“How the hell am I supposed to do that?” Kuroo managed to choke out between laughs. “This is too much.”

“You’re horrible! I can’t be my own wingman! How am I supposed to hype myself up without looking like a complete jackass-”

Before Bokuto could finish, he realized that they were next up to order. Pretty __ Eyes looked at him and cocked her head, a shy, playful smile crossing her cheeks.

“Hi there! How can I help you today?” She chirped. Awh, even her customer service voice was adorable, he thought to himself. He sighed, trying to suppress a goofy smile on his face. Somehow, Kuroo got it together enough to stammer out, “Hey, hi, yeah, can I get uhhhh… iced latte with oat milk and vanilla flavoring please?” like a dork would.

Bokuto was so caught up thinking about how the prettiest girl in the world was somehow working at a cafe and not walking the runway, and why Kuroo would order something with oat milk out of all things, to even realize that he had to order next. Before he could snap out of his daze, he heard Kuroo laugh.

“Sorry about my friend. When he was born, all his brain cells were converted into sexy instead.”

The barista covered her mouth with her hand to suppress a laugh, and Bokuto felt a hot blush run up his neck. He would’ve punched Kuroo in the arm, but figured he had to keep his cool.

“I-” The barista giggled, not even trying to hold back her laugh. “I mean, yeah, good for him?”

“Oh yeah.” Kuroo leaned his arm up on the counter. There was nobody else behind them, and Kuroo knew what he was doing. “I mean look at the guy. Seventy four inches of pure, raw sex. Do you like volleyball?”

At this point, Pretty __ Eyes was borderline hysterics. Bokuto was starting to think Kuroo was less of a wingman and more of his own, personal jester.

“Yeah, I played in high school.” She responded. Cute, and played volleyball? Bokuto just felt the blush just hotter. 

“Yeah, this guy right here, Owlboy Sexyman, he was the fourth best ace in the country, don’t you know. Fukurodani’s captain.”

“Oh wow, you guys went to Fukurodani?”

“Nah, just him. I’m not even a fragment of how cool Mr. Sexyman here is.” Kuroo pointed at him with his thumb, then shook his head. “And he has a fat ass.”

She laughed, and shook her head.

“And does Owlboy Sexyman want anything today?”

At this point, Bokuto couldn’t hide his blush. He knew if he opened his mouth to start talking, he would end up sounding like a dog toy.

So he just stood there.

Kuroo sighed, and kicked him in the shin, which caused him to jump.

“Seems like he’s just too damn sexy today! No brain cells in sight. He’ll take a large iced hot chocolate with extra whip.”

“Sounds great.” She giggled. “Since you guys literally just made my whole shift, I’m gonna give you twenty percent off today.”

“Thank you, you’re a doll.”

When they stepped aside to pay for their drinks, Bokuto burst out laughing. Kuroo looked down at him, and choked back another cackle.

“Did you like what I did there?”

“You-” Bokuto snorted, “Are so fucking stupid.”

“Ah, it’s my specialty.”

“That definitely did not work at all. If anything, she probably likes you from that whole show you put on.”

“Nah, she didn’t look interested in me. Worst case scenario, at least we made a pretty girl laugh at your expense!”

“Yeah, I guess.” Bokuto shrugged.

“Iced latte for Kuroo!” Pretty __ Eyes called out, then handed the drink gingerly over to him. He took a dramatic sip, then sighed.

“Hits the spot.”

“How the heck do they even… milk an oat.” Bokuto muttered, and Kuroo shrugged.

“I dunno. How do they milk almonds?”

“Do almonds have boobs?” Bokuto asked, a little bit too loud.

“Iced hot chocolate for Owlboy Sexyman!”

The moment she announced this, Bokuto wheezed, and Kuroo spit his coffee out in the most violent, dramatic, and cartoonish way possible. Bokuto didn’t know whether or not to keep laughing, or start crying. Kuroo had iced coffee dribbling down his neck like a toddler, but even he himself couldn’t stop laughing.

Bokuto looked up to see Pretty __ Eyes hunched over the serving station convulsing as well. Bokuto walked over to her, and bowed his head in shame, all while laughing.

“I am so-”

“Who the hell are you two!” She stammered between giggles. Bokuto noticed her eyes were brighter when she laughed. He had managed to stop laughing but the smile on his face only grew. She was beautiful and he had no idea how to handle it.

“I am so, so sorry.”

“Don’t worry.” She shook her head. “Your friend has to clean that up, because I’m definitely not going to.”

“He will, he will. “Bokuto looked back over at Kuroo, who was still laughing to himself hysterically, his face buried in his hands. “I promise we’re not on drugs.” 

“Hey, it’s college. No judgement.” She smiled, Her fingertips brushed his as she handed him his drink. He noticed that she had scribbled her number on the side of the cup, and the dying blush on his face returned. His mouth gaped a little bit, then he looked back up at her.

“My name is not actually Owlboy Sexyman.”

“I would hope not.” She smiled. “I’m __, by the way.”

“I’m Bokuto.”

“Bokuto.” She repeated, then smiled. “We should hang out sometime. I don’t know many other people around here who play volleyball.”

“Oh, wow, I-” Bokuto nodded and smiled, looking a little bit dumb as he did. “That’s awesome! That’s great! That’s great.”

“See you around then?” She cocked her head. Bokuto nodded a little bit too aggressively.

“I’ll see you around!”

__ shot him one last smile before she turned around and walked back to the order counter. Bokuto sighed a deep sigh, and sat back down next to Kuroo, whose shirt was covered in spit and coffee.

“Dude, you did it.”

Kuroo looked up at him from his hands, and smiled.

“Shit, I would hope so, because this oat milk is fucking disgusting.”

[chibi-mushroom]

Just as a heads up, I wanted to add a disclaimer. This story is not necessarily canon to my AU's canon. I'm a long way off from these two getting to interact and I still have some things to think through. I also need to decide if Namine's backstory is going to stay the same or if I'm changing it slightly. So please bear with me and enjoy!

It was a warmer morning in Skyhold and for once there hadn't been a lot of snow. Riku and Ava were checking the Inquisition's mail when he heard the smaller girl chuckling a little to herself. He didn't know that he liked the smirk that filled her face.

"Did you get a love letter or something?" Riku inquired.

"Not at all. In fact, I think Namine's going to have quite the headache when she sees it."

"What is it?"

"Oh just another letter from Lord Odin in Kirkwall."

Riku rolled his eyes. Usually Namine handled all of the correspondence between the Inquisition and the noble class. After all, she had a knack for working with nobles, despite coming from a poor Antivan trading family herself. Still, this was the third letter this month from the man. Lea never liked to talk about Kirkwall even though he was a viscount there. Surely Namine would have told him if Odin had been reporting trouble, wouldn't she?

"He's been writing a lot recently. Is everything ok in Kirkwall?"

"As terrible as it's always been." Ava shook her head. "Listen, I have a job for you to do today."

"A job? But I promised Sora and Ephemer we'd-"

Suddenly Riku felt a very sharp point at his neck. He knew without looking that Ava had unleashed one of her daggers with the fancy waves on the hilt. She was good with a bow, but he had personally seen her be absolutely deadly with her daggers. The smirk that had been on her face once was now gone, but she still looked amused. He wondered what she looked like under that fox mask, and whether her eyes shone with good or ill intent.

"Ask Strelitzia to take you to the greenhouse and pick Namine a nice big bouquet of flowers." She instructed.

"You want me to…?"

The dagger pushed a little deeper into his throat. She hadn't broken skin yet, but the blade was really the only thing he could pay attention to.

"Pick the girl some flowers. I'm sure she would be grateful for them."

The bard removed her dagger and beamed at him. She was dangerous alright. He was relieved she was on their side, although there were days he had questioned even that. As she sauntered away with the letter from Lord Ordin, Riku rubbed the spot where the dagger had been just moments before. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see none other than Sora himself.

"So, I guess we gotta take a rain check, huh little boss?"

"I told you to stop calling me that." Riku brushed the Qun's** hand off. "It's Riku."

"Force of habit. No more difficult to stop than Lea and his nicknames."

"I guess. So, what's going on with the ambassador? Ava certainly seems quite amused."

"Namine's got a letter from Lord Odin in Kirkwall. Again. So I'm supposed to go get flowers for her for some reason." Riku sighed. "You have a good idea about how women work; what's all this about?"

"Dunno, I'm not in on the war table conversations." Sora shook his head. "Hey, I've got an idea. I'll go visit Namine and see what's up. That way you can stop being shy and tell her how you feel."

Riku sputtered, trying to argue about the way he felt. They had gotten close, but it was out of a need, not a want, right? The sky was tearing apart and they still needed to find out about so many loose ends that hadn't been resolved yet. Besides, he had no idea how Namine even felt about him. It would make meetings at the war table much more awkward if he couldn't even look at the ambassador.

"I'll take your inability to speak as a yes then. Don't worry buddy, old Sora will figure out exactly what's going on with the woman of your dreams." Sora clapped him on the back.

Sora left behind a still sputtering Riku as he hurried over to the ambassador's door. Ava had just left and Sora took a moment to listen in at the door. He didn't know Namine as well as he probably should have; she was usually working on something at her desk while he was out with his chargers**. She seemed super sweet though, and harmless enough.

He did have to admit that his horns made it hard to actually get his ear to the door, but he managed to hear the faint sound of vellum being shredded while Namine muttered something. There was a movement. She must have been tossing the vellum into the trash. More steps- walking back no doubt. The room was silent now as far as he could tell, although knowing Namine, she was likely writing out some forced and overly polite response. It was how all nobles tended to write. He waited a moment and then knocked on the door.

"Come in." She replied.

"Hope I didn't catch you at a bad time or anything." Sora entered.

"No, just writing a response to a noble in Kirkwall. After that I have a few personal responses to send out. One of which is to my parents. They've been mailing me nonstop since your chargers swooped in and kidnapped my sister on her wedding day."

With a chuckle to himself, Sora crossed his arms over his chest. He recalled how Noctis had asked him for help to rescue his beloved Lunafreya from having to marry a man from some wealthy Antivan family. The chargers had been a little less….formal than they could have, running in while the ceremony was going. But the look of relief that crossed over the bride's face when she saw Noctis made it all worth it. They had even gotten a chantry** brother to marry them in a small but intimate ceremony a few days later.

"That's right; it was a lot of fun. Hard to believe it was only a couple of months ago." Sora smirked.

"No Sora, it wasn't fun. Swooping is bad."** Namine sighed. "It's been a headache just trying to reassure both sides that the other will come around eventually."

She paused.

"Although I'm happy for her. She smiles so much now, and I know that's because of Noctis and the other chargers."

"That's what we do. Brighten the world one smile at a time."

Namine held her tongue. Luna got off easy. Although her parents were fuming, her potential groom found someone to replace Luna rather quickly. The marriage was supposed to help the Montilyet family work their way back into being able to trade in Orlais again. If it hadn't been for that rival family… She breathed out a sigh. There was no way to turn back time. She just hoped when it came time for her own nuptials that she could avoid the worst.

Sora leaned in satisfaction on the table where she worked. Most of the tables here were quite sturdy- none as steady as the table closest to the commander's quarters, of course. But then, that table was hardly ever used for writing these days, it seemed. At least once he had heard some sort of magic being made between the templar commander and their apothecary- but he was just getting off on a tangent. Namine had eyed him as if to ask what he was there for.

"Why don't you give this Odin guy what he wants?" Sora asked, hoping to draw out what was in the letter and change the subject.

"Give him- Sora, this is politics. You can't just give people what they want at face value. There are usually strings attached. Things go wrong when you simply ask for what you want."

"Someone smuggling some ancient book out of Kirkwall again?"**

Namine tilted her head, unsure if she were supposed to understand what he was referring to. He waved off her confusion, looking over her desk. There, sitting on the top of a pile of papers was a letter written in very fine ink. There was a green wax seal on the envelope that held a picture of a lotus. The ink itself was also of a high quality. The letters didn't have an occasional blot from the way it came out of the pen. Someone had spent a lot of money on the supplies for this letter.

"Nevermind." Sora shook his head. "So, this one of your responses?"

One glance at the pile of papers told her exactly what he was referring to. She raced to cover them up, a slight blush on her face from embarrassment. He didn't need to know details of the Montilyet household. He had already learned of her parent's reaction to the scandal that was Luna's wedding. Seeing how everything happened there would likely cause extra precautions when it came her turn for matrimony. She was a caged bird with no hope of escape.

"Hey, sorry, I swear I was just trying to lighten the mood. I know you're frustrated about that Lord in Kirkwall." Sora softened his voice when he saw the way her face fell.

"If you must know, his name is Naveen. He lives in Tevinter and he's the son of a very prominent magister." Namine spoke just above a whisper.

"Is he helping the Inquisition?" Sora looked at her with a cocked eyebrow.

"Not….exactly." Namine responded.

She gripped the letter harder and her hands began to shake while she bit on her lower lip. It was just like her to ruin everything. Sora could likely understand everything now. It wasn't her place to tell about Naveen, and yet there they were. The Qun likely hadn't meant to see the letter, Namine hoped. Sora didn't seem to be the kind to snoop. Still, she hadn't told anyone about this yet and needed a chance to vent a little. The letters were coming more often and Naveen had been speaking more frankly of his heart in them. Whether that was sincere or flattery she had no idea. Namine quickly moved to the entrance. Before closing the solid door, she checked the hallway to see if anyone was coming.

"Hey, I didn't mean anything by it. Sorry, Namine." Sora pouted.

"No, please, it might be better this way." she wrung her hands together. "But anything we say can't leave this room."

"What's going on, Namine?"

"Promise me you won't laugh."

"On my honor as a Qunari"

Namine took a deep breath before sitting down and replacing the now crinkled up letter from Naveen. She wasn't looking at him, but instead at the hands she had neatly folded in her lap. Without realizing it, she was biting her lips again. Slowly, she looked up at Sora who was waiting patiently to hear what it was that she needed to get out of her system. Even if he couldn't tell Riku about the letter, he could at least assure his friend that Namine would be alright.

"Had you ever heard of the Montilyet family before you met me?"

"Well, not really, but I was also pretty busy doing jobs all over for the longest time." Sora shrugged. "Why?"

"Well, a long time ago, our family owned hundreds of naval ships. We protected merchants leaving and coming into Antivan waters. After a scandal, we lost nearly everything and had to settle being small scale Ferelden merchants. We get by, but I can tell my parents miss it." Namine explained. "Then when I was younger, I made some choices I'd rather not talk about before being invited to come join the inquisition."

"But…"

"But in all of this commotion trying to set my family up, I guess...I sort of lost who I am….and what I care for. Now there are important decisions to be made and I'm just expected to sit still and look pretty."

Sora nodded, understanding what it was she was trying to say. She continued on about how she had met Ava when she was younger and learned about the ways of the bard from her. Although Namine was slim on the details, she did mention how much of that training now helped her avoid having to pick up a weapon again. Still, all of that had come to naught, as she still had no leads as to where to find the contracts that would help regain their trade ability. There was a wistfulness that came from her voice; it wasn't about the trade at all, even though she hadn't said it straight out.

