#sora gets to do so much and riku gets to do nothing. hey what if sora and riku werent arbitrarily separated for no reason yeah what if…

[robotsafari]

isnt it sad that the best world in dream drop distance is the fucking grid. (only in sora’s side though..)

[ohnoitstbskyen]

I know you made shorts for Sora, Riku, and Kairi, but do you have any other thoughts about Kingdom Hearts?

Ik this is kinda vauge and you get these kind of asks all the goddamn time, but I hyperfixated on those games for most of elementary and middle school and its always cool to see your favorite Youtuber talk about stuff you really like. Not to guilt trip you into answering this one or anything, just. . . I'm very tired and it would be very cool lol.

Again, saving my character design thoughts for some more shorts, but I adore Kingdom Hearts. Like, the first game really ISN'T much more than a cross-promotional branding exercise for Disney and Square, same as any of a dozen other similar crossover centric franchises; it's a Saturday morning cartoon show that wants to get you invested (or keep you invested) in a bunch of fancy IPs to buy toys of, but it's a really good one of those.

And it's a game that understands that the central thing that's going to hook people IN to that kind of thing is characters that are willing to believe in what they've got going on with one thousand percent sincerity. Which I think is the thing they nailed more than anything. Sora cares SO MUCH, and he wants to find his friend and his love interest (Kairi and Riku, respectively) SO BADLY, you can't help but root for the poor kid and want to believe in it.

Then, with the first game successfully managing to hook a solid fanbase, the creative team went "hey what if we had even MORE extremely earnest cool anime people getting deep in their feelings?" and now we're off to the races with Organizations and Oblivion Castles and fractions of 358 days.

And the thing that makes all the hyper-convoluted wheels-within-wheels plot machination nonsense WORK is that down, deep down, right at the core of what the franchise is always trying to say, is that love will save us. Yeah yeah hearts and darkness and unversed and nobodies and keyblades and blah blah blah (to be clear: I adore all that nonsense), but all of it is top-to-bottom in service of that singular central thematic clarion call.

Love will save us.

What holds Ventus together after Xehanort tears his heart apart? The love of Sora. What keeps Roxas the nobody from fading into Sora? The love of Xion and Axel, and Hayner, Pence and Olette. What brings Xion back? The love of Axel and Roxas. Hearts ring together and resonate and bind themselves to each other and there is no darkness so deep, no tragedy so absolute, no villain so foul that the cry of a loving heart cannot defeat it.

Roxas is a nobody doomed to darkness? Fuck you, Kingdom Hearts is love, no he isn't. Xion is a mere replica puppet, a failed experiment that nobody will remember? >>EXTREMELY LOUD INCORRECT BUZZER<< get seasalt icecream'd on top of a clock tower at sunset, IDIOT.

Over and over again characters sink into despair and loneliness, they fear that their connections are fake or fading, they fear being forgotten or left behind (Riku in the first game, the breaking of Ventus, Aqua and Terra, Roxas thinking nobody would miss him, Aqua in the Realm of Darkness), and over and over again they are proven beautifully wrong. There is always a hand reaching out, there is always someone who will miss you. Love will save us.

And this absolutely gets hokey, of course it does, it's a saturday morning children's cartoon. It's a bit simplistic, maybe a bit naïve, but honestly in a world where you can't walk two steps without bleak-minded doomer cynicism forcing the assumption that nothing truly good is possible and that the worst will always happen, Kingdom Hearts is a story so absolutely drenched in hope, sincerely held, that it feels like a fucking balm.

Also, LITERALLY where the fuck else are you going to get Woody from Toy Story reading an edgy anime villain for absolute filth? Nowhere, that's where. ONLY Kingdom Hearts.

None of this is to suggest I don't have criticisms of the franchise or that it's faultless. I could talk for several hours unbroken about all my gripes and problems, chief among which is LET KAIRI DO THINGS OH MY FUCKING GOD the franchise is low key misogynistic towards its female characters sometimes but I am talking about the things I love here let me just be happy for a second.

[organizationhimself]

just kinda having some thinky thoughts about how dark road totally rewired eraqus's character and what a phenomenal job they did.

like here's your problem you have. you need to take this cloistered old man who raised his students in the jedi way, somehow put up with Old Man Villainy being That Way presumably on the regular, lost every last iota of his shit and turned on the Apocalypse Child he adopted as well as his surrogate son who was infested with The Evil (which the series has long established as not necessarily being good or bad without context) to say nothing of the headtrip he gave his direct heir, and you need to reduce him to a version of himself as a child that is. like. fun. someone who has a genuine friendship with xehanort and is regarded by xehanort as someone who is a "sly fox," i.e. not the sort of buffoon who tests for mastery of the keyblade by child-proofing some orbs of light.

where do you even begin?

YOU TRAUMATIZE THE UNGODLY HELL OUT OF HI--okay i'm getting ahead of myself, let's start with principles.

because eraqus is principled. he believes really firmly in the light in a way that's nearly sora-adjacent in its intensity, but the thing is that sora has this flexibility that eraqus was simply not raised to appreciate. yes, nomura, we understand you like the bright sunshine one and the wry brooding one, you did it with sora and riku, god knows what you did to axel's spine to fit him into the sunshine kid's mold next to isa as brooding anti-crybaby, and now we're doing the same thing to eraqus. ok. i love it when you're optimistic, let's do it.

so first we need confidence. easy; he's a smug little rich kid. worked for riku didn't it? (source: kh1 manga, and the fact that you cannot convince me anyone can maintain a kid with that build on a budget) but we also need to see how dark road changed him as a person. let's contrast his uptight stick-up-his-ass future with a present day class clown who doesn't take things seriously; a headstrong fighter who jokes that he'll just run away. and hey speaking of emotional damage, let's start easing into the inevitable terrible, horrific, unspeakable traumas we're going to visit on this defenseless creature with a little one as a treat:

HIT HIM RIGHT IN THE GRANDPA.

and there you go! we now have a source for eraqus's rejection of the darkness that is not simply a function of his career as a jedi keyblade master, but has an actual personal experience he can point back to in order to say "hey, darkness is the pits!! here is why." it sets the stage early for him to be already butting heads with xehanort, who takes a much more flexible look at the worlds and the way they work and is more willing to view things from the perspective that he is not an authority on the moral peculiarities of whatever world he is currently inhabiting.

xehanort is also a child of destiny [citation needed]. an isolated visitant who was born for finer things but never slept a day in his life without waking up with sand in his mouth until he reached out and took his fate in his bare hands and let it drag him all the way to scala.

where he met the blueblooded child of a keybearing legacy thousands of years in the making, just like his.

and suddenly what you have are unwitting equals. we're ready to set them both up at the chess board; eraqus's legacy is plain, he moves first and he makes no apologies for it because it's his birthright. but xehanort's half of the board is still buried in shadow, implied but never stated, never surrendered to eraqus's probing questions or revealed by his moves, but already aimed at a clash with destiny, fated, inevitable.

shall we say, already written.

and this is brilliant!! now we have a source for our "sly fox," a reason for xehanort to be extremely familiar with the way eraqus thinks (and not to star wars on main but the obi-wan kenobi series did something really similar to this narratively by using anakin and obi-wan's familiarity with each others' fighting styles to predict the actions they would take in a situation, and i will actually never be over it in my life, absolutely stealing it for a xehaqus fic sometime, just shamelessly mugging ewan mcgregor in the street for that solid gold good shit). not only that, but we also have an explanation for xehanort's motivations as described by kh3. he is not looking at the fight from the perspective of one of the pawns; he is looking at the fight as a player, deciding which pawn gets taken. selecting which rook to sacrifice in exchange for the queen.

and eraqus is opposite him, doing the exact same thing (sort of, kh3 was a little cerebral with that), but there's an important difference here that we'll come back to later on.

so, okay. we have a vague outline in the shape of a sunshine kid now. he has confidence tied to his role in society, his legacy gives him perspective, his trauma ensures that he will one day calcify against the darkness with such emphasis that he will unwittingly pad the therapy bills of an entire generation. so far so good.

but uh, yeah, his kids? he fights them? like okay, axel has his differences with his kids too but he's not trying to kill them (mostly). eraqus really definitely for real is, and ven is defenseless. so that'ssss...hard to square with the sunshine kid we're building, nomura, how do we explain that? we really can't handwave it as amnesia this time, we're not working with ansem the wise here.

(BALDR. BALDR IS HOW--

ok but wait wait wait, before we even get to baldr, there's something we can do:

make eraqus impulsive.

and i mean impulsive. make eraqus spoil for a fight with so much unmitigated howler monkey energy that he will fight his friends just to vent. (this isn't even a unique thing, riku and xion and even sora do it all the time, and we're not here to talk about ven's crimes against miners but it's clear that violence is a spoken language in kh.) eraqus is fluent, so we're making it so that all of eraqus's intensity and passion can be focused on a single point if xehanort pushes exactly the right switches in his head.

and then, y'know, yeah. make baldr slaughter all of his classmates, several of them right in front of him, because of unchecked darkness and baldr's own inability to see past his own grief and resentment for long enough to understand that all he's really doing is inflicting his own suffering on other people in a murderstorm of nihilism and bitterness. unrelenting trauma conga line, check.

and now we have almost all the elements. eraqus's principles can't allow him to accept darkness, both because his grandfather was lost to it and because it left him (by all accounts a bourgeois slacker at the bottom of his class, someone vidar doesn't even consider as a candidate for one of the lights despite what baldr has to say about eraqus as a light source) one of the only survivors of an event that completely resculpted his life and community. time to pack him off to the jedi temple land of departure to be least okayest teacher of the year, right?

well...no. we need eraqus to wait.

because he doesn't take on students. and doesn't, and doesn't, for decades. first he fights xehanort, and as we have established he is spoiling for that fight (white moves first!). and then when xehanort finally visits him to drop off that half-dead kid he found (ven was like that already shhh), he's kind of like politely like "oh, you have apprentices. they seem...bright," like he's congratulating eraqus on finally reaching a life stage that eraqus should have hit approximately 50 years ago, and eraqus is like "yeah yeah whatever shut up anyway YOU'VE got one too now right." (yen sid talks about the role of "seeker" like it's a different thing from "keyblade master" so that's where i'm extrapolating this distinction from, but regardless i don't think anyone ever seriously expected xehanort to take on students.)

my point here is that eraqus waited until the last possible opportunity to take on students. to carry on the legacy that was so important to him as a child, and to re-experience the closest thing to the camaraderie he had as a keybearer-in-training that he could ever have back. that is how impactful baldr's actions were for eraqus.

i'm veering completely into speculation now but i think eraqus was terrified. how could he not be? his class wasn't even taking the mark of mastery and still got decimated by it. how could he risk going through that again, but from odin's perspective this time? what guarantee would he ever have to avoid the same tragedy his master had failed to prevent?

so, NOW we know why eraqus's mark of mastery was a handful of light pinatas and a duel. (i like to think xehanort felt a certain level of professional embarrassment for him and wanted to make it just a little more like a real challenge.)

