#i refuse to believe Roxas' story ends with kh3. he still has some answers he needs to seek.

[storm-driver]

kh4 fanfic scenario where roxas somehow manages to meet up with subject x and she calls him ventus over and over, but every time roxas tries to correct her, she sinks a little further into denial, insisting he must remember his past and the sacrifice he made for them.

and roxas, not really knowing who ventus is besides having a close tie to sora, has to start putting pieces together himself since the wayfinder family is in the realm of darkness

[nadziejastar]

I find reading headcanons fun and a lot of people interested in Lea and Isa who want to stay canon compatible go with the idea of "they were technically apprentices, but they were still used as test subjects." It just goes to show how important those implications were to their story, anyone invested is looking for a way to retcon them back in.

Yeah, I get why people wanna stick close to canon. I like to stay as close to canon as possible too, unless I feel like canon just absolutely dropped the ball, which is relatively rare. But that’s what I feel KH3 did with Lea and Isa. There were just FAR too many implications that they were test subjects to be hand-waved away so easily. I can totally understand why people are looking for a way to retcon those implications back in. They fit soooo perfectly and they were MUCH juicier than the canon backstory, which is really very boring.

Unbeknownst to me, my six apprentices then began collecting a large number of subjects on which to perform dangerous experiments into the “darkness of the heart.”

I wouldn’t even know HOW to write Axel as a former apprentice, without being a former test subject, too. Because it just doesn’t fit him. You have to ignore everything interesting about him and change his whole character. When I first played KH2, I was always interested in the experiments on the darkness of the heart and especially what the organization members were like as humans. We only got to know a little about that. We learned that members I-VI were apprentices of Ansem the Wise, which I thought was very intriguing. I started to speculate about what the other members’ backstories might be.

Are they the people who lost their hearts, or incarnations of darkness? Or something entirely beyond my imagination? All my knowledge has provided no answer. One thing I am sure of is that they are entirely devoid of emotion. Perhaps further study will unlock the mysteries of the heart. Fortunately, there is no shortage of test samples. They are multiplying underground even as I write this report. They still need a name. Those who lack hearts… I will call them the Heartless.

I am not even exaggerating, after reading the KH2 Ansem Reports, my first thought was that Axel was most likely a former test subject, due to the way he slaughtered Zexion and Vexen so mercilessly. He had a side to him that was rather…twisted. And I thought that was so fascinating. No way in hell do I believe he acted like that because he was trying to find some girl. No. He had a HUGE grudge against the organization which was very personal.

The only other organization member I thought might have been a former test subject was Saïx. Number VII. The first one to join after the apprentices.

And the reasons for that were obvious. He was freakish, like a science experiment. He was a werewolf/vampire type character with a large scar on his face. I have talked with people online about Axel’s apprentice backstory who said that they “saw it coming”. It was foreshadowed in advance. And I’m like, “Did we play the same games?” If anyone says that they thought Axel and Saïx made more sense as apprentices than test subjects, I simply do not believe them. I think they are either lying or they are such a fanboy/fangirl that they cannot bring themselves to question canon.

THIS is what always stood out to me about Axel in Days. He said very little about himself. It seems like most of the fandom latched onto Axel as this happy-go-lucky big brother figure who “adopts” Roxas and Xion and that was the extent of his character. Personally, I was always far more interested in Axel’s past. That’s what really made him an interesting character. Without that, he’s a bit flat, honestly.

When I played Days, it seemed to confirm my suspicions that Axel had a dark past.

The way the camera zoomed in on him when he mentioned his past said SO much. It was so subtle, but so dramatic. They obviously were hinting at something. 

And it even involved Saïx, too. They really were BOTH test subjects. How fascinating, I thought.

Then I played BBS, and it showed them sneaking into the freaking castle! I was so excited! OBVIOUSLY these kids were experimented on. They were in the right place at the right time. It explains why they became organization members. It explains why Saïx is so…freakish even though when he was a kid he was so cute and normal. I mean, come on!!!! How could anyone not see what they were hinting at here? I was SO SO excited for TEN years to see their backstory.

When I played KH3, I was dumbfounded. Absolutely dumbfounded. Turns out Lea and Isa were connected to the experiments on the darkness of the heart (duh). But they weren’t the test subjects. It was Skuld. Ya know, that random NPC from KHUX? That’s right. Skuld.

…

…

Skuld!? Are you freaking kidding me!? All the spotlight is gonna be on her as the lab rat!? After all the subtle hints that Lea and Isa were experimented on? I felt like I had been led on and betrayed by the series. I was so sad and angry. KH has a lot of, well, bullshit in it. Like Ansem the Wise turning Kingdom Hearts into data and releasing everyone’s hearts. And it has a lot of retcons. It’s a series where “willing suspension of disbelief” is important. But what they did to Lea and Isa’s past? That crossed the line for me. That was unacceptable. And my willing suspension of disbelief was shattered. I simply cannot retroactively view Lea and Isa as apprentices. It just doesn’t fit with what we saw of them. It’s the worst, most ill-fitting backstory I have ever seen.

