#one of them is because keeping up with kh can sort of be a job

[oveliagirlhaditright]

MatPat should make a video about how Naminé isn't Kairi's Nobody created from Sora's body and soul (since Sora's body and soul was used to create Roxas, so what would have been left behind to make Naminé, then?), but was rather created out of the light in Kairi's necklace (after the spell that Aqua put on it [this has actually been a fan theory in the past]).

Because MatPat has said that the hard thing about making Kingdom Hearts theories (and part of why he doesn't make them, even though he wants to and fans want him to), is that any theory he might think to make for the franchise has already happened/ends up happening or is something that easily could transpire (because Nomura is wild).

But I feel like this, while having some "evidence" to it, perhaps, isn't something that Mat has to worry that Nomura might do tomorrow or anything like that.

Especially since, to be honest, while at one point it does seem like Nomura was planning to do more with Naminé's origins--and perhaps reveal a, "Naminé's origins were actually like this!" twist, based on that "The Truth About Naminé" book that we saw in Days--I feel like he's since changed his mind or forgotten about it. -shrugs-

[remmammie]

Hello, can I ask you for hc domestic Sora au please?

Kh4 gives me too much vibes and I can't tell anyone about it but I would love to imagine more on it so much ( ; w ; )

I was still on my mini hiatus when you sent me this so I couldn't find the time to write it then but I have the time now my exams are over! I'm very very excited for KH4 too so feel free to talk to me or the rest of KH tumblr about all your thoughts hehe

I considered both Quadratum Sora and just a modern AU too so there's the best of both worlds. I also assume you meant Sora on his own but I'd be happy to write some for him with an s/o too!

Sora Domestic HCs

Ah, domesticity. Sora never gets to stay in one place for too long, sadly, especially not with other people so he really has to get used to living alone or with someone who's not his mother.

Sora definitely strikes me as the kind of boy who's quite messy but not because he's lazy - he just forgets that, yes, he does need to pick up the clothes on his floor because, yes, he can (and will) fall over them all the time. Probably not to the point of leaving dishes in his bedroom, though.

I would not let this boy anywhere near a kitchen! At least unsupervised or without instructions. Yes, he did work at the Bistro under Remy's supervision/control, so he luckily knows basic kitchen and cooking skills. I don't think he'd make anything too wild, and he doesn't follow recipes very well but somehow still manages to make really good tasting food! It's incredible! He's strangely a natural!

Tell you what, though, Sora really oddly enjoys gardening! All the pretty colours and the general joy of keeping something happy and alive has Sora completely hooked. He doesn't know a whole lot and has to keep quite a big library of botany books, but Sora has quite the green thumb! And, if we're talking Quadratum Sora, maybe Strelitzia would help him out!

Sora needs a shopping list if he's going out shopping by himself. He'll spend, like, an entire afternoon brainstorming for things that he actually needs and wants, then still ends up getting distracted by everything in a store. He's a very curious boy, I can't blame him.

Oh, he'd absolutely have an animal of some kind. A dog would match his energy amazingly well, I can totally imagine him with a bigger dog, laughing while he gets dog kisses. Bless.

He tries his hardest to stick to a routine with waking up and going to bed, but ends up going with the flow and usually ends up falling asleep with his phone in his hand watching animal videos and waking up late because his phone is dead.

As for a job, Sora would thrive in either retail or some sort of childcare. He loves to entertain, so dealing with kids, especially younger ones, would be perfect for him! And helping people is a pretty big part of his life so he wouldn't mind the occasional bad experience in retail if it meant he helped people the other 90% of the time.

Sora adores wearing clothes that are just a little bit too big for him. He loves the freedom they bring and honestly feels pretty cool when coming up with ways to style his wardrobe, no help needed! We've seen Nomura's art, we know how stylish Sora is in modern clothes.

[bibiana112]

would u like to explain homestuck classpects ? i wanna understand how youre categorising ze characters with em :o

Oh my god yes, but also I wanna pretend I was never a Homestuck as much as possible, but also I can't help how relevant this whole system is to how I think about a bunch of stuff, but also did you know I have a 25 page messy ass google doc on this for like five kh characters that I think only AJ ever read, did you know I started on the equivalent to that for ze like last week but it's a very low committal sort of thing, I am absolutely torn between trying to give an abridged version as best I can and just grabbing what little I have already succinctly typed out hmm I think I'll go with the former? Okay I can't for the life of me do that actually and I tried it still goes on for longer than it should anyway, like, the alternative would be making it sound far too shallow and uh yeah idk ya could wait 'til I have the bare minimum to show or ask specifics on stuff? I'll write what the headcanons are here though, I think they always sound funky without much context

It's also just for the 999 cast, what a surprise

Little crash course on what these even are is that they're two notions, a class and an aspect that interact with each other and form a hero title which is pretty much like an overall archetype, since each of those has 12 different ones the total number of possible combinations is 144. A class is things like Witch, Thief, Knight, Mage and those are more tied to personality traits and how one approaches situations, but aspects are the ones I tend to put a larger focus on, those are things like Space, Time, Doom, Life they each represent a great deal more than the namesake though and they're each so very interesting to me for the nuance, they're concepts that are all always present to some extent, what varies is the concentration or how much of it that is present in someone's overall journey, and they're not like teams or houses or anything in fact they're supposed to be as diverse amongst a group as possible and also they come in sets! Both classes and aspects do, they're 6 complementary pairs each, the way it works on classes is that they're divided as active or passive which is really more about either directing energy towards oneself or towards those around you, and for aspects they're complementary concepts the way two sides of a coin are, for example there's the Social aspects Breath and Blood, one is about freedom from social bonds and the other is all about nurturing those attachments and that's an oversimplification but it's serviceable, I really didn't realize it was this complex to explain until now and I probably didn't do a grade A job at it

Ace - Prince of Breath

Snake - Mage of Void

Santa - Rogue of Heart

Clover - Maid of Blood

Junpei - Witch of Time

June - Seer of Mind

Seven - idk

Lotus - Sylph of Doom (?)

Fun little factoid that will not make any sense to anyone, but, with Junpei and Akane I sort of feel like they switch their aspects from 999 to vlr and ztd? Akane suddenly has many more Time player motifs and reasoning and Junpei is the same, suddenly his behavior has so much more Mind vibes in full display. It's a fun observation and by nature of this whole thing drastic shifts in a story can mean recontextualizing a character's role in it, and thus, their aspect and I kind of think that's neat but still like to keep in mind the ones I put up there when writing the two, cause that's something I do

So yeah, hmm my goodness I really never got like any ideas for the rest of the cast? I feel like we either don't get much insight aside from very literal and plot related motivations on most of them at best and shallow characterization at worst, like, freaking Carlos? Idk he's firefighter of murica my dude not much else, Diana can be a Life player because she's a healer/caretaker I guess and Phi and Sigma kind of fuck me up because it almost feels like they're different characters in ztd altogether (Sigma kind of is?? Although I can see Dr.Klim as a Space player maybe) and idk I guess my biggest issue is I have a hard time imagining them just being people separate from the story with a very narrow framing we witness unfold with them which makes this difficult? WAIT I got it, so much of vlr and ztd's plots rely on the characters not being themselves that it makes this murky, like, with radical-6 and mind hacking bullcrap, y'know? My first instinct for everyone in vlr almost would also be Mind but that's probably because of the plot y'know? Except Luna? She could be Hope or Breath idk and share a class with Diana but idk which one that'd be, Dio being a Bard makes sense I guess? WAIT MIRA MIRA THIEF OF HEART WOULD BE SO FUNNY BUT I DON'T THINK THAT'D BE IT LMAOO

Okay that's what I have, I hope this made no sense I will be working on my google docs to show u later if u want akdjkasj

[daybreak-academy-fanfic]

KH OC Week 2021: Day 1

Original Prompt: Strength

Summary: Yay! @khoc-week has come back around again! \(^o^)/ This year, I’ll be focusing on Anora (who I used last year) and Sabrina (my general Disney OC who I’ve had for 10 years, and is currently at her third KH iteration). My minimal word count goal for this year is 500 words, but there are some where I went a little overboard with, but it was all in good fun! For today, we get to learn a bit about Sabrina’s thoughts on herself.

Word Count: 575

☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆

Deep down, she knew that she did not have a strong heart. Not that she would ever admit it. Let alone voice it around the very people who would let out a cacophony of “Your heart is strong, Sabrina!” in some act of assurance. No, her heart was very susceptible to darkness. She knew the moment her heart was ripped from her body, she’d have a Heartless that would tear down a city in an hour. If that.

It would probably look a lot like her too.

Was there really any proof that she did have a strong heart, in terms of light? Could it be one of those deals where she can’t see her own light because she stands close to it, but everyone else can? She didn’t like thinking about it. She didn’t want to think about it. Besides, saying that was the case was far too romantic for her- made her absolutely sick.

But, even if her heart was irredeemable, it was no excuse to be complacent. Sabrina was a remote learner, of a sorts, to Master Aqua. This meant that most of Sabrina’s training took place in her homeworld -Wasteland- and Aqua would come by to go through physical exercises. During those in-between times, Sabrina was expected to go through the mental aspects of training, along with brushing up her skills. Quizzes on Heartless, what made a Heartless a Heartless, the different kinds of Heartless, and so on. A faint sense of familiarity kept her more fixated on learning about enemies than any physical part of training. When she did practice, she would continue to push herself until someone forced her to stop. It wasn’t healthy, but it got the job done.

At this point, she was almost surpassing Kairi. Love was what kept Kairi going, it was obvious. It was her strength. When Riku was the one to come train Sabrina, it was a major topic of conversation between them. Was love really enough to keep your heart strong? Of course, being a Princess of Light probably helped- and that was something Riku couldn’t completely disagree with. It also helped Kairi keep her training consistent- something that Sabrina honestly wasn’t very good at. At the same time, Sabrina had more of an idea on how to approach an enemy than Kairi currently could. Together, they probably would have made a good team.

But Sabrina wasn’t a Princess of Light. If anything, she could have been seen as the opposite. Her heart was always in darkness. She purposely kept it that way so that no one could get close. People getting close to you was how your heart weakened. It didn’t stop others from trying to get close to her. Kairi was one of them. Ventus was another, and possibly the most persistent. There would always be a cacophony of voices telling her that her heart was strong, even if she couldn’t feel it. Maybe they were right. (They likely were not.) The only one who really knew the strength of her heart was Sabrina herself. She was the one who fought daily with herself to begin with, right? All the choices she made, the people she’d push away or embrace, or even how much she’d show how much she really cared. It wasn’t much, but she was getting better. Even if she never truly wore her heart on her sleeve, she knew that deep down, her heart really was strong.

[mushroom-winners-proof]

for the past couple days i've been with you and your blog. I've been thinking of the organization xiii mansion au where the ranks are staff but i can't find out what Xehanort or Xemnas? Whomever the owner of the mansion would do to have the money to keep this house.

sense the members are the staff (dusk and lesser nobodies included as staff) he can keep it up and whatever else needs to get done. But my question is what is his main source of income?

I can only see one but it’s not one for a good thought out way.

I'm thinking he would have the staff (the members) go and defeat enemies that drop munny.

Thats a kingdom hearts based way but if this was not that kind of world how would he have the money to keep the mansion? What would Xemnas? Or Xehanort do to keep it?

Xehanort is the owner of the mansion but Xemnas keeps house and business running Ansem second son also has his own branch of the house helping keep bills i guess

Im asking you because your intern AU tho not intended to be what it is had somewhat of a stabled background and i wanted help with my au.

@1800-akusai: YOU KNOW WHAT it could actually be, he doesn't need a source of income and the mansion could be like a legend that people think exists but they're not sure. Nobody knows they live there but they still need to have some way of obtaining money.

@1800-akusai: "sorry for the bold i copy paste my question from a google doc and only now noticed it sent in bold"

you're good bout bolden stuff no worries lmao

anyway answer under the cut cause Length

BUUUT listen gangstar i'm gonna be 100% 1000% with you and i can't take credit for 90% of the world building that's been done for my AU. all'a that's purely been done by y'all and it truly is astoundin what everyone's contributed to it, the most i've done is provided a place to share and organize them thoughts

BUUUUUUUT 2x i can try my hand at sharin ideas- seems fair nuff.

you gotta set some ground rules if you really wanna make it that complex yk. why do they got this mansion- how did they come bout it, right. what's its purpose: is it just to house the norts, is it a part of a company, that sort of thing.

if this is the original org 13 who work at the mansion, you could have it be so that they have jobs outside of the manor that they routinely divide among themselves and providing a certain amount to pay for the mansion. unless this is a case of xehanort pays them then you gotta realize your setting right. like is this standard KH stuff or is this like a 'modern' world type of situation.

i'm not very good at world building so my bad if my advice aint too helpful. the most i can suggest is just sitting down and filling out/going over the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY, and HOWs of everything important yk

[princesslocket]

Random Nosaichi AU's 🌟

What if in an alternate timeline Ichihoshi was never taken to Russia to join Orion after the car accident & was instead taken in by Ares?! He & Nosaka would became friends while being in the Ares system BUT they'd only ever be able to talk when Nosaka went to visit Ichihoshi in the hospital...

