#repliku/ephemera

[jemtokall]

I should draw my kingdom heart crackships over the years

[thetwilightroadtonightfall]

assigning rwby songs to kh characters cause why not! 🤗

(or if you’re not into rwby, ✨ “assigning cool songs you should listen to” ✨ to kh characters)

The official sequel to the post where I assigned rwby songs to kh games! I originally tweeted songs for the khux gang, but I’ve changed some stuff around since then and now I have more songs for a bunch of other characters! I hope you give em a listen with the characters in mind, whether you’re into rwby or not ☺️

Sora - Touch the Sky

Riku - Nevermore (I like to think this is for Repliku too)

Kairi - Be Strong and Hit Stuff

Roxas - Guide My Way (Red Like Roses Part III)

Xion - This Life Is Mine (Friend is an obvious great choice, but I really love the power behind TLIM, focusing on Xion’s incredible emotional strength)

Axel - I Burn

Namine - Mirror Mirror (Part II)

Terra / Lingering Will - Quiet

Aqua - Fear

Ven - Home

Vanitas - Bad Luck Charm

Young Xehanort - Trapdoor

Master Xehanort - Divide

Eraqus - Hero

Ephemera - Gold

Skuld - I May Fall (Acoustic version)

Brain - Wings (Lo-Fi version)

Lauriam - Path to Isolation

Strelitzia - Forever Fall

Elrena - Cold

Player - Friend

Chirithy - Until the End

[blackswanndraws]

credit

Wowowowow what a weird & wacky year..,, anyway, here’s my art summary instead of me getting stupid sentimental about stuff !!! dfhgn

[heart-ephemeral]

Hiya! I'm Aster, you can call me Astra. 

Welcome to my SFW multifandom blog. I'm a novice writer and will be writing for a couple of fandoms at first. Make sure to read the rules before requesting

Requests are Open!

Rule Time!

The rules for my blog are:

I have the right to decline any request

I only take Character X Reader

I only accept SFW requests. Suggestive is allowed, but only suggestive.

Please do not spam me with the same requests. It gets annoying and makes me not want to write that request.

If you request a certain AU from another blog, please post what blog you got it from.

Please be respectful of others who both visit the blog and myself. 

When requesting, please specify the gender of the reader. If not specified, the reader will use they/them(or you) pronouns.

The request limit is up to three currently(10/06/22), unless you are grouping the characters together(such as the trios or first years).

I Write:

Drabbles, Scenarios, and Headcannons.

General Headcannons(Lore, character studies, ect.)

Angst is welcome

Slight Gore

AUs

Death

I Don't Write:

Yandere

Incest

Mental Illness

Minor X Adult

Teacher X Student

Anything graphic.

Anything NSFW

The Fandoms I write for are:

Twisted Wonderland

Kingdom Hearts

Pokemon

Omori(added 10/01/22)

May add more later

Characters I write for(If a character is not mentioned in either the 'I write for' and 'I don't write for' sections, feel free to ask me about it):

Twisted Wonderland: All characters. Except Cheka. Ortho and Grim will be platonic only.

Kingdom Hearts:

All Trios(Destiny Island, Seasalt trio, and BBS trio)

Master Eraqus

The Norts(minus Master Xehanort)

Organization XIII(Minus Xaldin and Lexaeus)

Vanitas

Repliku

Naminé

Yozora

The Foretellers(+ The Master of Masters)

The Dandelion Leaders(Ephemer/Ephemera, Skuld, Lariam, Brain, and Ventus. Union X Ven will be platonic only)

Strelitzia

Dark Road Xehanort

Dark Road Eraqus

Hermod

Vor

Bragi

Urd

Baldr

Will add more

Pokemon: 

Milo

Nessa

Kabu(Platonic under certain circumstances)

Bea

Allister(platonic only)

Bede

Melony

Gordie

Piers

Marnie

Raihan

Leon

Hop

Sonia

Gladion

Lillie

Hau

Silver

N

Emmet

Ingo

Adaman

Irida

Volo

Dream World

Omori

Kel(Platonic)

Aubery(platonic)

Hero

Basil

Mari

Captain Spaceboy

Unbread Twins

Stranger

Real World:

Sunny

Kel

Aubery

Hero

Basil

Mari

May add more

Characters I don't write for:

Twisted Wonderland: Cheka(unless in certain prompts)

Kingdom Hearts: Master Xehanort, Xaladin, Lexeus, Any of the Final Fantasy Characters, The World Ends With You characters.

Pokemon:

Anyone else that is not mentioned.

Omori:

Anyone else that isn't mentioned.

Have a nice day/night!

-Astra

[teabunnyy-arts]

The ones that don't have a trio + bonus Chirithy & Org Moogle! 💙✨

[nobodies-png]

tbh i think square/disney really wanted the organization to be bad™ and irredeemable™ but they shot themself in the foot after they sprinkled in the various moments where its established that the individuals of the org arent inherently evil. which means that them having ienzo be a child originally makes it strange to have such malicious hate aimed at him in the same series where characters are expected to grow and learn and sympathize. but idk lol

h o n e s t l y ? y E Ah

im taking this chance to ramble under the cut , wh e e z e. Warning for KH3 spoilers and Mod Demyx rant rant

in my humble ass opinion, it really just feels like Nomura had a bunch of cool ideas in general, but then the train went rogue and they started adding a shit ton of plot twists (that they’d later have to explain and make relevant to the main plot) for the sake of continuing the saga and milking more money bc KH was part of so many people’s childhoods

like, it’s one of my fave games and sagas ever but to be honest, i’d love for some other company to fucking remake the entire plot without the pretense of “we gotta be kid friendly bc Disney is here uwu”. Like, you can’t really be dramatic and make any important events when every character is just gonna come back, only killing off those that you don’t know how to continue.

and it’s such a weird fucking ? amalgamation of stuff too ? not even the fact that we’re mixing talking animals,disney princesses and final fantasy shit into it, but like - sometimes it shows scenes that are too dark for Disney and sometimes it just skims over shit that it should have some proper closure because o h it’s too dark for a kid’s game. And then even deeper shit is hinted in the novels and manga bUT TYING BACK TO MY PREVIOUS ANSWERED POST, YOU CAN’T EXPAND ON LORE TO MAKE YOUR CREATION MORE STABLE LIKE THIS - IF YOU WANT TO EXPLAIN OR EXPAND UPON SOMETHING, HAVE B A L L S AND DO IT IN THE GAME, WHICH IS THE MAIN FOCUS 

Like, in KH3 they wanted everyone to get redeemed and “close off a chapter of this story” but honestly ? it was fucking rushed and done in a pretty shitty way, in my opinion. 