Lea’s whole character revolved around his mysterious past. And in the end, his whole past was summarized in a two minute cutscene where we were TOLD (not even shown) it. And his past isn’t even about him or his relationship with Isa or their shared pain. It’s all about setting up a plot for a character who, IMO, is supposed to be dead.

Yes, that’s right. Dead. IMO, Skuld and Ephemer and everybody else from the age of fairytales were supposed to be dead. The final world is like limbo where people with lingering regrets cannot move on to the afterlife. Sora wound up there, probably because the spirits drew him there. But he wasn’t dead. He could come back with the power of waking because his body was still alive. Demon Tide doesn’t kill your body.

But yeah, as far as I’m concerned, everyone else from the age of fairy tales is DEAD. KHUX wasn’t supposed to monopolize KH3′s plot the way it did. It wasn’t supposed to be that important. IMO, The main role of KHUX was to provide history to the Keyblade War and MX’s Keyblade. You would have the scene where the Keyblades come to life and take out the Demon Tide. It’s a nice little cameo to people who played KHUX, but nothing essential. Then, the hearts of the dead are finally at peace and they can pass on. The end. Their role is done. They weren’t supposed to come back! It’s stupid! Leave characters like a Ephemer and Skuld in the past where they belong!

Xaldin: It’s an order. Why do you hesitate? You, who has been ruthless towards those who’ve turned their backs on the Organization?

If you take away Axel’s past a former test subject and give it to Skuld, you change the very nature of his character. Look how KH3 downplayed Axel’s dark and ruthless side by making it seem like Saïx was the only one willing to get his hands dirty. Axel was apparently some perfect angel who was just innocently trying to find info on Subject X the whole time. Not, ya know, ruthlessly executing people. No! No, no no! 

Don’t pretend like Axel was not a fucked up killer. He was almost as twisted as Saïx was. Not quite. But almost. Of course, I guess I understand why they downplayed this side of him. It really doesn’t make much sense for Axel to spend a decade ruthlessly killing people just to find a complete stranger who may or may not even be alive, does it? It would make a lot more sense if he was doing it because he was experimented on and his best friend was being held hostage by the organization.

But Axel being a fucked up killer was the very foundation of his excellent character arc. Why did he change and join the good side? It wasn’t because he became friends with Roxas or Xion. It’s because he became disgusted with himself. He was disgusted with himself after he killed Vexen and Sora was horrified at how much pleasure he got from it.

He was disgusted with himself when he saw Xion’s face for the first time and saw that she looked just like Namine. He was willing to slaughter Namine without a second thought in Castle Oblivion. But here was a girl who looked just like her, innocently asking to be his friend.

“You didn’t have to use force…” 

Axel sighed theatrically and circled his shoulders. “Didn’t I?” 

Still gripping Axel’s collar, Roxas shook his head with the emphatic refusal of a little kid. “No, you didn’t…” But he sounded uncertain as he said it, and his voice shrank even more. “We’re supposed to be best friends.”

Axel brushed Roxas’s hands from his collar. “This isn’t about friendship.” 

Roxas raised his head. The glare in his blue eyes was sharp as a knife. 

Axel had never seen that from him before. His chest twinged, just a bit. He let out another sigh. “Listen, if that’s all, I gotta go.”

Roxas wilted again, and something in his expression weakened Axel’s resolve slightly. 

I just did what I thought was the best thing at the time. For Roxas, for Xion, for the Organization—and for Isa. But most of all for me. 

He turned away from Roxas and made himself walk away.

He was disgusted with himself when he attacked Xion and brought her back to be destroyed. Why was Axel so upset with Saïx at the end of Days? Because he threw his morality away for him! Axel was willing to do anything for him. He was willing to kill innocent kids like Namine and Xion all for his sake. And at the end of the story Axel realized that Saïx didn’t even really love him anymore. Axel was more than happy to kill anyone if he thought Isa still loved him and appreciated the sacrifices he made for him.

He had been using the Organization for his own ends from the start. The only thing that had changed in the meantime was who it was all for. Maybe Saïx would call that a betrayal. But his world had changed.

But Axel realized that Saïx just used him as a murder tool to take out anyone who got in his way. He wasn’t even worried about him when he was at Castle Oblivion nor did he thank him when he returned. He took advantage of Axel’s devotion to him. That’s why Axel changed. It wasn’t like a My Little Pony episode where the power of Roxas and Xion’s magical friendship changed Axel. It was Axel’s own conscience. And yet, Axel still couldn’t bring himself to leave with Roxas at the end of Days. Even after Roxas left him the “Winner” stick. Because he was still attached to Saïx.

Axel: Look at what it’s come to. I’ve been given these icky orders to destroy you—if you refuse to come back with me.

Roxas: We’re…best friends, right?

Axel: Sure…but I’m not getting turned into a Dusk for…Wait a sec! You remember now!?