AU where Ichihoshi is a rookie designer trying his best to make it in the fashion industry & one day he just so happens to get partnered up with a popular model, named Nosaka Yuuma, for a small "aspiring young designers competition." At first, the two barely talk. They just meet to discuss plans, schedules, wardrobe checks/fittings, etc. But over the time they start spending time together outside of their jobs. They slowly grow into close friends and maybe even into boyfriends after the fashion competition ends...

KH AU where Nosaka is Ichihoshi’s dream eater~ He's still a human but like he has bat wings & the crown scar on his back now has the dream eater symbol placed under it

Pokémon AU where Ichihoshi goes out of his way to hunt down a shiny applin for Nosaka- He would spend days on end roaming around the Galar region in hopes of catching one until one the day he finally decides to give up... And just as he's heading home, A SHINY APPLIN SUDDENLY SHOWS UP!!! He'd catch it in either a premier or loveball & quickly call Nosaka, asking to meet up in Wyndon. AND THEN WHILE HE'S SITTING IN THE PLAZA WAITING HE SUDDENLY REALIZES WHAT HE'S ABOUT TO DO AND LET'S OUT A SCREECH SO LOUD PASSERBYS STOP TO STARE - So anyways... Nosaka shows up before Ichihoshi has a chance to cancel their meet-up. They end up standing around both silently waiting for the other to speak. Ichihoshi's on the verge of a mental breakdown when he suddenly hears a little cooing of some sort. He looks up to find Nosaka holding a shiny Applin of his own, offering it to Ichihoshi with the kindest smile ever and just- ICHIHOSHI IS SO SUPRISED THAT HE LITERALLY BURSTS INTO TEARS AS HE LETS OUT THE APPLIN HE HAD GOTTEN NOSAKA!!! Cue an adorable trade off Applins and boom! Several months later Nosaka & Ichihoshi are sitting under a shaded tree in the Wild Area watching their shiny Appleturn & Flapple chasing after a shooting star. ((Bonus - Nosaka obtained his shiny Applin after several hundred tripsto the Daycare)).

Nosaichi Love Potion AU where Ichihoshi accidently gives Nosaka a brownie that contains a love spell inside it. ((The spells makes the person who ate it fall in love with the person who gave it to them)). At first nothing happens, but an hour later and then you find Nosaka holding ((a very flustered)) Ichihoshi's hand. Some people start to question Nosaka and his only response he keeps giving is; "Sometimes you just want to be with that special someone" to which earns him some questioning stares. Later on, Ichihoshi starts to piece together what may have caused this sudden change in Nosaka because by the time soccer practice starts Nosaka is practically clingy to his back. - It's ultimately Nishikage who figures out what this is & what exactly spell was used & how to break it - So when he gives Ichihoshi instructions on how to end the love spells, Ichihoshi leads Nosaka to an empty classroom to break the spell in private. But when he's about to go into the actions of lifting the spell SUPRISE SUPRISE! Nosaka reveals that he hadn't been under any spell at all. ((The love spell wouldn't be able to work if the person receiving it already had feelings for the person who was giving it to them)) So this whole time, he had just been acting on his own feelings. After hearing this Ichihoshi bursts into tears, they're a mix of embarrassment and relief, since he didn't actually want to break the spell... But now that he knows Nosaka actually likes him back he can't help but feel ten times happier than he had already been. Side Note: Ichihoshi had originally bought the brownie from a bake sale that morning. He had thought it looked good and bought it without question. Meanwhile, the students who were selling it were actually part of a secret spell casters club that very few knew about. -- Nosaka had visited the bake sell earlier, already knowing by now what kind of spells were in each food item ((don't ask)) and had left without buying anything. But when Ichihoshi offered him a brownie later that day, he couldn't just say no. So he accepted it, ate it, and staged a plan to act like the brownie had effected him, thinking Ichihoshi had known about the brownies spell. However, when he found out Ichihoshi had no clue what was even in the brownie, he decided to up his game and do everything he could to flustered Ichihoshi until he found out the truth about the brownie.

Weathering With You AU with Nosaka being known as the "sunshine boy" while Ichihoshi is "runaway." They'd meet by chance one rainy night where Nosaka saves Ichihoshi right before he can do something bad. And like the two of them start peacefully living/working together until authorative figures come looking for Ichihoshi. ((Side Note- Nishikage & Saginuma would be the in the story as well!!! They'd be dating/work partners that take Ichihoshi in early on)).

[memorystormsanctuary]

KH Oc Week Day 6

Day 6~ Life’s Perks

Guess what I have never figured out to write because I live to torture my characters. That’s right, I have no idea how to write slice of life things usually. There’s always got to be a little angst, or I am a fish out of water. But I also love a good challenge, so here we go @khoc-week.

Annora loves to go for walks and pull pranks. And while those are some of her favorite past times, her absolute favorite past time is photography. She has a passion for candid shots of other wielders, whether it’s when they’re fighting Heartless or just relaxing in the town. She has so many pictures of her party members that Skuld has declared it stalkerish. But that doesn’t stop her from taking as many pictures as she can. For her it’s a way to hold onto the memories she makes and keep them with her.

Jax shares many of the same past times as Annora, incidentally. But he is much quieter about them than Annora. He enjoys walking through Daybreak Town and just watching all the people there. However when this treads dangerously close to his day job of gathering information for Gula, he secludes himself somewhere with a view and reads. Fun fact about this, Jax didn’t know how to read until just before coming to Daybreak Town. And even though he knows how now, he’s dyslexic so it can actually be really difficult for him. Even so, he still does enjoy all the stories he can find himself lost in when he has the patience to read.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Holding the camera at just the right angle was more difficult than she would like to admit. She was standing a few steps back from underneath the windowsill, bending backwards so just barely the edge was in her shot. The occupant of the windowsill was unaware of her, eyes glued to the book resting in his lap. He was curled into a tight ball, only a small bit of space between the book he was holding and his chest. Purple hair fell into his eyes, it looked like he had actually taken out the ponytail he usually wore.

Annora took a few shots before slightly shifting her position. Her feet skidded across the pavement, kicking a few stones back. Any normal subject wouldn’t have moved, but Jax’s head snapped up so quickly Annora hardly had time to register.

For a moment the two just stared at each other. Aqua eyes stared into icy blue ones, neither daring to blink. It was in that moment Annora realized just how strange her position must have looked from Jax’s perspective. She was nearly in a full backbend, trying to get an angle that the sunlight would highlight the features on his face.

“Um, I can explain,” Annora said, after the silence had been filled with Jax’s judging stare for far too long. He only quirked an eyebrow in response. Annora sighed, straightening herself out and brushing her bangs out of her eyes. “Right. Uh, would you believe I was just trying to take a picture of the sky with the roof?”

“Skuld’s right,” Jax said calmly, closing his book. “This is bordering on stalkerish.”

“It’s not stalking!” Annora said, dropping her camera so it hung around her neck. She crossed her arms and looked to the side. “It’s not like I’m looking for you guys. I just happen to find you.”

“Still stalkerish,” Jax said. He leaned over a little, looking at Annora more directly. “How can you even get a picture there?”

“I’m flexible,” Annora answered without hesitation. Jax only shook his head returning to his previous position. “I take it you’re going to tell me to get lost?”

“Yeah,” Jax agreed. Annora sighed but nodded. It was not the first time she had been told to leave her muse alone. Kariya and Zia had only tolerated her for a few moments before Zia had snapped. Skuld was for once nowhere to be found, but since Ven was also missing Annora could only guess it was a Dandelion thing. Takiko hadn’t even let her take one shot. He only glared at her from the moment she had appeared. Annora knew well enough to leave before he somehow managed to make her pay for it.

At the very least, wandering Daybreak Town was never boring. As long as Annora had lived in the town she always managed to find something new around every corner. It was a good way to pass the time on days like this when missions were already done, and the party was all doing their own sort of thing. But there wasn’t enough life to make it worth it. At least not for a photo shoot. Annora hated empty photo’s without people to make them interesting.

Reaching the fountain square, Annora sat at the edge of the fountain a heavy sigh. She held up her camera, looking through the pictures she had taken that day. There were a few good ones of Jax. The Leopardus guy who was always wearing a hat had let her take a few shots of him while he did some sort of science experiment in a Moogle shop. While in the gardens she had managed to find Lauriam tending to some of the flowers before he had another engagement. It had been a fairly successful day, but she still had too much time.

“I could always ask Chirithy, I guess,” Annora said to herself. She sighed leaning her head back to look at the sky. She froze, her eyes landing on a young girl resting on the roof of a nearby house.

It wasn’t the first time Annora had seen this girl. It had just been a few weeks ago she had run into her, quite literally. She had been a shy and stuttering mess at the time. Only really speaking when her brother had come and spoken for her. But even then she never spoke to Annora.

Slowly Annora raised her camera, focusing in on the orange haired girl. Her eyes were pointed to the sky, the seawater green reflecting the light perfectly. It would be hard to capture from such a distance. Fortunately the color of her hair brought out her eyes, and her white clothes kept her image simple. With her knees pulled to her chest she seemed even more like a child than most other wielders, but she had to be close to Annora’s age.

It took a few moments for the orange-haired girl to notice Annora. Her eyes widened as her cheeks dusted with a bright red. Annora chuckled lowering her camera again. Of course not before capturing the expression that had crossed her face. Annora stood brushing herself off and walking towards the building the orange-haired girl was perched on. She stopped as close as she could get before the girl was out of her sightline, which was unfortunately not very close.

“Hey, Strelitzia, what are you up to?” Annora asked. Strelitzia’s cheeks only got redder as she looked away, hiding behind her arm. She muttered some kind of response, but whatever it was Annora didn’t catch. She chuckled again, putting her hands behind her back. “It’s ok, I still swear I don’t bite. Wanna come hangout with me?”

Annora hadn’t thought it would be possible for Strelitzia to go anymore red in the face. But once again the girl’s face seemed to turn an even darker shade of red. It was cute. Annora didn’t move, giving Strelitzia whatever time she would need to weigh over the options in her head. Very slowly Strelitzia got to her feet and walked to the edge of the roof and jumped off, landing neatly in the fountain square. She walked to Annora, eyes down at the ground.

“Great, got anywhere you want to go?” Annora asked. Strelitzia shook her head. “Hm, then why don’t you help me?”

“W-with what?” Strelitzia asked, not daring to look up. It was a shame, up close Annora would have been able to properly appreciate the color of her eyes. All the same, it was the first time Strelitzia had spoken to her directly, and that was a start.

“Today’s my party’s day off, so I’m trying to get some good photo’s taken,” Annora explained, holding up her camera to further demonstrate her point. “The only problem is no one seems to want to tolerate me long enough to get many. Think you could be a model for me?”

“M-me?” Strelitzia asked, finally looking at Annora. Once again her eyes were wide, but it allowed for more of the green color to be seen. Her lips were slightly parted, only enough to allow for the subtle shocked look to fall on her features.

“Yeah,” Annora said. She couldn’t make herself look away. “I mean, I did already kinda take a few of you up on that roof. And you’re really expressive. I think I have a great spot in mind.”

“Um, I guess, that’s ok,” Strelitzia said, her eyes again falling to the side. Her arms went behind her back as a light pink dusted her cheeks again. Annora took a few steps back, quickly raising her camera and taking a picture. Strelitzia looked up in surprise after hearing the click.

“Sorry, that was perfect,” Annora chuckled, lowering her camera. She smiled, watching as the pink darkened. “Anyway, come on!”

Annora took Strelitzia’s arm, practically dragging her through the town. Strelitzia stumbled, trying to keep up. Annora could only chuckle turning to look at her as they made their way through town. There were plenty of places she could think to take Strelitzia. To the river through the town under the foreteller’s tower. To the lighthouse and the beach. To the gardens. To the meadow outside of town filled with flowers. Maybe even the cliffs that looked over the entire town. Wherever they went there was one thing Annora was certain of. The pictures were going to turn out perfect.

[loxare]

A crap guide to KH characters

that I made instead of studying psychology, enjoy!