Ienzo just shows up wanting to help and there’s no repercussions to his actions as a nobody, he’s just like “uwu hi” and everyone’s too caught up in Sora having a phone to even care that this was one of the guys that gave them h e l l in Castle Oblivion. Same with the other apprentices, Aeleus and Dilan get no spoken lines, just a line explaining how they also wanted to be better tossed in all carelessly. That’s their redemption. 

And don’t get me wrong, I fucking adore Zexion/Ienzo, he was my crush as a kid, but ? he’s just used to show that Nobodies can be chill and they’ve been all controlled by a bigger evil, as well as part of Ansem’s own redeeming arc instead of having his O W N redeeming arc. He’s virtually useless despite all the protagonism they gave him in KH3, cause sure he calls Sora to let him know shit and he’s supposedly “working on Big Stuff for the Good Guys(tm)”, but all of this work and character development happens off-screen. Same with Vexen/Even - and he at least gets like two scenes showing that he actively works in the shadows to redeem himself. 

And I know it’s hard to make a game and they’ve been at it for a long fucking time and it requires a lot of shit but ? ? ? hONESTLY I DONT KNOW ABOUT YOU ALL BUT I PREFER TO GET A SOLID CLOSURE ON THE MAIN SHIT  AND THEN MAYBE GET MORE CLOSURE FOR LESS BUT STILL IMPORTANT GROUPS IN OTHER GAMES OR REMIXES SINCE THEYRE SUPER KEEN ON MAKING A SHIT TON OF SPIN-OFFS AND STUFF. LIKE, THAT SEEMS BETTER THAN HAVING A LOT OF SMALLER PLOTS JUST SPRINKLED THERE LIKE “WHOOPS AND THEY WERE ALL HAPPY AGAIN” 

cAUSE THEY DON’T EVEN STOP THERE. THEY TRY TO CLOSE A LOT OF SHIT, BUT THEN ADD A LOT OF VAGUE CRYPTIC SHIT FOR THE UPCOMING GAMES AND STORIES ? ? ? 

like I love the final battle part a lot because it’s ? ? ? so fucking badass and it’s the end of all this journey we’ve been on, it’s Sora vs Xenahort, it’s the light vs the darkness, it’s Master Eraqus’ legacy vs Xenahort’s army. 

but it’s just an easy cheap way to close off so much shit in a short time.

the sea salt trio ? reunited. the wayfinder trio ? reunited. the remaining Nobodies who still have no fucking backstories ? gone with a hint of “we’ll be back as good guys”. Like, they added fucking Ephemera as the “light from the past”, inviting the connection between the current timeline with KHux bUT THERE’S STILL NOTHING ON LAURIAM/MARLUXIA. AND THEN THERE’S A FUCKING CUTSCENE OF VENTUS HUGGING A FUCKING CHIRITHY LIKE, YOURE NOT EXPLAINING NOR HELPING ANYONE, NOMURA.

LIKE THE SECRET CUTSCENE IMPLIES 2 THINGS : NEW CHARACTERS (FROM RIKU’S POINT OF VIEW, SINCE HE’S WATCHED BY YOZORA) AND THE COME BACK OF THE TWEWY FRANCHISE WHOSE INVOLVEMENT HAD BEEN COMPLETELY IGNORED AND JUST ABANDONED SINCE DDD. SURE, DREAM EATERS WERE HELLA IMPORTANT AND THERE’S SLEEPING WORDS THERE. AND THERE’S IMPORTANT SHIT GOING ON WITH VANITAS AND THE UNVERSED. BUT ALL WE GOT WAS A DREAM EATER SUMMONING, LIKE 5 UNVERSED ENEMIES AND MORE UNNECESSARY CONFUSION

Like I get it that KH3 was supposed to be the ending of some things and the beginning of other new things and I get that there were a lot of setbacks and things involved, but even with it’s amazing graphics and fun gameplay, it’s still another trainwreck regarding plot. But we all just keep eating it up because we’re desperate to know how it ends and bc childhood nostalgia keeps us here at gunpoint

also i’m mad that out of all KH girls, only Aqua got her time to shine. Like sure, you can argue and say that Kairi took the spotlight after saving Sora again and being a good 70% of Sora’s strength, but as usual she was thrown back into her spot as “princess in distress”, with her training and character development happening off-screen in a place that conveniently has no effect to the current events. And speaking of training, she just immediately becomes besties with Axel despite all the shit they went through with him trying to kidnap her and whatnot. And sPEAKING OF AXEL, HE GOT WAY MORE DEVELOPMENT THAN ROXAS OR XION OR KAIRI OR AQUA HERSELF

AND THAT’S SAYING SOMETHING CAUSE AQUA GOES THROUGH A LOT OF SHIT IN THIS GAME - She finally succumbs to darkness, she goes out of it, she saves Ven, reunites with Terra and after sO MANY FUCKING YEARS, she’s back on the realm of light. And that moment when she asks where they are and they tell her she’s back home and she raises her head to look at the sun and she cries ? ? that made me S H I V E R and TEAR UP MYSELF - but still, after all of that she goes to pretty much doing nothing while Axel here goes through a keyblade training, seeing Kairi as Xion, making ammends with his best friend, reuniting with his two adopted kids after so much shit and hinting anOTHER SUBPLOT WITH HIM, ISA AND A “SECRET GIRL” FRIEND THEY HAD.