Roxas: Y…eah.

And Axel being a human test subject also seemed like the most reasonable backstory for him due to the way he seemed so…maladjusted. I was only 16 when I first played KH2. I was the same age as Roxas. And even then, the way Axel related to Roxas made me think that he had a really fucked up childhood. At first, Axel was willing to destroy Roxas, too. His “best friend”. In the original KH2, he seemed like he was just following orders because he was afraid of being turned into a Dusk. Which is still pretty screwed up.

“Say something. Have you even thought that maybe I can’t erase Roxas?” Axel said, in a playful tone, and Saix finally looked up. “It’ll be all right. Cause I’m tough.” Axel puffed out his chest.

“How stupid,” said Saix, and for a moment he smiled. “Let’s hurry up and prepare. Time is limited. The hero will wake up soon, too. I’ll send you in right in front of Roxas.”

“Okay.” Axel stood in front of the sending device. Saix rested his finger on the button. “I’m off the~n!” Waving to Saix, Axel’s figure disappeared.

But in the “Axel 7 Days” novel, you see that IMMEDIATELY before confronting Roxas about destroying him, Axel was looking at the white envelope and then flirted with Saïx. I hate the way the Axel/Roxas relationship was so misunderstood by the fandom. Why did Axel decide not to kill Roxas? IMO, it wasn’t because they were “best friends”.

It was because, once again, Axel was like “WTF am I doing? I’m trying to kill this innocent kid all so I can salvage my relationship with Saïx. I am a selfish piece of shit.” Why did Axel say that Roxas would have a next life, but not him? Because Axel knew what he was capable of and was prepared to do to him. Roxas was innocent. Axel was not. He had a lot of blood on his hands. He was not like Roxas. Roxas’s innocence is why Axel was so attached to him in the first place. But it was exactly why Roxas could never truly understand him. There will always be a part of Axel that he keeps hidden from Roxas.

On the sofa opposite him, Naminé spoke up instead. “Sora and Riku are best friends.” 

Axel’s eyes crinkled as he remembered his own best friend—the only friend he’d ever had, in fact. 

“If your best friend goes away, you’re sad, and if you get to be with them, you’re happy,” Naminé added. “Isn’t that how it is, Axel?” 

“…That’s about the size of it.” Axel nodded and sat down on the remaining empty sofa, staring at the sea-salt ice cream he held. 

“So you are capable of sincerity,” said Riku. 

Axel only shrugged at the jab and finished his ice cream pop.

Even after he left the organization, Axel was still twisted. He was going to kill Kairi. And notice how it zoomed in on his tear mark. A bit of a hint about the true meaning of the upside down tears. IMO, the tears meant that Axel was willing to do absolutely anything to make his wish come true. And that was to be with his best friend forever. Saïx betrayed him and broke his heart. Axel decided to channel all of that grief and despair into his relationship with Roxas. He was now willing to kill innocent kids for his new best friend in order to forget about the old one. He was still selfish.

He only started to doubt himself when Kairi empathized with him. 

And then he felt like shit and was disgusted with himself again. That was the last straw. Axel really doesn’t work as a character without a horrific backstory or being a killer. He just doesn’t. Being a twisted killer was fundamental to his story. And being a test subject was really the only things that could have made Saïx more sympathetic and redeemable.

[derekscorner]

Characters stick around too long

Even now I still stand by the notion that some of KH’s problems is the sheer refusal to leave a character be. Which isn’t the only reason but I do think it’s one of them.

When the only thing that invests people is their trios then you’ll do what you can to keep them invested. (even if it takes random new rules or convoluted schemes to keep them around)

Which is a bit ironic since they’ve done their best to erase Final Fantasy cameos as the series go on but that is a character attachment rant of my own and I’d like to avoid my own hypocrisy for this post.

Onto my tangent

Knowing how much attachment and headcanon people have for characters makes me skeptical this will be read beyond here but hopefully I’ll get a few responses. (cause I like to hear calm opinions)

I’ll be blunt, I think there’s a few major issues with writing decisions we all dislike. One is that KH only has one or two writers that even follow along with Nomura’s plans (including himself). Second is that nearly every member of the cast we have is a clone of another.

And most importantly, I feel another huge issue is fans and Nomura’s refusal to let a character just bow out. They keep dragging them back. And I understand that many have a very strong emotional attachment to some to these characters even if I dont know why. (since more traits are fan assigned headcanon or manga added)

This love isn’t an issue in of itself and, given how little the games will develop a person, you need these manga/novel traits or headcanons. However, this turns into an issue when they deter progression for other things or characters just to appease what is viewed as unfair.

Sure, many of these characters had unfair lives. That tragedy is a big (if not only imo) reason that they got such followings. I also dont think they should just be left, what I think is they needed resolution. And I will grant you, how I’d resolve some of them differently than many others.

I mean, think about it, how neglected was Roxas screentime in Days, Strelitzias everything, or Kairi’s time just to focus on something else? How many random rules did DDD add to “fix” something that already had a clear means in canon to be saved or resolved?