(this is a sidebar and i'm going to talk about my other blorbo for a second but terra has a beautiful dream of being a sly manipulator. that's why he doesn't worry about investing himself in villain schemes, because he assumes he'll see the snare coming before he gets his head caught in it, but it's never coming from directly in front of him like he expects. so this is a dream that will never come true, but he has it, and i think given what we knew about eraqus as early as blank points, its only possible source is a master who was strict and exacting, but--very occasionally--also a sly fox who secretly delighted in his students' nascent abilities to surprise and outwit him.)

back to the trauma, we also have, obviously, the explanation for eraqus's attitude towards terra, and later ven. terra is a tragedy in slow motion that eraqus has seen happen before. baldr was unable to control his darkness; it overwhelmed him, and eraqus does not have the context that xehanort does, that baldr was in some ways a product of his own darkness-shunning society. even if eraqus does have that context, i can't really see him agreeing with it--and even if he at one point agreed with it, he would have gotten that context from the same guy who last showed up at his house talking about kicking off the apocalypse for the vine.

so like. eraqus has never seen any damn thing in his whole life that doesn't confirm his bias against the darkness. does that make him innocent of parenting Incorrectly? no, he is a Bad Dad. does it explain his hopelessly unsuccessful parenting strategies? yes, it does.

what it reinforces is also that eraqus didn't want to have to fight terra and ven. the original bbs is honestly not very good about establishing this: he cries one Sad Tear. yawn. still child abuse, asshole! the stakes in bbs are also not very well established, because there's approximately six people in it and some of them are just the same guy over again, so we don't really have a sense that terra being taken over by the darkness is like...gonna mean something to eraqus that is sincerely worth the personal cost of killing him. since we're clearly no longer worried about ven, there aren't other students to protect (besides aqua, but she's a really hard sell on the "needs to be protected from terra with so much urgency he must not live another moment" front). there is no immediacy to ven's status as Apocalypse Child; if anything vanitas seems like the obviously more important threat, and maybe eraqus should be less concerned about weeding out students and more focused on vetting friends like Old Man So Clearly The Villain My Guy. bbs eraqus is just genuinely hard to like as a character.

but now we have dark road context.

and white moves first.

eraqus is not seeing terra or ven in that moment, he's seeing baldr. he's seeing the summoning of kingdom hearts that almost was, and he is gripped by meticulously prearranged, bone-deep, irrational, traumatized, unbridled impulse. the emotion must vent. the thing he was powerless to stop has returned to haunt him and he must resist it. he knows what will happen if terra strikes him down here and heads back out into the worlds in search of other hearts, other lights. he knows.

but terra resists, using the full spectrum of his strength without remorse, and it is only when eraqus's keyblade is ready to fall from his hand that he realizes the truth:

My own heart is darkness.

and when this happened in the original birth by sleep all i could think was yeah star wars dad!! nailed it your heart IS darkness you fuckin dillweed, about time!! what took you so long!!

but after dark road, this context is completely changed. eraqus is not just realizing that he fucked up.

he is realizing that he fucked up the exact same way baldr fucked up.

that he let his own grief and suffering cloud his judgment and guide his blade to strike out at his loved ones. that instead of finding a way to live with what's already happened to ven, what was long ago fated for terra, he turned his resentment outward and gave that darkness leave to consume them both whole.

but unlike baldr, eraqus regrets it.

it is that moment that xehanort cuts him down anyway, not because eraqus can't be saved the way baldr couldn't but because xehanort is cleaving away the last of his own attachments to the world so he can follow through with the rest of his plans, and i am SO NORMAL ABOUT THI

but okay anyway. eraqus has exactly one move left.

he can't see the board. unlike xehanort, he has no extra pieces of himself he can just bandy about; the warriors of light must assemble without any of his direct input, chasing the echoes of eraqus's students and pushing and pulling in reaction to xehanort's steady advance through the center. he has only one chance. he can't afford to waste it.

the kings are meeting in the middle of the board. the stalemate will come any moment, when they're both out of moves and out of time, leaving the fate of the worlds undecided.

and it is at this moment that eraqus pulls the same penultimate move that xehanort himself used on baldr, confronting him with the first victim his darkness ever struck down. eraqus almost doesn't have to say anything, at all, because xehanort has to know what it means. has to know what it says.

xehanort resists. the world is too far gone. too many horrible things can happen in it; it must be reset. not purged and filled with darkness, like baldr wanted, but returned to a state that can never mutate into the conditions that made baldr exist in the first place. that doomed all their classmates to die. it's too late.

For us, perhaps...but not for them.

and now we go back to the distinction.

the thing that makes xehanort's chess game different from eraqus's is that, for xehanort, it's only chess. the pieces he's moving have ceased to exist in his mind as individuals. they are pawns on a line of white and black squares, and they may weave away from his will here or there but they cannot be swayed from their march.

eraqus never forgets.

and it's actually eraqus's capacity for forgiveness that i haven't even touched on yet. this isn't a word i ever expected to associate with him, but eraqus spends dark road forgiving. five minutes after any altercation he's already forgotten about it. name-calling. arguments. rejection. opposition. full-on fighting.

murders.

when xehanort kills baldr, eraqus is still calling out for him to stop. when xehanort later strikes out at him with darkness (the thing eraqus is scared of the most!!), permanently disfiguring him, eraqus has already forgiven him before seeing him the next time in person.

he does not forget that baldr is a person in spite of his darkness, and eraqus doesn't want him to be killed for it. that terra is a person in spite of his darkness, and eraqus doesn't want to see it consume him. that ven is a person in spite of the darkness that was cleaved from him, and eraqus doesn't want to see it return.

(if you think about it the real tragedy is that we were robbed of him looking aqua in the eye and telling her that she isn't tainted forever, that it did not take her, and even if it had, that will always, always matter less than her finding her way back. i refuse to believe terra was not already made aware of these facts.)

but he also does not forget that xehanort is not a faceless player in the skies, impossible to convince of the significance of a pawn; he remembers that xehanort, too, is still a person.

this point is important because eraqus's last move is not a checkmate (I KNOW HE SAYS CHECKMATE but it is not checkmate), but it is calculated to produce something else: a concession. he doesn't need the board to support his win or xehanort's loss; he needs the player on the other side to put down the pieces and follow his beacon out of the dark.

and that is how nomura shows us our sunshine kid at last, fully formed, as he takes xehanort's burdens from him and spirits them both well beyond the reach of the board.

anyway yeah microwaving him in my brain along with axel (and also roxas and terra because if i don't collect all my blorbos AND their hot mess dads i'll never fill out my pokedex).

[kaen-ace-of-diamonds]

for the trope mashup, how about 53 and 94 for Sorikai?

send me 2 AUs and a ship and I'll write a short fic

(Mutual Pining + Hair Brushing/Braiding)

Growing up on the islands, they naturally learned to swim almost before they could walk. Floating and splashing in the gentle waves is second nature to them: keeping them healthy, helping them relax, a constant way to play. Kairi has never thought too much about it, so she's very interested in the boys' stories of worlds where a trip to the ocean is a novel and awe-inspiring thing, or something only to be dreamed about.

"So you're telling me," she says, running her fingers through the heavy, sea-kissed sand, "that it's all sand? Just...as far as you can see, sand?"

"Well, there is one bit of fresh water and trees," Sora says, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "They call it an oasis, and they built the city next to it. Jasmine says that that's usually how building cities in the desert go. I got to try some of the fruit that they grow: apples, melons...this thing called dragon fruit?"

Kairi smiles. Both he and Riku have talked so much about what they've seen in other worlds already, and yet it always seems like they have something new to say about all of them.

(And then there's you, a voice at the back of her mind sneers, with nothing but a void and a memory that crumbles in your hand the instant you touch it.

She shakes the voice away. With Sora at her right hand and Riku at her left, it's not hard to do. Resentment has never come easily to her, anyway.)

"I've got to take you there to try some too! In fact, I think you and Aladdin and Jasmine would get along really well!"

Sora stands up straight, arms crossed behind his head, grinning — had his grin always been so...dazzling? Her heart's never jumped at him before, she's sure.

"Yeah, still not sure I believe you," Riku says, barely holding back a smirk as he tosses a stray starfish into the waves before it can dry out in the sun. "About as much as I believe you swam with mermaids once."

"Not once! Twice!" Sora protests. "You wouldn't believe it, I had fins like a dolphin and I — !"

On impulse, Sora bolts into the water, certainly diving into an incoming wave like a dolphin, and attempting to imitate the animal's way of swimming: kicking strongly and only with the back legs, but quickly sinking in the process.

"Don't laugh!" Sora calls back to her and Riku, even as he's trying and failing not to giggle himself. "I mean it!"

"We believe you, Sora!" Kairi manages, covering her mouth, though she's not sure what good it does: it's very clear what she's doing.

"Wait a minute 'til we're in, then show us!" Riku adds, kicking off his sandals. He tenses to run for the water himself, but Kairi quickly stands and grabs his arm.

"Hold on! Let me braid your hair!"

Riku blinks. "Huh?"

"Now that you've got such long hair..." She reaches out and flops a lock of it, where it hangs down past his shoulders, surprising herself. "It'll get so tangled if we swim for too long. Let me braid it?"

"Oh..." Riku's face lights up. "Yeah, of course!"

He sits back down on the sand, cross-legged, waiting for her. She kneels behind him and, with only a moment's hesitation, takes his newly thick tresses of hair into her hands. Turning them over each other, she marvels at how soft it still is, and wonders why he decided to let it grow out. As kids, he'd always kept it short, he'd never liked it in his eyes. Neither had Sora, but his hair always seemed to grow up and out instead of down.

"Hey!" Kairi almost jumps; she hadn't noticed Sora emerging from the water, until she felt his fingers run through her own hair. (When did they become so calloused? The wooden swords never did that, but the Keyblade must be harsh on their hands.) He draws something out of her hair, something she hadn't even noticed. "Wind blew a little flower into your hair, Kairi!"

She looks at the little plant he's absently twirling between finger and thumb — bright blue, with dark green in the center and on the edges of the petals. Where did it blow in from, she wonders? The same place as her? Have either of them seen it, then, the place where she was born?

Sora's about to toss it back into the sea, to find a new home on the waves, until she takes his wrist. "No, actually...it probably looked better there, didn't it?"

He gives her a puzzled look, but then a moment later his face breaks into the grin she loves so much. "I'll tie it in for you, then!"

Without missing a beat, Sora kneels down in the sand behind her, his hands warm and soft in her hair the way she hopes hers are in Riku's. They work fast: they're island kids, they always have. They look out for themselves and each other, because no one else is going to, out here in the vast and endless ocean.