BUT FROM XION WE ONLY GET THE PLOT CONVENIENT COMEBACK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BATTLE SO SHE CAN REUNITE WITH HER FRIENDS. A BIT OF INNER ANGST HERE AND THERE AND BOOM IT’S OVER SHE’S HAPPY NOW. 

AND NAMINE ? DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED. SHE’S GONE FOR SO LONG, ONLY SHOWING UP AS A STAR, MENTIONED OFF HAND BY KAIRI AND THEN SHE FINALLY GETS HER DESERVED LIFE IN THE ENDING CUTSCENE WHEN RIKU COMES TO PICK HER ASS UP. (im also mad that everyone got a happy/bittersweet ending except Vanitas and Repliku but that’s just me being sad aBOUT MY SONS)

sO LONG STORY SHORT :

I hate that this entire saga is a wreck but it still has me grabbed by the balls. Like I bought the KH special edition PS4 just to play when KH3 came out

[yo-namine]

Last KH3 playthrough post! Endgame spoilers are below the cut.

Just a warning: This post is REALLY long and contains, um… opinions.

I’m glad the final battle trailer scenes happen right off the bat. I had no idea what would come next, and it made the experience that much more interesting.

Why do none of these keyslingers know how to block? First Aqua tries to shield Ven with her own body, then Sora does the same for Kairi. Just hit square, guys.

ZETTAFLARE DONALD ILU SO MUCH

The way Riku and Aqua stepped up to Sora’s side made me think they were going to be party members in another demon tide battle, but nope. Boo.

I’m surprised that Aqua just… let the demon tide take her? What the hell?

Sora loses Kairi, Donald, and Goofy and just… crumbles. He completely gives up and says it’s all over. Riku almost starts to try to soothe him, but instead, he gets up, tells Sora that he knows that’s bullshit, and then faces off against the demon tide (which was polite enough to wait for Sora and Riku to finish their conversation before attacking, by the way). It’s like a moment of tough love, and it’s actually what I was expecting Roxas to do back when I assumed he would be the one to show up in the Graveyard and pull Sora back on his feet. I wasn’t expecting a bunch of reassurances like “no, you’re not worthless, we can still do this, everything will be okay” but rather, “Get up, we’re not finished here.”

So Riku confronts the heartless and Sora just… watches in horror as they take him, too. And he doesn’t even fight back when they turn and come for him. And then the screen cuts to black and shows the final line of the prophecy, and… That was a really effective way to end that scene. Damn.

Yeah, I don’t know how to play chess, but I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to just conjure extra pieces from thin air, Eraqus. That was a nice line from him, though, about light from the past. Like, “The light doesn’t need time travel bullshit to kick your ass because HEARTS.”

Sora fucking died. Sora actually, literally fucking died. He goes to the Final World because he died. Holy shit.

The Final World is beautiful, and the music is lovely, too. The first thing I did after getting control again was take some selfies of dead Sora, ngl.

Sora’s been to the Final World before in his sleep, and Chirithy just let him pass through lmao.

Who is the first star that Sora talks to here? At first I thought it was Xion, but she says a “somebody” sent her to the Final World, so… Strelitzia? Ava? Skuld? lol I like that Sora just sits down next to her like this conversation’s the most normal thing ever. He’s dead and talking to another dead person, and he just rolls with it. I love this kid.

Some of the optional star conversations really got to me. One of them says that their friends replaced them after they died (“That was my seat. That was my place at the table.”). There’s also one that was apparently a child looking for their father, and that one actually made me tear up.

I’m not sure who the one who talked about being “identical” was. I think a third talks about their mentor, and perhaps that was a past keyblade apprentice? Another says that people teased them and a friend about being an item, and they pulled away from the relationship, and the other person never closed the distance. All of their little stories are just… sad. Jesus.

Naminé has a star! I missed her star on my first playthrough, but I replayed this part just for her scene. I wish I’d gotten it the first time, though. She clarifies that Kairi’s the one keeping Sora tethered to the world of the living. And god, Naminé’s words are so sad. She truly doesn’t think anyone really misses her or that she matters at all. But Sora says that he and the others (including “someone else special,” who I think may’ve been Xion?) miss her and want her back. AND she mentions her conversation with Terra from the orchestra! Holy shit, WHY was this conversation optional? That was important story stuff that explained why Lingering Will shows up when we rehash the fight in the Graveyard. Naminé came through for everyone in a pretty major way, and if you don’t talk to her star (which is VERY easy to miss), you’d never know it. Though… I guess that’s kind of fitting in a meta way. Naminé helping people from behind the scenes and not expecting any credit, I mean. Still, I wish I hadn’t missed this on my first playthrough. Anyway, Naminé’s “Let’s just say I’ve got your back?” was really cute. And then Sora thanks her and gets all flustered. “That’s not the official thank-you!”

I’m… still not clear on what exactly the power of waking is or how it differs from restoring someone’s heart the old-fashioned way (i.e. taking a Keblade of Heart to the chest), but okay.

JIMINY SURVIVED ALL OF THAT JFSKLFFJL

I liked going through the different worlds to save all of Sora’s friends. It was a nice callback to KH1, when you visit different worlds in End of the World, and when you get to Realm of Chaos and have to rescue Donald and Goofy from Ansem SoD’s heartless… ship… thing. It was really annoying fighting the same boss over and over again, though. It wasn’t difficult (save for one instance where the lich spammed aeroga and pinned me against the ceiling. I only survived because it triggered rage form.), and I get that it was just a series of symbolic battles, but I dunno, maybe just giving him less HP for me to have to mow down would’ve made it less tedious.