It’s hard not to sound like I”m hating on characters that, in truth, I feel nothing for at all but any form of opinion or critique these days is seen as “hate”. Gotta love the close minded nature of the internet amirite?

How many of you have sit down and asked the questions like; “would I even care about this character if their story wasnt’ sad?” “what purpose does this character serve now?”

LIke Roxas, Xion, Namine, or Axel. What purpose did they have beyond their initial focus? Axel’s keyblade felt forced, Roxas and Xion just kinda popped back in, and of the four, Namine did the most by contacting Terra. Of course, you can miss that last bit due to how missed Namine’s scene in KH3 is.

What purpose does it serve to put present characters in the KHUX’s story? I can see Luxu or the MoM reappearing in the future because they vanished prior to that war. It’s a bit lame KHUX was remolded to such relevance but that alone is annoying but passable.

But why does Ven have to be from the past? Or Marluxia and Larxene? What does this do? I know lots of people wanted the lives of some Org members explained...even if I can’t understand why.

At this point I know I’m rambling but I’m truly just baffled by it. It’s adding stuff to things that dont need it while ignoring things that could use it. Kairi is so neglected that anything they try to do now feels forced.

Strelitzia was the first new character in a while, a female at that, and she was killed off two weeks to the day of being introduced. What fucking purpose does that serve but to add to the intrigue of human Marluxia?

Hell, why did KHUX have to keep going? That initial run as a browser game was damn good. It was a self contained mystery story. It explained what a war was, it explained how Sora’s world even formed. Look at it now though, it’s a cycle apparently, there’s timelines all around, and it continues to drag in present cast into it’s fold to artificially grow.

Fuc it I am just rambling with no point now. I should wrap this up, I am sorry.

At the end of the day I am just horribly annoyed that things seem to happen for no reason or time is wasted to explain a revival and I’m horribly annoyed when someone is ignored to explore a character that’s lived beyond their point.

I believe in resolution and I think so much of KH would’ve flowed better if the story had it.

Edit: For fun, how would’ve resolved it? I’ll list my ramble below-

Chi/UX? That would’ve ended at the initial war. No time traveling, no present cast, that story would exist to explain Luxu, the MoM, and the war. If need be, you could even remake it as a console title but never artificially keep its story alive.

And dont tell me Chi kept going to answer unanswered questions cause we’re now on UX and still dont know anything.

Roxas, Namine, Xion, and Axel? These people had the perfect chance for resolution in DDD. Sora was in a realm that could manifest them. They could’ve been a great tool to show Sora’s darkness grow. Whether they lived on as dreams or Joshua reincarnated them, they should’ve stopped here.

TAV? I felt Aqua’s story should’ve resolved in KH3 or even the Secret Episode of BBS. I wouldn’t have kept Ven nor Vanitas around past BBS and I still would’ve had Terra (as the Lingering Will) help destroy Terranort. Whether he got his body back or died you can decide.

Xehanort? For the love of anything you deem holy, do not try to redeem him. He was developed ok for a villain till DDD turned him into Aizen and invalidated the series till then. He definitely didn’t need to be passed off as he was in KH3. Just let me end the fucker. I dont care about his wishywashy motives at this point.

And the nobodies? No, never, recompletion is a sad way to bypass death. I hate it and Xehanort (and at this point, Luxu) didn’t even need it to return. 

/rant

[phoenix-downer]

Hello! I was curious about why you ship Rokunami. I don't think it's a bad ship or anything! It's actually kind of cute, but I feel like the game didn't give them enough time to develop any kind of relationship besides trust in a time of need and confusion. Is there a reason why you see them work very well and/or even better than perhaps Roxas and Xion? I always love to read your analysis on everything and I would like to know a bit more about this! Hope you have a great day (and stay aweosme)!

Good question!

I ship Rokunami because of the potential I see and the chemistry they have in their scenes together.

Do I think they’ve had a romance for the ages and are deeply and madly in love? No, but I do think the potential for a good romance is there! Their relationship is at its very beginning stages and I enjoy it for what it is and what it could be, and here’s why:

1) They are kindred spirits in a very difficult situation. They’re both Nobodies who are fated to return to their Others, and they can understand each other like no one else can. It’s a bad situation all around, but Naminé makes it clear to Roxas that he is not alone in his ordeal. She disobeys Diz to reach out to him and tell him the truth, which leads us into…

2) Naminé was willing to tell him the truth. Remember how in Days Roxas says the person who tells him the truth would be who he trusts? Well, Naminé is that person. His other friends either couldn’t tell him the truth or wouldn’t tell him, and finally along comes someone who will, and she earns his trust because of it.

3) They make a promise to meet again. Despite their fates to return to their Others, Naminé believes they will meet again and tells Roxas that this isn’t the end. At the end of KH2 their promise is fulfilled and they see each other again. Most Nobodies are destined to fade away, but they live on in their Others and until they are (hopefully) rescued in KH3, they can be together as long as Sora and Kairi are (which… yeah, we know how well that’s gone lately, but the point still stands).