"Done!" Sora and Kairi both say at the same time, and Riku rises to his feet before either of them, his new braid hanging down between his shoulder blades.

"So? How do you like it?" Kairi asks.

Riku shifts his weight from side to side, tossing his head like a curious dog, and smiles. "Love it! But I think you look just a bit nicer."

"Oh?" Kairi blinks in surprise, hand going to the flower stem safely wound into her hair...but then again, is he looking at the flower or her face?

Meanwhile, Sora's eyes are delightedly flicking between both of them. "Well, I think you're both perfect!"

He's looked at them like that a lot, lately, as if he never thought he would see them again. Not as if she doesn't understand: she's caught herself staring like that since they got home, too.

It's almost unbelievable how much things have changed since they thought they could cross the ocean on their own aboard a raft...and even more so what doesn't necessarily have to.

She's the first to jump up from the sand this time; much as Riku liked to lead, they always have taken that in turns. "Race you to the sandbar!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she can see that they both look momentarily startled, but that doesn't stop them from jumping to follow at her heels, grinning. Like fruit is sweeter when shared, somehow, the hot sand is cooler and the rumbling waves they dive under not quite so big, that the ones she loves the most are back by her sides.

It's strange: being with them in the waters of Destiny Islands should be the easiest, most familiar thing in the world. But something is...different. It's not enough to say she wants Sora and Riku there with her; she always has. It's just...new. And Kairi isn't sure she has the words for it.

Do they feel the same way, she wonders? She thinks she should be able to tell...but then again they've both always been so confident.

A good thing they were raised to handle the ocean currents, when to go with them and when to pull out of them. Far from trying to push into the lead the way they would have done just a couple years ago, now all three of them are trying to stay close to each other. She knows right away that she prefers it.

Sora's warm skin brushes against her arm, and the stem of his flower is still tightly wound into her hair. Riku's eyes gleam as he propels himself over a wave, a strip of seaweed catching on the end of his long braid. Kairi smiles, sea foam catching the side of her face: she couldn't ask for anything more than this.

When she finally holds a Keyblade in her hand, she'll fight just as hard as Sora and Riku to protect it.

[kairithemang0]

The "Kairi Problem"

Hey guys it's Kairi day I'm gonna go on a long rant about how sad I am that she kinda sucks as a character.

To start I want to say that I absolutely adore Kairi, and that this isn't meant to be me hating on her, because I do really love her as a character (I literally stole her name for heavens sake). I just believe that there are a lot of problems with her character I need to get out of my system.

Ok, let us begin! First off, and the main issue with her for me is her pure reliance on Sora, and how much that really has damaged her character. Kairi is best when she's not around Sora. For instance, her conversations with Lea in KH3 are some of my favorite parts of that game. Their dynamic is so fun, and I wish they had more screentime together because they have the potential to have this sibling relationship that would be so wholesome. Along with her other interactions with characters, she could have such a great friendship with Aqua, seeing as Aqua will be teaching her how to better herself with the keyblade, it would be great to see more of their interactions.

HOWEVER! These are the only 2 meaningful relationships Kairi has outside of Sora. And even then, Sora makes up 80% of her interactions. Not even her and Riku talk much after KH1. They hardly even talk in Melody of Memory, a "Kairi game" where she is hardly playable. Not only that, at the end of that game Riku basically told her that she needs to stay home and let him to do work to find Sora. This to me is a big misstep in the writing for her character.

Kairi has self-confidence issues, one of her battle lines in Re:Mind is literally "please work". She has no faith in her abilities, but so much can be done with that. She can have an arc about believing in yourself and coming into her own and learn to stand beside Sora and Riku, not just letting them protect her.

This is partially due to her lack of screentime. She's never really been the focus of anything, she's just Kairi. The prize. That's really what she is, she's like the princess in another castle. Just "the girl". And that's a terrible thing to do with her character because unlike Peach, the princess in another castle, Kairi doesn't get the chance to rise above that label. In 21 years you'd think she'd be given something, anything really. I think that's why her kicking a heartless in the KH TV show pilot made me, and probably others, so excited. She did something! And it was cool, that's what we needed. Something cool.

So why am I talking about all this? The fandom has made jokes about Kairi being a plank of wood for years, it's no secret to anyone she's been given very little in terms of character. I guess my question is why? Why is Nomura giving this character with an interesting backstory and an interesting set of powers with seeds of a character if you squint such little time? Not only has she been around since the very beginning, but even characters who we know much less about than her are far more fascinating. I like to compare her to Yozora, who is a character we really know nothing about however we know he's powerful, and we know he has a goal. And I can assume he will deliver on both of those things even when we know more about him. Kairi on the other hand has had very few cool moments, has no goal, and just MIGHT be powerful. I mean you'd think having a princess of heart, a topic that has been covered in multiple games and will likely continue to be touched upon, as a main character would be amazing, right? Well, she's hardly ever mentioned to be a princess of heart and all we know about her powers is that she can bring back a heartless Sora in Kingdom Hearts 1. And that's it, that's all we know.

And I haven't even gotten into the whole thing about the Destiny Trio, the main trio in this series made up of 3 very important characters, feels more like 2 duos. It's either Sora and Riku or Sora and Kairi, not "Destiny Trio". And we know Nomura can write good trios, even while having 2 of the characters have moments together. So why can't the Destiny Trio have this? The 3 of them hardly interact without one of them overshadowing the other. For instance, the Riku and Sora KH2 reunion.

Sora is confused on how Riku can be here when he looks like Ansem. Kairi shows Sora that it is in fact Riku, and Sora and Riku have a moment. Then Kairi does nothing for the rest of the scene. In every case, that is a Riku and Sora scene where Kairi is just there. And this happens time and time again, where Riku or Kairi is put to the side so they both can have their moment with Sora.

And now it's time to talk about the scene where Xemnas kidnaps her. This scene is just... GAH I HATE IT!!! Xemnas just snatches her and then somehow, she's just passed out and gets killed. Not only that, but the reactions from other characters are also so lackluster. Sora does his "Kairi!" thing, and if anyone else were to have reacted I would say it should be Riku and Lea. Of course, Lea was dealing with his own troubles during that scene, seeing his best friends again was definitely something that would be more important to him, however he and Kairi spent time together growing a bond and training together, you'd think he'd at least go after her a little more? He does nothing! The only person that reacts to it is Sora, which is so sad since you'd think even Roxas would care a bit, since he and Kairi had that brief moment in KH2 where Roxas and Kairi's minds connect. You'd think any of them would have more of a reaction than they did. And she herself just sits there and struggles a bit. She's got another hand she could use to summon her keyblade again and swipe at him or do anything else that isn't absolutely nothing.

This whole scene would have been better if they had waited longer for Kairi to get taken, maybe she goes into battle with Sora, Riku, and Mickey when they fight the norts, but Xehanort swopes down and stabs her with his keyblade or something. If that happens, we could get more of a reaction from Riku. Really anything that isn't what we got would be better.

Throughout this whole series Kairi has been pushed to the side time and time again, and I highly doubt that'll end any time soon. With a new saga coming and more focus being placed on the Foretellers and what came before, Kairi will likely be once again pushed to the side lines while other more interesting characters take the front lines. It's a very sad fate for a character that has so much potential she'll never live up to due to a lack of interest from the writer.

[thedeliverygod]

and for the KH fans

2 oldie but goodie sokai drabbles for you, Happy Valentines Day~

Coming Home

“Come on, I’ve got a surprise for you.” Riku led Kairi out of his back door and around the side of his house, the dirt path dimly lit by the moonlight. Turning back to glance at her for a moment, he explained, “This is to make up for dropping the ball for your birthday and Christmas.”

She bit her lip, her arms slightly wrapped around herself to keep warm, “Why Valentine’s Day, though? It’s so random. Plus I don’t want you to do anything extravagant for me… I know you were really busy catching up with school.”

“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t have to go too much out of my way to make it happen and I know you’ll like it.” He waved her off, holding out his arm to stop her just as they reached the edge of his house, “Okay. Turn around.” He made a spinning motion with his index finger. Kairi raised an eyebrow, staring at him and not moving. Rolling his eyes, Riku answered, “It’s supposed to be a surprise, remember?”

“Alright, if you say so.” She spun around hesitantly and heard his footsteps moving away from her.

“I’ll be right back.” He called out before making his way around the corner. After that, she heard nothing but the breeze going through the trees and bushes around her.

Wrapping her arms around herself even tighter as the wind blew, she whined quietly, “Brr...” After a moment, she finally heard the soft thud of shoes against the ground again and asked impatiently, “Can I turn around now? It’s freezing out here!”

“Uhh… sure.”

Kairi felt a jolt go through her body as she heard the response and realized it wasn’t Riku’s voice. Wide eyed, she turned around so fast that she almost fell over, “Sora!”

He smiled, “Hey.”

Looking him over a few times to make sure that he was actually standing in front of her, she launched herself forward and embraced him tightly, “I’m so glad you’re home.” Pulling a few inches away from him, she asked curiously, “But wait, how did Riku know you were coming today?”

A small smirk passed over Sora’s lips as he turned his head away, “I kinda got here yesterday, but I wanted to surprise you. So me and Riku set it up this way.”

“You jerks, you should have come and found me right away.” She leaned her head down against his shoulder.

“Believe me, it was really hard not to do that.” He laughed, Kairi feeling the vibration through his chest, “It took a lot of will power to pull this off.”

She leaned back from him, mocking a thoughtful look for a moment before grinning, “I guess I can let it slide, then.”

Sora looked down at her, smiling widely in response. After a moment, he became all too aware that they hadn’t broken their embrace in several minutes. Shifting his arms awkwardly so that he was holding her a little more loosely, he spoke sheepishly, “So… Happy Valentine’s Day, Kairi.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day.” She echoed, her eyes locked on his and her body unmoving.

He let out a nervous laugh, admitting, “To be honest, I didn’t think this far ahead… I was just focused on seeing you again.

Kairi shrugged, “That’s okay. I mean, this is good enough for me.” She hugged him tightly again, “This is more than enough, really.”

“Well, you’re easy to please.” He laughed again, “So, what’d you get me, then?”

“Um… well, I have a card but I was just going to get something once I knew you were home since I didn’t want to get any sort of candy and just let it sit around…” She glanced down, seeming embarrassed.

Sora moved one of his hands to her upper back, comforting, “Hey, I was just kidding. I appreciate it enough that you thought to get me a card while I was gone, anyway. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She answered softly, looking back up.

He looked around for a moment, unsure of what to say again. “Weren’t you cold? We can go inside if you want.”

She blinked, “Oh. Um, I was… but I kind of forgot. We can if you want to, though. I’m sure Riku is waiting for us.”