So the power of waking is “traversing hearts to reach worlds.” So I guess that’s what Sora was doing while falling through the different Stations of Awakening and then arriving in different worlds.

“There’s no saving you.” Fuck, okay, after finishing the game, this line in the sleeping San Fransokyo hits a lot harder. You think Kid Xehanort knows that Team Nort is planning to snatch Kairi and use Sora’s desire to save her to ultimately destroy him? Because if so… ugh.

Sora and Kairi’s little spin when they reunite is so cute.

“I feel strong with you, Kairi.” Awww but also UGHHHHHHHH because I know what’s coming. And then Sora has flashbacks to Eugene and Anna sacrificing themselves for someone they love, and I’m not 100% sure why. Is it just foreshadowing his sacrifice for Kairi? Is he afraid that her rescuing him will cost her her own life? Whatever it is, Kairi seems to read Sora’s mind and says that he’s safe with her. And again, that’s really sweet, and I like that her PoH powers are FINALLY being explored in some way, but fuck, knowing how this all ends makes watching this scene so painful the second time around.

I was so confused when Sora was revived and we started replaying that confrontation scene in the Graveyard. The first time I played it, I was very seriously considering skipping the cutscene and reloading my save because I thought I’d gone the wrong way or something, but then Lingering Will showed up and the scene changed. Phew. I guess we went in a little time loop there. But wait, if everyone’s aware that Sora revived them, then they must remember how they were taken in the first place, right? If that’s the case, why the hell did Ven run up to Terra a second time? Why didn’t anyone stop him? Why did Aqua have to look “Terra” in the eye a second time to know it wasn’t him? Am I to assume that if Naminé hadn’t summoned Lingering Will, these dingdongs would’ve all lost their hearts AGAIN?

I’m so over demon tide boss fights, but damn if that battle theme doesn’t kick ass.

EPHEMERA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY SHIT, OF ALL THE THINGS I NEVER SAW COMING. He helps Sora use the keyblades of all the fallen wielders from the first war to fight off the heartless, and you use the names of all those KHUX users who won that KH3 contest as attacks. Oh my gosh, what a sweet tribute. I like thinking that Larkey’s keyblade helped, too. <3

Oh god, when KH1 Riku showed up and Forze Del Male started playing, my entire life flashed before my eyes. I DID NOT want a rehash of that fight. I was relieved that I didn’t have to, but I was also just a little disappointed because that Xehanort shadow that emerges from him looked like a cool potential boss. I feel like there are actually a lot of scenes that happened in the Graveyard that would’ve worked better as actual battles or gameplay, tbh.

Also, that Forze De Male remix was hot as hell.

R.I.P. to all of fandom’s “Yen Sid is useless” jokes. What a way to go.

“You’re a whole pint by yourself, Sora.” I LOVE THIS DUCK SO MUCH.

I like that the maze tries to force you to choose between helping Riku or Mickey first like it’s some tragic moral dilemma. Like oh gee, let me think: Best written character in the series, or corporate icon Ricky Rat? That said, I actually did go to Mickey first just because I couldn’t get past the moving wall puzzle lmao. I wish this area had had a few more puzzles, though. I felt like I breezed through it way too fast.

Riku is really nerfed as a party member. He was CONSTANTLY KO’d in my fight against the Norts. Like damn dude, even Kairi stayed conscious through her battle (all 5 seconds of it, but still).

Repliku tears himself away from his own vessel and leaves it. For Naminé. Fuck, I didn’t expect that at all. What a great scene, and what a better ending for a character whose story I thought ended in CoM. I loved that.

Didn’t love that Riku and Sora just left Naminé’s vessel facedown in the dirt, though. Like… at least prop it against the wall or something guys, geez.

I like that you get a sort of farewell scene between the heroes and all the main villains of the series. It may’ve been a little fanservicey, but oh well. I’m not so hot on it from a story standpoint. Like I know we’re doing the anime thing where “I defeated you in battle, now we’re cool” but it still felt… odd. But at least it’s not as obnoxious as what comes up later with Master Xehanort.

I liked Larxene’s take on this especially, how she’d rather be destroyed than be a Nort. Why she joined up in the first place is still a mystery… And her answering Sora the way she did implies that the Norts aren’t just possessed mind slaves. They do have agency, though I guess that was clear from Even and Demyx turning against them, now that I remember it.

Building on the agency thing, I liked Vanitas’s scene with Ven. Ven wanted so badly for Vanitas to come to the light, but… It really wasn’t what Vanitas wanted for himself. “We decide who we are.” “I did decide who I am.” It’s tragic, but I like that it showed that not everyone was getting a happy ending from this game, and that there are some people you just can’t save.

COME GUARDIAN WAS TERRA’S HEARTLESS AFTER ALL. FUCK YES. I love that theory and I’m so happy it turned out to be correct!!!!! 

And then we finally get a Wayfinder reunion!!!!!! 

“What final words do you have for your superior?” Okay, I know this game is rated E10, but I half expected Axel to just look up and say “Fuck you.”

Xemnas and Axel’s conversation was so meta. Axel bragging about how popular he was, Xemnas calling Axel’s keyblade a joke. Like… Damn, they really paid attention to fandom over the years, didn’t they? I just wish they’d paid this much attention to all the fans who wanted a good storyline for Kairi. Anywho, Xemnas destroys Axel’s keyblade, so we lose two Lights from this scene. I’m kind of grateful that happened, actually. Having Axel lose his spot made it a little easier to accept Kairi losing hers. But only a little. Kairi getting kidnapped AGAIN was still stupid and contrived.

Unlike the other Norts, Xion’s apparently not acting on her own free will when the fight starts. Sora telling her “You can stop now” seemed to break something within her. And then Xemnas turns to attack her, and Sora’s heart reaches out to someone, and then BOOM. Roxas shows up to sass Xemnas and save the day!!! 