Sora – precious bab. Will fuk you up if you mess with his friends. Has been suppressing his emotions since 2002 and honestly really needs a hug and probably a good cry. Sunshine boi. People really need to stop being mean to him, or trying to unravel who he is as a person i s2g i will cut a bitch. Has sacrificed himself to save his friends way too many times. Honestly, he's just a good boy who went on an adventure to save his friends and went through a lot of crap, but still manages to keep an upbeat outlook.

Riku – 2edgy4u. Will also fuk you up if you mess with his friends. Went through probably the best redemption arc since Zuko. Also needs a hug. Has tried to sacrifice himself to save his friends several times but his friends say he's not allowed. A good boy who's been trying to make up for his mistakes since 2002 and honestly he's doing a great job.

Kairi – Sunshine girl. Hasn't fucked anyone up for messing with her friends yet but damn if she isn't trying. Tired of playing damsel in distress, more tired of waiting for her boys to come home. Probably would sacrifice herself for her friends but hasn't had the opportunity. Ready to fist fight a damn werewolf to avoid being sidelined again. I need a game dedicated to her stat.

Roxas – 3edgy5u. Started out a happy kiddo, then some bad shit happened and now he's just mad at everyone. Identity crises every second Wednesday. All he wants is to eat ice cream with his friends, roll around town on his skateboard and disassemble the government, is that too much to ask?

Axel/Lea – The absolute worst person ever turned lovable asshole once he discovered parenting. Seriously, he was terrible in CoM. But honestly, understandable considering he was forced to join a cult that spent a solid decade telling him he had no emotions and hey, please be an assassin for us. Needs to pick a name. Currently fighting Aqua for the Best Team Parent Award (and losing, sorry Lea, Aqua is just that good).

Xion – precious daughter. Seriously needs a hug. Identity crises all day all night all the time. Most Forgettable Character Award (I'm so sorry). All she wants is to eat ice cream with her friends, go to the beach and scream trans rights at the worlds, is that too much to ask? Had so much bad shit happen to her. Inherited her self-sacrificial streak from Sora. Someone get this girl a better role model. No, not Lea, he did some self-sacrifice bs too, someone else. No, not Aqua either.

Terra – himbo xtreme. So good and trusting he trusted the wrongest person. Sorry, two wrongest persons. Terra no. He's just a terrafic dude (I'm not sorry). Stronk. Dumb. Kind. Would possess his own empty armor to protect his friends and sit in a wasteland for over a decade. What strength. What willpower. Someone get this man into the Green Lantern Corps, stat. I need him and Kronk to meet because they're both so dumb I love them. Terra's great.

Aqua – Light of my life. Willingly jumped into hell to save her friend. Jewelry maker. Will fuk you up if you mess with her friends. Did I mention that she jumped into hell to save her friend? Who was actually her friend being possessed by the bad guy? And that she stayed there for over a decade? Such strength. Someone get this woman a hug. And therapy. Current holder of the Best Team Parent Award. Her friend group has five brain cells and she holds four of them.

Ven – Literal sunshine boy. Don't look too long, you'll go blind. Will fuk you up if you even look at his friends. Shady past that he absolutely does not remember. Winner of the Rip Van Winkle Award for longest nap. Kind of a brat at first but damn does he grow up fast. Has the worst evil twin ever. Holds the last brain cell.

Vanitas – The evil twin. The worst, I love him. Seriously needs to get some therapy. And a redemption arc, I need one so bad. Makes his own pets out of sadness. SHady past he might remember. Sees himself as the monster when the real monster was Doctor Franken- I mean. Xehanort. Really needs a hug, but maybe be prepared to run if you're giving it.

Namine – Perennial damsel in distress. Literal self insert character. Ends up going from one bad situation to another. When she finally gets her freedom, she vanishes. No one understands her powers and honestly that's fine. All she wants is to help. Someone tell her it's ok to want things for herself too.

Repliku – this guy is just an identity crisis put into a person. Doesn't even have his own name yet. So incredibly angry at everything he's gone through but has ended up in a sort of acceptance. The only person who didn't get a happy ending and I can and will revolt. Spent most of his life confused and angry and honestly relatable.

[sunsreign-moved]

Get to know the blogger!

Tagged by @lapeirla   (thank you sunshinee) I’m tagging  @xkuja   @thiefreign   @irnmaidn    @moonstonetm  @7thlight     @verumking @svartbutler  @witchingrey @hurcales @spiriitum  @brawlfists  @eatingthem @pristinette  ANYONE ELSE.  

FIRST NAME I don’t give out my actual first name....  I’ve been rping for like seven years and I think maybe only 5 people know it ...  I just don’t like it ... so I prefer aliases ~    SOoo  Fauna 

STRANGE FACT ABOUT YOURSELF I really like coarse  textures....  for example, I love the feeling of sand in my hands ....  or    bath salts etc..   it’s weird I know, but you asked for a strange fact.  

TOP THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU FIND ATTRACTIVE ON A PERSON Pretty hair,  youthful face,    -- and......like... in really good shape.    

A FOOD YOU COULD EAT FOREVER AND NOT GET BORED OF Any sort of curry.  But it has to be spicy ....almost everything is BORING unless it’s packing heat.... aside from like... dessert  ...   

A FOOD YOU HATE

Mushrooms.  (and olives)  ....but Mushrooms are revolting  .... 

GUILTY PLEASURE Honestly?? ...maybe RP?  I don’t tell anyone in RL about it and .   

WHAT DO YOU SLEEP IN A bed... with my mini  dachshund.  Luckily my (or well, my sisters) doggy likes his own bed.  but my dachy is my baby ..she’s been sleeping with me since she was a little puppy...  

SERIOUS RELATIONSHIPS OR FLINGS Mmmm...I’m not particularly  interested ..but I’d say serious relationship?

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN THE PAST AND CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WOULD YOU AND WHAT WOULD IT BE I’d change being so insecure.   I got bullied a lot in school ........ for my twin sister being special needs ( developmental delay)    it caused a lot of damage ....    maybe if I stood up for myself --maybe things would’ve been different.   

ARE YOU AN AFFECTIONATE PERSON

not really,  my family wasn’t ever that affectionate typeeee .... but sometimes I am with close friends etc.  

A MOVIE YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN

Gonna be honest...I have a horrible time re watching movies .... the only time I’ve done it is for like --- rp purposes fjifewfj3

FAVORITE BOOK The last unicorn ....and the original peter pan.  

YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO KEEP ANY ANIMAL AS A PET, WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE A goat.  I really like goats.   I reaaallllyyyyyy ......like goats. 

TOP FIVE FICTIONAL SHIPS [IF YOU ARE AN RP BLOG, YOU CAN USE YOUR OWN SHIPS AS WELL] I’m just gonna post my favs in general   Roxas and Xion.  (kh)   2B and 9S  (Nier automata, it’s actually my ultimate OTP ever....)    Serah and Noel ( XIII2)  Cassunzel  (Punz and Cass, tangled. I do like new dream too. )  Chihiro and Haku  (Spirited away)  and....I know this is more than five but... Peter Pan and Wendy.  (Oh Jack frost and Rapunzel)

PIE OR CAKE AHHHHH.... I love both....  I guess it depends on what flavor it is....  I lean toward fruity flavors than like chocolate ...or things COVERED in whipped cream .....   I’d literally it a whole of whipped cream.....

FAVORITE SCENT Anything fruity .....strawberry in particular ...

CELEBRITY CRUSH None .....   I don’t keep up with celebs... but when I was a young teen I thought Justin bieber was a ‘megaaaa hottie’   ....

IF YOU COULD TRAVEL ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD YOU GO Disneyland for the third time or disneyworld....I was supposed to go to disneyworld this year but coronavirus happened... SOBS.

INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT Introverted usually ....

DO YOU SCARE EASILY it depends on the situation ....I can be a bit jumpy ....  but I LIKE haunted houses and horror movies....

IPHONE OR ANDROID I have an Iphone...

DO YOU PLAY ANY VIDEO GAMES YES....  My favorite game in the universe is Nier Automata.  A close second is ai the somnium files.  It’s so underrated ....and made me BAWL at one point ....   more people need to play this amazing gem.    I was also a huge fan of the Harvest moon / Story of seasons games. growing up ...still am.   I like them better than animal crossing...    I also like the fire emblem series  and --- I’m a big fan of Persona 5 .... . been trying to get through Royal before I have to go back to work.   

DREAM JOB Professional goat petter.   

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A MILLION DOLLARS Help my Momma out ....  move into a nice house, pay off student loan....   get like, a goat farm.   uMMM.... go to disneyland/disney world as much as possible....      give myself a makeover ....  try like the most expensive desserts in the world .... and then make a nice donation to a charity that’s legit and worth it.   

FICTIONAL CHARACTER YOU HATE I don’t think i have a fictional character I hate......... ummmmmmmm.  OH.. but when I was a young teen, like... 14?....  I hated Rena Ryuugu from my favorite anime/visual novel, Higurashi........   because... my OTP was Mion and Keiichi ...and she was getting in the WAY....   *note*  higu is a very violent and graphic horror animu so if you look it up..... beware....    

FANDOM THAT YOU WERE ONCE A PART OF BUT AREN’T ANY LONGER

I still think I’m sorta a part of most fandoms....... nothing really comes to minddddd

[kingdommad300]

KH DnD: Between Dawn to Dusk Aithne’s Report

Warning!!!

For my current DnD players, until you find out more details in-game. Please do not read this. This is for those that following the campaign through this blog and for the player of Aithne.

Aithne gasps as she finds herself in The Dark Realm. She feels a dense pressure in the atmosphere, mainly on her heart. As if on instinct, she told the current cloak off and put her own, holey one back on, feeling the dense pressure disappear, making it easier to breathe. Vanitas remarks that she at least remembered one thing. Aithne asked him why they had come to the Realm of Darkness, only for Vanitas to tell her to wait and see.

After walking for a while and feeling the Heartless from the sidelines watch them, Vanitas shows Aithne a ruined town, half swallowed by the darkness while traces of burns on the buildings. As Aithne walks through the ruins, she felt the sense of familiarity despite not knowing what this place is. When she questioned Vanitas, he explained that this was her home once. From what Aithne had told him in the past, the ruined town was called Dawn and she had peacefully lived here with her father and brother. She was a gifted magic user when she was young and had developed a way to create ‘blue fire’. One day, a keybearer saw Aithne’s gifts as signs of darkness and had attacked the town. Heartless ended up attracted to the burning town and had taken the remains of the building into the dark realm, leaving Aithne to be the only survivor. 

She had started to survive on her own at the age of 8 and had come across Vanitas when she was 9. Since he had a keyblade, she tried to kill him off but failed miserably. Seeing her magic abilities as a useful tool, Vanitas decided to take her in as a student and taught her how to be a bounty hunter. Eventually, Aithne got ‘too cocky’ for her own good and decided to take up a job for the ‘Man in White’, which was the last time Vanitas saw her.

Vanitas gives Aithne the option on whether she should use her position to target Ventus and Kairi or decide to stick with him. Aithne questions why she should truly trust what he is saying. Vanitas goes on to explain a little more about the Corruption, explaining that because of Ventus and Kairi’s actions to try and bring Sora back, they ended up creating the Corruption, ending the lives of thousands and thousands over the last 3/4 of a decade. He goes on to explain that they seem to be trying to find a way to ‘cure’ the Corruption but nothing can cure it. You can become a monster or let the Corruption consume you to become someone else.

When Aithne mentions that both options seem back, Vanitas makes a comment that she just hasn’t seen both options yet. Aithne, who is holding her anger towards Ventus and Kairi in at this moment, asks if Ventus and Kairi were looking for him, since they seemed eager to look into the appearance of the Unverse. Vanitas explains, while taking his helmet off, that they needed him to prove their theories.

Aithne takes in the face, recognizing it before Vanitas puts his helmet back on. 

Vanitas asks the same question again and Aithne decides to stick with him. With her mind made up, Vanitas begins to lead them out of the ruins. While walking, Aithne asked why she needed to put her old cloak on and why the Heartless was not bothering them. Vanitas explains that the cloak that she is wearing not only protects her from the darkness but according to the Heartless, she is darkness while wearing the cloak. It allows them to get through the Dark Realm without being bothered. She asked how long Vanitas was looking for her, which he response ‘a year’, and asked if he cared about her. Vanitas mentions that she is just a tool to him but she doesn’t fully believe him.

The two of them reach a small camp, seeing a mix of those affected by darkness, nothingness and the corrupted. Aithne did notice a few people with shadow like marks on their arms, similar to what Jason has. While going through the camp, they watched a rapid Corrupted humanoid, snatch the head off one of the head of the darkness controlled human and acted like a beast in their cage. While Aithne was horrified, Vanitas explains that those affected by the Corruption can become Rippers, the creature they see in front of them. They carry on and come across a large tent with a sign saying ‘The Cavern’. A bounty hunter guild.