“Yeah.” He nodded in agreement. Feeling Kairi beginning to pull away from him, Sora grasped her arms at his sides, “Wait.”

She looked up at him curiously, “What is it?”

“Well, you know the drawing in the secret place?”

Kairi felt her cheeks begin to grow a little warm, nodding, “Mhm.”

He smiled softly to himself before looking at her, “Since we’ve both added stuff now, I was wondering if maybe we can start working towards making that a reality.” He paused, nervously adding, “I don’t mean sharing a paopu fruit right now or anything, I just mean—”

“I know what you mean.” She shushed him, raising her hand to touch his cheek.

He looked to her for reassurance again, asking, “So?” Receiving a nod in return, Sora pulled her closer and dipped his head to catch her lips. She kissed him back, her hand sliding from his face to rest on his chest and just underneath his chin. Both pulling away with a smile, he suggested, “Alright, we can go in now.”

Kairi took a step back from him before slipping her hand into his and tugging him forward, “Okay, let’s go.”

Candy Hearts

“I got some more candy.” Sora slid a box of conversation hearts towards Kairi, taking a seat beside her at the table and opening the box that he still had in his hands, “I know they kinda taste gross but I thought it’d be fun to trade some.”

Kairi flashed a smile before reaching over to pick up her box, “Yeah, they’re definitely cute.  I don’t think I’ve done this since you, me, and Riku used to do it in elementary school. Talk about a nostalgia blast.”

He let out a small laugh at her response before pulling a heart out, reading it, and sliding it towards her, “I think I’ve got this one accomplished already.”

Raising an eyebrow in interest, she looked down to see “BE MINE”. She looked back up with a smirk, answering teasingly, “Hm, I guess so.” Pulling out one and glancing at it for a moment, she slid her own back towards Sora. As he looked down to see the word “SUNSHINE” Kairi commented, “I mean, seems pretty accurate to me.”

“Thanks.” He grinned, looking at her admiringly until she motioned for him to continue, “Oh, sorry…” He dug in the box again and pulled out a heart, sliding it to her without saying anything.

“No comment?” She titled her head.

He responded with a shake of his own, “Nope, it speaks for itself.”

Seeing “LOVE YOU” she smiled again, “How sweet. Love you, too.” Digging through her box for a moment, she sent another one his way.

“Call me?” He read out loud in a questioning tone. Pausing, he shrugged, “Eh, maybe later.”

Kairi pouted, “You’re mean.”

“I’ll make it up to you.” He quickly fired back, reaching into his box again. Sliding it to her, he said, “Here.”

Looking down and then back up at him, she gave a small roll of her eyes, “Very funny.” Sora didn’t respond so she slid him another one that said “KISS ME”.

He couldn’t hold his reaction for that one. “Soon.” He promised before sliding another heart towards her.

“Is this the only one you have left or something?” She squinted at him and he shook his head in return. “Okay… I’m gonna go with…this one.” She slid him one that said “SWEET HEART.” Sora pushed back his chair and stood up slowly, causing Kairi to ask mischievously, “Oh, you want that kiss now?”

He laughed sheepishly, “Sort of. Just wait a minute.” He slid the last two hearts he had given her towards himself and added a third “MARRY ME” heart. Looking back to Kairi, she was still completely confused until he began to lower himself to one knee.

“You’re really—” Her hands clamped over her mouth, muffling the following, “Oh my god.”

Sora let out another laugh at her reaction while trying to keep his own nerve, flipping the ring box open and asking, “Kairi, will you marry me?”

She nodded excitedly and offered her hand, saying loudly, “Yes.” Once he had gotten the ring on her finger, she immediately collapsed against him in a tight embrace. Through a bit of sniffles, she asked, “Is there even a heart that says yes on it?”

“I’m not sure.” He replied, pulling back from her a little bit and suggesting playfully, “But the kiss would be nice, now.”

She pulled back from him as well, giggling, “Right, right.” She leaned in towards him, placing one arm around his neck and the other loosely against his side.

He kissed her back softly, smiling into the kiss and lifting his arm up to support her waist so that she didn’t fall over. When they finally broke away from each other, Kairi stood up and helped Sora up as well.  Reaching over to the table, she grabbed the “LOVE YOU” heart and gave it back to him with a grin. “Love you too.” He answered, giving her a peck on the cheek.

[hestzhyen]

What Can Kairi Do Now?

KH Brainrot has completely taken over so let me yeet these thoughts into the uncaring abyss. In the off chance anyone reads this... I like Kairi. I related to her struggle a lot as a kid; it was reassuring to see a character resist change when so many are written to embrace it. She's not my favorite KH character but she's definitely up there. Poor girl's been not much more than a plot device for her entire series so far. Friend to be rescued in KH1, forgotten memory in CoM, side-quest rescue mission in 2, completely absent in Coded despite it being a KH1 retelling, absent in DDD, important but not proactive in 3, present but not effectual in MoM... it's tough out there for Kairi fans. Most of this, I think, is because she's not meant to be important to the narrative beyond her relationship to Sora. I've felt for a long time that Nomura just wasn't very interested in writing about her as an independent character. She's there for Sora as a friend, a love interest, and as a McGuffin. Makes sense since she's supposed to represent friends drifting apart- she's the comfort and stability that Sora so badly wants to return to for most of the series. And yet, over and over again, he's getting called away from her side. Star-crossed and separated from each other despite how badly Kairi wants him to stay with her forever. So now that Sora's gone to the Other Side of reality itself and her left behind again... where does that leave Kairi?

Well, this could be her time to shine! FOR REAL! No cap, as the kids say. I mean it.

Kairi has so far been inseparable from Sora's character. Everything she's been shown to be so far is about him- Sora don't change, Sora I'll wait for you, Sora I'll protect you. Sora, Sora, Sora. Every scene of her relates back to him in some way, except the one in BBS when she had yet to meet him... which actually still leads to Sora since that's where Aqua placed the spell on Kairi's necklace that enabled her heart to take refuge in his during KH1. It's only the precious few scenes we see of her apart from Sora that we see her growth. She decides waiting isn't good enough in KH2, then decides she's going all-in on wielding a Keyblade so she can protect him in KH3- decisions made only in his absence. So the problem is pretty clear: for Kairi to grow, she needs to be separated from Sora. And oh hey guess what, MoM went out of it's way to do exactly that when it really didn't have to.

So what could we see our sweet girl doing going forward? There are two things that come to mind for me. First, by choosing to train under Aqua, she can forge strong bonds outside of Sora and Riku. Second, she can take charge of one of the subplots dangling around. I'm under no illusion that she'll ever be as imporant as Sora is to the narrative, but it's not unreasonable for her to step up and protect their home until he comes back. Deciding to take control of her own fate at the end of MoM set a solid foundation for her to grow separately from Sora in a natural, realistic way. And this would be the best thing possible for her character.

KH3, re:mind, and MoM all point to the end of the status quo for the relationship between Kairi and Sora. Nothing stopped him from fading away, after all. She tried everything and came up short when it mattered again. So Kairi seems to finally be accepting that she can't be strong enough to stand with Sora if she's only doing things for his sake. She needs to find her own inner strength. Deciding to train on her own terms, without mentioning Sora even once, is letting us know that Kairi's primed for her own arc for realsies this time. Will it come to be? Maybe!

There's a bit more I could say about Kairi but... well, I just want to wait and see. We know so little about what to expect in KH4 that I don't want to go full-on theorizing mode into this empty chasm. Especially since every time Kairi's been set up for growth it just hasn't happened. There's a big enough difference between this situation and all the previous ones that lets me have some room for hope at least. Thanks for listening to this ramble, internet void.

[aspiringroleplays]

@nevertem

A foreigner in Japan was an uncommon sight indeed, and definitely would get more than a few stares. But truthfully, Sora had been living in America and traveling around so much that it didn't even register to him this guy was "foreign"- he just saw him as some dude behind the counter doing his job.

But as he got halfway down the aisle and got a good look at him, the guy- Sora thought- the guy was actually really... really really truly... superbly-!

Cool.

Sora stared, stunned at the unexpected sight before him. That drip, that hair, those threads- it had been so long since Sora had seen someone truly, coolly awesome like that. He couldn't help but be amazed! 'I bet the girls are nuts for him!' He thought. 'If I was half as cool as him, I would definitely get a girlfriend!'

...Wait... 'cool'?

He had to put his hand on a shelf to steady himself, wide eyes to the floor as his thoughts caught up to him. How could he even think something like that? The guy was short like Sora! Surely he had difficulty dating too! And yet when Sora looked at him, there hadn't been a doubt in his mind that he was all that and more.

All his life Sora had been insecure in his image. He was short, skinny (well, he wasn't skinny anymore, but details) and not nearly as strong as Riku! It was no wonder girls always turned him down!

And yet, as he looked upon this stranger, he wondered if maybe, just maybe, his problem wasn't actually in how he "looked". Maybe these traits he once thought of as obstacles had merely been hurdles- challenges to force himself to rise to the occasion, and make himself truly awesome!

It was like everything he knew had just been turned upside down.

He sighed dramatically, and continued his search down the aisle, doing everything he could to avoid looking at the front, and having to face this cool guy head on. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so ashamed. He was unworthy to even meet his eyes.

But alas, Sora could not avoid the truth forever. So about 20 minutes later of strolling through the shelves, he finally plucked up his courage, and stepped to the front.

"Hey. I know you don't know me, and this may sound strange, but... I just wanted to thank you." He brought up a smile. "Seeing you find the strength to carry on, to hold your head up high despite everything- it really inspired me to take a good, hard look at myself. You reminded me that no matter what life throws at us, we always have to do whatever it takes to do the best we can. I really owe you for that." He bowed at his shoulders. "Thank you."

And so, heaviness from his heart lifted, Sora turned on his heel and left the store, inspired and enthused from this life changing interaction. He vowed that from now on, he would let nothing stop him in his goals, and even if things seemed impossible, he would always find a way to overcome!

It would be about 6 hours later when he realized he hadn't introduced himself, didn't even ask for the dude's name, and completely forgot to actually buy something.

And that he was going to have to go back tomorrow and actually face him.

[pred1059]

Runaway Wind Chapter Forty Two

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“You require failure.”

Behind him.

The darkness was behind him.

Where Kairi was.

“No…!”

Sora turned to see the shadow using magic in one hand to bind her hands and legs. And the other pulled back, a blade of light crackling from his hand.  

Her eyes were wide, she was shaking as she whimpered. “S…Sora?”

The darkness pulled back its blade with a smile.

NO!!!

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Sora began to run. His voice cracking as he screamed, 

NO!!! KAIRI!!!

But he couldn’t reach her.