"I may not know what path will be best for you, but I do know this: you just keep on trying and you'll reach your goal."

"Do you really think so?" Namine asked.

"Of course!" Sora stood, placing a foot on the seat of his chair. "For the Inquisition!"

She looked at him with confusion. What on earth was he doing? Sora looked down at her in the hopes he could rally her to join him. When he looked down and saw that she didn't understand what he was doing, he held his hand out for her to pull him onto the chair next to him.

"For the Montilyets!"

He placed one foot from the chair to her table. She followed his lead and scrambled onto the table afterward. With more confidence, she repeated her own family name. There was something about Sora and his rallying cry that made her want to believe that she could restore the trade abilities before she would have to face her future.

"For Namine!" Sora raised a fist into the air.

She raised a fist as well, although she kept silent this time. A small smile played on her lips. Maybe there was hope after all. Odin would give up trying to marry off one of his daughters to Riku, and Namine would find a way for her family to trade again. There was hope, there was work to be done-

There were still papers covering her desk.

Subconsciously she had stepped back to get down from where she was standing. It was sort of silly how they were standing on the table, no matter how old and sturdy it might be. Besides, Sora never seemed to wear shirts, even into battle. Instead, he opted for the Qunari vitaar, which was a poison that was fatal if it touched anyone who hadn't been born into the Qun. He wasn't wearing any now, but Namine became aware of just how close they had been standing by the strong smell of the soap he applied to get it off afterward. He didn't want to risk Kairi touching it by accident.

It was the strangest thing. Somehow she felt like she had begun falling in slow motion. As she stepped back there had been a knock at the door. Something registered in her mind that someone had entered the room, and something dropped to the floor. She gave a yelp and closed her eyes, expecting to hit the floor.

But she never did.

Instead, the scent of firewood and smoke crossed her senses and she could feel a strong pair of arms around her, holding her up. She hadn't even fallen very far. When she opened her eyes, she saw the Inquisitor. Her cheeks went crimson and she looked back to Sora who was smirking like a cat.

"Did...I interrupt something?" Riku asked.

"No, not at all." Sora hopped off the table. He picked up the bouquet and turned around before taking a step out the door. "Saving these for anyone?"

"Actually, those are for Namine." Riku responded.

"Aww, what a kindly gesture. You'll have to let her go at some point if you want to give them to her. Unless you *wanted* to hold her this long. Here, I'll leave them here for you both to enjoy." Sora put them down and then headed down the hall a short distance so he could still hear what was happening.

Riku nearly dropped Namine upon hearing that, but after catching her again, he carefully let her down. She wasn't quite ready to stand on her own, so she placed a hand on his arm to steady herself.

So that was the result of so much violence. She thought, which caused her to only glow more red.

"H-here. Ava suggested I bring these over for you. They're from the greenhouse." Riku handed her the bouquet.

"Thank you. I-I'll have to send her my thanks as well."

There was silence for a moment.

"Is everything okay? Ava said you might get aggravated by that letter from Kirkwall." Riku inquired.

"Yeah, it was just another noble. With you being the leader of one of the most influential groups in Thedas**, it only makes sense that everyone wants you to marry their children, but I figured you'd want to focus on the rift for now."

He stared blankly at her as if he didn't quite understand what she had said. Namine looked away and bit her lip again. Maybe she should have just said something to him when she got the first letter. She had learned a lot from her past, but nothing like this was covered in her training. She wasn't sure if she even *should* be feeling anything in this particular moment.

"Namine I-"

Riku was interrupted when Kairi ran into the room, Sora attempting to stop her.

"I heard a scream. Is everything ok in here?"

"It's fine! Nothing going on!" Riku blushed.

"I was just trying to reach something and Riku caught my fall!"

Both spoke at the same time in a rushed voice that Kairi knew as being a lie, but with the way they were blushing and how Sora had been trying to stop her, she automatically understood what was going on to some extent. When she smirked the same way Sora had only a short time ago, the Inquisitor and the ambassador looked to realize that she hadn't let go of his arm since he put her down. Quickly they slid apart, blush laying heavily on their cheeks.

"Sure, sure." Kairi chuckled, now dragging Sora out of the room.

When they had closed the door behind them and walked a short way away, Kairi slipped her hand into Sora's.

"Let's sweeten the pot on our bet, shall we? An extra fifty gold goes to the winner if they get together before the empress's ball at the Winter Palace."

"My dear," Sora smiled as he squeezed her hand "I think you have a deal."

Okay, notes time!

So if you saw my picture for Sokai week, you'll have an idea of what Sora is supposed to look like. For those who haven't played Dragon Age, the Qun or Qunari is both a type of people who are born with horns on their heads (with a few very rare exceptions) and the religious lifestyle they lead. They're super interesting and I love learning about them.

Sora's chargers are his best friends/band of fighters. In this particular au it consists of Mulan, Noctis and the Chocobros.

The Chantry is the major church of the world, and it kind of controls the templars who keep the mages from letting demons possess them. Long story short, a lot of people have lost confidence in the Chantry in telling them the truth and doing the right thing.

For those of you who have played Dragon Age Origins, the 'swooping is bad' line should be very familiar to you. I laugh so hard at it with every playthrough that I was practically contractually obligated to include it.

Can't say too much about the book getting smuggled out of Kirkwall, as that goes into spoiler territory. But just know that the Qun tried asking for their book back and someone ended up dead. (in canon. Not sure what I'll be doing in the au yet, haha)

Thedas is the name for the world in Dragon Age.

[nadziejastar]

Another thing what really frutrated me about KH3 is that Riku and Kairi got zero interaction together during the entirety of tne game, no matter if it would have been one-on-one interaction or anything else. What are your thoughts on that?

Kairi: Who’s this new Riku and where’s the old one?

Riku: New me?

Kairi: Yeah. You’re more like Sora.

Riku: Should I be flattered? I try too hard to be the role model. It’s more fun to just listen to my heart. Which is Sora-esque. 

Kairi: Well, we still like you.

Yeah, the Destiny Island Trio really suffered compared to the other trios. Although Sora and Kairi’s bond got quite a bit of focus in the games, and Sora’s friendship with Riku also got a lot of attention, Riku and Kairi barely seemed like friends. I actually got really excited in 0.2 when Kairi playfully teased Riku. It was similar to the way Xion would tease Axel. It was really cute. It was one of the first times we saw them portrayed as actual best friends who grew up together and were comfortable around each other. Sora/Riku is the most popular pairing, and Sora/Kairi got a TON of attention in KH3. But Riku and Kairi’s relationship was kinda left by the wayside.

There’s no way I can lose to Sora.

Sora, I’m jealous.

I can’t run that desperately, I can’t laugh like that.

Why am I the only one a year older?

Maybe if Sora wasn’t here - if Kairi wasn’t here. If one of them wasn’t here, I’d definitely be able to get along well with whoever remained.

A world without Sora, a world without Kairi, it was just as much as cruel as it was a fantasy.

It’s too bad because I definitely think Riku still had unfinished emotional baggage with Kairi. There’s a novel short story that I really liked called “Total Eclipse”. I found a very good translation of it online. After CoM, Riku is having nightmares for three days straight. This is before he sets off on his own without Mickey. He’s remembering how he was feeling before Destiny Islands fell to darkness, right before he heard the Robed Figure say that the Door would soon open. He was feeling depressed. And I liked the novel’s interpretation of Riku’s character, specifically his feelings for Kairi. They seemed much more relatable.

Part of Riku kinda hated both Sora and Kairi in KH1. Sora was more childish than Riku and was able to enjoy the simple act of racing over and over. But Riku couldn’t. He was bored and dissatisfied and jealous of Sora’s simplicity. He hated being a year older. Riku also hated how Sora and Kairi were becoming closer and leaving him behind. He thought that maybe, if one of them was gone, then he’d get along well with whoever remained. Just not both of them at the same time. He was jealous of their growing relationship. It’s a common feeling when you have a best friend who suddenly get a significant other. I think that was part of why Riku was susceptible to darkness in KH1. Once he thought Sora replaced him with Donald and Goofy, he became obsessed with finding Kairi. 

“Sorry, Mickey.”Riku drooped just slightly.“Why’re you apologising? You haven’t done anything bad.” Even with Mickey’s words, Riku stayed drooped.I haven’t done anything bad? Really?But I thought of a world without Sora, without Kairi.And then, I hurt Sora, and Kairi.So did I really do nothing bad?       I called to the darkness inside you.Surprised by the sudden voice, Riku’s shoulders shook.He couldn’t be noticed by Mickey.       I am you - you are me - and we are darkness.I wanted to say that wasn’t true. But I couldn’t say that.I knew that I had darkness in my heart.So I decided that I would live with my darkness.I wouldn’t lose to something like the darkness in my heart.Even though I - fantasised about a world with no Sora, no Kairi - I hadn’t been able to destroy either of them.Since they’re both my important friends.“Riku?”“It’s nothing, Mickey. Let’s sleep a bit more.” Riku smiled.“Okay then.” Mickey lay down beside him.

Perhaps that aspect of Riku was going to be explored in more depth in KH0.5. It was supposed to be a game to make the main characters more complicated. And we did get to see the moment that Riku accepted the Robed Figure into himself in Re:Coded. In the novel short story, Riku feels really guilty for wanting to live in a world without Sora and Kairi. That’s why he decided to take off and leave Mickey behind. I don’t think he really got closure for all of that.

Writing this post inspired me. I swear, I should do another fanfic, this time with Riku and his blank period in KH1, Days, KH2. That was one of the ideas I had after I beat KH3. Riku’s story just felt so unsatisfying and unresolved to me. Plus, somebody’s gotta go to the Jungle Book world. I hate how that world got scrapped in BBS. Maybe Riku can go there by himself. Hmm. I dunno. I need to rewatch it again.

[darkvolley]

The Remind DLC trailer is officially out on youtube, I'm so excited. We get to play Aqua and Riku again, and Roxas during the organization fights, with some differences. And I wonder who Young Xehanort is talking to? Is it the master of masters? And it seems that Luxord is catching on what Xigbar is doing, maybe, since he asks who he is.

I had to step away from this ask as soon as realized what it was cuz I wanted to learn it all in the trailer first.

Here's the trailer for anyone that hasn't seen it yet.

Okay, so

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

WHAT THE FUCK MAN?!?!?!?!?! WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!?!? OKAY OKAY OKAY OKAY OKAY OKAY OKAY I'm good, I'm good. I'm fine. It's okay. It's not okay, everything's not okay. It's okay. FUCK!!!!!

FIRST OFF!!!!

Junior has silver eyes. In every game we've seen him in barring the chess scenes he has yellow eyes. This is definitely a flashback, likely to when he finished gathered the other Norts from different moments in time. MoM/Luxu says "The world tour" so that's gotta be what he means by that. This also means they don't turn yellow until later. Perhaps it happens in this very scene tho, but there's no way to be sure.

And the fact that Junior says "It's awful. I realized just how necessary I am." Does he not like this? Does he not want to do this? Is this not what he wants? You're corrupting the baby boy MoM/Luxu!!!!!!

Oh yeah, onto MoM/Luxu. I can't be too sure of which one it is. I mean, logically it'd be Luxu/Xigbar, but there is a chance it could be MoM. The two do have the same body language nowadays after all. If it is MoM(which honestly, I doubt) what would his purpose be for getting involved? I can't imagine honestly.

So, Riku, Aqua, and Roxas! This is what we wanted! Great!!! I suppose Riku and Aqua are a given, and I'm soooo glad we can play as Roxas!!! I do think it's a shame we can't play as Lea, Xion, Kairi, or Ventus tho. But I guess that means we'd also have to be allowed to play as Mickey and I don't care for that. Also he's held hostage during the Luxord fight so it makes sense. But still, I wanna play as Kairi!!! I can't wait to see how Roxas plays tho! He's really OP during the Saix fight so I'm assuming he'll be nerfed when played as.

I didn't see Sora during any of the gameplay tho. I probably just missed him since there's so much going on, so correct me if he is there, but it's probably cuz the focus is on the new playable characters rather than Sora... Or something else... Who knows...

I did find it interesting that Lea is in the Saix fight with Roxas and Xion tho!

Oh wait! Sora actually isn't a party member here! I was just gonna point out Lea buuuut... Hm...

Sora isn't a party member in Aqua and Ven's fight but is in Riku's fight. There's not four people like in the Saix fight so there's no need to remove Sora(and four party members is normal now in KH3 so...?). Why is Sora gone???? Where does he go? What is he up to???? I really can't begin to imagine!

Anyway, I wanted to point out that there might be a change of events. Xion(and/or Roxas, I can't remember) tells Lea to stay back since he's hurt. If he's present during the fight, and Sora's not, then does that mean canon has been changed? It's just a small thing so it's not a big deal, but I'd say it's kinda odd regardless.

I honestly have no idea why were shown footage of Sora fighting the replica vessels. I didn't notice anything new or different going on so I dunno what's up with that. If there's something I'm not seeing there then someone lemme know.

But!!! The best part!!!! WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON BETWEEN LUXORD AND XIGBAR!?!?! Luxord is suspecting things!!! He's knows there's something up with Xiggy! And he chooses to play dumb! I guess that fits in which Luxord's personality. He doesn't disrupt things, he doesn't get involved, he just let's himself get carried away by the waves as they so choose. But still, the fact that he's confronting Xiggy at all is interesting! Unless, Xig was the one that approached him.

Luxord also threw him a card! Xig threw it away tho, so I dunno if it's actually important or not. Luxord coulda just thrown it to get Xigbar's attention, who knows. I'm really curious if there's any relation between it and the card he threw to Sora tho...

But, the more important thing...

I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF THIS!!!!

He could be asking because Luxord is about to turn out to be someone very important or he's asking cuz Luxord asked him the same thing and it's kinda a snide remark cuz he seems a bit aggitated. I really hope there's weight to the question, but it could be a red herring so I'm hesistant to be postive Luxord has a secret.

Now, one simple concern I have...

WHERE THE FUCK IS DEMYX!?!?!?!

Like sure, there were so many characters we didn't see, but I just need to know he shows up!!!! I need to!!! And the fact that the one we know for now has more screen time is Luxord is wild honestly!!!!! Altho, I do wanna say. I did think it was odd Luxord turned out to be a Dandelion. It might be the goatee, but he looks older than Demyx, Larxene, and Marly. It's always possible that he was just one of the oldest keykids, but it still felt off to me. I have no idea what to make of anything going on with Luxord now really. I just know people are now gonna jump ship to him being MoM.

[mellz117]

Hello all and welcome to part 4 of my playthrough of KH2 on the PS2. If you haven't seen the previous entries please go do that.