Vanitas finds he lost his membership card, when Axton, the Nobody Doorman, explains no card, no entry! Aithne interrupts, explaining that it was her fault he lost his card. Persuded, Axton decided to let them in, saying to Aithne “welcome back”.

Aithne enters the guild to see it to mainly be a seedy like bar. As Vanitas seats down and talks to the barman, Aithne looks at the huge bounty board. Not sure what everything meant, she goes to take a seat next to Vanitas. She received a drink from a Heartless Orc called Bruce and gave him a stale cupcake in return.

As Vanitas handed his jobs in, he asks Aithne if she remembered anything before explaining to her the board that she was previously looking at. He explains that the bounty board is a ‘Keybearer Deadpool Board’. Bounty Hunters who put their name on the Keyblade Wielder who will be the last one to live on the board. They can only pick one wielder and they win a huge amount of munny for it but the catch is that other bounty hunters will go to kill them, as they are still marks, giving a sense of competition. After explaining, he tells Aithne to look again.

Aithne goes back over to the board but stops when she had put a wager on a keybearer to stay alive. She saw that she put a wager on Jason.

Before she could question why Jason was on the Deadpool Board, another bounty hunter comes into the room.

A short red haired guy, early 20′s, a bag of keyblades on his bag similar to Vanitas, his right arm a pure red shadow like claw shows off his cocky smile and sits next to Vanitas while giving Bruce his keyblades. Aithne watches the two for a second before coming over just as the guy asks Vanitas ‘why he should tell him anything.’ After explaining that she wanted to learn more about the ‘good’ side of corruption, the guy grinned at her and introduce himself as ‘Devon’, one of the newer bounty hunters in this guild. He shakes Aithne hand with his claw and Aithne decides to hold on a little longer, seeing his claw flare up slightly when she squeezed harder while she introduced herself.

After the introduce and the power play with the handshake, Devon explains a little more detail about the Corruption. Firstly explains that the corrupted is the tainted light within a person that can get blinded by their actions and let the light consume them, similar to how people can let darkness consume them. Secondly, he explains that the corruption has multiple stages to it, each being a test to the person affected and that the weak heart tend to fail quite quickly. First comes a voice, a voice that will target a weakness of the person’s identity (e.g. mention their fears, confidence, regrets, guilt ect.) He explains that if the person goes out of their way to prove the voice wrong, the voice will then send the person in a dream and ask them to accept what they will give them. If you say ‘No’, you die or become a Ripper. Says ‘Yes’ and become someone completely different.

When Aithne asked Devon what he meant, Devon asks for a drink as payment. After a bit of banter between the two of them, involving a agreement to trade information for information and Aithne explaining how she met Vanitas, Devon continues.

He explains a little about his background, telling her that he used to be a Keyblader Weilder under the Foretellers and that he was never able to meet his masters expectations and his angry issues affected his ability to work with the other weilders. When he first got Corrupted two years ago, the voice kept telling him that they were better off without him, playing on his anger and his lack of confidence. When he was near the blink of turning into a Ripper, he decided to face the music by standing up to the Foretellers and left the group. After some soul searching, Devon had managed to keep his anger and corruption under control now that the main issues were gone. When the voice send him to the dream and asked if he wanted its’ assistance, he had said ‘yes’ and didn’t look back. He explains to Aithne that he had gained a magic abilities from the corruption and felt more confident than ever, making him feel like a new person.

He eventually goes to ask a question to Aithne, asking if she knew anything about the Man in White, making Aithne curious. Vanitas jumps in at this point, telling Devon that the Man in White is off-limits and he should focus on the bounty board before telling Aithne that they were going.

Devon mentions that Aithne still owns him a questions and Aithne promises that the the next time they meet, he can ask whatever he wants and she will answer. She watches Devon talk to Bruce before she leaves the guild with Vanitas.

As they leave The Cavern, Vanitas creates another portal, telling Aithne they need to head to the safe house now to discuss a plan. Aithne nods in agreement and the two go through the portal.

After a moment, Aithne finds herself in the wasteland type area with keyblades scattered everywhere, even watching Vanitas swap some of the keyblades in his procession with the ones in the ground. As they carried on, they come across another cave with the same sort of sign at the front before the two of them entered.

Aithne saw on one side of the cave seem to have her belongings from before she left. She went over and found a bounty hunter log, a spell book and few pieces of equipment. While she is looking around, Vanitas explains that they need a plan for you to take Ventus and Kairi down. They first mention that the party would look for Phoenix feathers for Aerith and Kairi but both agreed that there was no guarantee that she will find the same Phoenix as the party’s due to them being a few. Vanitas then explained that different parties seem to be gathering crystal like orbs and decides that if they look for the crystals, they can introduce Aithne back to the group. Vanitas even creates an Unverse Fox called ‘Blink’ to be Aithne’s companion during her journey so that Vanitas can travel with her through the fox and that she can just hand the crystals to the fox.

Aithne agrees, but senses a problem, shes naturally bad at lying, so she needed to come up with a plan where she wasn't lying.. Vanitas gets an idea, he asked Aithne to walk out with him.. After a little while walking, Aithne notices that Vanitas stays behind a little, she turns around and he summons 5 Floods Unverse after her and Blink. Vanitas explains that he needs to see if she is ready anyway.

The Flood start to attack and surround Aithne and Blink and in a panic Athine casts Fireball point blank, creating a huge fiery blast, consuming the Flood at herself.  

Everything goes Black… Aithne hears a voice “i thought you could be better”, her heart starts to lead to the place where sky and sea meet, finding some peace...Her heart gets caught though as she’s sucked back into the darkness, feeling cold and scared and alone. She gasps awake, noticing a figure over her with a keyblade pointed at her chest, a voice saying “the weak one’s awake”, Aithne notices with horror that her hair gone, her body burnt and a blue flame mark on her chest. Taking a moment to remember what is going on, Vanitas turns to Aithne and says “As your saviour, you will live for me. DO everything I tell you, got it?!”, Athine nods......suddenly remembering the feeling of dread from being with this twisted man.

[deadxscream]

GET TO KNOW THE BLOGGER.

Can be used for RP and non-RP blogs to get to know a bit about the person behind the screen!

1. FIRST NAME: You can just call me Mango ✌🏽

2. STRANGE FACT ABOUT YOURSELF: What counts as a strange fact ... ? I hate moshing but love going to rock concerts and being in front of the stage ...  just ... not in the mosh pit. 

3. TOP THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU FIND ATTRACTIVE ON A PERSON: eyes, smile, hair

4. A FOOD YOU COULD EAT FOREVER AND NOT GET BORED OF: HMMM......nachos. Mangos (lol). Though really I need diversity in my foods otherwise I’ll get tired of whatever I’m eating. 

5. A FOOD YOU HATE: Grapefruit. And most seafood.

6. GUILTY PLEASURE:  I try not to feel guilty about things I enjoy...but I guess I tech have some, just can’t think of one at the moment. 

7. WHAT DO YOU SLEEP IN: my bed .... unless you mean clothing wise. Usually just a big t-shirt. 

8. SERIOUS RELATIONSHIPS OR FLINGS: idk. I’ve never been in a relationship, but the “flings” I had were like, under the influence and one night and all within two years so. In the end I guess I’d like a serious relationship ... ?

9. IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN THE PAST AND CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WOULD YOU AND WHAT WOULD IT BE: HahaHAHAHA . . . without getting into it, probably would have been helpful to get my mental health sorted when it first got bad and ended up screwing up a huge chunk of my life. 

10. ARE YOU AN AFFECTIONATE PERSON: yes!!! 

11. A MOVIE YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN: . . . Birds of Prey. I’ve watched it 3 times already and could watch it again. 

12. FAVORITE BOOK: I like lots of books!! My latest favorite series has been The Centenal Cycle Series by Malka Older. Great combo of cyberpunk sci-fi and world politics. #nerd

13. YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO KEEP ANY ANIMAL AS A PET, WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE: a tiger, or a cloud leopard!! I love big cats ,,,

14. TOP FIVE FICTIONAL SHIPS [IF YOU ARE AN RP BLOG, YOU CAN USE YOUR OWN SHIPS AS WELL]:  Setsuna/Van , uhhh, I have a bunch of ships I love-love but idk if I can really rank them?? Depends on my obsession at the time lol 

15. PIE OR CAKE: Cake, 100%. Pie is good too, but I like cake more. 

16. FAVORITE SCENT:  I love scents akin to sandalwood and jasmine, dark sensual scents

17. CELEBRITY CRUSH: I don’t ... really have one. Like there are plenty I find attractive but no one that I would call a crush, but I also don’t get crushes in general so, lol. 

18. IF YOU COULD TRAVEL ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD YOU GO: EVERYWHERE. I love traveling and exploring new places. Just let me travel the world for life pls. 

19. INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT: Ambivert!

20. DO YOU SCARE EASILY: Kind of? 

21. IPHONE OR ANDROID: Android forever bby. 

22. DO YOU PLAY ANY VIDEO GAMES: yesssss. I haven’t been playing much for the past few years though just because ... life and time management. But I love love playing games. Usually RPGs. Some of my faves are Zelda, KH, the new Tomb Raider, Sonic, uhhh lots really. The one I play the most recently is Breathe of the Wild, which I just go and fuck around in and have barely accomplished any of the main story \o/;;;

23. DREAM JOB: Something that lets me travel and combine my passions for science and art all while serving a social mission / helping people & the world. 

24. WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A MILLION DOLLARS: Pay off my debt, my parent’s debt, and depending on what’s left .... idk, save and/or treat myself to something nice. 

25. FICTIONAL CHARACTER YOU HATE: Ehhh there are characters I hate but because you’re supposed to .... otherwise, I have characters I don’t like but can’t think of them right now tbh.

26. FANDOM THAT YOU WERE ONCE A PART OF BUT AREN’T ANY LONGER: Many, lol. I tend to stay out of fandoms for the most part these days anyway. 

tagged by: @lucifierthings !

tagging: @scendant​  @derivepath​ @submcrged​​ and uhh if you’re reading this, consider yourself tagged! 

[khtrinityftw]

Part 2: Rucksack the Zombie

There is a lot to dislike about 358/2 Days.

The fact that the main supporting cast are villains and thus not sympathetic or likable, the fact that the gameplay is horribly clunky, the fact that Disney is underutilized and the only Final Fantasy character is a Moogle, the fact that all the locations are recycled from past games, the fact that the story is stereotypical shonen fare that is full of repetitive scenes of characters sitting on the damn clock tower eating that damn ice cream, the fact that the ending is a foregone conclusion, and - again - the fact that the title is composed of goddamn math!

But I think the biggest issue ultimately comes down to the main trio of characters: Roxas, Xion and Axel. The story does its damnedest to make you feel for them, and it honestly does a good job at it: it's really easy to get sucked into doing exactly that. But when you actually stop and take a deeper look at them, especially when considering the context of the KH Trinity, you realize that they are badly portrayed to an insulting degree.

Roxas was a character that Nomura put a lot of thought into while designing for Kingdom Hearts II, but it was all in the service of that game's story. Roxas was the main character for the prologue that also served as the tutorial, to help newcomers adjust to the setting of the series if they hadn't played either of the earlier two games, and then beyond that he was the main representative of one of the story's biggest themes: the question of self and of one's own existence and how it can be defined. 

As far as Roxas himself went, his personality was a computer-based fabrication, since he didn't really have much of one as a Nobody beyond apparently angry and brooding, and he was primarily there just to serve the purpose of getting shoved back up Sora's ass so that Sora could be complete and wake up to go on a new adventure. It's both simple and deep, as the whole tragedy of his character is that he wasn't allowed a choice in this role, it was forced upon him when it really didn't have to be, as he could have come to the same decision on his own if he was just allowed.  Since as he comes to find out, existing within Sora doesn't mean he stops existing: it means he exists on a greater and more fulfilling level than he had before: Sora was as much a missing piece for him as he was for Sora. From everything ever shown or said of Roxas' time in the Organization, you never got the impression that he liked it.

But Days jettisons almost all of that, whether in the game itself or as a result of it later on in the "Dark Seeker Saga".  Now Roxas, while starting out as a drowsy, confused zombie, grows into having the exact same personality he was supposed to be given digitally. He's not angry and brooding at all until the very end of the game; otherwise he's perfectly happy and content as a Nobody working in Organization XIII, and he only betrays them because of events sparked by Xion (more on her in a moment). He doesn’t even fight and defeat Riku prior to their confrontation at Memory’s Skyscraper, unless that one mission where he’s chasing Riku and whacking at him with his Keyblade was supposed to be the time he “defeated” him. And being the main character of a whole game rather than just a tutorial of one, Roxas is elevated to a position almost on par with Sora within the series, as someone who could and ultimately does stand on his own without Sora, which completely goes against the original idea behind his character.