I barely did anything in that Isa fight, lmao. I tried to land a few hits on him, but then I realized Roxas could handle him just fine alone, so I just hung back with Xion and cast cure here and there.

I’m disappointed that there’s almost no interaction between Roxas and Sora beyond a couple of nods, tbh. It’s kind of a weak payoff after all the fuss Sora made about wanting to save Roxas at the start of the game. That was what Sora decided to fight for “with all his heart,” and then once Roxas is back, we just keep blazing ahead with the story without a moment to appreciate the fact that he accomplished his goal (or rather, someone else accomplished it for him).

Aww, Xion looked so left out when she stood of to the side and started crying. It was almost like she was hesitant to join Axel and Roxas after she came so close to almost killing both of them. She didn’t even reach for the other two when Axel pulled them into a group hug, she just kept her hands clasped tight together and sort of curled in on herself. Aw, honey. Anyway, I’m glad these three will get to be together again.

I half expected Riku to snap “ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?” when Sora tells him that Kairi’s been kidnapped.

I liked both Xemnas and Ansem SoD’s sendoffs. Kid Xehanort doesn’t give a shit that he lost, though, he just fucks off back to the past knowing damn well what’s about to happen. And to that, I again say ugh.

And then we get… that scene. What the fuck did Xehanort mean by “You need motivation.”? Motherfucker, we are already out here in the Keyblade Graveyard having this showdown. Kingdom Hearts is looming above us. Sora just got done killing all ninety-seven billion Xehanorts. This fight is happening no matter what you do. This doesn’t make any fucking sense. Having Xehanort kill off Kairi was stupid and unnecessary and pointless and lazy and truly horrible, horrible writing. And see, I can’t even give Nomura the benefit of the doubt here because he actually had Xehanort call Kairi Sora’s “motivation.” That was it. That was the only reason Xehanort killed her. Not because she was a keyblade wielder who was in the way of his goal, not because she was a Princess of Heart whose power could pose a threat. Not because of anything Kairi did or who she was as a person, but because she was a THING that was important to Sora. Fuck that. Fuck that entire scene, fuck everything about it, fuck everyone who gave that writing decision the green light. Fuck it. And knowing how this game ends (with Sora apparently sacrificing himself to save Kairi), Kairi now has more motivation than EVER to fight to get him back, but you know Nomura won’t give a shit when it comes time to write scenarios for KH4. He’s just gonna throw Kairi back on the islands and have Riku be the hero. Riku will find Sora, they’ll have adventures together and apart, they’ll continue to grow as characters, and then they’ll go home to where Kairi’s just sitting pretty, waiting to be the perfect reward for everything Sora’s accomplished. So there you go, that’s Kingdom Hearts IV. I just saved you $50 in the future (not adjusted for inflation).

Just. Jesus Christ, of all the idiotic tone-deaf bullshit… To have so much self-awareness while writing Naminé’s dialogue in the Final World and Axel’s scene with Xemnas in the Graveyard and then NONE OF THAT WHATSOEVER when it came to writing Kairi’s final scenes… That’s unreal. It’s almost unbelievable, but I really shouldn’t be surprised. Nomura’s pulled this shit before, so oop @ me for actually expecting better from him. Lesson fucking learned.

Anyway, after we get past all that stupid sexist bullshit that I actively hated, Sora gets ready to leave for the next area. I like that Donald and Goofy literally pick him up off the ground and help him stand, and that they go with him afterward. I just love the Trinity Trio in this game so much. They feel so much like a family now, and since I’m clearly never ever ever ever getting any decent Destiny Trio development, that’s a nice comfort. The other keyslingers stay behind to keep Kingdom Hearts shut, and Xion tells Sora that she can sense that Kairi will be okay, which… Yeah, alright. I just saw Xehanort slash into her back and shatter her into thousands of pieces, but no, I’m sure she’s fine. flskjdf Okay, sorry, I get what that scene with Xion was trying to do, but it just doesn’t make any sense? Xion is Sora’s replica, not Kairi’s. I could buy that she can sense Sora’s heart, but she has no real connection to Kairi’s at all, so how would she know that Kairi’s okay? Maybe she was just saying that as a way to comfort Sora, like a “she’ll always be in your heart” kind of thing, but even that feels off. Like that’s the kind of thing you say to someone a couple weeks after the funeral, not right there at the crime scene. Oh well. I guess it was sweet that she at least wanted him to hear that.

Then we get to Scala ad Caelum, which was kind of a letdown, really. I was hoping to get to explore the city, but you really just have one large area that’s ultimately just a battlefield. The boss battles weren’t much of a challenge at all, and you don’t even have to defeat them all, which was disappointing, but eh. The only tense moment was when Xehanort triggered Sora’s rage form in the final battle, but Donald and Goofy kept me healed up enough that it wasn’t much of a problem.

Xehanort uses the “one sky, one destiny” line from Kairi’s letter. Like it’s not enough that he killed her, he’s gotta plagiarize her, too. Dick.

Donald and Goofy help Sora ward off Xehanort’s final attack! Like they literally, physically help him push back against it! I love these half-pints. <3

Eraqus! He asks Terra to look after his other apprentices for him, aw.

Xehanort gives Sora the X-blade, and there’s no “sorry I killed your friend” or anything. He just goes on to be at peace with Eraqus. Seriously? This dude abuses Ven, hijacks Terra’s body, throws Aqua into the Realm of Darkness, murders Kairi, and he still gets to pass on peacefully into the next life with his bff? Come the fuck on.

Hearing “Always On My Mind” again was nice. That was always one of my favorite tracks from KH1.