[ _1_ ] [ _2_ ] [ _3_ ]

To recap: The Wonders of Twilight Town are boring as hell. We spoke to Namine again, Roxas finally realizes his life this week is a lie and starts to remember his life in the Organization. DiZ is racist against Nobodies but we already knew that. Roxas and Axel fight, I wanted to cry. Roxas meets Sora in his sleeping pod before disappearing, I wanted to cry.

And the adventure continues

I wanna know how Sora wakes up in the real world when Roxas merges with him in the virtual one. How in CoM does Sora go to sleep in Castle Oblivion, the whole-ass chamber and then some get transferred to Twilight Town, Roxas meets him in a virtual version of the mansion, and Sora wakes up in the real mansion in KH2? Nomura please explain this series. Is Final Fantasy ever this convoluted?

Donald and Goofy call out to Sora and we're once again reminded this is a Disney game. I don’t know why but the fact that Disney owns the original Kingdom Hearts characters bothers me. It means, unless DISNEY gives the OK, Sora will never be in Smash Bros. and that makes me sad.

I don't know much about comas but after a year of total inactivity, wouldn't your muscles atrophy like, A BUNCH? At least is wasn’t 7... OR VENTUS WITH A WHOLE DECADE WTF?

Again WHY COULDN'T JIMINY JUST KEEP EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN CHAIN OF MEMORIES WRITTEN DOWN IN HIS JOURNAL INSTEAD OF A CRYPTIC MEMO TO THANK NAMINE?

The trinity trio wanders out of the mansion, loot some chests, and find their way to the back alleys of town.

Hayner is rude RIGHT outta the gate, wow. Ok I remember that Pence actually met Roxas in Days, and so to me he seems to recognize Sora through his memories of Roxas despite the two sharing like, one visual similarly: blue eyes. But KH3 to my understanding reveals that the virtual versions of characters affect the real version so I dunno!! WHAT IS THIS SERIES?

"Have you finished the summer homework yet?" Olette asks Sora and his two ANIMAL COMPANIONS as if seeing two anthropomorphic animals is fucking normal in a town comprised entirely of humans and exactly one moogle.

Sora doesn't have any homework. For over a year he's been away from home and his mom couldn't make him go to school. I wonder how she's doing? Does she miss her son? Kingdom Hearts and parents don't gel.

I like how.. When Pence describes this cloaked figure who was looking for the trinity trio, as having big, round ears, they have to think about who it could possibly be. They’re not too bright.

Why is “sofa” capitalized? Also they weren't even sitting on it, neither of them were!

HAYNER IS A RUDE BOY! He tells us so ask Seifer about the town, as we are new. Bruh, if you’re this rude to us I’m sure how much worse Seifer and his posse are.

Seifer is immediately confrontational. “You here to pick a fight with us?” and Sora’s all like “No, we’re new here.” and DONALD FUCKING DUCK! INSULTS SEIFER AND NOW EVERYONE’S READY TO THROW DOWN! THANKS TO THIS DUMB FUCK DUCK!

But thank Christ big chungus appears out of nowhere and stops the children and two adult furries from causing a scene.

This dude is WAY too into the Struggle tournament. Seifer has an unwanted faaaaan! Bro, go away, you’re creeping on a teenager.

I wanna fight Seifer.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

I'm not working on this like I should be. I'm going on vacation soon and since we're all in quarantine I can't really do anything fun so this is the opportune time to catch up.

Moving on! We make our way to the train station and oh no, we're ambushed by Dusks! Because of COURSE we are. Who could've seen THAT coming? /s

I- I like how, even after hearing his voice, and seeing his fucking mousey silhouette, the gang STILL might not be sure this is their stupid rat king. One brain cell between the three of them, I swear, and Goofy is the primary carrier, and it only sometimes works.

Why do we need to purchase tickets to travel on a magical train embarking to an ethereal plane of existence? I guess it's the principal of it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I HAVE A MIGHTY NEED TO HUG THIS BOY. LOOK, HE'S CRYING!

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Pence is so cute. I didn't care much for him when I was younger but he's such a cutie. 

……………………………………………………………………………………………

I HAVE A MIGHTY NEED TO HUG THIS BOY. LOOK, HE'S SAD!

……………………………………………………………………………………………

It's fat cat Pete. For like ever, I had no idea he was a cat. Wonder what Maleficent saw in him to ally with him.

The trinity trio laughing about killing (or at least taking part in killing) Maleficent. "She's toast!" this sure is early 2000's dialogue...

Heartless everywhere! "You mean the worlds aren't at peace after all" well, no sweetie. It takes time for things to recover from horrible events. *looks at current state of the real world*

So like, I had no idea Yen Sid was a Keyblade warrior??? I had read about that in his Wiki page when I googled if any Keyblade warriors were left handed. (Ven might be, but more likely ambidextrous) But I guess being Mickey's teacher would imply his Keyblade wielder roots but whatever, I didn't pay attention when I was a teenager.

Yen Sid's decor is baffling. What are these bookshelves? What are these BOOKS? They're huge!

Good on Yen Sid for using singular “they” pronouns in 2005.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

On to our change of wardrobe. Without a doubt Sora's best look in the whole series, in my humble opinion. Lookit my handsome boy. 

And Sora learns about drive forms, blah, blah, blah, powerful forms, gotta sacrifice something like in Duel Monsters, in this case an ally.

Yen Sid is so boring.

All seriousness and tension is just broken as soon as Goofy’s name is uttered, at least Sora and Donald have normal names wtf.

It’s interesting how like, 15 years later, Union X explains how Maleficent was able to return after her defeat. Something about, as long as someone from your original time remembers you and you have a physical object to represent you you’re able to basically some back from the dead. Right? Am I right on that? I haven’t played it but I’m hanging by a thread on this loop.

Sora’s hard work down the drain...

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Hollow Bastion! And of course there’s trouble. Heartless, Nobodies, and Yuffie, oh my!

A problem sequels have to work around is when the protagonist needs to relearn their abilities. KH does a well and good job with this one. In CoM, it’s a different battle style, in KH2 Sora’s been asleep for a hear prior.

Also, Merlin “leant” Sora some magic spells? How does that work? Like, once you learn it you can’t just... give that knowledge back...?

……………………………………………………………………………………………

How old is Leon? He has no right being this pretty.

Another ambush by Nobodies. Give it a rest, would ya? Battle ensues, Leon deals the final blow against an enemy, and as the camera usually does, zooms in on the victor and we get a nice slow-mo crotch shot of Leon. Thanks, game... Then, Xemnas’s very sexy, very manly voice echoes across town and the organization appears before our protagonists. I’m weak.

Demyx’s laugh, dude. I love it. Sora is ready to throw hands with anyone in his way. Honey, you’re barely out of a magic coma and this dude is like, two whole feet taller than you. Not to mention very fit.

I’m done thirsting over Xemnas...

After a few taunting words, the new villains depart, Donald attempts to give chase somehow? Where you gonna go? They disappeared behind dark corridors. It seems Goofy is still holding onto that shared brain cell.

The Bastard

I like the majority of the Organization. Xigbar is definitely one of my favorites based on this next scene alone. He’s so snarky and full of shit. I love it. He’s great. He was definitely a stoner at some point.

I’m confused though. “He used to give me that same exact look!” the Wiki says Xigbar’s talking about Ven but I always thought he was referring to Roxas? Did Braig and Ven have a history? That’s implied in Days (which released before BbS) IDK dude. I’m surprised I’ve gone this long without spoiling myself too much on BbS. Like, a few story beats here and there but a lot of it isn’t gonna be known until I play it.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

The dialogue for KH2 was so different from the first game. It dates itself so much in comparison.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Xiggy stands like this for 7 whole seconds parting with a condescending “Be a good boy now!” before disappearing. I love this fucker.

Leon, who’s been sitting on the sidelines this whole time, joins Sora and the others after the real threat is gone. We chitchat for a little bit and say our goodbyes. It’s time to leave this place and move on to one of two available worlds.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

At the Beast's Castle. After fighting a hoard of Shadows, the least intimidating enemy in the series (although the demon tower in kh3 is quite frightening nlg), the Beast himself makes his appearance, takes out the Heartless that suddenly stop multiplying upon his arrival, disgracefully shoves his supposed friends aside, and takes his precious rose to the west wing, which is where it SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE FIRST PLACE. ADAM WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

……………………………………………………………………………………………

No joke one of the funniest actual gags in the whole series is:

*Donald Duck manhandling Cogsworth*

Cut to Sora saying "I'm glad you're OK." to Lumiere

……………………………………………………………………………………………

OK the minigame where you gotta light the magic torches, why do we have to make sure Cogsworth  has enough strength to keep the lever down when we have two perfectly capable companions that can hold it down instead? I remember this sequence being a lot more annoying when I was a teen.

Xaldin's voice makes me feel things. Ahhh he sounds so tired lol. He peaces out and we fight the Beast. I remember getting him to calm down being harder.

"Xaldin used my anger to control me!" Says Beast. He angers very easily so this must have been a cinch. Xaldin's been obsessed with him since Days so I would imagine this intel would come in handy.

More fodder to fight and on to the boss. Phase one is just an angrier version of the Darkball Heartless. Phase two is just skinny Ganon. I like its design though.

“Belle, I’m sorry. I wasn’t myself, being all rude and overall kind of a jackass to you and my servants” Except that’s kinda how you’ve always been lmao. Just because you couldn’t choose not to be an ass here doesn’t change that this IS in character. Still gotta work on that a bit.

“You don’t have to apologize” No, no he still does.

They all reconcile and the Trinity Trio departs until Xaldin shows up again to wreak more havoc.

Time to move on to the next world.

[absoluterpmemetrash]

SORA

"I've been having these weird thoughts lately... Like, is any of this real or not?"

"Well, whoever you are, stop freaking me out like this!"

"Oh yeah? Well, you'll see. I'm gonna get out and learn what's out there."

"What a dream... This isn't a dream! Where am I?"

"Ok, why not? I'll go with you guys."

"What's so funny? I've fought a bunch of monsters!"

"Heart or no heart, at least he still has a conscience. You might not hear it, but right now it's loud and clear. And it's telling me you're on the wrong side!"

"I don't need a weapon! My friends are my power!"

"That's not true! The heart may be weak and sometimes it may even give in. But I've learned that deep down, there's a light that never goes out!"

"____, remember what you said before? I'm always with you, too. I'll come back to you. I promise!"

"Yeah, it was good to see everyone. But what do you really want from me?"

“Where are you?! Don't you dare hide from me! Show yourself!"

“These memories you gave me... In my head, I know they're lies, but they still feel right. Like the promise I made. I said I would protect you and that I wouldn't make you cry... not ever.”

“If you cry now --- I'll feel guilty, like I let you down."

"What's going on? Everything's black and white."

"I dunno what that was about, but I'm glad it's over. Everything's harder on four legs."

"We have to say goodbye for a little while."

"Gee, thanks for looking out for us, mister. But I think we can take care of ourselves just fine."

"Go on. Show them who's boss."

"Man. What kind of world is this, anyway?"

"Not what I had in mind, but I'll take it!"

"I looked for you! I looked everywhere for you!"

"Why didn't you let me know you were ok?"

"Just give it a rest! You're Nobodies! You don't even exist! You're not sad about anything!"

"There's more to a heart than just anger and hate. It's full of all kinds of feelings. Don't you remember?"

"That doesn't mean YOU'RE eternal!"

"Aw, c'mon, ____. You've been hanging around darkness for too long. You gotta try and think positive."

"He can't let his heart be a prison. Don't worry. I'll go talk to him."

"I think, for now, you two better get out of here."

"Hey, listen, Your Maj-- ...I gotta stop that. ____-- what can I do to save you?"

"It's not every day I get to do a favor for the king."

"So then, all that stuff I just saw--did you put that in my head?"

"Well...my heart was aching. That's why I kept going."

"Why, then? Why did you lie to them and tell them they had no hearts?!"

"Just stop it! You treat people's hearts like bottles on a shelf, but they're not! Hearts are made of the people we meet and how we feel about them. They're what ties us together even when we're apart. They're what...make me strong!"

“I'm like the best secret-keeper in the world!"

KAIRI

"____, you lazy bum. I knew that I'd find you snoozing down here."

"I’ve told you before, I don’t remember."

"So, suppose you get to another world. What would you do there?"

"____, let's take the raft and go—just the two of us!"

"You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready. No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here. Right?"

"This time, I'll protect you."

"I didn't want to just forget about you, ____. I couldn't."

"Come on, ____. We made it this far by sticking together. You can't go alone."

"Take this. It's my lucky charm. Be sure to bring it back to me."

"Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you."

"His voice always used to be there... but now it's gone. I can't think of his face, or his name. I feel awful about it."

"I said that no matter where he is, I'll find him. One day. And when I stopped writing, I remembered we made a promise, something important. This letter is where it starts. I know it."

"You and ____ never came home, so I came looking for you."

"I don't like the feel of this place. It's almost like a graveyard. Just about everything is in ruins."

"So all of you were out adventuring while I was living a normal life. Why do I always get left out!? You're going to tell me about it later!"

"I'm tired of waiting, so don't tell me to stay behind! From now on, wherever one of us goes, the other follows, got it?"

"Thinking of you, wherever you are.”

“We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend.”

“Who knows: starting a new journey may not be so hard, or maybe it has already begun. 

“There are many worlds, but they share the same sky — one sky, one destiny."

"I picked you some flowers. Thank you for saving me."

"Could you tell me that story?"

RIKU

"When we grow up, let’s get off this island. We’ll go on real adventures, not this kid stuff!"

"Giving up already? Come on, ____. I thought you were stronger than that."

"Well, I haven’t really thought about it. It’s just... I’ve always wondered why we’re here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds... Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"

"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They’ll remain a part of each other’s lives no matter what."

"Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There’s no turning back. But this may be our only chance.” 

“We can’t let fear stop us! I’m not afraid of the darkness!"

"But ___, I thought you liked games. Or are you too cool to play them now?"

"Why are you doing all this for me? What’s the catch?"

"Are they that important to you? More important than old friends? Instead of worrying about them, you should be asking about her."

"What? You’re saying my heart’s weaker than his?"

"Take care of her."

"Of all the people I could run into, it had to be you..."

"I turned to darkness because my heart was weak. I hate that weakness. It's like I'm my own enemy."

"So let me guess... You want to pull me back into the darkness and play puppet master again... right?"

"Oh, I get it. You think I'll stop fighting the darkness just to prove I'm not afraid of it. Nice try. But I'm gonna keep fighting."

"I never thought I'd miss the island winds so much. Funny — there was a time I couldn't wait to get off this rock. And now I'm acting all relieved."

"This seemed like a boring place to take a nap anyway."

"I guess I followed the darkness right to you."

"You can't get the memories back out."

"You don't have to worry. I'm getting the hang of keeping the darkness under control."

"I'm no one --- just a castaway from the darkness."

"His heart's decided. We can't change that."

"Once we go through, there's no turning back. It's victory... or oblivion."

“Let's go home together this time."

"Don't worry. You're all still you."