As soon as he arrived, the shadow vanished with Kairi in a blur. Sora crashed through the double doors, stumbling to his knees. He could hardly breathe, hardly think, he just knew he had to find them! He ran through the castle, corridor after corridor, room after room. Door after door.

Was it this door?

No, that can’t be it. The door’s locked, maybe down the hall. He ran, footsteps on the carpet.

Wait. What was he thinking? He had the keyblade! He turned around to find her voice again, back the way he came. Turning at the fork in the hall…

No, that wasn’t right, there was a door…

“Sora?”

He heard her voice, a whisper, a whimper. He had to follow it, had to find her, had to save her. He turned toward it and saw a silhouette in the light. Her light.

His feet ran but he wasn’t getting closer. He tried to answer, but nothing came from his throat. What could he do?! She was right there! Something rose from his chest, a scream clawing away at his breath!

“Kairi!”

But as he jerked up from his sleeping bag, it came out as a startled murmur as realization dawned on him. The nightmare scenario he witnessed again was just that, a nightmare. A dream. Even so, Sora hung his head in his hand as the uncomfortable questions nagged at him again. An uncomfortable series of ‘what if’s’.

What if Kairi wasn’t there to stop Zexion? 

What if Donald and Goofy had gotten trapped in that book?

What if he really lost—

No. Kairi was fine, sleeping in one of the sleeping bags from the camping kit, Xion in another beside her. Donald and Goofy were napping away next to an alarm clock Donald had set. Everyone was fine, everyone was safe.

But repeating that truth to himself did nothing to quell his fears.

Sora groaned and tried to shift into a comfortable position in his sleeping bag. But his effort to get a little more rest stopped as he saw Kairi looking at him from her own sleeping bag. Her brow furrowed, she whispered, “Can’t sleep?”

Managing a smile, Sora propped himself up on his elbows and mumbled,“Hey, it’s better than being a lazy bum, right?”

Kairi sat up as she shook her head and answered, “Not if it’s giving you nightmares.”

Sora winced, smile fading as he acknowledged the weight of his journey. “After everything that’s happened, fighting the heartless, beating Ansem, I thought that all we’d have to do is save Riku and the King.” Just one last task before they could go home. Before he could return to her. “But now there’s these people in black robes, that are after you, me, and who knows what.” Looking away, he crossed his arms and muttered “I just wish I knew what to do.”

Kairi looked aside, grimacing as she admitted, “Sometimes, there’s not much you can do. Sometimes, you just need to wait for your chance to fix things.”

Any other time, Sora would try and joke about how he hated waiting. Yet he couldn’t even manage that, only voicing the fear that had been gnawing at him since facing Zexion. “But what if the time comes and my best isn’t enough?”

Sitting up now, Kairi faced Sora as she quietly responded, “I’d say trying is better than doing nothing. Even if you lose, you get to learn from your mistakes.”

He had to admit it was a good point. Taking his lumps losing to Riku was how he started getting good enough to beat him when they were play-fighting. But things had gone far beyond fun and games now. Sora’s hands gripped the sleeping bag as he muttered,  “What if me losing means you get hurt for it?”

The room was quiet, Kairi wincing as she answered, “If I get hurt, we’ll find a way to get through it. We found a way to bring you back from being a heartless right?” 

Sora furrowed his brow as he heard a hint of fear in her voice. That moment in Hollow Bastion, where he faded away in front of her. Did Kairi blame herself for that? Having to hide her heart in his, leaving her unable to do anything as he sacrificed himself?  Then his eyes widened as he realized he missed one important detail. 

“Kairi, why were you up?”

“Sora!”

She came to with a start, watching as he stumbled back with the keyblade dissolving from his chest.

Kairi ran to him, the terror at what she knew would happen burning away any drowsiness. For a brief second, she could feel her fingers hold him again in his arms.

But a second later, no-one was there.

But hadn’t this happened before? Kairi wasn’t sure. She looked around, wasn’t Sora traveling with someone else? “Donald? Goofy?”

But no-one was there.

“Riku?” He was just here! Even if he was possessed, he couldn’t have gotten far! She ran down the carpeted steps, trying to find someone. Barging through the door, she looked around the white halls of Castle Oblivion. Her voice echoed as she cried out, “Hello!? Anyone?!”

But no-one was there.

“I was having a little trouble sleeping too,” Kairi admitted as she pulled her knees to her chest.

Sora slipped out of his sleeping bag and shuffled closer. “Anything you want to talk about?”

Kairi looked over to him before she shuffled out of her bag and faced him. “I was alone climbing up Castle Oblivion. When I was fighting to see you again, it was easier not to think about it.” The one hand still lingering on her pillow gripped it as she muttered, “But now that I’m with you again, all I can think about is how I don’t want to lose my friends again.”

Quietly, Sora made his way next to her and placed his hand atop hers on the pillow. “I’m sorry you had to go alone,” he said to her as his blue eyes met hers. It wasn’t quite something he had to apologize for, but he wanted to say it nonetheless. Though a second later, he realized just what he truly wanted to say.  

“I’m sorry I left you behind.”

Kairi gently wove her fingers with his as she shook her head. “I’m not sure it’s much better than seeing friends attack me. Or being told everyone was going to forget you.” Sora nodded, a hint of guilt coming over him as he recalled her horrified face when he explained the illusions he confronted through the castle. Then again, there wasn’t much point in measuring their pain. If Kairi was hurt, Sora would do everything he could to—

Sora’s train of thought came to a halt as he felt her pull on his arm. He watched with surprise as Kairi reached over and pulled him into a hug. “Kairi? You’re—.”

“Please.” A quiet murmur from her was enough to stop his questions. “I just want to know this is real.”

Sora wasn’t going to argue, as he let his arms wrap around her as well to return the embrace. The reassurance that she was here. That they weren’t alone or forgotten. Feeling the beat of her heart slow with his, matching in rhythm. A moment of solace in the conflict they’d found themselves in.

They still had to find Riku and Mickey, and understand what those men in black wanted. But right now, they were content to recover their spirits together.

Pulling away, Sora saw Kairi had relaxed, a gentle smile on her face that seemed to match his own. “Do you think you can get back to sleep?”

And that was the moment Donald’s alarm clock went off, ringing as it rattled across the floor. The two yelped as they shot to their feet at the sound, though neither seemed to want to let go. Instead, it was Donald who groaned and brought his hand down on the clock to silence it. “Morning already?”

Stretching with a yawn, Goofy mumbled,“Well, let’s make some breakfast and get outta here!”

Xion slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. But she paused as she looked at Sora and Kairi. “Are you okay?”

Kairi looked at Sora, the two still hugging and slowly let go with a nervous chuckle. “Just had a hard time sleeping.”

Wincing, Xion fiddled with the zipper on her sleeping bag. “I’m sorry. Are you feeling better?”

Sora’s hands lingered with Kairi’s for a few seconds as he nodded. “Yeah, we are.”

Seeing Kairi nod in Agreement, Xion got out of the sleeping bag with a satisfied smile. “Then let’s help with breakfast.”

They had set up camp at the Sanctuary before the first floor, their journey out much quicker as the illusions were gone. Just a quick trip down an empty collection of memories. Though not a quiet one, as Xion asked questions about the many sights.

Yet as they opened the door out of the castle, there was a sight that made them wonder if there was one last trick. 

On the shadowed rock leading away from the castle above the abyss stood two figures. A fat cat in a red and purple outfit. And Maleficent, alive and well.

 Donald squawked at the sight of the sorceress,“What the?!”

“It can’t be!” Kairi took a step back, Xion hiding behind her.

Gritting his teeth, Sora called on his keyblade and settled into a fighting stance. “Maleficent and…!” 

Only to realize that she was being accompanied by a rather large figure he had never seen before. “Who are you?”

At the lack of recognition the cat sputtered, “WHAT?! Don’t tell me you two didn’t tell them about the great and mighty Pete?!”

As Pete pointed to him and Donald, Goofy grumbled “We sure woulda told them if we knew you joined up with Maleficent!”

“How are you even back?!” Donald pointed his wand at Maleficent as he pointed out, ”We beat you back in Hollow Bastion!” 

The questions only made the sorcerer chuckle as she brought a hand to her chest. “Unfortunately, I am very hard to kill. More to the point, you are barring my path to true power.” Sweeping her hand forward, she pointed to Castle Oblivion. “One of the last few bastions of keyblade wielders was said to lie between light and dark. I can think of no place better than this that might house the secrets of χ-Blade.”

Sora furrowed his brow at the speech. “Keyblade wielders? Key…blade?” It made no sense. Nevermind how she came back, why was she talking about keyblade wielders from the past? Why in the world was Maleficent emphasizing the first syllable in keyblade like that? Was she slurring it? 

“How fortunate that I called on some assistance for such a reunion.” Raising a hand, Maleficent conjured a dark portal that grew larger and larger. Stepping forth from the shadow came a large beast, yellow eyes glinting as it stared down everyone before Maleficent. The air thickened with heat for every step the large heartless took. Snapping her fingers, Maleficent ordered.“Take the girls, both of them!” At Maleficent’s words, the beast's eyes began to glow.

Sora barely had enough time to defend himself as the creature’s eyes flashed, causing an eruption of flame around it. Glancing back, he saw Donald had gotten behind Goofy and his shield, while Xion had remained behind Kairi as she used her keyblade to blunt the force of the blast.

A sight that caused Pete to take a step back. “Wait, she’s got a keyblade!?” Looking at Maleficent, he tugged at his collar as he asked, “She wouldn’t happen to be one of the princesses we’re after, would she?”

Watching as Kairi held her ground defending Xion, Maleficent muttered, “Unfortunately, she is. This complicates matters.”

“Alright, Riku. We’re almost out!” 

Then a voice from behind Sora caused everyone’s attention to turn to the doors of Castle Oblivion.

A voice that Sora had heard only once before, but Donald and Goofy had recognized in an instant. “Your Majesty!” 

Though to Sora and Kairi, their attention was focused on the one who limped behind Mickey. “Riku!” 

“You!” A snarl from Pete put an end to the cheer as he began to stomp his feet in fury. “You little punk! What’re you doin’ here!? Maleficent said you were gone!”

“Pete?!” The shock from Mickey's face was quick to pass as he called on his keyblade. “Don’t tell me you’re using the heartless!”

Maleficent held a hand in front of Pete to keep him back and scowled, “Enough. The circumstances have clearly changed.” Yet her face softened as she saw Riku again. “But perhaps there is still hope, my boy. If you might aid me again.”

Riku winced, and clenched his fists before shaking his head. “No. Never again.”

Conjuring a portal, Maleficent spat at him, “Then take your weakness and rot in it. Pete, we will return later.”

Sora chased after them, trying to weave his way through the flames. But that was enough to slow him down and keep him away while Maleficent, Pete, and the heartless creature they had summoned vanished into shadow.

