#mythology of keyblades

[hollowwhisperings]

The Mythology of Keyblades: Riku the Beach Boy of Avalon

This theory is partially Crack and partially a genuine investigation into the usage of Arthurian mythology within the KH series.

(this line from Monty Python & the Holy Grail inspired this whole theory: all i had to do was replace the referenced [Lady of the Lake] with Riku)

If you've loitered about the Kingdom Hearts fandom enough and read enough interviews with Tetsuya Nomura, you'll soon conclude that Riku is Tetsuya Nomura's Favourite Child in this series. Riku is the driving force for most of KH's story beats & Riku has played deuteragonist to Sora, story-wise if not in gameplay, in every game that isn't a prequel. Riku seems to gain a new & unique special ability with every game (often at a harsh price). Yet, for all the time the audience spends with Riku... the series is very careful about revealing anything about the boy beyond his utter devotion to Sora. The game even encourages players to Forget and Overlook the integral roles Riku plays in the series, typically via throwing a Kairi between him & Sora.

Jokes aside, while Riku's Secret Anime Prince coding is STRONG, it is not the point being explored here: there are 2 seemingly nonsensical Disney Crossovers established prior to most everything else: 'Alice in Wonderland' (something somewhat explored in my 'Princesses of Light as Stars' series of tinhattery) and 'The Sword In The Stone'. This post shall examine the latter, an animated adaption of the King Arthur myth, and how it is represented in KH not solely through the character of 'Merlin' but as the underlying principle behind the x-blade, Keyblade Wielding & how Riku acts as Kingdom Hearts itself.

Boy at Beach Distrubiting Swords

Let's start with Riku's Keyblades: he has had more than one, not due to gears or keychains but due to... apparently being able to churn fresh swords from his Heart as the Plot Requires.

The different keyblades used by Riku throughout the series thus far are the following:

Kingdom Key (Sora's default keyblade)

Souleater/Way to the Dawn (Riku's default from KH1 until KH2.9)

the Keyblade of Heart (while possessed by Apprentice Xehanort's Heartless, AKA Ansem Seeker of Darkness);

the [Combined Keyblade/"Gayblade"] (alongside Sora)

Braveheart (Riku's current keyblade)

(given that King Mickey found Kingdom Key-D in the Dark equivalent of the Destiny Islands & the whole "x-blade was made of light & darkness" thing... THAT keyblade, currently wielded by King Mickey, may ALSO come from Riku)

That's 5 different keyblades (6 if we include Kingdom Key-D), and ALL have been seen onscreen with at least 1 other, typically Kingdom Key, marking each of these keyblades as being 'distinct' and 'separate' from each other. Before figuring out what Heart Maths may be at play here... a brief interlude.

Young Adult Gifts Toddler Giant Sword: More Wholesome than it Sounds

Supposedly, the ability to [manifest] & "wield" a keyblade is only possible through a successful Bequeathing Ceremony: Terra performed such a ceremony for Riku in BBS. This, however, is a method passed on by the Master of Masters & subsequent schools of keyblade masters: given... literally EVERYTHING seen on "traditional" schools of keyblade mastery, this Premise is Factually Dubious. The series shows multiple characters manifesting or otherwise wielding keyblades without any such ceremonies: even assuming that these rites "carry over" through acts of Posession and Cloning, the Need for a ceremony becomes questionable. This would not be the first (nor last) time in the KH series that the "knowledge" of Foretellers, Mentors & Scholars prove to be Assumptions rather than Absolute Fact.

Exhibit A: Axel & Accidents

Axel is the best example as, unless we are later informed that Subject X performed the ceremony on Lea (or that Roxas or Xion did so without knowing), Axel has never been part of nor possessed by an existing keyblade wielder: his keyblade is entirely his own, a surprise to all.

Sora & Kairi were never formally bequeathed a keyblade though the latter "accidentally" inherited the ability from Aqua in BBS. Sora never had such a ceremony, the KH Wiki (dubious resource that it is) explains Sora's keyblade wielding as being a result of Ventus sleeping within Sora's Heart: I think it is more likely that, unlike the Formal Ceremonies of past keyblade schools may have taught, Hearts do not actually require outside recognition of "worth" in order to manifest a keyblade.

Once Upon A Meteor Shower

Riku's Heart entrusting Kingdom Key to Sora in KH1, a last-ditch effort from its Light to keep to its Oath of Protection, strikes me as being more "faithful" to what we have observed of keyblades in-game. For all that the formally schooled Keyblade Wielders past recited "May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key", no one embodies the intent of this principle more than the entirely self-taught Sora: Riku and King Mickey likely next closest in trusting their Hearts over what they have been taught.

A Heart entrusting its physical manifestation to Another due to the Connection between them seems a "Truer" bequeathment than the (admittedly heartwarming) recitations of a stranger. Keyblades may NOW be deemed "weapons" to conquer Darkness... but the original x-blade was made of Light AND Darkness, a union of forces working in balance rather than opposition. The first x-blade was a tool for Protection, not Hurt: a creation of Heart and, thus, of Love.

Exhibit B: Body & Hearts

A creation of "Heart". As in, 1 heart = 1 keyblade. Multiple hearts in 1 body? Multiple keyblades.

Roxas is the Go-To example: the Nobody Twin of Naminé, created when Sora "unlocked" Kairi from his Heart whilst Ventus slept within it.

Roxas, in his every appearance, is capable of Dual Wielding: a keyblade from Sora, a keyblade from Ventus. Upon gaining an independent, replika body... Roxas can still, apparently, dual-wield.

...despite no longer sharing the Hearts of Sora nor Ventus (nor Xion).

(as this is a Riku speculation post, not a "what the heck is up with Roxas" one, i'll just... put a Pin in this mystery for now but the "maths" of 1 heart = 1 keyblade are, indeed, still facts of canon: Nomura confirmed as much when revealing the Above Album Art he made for Utada Hikaru's KH3 songs)

Exhibit C: Proof of Concept

Then we have Aqua: she lost her keyblade between saving Ven & falling into Darkness. The keyblade of Master Eraqus came to her aid: this is consistent with the established concept of Bequeathing Ceremonies. It's uncertain whether the same person can bequeath keyblade-wielding to multiple persons but it seems likely given the scale of the Unions in KHX.

(At that same point in time, the Heart of Eraqus was hidden within a Nort'd Terra: 3 Hearts existed within Apprentice Xehanort, all of them in conflict with each other, to varying degrees.)

The keyblade Aqua receives, the keyblade of Master Eraqus, is named 'Master's Defender'. This was originally the keyblade of the Dandelion Brain but was passed onto Ephemer and from pupil to student until eventually being inherited by Eraqus. This seemingly aligns with the concept of Masters 'bequeathing' keyblades to students, specifically THEIR keyblades.

Interestingly, Riku has never wielded Terra's keyblade (or its likeness, via keychain) 'Earthshaker/Ends of the Earth' after its being bequeathed to him, likely due to its remaining with Terra's 'Soul', the 'Lingering Will' within his armour. If this is the case... NONE of the keyblades Riku has conjured or wielded are a result of his Bequeathment Ceremony. Terra's Keyblade becomes a 6th (or 7th) keyblade connected to Riku, albeit an unused one.

Speaking of Terra...

Xemnas (the Nobody of Apprentice Xehanort AKA 'TerraNort') is NEVER seen wielding a keyblade, let alone two.

...but he DOES wield two [lightsabers]/'Ethereal Blades'.

If Xemnas had ever believed in his own personhood, it's plausible that he could have dual wielded keyblades like Roxas... though the conflict between the Hearts of Xehanort & Terra are unlikely to have cooperated long enough for dualwielding to be sustainable in combat.

Back to the Beginning

Kingdom Key was formed by the Light within Riku's Heart. That Light entrusted itself to Sora while Riku himself was lost in Darkness. Riku is later seen wielding a different keyblade, 'Soul Eater'. Given that KH1 sets up a premise of there being 'two' Kingdom Keys, one of Light & one of Darkness... perhaps 'Soul Eater' was made from the Darkness within Riku's Heart. Maleficent or Ansem SOD would know better than most anyone how to create such a thing.