"All right, that's your cue. Go save the world, hero."

"He won't listen. Once you've fallen that far, there's almost no coming back."

”She sacrificed herself to save me? Why did you keep it from me for so long?”

"What about us? You could’ve given us a choice. We could have gone and helped her."

[talinexa]

A Promise Kept - ReplikuXNaminé One-Shot

Listen, this is my Kingdom Hearts O! T! P! (Also some mild spoilers for KH3)

Riku paced up and down Mickey’s study in the Disney Town castle. “There has to be something we can do!” he exclaimed. “He saved my life and disposed of the Dark Riku in Xehanort’s maze at the Graveyard. I can’t just... leave him forgotten.”

“But, like he said,” Mickey pointed out, “the worlds already have you.”

“The worlds already have Sora, but Roxas and Xion get to exist too,” Riku replied, sharper than he intended. “Xion was meant to be a replica of Sora just like he was a replica of me. Xion just got lucky and made friends and made her own identity. And the worlds already have Kairi but he sacrificed his chance at having a body again so that Naminé could live. It just... it doesn’t seem fair that his sacrifice doesn’t get rewarded.”

Mickey looked thoughtful. After a moment, the king sighed. “You’re right. But his heart took the heart of the Dark Riku and disappeared. How are we supposed to find him now?”

Riku conjured his keyblade. “I’ll follow my heart to him.”

Mickey nodded. “I’m coming too.”

Riku opened his mouth to protest but decided against it. “Thank you,” he said instead.

“Let’s get going. The sooner we start, the sooner we’ll be done. And I’m not looking forward to another trip into the Realm of Darkness.”

Riku sighed. “Neither am I.”

“But before we go, call Ansem, Even, and Ienzo at Radiant Garden. Tell them to get another replica ready.”

“Sure thing, Your Majesty.”

*****

“Naminé,” a familiar voice said from behind. She jumped in surprise, her pencil leaving a streak over her paper.

“Riku!” she exclaimed. “You startled me.”

“Sorry,” he said. After a moment’s hesitation, he held his hand out to her. “Come with me.”

Curious, she set her sketchbook off to the side and got up. She took his hand and let him lead her through the hallways of the castle at Radiant Garden. “What are you doing here? I thought you were home. Destiny Islands, I mean,” she said.

Riku took a deep breath. “No... I’ve been traveling a lot the past couple weeks, actually. Trying to find Sora, you know. But the more I look, the less I find. I dunno... if I’m ever going to find him.”

“Don’t be discouraged yet. Sora lives on in all our hearts, and that ties him back to us. We’ll find him eventually,” Naminé said.

“Yeah...” Riku mused.

They descended some stairs and made it to Ansem’s study.

“Knock-knock!” Riku shouted.

“Come in, children,” Ansem the Wise said. Riku pushed the door open and held it there for Naminé. “Ah. You’re ready I see.”

“Ready for what?” Naminé asked curiously.

Ansem glanced at Riku. “You’ve not told her, my boy?”

Riku shrugged. “Wanted it to be a surprise.”

Ansem smiled. “Quite so,” he said. “Come along, Naminé. There is something we wish to show you.” The wall opened to reveal the passageway to the computer room. Ansem led the way, Naminé close behind, with Riku bringing up the rear. Riku fought to hide his smile. He hoped this would make her happy.

“Master Ansem. I think we’re done,” Ienzo said. “The subject should regain consciousness any minute now.”

“Well done, my boy. Don’t you think our new friend deserves a familiar face to wake up to?” Ansem asked, gesturing behind him to Naminé.

Ienzo smiled. “I do,” he agreed. “Miss Naminé, if you would.” He held a hand out. She took it and let the young man lead her through the large room to a gurney under a bright light similar to the one she’d woken up under when they restored her. Even was standing near it, working. But lying on the gurney was...

“Riku?” she asked, letting go of Ienzo’s hand and rushing forward the last distance. She glanced up at Even. “Is this...?”

“The replica of Riku I made in Castle Oblivion. Yes,” Even said. “I did the boy a terrible disservice during my time in the Organization. Giving him a second chance was the least I could do.”

Naminé gave Even, Ienzo, Ansem the Wise, and the real Riku a watery smile. “Thank you,” she said. The real Riku smiled back.

“It was the least we could do,” he said.

Even bowed away from the gurney. Naminé gently slid her hand into Replica Riku’s and watched his face carefully. It was still and peaceful. His chest rose and fell slowly.

She glanced back at the others. “He needs his own name,” she said.

“We can let him decide that,” Riku said, leaning against the wall with his arms folded. “Let him choose his own identity.”

Naminé nodded. “Yes. You’re right,” she agreed.

The replica’s fingers tightened around hers, snapping her attention back to him. She gasped quietly, her hand squeezing his.

Teal eyes opened and squinted against the bright light. Even dimmed it.

“Na... Naminé?” the replica asked quietly.

Her eyes watered. “Yes. It’s me. You’re here.”

“How... what...?”

Naminé glanced back at Riku leaning against the wall with his Gummiphone held loosely in his hand. “I went back to the Realm of Darkness and found your heart,” Riku said. “We brought it back here. Ansem, Even, and Ienzo made another replica to put your heart in. To bring you back.”

“Wh... why?” The replica sat up, still clinging to Naminé’s hand like it was the only thing tethering him to reality. Like if he let go, he would disappear again. “I didn’t...”

“You saved me and ensured Naminé’s heart would have a vessel. Bringing you back was the least we could do,” Riku said.

Naminé threw her arms around the replica of Riku and held him tight. “You’re here,” she whispered. “You’re here and you’re you.” The replica held her back, squeezing as tight as he dared, as though ensuring none of this was a dream. His nose buried itself in her hair. Slowly, not letting go of Naminé, he climbed off the gurney.

“Thank you. All of you.”

“You are welcome,” Even said. Ienzo and Ansem nodded. Riku just smiled.

“Be good to her, kid,” Riku said. “If you’re not, I’ll find out about it.” He was teasing. The same way he did with Sora. But the replica didn’t seem to understand that at first.

“Oh you have my word that I will be,” he replied. “I have no intention of—”

Riku snickered. “I know. Don’t worry about it.” He waved dismissively. “You two are going to be cute together.” He pushed off the wall and looked to Ansem. “Sorry to show up for five minutes and run, but there’s some other business I have to take care of. Looking for my best friend never stops.”

“Right. Good luck, my boy,” Ansem said.

“Thanks. Take care of them.” Riku nodded to Naminé and the replica of himself smiling at each other.

“Of course.”

Riku jogged off.

Naminé raised a hand and brushed the backs of her fingers down the replica’s face. “Riku told me when I came back that I have you to thank for emptying a vessel for me.”

“Oh, uh... yeah. I promised I’d keep you safe and take care of you, right? Even if that memory wasn’t real—it was to me.”

Naminé smiled. “Yes. I know,” she said. “But now... you’re your own person. You can... you can be whoever you want to be. You can have a different name. You’re not being forced into anyone’s shadow now.”

Replica Riku brushed a stray hair out of Naminé’s face. “I don’t want to be anyone other than the kid who promised to keep you safe.”

“You already did that when you saved a replica for me instead of taking it yourself. You kept your promise.”

“Well... I’ll find out who I am in time. As long as you’re here I look forward to that adventure.”

“Me too.”

*****

“I was thinking—if we’re ever seen together and anyone asks, I can always introduce you as my younger brother,” Riku said over the Gummiphone video call. “Away from the Destiny Islands, no one outside the people who already know the truth would even bother to question it. That being said, it would be easier to do that if you’d decide on a name of your own.”

“Yeah I guess,” Replica Riku said.

“Is that Riku?” Naminé asked, trotting into the room.

“Oh. Uh. Yeah,” Replica Riku replied.

Naminé set her hand on his shoulder and leaned over it to be seen on the screen. “Hello Riku. Lovely to see you.”

“Good to see you too, Naminé. Keeping this guy out of trouble?”

“Um... I’d say it’s the other way around,” Naminé said, glancing at Replica Riku’s face an inch from hers, pretending she didn’t notice his skin reddening. “Not that either of us get into trouble. But sometimes there are people who are rude and he gets indignant and protective.”

“There haven’t been any real problems so far,” Replica Riku said. Naminé smiled.

“No not really,” she agreed. “Do you have any suggestions for a new name?”

“Nope. As I said. I’m letting him figure out who he is for himself. I think it’s better that way,” Riku said.

Replica Riku nodded. “Thank you. I was thinking Shin. It means ‘real’ or ‘genuine.’ And I thought... because I’m... my own real person now...”

“I think it’s great,” Naminé said. Riku on the screen nodded.

“Me too,” he agreed. “Go out there and be your own person.”

“Thank you, Riku.”

“No problem. I gotta go. See you two kids later. Have fun.” Riku waved and hung up.

Naminé offered her hand. “Come on, Shin. I was hoping we could go for a walk.”

He smiled and took her hand. “I couldn’t imagine something better to do on a day like this.” The two of them left the Radiant Garden castle and wandered the town. They went to the square and got some ice cream.

Feeling impulsive, Naminé tilted up onto her tiptoes and placed a slightly-sticky-from-ice-cream kiss on his cheek.

He turned bright red and cleared his throat.

Naminé giggled and grinned.

He leaned down and kissed her cheek back. “Thank you, Naminé. For everything.”

[fizzingwizard]

I started this on my lunch break, still gotta rewatch to be coherent but wanted to put down some bullet points of Feelings!!!

The bottom line is I did like Bokura no Mirai, because I think the Tri writers are good, BUT I think half of the issues in BoM were their hands being tied by the limited time left, and the other half simply planning way too much. Both are amateur mistakes and yet anime movies routinely make them, so I’m not as strict as I should be.

As an aside, my personal theory for this movie was that Taichi would let the two worlds merge. I thought he was going to shock everyone by choosing not to stop it, letting the worlds merge sans reboot, and that would result in humans and digimon living in harmony. It’s an unfinished theory obviously, since it supposes a different outcome of the merge than Yggdrasil believes will happen, and also because even if the world was fine after, we’d lose the future where there are two worlds and Taichi needs to be an ambassador between them. But that’s what I was expecting, something of that nature anyway, let’s say. I suppose I’m overly influenced by Tsubasa Chronicle lol.

k now for some highs and lows!!!

HIGHS

TAKERU, MAGNAANGEMON AND DEVIMON!!!! There is NOTHING like Takeru angst. omg. Not for me anyway. No other character’s trauma hit me the way Takeru still carries the burden of what happened to his partner in their very first boss battle.

People predicted Nishijima’s death but I did NOT. I thought of course he was going to be reunited with Himekawa. So this will figure in my “lows” section as well, but as for his apparent death itself, I was moved. But it’s also totally unfair and it’s more of a low than a high for Reasons. But it still deserves a mention here.

Mimi telling Meiko (and the others) to stop blaming themselves. I like Meiko, I do, but I was really annoyed with her when Hikari was feeling guilty and Meiko just had to feel guilty for that. It’s par for the course with her, and I was really defensive of her last movie - I think it was the way it felt like she was using Hikari’s distress to vent her own feelings that bothered me this time around. That being said, I certainly empathize with her and with Hikari, and I’m glad Mimi was so nice and caring about it. (Her line would have been perfectly suited to Sora - our Mimi is growing up!)

The cute moments with the Digimon - glad we still got some of those.

Yamato and Gabumon’s conversation on the balcony was UGH. So great. They’re probably my favorite partner relationship since Adventure. It was so IC and so perfect. I could cry at how sweet and sensitive and full of resilience Gabumon was. Just like his partner.

Also Yamato’s heartbreak over Taichi was sOOOO strong!! And then we they reunite he’s just like, “You’re late.” And you know what I thought of? Rini in the dub Sailor Moon movie. Hahahaha. I had actually hopped for a sweet moment between Taichi and Yamato but... well they stared at each other dramatically for a while, I guess that counts *cough*

KOUSHIROU was MAGIC. Part of me is like “fake science is fake!” but the other part is like “lol but if anyone could make fake science real it’d be Koushirou!” I love that, even when the others weren’t being forward about rejecting the reboot, and Yamato even implied that if Taichi thought it was the way to spare the most sacrifices he would do it, Koushirou was the one who emphatically said “NO!”

Hikari and everything about her. I love that she told Taichi she might not be able to forgive him. And I love that she said “thats why i’m going to fight alongside you.” And her expression during that last battle. It was the same determined look as Taichi’s. There are still a billion questions about her and Meiko as well, why what happened happened, maybe on second viewing I’ll understand more, but... I think it’s mostly “digimon lore” stuff that may never get explained.

Taichi’s phone call to Meiko at the end and the way the other kids acted. Of course I always love flustered and embarrassed Taichi. For the first time, I thought I could ship Meichi after the way Taichi called her and then did nothing but grunt and made her do all the work of carrying the conversation herself xD That boy is hopeless!

Also, Taichi in general. I’m still..... not quite sure what happened. Not quite sure what the takeaway is supposed to be. He was rescued by Nishijima after Yggdrasil’s life or death survival game, and came back to the real world... and chose to kill Meicoomon. In Kyousei, I was sad but on board because there did not appear to be any other day. I didn’t know what they’d do in Bokura no Mirai. Finales are often the age of miracles,  but on the other hand, as much as I wanted Meicoomon to reunite with Meiko, it would have been so underwhelming if everything just went back to normal with no sacrifices (oh yeah, Nishijima). So mixed feelings on how things played out. But one thing I do know is that I loved Taichi the entire time. I love that he’s not a straight up hero. He can do things that make his little sister say she’ll never forgive him. And he can be the kindest bravest person around. Right or wrong, I can’t help but like him.

LOWS

One thing - a lot of my lows result from things that went unanswered or at least I didn’t understand it last night. 

The story quite simply does not feel complete. It’s not even a feeling - it isn’t complete. What the hell was Yggdrasil’s comments about Daemon and whatever at the end. A joke? I didn’t really get the feeling. Was that dark cube some variety of dark spore? Or the one from Adventure? Also, we don’t get to find out what happened to real Gennai (or did I just miss it)? Up till now I never believed it was really him... maybe that was wishful thinking... but why tho

Taichi’s character development arc. He got a LOT. And I do love it overall, but I’m not quite sure I understand it. I suppose the simple answer is, he’s going to be an ambassador, and an ambassador needs to be able to negotiate, to see things in shades of gray, and (ok waxing poetical here but) to understand that life and death are a balance. Idk. I’m a Star Trek fan, “the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many” usually results in intergalactic shenanigans to steal whales from a different time. And who doesn’t love that?

Part of me just needed more... Idk, closure I suppose? about Meiko and Meicoomon after everything they went through. I wanted Meiko to be a bigger character in the finale movie. I’m surprised by that since I wasn’t warm to her in the beginning, but it feels wrong that in the end, all she got was a sweet farewell. It was very sweet! And heartbreaking! And I’m not exactly angry that Meicoomon was lost, but after 5 movies leading up to it, it just felt... i dunno, it lacked the sense of relief I was looking for. (However, I sometimes feel these things differently on rewatch. This is a scene I’ll be looking out for.)