Worse still, these changes mean that the genuinely deep, thoughtful and emotionally resonant way his character concluded back in KH2 no longer flies for many people. If his life was so good before being put in a computer simulation and forced to merge with Sora, then it's hard to swallow that his life after that, a life merged with Sora's, would be good for him. After this game, the rallying cry from many fans became "Roxas deserves better! He deserves to be his own physical existence again and to eat ice cream with his best friends forever!" Again, completely off the mark from what was originally being conveyed with the character. 

As such, Roxas became an even bigger zombie than he was when first starting out with the Organization. Because he just wouldn't die. Instead of occasional spiritual cameos in his white Twilight Town duds as the Atem to Sora's Yugi Moto, it’s Roxas in his black Organization coat that keeps popping up in roles that call back to Days, and the notion that he had to be "saved" and given his own physical existence started getting pushed. Something that was actually complex ended up traded away for something both convoluted (his heart now exists in data and can be put in a replica body...whut!?) and insultingly simple: a Happily Ever After fairy tale ending for him that doesn't advance his character toward something greater or challenge the player in any meaningful way.

But worst of all, this didn't even end up confined to just him. If he could come back and get the fairy tale ending, then so could his friends, and if they could, then so could literally everyone in the series who got met with anything less than such an ending. Not even most Disney stories end Happily Ever After for absolutely everyone; there's usually some kind of accommodation made. But the Kingdom Hearts series decided that it didn't want to have any sort of stakes, any sort of consequences, any sort of prices paid (except from your wallet if you're dumb enough to keep buying the games, like I was.) 

And Roxas was the key to make this happen; him being turned into a much more important character whose backstory got completely revamped. He was just supposed to be Sora's Nobody who got shoved back up Sora's ass! Now he's the poster child for the entire series' decline! Way to ruin a perfectly good character, Nomura, and it won't be for the last time either!

[melodiiousnocturne]

(  dylan  wang  ,  cismale  ,  he  /  him  ,  kingdom  hearts  )  *  &.  i  know  it  must  be  scary  for  you  ,  demyx  ,  after  surviving  the  takeover  .  to  turn  into  someone  like  myde  lu  ,  a  twenty-one  year-old  part  time  clerk  at  the  hq  and  part  time  instructor  at  the  record  scratch  ,  right  here  in  castle  town  .  just  remember  that  you  are  as  easygoing  as  you  are  indolent  ,  and  to  be  wary  ,  be  safe  ,  be  true  to  who  you  are  :  neutral  through  and  through  .

hi  as  i  said  in  gc  ,  this  is  one  big  tl;dr  i’m  a  demyx  stan  !

BEFORE  CASTLE  TOWN.

where  do  i  begin

demyx  —  number  ix  in  organization  xiii  (  demyx  vc  :  are  we  still  gonna  call  ourselves  organization  xiii  now  that  there’s  14  of  us  ?  )  he  is  ...  lazy  .  arguably  the  most  cowardly  of  the  bunch  ,  doesn’t  like  fighting  ,  and  would  rather  nap  or  play  music  .

that  being  said  ...  despite  his  very  emotional  exterior  in  comparison  ,  we  have  seen  that  he  can  get  just  as  serious  /  dark  like  the  rest  of  them  if  he  really  needs  to  ...  

idk  i  have  a  lot  of  feelings  .

he’s  very  ??  idk  how  to  explain  it  bt  like  .  “  what’s  in  it  for  me  ?  ”  (  as  we  really  see  in  kh3  )  &  like  .  i  wld  say  he  is  a  mix  of  ravenclaw  /  slytherin  just  .  minus  the  whole  cutthroat  ambition  of  slytherin  etc  bc  tbh  that  isn’t  him  .  he’s  kinda  just  along  for  the  ride  .  i  am  rejecting  those  MoM  theories  and  i’m  not  sorry  ab  it  idc  if  they  say  it’s  true  ,  i  REFUSE  .

i  feel  like  since  demyx  allegedly  never  remembered  his  somebody  life  ,  he  probably  didn’t  care  as  much  ab  the  whole  kingdom  hearts  thing  because  he  didn’t  drink  the  kool-aid  because  like  why  would  he  want  a  life  that  he  doesn’t  even  remember  you  know  ??  plus  it’s  —  he  already  knew  xemnas  &  saïx  were  fucken  lying  when  they  said  the  nobodies  didn’t  have  hearts  JKDWJHSNS  why  did  he  need  to  be  a  somebody  to  regain  a  heart  when  he  believed  he  already  had  one  !!!

whatever  ....  lmao

anyway  demyx  in  the  manga  was  honestly  a  mood  and  a  half  i  adore  him

when  he  was  brought  back  to  the  organization  for  kh3  ,  he  was  made  into  a  seeker  of  darkness  —  meaning  baby  water  boy  got  NORTED  .  his  ears  didn’t  appear  to  be  pointed  in  some  way  (  like  the  others  )  so  it’s  safe  to  say  he  didn’t  get  as  much  of  xehanort’s  heart  placed  inside  of  him  .  bt  it  was  enough  to  turn  his  pretty  blue  eyes  into  that  ominous  gold  .

regardless  ,  he  was  benched  despite  going  through  that  whole  process  which  like  i  HIGHLY  doubt  is  an  easy  one  to  even  do  (  so  good  on  demyx  for  being  strong  enough  to  withstand  it  ,,,  )  bt  it’s  !  to  be  noted  !  because  he  felt  bitter  ab  being  demoted  after  ,  and  ofc  with  a  mystery  incentive  from  vexen  ,  demyx  finally  took  the  offer  of  backstabbing  the  organization  (  read  :  it  goes  back  to  what  i  said  ab  him  being  like  well  what’s  in  it  for  me  .....  since  before  he  got  apparently  satisfied  enough  ,  he’s  like  uhhhh  sorry  bt  have  u  seen  what  happens  to  idiots  who  betray  these  guys  lol  like  idk  ab  all  that  )

so  basically  self-preservation  of  a  slytherin  .  there  i  said  it  !  plot  twist  he  isn’t  a  coward  ,  he’s  just  smart  enough  to  not  throw  himself  head  first  into  danger  .  go  figure  ,  right  ?  like  look  alright  he  may  be  comedic  relief  bt  ...  he  is  also  more  than  that  !

in  the  organization  he  was  known  to  kinda  be  a  bully  /  play  pranks  /  manipulate  others  into  doing  his  work  for  him  bt  at  the  end  of  the  day  he  ??  isn’t  like  .  REALLY  a  bad  guy  or  whatever  .  saying  it  was  the  pressure  of  the  organization  is  dulling  everything  down  ,  because  he  still  actively  chose  to  do  what  he  did  and  didn’t  do  and  i  will  hold  him  responsible  for  it  ,  bt  .  u  know  .  shit  happens  !

like  we  have  canon  evidence  he  wld  join  in  xigbar  when  it  comes  to  the  more  like  .  idk  i  guess  harsher  teasing  ?  and  all  ?  and  like  again  demyx  made  the  conscious  choice  to  go  along  w  it  so  he  isn’t  innocent  bt  ,  i  firmly  stand  by  saying  demyx  unintentionally  looked  up  to  xigbar  despite  even  ‘  fighting  ’  with  him  ,  bc  ..  well  .  i  stan  them  being  a  That  duo  .  because  to  me  ,  he’s  just  a  prankster  who  wants  a  laugh  ..  even  at  the  expense  of  another  ..  which  yea  idk  still  yikes  ...  bt  it  isn’t  like  ,  malicious  ..  when  he  is  on  his  own  ..  imo .  i  mean  take  the  days  manga  ,  he  puts  a  whoopee  cushion  on  axel’s  chair  ?  bitch  pls  ..

(  also  quick  going  back  to  him  being  strong  enough  to  accept  getting  norted  —  please  just  remember  ....  nobodies  aren’t  even  supposed  to  exist  !  they  only  technically  form  when  the  person  who  lost  their  heart  is  strong-willed  &  tbh  ?  i  think  it  speaks  volumes  for  demyx  bc  despite  the  show  he  puts  on  ,.....  he  is  there  .  )

alright  so  look  i  know  i  sound  like  i  am  in  denial  of  the  MoM  stuff  and  that  mayhaps  be  so  .  however  there’s  definitely  smthin  off  .  like  we  KNOW  he  can  be  uhhhh  a  pos  like  the  remark  he  has  in  days  ab  how  the  castle  that  never  was  is  quieter  without  everyone  who  was  eliminated  at  castle  oblivion  ,  bt  —  it  was  always  a  really  weird  line  to  me  because  he’s  always  been  branded  as  the  most  emotional  of  the  organization  /  the  one  who  adamantly  believed  they  had  hearts  the  whole  time  ?  which  .  inch  resting  !  i  wld  like  to  formally  say  ONE  OF  THESE  is  a  fucken  coping  mechanism  of  sorts  or  smthin  bc  it’s  really  ...  a  lot  and  nothing  makes  sense  and  like  that’s  the  entirety  of  kh  lore  in  a  nutshell  bt  ya  .  like  i  think  it  ties  into  the  whole  self-preservation  thing  bc  it’s  like  ,  wow  they  really  went  and  got  themselves  fucken  murked  ...  how  dumb  ...  bt  at  the  same  time  bc  like  again  the  biggest  pusher  for  #nobodieshavehearts  ,  it’s  like  “  oh  that’s  depressing  ”  &  like  .  a  mess  .

idk  what  else  to  say  for  this  besides  he  was  really  great  at  recon  &  apparently  was  a  keyblade  wielder  in  the  past  !  which  subsequently  makes  me  emo  on  main  bc  he’s  really  out  here  like  lmao  nah  that’s  ...  it’s  cool  bt  like  hm  idk  sounds  like  kinda  fake  u  know

again  fuck  canon  if  it  does  u  know  what

AFTER  CASTLE  TOWN.

where  do  i  begin  ,  chapter  2

now  myde  is  actually  my  hc  somebody  name  for  demyx  so  like  going  off  that  it  technically  is  his  real  first  name  ....  he  just  doesn’t  know  that  bc  although  he  survived  this  ,  he  didn’t  uh  really  remember  his  old  somebody  life  so  like  lmao  fuck  all  honestly  this  life  could  be  his  real  life  for  all  he  knows

except  he  does  know  it  isn’t

so  like  he’s  ??  more  of  a  somebody  in  castle  town  opposed  to  a  nobody  meaning  he  !  has  a  whole  fucken  heart  now  !  although  because  his  eyes  are  still  indeed  gold  ,  he’s  kinda  like  well  shit  is  old  man  xehanort  still  in  there  too

anyway  myde  lu  ..  my  son  ...  the  memories  of  castle  town  life  are  .  something  else  .  he  grew  up  with  a  single  mother  who  worked  odd  jobs  here  and  there  struggling  to  make  money  to  provide  .  so  while  demyx  is  like  ah  fuck  working  i  don’t  wanna  fucken  do  this  ,  he  got  two  part  time  jobs  the  moment  he  could  to  help  her  out  .  because  even  if  she  isn’t  his  real  mother  ,  it’s  ???  really  nice  to  have  someone  caring  ab  him  :/

he  rooms  with  neko  /  noriko  now  because  an  ad  on  craigslist  bt  he  still  sends  some  of  his  paychecks  &  like  whatever  money  cut  he  gets  from  the  troubvdours  (  also  ,  ironically  from  a  fucken  craigslist  ad  !  )  etc  to  castle  town  mom  bc  honestly  life  in  castle  town  has  kinda  uh  .  made  him  like  .  wow  wait  fuck  haha  oh  man  i  actually  ????  i  can’t  just  nap  and  play  music  and  do  whatever  i  want  ??????  like  i  mean  he  still  does  bt  castle  town  memories  /  the  life  he  was  forced  into  here  made  him  arguably  more  responsible  even  though  he  is  still  a  little  shit  and  completely  at  the  same  time  not  that  responsible  in  the  slightest

it’s  like  .  fake  getting  ur  life  together

idk  he  doesn’t  like  all  the  work  like  he’s  exhausted  bt  it’s  paired  simultaneously  with  he  ?  kinda  also  doesn’t  mind  it  solely  bc  there’s  like  ,,  a  benefit  from  it  ?  like  with  the  two  part  time  jobs  (  which  one  is  being  a  music  instructor  like  i  feel  as  if  he  doesn’t  consider  that  one  much  of  a  job  bc  he  gets  to  play  music  !!  )  it’s  being  able  to  help  the  poor  soul  who  got  stuck  as  his  ‘  caretaker  ’  KKDKWJSJSJ  and  with  the  band  it’s  .  bc  he  is  passionate  ab  music  and  again  although  exhausting  he  loves  to  do  it

boy’s  chaotic  neutral  as  always  bt  i  suppose  castle  town  is  bringing  out  those  hidden  good  tendencies

hmm  he  is  forever  bitter  ab  the  fact  he  didn’t  get  his  sitar  tho  ....  what  the  fuck  is  he  gonna  do  w  his  stupid  organization  cloak  huh  ?  my  god  

so  he  picked  up  rhythm  guitar  bc  it’s  like  .  the  closest  thing  without  getting  an  ACTUAL  sitar  ,  because  !  arpeggios  is  actually  a  rhythm  technique  &  that’s  what  his  sitar  is  named  so  ....  food  for  thought  i  suppose  .  plus  this  world’s  sitar  isn’t  the  same  anyway  :/

despite  being  natural  blond  in  game  etc  i’m  making  the  executive  decision  to  say  he  was  given  naturally  dark  hair  in  CT  &  now  has  to  keep  bleaching  /  dying  his  hair  blond  bc  ....  he  does  not  think  he  suits  black  hair  .  nor  does  he  want  to  .  it  reminds  him  too  much  of  like  idk  xigbar  or  vanitas  or  whatever  with  the  dark  hair  +  gold  eye  combo  u  feel  JDWJJSJSNS

he  dated  isolde  in  CT  &  honestly  i  suggested  it  to  bloom  as  a  crackship  bc  haha  different  bt  then  it  got  really  soft  and  really  emo  so  here  we  are  .  they  close  tho  now  still  &  she’s  the  only  person  he’s  opened  up  to  ab  his  real  life  /  the  organization  so  far  !!