(it's still Weird that Riku's Heart is the ONLY Heart we see capable of manifesting TWO, simultaneously existing & separately wielded keyblades: Riku using Souleater never prevented Sora from using Kingdom Key; Souleater becoming 'Way to the Dawn' did not affect Kingdom Key; and Riku & Sora use each other's keyblades interchangeably in KH2, even dualwielding at times)

While Riku is possessed by Ansem SoD (the heartless of Apprentice Xehanort), he wields a keyblade forged by the hearts of 6 of the 7 Princesses of Heart: this keyblade is named 'Keyblade of Heart' or 'Keyblade of People's Hearts'. This is an artificially made keyblade, wielded by an entity made up of at least 4 people's Hearts (Riku, Xehanort, Terra, Eraqus) and it does not seem to survive past Ansem SoD's defeat.

During the events of KH2.9 (at the 'Drop Point' between the first timeline of KH3 & Sora's First Retcon), Riku and King Mickey find themselves struggling in the depths of the Realm of Darkness. They had hoped to find the missing Master Aqua yet their journey has only proven the point of Master Yen Sid's preventing such a rescue 10 years prior: alone, surviving the journey to the abyss would be all but impossible. Similarly, Sora immediately post-DDD would not have survived the pace set by Mickey & Riku: Sora needed the lessons and confidence boost he found through Herc & Meg before he was truly ready for Aqua's Attempted Rescue.

Before Sora has his Hero Moment (complete with Riku's slow-mo heart-eye reaction to it), Riku's keyblade 'Way to the Dawn'... breaks. Riku also spontaneously gets a Hair Cut. Not due to any attack landing on him from the Demon Tide nor due to any bout of Gay Agony: just... "randomly" (Sleeping Realm Theory covers this).

So then Riku casually manifests a BRAND NEW KEYBLADE, while not at all possessed nor acting as a Heart Hotel, and that keyblade is Braveheart.

(which is basically Kingdom Key but Make It Modern)

It's also in the Realm of Darkness that Sora & Riku first wield their Combined Keyblade whilst in the same plane of reality: in DDD, they wielded their blade across parallel dreamscapes. The [combined keyblade] in KH3 looks exactly as it did in Dream Drop Distance: half Mirage Split, half Nightmare's End.

How Many Hearts Does 1 Riku Have?

The highest number of "hearts" occupying 1 Riku is 10, in KH1: his own, Xehanort's & Terra's, the ghost of Master Eraqus (still biding his time for Maximum Drama), with the 6 Disney Princesses of Heart smooshed within the 'Keyblade of Heart' the Riku Vessel is wielding.

By that time in KH1, both Sora and Riku have wielded Kingdom Key. Riku had also acquired & begun wielding the 'Souleater' keyblade.

Kingdom Key is the keyblade born of the Light in Riku's Heart: a sword entrusted to a Crowned Prince from someone hidden within water, a gift that marks its wielder as a saviour and a fate-chosen king. Sora bears Riku's Crown, a pendant he is never seen without, and Riku (& his Heart) was sinking within both literal (storm and tide) and metaphoric (falling into darkness/sinking within deep waters) waters when Sora receives Kingdom Key. When Sora arrives in Traverse Town, the Final Fantasy & Disney characters there hold Kingdom Key in reverence: the Key follows Sora so THEY follow him too.

There is an Irony about every keyblade-related argument Sora & Riku have in KH1: Kingdom Key WAS Riku's before it was Sora's, the authority of the sword & reverence given to its wielder WAS on "loan" from Riku... but, ultimately, the wielder chosen by the Physical Representation of Riku's Heart & the Light within it?

Yeah, no, sorry Riku: your Heart Likes Sora More.

After KH1, Riku never attempts to "reclaim" Kingdom Key: it's probably during the events between KH1 & KH2 that Riku realises that Kingdom Key is not only a literal manifestation of his own Heart but that he believes Sora to be the best person to wield that "Heart", that "Destiny".

Even if Riku had not somehow managed to manifest the Souleater/Way to the Dawn keyblade, needing to "borrow" Kingdom Key during his year-long vigil at Sora's bedside... I doubt he would have KEPT the sword or that it would let itself be "kept".

Riku's unique connections to both Light AND Darkness make it somewhat reasonable to conclude that 'Souleater' is the Dark counterpart to Kingdom Key: a keyblade formed by the Darkness of Riku's Heart, a keyblade that evolves to 'Way to the Dawn' and Riku's efforts to master his Darkness and return to the Light.

(this still begs the question: how the heck does Kingdom Key-D fit into all this?? no, i'm genuinely asking: what is up with that keyblade)

ALTERNATIVELY! Kingdom Key-D was very logically forged by Riku's Darkness, manifesting in the Realm of Darkness alongside the Fallen Destiny Islands. This makes it Interesting that Mickey could carry it around prior to personally meeting Riku but, regardless of any realizations on its nature & likely relationship with Riku (or Sora), Mickey wields this keyblade-D from KH1 onward.

(This potentially leaves Mickey's Original Keyblade, seen in BBS, as yet ANOTHER keyblade available for Riku's use: the count has risen to 9, 8 if excluding Key-D.)

So... if Riku's Darkness forged Kingdom Key-D, what was Souleater & what IS Braveheart?

Alt #1: Riku, like any Strange Pond Person, can summon as many Magic Swords as Destiny Requires because... he is Literally Kingdom Hearts & that leaves ALL hearts "free" for his use.

Alt #2: The keyblades Riku wields (Souleater, Way to the Dawn & Braveheart) are all manifestations of SORA'S Heart. Sora may be oblivious as to why he is so fixated on Riku but, if Chain of Memories is anything to go by, Sora's HEART knows what it wants, damnit! Even without any allegedly required Bequeathment Ceremony, Riku is a "Child of Destiny" and had already crowned Sora as one too: just as Riku's Heart reached out to Sora, Sora's Heart may have reached BACK for Riku. Thus both boys end up with Keyblades: each holding onto a piece of the other (somewhat literally).

This gives additional explanation to their easy trading & wielding of each other's Keyblades in KH2: the keyblades "belonged" to BOTH boys and always had.

This interpretation easily applies itself to Sleeping Realm Theory, too: 'Way to the Dawn' still "broke" because of Riku's Sacrifice but instead of figuratively representing Riku's Heart "breaking" via his actually Dying, it would represent physically the effect that Sacrifice had on Sora: his Heart broke, "dying" with Riku.

Alt #3: Riku's extra keyblades were from Maleficent, "Ansem", Ansem &/or King Mickey. The timeline allows for Maleficent's providing Riku with the 'Souleater' keyblade: it does not QUITE align for the broken connection between Riku & his Would-Be Fairy Godmother that we can assume happened upon her death in KH1, nor account for any effects caused by her subsequent "resurrection". The timelines required for the other candidates to be involved are not consistent with that of the games nor supplementary canon.

Before wrapping up, let's acknowledge the Giant Crowned Rainbow Sword in the room:

The [combined keyblade], wielded by Riku & Sora in DDD & KH3, is a manifestation of "their Hearts [beating] In Tune". It is That Simple: any efforts to straightwash its existence WILL cause plot holes so just Accept The Gayblade is Gay.

That the Gayblade just so coincidentally resembles both the Ultima keyblade(s) and various x-blades, definitely fit most description of what the x-blade is & how it can be made?

These are also Just Gay. Kingdom Hearts has been building up to (gay) Love being the Ultimate Power of the series from its very beginning: it has ALWAYS used heart imagery and symbolism, used Disney Couples to mirror the changing relationship of Sora & Riku, used "the connections between hearts" as a child's understanding of love (in all forms).

The logical evolution for a Coming of Age journey about a Boy & his Best Friend, in a series that repeatedly uses & is named for 'hearts', who have become stronger as their hearts became more attuned... is for said Boy to realise, acknowledge and recognise that the connection of their hearts has Changed into something less platonic: romantic love, like that between couples in Disney films, like Riku (& Selphie) brought up to Sora through star-shaped fruit before ever exploring those stars personally.

The [combined keyblade] was naturally forged through mutual devotion: its existence implies that the fabled x-blade of legend was ALSO forged by mutual love, that Kingdom Hearts chose its guardian because of Love, that the x-blade's legendary strengh came from its need to protect its dearly Beloved: there is no Straight Explanation for Sora & Riku being able to make the combined keyblade.

[blowingoffsteam2]

We know Dream Drop Distance is essentially one big twist on the story of Sleeping Beauty, but that scene where Sora, having put under a deep sleep, is laid gently down on his Heart Station in a coat of armor, with Riku's light watching over him always struck me as being particularly fairytale-like. Turns out it may actually be a reference to one of the oldest known versions of the Sleeping Beauty tale; the story of Brunhilde. Brunhilde was a Valkyrie, a daughter of Odin. She defies Odin & is put under a curse of everlasting sleep.