The 02 gang’s been missing... like the said in Saikai. OK fine. Why didn’t the kids ever try to contact them beyond that one visit to Ken’s house?? Why weren’t they concerned that none of them were like “Hello, we heard digimon are raising hell, can we help?” That is the question folks. Tri definitely did NOT need more characters to juggle, but heck, “they’re all camping in a remote island with no electricity!” would have been a better excuse for why no one notices they’re not around.

Daigo’s death. Like I said, it was a hero’s death, and for that it was awesome. But a lot of the reasons why it was awesome were inferences. Like, Taichi was just like “whoa?” when nishijima was like “oh yeah maki’s disappeared she lost her mind searching for her dead partner.” This should have been way bigger news. I don’t see why they wouldn’t be intensely curious about their predecessors - yeah big world shaking battle is gonig on so I get it not being on the back burner, but it was totally just shoehorned in. No thank you! Daigo deserved better.

MAKI DIDN’T EVEN APPEAR. I had been so worried about her but I thought the worst that would happen would be she’d do something to redeem herself and die! But nope! She’s not there AT ALL. And Daigo’s DEAD! Honestly it wouldn’t be SO bad if we could be sure this wasn’t the end... because it just feels like there’s so much story left to tell, including theirs. The Original Chosen in Tri are more like a summary of “a fanfic I’d like to write someday.” Better to just not have included them. Found some different way to cause the reboot. They were treated worse in the end than the 02 kids, frankly.

one last quibble... Essentially no Taishiro. :( :( :( I mean just platonic moments. Just one would have been good! Oh well.

i’m totally leaving things out but that’s all I’ve got for the moment. rewatch imminent

[rxcusant]

► NAME ➔   “I’m Sora! Nice t’meet you.“

► ARE YOU SINGLE? ➔    “I don’t think i’m ever alone with Vanitas hanging around, but-- wait, you meant... dating?“ ► ARE YOU HAPPY? ➔    “I’m hangin’ in there!“ ► ARE YOU ANGRY? ➔   “...I mean I guess.“ ► ARE YOUR PARENTS STILL MARRIED? ➔    “I... haven’t checked up on them in awhile.“

NINE FACTS.

► BIRTHPLACE ➔   “Destiny Islands.” ► HAIR COLOUR ➔   “Brown.“   ► EYE COLOUR➔   ” ...Gold.“ ► BIRTHDAY ➔    ”March 28th! Heh, can you guess my age?“ ► MOOD ➔   “Could be better but I’m alright.“ ► GENDER ➔  ”Male.“ ► SUMMER OR WINTER? ➔   “Well it’s always been really warm back at Destiny Islands so I love getting the chance to visit somewhere with snow! But I’ll admit I’m too used to that island weather, so I like summer and winter both.“ ► MORNING OR AFTERNOON? ➔   ”Hm... I guess afternoon? I don’t really mind either.“

EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE.

► ARE YOU IN LOVE? ➔  “Uh-- Sure, I love all my friends!“ ► DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT? ➔  ”I think the idea is cool but I dunno if it actually exists.“ ► WHO ENDED YOUR LAST RELATIONSHIP? ➔   “I’ gotta be in a relationship to end it, though!“ ► HAVE YOU EVER BROKEN SOMEONE’S HEART? ➔  "Not to my knowledge.“ ► ARE YOU AFRAID OF COMMITMENTS? ➔   ”I guess that depends on what I’m committing to?“ ► HAVE YOU HUGGED SOMEONE WITHIN THE LAST WEEK? ➔  “Man, I wish.“

► HAVE YOU EVER HAD A SECRET ADMIRER? ➔  "Pfft, I doubt it!“

► HAVE YOU EVER BROKEN YOUR OWN HEART? ➔  "Oh, literally broken it? Yeah, and I’d do it again for her if I had to. “

SIX CHOICES.

► LOVE OR LUST? ➔  "L-Love! Definitely love!“ ► LEMONADE OR ICE TEA? ➔   “Lemonade.“ ► CATS OR DOGS? ➔   ”I like ‘em both! Maybe that’s why Meow Wow and I are such good friends!“ ► A FEW BEST FRIENDS OR MANY REGULAR FRIENDS? ➔  “I’ve got tons of friends all over the worlds-- though, I see my few best friends more often. So... both?“ ► WILD NIGHT OUT OR ROMANTIC NIGHT IN? ➔  “I’m not sure how to answer this...“ ► DAY OR NIGHT? ➔  ”Daytime? I don’t have a preference.“

FIVE HAVE YOU EVERS.

► BEEN CAUGHT SNEAKING OUT? ➔  "Ahahah... Yeah.“ Just the other day he tried to escape. ► FALLEN DOWN / UP THE STAIRS? ➔   “Sure, when I was a kid once or twice.“  ► WANTED SOMEONE / SOMETHING SO BADLY IT HURT? ➔   “Err...“ ► WANTED TO DISAPPEAR? ➔  “Well, I... No I don’t want to, but ..“ Maybe sometimes it’d be for the best if he disappeared.

FOUR PREFERENCES.

► SMILE OR EYES? ➔  “Eyes, probably? If their smile doesn’t reach their eyes then they’re probably up to something.“ ► SHORTER OR TALLER? ➔  "Why’s it matter? Riku’s real tall and Kairi’s shorter than me.“ ► INTELLIGENCE OR ATTRACTION? ➔   “I, uh, don’t really know? Intelligence?“ ► HOOK-UP OR RELATIONSHIPS? ➔  “R-Relationships? I don’t like the idea of ‘hooking up’."

FAMILY.

► DO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY GET ALONG? ➔   “   …   “ Coughs. ► WOULD YOU SAY YOU HAVE A “MESSED UP LIFE?” ➔   “Ah-- Um. I’m happy to help the worlds and defend them all, I-- I just--“ it’s a little messed up right now. ► HAVE YOU EVER RAN AWAY FROM HOME? ➔   “   … I guess I did.“  ► HAVE YOU EVER GOTTEN KICKED OUT? ➔  "Does that one time in Hollow Bastion count...?“

FRIENDS.

► DO YOU SECRETLY HATE ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS? ➔   “Of course not! We wouldn’t be friends if I hated them! “ ► DO YOU CONSIDER ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS GOOD FRIENDS? ➔   “ Yeah, of course!“ ► WHO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND? ➔   “Oh, man, there’s Riku and Kairi. And Donald and Goofy too. They’re all really important to me.“ ► WHO KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU? ➔   “Heh. Donald, and Goofy. But Riku and Kairi know just about everything too-- just about.“

TAGGED BY: @ravensbled thank u monique ily TAGGING: oh lord its 2am I don’t know whos still awake. Please steal it from me.

[undertsums]

One shot Undertale Crossovers that I never finished

I actually started on Crossovers before so I am going to post the two below.

Note these are not finished and will never be finished for many reasons.

UnderHeart (Undertale and Kingdom Hearts Crossover)

Sora, Donald and Goofy were travelling the universes trying to track down Kairi and Riku, they had discovered a new world. A brand new world...born during this time of heartless and worlds fading, "maybe the King is in this new world" Goofy said, Donald hummed "I don't think so...look at it, so tiny" he complained. "Well Kairi and Riku might be down there" Sora said as Donald sighed "fine..." he said not wanting to argue with Sora, they went to land and found themselves on a bed of golden flowers "gowsh these sure are pretty" Goofy said as he picked up a golden flower.

Suddenly a girl landed in Goofy's arms, quite a young child "where did she come from?" Donald asked worriedly, Sora looked up and saw a hole "looks like she fell" he explained, the girl seemed to shuffle her eyes weren't open but she saw Sora and gasped slightly as she struggled out of Goofy's grasp, she quickly ran away into the next room "wait up!" Sora yelled running after the girl "SORA!" Goofy and Donald yelled running after him.

"...Asriel?" Sora stopped and turned "why did you stop?" Goofy asked "I thought I heard something..." Sora said "nevermind we have to chase after that girl" Donald said, Sora nodded as he ran into the next room and saw the girl with a goat monster "oh...hello my child" the goat monster said with a kind smile, the girl turned and quickly hid behind the goat monster "um...hello" Sora said wondering why the girl was so scared of him. "My name is Toriel, I am the guardian of the ruins...follow me, I'll take you to my home" she said as she took the girl's hand, Sora quickly followed the two.

He gasped at the ruins, red flowers by some stairs and an open door "follow me" Toriel said letting go of the girl's hand and walking on, the girl walked up to the flowers as Sora noticed a flashing yellow star as the girl held out her hand to it, he saw words pop up, Chara LV 1 EXP 0...maybe it was her name? If so she didn't talk much...she didn't talk at all, Chara stared at Sora and looking back to the previous room, "come my child" Toriel said as Chara quickly followed Toriel, "she's a bit strange" Sora whispered "well this is a new world Sora" Donald replied, "these ruins will be your home from now on" Toriel said as she was teaching Chara about the puzzles, so far there wasn't a single heartless in sight.

"I must leave you for now my children...wait here, the ruins have become more dangerous and I wouldn't want you hurt" Toriel said "I will give you a cell phone, call me for anything" she added handing Chara a cell phone, then left "so...what's your name?" Goofy asked Chara, she stared at Goofy in silence before giving a small smile. Words appeared in front of her 'FIGHT', 'ACT', 'ITEM' and 'MERCY', Chara picked act then talk "I'm Frisk...it is nice to meet you" she said, "but I saw Chara when you touched that golden star" Sora said, Frisk frowned and picked act then check. *Sora, AT ?, DF ?, is the chosen one... Frisk stared at Sora nervously she then picked talk "you are not of my world...are you?" she asked, Sora frowned "no we're not...I'm trying to find my friends, Riku and Kairi" he said, Frisk frowned as she picked talk "you won't find them here, I know everyone...you are the first new people I've met in years" she said, Sora, Donald and Goofy stared confused "what do you mean by that?" Goofy asked.

Frisk seemed to sigh at the fact as she picked talk "in a few minutes, Toriel will ring up" she said, "how do you know that?" Donald asked before the phone began to ring, Frisk answered keeping quiet making the conversation impossible to follow since Sora and the others couldn't hear Toriel. Frisk began to move "wait aren't we supposed to wait for Toriel?" Goofy asked, Frisk turned and rolled her eyes picking talk again "no...she will be held up, there is no point in waiting...I just want to get through this place...maybe you will make it exciting" she answered, Sora couldn't understand but there was no use in waiting so he followed Frisk.

"RIBBIT!" a frog said worriedly as it ran toward the group as a group of dark creatures were chasing it, "HEARTLESS!" Sora yelled about to fight them...instead he noticed the whole battlefield turning black and white as the heartless were stuck in place, unable to attack, those same words appeared again Frisk picked act and check. *Heartless AT ?, DF ?, has no heart...can not be spared. Frisk frowned at this as she picked Mercy then flee as the battlefield returned to normal, leaving Sora and the group to fight.

UnderHeart would be an awesome concept to see, especially if you decide to make Donald, Goofy and Sora into human kids (as human children are the only confirmed to fall down). It is odd that there isn’t many crossovers of Undertale and Kingdom Hearts especially since some of the music can sound similar, also considering, souls are a thing, heartless could be used effectively, especially with Flowey, heck Frisk at the end could show themself as a keyblade master too, (wouldn’t be too out of reach considering they have determination and it would only be used during Omega Flowey fight).

Anyways there needs to be more fanfics of this.

Once Upon a Tale (Undertale and Once Upon a Time)

After defeating Hades, Emma and the others thought they were finally done with the weirdness of Storybrooke, but that was far from the truth, it seemed like a normal day...the birds singing, flowers blooming...perfection.

BOOM!

The ground was shaking and from the forest appeared a mountain out of nowhere, everyone heard and felt it, but only a few felt the powerful magic coming from the mountain "what the hell was that?" Hook asked, Emma stared at the forest "I don't know...but I just felt some powerful magic" she replied "so did I" Regina added looking at Emma worriedly "we better get there before Rumple does" Emma said.

At the mountain Frisk walked out and saw the little town, it didn't seem familiar to them "WOWIE IT'S AMAZING" Papyrus said excited, Sans stared almost confused "yeah...it's cool" he added "everyone, this is a new start between humans and monsters" Asgore said, "I WILL GO AND GREET THEM" Papyrus declared as he hurried off, "I'm coming Paps" Sans said as he followed his brother. Frisk kept silent as they stared "so...my child, I'm guessing your going to go on your way now" Toriel said upset, Frisk shook their head and grabbed Toriel's hand "my child...you wish to stay?" she asked, Frisk gave a quick nod "then let us go my child" Toriel said leading Frisk down the mountain.

"Bro we should let the kiddo greet the humans" Sans said "NONSENSE SANS, I AM THE BEST AT MAKING NEW FRIENDS" Papyrus replied not intent on stopping, Sans frowned "I know bro but...we're monsters" he said making Papyrus stop "HMM...YOU HAVE A POINT BROTHER, OKAY I WILL WAIT FOR FRISK" he said, Sans gave a sigh "thanks bro..." he said looking around at the forest area  "hey...what do ya call a monkey with no skin?" Sans asked holding back his laughter, "SANS NO..." Papyrus said annoyed, "a", "NO", "bab", "NO", "bone" Sans finished "NYEEEEEEEEH!" Papyrus yelled in anger.

"YOUR PUNS ARE NOT FUNNY!" Papyrus continued yelling as Sans began laughing the two soon stopped when they heard footsteps, Papyrus turned seeing a bunch of new exciting people "WOWIE LOOK SANS, HUMANS" Papyrus said, Sans stared at the new 'friends' "heya humans...nice to meat ya" he said with a wink, "YES NICE TO MEET YOU" Papyrus said not picking up on the pun. "What the hell are they?" Hook asked "I dunno...Paps what are we?" Sans asked, Papyrus glared at Sans "WE ARE SKELETONS" he said, "oh good, for a moment I thought I was a human, maybe that's why everything goes through me" Sans said "SANS NO" Papyrus said annoyed, "you boys better be behaving" Toriel said as she and the rest came from the trees with Frisk.

Frisk saw the new people and gave a smile as they walked up to the group and began to sign 'hello, I am Frisk these monsters are my family, they are friendly', Emma understood the language "what's with the hands?" Hook asked "it's sign language" Emma replied as she kneeled down "I'm Emma Swan" she said, Sans's eyes seemed to sparkle "oh I get to make bird puns now" he said seeming excited "SANS" Papyrus said with a growl.