4) They can see themselves as how they remember each other. Being able to see someone’s true self is a repeated motif throughout the series (Kairi with Sora’s Heartless form, Kairi and Sora with Riku’s Ansem form, Roxas and Axel with X*on’s real self, etc.) and a sign that two people share a strong bond, strong enough to see beyond deceptive outward appearances and into the heart. Roxas and Naminé are able to see each other’s true selves even after they return to Sora and Kairi, a sign that the bond they share is truly special. Roxas words it like this: 

I see myself the way you remember me. And you see yourself the way I remember you.

Not only do they remember each other’s true selves; instead of Roxas seeing himself based on his own memories, Roxas sees himself the way Naminé remembers him, and Naminé sees herself the way Roxas remembers her. This hints at the beautiful mutuality of their relationship - they sustain not themselves but each other. It’s normally impossible for a Nobody to continue on existing independently once they rejoin with their Other (as we’ve seen with Axel/Lea, they simply merge into one person), but Roxas and Naminé’s continued existence may very well be because they can remember each other other as they truly are. 

In other words, they see each other’s hearts; they see each other as unique people with unique identities instead of accepting the narrative that they’re destined to become Sora and Kairi. And indeed, Naminé marvels at this and realizes that her earlier assessment was wrong - to her surprise, they didn’t fade away into darkness. Roxas affirms this and points out they got to meet their true selves, and Naminé is happy that they can be together again.

5) They’re each other’s second loves. This is more in the realm of personal interpretation, but I really like the idea that they find love again in each other. They’re both hurting from the loss of their first loves - X*on for Roxas, though I’m aware not everyone interprets their relationship that way, and Sora for Naminé, though this was one-sided on Naminé’s end and it was only by changing Sora’s memories that she was able to temporarily redirect Sora’s feelings for Kairi towards herself - and find solace and a second chance at love in each other. 

Sora and Kairi already have the childhood friends/first loves thing going on so it’s nice to see a different kind of couple also potentially represented in the series. Because let’s be real, how many people end up with their first loves? Sora and Kairi are the fairytale storybook romance, the once-in-a-lifetime, death-can’t-keep-us-apart, bound-by-true-love soulmates, and while I love that to pieces, I also love Roxas and Naminé’s quieter, more subdued affection for each other. They’re like the couple you meet in real life who have been through some hardships along the way but have found love again in each other and they don’t have to proclaim it from the streets, it just sort of radiates off them and speaks for itself.

6) The chemistry. Also subjective, but man if I didn’t pick up on it in their scenes together. Roxas really seems like he’s flirting with her in their scene together in the Old Mansion, and then again at the end of KH2 when they meet again, and then when he smiles at her at the very end through Sora… yep, lots of smiling. 

All this to say…

They don’t have an epic romance (yet). They may never have an epic romance, and that’s okay. They’re like those two people who just really click together because they have a lot in common. There’s chemistry and mutual attraction, and they want to get to know each other more. So they decide to go on a few dates and take things slow and see how things unfold from there. That’s the vibe I get from them. They’re strikingly real to me because of that, and while I love Sora and Kairi’s fairytale romance, I also love Roxas and Naminé’s very down-to-earth bond.

But what about Rok*shi? (starred out so it hopefully won’t show up in the tags)

I hesitate to even go there at all because I know shipping is a touchy subject and I don’t want this to turn into shipping discourse. I’ve also seen people tear down other ships and characters to prop up their favorite ships and characters, and I refuse to do that. My philosophy is that if a ship is good, it will stand on its own merits - no need to trash other ships.

The whole situation has also been made more complicated by how X*on was introduced after Naminé, but within the timeline of the story itself, knew Roxas before she did. The way canon has handled things has only exacerbated an already touchy situation with the fandom and I don’t really want to get into that right now.

Honestly, my preference for Rokunami just comes down to personal tastes, really, same with how people who prefer Rok*shi do for their own reasons. And those are perfectly good reasons! Roxas does spend a lot of time with X*on and I can see the potential there! But I can also see the potential with Rokunami, and I can’t deny that I like what I see :) Again, it really just boils down to personal preferences.

On a more general note, I always try to keep in mind that at the end of the day, shipping is supposed to be a fun thing that brings people joy. And if shipping Rok*shi is what brings you joy, awesome! If shipping Rokunami is what brings you joy, awesome! I will be the last person to tell you not to ship something. 

Hope that answers your question, thanks for the ask! :)

[thisselflovecamebacktome]

Was SoKai forced? A look into the issues surrounding the pair

I want to preface this with while I have done some writing and scripting classes, I am in no way the next James Cameron or whatever. I’m just a girl giving her opinion.

To determine whether SoKai was forced or not, I think two aspects need to be looked into. One, was there implications that the pairing would occur throughout the series or was it a last minute ‘match the remainders’ type ditch? And secondly, was the development there to expect this outcome?