The hero Sigurd crosses the flames (or in some versions, a wall of shields) imprisoning her and finds her asleep in a coat of armor that has grown into her skin. By cutting away the armor and freeing her, she awakens and falls in love with Sigurd.

Another interesting thing is that the reason Brunhilde defied Odin and was cursed by him was that he demanded she marry and she refused, saying she would only marry a man without fear.

[jellyfishvibes]

Khdr Keyblade thoughts So, as we know, dr characters are based on norse gods and i'm assume they keyblade they all wield is like starlight in that its a training keyblade that is a keychain given and not 'their' keyblade so based on said norse mythology dr character keyblade names/ideas

Odin - Odins named weapon is Gungnir, a spear that had runes carved into its tip, made by dwarves known as the Sons of Ivaldi

Xehanort - This man is not norse Eraqus - Neither is this guy

Hermod - Hermod has very little about him in the mythology that i found, he is a messenger and rides down to Hel and back to try and revive Baldr? He is given two rings a cloak to give to other people on that trip? got a theme of 9 going on with ring for 9 days to get to Hel and being given a ring that duplicates itself every 9 days making 8 new identical copies of itself, idk not alot here

Urd - One of the three Norns, specifically the one of the past, i would love to see a matching keyblade trio for these three (Skuld being the future and the one of the present usually being anglicized as Verdandi, and i don't think she has appeared yet) Strings of fate and weaving themes are big for all three along with the world tree Yggdrasil, but Urd specifically has a big connection to the well they water the tree with and live near, as its called the Well of Urd

Vor - From my quick research she might be the same as a valkyrie Geiravor who wields a spear but also has the winged horse imagery you could draw on, also i have found her name might mean oath and has associations with oaths and contracts, so something similar to oathkeeper maybe? something like Oathbreaker?

Bragi - (you know, before the plot happened) Is the god of poetry and also possibly music? also he has a rune on his tongue? he is characterized as the court poet of the aesir and something poetry based would fit, maybe in the form of a kenning as there is a dialogue where he explains them, you could also pull from the blood of Kvasir which is said to be the 'mead of poetry', also a great place to put a poetic irony name

Baldr - A Vala predicts his death, Vali's birth and the killing of Hoder and Frigg crying as a result, He has bad dreams and Odin goes to Hel to talk to a Vala about it, he forces her tell him who kills Baldr, who will avenge him and who will weep for him, He is given Draupnir (The ring that duplicates) on his funeral pire and Odin whispered something in his ear before hes pushed out to sea, a majority of him in the mythology is just about that one time he died, the easy target is something mistletoe themed but i am leaning more towards the 'everyone needed to weep to bring him back' theming, maybe with the 9 rings idk, the only name ideas i have are something along the lines of whispers or secrets to allude to the Odin secret thing, Murmured Mystery or something like that? (Fun fact his heartless is called Hringhorn, which is the name of Baldrs ship in mythology, making the final boss turns into a boat theme in Xehanorts life originate from Baldr)

Heimdall - Gjallarhorn is the horn that heralds the beginning of ragnarok and Gulltoppr is his golden mained horse, He is the protector of the Bifrost and has foresight and keen senses, notably his eyesight and hearing, there is a theory that Gjallarhorn could be translated as 'horn of the river Gjoll' a river that seperates the living and the dead, and also that the poem telling of where the horn is my not be referring to it but to Heimdall's hearing which may mean there could be a mirror between him and Odin, as Odin leaves his eye in Mimir's well for knowledge, Heimdall may have left his ear there, he is ripe for a foresight-didn't see his death coming poetic irony name and beyond that the god is very associated with gold so probably a good aspect to design with

Helgi - Helgi is a hero in mythology who falls in love with and marrys a valkyrie, Sigrun, due to slaying Hunding he gets the moniker 'Hunding's bane', he is killed by Sigrun's brother and there is a story after his death where he appears one night ontop of his burial mound to Sigrun, His hair covered with frost, his body covered with blood and his hands are wet, which he explains are becuase of all the tears she has shed for him, they spend the night together and he has to leave in the morning, she spend the rest of her life waiting for him again, which i latch onto cause a frost themed weapon for him would be a really cool contrast to his very classic norse hero design, also more easy valkyrie imagery to pull from aswell, having some thematic kind of match between his and Sigurn's keyblades would be cool

Hoder - The blind god who accidentally killed Baldr with something made of mistletoe (its said Loki made the mistletoe int a spear but Hoder shoots it like is an arrow so???), so also easy mistltoe imagery, he is also killed by Vali to avenge Baldr, depending on the version Hoder is either completely innocent and tricked into it by Loki or much less innocent and more active in the murder, one of the lines of translated poetry i latched onto was His hands he washed not, his hair he combed not, Till he bore to the bale-blaze Baldr's foe. A keyblade name along the lines of blood on hands/unable to wash away the sin would fit kh Hoder, or even a subversion of Destiny's Embrace, as she is kinda stuck in the fate of both her and her brothers death but goes along with it (she swung first) something like Cradle of Fate, or Destiny's Grasp, something that leans a little more negative (*Hoder and Kairi parallels in here about being tangled in fate and have destinys entwined with death, The Kai in Kairi means death after all)

Sigrun - Sigrun is a Valkyrie, she first meets Helgi when leading 9 other Valkyrie, his story happens, her brother tells him of what he did to Helgi and she curses him, forcing him to live in the woods and survive of carrion and she dies early of sadness and is reborn again as a Valkyrie, Her name aslo apparently means Victory Rune, valkyrie imagery? idk there isnt alot here, probably something matching Helgi tho (Its cute that in the like 1 cutscene we have of her and Helgi they pair up without words and seem to be besties/ always standing near each other)

Vala - A Vala was a norse woman with the ability to fortell the future and perform sorcery, often translated as "seeress", "prophetess", "staff bearer", "wise woman" and "sorceress", and the staff bearer in that group intrigues me, they are often connected to Freyja, thers not alot of stuff to work with beyond magic themeing unless you'd pice a specific Vala

Vali - Vali was a son of Odin and Baldrs brother, after Baldrs death he was born and grew to become an adult in one day to avenge him by killing Hoder and binding Loki in the entrails of his son, hes the god of flight and to symbolize this he has a cloak made of raven feathers that when raised looks like wings, very omen of death he is, theres not very much more about him beyond his role in the story of Baldrs death, this line Then did Váli | slaughter bonds twist Makes me think a name along the lines of Bond Breaker or Twist of Bonds might fit (i will note that hes the one who warns the group Hoder has disappeared, leading to Sigurn's, Helgi's and Heimdall's deaths by malificents hands)

Vidar - A god associated with vengance, he is fated in ragnarok to kill Fenrir to avenge his fathers, Odin's, death, he has the moniker "The Silent God" and it is mentioned that he is as powerful as Thor and that he has thick shoes? called 'the possessor of the iron shoe' which might be in reference to the description of him killing Fenrir putting emphisis on him using his foot to hold the dogs lower jaw open, fenrir is already a keyblade in the series and making his keyblade a match for it might be fun, Iron Soul or something along those lines might be a good name for it, i would fully lean into the shoe sole-soul pun for a name, and making a silver blade to Helgi's gold might parallel the kingdom key/kingdom key d duo, idk why they would parallel but like thats where my mind immedately goes (its interesting that both Vali and Vidar are fated to survive ragnarok and are in the group that survive malifcents attack, and the four in the attack are fated to die in mythology, Hoder obviously, Heimdall to Loki in ragnarok and Sigurn and Helgi both in their story, and possibly ragnarok cause i think the valkyrie and warriors of valhalla both fight in it)

[kh-wanderers-of-twilight]

@khoc-week 2024 Day 1 - Introduction

I am so happy to introduce those two, they are connected to two other OCs of mine that I introduced back in 2022. 😁

Kionas

Kionas(meaning Pillar in greek), was originally an unversed that was made by Vanitas 16 years ago and represented the physical manifestation of the thoughts, feelings and will of Vanitas. When Aceso and Vaillant arrived at the Keyblade Graveyard for exploration they found the Vanitas Remnant and engaged in combat, after they won Aceso and Vaillant(mostly Aceso) took pity of the weird boy and wanted to be his friends.