Frisk giggled as they shook Emma's hand, Emma's eyes widened the magic power she felt...it was from this kid. *Making a new friend...fills you with DETERMINATION* Frisk liked this ending...something new, something exciting...maybe she will stay for awhile, Emma stands back up "welcome to Storybrooke" she said, Sans couldn't hold back a chuckle "oh god the names" he said "SANS PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL" Papyrus said "bro...you hurt me..." Sans replied, "anyways...I gotta head back anyway...I'll catch up with ya kiddo" Sans added as he walked off. "Is he going to be okay on his own?" Henry asked "OF COURSE GIVE US A TOUR OF YOUR...STORYBOOK" Papyrus said as Henry gave a laugh "sure follow me" he said leading the monsters into town, Frisk stared until Sans was out of sight..."are you okay?" Emma asked, Frisk nodded 'I am going to follow mother...' they signed as they hurried up to the group.

Sans hummed as he walked through the forest "okay...what ending is this?" he asked himself taking a book out of his jacket, "lets see, sparing everyone, breaking the barrier...nothing seems to be different than a normal pacifist run...then why this ending?" he asked to himself, he stopped suddenly "heh...ya can come on out..." Sans said soon hearing footsteps and seeing a man walk out. "Heya...you weren't with the other humans, I'm Sans, Sans the skeleton" Sans said holding out his hand...the man stared causing Sans to become a little nervous, "heh...rude, oh well...ya come to just stare?" he asked as he put the book back in his jacket.

For people who don’t know Once Upon a Time it’s really good, it’s got fairytale stuff (mostly disney, but other stuff too), but much darker. Anyway I sadly won’t go into too much detail about Once Upon a Time as I don’t have great explanation skills.

Anyway this fic would have had Rumple (who is like the main villain in the show) try and sway Sans that Frisk (who has constantly reset many times, almost done a genocide run too), to help him. That he could take that power away so it would never be used again. Basically he is Bill Cipher and you can’t trust him.

Actually that’s a good comparison, except Rumple does stick to his deals more than Bill does.

Anyway Emma would have to try and stop Sans, (Emma has magic powers because she’s the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming), but neither knowing that Chara before falling had made a deal with Rumple. So blah blah, bad stuff, blah blah, possible deaths, blah blah reset.

Anyway I really wanna work on a Steven Universe one and am trying to think when I want it to take place, obviously I don’t want it too early or too late, so I may place it after The Trial, when Steven gets home.

[imbeccablee]

001 Kingdom hearts?

Of course, dear sir!

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my:

Favorite Character: I am weak for strong cinnamon roll characters, so Sora, hands down, I don’t care how basic I am

Least Favorite Character: Not including bad guys, no one. I quite love all the characters, even if some of them have bad writing or have been handled badly. Including bad guys, however, Xehanort. I used to really enjoy him as a villain, but then DDD came around and (SPOILERS) that thing where like everything that has happened thus far was all apart of his “master plan” was kind of stupid in my opinion only because that’s like too perfect. (END SPOILERS)

5 Favorite ships (canon and non-canon): Sorikai (also including the three ships that that entitles to), Terra/Aqua has kinda grown on me, Roxas/Xion is also hecka cute, Akuroku as well is hecka cute, and Sora/Roxas is again, hecka cute

Character I find most attractive: So normally I would go with Sora on this one, but KH2 Kairi and Aqua have been drawing my interest, so I’ll probably go with a tie between them

Character I would be best friends with: Considering most people characterize Roxas as this completely done Emo[TM] who makes a lot of jokes about being dead inside, I think he and I would get along quite nicely. I would also probably be besties with Namine considering my current best friend is A LOT like her to begin with.

A random thought: I want Sora and Ventus to finish each other’s sentences a lot after the latter is healed and whatnot, and only because they shared a heart for seventeen some years, give or take

An unpopular opinion: Dunno if this is ACTUALLY unpopular, but I don’t hate Terra at all. He was doing the exact same thing Sora was doing (i.e. trusting the first person you meet on a new world), it just so happens that Terra would meet the bad guy and Sora would meet the good guy.

My canon OTP: What’re you sokai talking about? sokai There’s no sokai canon relationships sokai in Kingdom Hearts sokai, despite like sokai, Disney relationships sokai.

Non-canon OTP: Sorikai. It’s the best of all three worlds

Most badass character: I’m no good with the badass meter, but I gotta say, Roxas duel wielding Oblivion and Oathkeeper was pretty fucking sweet. But there’s also the entirety of Riku, which, uh, look at him?? But also like, Sora’s there too. And Terra. Oh boy, I can’t choose. They’re all badass in my book.

Pairing I’m not a fan of: Riku//nami. I can only really see him with Sora and/or Kairi, sorry :/

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): K A I R I

Favorite Friendship: Sora, Kairi, and Riku’s!!! I love them!!! Friends or lovers, they’re so great together!!! What besties!!!!

[askthedespairkids]

At The Shelter

Sora: .......-Sighs and slumps against the wall near some of the shelter residents- So...how y'all doing?

Damien: -The residents simply glare and move back to do tasks for a the day...except Miraz.- You never explained what you both were here for.

Sora: I mean, I kinda just dragged along for the ride...this is just a pain in the ass for me...but that Junko girl sent us here to stop Future Foundation when they respond to your distress signal...or something like that. I dunno, I wasn't really paying attention.

Damian: Junko? As in Junko Enoshima? -He asks before a letting out a bitter laugh.- I knew something was off about her. Kind of like that lady from Season 2.

Sora: ...right...whoever the fuck that refers...look, I'm just a forced accomplice. I'm too lazy to try anything like this under normal circumstances.

Damian: Forced? -He asks curiously.- How'd you even end up with them?

Sora: Captured my class...most of my class, after the attack at Hope's Peak...may or may not have gotten captured because I'm too lazy to run...

I take it the robot is only a few of the things this group has?

Sora: Major players in the movement all have some kind of weapon...Masaru's is the robot. Wouldn't bother trying to destroy it...not gonna happen with what you've all got here

Damian: -Miraz grimaces at this.- I guess not...why is Masaru with her?

Sora: Dunno...never asked.

Damian: Guess I'll have to ask him. But...you're certain none of the weaponry we have can stop the robot?

Sora: ...the despairs have the Ultimate Mechanic on their side that made all that plating as a weapon to destroy the biggest despair resistance group on earth....and you wanna know if your bullets and arrows are gonna stop it...?

Damian: A man once told me to remember what I'm doing things for, no matter the odds. If there's any chance to get the both of you out of this base or to give up on your plan to attack Future Foundation, then I refuse to give up. -Damian replies determined.-

Sora: Hate to burst your bubble then. The thing has a weakpoint, sure. But it would take a hell of a lot of damage to actually expose it...nothing you got here could expose it.

Damian: Where's the weak point? -He leans in anticipation.-

Sora: That Monokuma chest plate...like I said. Nothing's gonna damage it.

Damian: Hmm...I'll keep that in mind. -Miraz nods.- But why haven't you tried getting out of the group?

Sora: ....partly too lazy...partly because the rest of my class would probably get axed if I tried.

Damian: How can you be lazy about all this?

Sora: Hahah...-Puts a hand on Damien's shoulder-...you'd understand if you knew me better. Trust me, anyone that's known me for longer than a week just accepts it.

Damian: Even...during all this? He motions to everything around them. Despairs running around and tearing everything apart?

Sora: Yeah. I don't like getting stressed, so I do everything in my power to avoid it.

Damian: ....you're weird. -He stands up.- But I can admire avoiding stress. Thanks for the info.

Sora: ...you're gonna try and destroy the robot, aren't you?

Damian: ... -He doesn't reply and walks off to meet the others in a more private room.-

Sora: You're gonna get everyone killed...! Ugh...I'm not moving....

Damian: -After ensuring Masaru wasn't around, Miraz shuts the door and turning to the group.- Nagata-san gave up some info on how we can possibly take out the robot and why he and Masaru-san are here.

Yae: Eh?! How the hell are we gonna take something like that out?!

Tall male: Keep your voice down, would you?

Damian: First, they're here to ambush Future Foundation, a group that's out there trying to bring hope back to the world. We can't let that happen. The robot itself has one weak spot: on its chest.

Yae: That big bear robot print thing, right?

Damian:Right. However, bullets won't work as seen in...the last attack. He pauses, pushing back memories. He also said arrows won't work either.

Yae: Not to mention they somehow disabled all my traps...stupid bastards, ruining perfectly good work like that. Bunch of scrubs, all of 'em!

Umeko: Then...what do we do...?

Damian: ... -Damian frowns-, still thinking on that. We....we could use the power from the station to shut it down maybe.

Tall boy: Like an electric shock? It could work, if Kamii tries to hook something up.

Damian: Could you do it? -He turns to Kamii.-

Yae: Well, duh! The problem is making sure the kid doesn't notice! Ugh, we really are balls deep in trouble now.

Umeko: Even then, we don't know if our weapons will work on its weak point...

We have to try at least. Reaching could be an issue- Wait... Damian stands, pacing for a moment. Maybe...

Tall boy: What? You got a plan?

Damian: Electric Arrow -Damian turns back to the group.- We distract Masaru, wire up the power to an arrow and fire at the chest. It's just like that one movie. ...something games?

Yae: Yeah, but that was a movie! What if something goes wrong you electrocute yourself or some other shit?!

Damian: It's the best I can think of right now. If you guys come up with anything else to stop them then I'm all ears.

Yae: ...

Umeko: ...

Tall Boy: ...you said they were waiting for future foundation, right...?

Damian: Yeah, if they get here, and the robot is a problem, then our hope of getting help is done for.

Tall Boy: ...what if Kamii makes an electric trap to stun the robot so they can evacuate us all? I mean, this is a radio tower, it's gotta have an insane amount of power.

Yae: It's risky, but it could work.

Umeko: Not to mention, Future Foundation must have some kind of equipment to help fight against these sort of things.

Damian: They might... How would we get the robot into the trap though?

Yae: Looks like the robot attacks with drills, so it can't attack at a long range...if I set the trap up at the entrance, then the robot will have to step over it.

Damian: Alright, let's do it. It's our best attempt for the time being. When do we do it?

Umeko: Daimon-kun seems like the type to monologue, so he'll probably have a speech prepared for when they all arrive.

Damian: So we start building under his nose, then attack when he least expects it.

Tall boy: Sounds good. Nagata, you're pretty good with kids, yeah?

Umeko: I suppose...well, I'll do what I can in any case...

Damian: Great, we'll overcome then we'll finally get to safety! -Damian proclaims.- Why do we carry on?

All three: For a better day ahead of us!

[gzw1689]

For that anime ask thing you posted a week or so ago, if I can ask multiple simultaneously, then #4, #7, #9, #23, #29, #30, #37, #38, and #40. If I can only ask one, then I guess #4.

This ask is in response to these questions.

I’ve gotta admit, I found some of these questions kind of tricky, but I suppose all of them have an answer that’s hopefully satisfying.

This goes against my usual way of doing things, but I also decided to use a lot of Western names (with a few exceptions) when talking about the anime. I don’t really know why, I guess I just felt like it.

I put it under a “Read more”, since it ended up getting pretty long. Here goes.

4: If you could make a spin-off of any anime, what would it be?

The way I understand the question is this: what if I could make a spin-off myself?

Hmm… I don’t know. To me, that almost sounds like writing fan fiction, and I’m not sure if I’d really want to do something like that. Even though I like fiction writing, I don’t really feel the desire to extend the universe of any of the series that I like with my own contributions. At any rate, I think I’d really need to improve as a writer before I’d even be confident enough to do such a thing.

If I had to choose one though… This is probably going to sound kind of odd, but Welcome to the NHK. I have a story idea in my head that I kind of liken to a Canadian take on that series’ premise (though I think it still has a lot of developing to do; like, years even), so if that idea could be taken as a spin-off of the series, then sure, maybe. I think the series kind of fits with my current writing style too, so I suppose that works.

7: Have you ever watched an entire anime in one sitting?

I’m not sure if it was one sitting, but I distinctly recall watching Puella Magi Madoka Magica for the first time until like 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning. I might have taken breaks during the earlier episodes, but by the time I got near the end, I was really hooked and had to know what was going to happen next.

I think I’ve probably done this with other series too (especially when I was first getting into anime; these days, I usually feel like I need a few breaks in between), but that one is probably my most vivid memory of doing something like that.

9: Name an anime character you absolutely hate

I thought this question would be difficult, but it turns out it’s not. These next few paragraphs may seem a little out of character for me, because I don’t think I usually get so fired up about something like this.

Sora from No Game No Life. Almost four years of watching anime (and three years since I’ve watched that series), and for me, he has always been the definitive answer to questions like these.

I think it was about the second episode when he started to get on my nerves for how smug he is about how much of “genius gamer” he is (quotation emphasis mine). Then I think it was around the fifth episode when it really went into hate territory, where–if I remember correctly–he starts harassing and intentionally humiliating Stephanie (who was the character I probably felt most inclined to identify with at the time) for his amusement (and I’m pretty sure we’re supposed to find it funny too).

Every time I see that smug smile of his, I want to punch him in the face. I’m sorry. But I’ve never found any other character that pisses me off as much as him.

23: What is the most times you’ve re-watched an anime?

If we’re only talking series, according to my AniList profile, I’ve re-watched Madoka Magica twice (which, now that I think of it, maybe isn’t all that much).

If we’re counting movies too, I’ve seen Kimi no Na wa, the 1995 Ghost in the Shell movie, and a few of the Kara no Kyoukai movies that many times as well.

29: Has an anime’s fanbase ever made you hesitant to watch an anime?

This was a bit tricky. Usually, I don’t think I really look into the fanbase of an anime much before I watch it. When something like this happens, I think it’s usually due to something having a massive amount of positive hype surrounding it, and fearing that I’ll be disappointed. In cases like these, I like to wait until the hype dies down a significant amount (or I’m just less surrounded by it) before I start to get into it.

For a non-anime example, I can think of The Dark Knight. My peers were calling it things like a masterpiece or the greatest movie of all time, and the sheer excessiveness of the praise sometimes made me think that I’d be disappointed if I set my expectations too high. When I eventually watched it though, it did end up becoming one of my favourite movies.

Here’s the thing. When I go into any piece of media, I like to do so with as few expectations as possible. I don’t even really expect it to be “good”, whatever that means. I just want to be able to meet the thing on its own terms, no baggage or preconceptions about it. That said though, I realize my experience of it will be influenced by my own past, values, opinions, and so on; so based on that (rather than preconceptions about the work itself), I’ll decide how I feel about the experience. Of course, this can be hard to do with some works, but in cases like those, I try not to let any preconceptions influence me too much.

Sometimes I do think something is really artistically well put together, and I really like it. Sometimes I might find something kind of silly, yet still find it entertaining in its own way, and that’s fine. Sometimes I might even find something that I think is “good”, but that I just find boring or that I don’t really care about. That’s always an interesting experience, because I think people tend to think that we all naturally like “good” things, but I find that’s not always the case.

Anyway, I digress.

To finally answer the question, when I try to think of it in this way, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is probably the closest candidate. Before I got into anime or even learned what the series was, I could see some of my peers quoting it on Facebook. When I found out what it was, I saw so many of its fans talk so passionately about it and how much it means to them. I think one or two of my friends who watch anime were really into it, too. I had to give it a few weeks for my expectations to settle down, but I finally watched it at one point.