I think we can all agree that the answer to the first question is a clear yes, there were signs from the first part of the first game that the game developers intended SoKai to be cannon and impliedly end game. I’m not here to argue that because whether I ship it or not, I don’t think it is arguable. The second question is where the topic gets more tricky. 

In my honest opinion, SoKai has the potential to be a great love story, but the writing makes it fall short. To me personally, even though I ship both, the reason SoKai feels less natural than SoRiku is because a lot of things that feel like they are vital for growth and really establishing the relationship as more than a crush happen off screen and/or are quickly glossed over. A large part of this has to do with the developers giving Kairi the short end of the stick and keeping her in the whole ‘damsel in distress’ stereotype in general to be honest. 

With SoRiku, we get emotional moments of “I looked everywhere for you” and Riku literally stepping in front of a bunch of heartless that just ‘killed’ their friends to protect Sora while telling him that Riku doesn’t believe that Sora believes that Sora is useless. We also get small fun little moments like Sora saying he needs to call Riku to tell him about something that reminded Sora of him. Hell, we even had Riku call Sora’s name and Sora randomly show up when there was no reason to believe Sora would show up in KH3. Like that’s some gay shit right there. 

When it comes to SoKai, in my opinion, because Kairi as a character is paid dirt, we also miss out on moments as deep as SoRiku have had. Sure, we had Sora begging for Kairi’s life in KH2 and the letters Kairi writes to Sora/for herself, but a lot of these moments lack the communication that the SoRiku moments have. Like when Riku jumped in front of those heartless, we get Sora’s shocked (and in my opinion somewhat guilty) reaction as he realises Riku is still there and willing to give up everything because he believes in Sora. Likewise, we see the guilt in Riku when he realises the pain he caused Sora. In comparison, when we do get SoKai moments together, a lot of it is a hug/glance before moving on. And the sad thing is that I feel like we did have these deeper moments at the start of the game. Little things like Kairi telling Sora she has concerns over how Riku was behaving and her half joking about just the two of them taking the raft and going felt like it was building up a proper, long lasting romantic relationship over just a crush.

But at some point, it personally feels like the writers just went “well, we’ve told them they want to share a paopu fruit, we don’t need to do any more to develop the relationship” and forgot that people change, relationship change and time doesn’t stand still for anyone (yes this is meant to be ironic given Kairi was sent to a place with no concept of time in KH3). From my understanding, with the exception of Birth By Sleep, the whole Kingdom Hearts franchise is meant to take place give or take during the period of SoKai being 13 - 15. While I obviously cannot talk for everyone, in that time period of my life romantically I dated the boy I liked for most my childhood and thought I was going to marry for a year, broke up with him, dated another two people shortly and had a crush on another person. And hey, maybe I’m a ho, but the point still stands that a lot happens in that time without the ptsd inducing shit these two went through and 15/16 year old me was a vastly different person than 13 year old me. And that’s fine, it doesn’t mean that Sora and Kairi can’t be childhood sweethearts. But I want to see that the way they have changed still compliments each other and that it’s not just them relying on nostalgia and conversations we’re supposed to assume happened. 

And that is the predominate issue I have with Kairi’s arc in KH3. After (from memory) not having an on screen discussion with Sora after KH2 about how things have changed/how they feel (specifically a response from him about the letter she wrote) and where they stand, she’s chucked into a situation where she doesn’t even interact with Sora (or anyone outside Axel) directly for most the game. The worst part about it is that especially in KH3, there are some moments where it literally feels like it’d make more sense for Sora to talk to Kairi than the other characters. Sora feeling frustrated at having to start again and feeling weaker than the others? Sounds a lot like how Kairi would feel being at the start of her journey. Sora’s feelings on Roxas? Probably a good match for Kairi’s feelings about Namine. Like there’s so many intimate things that could help establish them as a couple and make them closer. Instead, the first proper interaction SoKai has leads up to the point I’m sure most shippers have waited for where Kairi pulls out the paopu fruit... and Sora is surprised? Like my dude, you may die tomorrow and you’re shocked and need it explained to you that the love of your life wants to be a part of your life forever? It’s just so awkwardly written and once again in my opinion underdeveloped given the lack of on screen interaction since KH2 before that. The conversation then moves towards them both talking about protecting each other and I was like ‘Yes! Finally some communication about how they feel!’. I want to preface that part that while I would have adored for Kairi to be a kickass keyblade welding badass who slammed Xehanort down herself, I do not need that in a female character for me to love her. What bugs me is that in this game’s trailers and with how the place without magic works, it heavily implied that Kairi was going to be a ‘stronger’ character than ever in the physical sense, but her character doesn’t even feel like a step up from KH2. Don’t get me wrong, I think the “Kairi is Sora’s light” scene was done very well just like her transforming him back in the first game and is a good way to show rather than tell us that they have a strong connection, and once again, I do not need her to be physically strong to like her, but advertising that she is going to be physically stronger then having her fall into the same ‘damsel in distress’ trope was disappointing. Like I could even understand her having to die, but at least have Saix or Xehanort pull a dirty move on one of the others and her dying trying to defend them or Xehanort making her fight rather than just smashing her into pieces. Also, this has nothing to do with SoKai, but the fact that Kairi’s murderer got to go to heaven within the hour that he murdered her was wack af tbh.