Aceso was the one who named him Kionas because of some rocks she saw that looked like pillars and Vaillant gave him a new haircut and outfit. Currently he is traveling with his new friends and helping other worlds.

Appearance and Personality:

Kionas looks similar to Vanitas and Sora but he is almost unrecognizable with his white spiked undercut hair and has sky blue eyes. His outfit is inspired by Punk fashion. He is 16 years old.

Unlike Vanitas and Sora, he is calm and silent, doesn't talk much, he is loyal and protective of his new friends, he is really curious of the worlds around him and he is interested to learn new things. He really loves giving hugs to people that are close to him. In battle his really aggressive and he will not hold back if one of his friends gets seriously injured.

Abilities:

He can wield the Keyblade and manipulate the shadows.

His fighting style is similar to Vanitas but as he grows as person he learns new fighting skills and magic.

Trivia:

As Kionas travels and interacts with other people and becomes his own person, in the future his keyblade is going to change appearance.

For his hair I took inspiration from this screenshot of Vanitas in KH 3 and the manga

Telos(Teleshoros)

Telos is the Nobody of Aceso's older brother Teleshoros*(means the accomplisher or bringer of completion), unlike his family who are known Potion Makers in his homeworld, Harmonic Plateau, he used to work as fisherman in the docks.

After the events of Birth By Sleep, he lost his world, his sister and heart by the heartless, but his will was so strong that a part of him became a Nobody and found himself in Traverse Town for unknown reason. During his years in Traverse Town, he took the name Telos, he learned that he had the ability to manipulate both light and darkness (similar to Vaillant, this power is called Twilight manipulation) and helped the people around town.

When a black cloaked figure arrived at the world Telos took residence, he was curious about the Black portal they opened and he tried one day to open a portal himself and arrived to different world. He also learned those dark portals where dangerous without the required protection and then he stole the cloak of one the hooded figures after he hit them in the head.

And so Telos travel to different worlds with the goal to find his younger sister and his heart.

Appearance and Personality:

He is 1,80 cm, he has long brown hair and light purple eyes. He wears a black cloak which he stole from one of the members of Organization XIII and modified it, he wears a green shirt and a light brown vest under the cloak and a red cloth like a belt. He is 18 years old.

He is stubborn and hardworking, he is an overprotective brother and loves and cares for his sister, loves to help his fellow people and gets really suspicious with strangers from other worlds. He loves to train a lot especially with bladed weapons or clubs and also completing any tasks. After loosing his world and becoming a Nobody, he became distant and reclusive but still trying to help others in need. He sometimes forgets to relax when he tries to complete a task.

Abilities:

Twilight Manipulation: Light and Dark powers, creating Dark corridors.

Blade weapons and Bats/Clubs training

Close/Hand to Hand Combat

Trivia:

*He was originally named Aratus but I decided to change his name.

In Greek mythology Teleshoros was the sod of Asclepius, God of Medicine and brother of Aceso.

Link to previous characters I mentioned:

[nirgilis]

SRNHNR 2 - KH and FNC

Part 1 | Extra 1

1) KH and Unreality, aka now Final Fantasy within KH, might have certain concepts in common and theirs colors.

Using KH's theories like Necklace theory, Riku being the Light and him kinda being a personification of Kingdom Key L.

Baldr looks like another personification of Kingdom Key L, but inverted due to bigger presence of white and black in clothes.

There's another character from not that distant game, who shares yellow-blue colors. Also in his design from the first part, like Ventus he recembles X-Blade a lot.

FF13 Hope, Riku and for this case Baldr, all look quite like they're Bhunivelze's boysband from different universes. Their likeness to him mght be also reflected in their names and for some in stories.

Hope - throughout FF13 he was called the hope (of humanity) numerous times, and while his project couldn't come to fruition due to what other characters were going through, his merits didn't go unnoticed.

Baldr - in Norse mythology Baldr is the god of light, radiance, sun, summer etc. The spring won't come until he will be revived or he will be revived when ragnarok will pass. That's pretty close to the theme of Bhunivelze as the God of Light in FNC being related to dawn or light returning to world, as he is the one who can rebuild it.

Riku - he doesn't outright represent light-releated aspect in name as Hope and Baldr do, but as Bhunivelze is the ruler of everything that has physical/material form, Riku's name meaning "land," so earth, might tie him to Bhunivelze through that.

2) This scene of Noctis and Stella from VS13's trailers with opposite or complimenting colors is compared a lot to the scene of Sora and Riku combined keyblade from DDD and KH3.

Due to FNC's termynology needed to be changed for FF15, Bahamut might've taken Bhunivelze's place. He has Bhunivelze's colors and has similar to him worldview, making allowance for the fact that concepts of life and death aren't the same in FNC and FF15.

Like Hope having similar colors to Bhinivelze, Luna for FF15 might've been given "Bahamut's" yellow and blue, in the game through her eyes being changed to blue, in the movie through the colors which Oracles seem to wear.

Stella may have yellow seal of deity opposing to Noctis' one, but like her eyes, glowing that appears when she enters and still present when the seal is active is purple, so exactly yellow and blue might not be initial colors reserved for this character, or not in this meaning.

There's no 100% way to tell since in the end Ravus wasn't shown, but for FF15 Fleuret siblings might have swapped colors and roles to a degree along with them.

3) In KH Kingdom Hearts represents the brightest light in the darkness, as itself it's a very powerful light with surrounding it equally powerful darkness. It's a conglomerate of all hearts, and located beyond the Door to Darkness.

What might be the closest analog to both KH and tDtD is Etro's Gate, which like in KH separates realms of light and darkness, in FNC's terms real world and unseen realm.

Unlike its analogs in FNC which are only the source of such power, KH has another property to be able to create new universe, the next world. In FNC's terms, KH is as if it's own Bhunivelze or fal'Cie he created.

Bhunivelze exerts that much light to the point of being blinding, similar to Riku's light blinding Sora in KH1's OP.

There's a theory based on Re:Coded's plot, that in a way it propheses future events of KH, and KH will make Riku its avatar. With the fact that that's kinda what happens to Hope in FF13-3, it might add to the possibility of that happening.

Bhuniveze is the highest deity in FNC by time events in games' stories take place, but he's not omnipotient. He can build worlds, but the natural order of death and rebirth is systeined by chaos, which he can't see and control.

In ways Data-Riku is similar to him. He's the journal/data-world himself, kinda the ruler of digital world, being able to separate the data which is supposed to and not to be in the journal. But it's quite interesting that as a program he can't repair himself and the moment he tried to fight, Maleficent captured him. So there's something in data-world beyond his control and he needs Sora to solve this problem for him.

Both FNC games and KH have a story of a prophesized messiah, who will banish the darkness and restore the light. Savior/Agito/King of Light and Child of Destiny. With Verum Rex adding to the roster, by logic of Agito and KH, in that world the role might be called either "King of Truth" or "Verum Rex." But it's also possible that those titles will be how the highest deity analogous to KH or Bhunivelze will be referred to.

As FF13 is the only FNC game which managed to release with Bhunivelze's awakening from his slumber. What might await that prophesized messiah isn't becoming the light themselves, but becoming the chaos/darkness to help the highest deity to sustain the balance of the world.

4.1) White coat Strelitzia was showed to wear in UX is similar to the coat Ravus wore in one of VS13 trailers. And both of them remind assassin's robes.

Between Pulse and Lindzei, as they both represent Bhunivelze in some ways, Lindzei is the one who has heavenly portrayal. "Commanding from his throne on high. The Solemn Ruler."

VS13/FF15 is supposed to be closer to reality, so a country flying in the sky like Cocoon is probably impossible in that world, but Tenebrae having an illusion of its islands floating and its buildings as if reaching out to the sky might be close to it being Cocoon's analog. Fenestala Manor possibly derives from "Fenestella" - "small window," and "small window" is what's depicted on Lindzei's playing card. Image-wise Tenebrae might've been a nation founded by Lindzei.

Scala ad Caelum being "Stairway to Heaven" somehow seems to be close to Tenebrae.

As Lindzei's methods of operating are more on manipulating humans side, both in encouraging mind work-way and sacrificial-way, he's viewed both as protector of mankind and untrustworthy trickster.