Okay, after rewatching the ending cinematic, it makes a lot more sense to me. Riku suggests that they all go back to Yen Sid’s place to figure out how to save Kairi (which… why are we all acting like this is something that can just be undone? She wasn’t taken into darkness by the heartless like before; Xehanort struck her down. We didn’t see her heart leave her body or anything, she just shattered. To me, that looks like an E10-rated game’s version of death.), but Sora knows what he has to do. It wasn’t until the second time through this ending that I realized he was already planning on waking her heart at the expense of his own life. Knowing that, it’s a little odd that Riku just lets him go with a roundabout way of saying “I believe in you.” Kairi’s supposedly Riku’s friend, too, isn’t she? And he knows how to wake sleeping hearts, too, so why couldn’t he go with Sora to find her? 

I loved seeing the Wayfinder Trio laying flowers at Eraqus’s memorial. I also like that keyblades are apparently used specifically for this when the wielder has passed on. That’s a nice bit of world building. And Chirithy is reunited with Ven after all (who apparently remembers them)! Aww. I still don’t know how the hell Ven exists in this timeline, but still. Aw.

I love Xion’s new outfit, and that she and her boys got to go back to Twilight Town together. I’m not so hot on Isa being there, though, and I’m really put off by how chummy he and Roxas seem. I know these scenes are taking place after a little time has passed, so maybe there was some tension between them at first that we just don’t see because it’s not particularly relevant, but still… Anyway, a shadow passes over them for a moment, and I think it must’ve been the gummi ship arriving to pick them up and take them to a party on Destiny Islands. Nice.

When I got to the scene of Naminé waking up in Radiant Garden… I actually started sobbing. Like that’s embarrassing to admit, but that scene hit me so hard. Just watching her open her eyes, and then seeing Dilan and Aeleus lead her out to the courtyard where the ship lands. Seeing her smile when Riku holds out his hand to her… I started crying while typing this up just remembering it, haha. I loved that moment so, so much. I’m so happy she gets to be her own person, that Ansem helped restore her to finally give her a life of her own after everything he put her through. I love that Riku’s the person to welcome her onto the ship, that he’s doing this for the Replica who gave up the vessel for her, but also because she’s been his friend, too (albeit largely off-screen). And the final shot of her laying her hand so gently in his... Holy god, what a finale shot. That scene ALONE was worth the thirteen year wait for me. I am truly stunned that that was part of the ending, that Naminé—of all characters—was the final person they built up to. That was just so much more than I had ever hoped for for her.

And then the actual final scene. You have all the main characters playing on the beach. Xion and Naminé are finding seashells; Riku, Roxas, and Terra are running around doing… something; the Twilight Town kids and Goofy and Donald are making sand castles; Lea, Ven, and Isa are playing frisbee. And then everyone stops to look at Sora and Kairi on the paopu tree. Sora vanishes, and you see Kairi start to slowly curl in on herself as the scene fades to black. And… upon rewatch, I actually like this ending? I was confused the first time I watched it because I didn’t have Kid Xehanort’s words in San Fransokyo fresh on my mind at the time, but when I went back and watched all the scenes together, I understood that Sora woke up her heart, and him “abusing” that power took its toll. I’m alright with us actually not seeing him do this (or at least, I’m not bothered by that by itself. I’m really bothered that it happened like that after Kairi got fridged the way she did, but on its own, it’s fine.). I’m upset that Sora’s gone, but truthfully, I was sort of expecting it. And like I said in my tirade about Kairi’s writing a few bullet points up, you know he’ll be back. It’s just really upsetting to know that Kairi now has to live with the guilt over the fact that he gave up his life for her, and that—as far as she knows—she’ll never see him again. And you just know that Nomura will absolutely, positively not let her do anything about it come KH4, to which I can only say, again: UGH.

I don’t care about Braig being Luxu, bye.

I think I’m still too raw from the emotional highs (and lows) of this game to really analyze everything as clearly as I’d like. There’s still stuff I want to talk about, but I’ll save that for another time. I can’t deny how much I enjoyed everything that happened before Kairi got fridged, but man, that one point really sours a lot of this game for me.

But yeah, that’s all for now.

[breezy-cheezy]

Ok so just a heads up, I just finished Kingdom Hearts 3. It was about 4 ish hours of yelling, screaming, tears (happy and sad, and really really mixed) annnnnd confusion. Like woah, what a ride. I will be posting/reblogging spoilers too...it’ll be under “KH3 spoilers”, for those who want to block it. Because heck there are some THINGS I wanna draw. Those of you who are still playing through, good luck! It’s a treat!! As for me, some general thoughts, questions and semi theories under the cut 

(almost all contain spoilers below this point so, beware):

- Ok FIRST of all....wow. Gotta say the music is PHENOMINAL. Yoko Shimomura just reaaaally outdid herself here!! As one who’s listened to the soundtrack of kingdom hearts over and over, I recognized so many theme songs and key songs interwoven into the story to complete it to such a wonderful level. Not to mention, I got chills over just some reorchestrations, like wowwwwww...

- Donald is over powered as FREAK, gosh O.o;;;; Also, might I mention he’s ALOT better at healing in this game X’’’’D

- GRAPHICS. REALLY GOOD GRAPHICS. I wish I had a screenshot feature on the tv...I’ll have to look up scenes later, because wow this game is so pretty.

- Every part with Sora using the power of waking is so cool. I’m still super duper confused on the....mechanics of it (especially regarding Sora’s fate) but regardless, getting to save your friends through all the worlds was REALLY fun. I wish they could like. Join you as you rescue them. Stampede the enemy. With friendship. 

- Sora’s scream of emotional anguish on it’s own made me wanna cry. Same for Xion. Goodness the voice acting, y’all are killing me...

_ Riiiiiikuuuuu...I love him so much. He’s a good friend, and having to fight his younger self/replica, it’s so clear how far he’s come!! I pointed out that’s what he was like in the first game to my sister, and she’s like “?????? really????” I love this disaster child. I’m sure it’s embarrassing seeing your past self, but also harsh having your past mistakes thrown in your face...anyway, love Riku. Always. He’s a good egg.