Silence hung over everyone. So much has happened, not just in the past minute, but over the past few months. Questions of what had happened, and how people were here seemed to be gathering in everyone’s minds. Even as Sora and Kairi walked towards Riku, he couldn’t bear to look back. Donald and Goofy were stuck looking to where Maleficent had gone and Mickey had arrived.

 But eventually the silence was broken.

“Hi, I’m Xion. Who’re you?”

[zekedms]

Sora stood defiant, keyblade pointed out to his side. arms wide as he kept himself between Xemnas and his target. He took a deep breath and shouted, voice echoing through the corridors and alleyways of Twilight Town.

"Why are you doing this? What did Little Chef do to you?"

"Foolish boy" Xemnas said as he stood perfectly upright, calm and motionless in the face of his young anyway. "Scrooge and his pet mean nothing, this is about the true darkness that resides inside all of us." His voice was quiet, almost still in the shadowy afternoon as the distant sound of the tram bell threatened to overpower his words.

"So go get your own food!" Sora yelled, desperation coming to the surface. Le Grand Bistro had strugged for weeks, not for lack of customers but lack of food. Even Scrooge's fortune could only do so much, and now they'd reached the end of their supplies despite the efforts of Sora, Donald, and Goofy to scour the worlds for the morsels the restaurant struggled to find. Sora wouldn't stand for it, but he wasn't ready for this fight. Riku was still scouting for the thief, totally unaware that the bait had already lured their quarry right to his friend while Donald and Goofy were off at Disney Castle.

It didn't matter, Sora had to do something. "I won't let you hurt my friends!" he said, trying to reassure himself as much as warn his enemy. He took the grip of his keyblade into both hands and dashed forward while the blade lagged behind until he swung with all his might.

Xemnas lifted a single hand, summoning his own to repel Sora with a casual ease as the metal clashed. The length of the blades ground and sparked as the Nobody leaned into the block, voice raising. "You can do nothing to stop me. Can you smell it, boy? The stench of it. Your Little Chef uses nothing but the best, and the ingredients you bring him back are nothing short of exquisite. You've made this possible."

"Shut up!" Sora shouted - Xemnas was under his skin, and he couldn't think of anything better to say. It didn't matter, he just had to hold him off long enough for Riku to get back. He spun on his heels, twisting to strike Xemnas's right with s long reach. He knew he'd have to get lucky to hit him, but all he needed was time. As soon as he felt the impact of the block, he spun back and swung as hard as he could, ready to jump into the air and bring the keyblade down as soon as he felt the impact.

Instead, he fell to the ground as he saw a dark blur move past him. "Huh?" he emitted as he landed on his back, realizing Xemnas had shot past him. "Hey!"

It was too late. Xemnas held his prize in his hands, smiling as he held up the can of beans. "Now, Sora, I will succeed where Ansem failed." He ripped the top off and greedily gulped the legumes, cold and wet in their salty brine.

"Oh, gross!" Sora said as he jumped back up to his feet. "What's wrong with you?"

Xemnas's arms flared out and his fists clenched as the smell of sulfur and methane filled the alley. A haze appeared behind him with an orange glow that began to form in that familiar heart shape Sora had come to fear. Xemnas took a wide stance in front of the forming portal, knees bent with sweat forming on his brow. It began to open with a loud, rippling sound and a wave of darkness that eclipsed the dim light of the city.

"Behold!" Xemnas shouted over the bellowing gateway, smile forming on his face, "Kingdom Farts!"

[theophagie]

ngl, for a long time my idea of the destiny trio clouded what was actually in front of me. just what happens when youre very nostalgic about the early games i guess. but its also like nomura himself doesnt really know what to do with riku and kairi. or maybe just not how to show it right. or maybe he constantly changes his mind, i dont fucking know. for me kh3 really drove home that riku and kairi dont have much of a connection left. and its just so odd when kh2 went out of the way to show us they do care. and then you got them being excited about seeing each other in khmom, though that could just be because theres no sora around so its like hey the other guy from my home island! i dont know. i still dont know how to see them

Honestly considering how inconsistent their friendship is I think I half agree with the hypothesis that Nomura isn't sure of what to do with them :/ it just really feels like they have nothing going on anymore on a personal level, not unless Sora is involved (and even then... 😬). I think that the Female Characters Discourse™ is a bit of a thorny subject because historically it has always been a breeding ground for mysoginy, casual and not, but yeah it should be more than fair to say that Kairi has pulled a few dick moves towards Riku lol (re: KH3, had that scene ended with that I wouldn't really raise an eyebrow at it, it's what she does after it that has me ???, because it really comes across as her wanting to distract Sora from thinking about what's up with Riku). But even then this weird behavior wouldn't really be a problem if her character was handled in a better way, in a way that would make you understand where it's all coming from and why, and truthfully most of the weirdness of the Riku-Kairi friendship comes from her side. I don't think that her being a princess of heart is as much of a problem as the repetitiveness of her story is, especially because it's coupled with her being The Girl. Kairi has a role in all three main titles, and in all three main titles she gets kidnapped by a villain and is ultimately saved by Sora, with KH3 absolutely reaching the bottom of the barrel by straight up having her get fridged for... manpain reasons. And then after Sora sacrifices himself for her, in Melody of Memory she once again has to resort to channelling him or whatever to face fake!Xehanort. It's more than fair to look at all this and go "what the hell" !!!!!! The fact that she pulls her weight and uses her powers to save him back is the bare minimum... And on a more personal note, I get that one of the points made is that she needs time to become as strong as the others blah blah blah, but I'm like, genuinely almost repulsed by this kind of narrative when it comes to female characters ansjdkfgk, so really. 😬 (and by contrast I think that this is one of the reasons why, say, Aqua is instead so universally loved but shhh that's just a theory™). And again, it's unfortunate that this is conflated with mysoginy or character bashing because it's literally not about her, it's about the way she's written, and people can't and shouldn't force themselves to shallow down these things just because some people are dickheads about her

Riku definitely needed to calm down (10/10 teenage angst though), but while I do think that ideally all three of them should find a balance, I wouldn't actually mind it if the point if their trio was that relationships change and evolve over time, possibly even for the worse or in sad ways... if only the writing was clear about wanting to do that instead of telling us that they're all besties despite showing us something else, or at least if it was more consistent in showing us how things between them have changed >_>

[rainbowhairanddaffodils]

I posted 5,859 times in 2022

That's 4,496 more posts than 2021!

477 posts created (8%)

5,382 posts reblogged (92%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@localcryptideli

@tharkflark1

@divinebastet

@embraceyourdestiny

@lightanddarkkh

I tagged 2,330 of my posts in 2022

#kh - 244 posts

#my art - 103 posts

#text - 57 posts

#pokemon - 47 posts

#series: the power of memories - 45 posts

#amazing - 44 posts

#soriku - 35 posts

#delete later - 30 posts

#my writing - 29 posts

#birds - 28 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#“you fight your way i'll fight mine. deal?” vanitas nodded. “deal.” “and when you realize you need help i'll give you one of my pokemon.” “…

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

“Sora, for your crimes against the universe and overuse of the Hero trope, you are sentenced to the rest of your life as an NPC. Knowing you, you’ll probably break free in like a year, but we’ve gotta try something”

35 notes - Posted April 12, 2022

#4

Maybe my aro is showing, but I so much want canon to leave the relationships between all of the friend groups platonic or at least ambiguous. I ship characters in fanfiction, but man do the ambiguous friendships in KH games make me so happy. Like...everyone expects romance, and searches for the tiny bits--and I agree that there is a lot of chemistry between Sora and Riku in particular, and that we’re supposed to read toward SoKai.

But, I really don’t want these relationships to be defined as romantic, because there are just other forms of love that are just as strong, and each friend group holds those forms of love. And I for one kind of just...wish that society wasn’t so that I felt I’d have to have a romantic relationship to get that kind of love and warmth. I don’t want a romantic relationship, but I want intimacy and affection and love. I have one of these friend groups and I so wish that we could see each other in person.

46 notes - Posted January 1, 2022

#3

I feel like after all they went through in the last half of KH3 and in Re:Mind, Sora would probably be pretty ticked when he finds out that Kairi got left behind again...

Well, honestly, he’d probably be upset that people are out to find him, too. The boy has no self-worth and is probably perfectly ‘happy’ thinking that they’d accept he is dead. That’s not to say that he wouldn’t try to get himself home, because he would, but he’d be so upset that people put themselves in danger for him.

But Kairi became an accepted and valued member of the team to Sora at least, and her getting left behind after he worked so hard to save her, because he needs her just as much as he needs Riku, would make him very angry.

58 notes - Posted June 24, 2022

#2

Holy shit, I hate Yen Sid so much, but I gotta point out what I just thought about:

He did not want to be a teacher. He was retired, no longer a Master. Then Mickey comes in and forces his hand. And from there, chaos begins to reign.

It’s no wonder he doesn’t want to actively help out with things. He was retired. He wanted nothing to do with anything anymore. He doesn’t want to take the time to teach Riku and Sora anything at all. So he doesn’t. He goes ‘you should have learned how to do that, you failed’ without giving any way for Sora to have learned.

Like, he’s absolutely the shitty teacher who was forced out of retirement because no one else was left to do the job, and he embodies it. Sits back and doesn’t teach. Doesn’t help at all until the parting the heartless for the lights to proceed. He’s that shitty teacher.

I hate him, but--he didn’t sign up for this.

I still hate him. Maybe more so because hey, now he’s someone I’ve met.

63 notes - Posted May 11, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Am I the only one who was terrified that Sora was gonna try to summon his keyblade and nothing come to his hand? I was 100% sure that was gonna happen, and I would have screamed.

192 notes - Posted April 10, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[daylighteclipsed]

may i add to the discussion? i do wonder if it's fair to refer to sora's choice to put his memories back the way they were as cowardice (as i read from someone's tags) riku made poor choices in his past and had the willpower to try to fix his wrongdoings; sora's predicament was not at all caused by his own doings. he was manipulated by a force he had no knowledge of until the end. why would casting aside his true memories to be put back the way he was a bad thing?

It really comes down to interpretation. I don’t think CoM by itself overtly frames Sora’s choice as good or bad. If you don’t pick up on the arguable subtext that Sora is reliving his trauma from KH1, then Sora choosing to lose his memories of Castle Oblivion to regain his old ones in the end probably feels fine. Though you’re kind of left wondering, what’s the point? What’s the point of this journey if Sora doesn’t remember it, learns nothing from it, gains nothing from it?

Coded arguably re-contextualizes CoM when it comes out and says, hey, Castle Oblivion is about dealing with emotional pain! It’s not a coincidence that Data Sora goes through a similar journey and faces the same predicament that Sora does in CoM: “Are you okay with letting go of the folks that you’ve forgotten?” It’s not a coincidence that Data Sora accepts this pain and learns something from it, unlike Sora in CoM.