Assassins robes, like the one Noctis has from collab, especially its hood, might allow wearer to blend-in with scholars or people with religious calling. If like in FF15 in VS13 Tenebrae had an image of being a country with its rulers being religious leaders in the world. That might make Ravus Lindzei's representative at some points in the story in both ways Lindzei is viewed, as protector/religious leader and untrustworthy trickster/assassin.

4.2) In VS13/FF15 Noctis had a degree of subtety of him being red, as his eyes only glowed red and red soles of his boots weren't something which could be seen outright. As Yozora now, through his heterochromia, his outfit having red and red glow from weapons and powers, he's parading it quite freely.

Yozora and Riku may have very similar clothes, but color-wise theirs meaning might have to be opposite.

Like Ravus has similarities with Riku and Hope, Yozora might share similarities not only with Sora, but with Noel too.

Pulse and Lindzei were given the task to search for Etro's Gate, with Pulse searching by corporeal means. Lindzei was also given another task, to wake Bhunivelze when the Gate would be found.

In FF13 it wasn't stated what actually woke Bhunivelze up. Hope rising new cocoon called "Bhunivelze" might in a way symbolize him fulfilling task given to Lindzei to wake Bhunivelze up.

"Gaze held aloft, his strides bring ruin," words on Pulse's playing card refer to Pulse destroying the world to search for the Gate.

Noel by killing Etro's heart, thus unleashing Chaos from Etro's Gate, might've fulfilled Pulse's task to find the Gate through corporeal means.

"If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain." Pulse and Lindzei couldn't find a way how to enter the Gate, so they brought what was in the Gate into the real world.

On Pulse's playing card it might be depicted Cocoon, but it also looks like red moon.

4.3) Since VS13 as its name suggests in many ways was supposed to be the opposite of FF13, and if it was really supposed to be a tragedy.

While Lightning in FF13 resisted Bhunivelze's offer to become Etro, VS13 might've ended pretty similar to FF15 in regards to Noctis' fate, but with lots of meanings being switched. Noctis might've supposed to accept Bhunivelze's offer and become new Etro.

Despite Lightining being Etro's Champion, she never got submerged into Chaos on different levels as much as Noel, Caius or Yeul did, or as Noctis might've been. So, Noctis might've not been the Light that will banish the darkness, but darkness that will take Chaos with him to the Unseen Realm back. That might be the result of his actions, i.e. him really being the antagonist of his own game, or in way similar to FF15 becoming the King of people's hearts in FNC's terms quite literally.

As conclusion of a sort, author would like to say, that especially the last point is just a theory and author's personal guess based on everything described before.

Author's thoughts on Sora's mini-existential crisis "is Yozora him or Riku," is that Yozora is neither Sora or Riku, he's "Sora," but different kind of "Sora."

Since Stella or "Stella," which is for now mostly called Nameless Star, doesn't seem to be a character fulfilling yellow-blue-green-white palette quota, a "Riku"-character, Yozora's "Ravus" has to exist.

[corishadowfang]

It's appreciate a dragon day, apparently, and I don't have time to do art or fics because. Time. And Energy. But for the past week or so I've had my Kingdom Hearts dragons AU on the mind...which wasn't supposed to be an AU AU, but just kind of a way to draw the characters since I'm not good at drawing people. But because I have no self-control, there's worldbuilding suddenly, and I really want to ramble about it, haha.

I really need to stress that this was originally just me thinking, "Hey, if I'm drawing them as dragons, wouldn't Scala have to look different, too? Since dragons would probably need different things than humans." And then it just. Spiraled.

I didn't know what to do with the Keyblades initially? I, uh. Wasn't sure if I wanted to go the "wielding Keyblades in the mouth," haha. Which kind of spiraled into, "What if the dragon thing just...replaces the Keyblades? Like, people become dragons, basically."

So the idea is kind of like...magic is still A Thing. Everyone can use it, with the right training, but the more you use magic, the more it changes you. (Yes, I've used this idea before, but shhh.) It very gradually changes your appearance, abilities, etc. Your magic gets stronger, but you become less and less human. Eventually, according to most people, you basically lose yourself to it and become a monster, so it's something of a controversial subject.

(The "become a monster" thing is only partially true. You can become a Heartless, but there are a lot of people who just become normal dragons, too. Unfortunately everyone just groups the two together.)

Anyone who used magic kind of like...filled a very weird niche in society where they weren't exactly accepted, but their abilities were still useful, so they were kind of both shunned and respected equally.

The Master of Masters and the Foretellers are the ones who really changed this; MoM went hardcore on the narrative that the "normal" transformation wasn't really monstrous at all, and painted the Foretellers very much as mythological heroes who could fight the actual monsters much more effectively than any normal person. Magic and dragons still made a lot of people wary, but it was tempered a bit, especially with kids.

SPEAKING OF--that's why a lot of kids ended up in Daybreak Town. Less pre-existing ideas on magic and dragons, so it's easier for them to see this as a good thing.

(And then MoM goes and ruins it with the whole "war" thing.)

Once you turn into a dragon, you can take human form again for short periods of time, but it's often uncomfortable, so Daybreak Town and Scala are both designed more with dragons in mind.

Daybreak Town was an abandoned human town that MoM and the Foretellers just repurposed, so while there are still buildings, they had to be modified a lot. The Clock Tower is an abandoned castle, haha.

Scala is basically a mountain range on the edge of the ocean! Or mountains on islands...? Uh. Something like that, haha. Lots of bare white rock and caves and stuff. I think the main island's a little more open, just because like...I like the idea of them wanting more "light" as a sort of symbolism thing.

Dragons are the only ones that can fly to other worlds without assistance! Their magic kind of protects them, basically, but they do actually have to fly. Lots of young dragons like to bring back trinkets from different worlds (which is generally how their hoards are formed, haha).

Uh, I only have loose ideas of how some characters would've actually gotten into this. Ven I think was basically born with an excessive amount of magic that he couldn't really control, so he turned really, really young, and there wasn't much he could do about it. Brain thought that the fear about magic was stupid and actively fostered his out of spite. Ephemer was super curious about the idea, and ended up digging deeper into things. Skuld and Lauriam I'm less certain on. (I could see Lauriam doing it as a way to help protect Strelitzia--maybe she was like Ven, and turned accidentally? And Skuld--honestly just could've done it because she was swept up in what MoM/the Foretellers said, haha.)

Aaaaand I'm looking at how much I've rambled and will spare your dashes, but uh. Yeah. Dragons!

[alphascorpiixx]

[ID: edits of official artwork of Roxas, Xion, and Naminé. First is Roxas standing and holding his Keyblade. A large red and orange sun is behind his head. The second is Xion, sitting down and lifting one hand to her face. Behind her is a blue crescent moon. Third is Naminé, also sitting. Behind her is a yellow and white star with several points. Each background is gray with black dust and half of a heart. End ID]

RokuNamiXi for Polyship Week: Day 6

Prompt: Mythology

@polyshipweek

I like associating these three with celestial symbols:

Roxas -> sun. The boy of light, whose power “shines as bright and brief as the setting sun.” (quote from the Days game opening.) Roxas is the sun that must eventually set, but rises again in the morning.

Xion -> moon. The counterpart to the sun, who reflects light to shine in the dark. Her powers allow her to mimic other people’s abilities, and in KH3 she copies Saïx’s weapon and moon element.

Naminé -> star. The girl whose wishes became stars, in the form of the star charms Sora and Replica Riku have in CoM. In KH3, her heart in seen as a star in the Final World.

[complete-idiot-inc]

OC posts (1/?)

Loki/Torehan.

You know that Kingdom Hearts OC I was vague posting about? This is him.

Context: When Xehanort casted his heart into Terra, by the rules of Kingdom Hearts, that would make a Nobody.

Further, self-made context: Despite coming from a guy who pushing his 80’s, he looks as young as the Xehanort in Dark Road, why? Simple. He has a very small, very harmless amount of Xehanort’s heart, containing the near forgotten memories of his time in Scala ad Caelum, his youth in Destiny Islands, ETC.

Appearance: He looks like Young Xehanort, if I were to guess an age about 16-17 looks-wise. He wears and outfit the bears heavy resemblance to Ephemer and Skuld’s outfits. But with an added Teal scarf instead of Ephemer’s red. He has the silver eyes of the non-dark Xehanorts.

Personality: He’s definitely inspired by Josuke Higashitaka from JoJo’s, in the sense that while he seems like a street punk, he has a big heart and is like a big brother to everyone in Twilight Town.