- Kairi..........deserved better DX I was REALLY hoping I could play her at least for a little...! But nooooo...at least Aqua was briefly playable?? That was really cool. I just wish...more was done with Kairi. That she had more of a presence through the whole game, like RIku did. Not just the damsel in distress at the end...she did help Sora alot in her own ways I’m just...MAN I feel this could’ve been done better...

- I LOVED getting some closure on a majority of the “villains” of the game. I liked them all. I do wish I knew what actually happened to Vanitas...? Where’d he go?? WHat the...also Repliku’s sacrifice ;;A;; that was really cool. But can’t they just make another replica for him?? Also was Larxene referencing Marly???????? Xemnas’s ending was probably one of my favorites. 

- TERRA COMING BACK WAS FREAKING COOL AAAAAAA--- the wayfinder trio was so terribly tragic, I’m so glad they can be happy again...

- ALSO SCREAMING ALOT FOR SEASALT TRIO, GOODNESS FINALLY FINALLYYYYYYYYYYY *sobs* 

- Axel actually having a reason for his weird face tattoos was really cool. Because this poor man is DEFINATELY CRYING NOW aaaaaaaa, I’m so glad for Isa, I cryyyyy...also who the heck was the girl they were talking about?????? I thought it was Xion but I was obviously wrong......I’m so confused, Square. Nomura. Answer me. Who is she. Anyway happy platonic AkuSaiRokuShi does me so much joy, my skin is clear, 10 years added to my life, blesssss

- ALSO “The final World” was really freaking cool and trippy but pretty. Also I know barely anything about KHX...who is the cat with a purse again and why is he in KH purgatory??? X’’’D him reuniting with Ven was really cute...ANYWAY. I collected way more Sora’s than I should, it kicked me out when I gathered 333. X’’’D but hey I got more maximum health! Which saved my butt constantly in the final battles O.o  finding Namine there was really sweet...but who were the other stars?? Who was the other voice? Was that Marly’s sister or...???? Probably has something to do with KHX again and I got lost, but I was so interested...who WERE these hearts???? 

- I wish I got to explore that last kingdomy place I forgot the name of more...it was SO pretty before Xehanort blew the whole dang thing up. Also I’m STILL very confused on his motives?? Why do you want to like...darkness everything up to make a new light world??? What???? Master Eraqus popping up again made me cry...especially his apologies to his kids apprentices. Also helping his friend pass on. Gosh dang. R I P, both of you. 

- The epilogue was wonderful! Just domestic stuff showing everyone is back and well!! I ADORE Xion’s new outfit, I need to gather references...Isa too. ANd Axel.....

-Well...almost everyone made it back. Sora just...didn’t make it then?? What??? Poor Kairi...I had a FEELING he’d “die” in some way. It’s open ended so he COULD come back but I’m just confused where did he gooo????;;A;; bring my Sonshine back....

- NAMINE IS BACK YESSSSS she’s so pretty!! ALSO RIKU/NAMI GETTING SOME SORT OF CONTENT AAAA YES *THROWS SELF INTO THE SUN* platonic or romantic i don’t care that was a cute scene!!!!!! 

- Overall it all tied together really well, but also it’s...very obvious there will be more. Like...Xigbar as Luxu? ...Who is Luxu???? More KHX stuff??? ALSO WHAT’S IN THE BLACK BOX Y’ALL ARE KILLING ME SQUARE I’M SO LOST

- Also, does Yazora actually have a role to play then?? Why was he in the secret movie? Where is Sora? I thought he was in the world that never was but it also MIGHT be TWEWY’s Shibuya???? Whaaaat? And Riku’s...somewhere...too?? That tidbit gave me way more questions than answers what the heck Nomura?? X’D I mean I wouldn’t mind, he is very pretty?? But I thought it was just a toy story joke?? What in the hap is heckening...

- OH ALSO EPHEMERA POPPING UP AND HELPING WITH ALL THE PAST KEYBLADE WIELDERS WAS RAD I KNOW THOSE TINY BITS ABOUT KHX SO THAT WAS REALLY DANG COOL

- In the end I really really loved this game. My favorite worlds are probably Corona, Toy Box, and SanFranSokyo, man, those were so good. I’ll probably research KHX a bit, because alot of the ending made little sense to me...but for the characters really important to me, they have concluded so that’s good. Well I mean except for Sora. But I’m pretty sure he’ll come back...somehow...

A++++ game Square, exceeded my expectations in many ways, some minor complaints (pacing, Frozen world in general...) and major confusion, but overall I am happy. I loved this adventure, and I’m satisfied with the conclusion ;v;

[jemtokall]

I wanted to try drawing expressions from those emoji/expression formats for my ships Draine (Data-Riku/Blaine) and Reph (Repliku/Ephemera)

[flambo19]

Boss Rush Mode

Today on your regularly scheduled kh3 commentary I just beat up a bunch of people. (Spoilers) It’s really fun and the music rocks

Oh hi Kairi

Are they gonna do a confession?

Nope

WE ALL CHEATED DEATH LETS CELEBRATE

Now we get the title card

The same thing again...?

What

WHAT

OH SHIT LINGERING WILL

YEAH BOI RAGE AWAKENED

OH THIS IS COOL

And very anime

DEMON TIDE

This is such a cool boss

WHY WONT YOU DIE

THE HEARTLESS WERE TRYING TO RUN

SORA THE MADLAD

Oh worm

EPHEMERA

WOAH WHAT

I LOVE ALL OF THIS

SORA PULLED A VANITAS

Woah

THIS IS WHY THERE WERE KHUX NAMES

Fuck this is so cool

UNION X

Oh thanks curaga

What

Repliku!

He got norted

Fake repliku?

Past Riku???