Now, if you’re saying what happens to Sora in CoM isn’t his fault so he shouldn’t have to live with his pain like Riku does… my friend, that’s what trauma is. It’s something bad that happens to you, that changes you, that you have to deal with, regardless of who’s to blame. It’s often outside of your control, and it’s unfair.

Continuing to read CoM as Sora processing his KH1 trauma, I have to acknowledge that Sora chooses to stab himself just as he chooses to venture through Castle Oblivion knowing the stakes — he knows his heart will fall to darkness just as he knows he will lose his memories the more illusions he meets. Each time he risks self-destruction, it’s for a good reason, to save a friend, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt him, that it’s not a bad experience he has to deal with the repercussions of.

And there are repercussions for KH1. Roxas. Anti-form. Rage form. You don’t die and come back the same just like you don’t go through trauma and come out the same, which is why coming back to life in fiction is often used as an allegory for living through a traumatic experience.

Coded shows us that when we experience tragedy, loss, trauma, we control how we respond to it… whether we let that pain drag us down into the darkness, take it out on others, or use it to become wiser, kinder — to others or, most relevant for Sora, to ourselves. We determine how our pain affects us and what, if anything, we learn from it.

So, the problem’s not Sora wanting his old memories back so much as Sora choosing to not process or learn anything from CoM because he forgets/represses his memories of Castle Oblivion. It’s the fact that the end of CoM, for Sora and Riku, is presented as a decision to go backwards (try to be who they were before) or forwards (accept the new person they are, for better or worse).

And who can blame Sora, right? I think I would’ve made the same choice in his position. I think most people would have. If you have the chance to forget all that pain and be your old self again, why wouldn’t you? Except… you can’t erase memories. Locking them up is a temporary fix — even if they’re not easy to recall, they’re still inside you, shaping you, so you’re never going to be your old self again. There’s no “old self” to get back to, and you have to accept that. Sora has to accept that.

There’s no way to go backwards… unless, you know, you break the laws of nature and get kicked out of your reality. But even then, it doesn’t erase what happened before and how that changed you. Those memories are still inside you, affecting who you are, no matter how deep you push them down. They’re still determining the trajectory of your life; they’re the reason you wake up a year later in a strange place unable to remember how you got there. You’re not really “back,” and you’re never going to be… To change and grow is to be alive. The only time you stop is when you die… I digress.

CoM also tells us that none of the memories Namine tampers with are gone, an idea reaffirmed by Coded, with Data Sora confident that he will remember all the people he forgot one day, even without a magic fix… So it’s likely that the restoration pod is not Sora’s only option for getting his old memories back in CoM, that Sora could’ve retained his new memories of Castle Oblivion and remembered his old memories eventually, over time.

It would’ve been a pretty different story if Sora had opted out of the restoration pod, huh? Especially since Riku — the whole reason Sora entered Castle Oblivion in the first place — is right behind him. By reuniting with Riku, Sora would’ve accomplished his goal in the end, and they could’ve helped each other with their pain. Sora would’ve actually gained something from CoM, learned something. Grown.

But that’s in hindsight. Like I said, CoM doesn’t really paint Sora’s choice as good or bad in the moment. It’s not until you’re looking back 5, 6 games later that you realize maybe Sora made a poor choice. Maybe Sora repressing his memories of Castle Oblivion did more harm than good for him in the long-run, and maybe this is a reoccurring issue with him. And that’s okay! Sora’s allowed to have flaws and things that scare him. He’s a better character for it.

[fisherrprince]

do you have more thoughts on keyblade fighting that you need to put somewhere, because i have two hands ready to catch Should The Need Arise

anon: hey I heard you mention you’d analysed the combat styles in KH and what you said in the tags was already alluding to really neat stuff, but I for one would love to hear more of what you came up with!! so if you ever wanted to share any of your analysis then the floor is yours

aHAH, MY EXCUSE!!

Okay, so first some words on “standardized wielding styles”. These are styles shared by Terra, Aqua, Vanitas, Riku, and Xehanort and every other scala and daybreak kid. I will make the argument that the red style is the fanciest standard style, while the purple is seen often to make it easier on the little chibi sprites. BUT, I cannot discredit Eraqus, who uses the purple variant in bbs, nor can I discredit half of the Foretellers (Gula and Ava, at least, use this. Invi and Aced use the first type). So, two standard styles. For simplicity, let’s say one for primary offense, one for primary defense. The standard offensive style really wasn’t popular before Scala-era society.

check this difference out, specifically between ava invi and gula:

then between eraqus, hermod, and xehanort, and eraqus and terra.

These two were likely popularized and standardized for education in Scala ad Caelum for their predominant lack of obvious weak spots.

After this, we have unique styles. Those include Sora Kairi and Xion’s (similar to standard defense, but more mobile at the expense of form — Kairi takes after Sora but less confident, she hasn’t been hit that heavily yet), Ven’s (backhand, heavy range and mobility), Roxas’ (modified for two keyblades, but takes after Sora), and Axel’s (taught himself, comfortable with chakrams).

So! Let’s go.

.

Standard (offensive)

All styles have sub-variations, of a sense. Different wielders can choose where their keyblade points, and how they hold it exactly, based on what makes them most comfortable. Terra and Aqua point theirs downward, while Vanitas and Riku hold theirs above their head. What is recognizeable to this style is a hand for the sword, and a hand for guarding/blocking/items/magic.

It’s incredibly efficient. With only one hand on the weapon, you not only free up a hand for other things, but increase your range of movement with said weapon. Test it out yourself! The keyblade hand is always your dominant hand, held behind you for increased power when attacking (since you lose a significant amount of it by choosing not to grip with both hands). This style also decreases the speed of the defense you have, but with that increased mobility and swing power, along with a hand free to brace against the keyblade (defense strength up!), it makes up for it. Many people who use this also have strong barrier spells — both a testament to their preference for coverage and an acknowledgement that any directional block will take a little longer and be weaker if they try it with one hand.

The pointy end, though. What difference does it actually make, the height it’s at?

I think it’s half a matter of attack style preference and half intention. Riku, Vanitas, and Xehanort stab quite a bit. Aqua and Terra slice more. Not that they don’t do both, but it’s the first instinct. Aqua and Terra are also likely taught to hold their keyblade neutrally, in a safe position, until someone starts attacking. It’s polite! Eraqus also holds his one-handed, neutrally, until he gets into position. Riku and Vanitas learned to fight assuming everyone was out to fight them. Invi and Aced may like this style because of range (i hc she’s blind and strikes very very quickly, and he’s already very powerful with just the one arm and wants better motion).

and on character specifics: Terra often switches to two-handed, to copy his dad and add extra power to his hits without always sacrificing the empty hand. Vanitas likely was forced to relearn how to fight, as instead of solely being trained to be better at withstanding, he was constantly being made to better his own attacks. The moves Xehanort uses would best be replicated in the same style. Vanitas is wild for holding the massive spiky x-blade like that.

Now, what‘s good on this style does not correlate to what’s bad in the other. The two standard styles simply have different ways of dealing with each con they create or taking advantage of each pro.

(Here’s an interesting side note — Gula uses standard defensive, but in this instance, swaps. One hand… likely to display confidence! Wrong move, but hey. He got cocky. He’s also doing it wrong, and swaps back to two-handed to take Aced’s attack.)

.

Standard (defensive)

The main detriment of this style is the lack of ease of long range movement. Hold a wrapping paper tube out in front of you with both hands, then run. It goes to the side, or tucks in to your stomach, right? Dodge. Your legs will get in the way unless you know where to move that sword. It requires, interestingly, a little more discipline. You’d think Aqua would like that, but no, she wants movement and practicality, and she loves magic, and remember that you must take a hand off this style to grab a potion. You’d think young Eraqus wouldn’t, but remember that he’s a fancy royal lad.

The main draw, though, is tankiness, readiness, and power. You don’t need to move as much if nothing dares hit you! Ava and Gula might be attracted to this style because they’re not as physically strong, but want protection in close-quarters fighting. Using this style when your muscles aren’t as big but you still want to Hit Things Good, or when you want to be a boy you can’t knock over with a pail of water (horse stance rules), is probably solid advice.

Traditionally, this is a lot less like fencing, and a lot more like a samurai sword or kendo. Your blade is held in front of you, giving you very easy access to blocks and frontal attack/defense. In losing some twirly spinniness, you gain power and minimize your opponent’s ability to parry and block.

you gotta dodge master Eraqus so mcuh

All styles will swap between one and two hands for different moves. Eraqus, notably, swaps to a stance very similar to Xehanort when channeling a metric ton of magic.

Both of these styles require a degree of upper body/core strength, as does all swordfighting. I would be interested to see someone whose keyblade style relies on leg strength.

.

Sora, Xion, and Kairi

please look at the difference between the foretellers’ or eraqus’ two-handed grip and Sora’s. Do this with your shoulders and a top-heavy object.

They’re both in a hard stance, but hon. What are you, a gremlin? Anyways, a traditionally taught master would have… better form, even if it’s harder to learn at first. It’s habitual. Sora nearly crouches, and holds his keyblade back-pointed with two hands, which makes it easier for him to dodge roll, push off his feet quickly, and pull off those spinning combos he loves. It‘s really gonna hurt his muscles, in the future, though, since he’s doing a squat for like…. hours. Pulling on those shoulderblades and neck. Xion, too. Replicas had better have correct muscle dynamics. Kairi is brand new, so… maybe Aqua can teach her how to hold a sword so it doesnt hurt you.

Okay, now look at the grip itself. Held in front versus held to the side-back. They’re really attempting to combine both standard styles subconsciously, giving themselves more attack power while really wanting to keep that hard defensive parry, wanting to prevent all attacks to the front while also wanting mobility. It’s working for them really well, they fight like an anime character, and manage to get the best of both, with a minor sacrifice of length range that they don’t care about. We’re flexible and full of magic, baby! Holding the blade like this makes it pretty easy to let go with one hand without sacrificing that crouched defense position.

Now, Sora, specifically, is very adaptive. He’s had two keyblades, claws, guns, yo-yos, and a giant shield, to name a couple. He retains a bit of that alert crouch no matter where he goes, but Sora knows how he wants to attack and how to balance that with the most effective way to use his current weapon. He’s a smart kid! Sora has the most ridiculous shotlocks, which are also probably due to not always wanting to go standard for it. He also prefers to keep his focus on the enemy, which is evident in his reprisals and lack of very many effective “escape” moves.