As for what I thought about it… I don’t know exactly what it was, but I didn’t really care for it. I think a lot of it had to do with the style. I found the hot-bloodedness of it all exhausting rather than energizing, and I didn’t really like how the characters yelled so much of their dialogue (I felt the same way about Kill la Kill). I guess I just couldn’t really get past that on my first (and, so far, only) viewing.

I think there were other things that I didn’t like about it substance-wise, but it’s been so long, so I don’t think I can really go into any detail about it.

30: How many anime episodes is ‘ideal’ for you?

Hmm, this question could be answered in a number of ways.

In terms of storytelling, probably however many episodes it takes to effectively tell the story. Some work with just 12 episodes (eg. the aforementioned Madoka), and some work with more (maybe something like Welcome to the NHK, which is based on a novel, and whose adaptation could probably have been very different if the episode count was different).

On the other hand, there’s some that maybe feel rushed with only 12 episodes (like Tokyo Ghoul’s second season), and some might feel padded and stretched out when they’re given more (arguably, Your Lie in April).

In terms of myself (as in, what would I prefer to watch?)… Usually anything that goes above 26 episodes feels like too much for me. For example, I’ve still been kind of holding off on watching both Fullmetal Alchemist series, even though I have them on Blu-ray, haha. I think anything under maybe 70 or 80 episodes is something I could possibly get into though; I’d just need to gather the motivation to get through some of the longer ones.

On the other hand, anything above 100 episodes is probably off the table for me. For example, I would probably never start something like One Piece or Naruto just due to the sheer amount of episodes there are.

Something like the Monogatari series might be an exception to this, in a way. That also has a lot of episodes, but I think their separation into distinct seasons (and, perhaps, the fact that I got into it early in my anime-watching “career”) makes it easier to digest.

37: Name a popular anime you love

To be honest, I don’t really know what counts as “popular” when it comes to anime. I get the impression that some of the anime based on long-running shounen manga like One Piece and Naruto are considered the mainstream stuff (maybe because their localizations saw very wide distribution? I dunno), but I don’t think I really know many people who like those ones.

And going to an anime club, anime conventions, and seeing what people talk about online, I find it kind of hard to tell what’s considered most popular.

Based on what I can tell though, Madoka is probably the prime candidate for something like this, but maybe that’s just because I hung around quite a few people who are really into it. I’ve talked about that one so much already though, so I want to pick something else.

Maybe Love Live! Sunshine!! could count. Whenever I go to something anime-related, Love Live! culture is pretty visible and audible, whether it’s in the clothing and accessories people wear, the visuals they use in general anime presentations, or music playing at an event.

I’m not sure if I’ve talked about it on this blog much, but while I wasn’t really that into the original Love Live! anime, I really liked Love Live! Sunshine!!. I think it was because, especially in the latter half of the first season, the themes it incorporated–the worries about being a creative person in a world where there’s so much competition, the issues that can occur due to lack of clear communication–really resonated with me on a personal level. I don’t know if it can really be considered a “good” series (for example, I’ve been seeing quite a bit of negative criticism about it–particularly when it comes to how they handle the characters–some of which I find understandable), but I love it nonetheless.

38: Name a popular anime you hate

The only one I can think of is No Game No Life. I can tell it’s at least somewhat popular, since I still see people walking around with “I❤人類” shirts at anime events every now and then. I’m not exactly sure if I “hate” it per se, but I can say for certain that I disliked it.

Other than what I’ve already said about Sora earlier, I wasn’t really into how the series mostly revolved around Sora and Shiro basically winning everything, and how the series presented it as so easy for them. From what I remember, quite a bit of their winning involved a lot of loophole abuse (ie. “the rules never said anything about this, so we’re allowed to do it”). In quite a few cases, the way the world responded to this felt kind of implausible to me. On top of that, it made them come across as kind of underhanded, unethical, and condescending (not sure if that’s the right word; but from what I remember, they seemed to like making their opponents feel stupid for not thinking about the same things they did), which was really irritating to me.

There’s also this quotation I found on TVTropes when I looked up the page for “Loophole Abuse”:

“In No Game No Life, one of the Ten Pledges everyone in Disboard is bound to states, ‘Being caught cheating during a game is grounds for an instant loss’. Sora quickly realizes this means that if the other person can’t prove that you’re cheating, you can cheat all you like and get away with it. Of course, he’s not the only one who realizes this.”

The show seemed to go out of its way to make Sora and Shiro look cool for doing things like this, so I’m pretty sure we’re supposed to be rooting for them. I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t do it.

40: Thoughts on live-action adaptations?

As a whole (including Japanese-made ones), I guess I’m kind of indifferent toward them, and I’m generally not really that interested in watching them. I am a little bit curious about the new American Ghost in the Shell and Death Note ones though, just to see what the filmmakers did with them.

As far as American/western live-action adaptations go, I honestly don’t really expect them to be that faithful to the source material, especially if they’re adapting to an American setting for an American audience. I actually think it could potentially be interesting to see how taking the same premise and putting it into a different setting (like America) could change things.

From a lot of peoples’ responses to these adaptations though, it sounds like they don’t turn out very well to say the least (though I wonder if that has more to do with the execution of a lot of these adaptations, rather than the very idea of setting them in or adapting them for America), but I have yet to see and judge for myself.

Of course, I suppose I’d probably feel very differently if it was an adaption of something that I really care about. Like for example, if someone adapted Fate/Stay Night for an American audience and significantly changed the very substance of it, I think it’s possible I’d be really upset about that. I probably wouldn’t be able to watch it without constantly comparing it to the source material, likely unfavourably. And if such an adaptation becomes a major part of the mainstream cultural consciousness, and the more niche consciousness surrounding the Fate series (and, consequently, likely confusing people even more), I’d probably get really annoyed by that, haha.

So in the end, I guess it’s just a matter of me not really being affected very much by the whole thing.

Well, I guess that’s it. Thanks for asking, this was fun to write! I might just end up doing the other questions too, like you said. :P

[nadziejastar]

Xemnas: Tron is a digital entity, so why would he be any different? He obeys the rules of this world. Sora--what about you?

Sora: Me?

Xemnas: Your heart, memories, your data, and your dreams. The bits and bytes that have made up your life so far--can you say for sure they are not just copies of someone else's?

Sora: Yes! My memories and feelings belong to me.

Xemnas: You had better check.

Haha, yeah I’d love it if it was retconned to just be a false memory, though I agree it is unlikely. It honestly sounds more plausible too, ya know? It could have been a memory planted using the Datascape. Or it could even have been something poor Isa’s tormented mind concocted in order to block out his trauma.

It’s kind of funny that the song playing in the background of the Subject X scene is “Eternal Moments”. That was basically Lea and Isa’s theme in BBS. It played during the scene where they met Ven. Lea told Ven they were friends and to get it memorized. Lea said he wanted to live forever in people’s memories, and Isa said he’d never forget Lea. Lea met Ven one time, but he still remembered him 10 years later. But with Subject X they aren’t even sure if their memories of their “friend” are even real. Yeah, such a close friend...

Xemnas: Make certain the box's contents match what's on the label...since you have been chosen.

Sora: Chosen for what

Yong Xehanort: You think this is the realm of dreams, but there, you are mistaken. Data does not dream, cannot dream. This world is real. You haven't the slightest idea where you are--that you have already wandered off the path.

I still think Subject X was just a tweaked version of Isa’s backstory. After Saïx said he might have just imagined Subject X he didn’t sound that concerned about it or the fact that he probably wasted his life following Xehanort for nothing. He just said he “awakened to a new purpose”. Oh well, I’ll just focus on becoming stronger, lol. Whatever. We all know people don’t just randomly “awaken to a new purpose”. Xehanort assigns them their purpose.

Who knows. Maybe the “imaginary” person was supposed to be Lea originally. If Isa was Subject X, his memory would have been extremely fragmented. Maybe Xehanort was able to convince him that Lea never existed. He was just someone Isa imagined. Or his memory of Lea was just created in the Datascape or something. Roxas’s final straw was finding out that his best friends never existed---they were just data. Maybe that was the final straw to break Isa mentally. That’s when he “awakened to a new purpose”. In other words, Isa went to the Realm of Seep, then Saïx (Xehanort’s heart and mind) took over. 

Had she been moved? Had we simply imagined her? Lea and I knew there was only one way to be certain. And so we stand before the castle gates today, not as trespassing children but in order to become Ansem the Wise’s newest apprentices.

I dunno. But I just cannot get over the fact that even in canon, Saïx/Isa thought that he imagined this girl. And it was not mentioned once, but TWICE! He thought he might have been imagining her even when they were kids, LOL! Honestly, I almost thought this girl was purposely written to seem retconned and shoehorned in at that point. It was one of the worst exposition dumps I’ve ever seen. EVER. Hey remember that girl we were reaaaally close friends with, but never mentioned until JUST now? The one we joined the bad guys for? Are you sure she really existed, bro?

I was so baffled that the game was telling me in one breath that this girl was sooo important to Isa that he sacrificed everything for her. Yet in the next breath…he wasn’t sure if she even existed. I mean, what the hell!? How are those two things compatible? That makes him seem very…mentally unwell. He was voluntarily doing icky jobs for Xemnas—so many that even Mr. Dirty Work Assassin Axel couldn’t keep up (yikes). He became Xemnas’s right-hand man! He sold his soul! All for someone who…might have been a figment of his imagination. It still makes it sound like he was mind-controlled. Nobody in their right mind would act that way.

When Roxas was having his “7 Days” experience, he saw a lot of things that nobody else could. He saw Naminé, for instance. He fell off the clock tower, but then later thought he must have imagined it. Roxas’s “hallucinations” were never treated as something casual like with Isa/Saïx and Subject X. His friends became very worried about him. It was a pretty big plot point.

There actually might have been a connection to Naminé. Subject X is mentioned while Ansem is brought to the Haunted Mansion and looked at the window that Roxas saw Naminé in. I’m sure Roxas had doubts whether Naminé was real or if he just imagined her. If Isa was being experimented on, drugged and/or tortured, he’d be in a similar mental state to Roxas. 

I dunno. I just don’t think it makes very much sense that BOTH Lea and Isa repeatedly spoke to some imprisoned girl, they both decided to free her, risked their lives becoming apprentices for her, gave up their morals for her, then they BOTH thought they imagined her later. If Isa thought he imagined her, speaking to Lea (who also spoke to her) should dispel those doubts. But when Saïx said that he thought he might have imagined her, Lea didn’t exactly refute him.

When I first played KH3, I just could not fathom how something that stupid became canon. I think it must have had some basis in the original story. Because there was no reason to include a detail like that. None whatsoever. Unless it was to explain why no one ever bothered to mention her before, lol. That’s honestly what I thought at first. But I think it had to be more than just that.

Let’s ignore the fact that Isa gave up his life for this girl. Even if it was dark, it’s still very abnormal to have an interaction with someone and then later question if it was real. You’d usually have to be on drugs to have an experience like that. Like LSD or DMT or something. And LSD is a hallucinogen that was frequently used in real life mind control experiments.

Or you’d have to be very mentally and emotionally stressed out to the point where you lose touch with reality. That’s what happened to Roxas when he was looking for Xion. Plus, he was already affected by Sora, so he was dreaming and seeing visions a lot. It makes a lot more sense for Roxas to imagine seeing Xion because he already was close to her. Lea and Isa had no reason to imagine a total stranger. That’s just bizarre.

Roxas sat down next to him like usual, and opened his mouth. “Today… I went to the beach on a mission.” He took a bite of his ice cream. “I think I saw a girl who looked a lot like Xion…”

Axel stared at Roxas. Roxas’ eyes were a little glazed.

“But, maybe it was my imagination… I don’t really know. To be honest, I'm not even sure today's mission really happened.”  Roxas bit his ice cream again. “I feel like I just woke up from a dream or something.”

It looks like Xion’s disappearance has had a deep effect on Roxas.

Roxas kept speaking, without looking at Axel. “This is gonna sound crazy, but you know how we promised each other we’d all go to the beach?“

“Yeah.”

I couldn’t help but notice Axel’s reaction on Day 276. Roxas said he thought he might have imagined seeing Xion because he wanted to see her so badly. In the novel, it made it seem even more like Axel could personally relate to how Roxas felt. It seemed like Axel knew what it was like to lose touch with reality just because you wanted to see someone really badly.

“Well, I think I only saw her there because I wanted her to be there.”

Roxas looked unwaveringly toward the sinking sun.

I should—resign myself, shouldn’t I… Definitely.

Axel stood up leisurely, and stretched wide. Then he said, “…Shall we go look for her?”

“Huh?”

After Roxas said that, Axel looked away with a deeply troubled look on his face. It definitely looked like he was remembering going through something similar to what Roxas was going through. He was thinking that it was probably a bad idea to suggest looking for Xion. But I think he knew exactly what Roxas was feeling, so he suggested it anyway.

Roxas finally looked at Axel.  Axel smiled at him.

“Tomorrow, after our missions, let’s look for Xion before we come here.”

“Mm… yes, let’s do that!” Roxas nodded, and stood up like Axel. Then he smiled.

I wonder when the day will come that the three of is will go to the beach… Axel thought suddenly, seeing that smile, and to deny the next thought that floated up, he stared at the sun.

He knew that they were never gonna get to go to the beach. But he hid that from Roxas. Destiny Islands was where Roxas and Xion remembered the sound of the waves. It was special to them. And the equivalent for Lea seemed to be the image of a sunset and eating ice cream.

“We’ve gotta make it to the beach next year,” Olette murmured, watching the sunset.

Hayner leaned forward. “Yeah. Better get jobs the second vacation starts.”

Next year… Right. Next year there would be another summer vacation. This one was almost over, but they’d have next year to try again. Letting his mind wander, Roxas found that the perfectly obvious fact cheered him up.

Roxas saw the ghost train that nobody else did on Sunset Hill. Roxas was able to see it because he missed the trip to the beach, and DiZ knew he really wanted to see it. And Roxas said he imagined that he saw Xion because he wanted to see her. They promised to go to the beach together. I wonder if there was a connection to Axel knowing they’d never get to go to the beach that day, and saying he really wanted to see someone on Sunset Hill, where the ghost train appeared. In the novel this scene where Naminé goes with Axel actually took place on...the beach. 

Axel still hadn’t reported that Xion was with Riku, even to Saïx. As to why, he was asking himself the same question.

That’s why I could suggest to Roxas that we look for her, though. That’s resolution, and resignation, and then what? Friendship? Axel’s mouth twisted, remembering that word.

I’m still unsure somehow. I’m worrying over what is the best thing to do. Will I find the answer someday?