he  is  bi  :/  and  sad  :/  bt  honestly  mood  ,  i  say  as  i’m  pan  not  bi  bt  whatever  :/  

anyway  part  500000  ,  he  sleeps  at  the  library  sometimes  bc  big  gay  still  for  ienzo  and  likes  to  really  just  hang  around  them  bc  he  wants  them  to  remember  being  zexion  ....  &  well  .  more  selfishly  he  wants  them  to  remember  him  bt  like  y  a  h

+  for  the  fact  i  have  not  really  mentioned  it  :  he  still  loves  water  iskaksns  catch  him  like  .  chillin  in  his  bathtub  for  hours  like  bitch  stop  wasting  water  and  the  water  is  FREEZING  by  the  time  he  does  decide  he  is  finished  .  he  misses  his  water  abilities  ok  .  he  can  probably  like  move  stuff  a  little  bit  here  and  there  bt  it’s  Nothing  like  before  :/  yeah  .

idk  what  else  this  is  a  mess  !!  please  plot  with  me  tho  uwu  xoxo

[fluidityandgiggles]

Sleep Is For The Weak - Chapter 17

Previous Chapters: Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 5, Chapter 10, Chapter 15, Last Chapter

Writing Masterlist - for previous chapters not otherwise linked, Read on AO3

Notes (I guess): Happy school year in two weeks, folks.

Not gonna lie, I actually had a plan for this chapter, and then forgot it. So... yeah, not the most cohesive or best chapter, but I got it out, and it’s nice, and I like it this way because it’s a break from the wave of panic attacks and mild transphobia the last chapter or two.

Yes, I’m back home now, and I’m doing actually much better mentally and physically than I have since September till June. But the chapters are gonna take a while longer to write from now on, because I’m about to join the scary world of job searching for the unstable ADHD brain, not to mention being involved in three regular ttrpg campaigns (where I play a halfling sorcerer, and a half-elf bard, and also DM the third one), so... my brain is busy. But I promise this fic isn’t going on hiatus! I’m still extremely dedicated and excited to be writing this fic. I love it so much. Honest.

As per every chapter, thanks go to @whatwashernameagain for KHS and for generally being a wonderful human, to @broadwaytheanimatedseries for putting up with my fangirl-levels of excitement over everything (and coming up with the original idea), to @winglessnymph, @asleepybisexual and @anony-phangirl - who, while I know they’ve all fallen out of the loop, continue to have long-lasting effects on this fic as a whole - and new to this list, to @ilovemygaydad, who I’ve asked to beta this fic for me and I hope they’d have time for that starting with the next chapter.

Happy start of college and good luck, my darling dear child. I love you.

Tag list (sort of): @bunny222, @ab-artist, @sweet-and-sour-shadowling, @your-username-is-unavailable, @virgilcrofters, @violetblossem, @maybe-i-like-the-misery, @book-of-charlie, @thatsanswitch, @thatrandomautist, @thebiggestgaypirate, @marshmallow-the-panda

(Wanna be tagged? Lemme know!)

Trigger warning: period appropriate transphobia (the early 00s were not exactly trans-friendly). This chapter is light on the transphobia, but includes aphobia, deadnaming, panphobia (yes, pansexuality was a term in the early 00s, as I learned just half an hour ago) and vague mentions of child abuse.

—————

Sunday, July 27th, 2003

Incoming call: 218-357-5555

"Ye—"

"Remy? I didn't forget your number? Oh good!"

"...Emile?"

"Yeah?"

"...what's this phone number, darling?"

"Oh! Yeah, I… my phone died, so I got a new one! Sorry I didn't tell you sooner… but, umm, I'm gonna get to the point, yeah okay, happy birthday!"

"Thank… you…? Em, you shouldn't have—"

"Ah, but see, that's where you're wrong! Because I had to, because I said that I have to! You're my best friend in the whole world, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't at least call you to say happy birthday?"

"You're precious, darling."

"Thank you! Oh, did you get my gift yet? I sent it to you in the mail last month! Did you—"

"I did, it was… well, it was unexpected, I'd give you that. Where did you even find a Jack mug anyway?"

"Disneyland…?"

"...you know what, that's fair."

"Yeah! So, happy birthday! I'll be in Manhattan next week, so like… do you wanna go see a show or something…? I haven't seen the Gypsy revival yet…"

"...it's a date, then. But you're paying."

"Yes, yes of course! It's gonna be alright, okay? You trust me?"

"With my life."

"Yay! Okay, okay, umm… yeah. I miss you! Happy birthday!"

"Thank—"

"I gotta go right now at this second it's my cousin's bat mitzvah in two days and I need to get my suit and everything but I'll call you tomorrow evening too okay?"

"Sure… have fun, darling."

"Thank you! Okay, bye!"

—————

"India M—"

"Why didn't you tell me Emile has a new number? I cannot fucking believe you!"

"He wanted to do it himself, peach. On your birthday."

"Okay… okay, I guess that's fair…"

"Happy birthday, too."

"Thanks, mom…"

"So… how'd you spend the week?"

"Nothing big happened… my dad took me to see Nina West last night. It was the fucking best."

"I'll bet. Did you have fun?"

"So much fun! She's fan-fucking-tastic. Honestly. I'd give anything for her to either do me or spare a bit of her funny to me."

"Wow… gay much?"

"Shut up."

"Don't worry, it's fine. I still need to take Jenna to a drag show sometime. Did anyone hit on you…?"

"You'll be surprised how many people hit on my dad, actually. But no. I actually broke up with Chris today because of this."

"Oh? Do tell."

"It wasn't… much. He called me a couple hours ago to say happy birthday, which is fine if you ask me but I just… it ended in him trying to talk me into not talking to Emile again. And that's normal, okay, ain't something I can't handle. But he said ‘sure he's asexual, when he isn't spreading his legs to everyone he's asexual'."

"...did he seriously think he can get away with it?"

"India, no—"

"I don't give a fuck anymore, peach. I'm not going to beat him up, you have nothing to worry about, I just… this shit is so fucking infuriating!"

"I know. But hey, look at the bright side. Ulysses and Mandy said they'll take over next year, I'm gonna let them know. He won't be back."

"That's… that's true. I'll call Mandy later. Don't worry about it. Just… what then?"

"Then I told him that it wasn't his choice, he didn't choose any of it, so he said ‘just like you couldn't choose to stay a girl, Rebecca'."

"...oh yeah. Yeah, definitely. I'm telling Mandy. She'll deck him for sure next time she sees him."

"Thanks, mom. I just… I so wanted to deck him right then! So I gave him a piece of my mind, broke up with him and hung up and deleted his number. Now we wait and see what's gonna happen."

"Good boy. I taught you well."

"Thanks… again… he also said that asexuality isn't real, and—"

"I'm flying down to Texas right now to sock him. I took karate for three years. I can do this."

"India, no… hon. Babe. You need to get settled in DC. You need to—"

"I'm buying the plane tickets right now, Remy! Watch me!"

"—You need to get your life together and get your master's degree. You do not, however, need to go break the nuts of someone who doesn't deserve your attention—"

"Who's the older and wiser one of us?"

"Right now? Not you. You told me this very thing when I wanted to kill that asshole who made a joke out of Emmy, I'm telling you this now. Don't."

"...fine. But if I ever do get the opportunity, I'm doing it."

"Good for you."

"Nobody plays my kids dirty like that."

"You go, mom."

"I will! Oh shit, I have to go!"

"What? Why—"

"I forgot Jenna's parents are coming over today and I need to go pick them up from the airport. I'll call you later to keep catching up, okay peach?"

"Okay, but—"

"Awesome, happy birthday, we love you! See you in two weeks!"

"...see y—"

—————

"...Remy?"

"Good evening, Linda… where's Leah?"

"...and here I thought you called to talk to me. But I suppose I'm only your mother, nothing—"

"Mom, please, I'll talk to you after I tell Leah something really important."

"Alright, I'm sorry. But you got the package we sent you, didn't you?"

"I did, I… I just don't understand. You painted that…?"

"Who else would sign my name on a canvas, Remy?"

"You're… right. I'm sorry. It's very nice. Thank you."

"Happy birthday, son."

"Thank… you…"

"...hello?"

"Leah…? Leah, sweetie, can you hear me?"

"Remy! Oh, oh oh oh Remy I told you I'd tell you about my camp and—"

"And how was your time at camp? Take a breath and then tell me."

"Okay! Okay, so, so we were in the woods, and in cabins, and I kinda wanted to sleep in tents but it didn't happen and it was kinda disappointing but I can always do that later, and…"

—————

August 2003

There was a blackout as Remy was trying to write an essay Dr. Gilliam asked of his class.

So his dad put him on a bus to Georgia, which is why he's making do right now at doing his schoolwork with two children running around.

"We gotta go bowling too!" Leah whispered excitedly. For the fifteenth time this hour. "And then we need ice cream, and, umm, I know where the puppies are, and—"

"Leah, love, I need to finish this essay for school right now. Give me a couple minutes, about twenty, and I'll be with you, okay?"

"Okay!"

Remy couldn't be happier to be there at that moment. He had a plane ticket booked to Boston, his rooming was already set at Lowell, the papers have all been set and he was about to room with Emile, Mandy called him the other day to ask if he'd like to help her run the queer society meetings (and of course he said yes)...

And then there was a crashing sound. And a crying toddler sound. And he had to put his laptop aside to go check on Rachel.

More like run to the kitchen to check on Rachel, who was now standing in front of broken pieces of cheap china and bawling her eyes out.

"No, sweetie, it's okay…" he picked her up and started playing with her hair, hoping to calm her down. "We're gonna clean this, okay? What were you doing with the plate?"

"Tea party!"

"You wanna have a tea party?" She nodded, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. "Okay… okay. Let's wash your face, then pick up the pieces, and then make some tea and have a tea party with your dollies. Okay, love?"

She nodded again, and he kind of had no choice. So he did what he said he'd do, sitting Rachel down in her high chair as he cleaned the broken pieces, and for a moment, he felt like an absolute idiot. He felt like he was his mom.

Well… like Rachel was his mom, and the plate was him, and he was his dad, and holy fuck Emile's show analysis habits have definitely had an effect on him and he really should stop thinking about all this ridiculousness right now.

"Remy?" Leah whispered from behind him as he was picking up the shards. Rachel was entertaining herself, rather unaware of what's going on. "Is daddy gonna be mad?"

"I—" He had to stop. And think before answering. "I don't think so, honey."

"But a plate broke…"

"...he doesn't have to know. It was just a plate. He doesn't count the plates in the cupboard, now does he?" She shook her head, her hair flying everywhere. "So he won't know. Because we won't tell him."

"Okay. I can do that."

"I know you can do that, hon. Now, how about you get your roller skates and we'll go to the park?"

"But you said tea party…"

"We can have a tea party after the park. Rachel, do you wanna go to the park?"

Rachel, who up until then mostly minded her own business, looked over and started nodding with a big smile on her face.