Summon the big nort

Eh not too bad

Worm

YEN SID

Yen Sid ex Machina

WE GOT THE STARLIGHT

The Binch XIII

What

Oh buildings

Let's try this battlegate thing

Wasn't too bad

Oh fuck a choice

Oh shit the doors closing

Team up fights?

Or not???

Really beating yourself up here

Did I kill him

Oh thats why he worked for xehanort

Well crap that just happened

Killed little evil Riku too

Woah what

This game suddenly became even more adult

Mickey being cool

What did he do

Oh the card thing sucked

I DON'T LIKE CARD GAME

Wild card? ITS NOT A GAME

Also thanks Luxord

Killed the bitch

Sora as he watches people die: :)

Is this lord of the castle?

Oh boy

Door puzzles!!

Oh these two are going to hurt

Alright Terra and Vanitas first

Beat up Terranort

No Cutscene?

Okay killed them both

FACE FACE FACE

My sister who is watching this happen: It's sonic!

Rip

OH CRAP

Terra please

GUARDIAN

TERRA WAS THE GUARDIAN???

THE BOY IS BACK

AWWWWWW

THIS IS GONNA HURT

Oh okay

I LOVE AXEL

Oh boy

XION

OH SHIT

So xemnas really did brake axel's keyblade?

OH SHIT ROXAS

Please let me fight as roxas

It won't happen but still

Can Kairi Stop Getting Kidnapped 2019

OUCH

That's gay

AWWWWW OUCH

AWWWWWW

Only one way to go now

The last binches

He did the fingers!!!

THIS MUSIC IS SO GOOD

Killed little binch

Oh that last line was GOOD

Mansex Xemnas is dead!

Sora is really out there trying to make friends with everyone

Wow I actually feel kind of bad for him

And not Ansem is dead!

THE DEATH SCENES ARE REALLY GOOD

Oh no

Welp Kairi's dead

I know I should be taking this seriously but Sora just Naruto ran up a wall

Well

That was a really lame war

HD X-BLADE

GOOFY AND DONALD

THE COOLEST KIDS

Roxas and Ven just ignoring the fact that they look the same

Oh worm??

Last minute plan let's go!

Xion knows that nobody can actually die

It's the DDD thing

WE IN LATIN PLACE!!!!!??

THIS LOOKS SO PRETTY

Since I want to get the secret ending I'm gonna do a big Mickey hunt now

[jemtokall]

Hi! Can I ask about Eph/Rep I'm super curious if you wanna ramble lol

HELLO!!

Reph is a ship that me and my boyfriend came across while rping post kh3. I'll try to keep my rambling coherent :)

There's a lot of conflict and comfort to find with these two. For example-

Memories�� Ephemera was against the Dandelions losing their memories of before the war, but after seeing the pain that Player was in, he decided that it was best to erase their memories. Not all memories need to be kept. This contrasts with how I hc Repliku. Rep believes that all memories are important (even his fake ones Namine gave him), and doesn't believe that there's any reason to forget a thing. So this is a fun conversation for them to have since they're both passionate about their stance and give each other new perspective. (In me n my boyfriends au Ephemera had amnesia for a time, but Repliku argues that it's not the same as having your memories tampered with)

Dark vs Light— Repliku leans on the side of darkness, while Eph leans towards the light. And after what happened to Player in khux, Eph's distaste for darkness is stronger than ever. So when Repliku fights with darkness or encourages it, Eph is fairly unsettled (Player flashbacks.) It's another fun conversation for them :)

Explorer vs Hermit— Ephemera is a curios spirit and now that he lives in the present time, he loves exploring all the worlds! He's always out there, a new adventure a day. And the way I play Repliku is that he's not used to leaving the castle, so he stays at Hollow Bastion and rarely goes into town. A bit of agoraphobia (fear of going outside). So Ephemera will come home at the end of each day to tell Repliku a stories about the day, which eventually inspires Repliku to leave the world and see it all for himself.

World simulations— Repliku was born in Castle Oblivion, world simulation galore. He never experienced a real world until kh3, so the majority of his world experience is simulations. The same could be said for Ephemera! In Daybreak Town the worlds they visit are all simulated projections from the Book of Prophecies.

Broken Heart— Ephemera had a painful goodbye with Player, someone he was very close to. And he had to say goodbye to them forever while thinking that their feelings were never genuine. We like to hc that Eph had romantic feelings for Player. And with Repliku, his heart was literally broken by Namine when she told him to stop fighting Sora. So while canon could be totally different for Namine, we like to hc that she avoids Repliku out of guilt for her actions and thinks his feelings for her are not genuine because she planted those memories in him that made him care for her. So Repliku and Ephemera can relate to the feelings of a broken heart.

-It's not how they met in our rp, but I like to imagine that they met in the Keyblade Graveyard since they were the only two ghosts there. I wrote the first chapter on ao3

-Repliku has ptsd from white walls in C.O, so when Eph tries to introduce him to Scala it usually leads to hurt/comfort

-Speaking of, their fun mutual friend Lauriam/Marluxia :) also leads to fun conversations

-Eph and Blaine are like brothers in this au, so Blaine always acts as the protective older brother to Eph and antagonizes Repliku which is a fun side dynamic.

Ok I've rambled enough LMAO thank you for taking an interest <33 it was fun to write this all down!

[jemtokall]

What characters are available for the roleplay?

So far our taken characters are Sora, Riku, Kairi, Xion, Hayner, Xemnas, Even, Elrena, MoM, Luxu, Gula, Ephemera!

Which leaves these characters available!

Lea Roxas

Aqua Terra Ventus

Pence Olette

Dilan Aeleus Ienzo Isa Demyx Luxord Lauriam

Namine Vanitas Repliku

Ava Ira Aced Invi

Skuld Brain Player

Leon Yuffie Aerith Cid Cloud Tifa

Zack Auron

Yuna Paine Rikku

Seifer Rai Fuu Vivi

Neku Shiki Beat Rhyme Joshua