Other notes: Remembers the actions of the Nort Court as nightmares he’s plagued by.

Keyblade: Memento Mori, it looks the same as the BBS No Name, which is just Young Xehanort’s Keyblade but without the goat heads and the gazing eye. He acquired it after remerging with whatever remained of Xehanort’s heart in Young Xehanort.

Story: While initially under suspect of being a new backup plan for Xehanort, he, alongside Riku, Xion, Roxas, and Axel/Lea, stop a real plan to resurrect Xehanort orchestrated by Y! Xehanort.

Name: Loki is the name of both an Aesir and a giant from Norse mythology, both associated with trickery in some way, Loki (Aesir) was the general god of mischief and tricks, and Loki (Giant) was an illusion caster and a general threat. I chose it both because of the Nordic names in KHuX, but also because of the dichotomy of the two Lokis.

Name (cont): Torehan, yet another anagram of Xehanort, but without the recusant’s sigil. Chosen in universe by him after his “completion” to show both his newfound goal (undo the pain Xehanort caused) and his status as a heroic Xehanort.

Voice claim: Ben Diskin

[acids-and-basses]

What if the master of masters is this Odin character (I think it’s the master who taught xehanort) , I mean Odin in mythology did give up his eye for knowledge of the universe and so did the master of masters to fortell the keyblade war for the foretellers (I’m not sure if that’s the end of the books or not)

[lightandfellowship]

(Major KHDR spoilers)

I don't personally believe in the "Odin is the Master of Masters in disguise" theory, but something did just occur to me...

I was thinking about the mythological Odin, and how he has two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, who fly all over the world acting as Odin's eyes and ears...

And KHDR Odin doesn't have these ravens, but you know what he does have?

(Why did you make the image so big, Tumblr. Geeze.)

He has No Name, or in the very least has the ability to wield it. And this Keyblade holds the Gazing Eye, which observes and records everything it sees.

(I also want to point out how this Keyblade has several wing-like shapes in its design, along with being black/grey.)

Regardless of whether or not you believe in the Odin = MoM theory, I think this was a pretty cool way of integrating Odin's ravens into this character.

[star-does-a-thing]

Hi nobody asked buttttt

*proceeds to name my KHML player Janus*

1: Keeping up with the people being named after gods and other mythological stuff thing present in KHDR (actually a HC of mine too!)

2: Janus is the Roman god of new beginnings and gateways, and is depicted with two faces that are said to represent connect the past and future together.

3: If our KHUX player truly is the KHML player (which personally I'm sure they are), the name would match because the player has a "new beginning". Also, gates, that being the keyblade's ability to open "gateways" between the worlds. The two faces part being the two people they were/are (P1 in UX and P2 in ML).

4: KHML is gonna be the connection point for the past (KHUX) and future (KHDR), as well as possibly explain things in future games I guess as well? (Like how the other mobile games did)

Okay bye now I'm busy making funny doodles of Janus, Brain, and Luxu goofing around in Bloodborne- I mean Scala

[thewrongexecution]

this post is about ffxiv oc lore, not any well-known mythological figures. thank you for your understanding.

Been thinkin' about Theseus lately.

(Theseus is my Azem. If you don't know what that means: don't worry about it! these sorts of posts are as much to vacate my own brainspace as communicate ideas to others. you know how it is.)

((See, twitter didn't allow me the space to post these sorts of disclaimers, which really was a blessing. kept me on point. Hardly a paragraph in and I'm already digressing. not that that's a problem per se, just. different.

anyway.))

I love the way ffxiv plays with the theme of... mirrors, reflections- foils, that's the word- the three-body problem of being You And No-One Else, The Masks You Wear, and A Bit Of Everyone Who's Ever Touched Your Life all at once. (Millennia and Tataru, I realized just some few days ago, is itself a mirror of Ardbert and Lamitt, which is a fun joke for my brain to play on itself imo.) So how do I take my WoL (Millennia) and refract her through a funhouse mirror to reach my Azem (Theseus)?

Theseus has remained in the semi-fluid state a narrative device tends to take when the internally-understood path from A to B is nonlinear or otherwise opaque, but I've made recent progress by working backwards.

Personality-wise, I've always enjoyed taking canon depictions and extrapolating them far beyond what anyone involved might've reasonably intended (ask me about Luigi's Persona sometime), so how do I rationalize Millennia as the type of Silent Protagonist depicted in a way that makes sense was a fun puzzle to chip away at. (She's severely traumatized and dissociating due to post-calamity events for most of ARR, and only starts to recover after successfully killing a god or two makes her go, hang on a minute, shouldn't I actually be dead by now? Y'know, as ya do.)

I describe his style of speech as eloquent minimalism, the idea being to pack as much meaning as densely as possible for maximum impact; deliberate, measured, and a little bit like poetry:

"How have you been?"

You are a friend who I trust with knowledge that could otherwise shake public confidence in The Warrior of Light (TM) if shared freely. This last adventure nearly killed me, but even more so than usual, in a way that even I was worried I might not survive. There is a tale here, and I want you to stop and listen fully and without distraction. How do I convey all that as minimally as possible?

"Mortal."

So, how to rebuild that in a way that is-and-is-not the same, reflecting the attitudes and society of the Ancients?

Efficient brutalism.

"How have you been?"

You are a confidant who I trust with knowledge that could otherwise shake public confidence in The Seat of Azem (TM) if shared freely. This last adventure nearly killed me, but even more so than usual, in a way that even I was worried I might not survive. There is a tale here, but it has ended, and there's no need to recount it. How do I convey all that as efficiently as possible?

"Dead."

Millennia is the silent protagonist that thinks carefully about the meaning behind everything she says- and doesn't say; posture, gesture, expression, and a variety of hums and grunts can all convey in moments what would take a wordsmith minutes. Theseus, in contrast, is the silent protagonist who sees no need for small talk or pleasantry; they rarely even blink, let alone smile or frown or wave.

But the double-edge of being quiet is it leaves a lot of room for others to speak for you. Because they're both public figures, the public decides for them that they're stoic or cool or haughty or wise or what-have-you. So it goes.

For combat, I previously posited Theseus could wield a Gun or Keyblade or Keygunblade, and while those're great as jokes, they don't necessarily make for a great parallel. Millennia herself started out as a Warrior, but possessed only middling physical prowess; to compensate, he relied on clever tactics and psychological warfare to cow his enemies and strike unexpectedly. These days, she has a full suite of esoteric combat styles at her disposal, and relishes the opportunity to accumulate more.

So, a collection of varied combat styles, emphasis on unconventional tactics over raw power, and maybe a connection to Warrior.

It's Blue Mage. No wait come back hear me out on this one

It's not literally Blue Mage; rather than cast the same powers as their foes, Theseus studies how beasts and creatures fight, and adapts those combat techniques for personal use. A martial rather than magical art, similar to Monk or Ninja, coupled with the visceral terror of an unblinking robed cryptid scuttling menacingly towards you at coeurl speeds. "so what's the connection to Warrior" Inner beast, outer beast. Funhouse mirrors, innit.

And because it's Ancient and because I'm me: someone who studies the ways of war of living things is, of course, a Biologist.

The ultimate and final measure of any Azem, then, is "How bad can they clown on Emet-Selch?"

Imagine they are sparring. Emet has taken one look at this upstart wiry gangler and decided there's no possible way they could be an appropriate heir to the Seat of Azem. The job is difficult and dangerous and this Elezen-before-Elezen simply does not have what it takes. Theseus just knows they've been assigned a task to their quest log, and doesn't give it any more thought than that. So they are sparring.

Emet asks how they fight and they say only "Biologist." Emet clarifies, not your vocation, not your profession, your combat style. They drop to all fours and, as if the phone they aren't communicating over had a bad connection, repeats "Biologist," before going zero to sixty on the old man.

Later in the fight, Emet starts spouting some grand monologue about true power and transforms. Theseus... doesn't. Emet questions this decision, but without hesitation or consideration, Theseus simply says "I like being me," and resumes adding injury to insult.

[fantasma-de-la-cueva]

English translation of my keyblade art post:

Well, I never thought I would, but since I like being in kingdom hearts roles I decided to make a keyblade half based on the Mayans and especially the Mexicas/Aztecs. I have not named it, perhaps something like "yohuallimacahuilt" or "macahuilt of darkness" (or dankness as a meme xD). I took creative liberties, but here's the explanation:

I decided to go to a black blade because of the obsidian, the edge full of tips represents the macahuilt while the rest of the blade is inspired by the famous ceremonial daggers, to not make it look flat I decided to put emeralds in the middle. The upper part is traced from two pieces found in archaeological sites.