"So we can go to the park and then have a tea party. Where's your roller skates?"

—————

Saturday, August 30th, 2003

"It's always nice to see new faces at the queer society meetings," Mandy said with a huge smile on her face as she balanced the clipboard on her knee, Remy holding her iced coffee. "I'm glad you all could make it today. Now, let's do a name round. Everyone state your preferred name - please no dick jokes, we have people who are very uncomfortable with those in this group as well - and what brings you here, and a small fact you'd like people to know about yourself if you'd want to."

Remy just kept looking over the room. Mandy had this all under control, already having printed out a list to put everyone's names and contacts in for if they need to. India trained her well.

From the corner of his eye, Remy could see Emile bouncing in his seat.

"I'll go first. Hi, I'm Amanda, I go by Mandy, I'm pansexual—"

"That's not a real word," someone called out. Remy did his best not to glare at the person.

He was pretty sure it's Chris.

"Pansexual is a word, Christian," Mandy replied, not even looking at him. "It was coined before your grandmother was even born. Anyway, I'm Mandy, I'm pansexual, and I'm in this wheelchair today because I have fibromyalgia and today is a very bad pain day. Who wants to go next?"

It was the same old sharing circle. Some people elaborated more, some people chose not to. Emile went ham on sharing, telling everyone he was gay and asexual and talking about his bunnies at length, looking as proud as he can be.

And then it got to Remy. And he wasn't nearly as anxious as he was last year.

"I'm Remy, I'm gay and transgender, and my therapist said I can start hormone therapy this year."

[yukinomonshou]

Hey I just wanted to say that your hot takes on the fandoms double standards when it comes to Kairi and Riku are valid. How Kairi's heroic actions are ignored in favor of her being called useless, and how people ignore all the times Riku needs ro be rescued. And then there's the fandom's tendency to make eveything about Kairi and her relationship to Sora revolve around Riku instead. Why are they like this?

hey, sorry about not responding to this sooner! needed a social media break because of all the things going on irl right now–but i’m answering now! : )

tldr: whoops this got long! but basically, kairi isn’t useless, the story wouldn’t have happened without her, some (loud) groups in the community ruin things for others, and kingdom hearts was never about the romance: it was about the friendship and kindness you carry with you and how you can use it to help others.

it’s always bothered me that people consider kairi useless: pretty much EVERYTHING after sora gives up his heart to save her in kh1 hinges on her restoring him, including riku’s own character development!

being ‘useless’ narratively means that the character has no impact on the story. Kairi literally changes everything just by being there and that’s absolutely not useless.

people tend to think that if a character can’t fight than they aren’t useful. which is…..oof, heavy oof. that’s like people considering anyone irl who can’t work a labor job as being useless! that’s a lot of disabled people and kinda recks of ableism.

and while i know it’s not the same thing it doesn’t change the fact that that sort of attitude can affect how you treat people irl. it’s part of the reason i dislike certain types of jokes others think are funny: they’re negativity you don’t need in your life.

people like to throw around the ‘fiction affects reality!!!’ thing but don’t actually practice it. my personal thoughts is that it only affects reality if you let it–but that’s a conscious decision i suppose. like, say, going into jaws and just knowing that everything that happens is fictional. that real animals don’t work like that etc etc.

anyway back on topic: the people who say kairi can’t fight and is thus useless are also wrong on that front, as….we have proof? that she can fight? i genuiely do not understand how kairi being taken advantage of by men two times her ages and height means she’s weak somehow.

because that’s what’s happening! xemnas and saix and axel–they’re all like 1-2 feet taller than her. they all usually have some sort of advantage over her when they fight her! never mind the fact that xemnas was a freaking final boss, naw, kairi is obvsly weak/useless because he managed to capture her.

it’s not like he didn’t do the same to sora in kh2 or anything, noooo.

(can you tell i’m irritated about that point?)

hell, riku got his ass handed to him by xemnas too! yeah they managed to beat him but they were also working together, 2v1: in the fight w/ xemnas in kh3, kairi is fighting him 1v1 while lea and sora are being held back by xion and saix.

and i’ll admit: riku is not my favorite character. i like him, don’t get me wrong, but if you asked me to pick favorites? most of them would be the female characters. i love them because they’re all so different from one another!

but yes certain groups in the community do tend to try and….give kairi’s relationship development w/ sora to riku instead. for some reason?? like that thing where they claimed that kairi secretly has ~memory powers like namine~ and used them to make sora think the mural in the secret place was between her and sora when it was really him and riku!

…..yes that’s an actual thing that’s happened.

there’s a reason i can’t stand being around some groups in the community because they pull nonsense like that. like, look, if you ship sora and riku? that’s totally fine! i genuinely do not care: just stop trying to make kairi some sort of evil harpy that’s trying to ~separate them~. I thought we were passed this phase already, jfc.

and honestly? if you don’t like how important kairi is to riku and sora? stop playing kingdom hearts. those three are a TRIO. they have been, are, and always will be a group of best friends! they’ll always been important to each other!

because that’s what kingdom hearts is about! friendship, forgiveness, kindness in the face of the worst! about believing in yourself, keeping the faith that everything will be alright in your heart! it’s not about the romance, but in how people care about one another. about how just because someone might have romantic feelings that doesn’t over write their friendship.

i feel like the kh community’s obsession with shipping has made them blind to what kingdom hearts was always meant to be about:

kindness.

[jcmorrigan]

I agree with your Sora rant. It's like they were so busy shoving SoKai down our throats (not that I'm against Kairi but it seriously effected her character too) that the Sora we know got lost.

           You’re right, but there’s actually more to it than that. You know what? I’m gonna spell out my Sora rant here and give it the proper tags so I can get this opinion out there.

           The forced romance is perhaps the most offensive of the missteps, and I love both Sora and Kairi so much that it hurts to see how they got wrecked by it. I’ll touch upon how that affected Sora here, but trust me, its effect on Kairi was horrible in a completely different way. I think we all know how well that went. The thing is, I’m basically a SoRiku or bust type of person, but I’m also a ship-and-let-ship sort. Up until now, the KH series did a good job at building great friendships that had subtext all over, and people were allowed to choose without much argument. Did you want to ship SoKai? SoRiku? RokuShi? RokuNami? NamiShi? TerrAqua? Nothing’s stopping you! I just…don’t believe canon shipping belongs in Kingdom Hearts when it comes to characters who aren’t on the Disney side of the spectrum (obviously I wouldn’t want to remove the Aladdin/Jasmine or Ariel/Eric plots, which are not only important to the films’ integrity but also time-tested successes that mean things to those who grew up with those films).

           But let’s talk about Sora first and foremost, and I’m actually going to save the SoKai for last. Because there’s more to talk about here. I went back over cutscene comps from both III and DDD for a little experiment. I’m just going to describe things in text here, but trust me, the images speak for themselves if you want to look them up. I used DDD as my “control” for Sora as it was, before III, the latest Sora in time – the one who had developed most as a character. I have yet to test 1, CoM, or II against III, but they shouldn’t matter as much as DDD, as DDD features a Sora who’s grown through the characterization in all of those games. III should have built on DDD.

           Let’s go.

THE THEME OF FRIENDSHIP AND KINDNESS

           Sora in DDD is a firm believer in the power of friendship. No, seriously, he mentions it every five minutes to the point where it’s easily parodied. And, in fact, canon does so in an important way. The scene that stands out to me is his arrival in Traverse Town, where he meets Neku Sakuraba and immediately decides they’re friends. Neku scoffs, saying it’s impossible for them to be friends after a short time and telling Sora that he can’t trust every stranger he meets.

           Why this stands out to me is because it actually turns out to be a mistake on Neku’s part rather than a pointing out of a legitimate criticism of Sora. And given exactly what this criticism was about – namely, forming positive bonds and devoting yourself to caring about another person, with your best foot forward – I think this was actually a great little arc for Sora and Neku to go through. Neku turns out to be after his own agenda, willing to trick Sora in order to get it, though he regrets he has to do so. Sora forgives him once he knows that Neku just wanted to reunite with Shiki. After all, people do crazy things for their friends, and that’s okay. When Sora collides with Neku, he brings with him a concept Neku is unfamiliar with. Knowing Neku from original TWEWY canon, Neku’s core is about learning to come out of his shell of negativity and see the value in others and the world around him. Sora is hitting him with the extreme of this result – an ideal where every stranger is a friend you haven’t met yet, and kindness always pays off. This seems impossible for Neku, but by the end of that first Traverse Town visit, he learns that Sora was right to bring him this message. Neku is better off now for knowing someone who was willing to put that much trust in him and help him out with a seemingly impossible task, and now he can pass a little piece of that on to someone else.

           I think that’s a cool message for us to take into real life. It’s obviously not applicable in the literal sense. Not everyone’s gonna get along, and there are people out there who will have ethical divides we can’t bridge. But for that reason, it’s wonderful to have an escapist fantasy where every new person you meet brings new value to your life, and it’s nice to take just a little bit of that attitude into your life – why not think the best of new people?

           This theme continues throughout DDD. Sora declares himself friends with most of the people he meets, and Mickey is even the first to bring this up in Symphony of Sorcery, already feeling that they have a connection that will go places. Beyond that, Sora is always volunteering to assist. When Neku mentions he’s having trouble with the Reaper’s Game, Sora admits he doesn’t have any idea what Neku’s talking about, but he sees a problem and asks if he can help. This is how he approaches pretty much everyone in DDD. He sees people in trouble or people struggling emotionally and he offers a hand or a listening ear.

           Contrast his actions in Corona and you’ll find a stark difference. He barely invests in introducing himself to Rapunzel or Eugene, regarding them pleasantly enough but not really inviting them into his circle. It’s in fact Eugene that breaks the ice here, deciding the SDG trio is now his “sidekicks.”

           Where this feels offensive is when Sora contests this label on multiple occasions. I might be all right with this if it were a playful competition for who is labeled the brains of the operation, the way that II Sora would declare himself good enough to be king or decide he’s cut out for pirate life. However, it seems more like Sora is legitimately angry that Eugene decided not only to rope Sora into an unknown mission but also set him as the second banana. This couldn’t be more different from the Neku interaction in such a bizarre way. DDD Sora would protest a little at being sidekick, but say he’s happy to help anyway and that he’s glad to have met “Flynn.” (Sidenote: Eugene himself is wonderful during this scene, and Zachary Levi kills the delivery in such a way that you really do know he was hyped to be involved with this franchise. I think that kind of distracted me from seeing these problems at first.)

           Eugene goes on to explain that he’s bringing Rapunzel to see the floating lights because she really, really wants it to the point of it being her “dream.” He then says that he can be the guide through the forest if Sora, Donald, and Goofy take care of the Heartless. To this, Donald says that they are heroes, and Goofy backs them up that they’re Heartless experts. Sora offers nothing but a “Leave it to us.”

           There’s no mention of helping Rapunzel achieve her dream, or knowing what it’s like to have one. They’re not doing this out of kindness. They’re doing this because “We’re heroes.” Because it’s an obligation. Because it’s the “right thing” to do, and that’s what they always do. There’s no passion behind this commitment at all. Now, for Donald, I buy it. Donald has always been a Jerk With a Heart of Gold. It’s his charm. Goofy? A little more suspect. Goofy is all heart and sympathy with a clumsy exterior, but then again, there’s a lot of room for interpretation with him. Sora, though? Think back to Neku or later Rhyme. Sora should be jumping at the opportunity to help Rapunzel achieve her dream.

           Which brings us to the next and larger flaw…

INTERNAL VS. EXTERNAL FOCUS

           Sora’s character in DDD is almost fully focused on what’s going on around him. He arrives in Traverse Town to find the TWEWY cast there and suffering their own problems. So he jumps right into the fray to help out. Every move he makes is directed by what he needs to do in order to help them: find Rhyme, chase the black-coated man, trust Neku. He came here in the first place to unlock a Sleeping World, but that seems to Sora to be a secondary agenda to what’s going on with that world’s denizens.

           This keeps true with the other worlds he visits. Every time, he has a job: unlock the Keyhole. But he doesn’t gun right for that Keyhole. He instead immerses into what’s going on around him. Quasimodo was frightened away from the Feast of Fools, so let’s deal with that. Mickey is hypnotized in a dream, so let’s get a Sound Idea to defeat the Spellican and wake him up. Why are we after a Spellican, anyway? Because the people in a world we already visited need to beat it in order to complete the Reaper’s Game, which has ZERO to do with our quest. Sora almost never focuses on himself, but instead on the others around him.