And then we get to the ending. And I get at this point, ya’ll probably saying “God this grinch ass prick really just wants to rip everything apart, why can’t she just say she hates KH3 and go?” but I don’t care. This ending was literally the biggest let down to the Kingdom Hearts fandom in general, but especially SoKai shippers in my opinion. Before you go breathing down my neck about me not liking bittersweet endings, that’s not the issue. The issue is that once again, SoKai had a chance to have a big emotional moment and potentially growth along with us as viewers getting some clarity over what happened, but instead, they just brushed it over with the only explanation being a vague “You may not come back” from Mickey. And I’m sorry, I’m not taking ‘there wasn’t enough time/space on the disk’ as an excuse when we had to fight Xehanort multiple times and when the Keyblade Graveyard felt as dragged out as it did. Also, once again not SoKai related, but it still feels out of character that Riku just allowed Sora to go alone like that given how much he loves both Sora and Kairi. Likewise, him and the others letting Kairi cry alone in the ending frustrated me to no end. 

But here’s the thing; even if it doesn’t fully fix everything, the developers could have done one little thing to place importance on SoKai’s relationship. All it would have taken was an extra scene where Kairi says something like “Given we shared the papou fruit, I am the only one who can find Sora/his soul” and either 1. (and preferably tbh) sent her instead of Riku to find him or 2. If they really wanted to include Riku, have Kairi go along with him. Or hey, better yet 3. Have Riku be the one who died instead and have it end with Sora going to leave and then Kairi showing up saying she refuses to be left behind because Riku was her friend too and have Kingdom Hearts 4 (or whatever title is coming next) have them as teammates and switchable playable characters. Because power couple teaming up to find their best friend? Count me in.

Anyway, this is turning into a “Why KH3 was a disappointment story wise” post, but to answer the original question, no, I don’t think SoKai was forced. However, I also don’t think that the writers have really put the time, effort and development into the relationship that it really deserves given it is meant to be the main cannon end game ship, much as Kairi does not as the original main female. Given that SoRiku does get that attention, it often feels like SoKai (and platonically RiKai but that’s a discussion for another day) pales a lot. So while I never thought SoRiku would be cannon, I can understand the arguments that SoKai feels less genuine and heteronormative given the difference in development. And I hate saying because like I said, I could see SoKai being one of the great love stories if written well. 

Given SoKai is still set to be end game, my hope is that in future games we get this development and SoKai and Kairi as an individual gets the chance to shine the way main cannon ships and characters deserve. But I guess all we can do is wait and see.

[xiiishadesofgrey]

Kingdom Hearts III: A Long Time Coming

As we’re about a month after the release of KH3, I wanted to get out my thoughts on the game (there are spoilers below). I might be talking into the void, but hey, that’s what fandom’s all about. Anyway, let’s rock.

First things first: I loved the game. I’m biased, because I’ve been in love with this series ever since I saw the first trailer on tv all those years ago. I have some criticisms, but please never take those to mean that I don’t love this game because I do.

Story

My main issue with the plot of KH3 is that I think pacing was a weak point in this one. Now, I’m used to playing through mostly irrelevant Disney worlds the whole time and then getting a plot dump at the end. I know how this series works; that’s not my issue. The problem is that there are a lot of characters who would pop in to do something pivotal, and then make an equally swift exit without any real closure. Demyx and Vexen come to mind, but even the non-benched OrgXIII members didn’t do much besides serve in the boss rush and make their goodbyes (while the other fighters politely waited before continuing to rough you up).  We knew there was going to be a huge cast of characters, but for the ones that served to move the plot forward, in a lot of cases I was left feeling like I didn’t have an answer for why the roles had to be filled by them in particular. (Connections to KHUX were blurry at best, though that’s more of an issue with series planning than with this game on its own. I’m okay with using Luxu as a cliffhanger, though, since that’s more of an intentional setup.) Motivations weren’t explored and many of the characters ended up just where they were before: lost, floating in the void.