In the middle is represented a large black circle surrounded by smaller ones of a silver color. The shape of this circle is the one corresponding to the Mexica glyph of yohualli or "darkness", in the middle is Gula’s sign for two reasons: The main one is that the oc that uses this weapon, although is a character of a worldbu that I am creating, would be a kind of mestizo between a Mexica and an European explorer (WARNING: European explorer very interested in culture in the style of responsible researches for the 21st century, no intentions to make apology to colonialism. This uneven mixture seeks to represent a personal aspect of myself), so using a jaguar seemed to me at least inappropriate; the second reason is because this oc has a leopard nahual because of his origin, if he had been "Mexica" it would had been a jaguar. Around the glyph are the solar angles. This represents two things: the triumph of darkness over light and at the same time a light within a character who is a being of darkness.

At the bottom, around the handler, the roots of a ceiba are represented as the sacred and life tree that connects the 3 cosmological floors (heaven, earth and underworld). In his case only the roots because the roots are the ones that connect the underworld or xibalbá/mictlán with the rest; I don't want to lengthen the post, so I will only say that the Mesoamerican underworld was, literally, the opposite of the world of the living, a dark place, where the knowledge of magic, disease and life emerged (seeds were put underground, therefore in underworld). This roots come out of the mouth of a snake that seeks to imitate the cipactli, a monster from which the earth emerged in Mexic mythology and at the same time imitates the snake in the scyth of King Pakal, in which the entry of the ruler into the underworld is represented when he falls into the mouth of a snake; snakes represent earth and fertility. The fusion of roots and snake form some jaws that represent the entrance to the underworld.

As a key ring is the glyph of the house of darkness, one of the tests of the Popol Vuh that the twins Hunuahpú and Ixbalanqué had to overcome in order to become sun and moon; at the end of the chain the Mexica glyph of the moon.

[swluminekin]

Kingdom Hearts 3: Olympus and Pandora’s Box

More Symbolic of the Xehanort Saga Than You Think

Okay, I know that KH3 is... what... almost 5 months old at this point? And recently I’ve been thinking about something recently. I know it’s probably been talked about a thousand times already, but I just started thinking about it.

Now as you know, in Kingdom Hearts 3 you don’t necessarily HAVE to go back to all the worlds if you don’t want to. Sure, you might go back if you want to level or just mess around. Or maybe you’re looking for the Lucky Emblems so you can get the secret ending. Maybe you’re even going back to do the photo quests that the moogles will give. It doesn’t matter. They give you the ability to go back, but you’re not required.

That being said, something that happened in one world - specifically the FIRST world - has been bugging me. And until now I never really put two and two together quite like this.

In the world of Olympus, Maleficent and Pete are looking for that world’s “black box” - if you paid attention to Re:Coded and/or Dream Drop Distance, you know what this is. Anyway, Hades, almost confused, thinks that they’re talking about Pandora’s Box. He sends them that way. They find the box, but it’s not what Maleficent wants and they just leave it there. Out in the open. By the time we come across the area, mind you, the box is gone.

But that’s it. End of that story. Move on to the next world, only to maybe come back to get Lucky Emblems or pictures. But that’s it, we don’t really get more of a continuation of the story.

So why would Nomura-sensei include that? Specifically why would they include the infamous Greek box of horrors, illnesses and evils but do nothing with it? Let alone near the end of your adventure to that world?

If you’ll give me some of your time, I believe I’ll be able to tell you why.

Now, anyone who knows their Greek myths (and even for some who don’t really), the legend of Pandora’s Box (originally Jar) is very well-known. To sum it up, the gods created Pandora and made her extremely curious (as a sort of revenge to humanity). Then they gave her a jar (later translations changed it to a box) and told her never to open it ever. She became Prometheus's sister-in-law (remember him? The one who gave man fire?). Eventually her curiosity got the better of her and she opened the jar. All of the evils, illnesses, disasters and horrible spirits left the jar before she could close it. This left only Hope within (as Zeus had intended).

So why include the small detail?

Supposedly a long time ago (though, we’re getting more information that it wasn’t THAT long ago) there was the legend of the X-Blade (read: kai or key) the (original) Keyblade War. Involved with the war was the 13 Darknesses and 7 lights. It destroyed nearly all of those who would wield the key-based weapon, along side most of humanity. The X-Blade was eventually destroyed. Humanity was dispersed among the worlds, hopefully to forget what had happened (though some still... “remembered” to a degree).

As time passed, one man - Xehanort - became curious. He wanted to know more about the Keyblade War and the legendary X-Blade. The more he learned, the more obsessed and darker he grew. He studied and studied, eventually being able to wield a Keyblade himself, but he wanted more. Upon learning what needed to be done, Xehanort made a plan. So he went and tried (sometimes succeeding) to corrupt people to join him in creating the 13 Darknesses.

As he went about the worlds, chaos, darkness and evil would enter each, causing mayhem and destruction wherever he would go. Heartless, Unversed and Nobodies started to make their way between worlds, making their paths available for each to follow and move to their next world to invade.

He wanted to recreate the war. With darkness reigning over the worlds, he knew he would eventually be able to see it once again. It would only be a matter of time before chaos would rule over all. (Organization 13 anyone?)

However, there was the one thing that he forgot as his curiosity consumed him. For within the legend, within the chaos that he wanted so much, there was one thing he missed.

Hope.

For the worlds, the 7 Lights would be the hope to end the war before it started. And if it did start, to keep the war and the casualties to a minimum. They would be there to bring light and hope back to the worlds. (Aqua, Ventus, Terra, Lea/Axel, Kairi, Sora, Riku)

TL;DR?

The nod to Pandora’s Box/Jar in Olympus was acknowledging the connection between the Greek myth of Pandora’s curiosity releasing evils onto the land, Xehanort’s curiosity bringing chaos and darkness into the worlds and how hope - and light - still remains.

[worldbuildguild]

Syllabus: Feature Creep ( and how to avoid it )

Let me introduce you to a term from software- and -game development: Feature Creep

Feature creep is the excessive ongoing expansion or addition of new features in a product,[1] especially in computer software, video games and consumer and business electronics. These extra features go beyond the basic function of the product and can result in software bloat and over-complication, rather than simple design.

( Feature Creep: Wikipedia )

To sum it up in the context of worldbuilding and design: Feature Creep is what happens when a designer overloads their project with ideas, which ultimately ends up making the final design confusing. You'll often find that your design also loses its ability to communicate your ideas properly, as it drowns itself in its excess of inspirations and references. But what does this look like in, say: character design?

This is Luso from Final Fantasy Tactics A2. On the surface, the character is competently illustrated. Everything is very nicely rendered with a good sense of structure and a high amount of detail ( if you're into that ). The proportions are fine, the style is very clear. It is a nice drawing. But upon further inspection, we start to notice just how many features the design actually has: Armour pieces, complex patterns, numerous dominating shapes and so. many. props. The palette, while not immediately clashing is also incredibly confused, spanning from just about any primary colour in the colour wheel, all contrasting one another, making it hard for your eye to find a place to rest when looking over the design. If you were to take a look at the design and tell me what it was supposed to invoke thematically, what would you tell me? - Well it's a mage ( mage book ) that is also a knight ( sword ) but mostly its a warrior with some kind of special proficiency in keyblades(??), but also there are some touches of nature and luck ( clover, ladybug on the belt, green, patterned cloth ). You'd have a really hard time convincing me that the design is invocative of any one of its ideas. (If you were part of the art community back in the 2000s to 2010s you'll also definitely remember all the memes about the angel-wolf-demon-goddess-mermaid-dragon OCs and all the derivatives of that particular line of design. Some faultily called these the markers of a Mary Sue character. Though I'd argue that Feature Creep can show up in any well written character regardless. Even those who are made by professionals, who are well aware of what they're doing: like Luso, for an example ) Feature Creep is, however, a typical marker of a developing designer or young artist who want to explore multiple ideas at the same time. Morally, there's nothing wrong with that. You can make as many hybrid creatures as you want. It is all in good fun. But if you want to sell people on a design or a story, you're going to need to edit them down a bit.