           This is seen from the very beginning. When he and Riku meet with Yen Sid, Yen Sid points out that they need to earn Mastery. Two important things happen here. First of all, Sora does stick up for himself and claim he’s good enough – very confidently and sincerely. He knows he’s good enough for Mastery and has no question about it. Save this for later. Second, when it becomes clear that Riku has doubts, Sora’s focus shifts immediately. It’s no longer about “Why test me?” but about “My friend thinks he can’t pass, but I know he can, so I need to help both him and our teacher realize that.” And even though he immerses himself in the problems of so many others throughout DDD, not a single world passes without him bringing up how much he couldn’t do this without Riku and he believes in Riku. Sora’s heart encompasses everyone, but if you’re his friend, you get a SPECIAL place and you don’t get lost in the shuffle (and this game is actually what really put me on the SoRiku ship so hard).

           Now, let’s look at III. Sora’s quest begins because he has been stripped of his abilities, which is a must-have for any new game starring him so the player can level up in the process. It’s game design. But this has happened to Sora in three other games: CoM, II, and DDD. In all of those, not much focus is given to this device, and he just goes about learning his abilities as they come. However, this time, where it’s never happened before, Sora is suddenly fixated on how “weak” he is without his powers. His quest begins because he seeks to get stronger and achieve the Power of Waking. The story structure is awkward overall regarding the Power of Waking, as every interlude features Yen Sid reminding Sora of its importance and Sora acknowledging it without any real progress being made toward his learning it.

           When Sora arrives on Olympus with this in mind, the difference is horribly stark from the way he approaches Traverse Town in DDD. When he reunites with Hercules (which has considerably less sentiment than the similar scene in II), he doesn’t really talk about being gung-ho about saving Thebes from destruction. He kinda just points out that this is Hades’ doing and gets to work. With Neku, he talked sincerely about how he wanted to help. Here, again, it seems out of obligation: I’m a hero. It’s what I do.

           Moreover, there’s now so much focus on his lost power. He fixates on it. Asking Hercules about it in the middle of Thebes’ collapse is…not the worst of sins, but a little odd. The rest of this world, however, is scene after scene of Sora reacting to his loss of power rather than the destruction around him and the connections he can forge. A particularly telling scene is when Pete teases him about his lost power, and Sora is hurt. Another is where an original NPC is saved by Sora and taunts him about not being as good as Hercules, and Sora is offended. While this is relatable to the player audience, it doesn’t quite jive with the Sora who proclaimed he didn’t need Mastery because he knew he was good enough and who started three other games at square one without being bothered. This is also the first time since DDD we’ve had a plot where Sora’s conflict revolves around what’s going on inside himself rather than integrating into the environment around him.

           It’s not a bad thing to put characters through the paces with self-examination. However, Sora was fully self-actualized as of DDD. The writers actively and consciously set him a step back for III and undid his own development. This is potentially to make him seem more “dynamic” and “three-dimensional” when it really just doesn’t feel like Sora.

           This gets incredibly insulting when over the course of that one world alone, Sora learns pretty much every new ability needed for this game except the Power of Waking. So Pete’s insult really only stung for about an hour and then became moot.

           Corona also stands out to me because there, Sora doesn’t interact much with Rapunzel upon meeting her. What he does do is hang back with Donald and Goofy and talk about how he knows how she feels, being scared of the world…which he transitions into talking about how Donald and Goofy really helped him during his scary time. Notice what’s missing here? Any engagement of Rapunzel in this conversation and an attempt to bridge their gap by connecting over this shared experience. Sora has taken Rapunzel’s problem and used it to talk about his own instead. Why is this especially odd? Because the factor here being sympathized over is “fear of the outside world” and being confined until you get thrust into a bigger adventure. In DDD, Quasimodo embodied the same concept. Instead of making Quasimodo’s problem about himself, Sora took it upon himself to use his experience to inspire Quasimodo, encouraging him to step outside the cathedral walls and not give up on his dreams.

           As for his close friends, you will every now and then get a scene that compares something he sees to a memory of a friend – Elsa and Anna remind him of both Riku and Kairi. But he doesn’t talk about how they affect him at all. And in a game that both follows up on the Riku worship of DDD and is determined to shoehorn a Kairi romance into the ending sequence, both of these characters should be coming to Sora’s lips a lot more. He should be talking about how “You remind me of someone I know – I should introduce you!” or “You know you can count on your canon friend because Riku and Kairi helped me through these hard times.” Even using Donald and Goofy in that role would make more sense, but they seem more tacked on than anything.

SORA’S ENTHUSIASM

           Sora in DDD is awed by every new experience. Look no further than the first Traverse Town visit, yet again, where he first sees the new districts and cries out “Never been this way before! Ooh, what’s that?”. This is a town he spent a long time in over the course of KH1, and the prospect of finding a new street in a familiar place is magical to him.

           Compare Corona again. When he comes upon Rapunzel’s tower, he does remark, “Wow, a tower!”, but in a very deflated tone compared to his excitement over Traverse Town. And if Quinton Flynn’s delivery is anything to go by, this was the one game in years where the voice actors could finally have free reign without having to struggle to match lip movements. (Seriously, track Quinton’s voice acting performance over the course of the series. It’s a hilarious fluctuation between flawlessness in II and III and utter crashing and burning in every interquel.)

           More condemning, however, is his reaction to the kingdom of Corona itself. This comes from a personal place. Corona is one of my favorite Disney environments. I’ve always wished I could visit it because it’s designed so beautifully. When Sora beholds the island from afar, he says…nothing. It’s Rapunzel who remarks how she’s finally close to her dream, and she thanks Sora for getting her here. He still says nothing. This experience suddenly isn’t interesting to him at all.

           Sora’s silence is an interesting phenomenon. During DDD, he’s constantly self-narrating. He chats with other characters a lot. He even says some lines that are a little superfluous, indicating where he wants to go next and basically spelling out where the player should turn their attention by talking about what in the area is interesting. But that fits with his enthusiastic character.

           In III, he’s quieter. Obviously, giving him party members Donald and Goofy back means he has to divide his dialogue, but there’s a lot of space where they get more to say than he does. (Possibly a disagreement between Disney and Square over whose characters should have more screen time? Please take this theory with a grain of salt.) And then you have scenes like approaching Corona, where he just doesn’t say a word to Rapunzel. Not a “You’re welcome” or an “I’m glad we got you to your dream” or ANYTHING. It’s like he not only doesn’t care about seeing a new place, but doesn’t care about how much it means to his new friend. Which is heartbreaking compared to his previous behavior.

           Also, his smiles are less often and less sincere. A nervous smile he gives Frollo when trying not to get in trouble is happier and brighter than a legitimate smile he gives Eugene when promising to guide Rapunzel to Corona, and when Eugene says he “couldn’t have done it without my sidekicks,” Sora doesn’t even smile at him.

           One other thing to note – I actually did catch this as a little odd on my first III playthrough, but compounded with this, it now seems very suspect. The Monstropolis transformation is the first time Sora has found one of his own transformations ugly/frightening. In the past, he’s barely minded becoming a merman, a lion, a digital program…and, in the case of Halloween Town, which he visited twice, a literal monster. There’s no reason he should be more frightened of himself in Monstropolis than Halloween Town. Moreover, it implies he finds the monsters of Monstropolis creepier than anyone else he’s met – including the talking lions, the living skeleton, the Beast, the Disney anthros, the animate puppet, the merpeople, and the card soldiers. (You seriously think we’re not keeping track?)

THE FORCED ROMANCE PLOT

           Now, however, it’s time to talk about the largest nail in the Sora coffin: the last-minute SoKai plot.

           Like I said earlier, I wouldn’t have wanted any shipping plot here whatsoever. But let’s say it absolutely had to get done. Think back to KH1 or even II. In the first game, Kairi manifests as hallucinations for Sora, indicating that he thinks of her often. In II, he has flashbacks to her that are a little more involved and creative than just “Eugene hugging Rapunzel makes me think of Kairi’s face.” His reunion scenes with her in both feature actual conversations. And there’s also plenty of focus on Riku. Sora has two hands and two friends. Even if Kairi must be the love interest, Riku never gets the short end because of it. Sora will still cross the abyss to find him, sending Kairi home safe to the Destiny Islands so he can keep looking for a way to free Riku of his dark prison.

           In III, we’re strangely devoid of any reference to either of them besides short flashbacks. And since we’re focusing on Kairi, we’ll talk about her. Sora doesn’t even meet up with her between training sessions. She writes him letters she doesn’t send. They don’t even communicate until endgame triggers. Then, all of a sudden, she initiates the paopu. This is after having no communication for a LONG time, and we have no indication Sora had thought about her on his journey despite a few flashbacks. The paopu is supposed to unite your fates for life, and Sora just rushes right into it.

           This is where it should’ve really started to sink in that the SoKai romance was just a series of rushed death flags to get you sad when Kairi finally got slashed. Why they went with the Kairi “death” still escapes me, but if I had to guess, I’d say that ever since Aerith Gainsborough’s death made everyone flabbergasted, Square Enix has been trying to pull the same gambit in order to capture that lightning in a bottle. Take a look at Lunafreya Nox Fleuret for evidence that supports this theory.

           Every interaction Sora has with her from that point onward is far too hamfisted. When he tries to shield her from an incoming attack, it’s by hugging her. When in any and all other instances in the past, Sora would at least be savvy enough to leap in front of a person with Keyblade braced. (You can’t count on Goofy to do that for you all the time, bro.) When he flies with her through a void of little importance to get back to the Keyblade Graveyard, he tells her “I feel strong with you” even though they’ve fought together a total of once, and they both literally died in the attempt. Not even together. There is no reason for him to say he feels strong with her; we’ve never seen her make him strong. We’ve seen her appeal to his heart, listen to him, vow to protect him and be strong when he can’t, work to reunite him with Riku, sympathize with his goals, chat and laugh with him. There are so many other themes you could pick here and they went right for the one that makes the least sense but the most automatic association with romance in a “tell-don’t-show” space. Kairi “holding him together” in the Final World is a completely skippable fact for some reason, and also is not anything any mortal should be able to do by KH logic as of yet.

           Then, finally, he watches Kairi die, and it breaks him. And it sure broke the audience and got them talking, all right, but not about how great Aerith 3.0 was. (Note: still unconfirmed on that theory.) Sora’s a big old mess of angry tears, all right. And this directly leads to him exiting stage left at the end of the story because he has to find Kairi alone.

           So the romance was forced rather than fleshed in order to build up to a shocking scene, relying upon keywords to initiate clichés rather than showing any actual buildup of communication, teamwork, or trust. We can all see how this negatively affected Kairi; essays have already been composed. But how does this turn SORA for the worse?

           Well, for one, his sudden laser focus on Kairi makes him unable to really care for anyone else. Riku gets the worst of it. I absolutely hated how, after the first mass murder via Demon Tornado, Sora cried to Riku that “all” of his friends had died and he had no one left. We all know that scene was playing up Kairi. He was crying over Kairi. And in doing so, he happened to imply to Riku that Riku wasn’t valuable enough to be as missed as those lost. Sora lost them “all.” The fact that Riku is there doesn’t mean anything. He has no one left. He has Riku. Riku is no one. Later, when Kairi is lost out there, Sora eschews Riku’s help completely, which is probably to set the stage for whatever installment comes next. However, like the rest of the SoKai scenes, this is rushed, so much so that it sounds like Sora is just disregarding Riku’s counsel entirely and has decided to abandon him in favor of seeking Kairi. Not to mention everyone else in that scene.

           Then the fact that Sora gives in to proclaiming it’s love so fast gives me some bad vibes. Kairi hasn’t done much to engage with him on an emotional level as of recently. It almost seems shallow for him to accept the paopu under those circumstances – like he’s a teenage boy chasing a pretty girl rather than a friend acknowledging a friend as more than a friend. And that’s how it looks to me through the rest of the ending sequence. (If you know who my favorite DanganRonpa character is, you can see how I might be used to looking for the signs of this phenomenon.) Think of this in conjunction for how Sora has failed to be other-focused and instead looking to increase his own strength and confidence. Is he ready to give everything up to Kairi? Is he the kind of person who she could count on? He would’ve been in DDD. He also would’ve been the sort of person to balance this out with his friendship with Riku.

           The Sora I knew had some growing up to do, but by DDD, he’s self-actualized. He’s confident in his own abilities, even if he has to start from square one. Now his primary motivation is to help others with their problems, especially if those people are his close friends, for whom he is ride or die. Every new experience is magic to him. As of III, Sora now seems insecure, focused on himself, and distant from his friends, including the one he actually does “die” for. The worlds he visits and the friends he makes are means to an end, and hold less magic to him than before, even standing out as negatively bizarre in some cases. III’s Sora does not feel like the same person at all, and this groundwork was laid ingame long before he accepted Kairi’s paopu.