I was also a little put out with the game’s treatment of the main heroes.  Riku and Mickey spend 5/6 of the game throwing themselves against a wall, staunchly refusing Sora’s help.  Meanwhile Sora (aka the player) is supposed to just wander around until the Power of Waking comes to him all deus ex machina style? That’s not a plan, and it makes for a meandering plot. And when you finally do get to the Realm of Darkness, lo and behold, the power was in him all along, meaning that we’ve all wasted a lot of time in what we’re supposed to believe is a pretty urgent situation. If I’m considering this within the framework of the KH universe, it means we should probably never take direction from Yen Sid again.  If I look at if from a real world perspective, it’s a rather poor excuse for the player to visit the obligatory worlds while the main plot gets compressed to a cutscene movie at the end of the game.  Either way, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

And finally, I was truly disappointed with KH3′s treatment of Kairi. I try to be understanding. I get it, she’s not the main character. But here’s the thing: the writers set Kairi up to be in a position of agency, if not power. She has a keyblade, she has the benefit of legitimate training in no less than a genuine hyperbolic time chamber (more than Sora has ever had the benefit of, mind you), and she has a history of being eager to pull her weight as a Guardian of Light.  Plus, she’s a Princess of Heart.  You’d think this would lead to her being able to contribute to the fight in more ways than just believing in Sora enough to keep him from keeling over when he loses his cool (another thing I took a bit of issue with, but I won’t digress here).  But no, Kairi is demoted very solidly to damsel in distress when the plot finally sees fit to release her and Lea from their bubble. To be blunt, I call bullshit. I think she deserved better as a character, and I think if they weren’t going to do anything with her having a keyblade, they shouldn’t have wasted all that time making it happen. In the last fight, she and Lea were more liabilities than anything. I think they both deserved better than that.

End(?)

Obviously, the end of the game contains a culmination of the complaints I’ve mentioned.  I’m overjoyed that my favorite characters get their lives back, but a lot of that takes place without direct player contribution (for example, Roxas showing up by himself, having melded with a replica body offscreen, or Namine being a footnote in the closing scenes). I acknowledge that the player character doesn’t need to (and shouldn’t) be the sole instigator of action in a game, but for some of these instances, having these points basically narrated to me felt like things were coming together because they had to for the plot to resolve, and not because our own actions had led to an optimal outcome. I didn’t feel like we had earned all of the pieces falling into place the way they did.

I mentioned unclear motivations before. All I will say about Xehanort is that I don’t quite see the connection between the story they’ve been selling us for him literally this entire time and the story he painted for his motivations at the very end. I don’t feel one way or the other about them trying to redeem him, but I don’t feel that that was a well-established path to try to take with the character they’d built. It’s important to give evidence throughout if that’s the final claim you’re going to stand on, and nothing in any previous game has ever hinted at the “noble reset” MO.

And then, there’s Sora. My precious sunshine child. They damseled Kairi so hard that Sora died got lost in an alternate universe. I had two problems with this: 1) it just made me sad, and 2) it was like...completely unaddressed. I get it, you’re leading into the next saga, and that’s admittedly an excellent hook. But like, I feel like a plot point as pivotal as the main character functionally disappearing warrants some sort of ... visible reaction from his friends and comrades??? To have that emotional fallout completely unaddressed makes me feel like the story wasn’t complete. And not to make a somewhat unrelated gripe, but I feel like if they had space to make us watch the entire Let It Go song, they had space to let the audience know that Sora’s disappearance actually had some effect on the people he’d saved.

Experience

So, given all that grumbling, what did I feel about the overall experience of the game? I actually thought it was very positive. The gameplay - both exploration and combat - was very smooth and exciting. The worlds we visited were well-executed and fun (though San Fransokyo felt deceptively small, somehow). The graphics were awesome. (I’d been concerned that the new engine would lose some of the Kingdom Hearts feel, but I think they really nailed it.) Yoko Shimomura triumphed as always with a stellar soundtrack. (I found myself humming along to the Arendelle and Corona themes for hours.) The plot, obviously, was great despite my issues with the execution in this particular chapter. I think that most of the problems that I mentioned earlier with pacing and details stem from there being what I consider to be too many plotlines to handle in one ~40 hour game. I wouldn’t want another side game of course, but I think that the telling of the story might have benefited from the Dark Seeker saga continuing into a KH4. The plot is sprawling, as we all know, and it just needed a little more space to resolve everything cleanly.

(Side note: I missed my FF friends, but I understand why they weren’t present. Like I said, there was too much going on as it is.)

Aside from that, I personally got to spend a lot more time with my brother than I have ... probably since KH2 came out, to be honest. We promised to only play together, and we took turns with the controller just like we had to do in the good ol’ days when we were kids. And we’ve always played the main games together, so this was a really nice throwback. Closing this chapter of the story was impactful for us as individuals, but sharing the experience was just as great. After several years of being pretty closed off, I feel like this reminded me how to be a kinder sister. So, I thank the KH franchise from the bottom of my heart for that.

All things said, I really enjoyed the hell out of playing this game. At the end of the day, I think that’s all you can ask of a game, really. This one did much more than that, though. It largely followed through on my hopes for the characters, and definitely fulfilled my technical expectations. Most importantly, it felt like it came through on my immense emotional investment in the series. I cried (a lot), like I knew I would. Heck, I might even play it again sometime. lol  ...Maybe not right away, since I still have to heal emotionally. But yeah. Thank you for the ride, KH. I won’t make this sound like a goodbye because you still owe me some closure. But thanks.

Here’s to the next half a lifetime. :)