Economy in ideas

Animated features and shows are probably among the mediums that approach their designs with the most limited amount of ideas. That doesn't mean their designs are boring though, oftentimes they're actually incredibly effective since the limited amount of ideas allowed in a design means that designers can pour much more care into integrating the ideas into the final design.

Let's take a look at one of the animation industry's latest greats: How to Train Your Dragon. When Dreamworks artists sat down to design the dragons for HTTYD, they decided to go against the current trends. The western hemisphere has long been plagued by samey designs, as the likes of Drogon ( Game of Thrones ) Draco (Dragonheart), Saphira (Eragon) and Smaug (The Hobbit), who has solidified the European take on the mythological creature into the cultural conscious. The designs in themselves are not bad at all, but when HTTYD suddenly took flight with its completely reworked ideas for what a dragon could look like - it was a breath of fresh air. For toothless the designers seemed to have applied nothing more than two main ideas to their design. A black dragon with anatomical cues from an axolotl but the mannerisms and certain facial features of a black cat. This design invoked a sense of familiarity. It was simple, iconic, slightly strange to those who hadn't been familiarized with the axolotl yet, and clearly communicated a sense of pet-like behaviour through its feline gestures.

Staying in the vein of feline creatures; Pokemon is perhaps even more restrictive in their idea economy ( at least for the most part ). Many of the first generation pokemons were 'merely' combinations of animals mixed with either elemental concepts, such as the many evolutions of Eevee ( Flameon, Jolteon, Vaporeon, etc ), or Pikachu, a Rabbit that bears electric symbols incorporated into its design.

For something slightly more complex we can look to Blizzard's Overwatch game. Where a number of desigsn are inspired by combining real life stereotypes of certain cultural-historical peoples or occupations ( cowboys, ninjas, DJs/musicians, arctic explorers ). One example of such is the centaur-hero Orisa. Which combines the anatomical features of a quadroped creature with a human half on top. But with an added idea of incorporating patterns and assets that have been debated to be of Baluba origins. A tribe originating from Central Africa.

As you can see, designers usually stick to around 2-3 main ideas and then pepper in little extra details that are at least adjacent to their main ideas. It keeps the reading of the character consistent, and you're not at risk of overloading your designs with needless elements. If you're looking to make a character that is actively trying to look confusing, of course you can throw as many ideas in there as possible, but for when you need your design to convey a cohesive read to your audience ( which is supposedly most of the time ) you will do well in picking only a few ideas and incorporating as thoroughly into your design as possible.

How to chose your ideas

There aren't any hard and fast rules as to why you should pick some ideas over the other. It mostly comes down to your preference as a designer and storyteller. I personally prefer following these three milestones, as they ensure that your ideas are relevant to your design and provide the potential for visually interesting designs. Pick those ideas that can provide the most thematic relevance The most obvious choice is that which relates to your design's main idea. An example for props: You need to make the prop looks modern to your audience. Therefore you chose ideas that incorporate smooth, sleek shapes into the prop's design ( reflecting the modern design trends of today ). Maybe you'll combine the soft, rippling shapes of waves on the sea with the shape of a chair or couch, to eliminate the need for edges that could make your seat seem "clunky" and 'out of style anno 2022'. Example for characters: Your character likes fish, therefore you incorporate a number of blue-ish greenish colours into the pallette. Maybe you even add a few 'fin-like' shapes to the silhouette or outfit. Pick the most interesting ideas Perhaps you're picking between two aquatic ideas. Let's say: Ships and Seamonsters. Which one do you feel provides the most potential for fascinating solutions to your design? If you're making a sailor-character, perhaps the Ships are more interesting to you. If you're making a mermaid, looking to seamonsters might be a pretty cool idea.

Pick those who contrast the most Humans -love- contrast! it brings interest nearly by default in anything from character design, to environmental concept art, storywriting and art styles. It makes us curious as to how things work and why they are the way they are. Which is ample ground for you to do some interesting worldbuilding or character writing. If you are to design a submarine, you could just make a submarine. But what if it was in the shape of a seagull? A bird that only enters the water for fish once in a while. Hell, what if your main character; a young scholar who is very much not comfortable being underwater, had slight bird-like features to really emphasize how out of their element they are. These are just three parameters which I use to sort my ideas. Sometimes I also do stuff for the hell of it, but for the most part I like to put a lot of thought into how my ideas contribute to the design. For the most part, I'll try to connect my ideas to the world and the story as much as possible to make the whole experience seem more cohesive. What you value in your ideas is up to you, perhaps your art style demands that you use certain ideas to stay consistent. Maybe you prefer designing with certain palettes or shapes. That's fine. No artist picks and chooses their ideas for the exact same reasons. Everyone has biases. But it is important that you are aware of your choices. Moreso important that you are aware that you don't squash too many ideas into a design. Remember, every idea is a good one, maybe it's just not always relevant in the context you got it in. So save the unused ideas in a note somewhere - it might become useful later!

Mod Wackart ( Donate ) ( Linktree )

[corishadowfang]

Now that I've the energy to ask -- what are the Foretellers like, in your own stories? Are you doing anything particular with them, or are they just there? (This is hallowed-nebulae's main, hello hello, you've got me thinking Thoughts now)

(Hello! Haha, I see I'm feeding the brainworms.)

The Foretellers! I haven't really focused a lot on them in my stuff, but I do have thoughts on them. Most of them are Dandelion Seeds-specific, since...well, that's the only fic that takes place in that time period, haha!

Basically: all of the Foretellers were kids who showed strong magical aptitude and were taken away by the Master of Masters at a young age. They came from several different backgrounds, but the general theme was:

They needed to have an unusually strong light (for obvious reasons).

They needed to be children that were young enough to be pretty impressionable. (For the same reason kids were recruited as Keyblade wielders: it's easier for MoM to manipulate them if he starts at a young age.)

They needed to be kids that weren't entrenched enough in their communities to be missed. (And so that MoM could better build up legends surrounding them; essentially, he wanted to create this sort of...mystique and grandeur around the Foretellers to encourage people to send their kids to Daybreak Town, and that's easier to do if you can't remember that the legendary figure you're following also broke their ankle because they were convinced they could fly with cardboard wings.)

Ava's the one who got the most focus in Dandelion Seeds, because she was Brain's childhood friend; their community was pretty small, with Brain and her mom being the people who cared about her the most, so there weren't too many people who would be able to comment when she became a Foreteller. As for the others:

Ira was the closest to actually like...breaking MoM's rules for recruitment. He was a little bit older and pretty studious; he wasn't from a large community, but most people still figured he'd try to travel to a school in a larger city one day, it was just going to be hard because...you know, it's expensive. Ira just so happened to be completely enamored with the idea of learning magic, and MoM leveraged the fact that he could give Ira a life he might not have had otherwise (plus Ira's enthusiasm) to convince Ira's parents to send their son with him.

Aced came from an abusive home situation. His parents didn't miss him when he disappeared, but Aced was like...five when he was taken away, and didn't understand quite yet why he had to leave. It took years before he finally started to recognize that his early childhood situation was bad (which gradually started to seep into a distrust of authority figures in general. Which, given what happens with MoM--valid.).

Gula was an orphan. MoM found him on the streets and took him in. He's a little cagey about how long he'd been on his own, though he'll sometimes talk fondly about vague memories he has of his parent.

Invi actually found MoM. She's never told anyone where she came from or if she has any family left. She just...said she heard that MoM was looking for people to train as mages, and she wanted to be one.

Luxu's the only one MoM's raised since he was a baby. He literally just stole a child. This is also, coincidentally, why Luxu seems to be MoM's favorite; the others are all tools, and while Luxu kind of is, too, he feels a little more like his child. (...In a weird, twisted way.)

UH, this is getting pretty long, haha, but basically MoM raised them in isolation for a while so that they could become stronger and he could kind of like...ingrain certain ideologies. After a few years he started sending them out on missions so that they could gain a presence and start building their 'legend,' so to speak. (That's part of why they have animal masks: MoM was both playing into local legends and trying to make the Foretellers feel less "human" and more "mythological.")

The Foretellers kind of ended up with a lot of messed up family dynamics and unhealthy coping mechanisms/thought processes due to the way they were raised. So while they seem like these legendary figures to outsiders, they're all just...kind of a mess. (GOOD JOB, MOM.)

Buuut that's the gist of it, haha; I'll cut myself off before this gets too much longer.