There had to be some backstory to how Lea could use dark corridors, even as a a human. I definitely think Axel had been in Roxas’s shoes before, searching desperately for a friend, which is why he went to search for Xion with him. I definitely don’t think he was that obsessed with finding a random girl he wasn’t sure existed. It had to be somebody else. After the test subjects were released, maybe Lea was so depressed that Isa was missing, he had weird dreams or hallucinations. He wanted to see Isa so badly it led him to open a dark corridor to Twilight Town. 

Donald: Uncle Scrooge!?

Sora: Er, who?

Goofy: He’s Donald’s uncle—a business typhoon! Before the Heartless showed up, he traveled the worlds on a Gummi Ship with the King. He was helpin’ to set up a traffic system.

Donald: A transit system!

I think Isa was Subject X and was probably taken to Twilight Town after Ansem discovered the experiments. Perhaps King Mickey was the one who suggested that Isa would be safe in Twilight Town. The King probably was aware of its existence. After all, he and Scrooge must have went there, since sea-salt ice cream is sold there. It must have been a part of his business transit system. So, it’s very possible we would have gotten backstory of how sea-salt ice cream existed in Twilight Town, like it does in Radiant Garden. And the ice cream may have been another reason Twilight Town was special to Axel.

Riku: Let’s go.

Axel: Go where? It’s not like we have homes to return to. We don’t exist, remember?

Naminé: Yes, it’s true. We may not have homes. But there is someplace I want to go… And someone I want to see…

Axel: Same here.

In the manga, Axel was even trying to teach Naminé how to use the corridors of darkness while they were talking on Sunset Hill, right before they had the conversation about wanting to see someone. And dark corridors can only be opened by people with very strong sentiments, like hatred or…wanting to see someone very badly, like the Beast. It doesn’t prove anything, but I did find interesting because it was a little bit random.

Kairi: Who are you?

Axel: Axel. I happen to be an acquaintance of Sora’s. Why don’t we go see him?

Kairi: …Sora?

Axel: We’ve got something in common, Kairi. You and I both miss someone we care about. Hey, I feel like we’re friends already.

In KH3D, Lea also used the dark corridors while looking for Isa. Mickey told him that was reckless.

Axel: Somehow I just knew you’d be here. I tell ya, Kairi, you’ve got a lot of guts, jumping right into the darkness like that.

In KH2, Axel said that he knew Kairi would be in Twilight Town and that she had a lot of guts jumping into the darkness like that. She and Axel had a lot in common because they both wanted to see someone that they missed very badly. Maybe they also had a lot in common since they both just jumped right into the darkness to see the person they missed. 

So basically, I think Axel was desperately searching for someone in his past and that led him into being an organization member. But it definitely wasn’t Mystery Girl X. And I think Isa was desperately wanting to see someone that he thought he might have imagined. But it wasn’t Mystery Girl X.

[sirladyscripts]

Set during the cake scene/party at the end of Dream Drop Distance. Spoilers for... everything I guess?

Ra, this one is for you. <3

Well… I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t just a little disappointed in how things played out in the end.

Hey, I mean, I’d be the first to say “Hurray! The Kid who’s gonna save the world is back from whatever nightmares Xenmas—Xehanort.... whatever—put him through! So glad the Kid is fine and the day was saved and everything will be sunshine and rainbows again, let’s go beat the bad guys and please remember that I am no longer on their side, thanks. No, I honestly had no idea that Isa was one of them, would you please stop asking me what other nefarious plots they’re up to and believe me when I say I don’t know?”  

Well, ok. Maybe I wouldn’t say it quite like that.

But yeah. I’ll admit to feeling a little disappointed when Sora woke up. Sora. And yeah, maybe I was a little angry when the Kid just sort of jumped up and started hugging all of his friends, and when he saw me standing in the corner his first reaction was to aim his keyblade at my heart.

Disappointed. Yeah, we’ll leave it at that.

I mean, it’s not like I’d really gotten my hopes up, or expected anything different. Sure, I gave up my existence as a nobody to save his skin, and yeah, I spent who knows how long trying to manifest a keyblade, and then I was able to swoop in and save the day, but… I dunno. I thought it would…be different when the Kid woke up.

And ok, maybe a little part of me had hoped—believed—that since I’d had a second chance, well, maybe Roxas would too.

 It’s funny. I finally get my heart back, and I can officially start to feel all of these things again, but all I feel is sad.

 I mean, who gets sad when there’s cake?

 It’s… time to go. I didn’t actually tell the others where I was going when I came to see the wizard, and while they probably haven’t noticed my absence, I’d like to at least pretend that they care. I mean, didn’t we bond over losing our hearts and joining an evil organization set on summoning a massive world filled with incomprehensible power? Surely that’s gotta count for something. I have friends, really.

Oh man, if Roxas could hear me now, he’d get on my case for moping and tell me to lighten up. I mean, if Roxas would think I was angsting—

Sora looked up, catches my eye, and I can see some of the happiness fade—I literally see the smile leave his eyes, the tensing of his shoulders, the hasty attempt to pretend he didn’t see anything, anyone. Apparently, he’d forgotten that I was here.

Yeah, definitely time to go.

My arm is halfway up and my hand is outstretched, and I can feel the darkness gathering in the corner of the room when there’s a tug on my sleeve.

“Ax—uh, Lea, wait a sec. I wanna talk before you go.”

I hesitate because I know it’s him and I’m starting to wonder if maybe the Kid knows more than he’s letting on, and I can’t quite crush that flutter of hope that maybe my best friend is still in there somewhere. But I turn and it’s Sora who’s giving me that earnest look. Sora, who’s tugging on my sleeve, pulling me towards the door out of the tower. Sora, who waves aside his friends’ concerned looks when he drags the guy that no one is still quite sure about out of the sight of others (I mean, really, what’s it take to get a little trust with these people? I already did the swooping in to save the day thing, what else do I have to do to get a little friendliness here?)

And even though it’s Sora and not Roxas, I decide to humor him because it’s just as easy to escape outside as it is inside. When he sees that I’m not about to fade back into the shadows, he releases my arm and stretches, clasping his hands behind his head and giving me his signature smile. It’s Sora’s smile, not Roxas’, so it makes it a little easier, but given the fact that the Kid tries to make friends with everyone (even the bad guys—especially the bad guys) it’s no big surprise.

Still, I can play along, see what he wants. I cross my arms and lean against the building, tilting my head so I can still look down at him. Kid’s grown since I saw him last. Of course, he’ll stunt his growth if he keeps eating that much cake in one go.

“I never really got a chance to say thank you,” he says, interrupting my thoughts. “The others told me what you did, back in… that place. You really saved our lives. I don’t even wanna think of what would’ve happened if you hadn’t shown up. Thanks, Lea.”

The worst part is that we all know what would’ve happened—Another puppet like Isa and Braig to add to the collection. Sora’s awakening comes to my mind unbidden, but he wakes up with golden eyes and there’s nothing of the Kid or Roxas left, or it’s buried so deep there’s no chance of getting either of them back.

I swallow the sudden lump in my throat at the thought of that, and fall back on my usual defense.

“Well, you know it’s all part of the training to become a true Keyblade master. Heroic deeds and saving the day are a big part of it.” I tap my finger against my forehead and give him a grin. “Got it memorized?”

Interesting reaction, though, to the thought of losing both of them. Almost like I still thought there was a “both” of them left to save.

But it’s Sora who shakes his head, Sora who sighs, Sora who crosses his arms and looks at the ground. He’s got Roxas’ frown—or, no, I guess Roxas was the one who used to frown like Sora. But it’s not the cranky or frustrated frown he gets when you’ve taken the teasing too far, it’s the Deep Thought Frown (reserved for when things get really serious), and given that Sora isn’t, well… let’s just say it’s not one I’d expect to see on the Kid. I shift against the wall, trying to get a better look at his face, but he’s hiding his expression under his bangs and I can’t quite see anything beyond the Deep Thought Frown.

 “Lea, when I was sleeping, when I chased the dreams in the World that Never Was, I saw, um,” he shifts from foot to foot, and I think the Kid is actually nervous to talk to me. Or maybe he’s just worried about what I’ll do when he talks. I brace myself—I think I already know where this is going, and it’s not really something I want to talk about right now.

“I mean, when I was in there, I saw all kinds of things, and I dunno what was real and what was fake, there were a lot of people I didn’t really recognize but I felt like I knew them, you know? But one of them stopped to talk to me—I remember that much.” And he looks up, catching me with that familiar expression of worry, those bright blue eyes large and wide.

“Axel, I got to meet Roxas!”

I can’t help it. I flinch, pushing away from the wall and turning towards the bright horizon. I really don’t wanna hear any parting words from someone else. If Roxas has—had— something to say to me, he should’ve said it in the Digital Twilight Town. He should’ve said something before he left the Organization. He should’ve said… something. Sora shouldn’t be the one forced to say goodbye.

 “I’m not gonna give up, and neither should you!”

 That… is not something I expected to hear. I look over my shoulder to see Sora—is he crying?

“I tried telling him that, but he wouldn’t listen,” Sora says, and yes, there are tears in his eyes but I’m not sure if it’s because he’s sad or if it’s because he’s frustrated. “I told him that he deserved to be a person as much as I did, and then he gave me his memories. I remember everything now, the missions together, ice cream on the clock tower, Winner sticks!”

Sora clenches his fists, frown deepening into a scowl. Ok, well, apparently they’re tears of anger. I guess that’s something. “It’s not fair!”

“Who said anything in life was fair?” I ask, and I can’t quite hold the bite back. I guess it’s anger, or risk tears of my own. Why did I want a heart again?

“I still don’t remember everything, and some things are kinda fuzzy, but I know that you kept your promise!” Sora insists, and he grabs my hand, shaking it. “You kept me safe like you said you would. You watched over us and protected us! I remember your promise, and you came through for him. For me, um, for us?” he trails off, and the Deep Thought Frown comes over his face again.

I can’t help it. I laugh, ruffle his hair, and wave off his thanks. “I didn’t have anything else to do, so why not?”

Great coping mechanism, that. But I guess laughing is better than crying, and I’d probably regret setting the wizard’s trees on fire. Probably. Maybe not immediately, but eventually. I guess I could blame it on the Kid, but somehow, I don’t think that would fly. That’s the only downside to having a signature move (and I do mean only, my moves are awesome).

“No, I mean what I said,” he insists, still not letting go of my hand. “Demyx told me once that nobodies can grow hearts—you did, I think you all did. So even if Roxas originally came from my heart, he had his own, right? So, we just have to find it and get it back for him!”

“I… don’t think it’s quite that easy,” I say, but the Kid’s enthusiasm is catching, and I can feel that damn flicker of hope again. If it’s true, if there was a way… I crush that thought before I finish the sentence in my head. “If anything, Roxas might’ve been Ventus’ nobody, so when we find and wake him up, Roxas will go to Ven.”

Sora sags a little at that. I guess he hadn’t considered that, although it’s been nagging me since the first day I met Roxas, remembering someone else I’d met in another life. And what was it Xigbar had said? ‘He used to give me the same look?’

The grip on my hand tightens again, and Sora shakes his head. Apparently, the Kid only stays down for a few heartbeats before he musters up cheerfulness again. It’d be annoying if it wasn’t so endearing. He’d probably get on Roxas’ nerves after a while, though.

“Even if that’s the case, I think Roxas had a heart of his own. I know he did, I could feel everything he felt, knew everything he knew, remembered… well, most stuff, I think. Like I said, some stuff is fuzzy.” He wrinkles his nose as though he’s trying to remember something, or someone.

“I think there was a girl? She sort’ve looked like Namine. And there were others too, some people I recognized, others I didn’t. But I think they were different hearts that touched mine. I’ve gotta believe that there’s a way to help them all, and you’ve gotta believe, too!”

“Me?” I laugh. I can’t help it, his damn optimism is contagious and he’s grinning through the tears. “Why do I have to believe anything?”

“Because,” he says, “I’m gonna need help! My friends are my strength—I can’t do it alone. Besides, you’re his best friend. Don’t you wanna be there when he wakes up?”

“I—“ I swallow back another lump, deciding that maybe, just maybe, it’s ok to dream a little. The flicker of hope returns a third time, and I know it’s gonna be damn hard to snuff out. “Yeah,” I say at last. “Yeah, of course I’ll be there. I made a promise, didn’t I? Keep it--“

“—Memorized, I’ve got it,” he grins and finally relinquishes my hand. I shake it out, trying to get blood flowing into my fingers again. Kid has a grip, I’ll give him that.

Sora’s beaming at me as though he’s just won the battle of the century, and I look away. I feel like a bit of an idiot, grinning when we really have no basis for our theory or any clue of how to help, but… it’s nice to feel hope again. Hell, it’s nice to feel anything again.

“I really appreciate everything you’ve done, and I know we’re gonna help him. We’re gonna save them all!”

I tsk, ruffling his spikes again. “Yeah, well… just don’t be getting yourself into any more trouble when I’m not around, alright? I’m gonna be busy, training to use the Keyblade and everything. Plus I’ve gotta help the others, since they’re back to doing their Sciencey shit.”

Sora pushes my hand away, laughing. “Lea, we’re gonna figure out a way to help him. I promise.”

 “You know, you already have, Kid. He was really looking forward to meeting you. Sounds like he finally got his wish.” I turn my attention back to the horizon, and I’m already regretting that I will, in fact, have to leave pretty soon. The Organization is gone, but we’re back to the way we were. You don’t just throw away second chances like that, you need to act, make sure that whatever time you have left counts. Maybe I’ll be lucky and go out with a bang again.

But not before I see Roxas at least one more time.

Sora scrubs his hand across his face, drying his tears and wiping away the sleep that still lingers in the corners of his eyes.

“I know you’re gonna have to go soon,” he says, and he actually sounds sad. Imagine that, the Keyblade wielder actually likes me to some extent. Or maybe it’s Roxas, who knows.

“I mean, we’re all gonna be really busy training and preparing for this final attack. But, I can’t help feeling like there was someone else. Someone else who went on missions? I still can’t remember that girl’s name. And some of the Organization members are still missing, right?”

“Demyx--- or Meyd, I guess,” I say, wondering where in the hell he could’ve woken up. With that guy’s luck, he probably ended up as an octopus or a whale or something in that undersea world. “Plus the people from the Castle. Not sure if that’s a bad thing, though.”

“We’re gonna figure it out,” he says. “I just wish I could remember her name.”

“Ask Namine,” I say, pause, then correct myself, “Kairi. She has all of Namine’s memories, so if there was someone else, Nami—Kairi would know, right? She’s the only one who can’t be affected by her own magic.”

“Yeah… yeah! I’ll ask Kairi!”

“Hey, are you two done? Master Yen Sid wants to speak to you.” Riku stands in the doorway, and even though his voice is kinda gruff, he’s smiling at Sora. Even just looking at the damn Kid makes everyone happy. It must be some sort of weird magical aura or something.

“Yeah, we’ll be right there!” he shouts, and Riku shakes his head before going back inside. Sora holds up his hand, pinky extended.

“I promise we’ll find a way to help them all!” he says, and I laugh, linking my own finger with his.

“I’ll keep it memorized.”