Xion is very similar to Sora, but she does have some moves that are all movement. She switches to one handed for strikes a lot — using two for defending, one for smacking. In her data battle I’d swear some of those heavy hits are claymore-like. But anyways, since we’re magic, Xion cares not for the laws of exhaustion, and will ping about as a ball of light everywhere. Short range? Up in your business. Mid-range? In your business with one hand. Long range? Throws a boomerang. Hit her? No you dont. Ball of light. She’s above you and wants to bash your head in. (Vanitas also does this! A lot. It’s an easy way to catch someone off-guard. I’ll argue that the soras are very tough and strong, but not tanky. they want to avoid being hit a lot)

Another interesting note about Kairi. I say “unconfident” not because she doesn’t hit hard, but because her stance is also often tilted back, ready to dodge. It’s two handed, but almost all her moves are one. She does love spinning and throwing the thing! It looks like she’s been taking notes from the wielders she knows. It would be easy to teach her a standard style, I think. See here, she lets go on the strike, and by trying to do both, actually ends up with an advantage (being confusing) and disadvantage (losing both the power of two handed and versatility of one handed).

A counter to Sora and Xion is difficult to pin down. Time? Probably. Lack of heating pads. Something that takes all their attention is about the only way to get a sneak attack in, and then you have to hit hard. A counter to Kairi would be anyone who can knock her off balance. She needs a sturdier stance. .

Roxas

Roxas is interesting. He takes after Sora for the one blade. Wielding two, however, nets him a totally different way of fighting. Roxas’ clavicle muscles n… deltoids and stuff must be Ironclad. Also, two handed means you are very fast and sharp all the time. He has the advantage of standard defense (horse stance), and the advantage of offense (range of one sword, but twice).

Roxas generally attacks in two ways — simultaneous hits, and follow-up hits. Either he hits with both at once, or hits hard with the first one, and adds the second one as a bonus smack. He can attack by hitting in opposite directions with the two, like a drum, but that will be a little awkward and leave him prone to being tangled. That established, the follow-up hit method means he spins a bunch. As do we all.

Roxas gets a little complicated because we are not in the real world. We have magic and turning into light and physics that let you become a circular saw. So, typically, disadvantages would include: being unable to let go of a weapon to grab something or use an item, having just a very big silhouette to attack on, having difficulty with close-range attacks because Oathkeeper and Oblivion are kinda long, and convenience. Roxas gets to dodge #1 (keyblades can be unsummoned) and #4 (keyblades can be unsummoned). Speaking of dodging, he also gets to skirt the difficulty of dodging and rolling with two swords because he turns into a beam of light. But he can’t dodge how difficult it is to use two swords effectively — he needs to concentrate on fighting, and nothing else, or he risks messing up. He has to be very, very coordinated, and undistracted. Luckily he’s pretty good at making his opponents shut up, most of the time. Blocking is another thing — theoretically his blocks could be strong, but Roxas has no real brace: crossing your blades and taking a hefty stab might smack one of them back into your face. He mostly uses reversals and dodges, because of this.

The takeaway to this is Roxas is built for speed and power, and he is very strong. He’s a mid- to far- range fighter who if you’re not careful can snap you in half if you’re too close (be SO careful of that cross blade scissor).

A perfect counter to Roxas would be a tank that can grapple, and also be very distracting. If you can take hits, be talkative, and get close enough to stop his blades, you have a chance.

.

Ventus

This is a bizarre choice, my guy, but I get it.

Backhanded weapons are very impractical for a lot of... attacking, mainly in mid-range combat, and Ven likes to either fight very close or throw the keyblade like a boomerang (and hey, backhand gives it a good whip for throwing). His attacks aren’t meant to one hit KO, but they do come with a bit of power to them, especially on the backslash. Like holding a knife for gouging. It’s for very close defense — pretty good when Wayward Wind and Missing Ache have hooks.

Backhand also, while retaining that empty hand for potions and guarding, gives you an extreme coverage boost. By which I mean Ven’s sword hand now has a nearly 270 degree sweep of “I see you, don’t touch me”, very quickly, based on just flicking his wrist. It sacrifices a ton of strength/sturdiness, but you don’t need that if you’re dodging. You also don’t really need to block, which is slower, but relatively sturdy when Ven does it, as he blocks with mostly the chunky hilt between crossed arms. He sacrifices (again) a bit of strength for coverage — an attack would hurt his arms, not his chest, if he were hit head-on.

His attacks often have him flip the blade around in his hand, too. Quick swaps between standard moves and backhand ones. Basically, Ventus is built for moving, protecting himself, and quick attacks that wear down the enemy, not outclass it. Likely because he’s good at fighting, but everyone he’s fought hits harder than he can! It doesn’t matter how he holds it, getting hit will hurt. So he just. Doesn’t. He’s not a buff little guy — but he is a persistent one. Ven very likely made this up on his own, in Daybreak, and it was too hard to fix his whole style, but it was enough to correct most of his form so he doesn’t hurt himself too much. He is going to have to really stretch that shoulder and wrist (maybe get a brace), though. At least his neck is ok. … not sure about his knees tho dang boy that crouch

A perfect counter to Ven would be someone big and fast, who hits hard mid-range. He’s already been sparring with Terra, though, so when in doubt, try scruffing him?

.

Axel

Theres not a ton to say about him — he‘s not a swordfighter. He uses his keyblade like it’s a frisbee. Because that’s what he’s used to! His neutral is behind his back on his shoulder, which is terrible for readiness, but okay for chucking the thing. It’s good it has a sort of… ripstik like… boomerang quality.

Axel’s fighting style is completely made up, like most of the self-taught wielders’. His strengths lie in some of the benefits of standard offensive style (one-handed), and some of the same coverage stuff as Ven, having a cocked wrist most of the time so no one can sneak up around him without risking getting whacked very quickly, and having an interesting range due to the pointy end being basically on a spinny swivel wherever his hand moves. He’s not going to be good at close-range and he knows it — his attacks are mostly distance. And the guy has ZERO defense, combined with zero coverage when idle, so it’s for the better.

Distance-wise, though, he rocks. Treating the blade like it’s a flaming throwing weapon means his idle is actually great for sudden flick-tossing and attention-guiding for sneakier attacks, and his stance itself (…nonexistent) serves a different purpose: bait. Basically a big "come hit me". Fun, when you have a lot of fire magic and two friends who are beasts and love to take advantage of a distracted enemy — distance on the blade, proximity on the burning.

A perfect counter to Axel would be someone pinging around very close <—> very far and circling him incessantly. Like, data Xion could wreck him, as he has to wait for the boomerang to come back -- he no longer has two spinny wheels. Also someone with water magic.

.

SO! In conclusion! Having a teacher who teaches you correct sword usage rather than instinct may detract from overspecific styles that benefit you most but leave weak spots, but your muscles and your oversights will thank you. Everyone is glad we have the power of the Mouse and anime on our side.

Keep in mind again that I have done cursory research, and have had minimal actual sword instruction, I am not an expert and this is all for fun anyways :]

[vengeverse]

★~ VenquaWeek2022 ★ Day 4: Ocean ★ Read on Ao3! ~★

For the first time in a long time, Ventus could relax.

After one long year of searching, Sora had finally been found and safely brought back home. Many tearful and jubilant reunions were had, including a grand welcome back party on Destiny Islands.

Now that things had finally settled down, Sora, Riku, and Kairi were busy meeting with the principal of their high school, figuring out their new school schedules after missing several years of education. Ven was glad to not be in their shoes.

Instead, he, Aqua, and Terra were spending one last day on the Play Island before renewing their search for his other lost brother.

Ven shifted his toes in the warm sand as he reclined under the shade of a large umbrella while Aqua strode along the beach, searching the shallows for seashells. Terra was doing pushups near the wooden shack, unsatisfied to let a single day go by without getting in some exercise.

Ventus was attempting to write a poem in his green notebook— one inspired by the ocean. He wasn’t entirely sure why he was drawn to it so much— that vast expanse of bright water, but he was intrigued by it all the same.

She’s blue, Ven wrote. More blue than I’ve ever seen; gentle as a light rain and fierce as a tidal wave…

He paused, tapping his pen against his chin. The ocean… What else could he say about the ocean…?

Suddenly, a dark shadow fell over him. “What’re you working on?” Terra asked, attempting to snatch at his journal.

“Hey!” Ventus exclaimed, jerking away. “This is private!”

The older boy looked ready to argue, when Aqua’s voice rang out across the sand. “Terra, why don’t you go get us some coconuts?” she requested.

“Oh, alright,” he huffed, taking one last look at Ven’s notebook before running off towards the other side of the Play Island.

Aqua stared after Terra until he’d disappeared around the wooden shack before plopping down in the sand next to Ventus and spreading out her seashell collection. “Look, I’ve found enough thalassa shells to make an authentic Destiny Islands Wayfinder!” she stated brightly, pointing out five blue-and-yellow seashells. “Kairi taught me how to make one.”

“That’s awesome, Aqua…” Ven said distractedly, trying to remember what he’d wanted to write before Terra had interrupted him.

“…So, just what are you working on?” she asked, regarding him shrewdly.

“Uhm…” Ven hesitated for a moment before handing over the journal. Unlike Terra, Aqua wouldn’t tease him over poetry.

Aqua read over the first few lines and frowned. “…Who’s this ‘she’ you’re writing about?”

“Oh! Uh—” He blushed. Did she think it was silly for him to write about the ocean that way? “N-not anyone in particular…”

“…I see,” Aqua stated slowly, her lips pursed into a thin line. “Well whoever she is, I’m sure you’ll be happy together.” She handed back the journal before standing up and walking away.

Ven blinked, taking a few seconds to register what’d just happened. Then he gaped at Aqua. “W-wait! It’s nothing like that!” he cried, jumping to his feet and running after her.

“Oh?” She turned towards him, a slender eyebrow raised.

“Of course not!” he exclaimed. “Sora told me sailors refer to the ocean as a woman.”

“Why would they do that?” Aqua asked, her frown dropping only to be replaced by a look of bewilderment.

“Probably ‘cause she’s beautiful,” Ven breathed, gazing into Aqua’s deep blue eyes. A realization struck him, then— The reason he was so drawn to the ocean… was because it reminded him of Aqua!

“So you’re not… interested in someone else?” she asked hesitantly, twirling a lock of blue hair around her finger.

Ventus blinked, the breath catching in his throat. “…Even if I was, why would you care so much?” he inquired softly.

“I—” Aqua began uncertainly, “I wouldn’t mind,” she forced out and looked away, a flush rising in her cheeks.

“You’re jealous?” he asked incredulously.

“No!” she shouted, then deflated, her shoulders drooping. “…Yes.”

Ven ran a hand through his hair and laughed. Aqua liked him? Like, liked-liked him? He could scarcely believe it. “So, uhm— Does that mean…? You’d like to go out, sometime… with me…?”

“I…” Aqua took a deep breath and met his gaze. “I’d love to, Ven,” she beamed.

“Wow,” he breathed. “Wow, okay.” Ven sheepishly grinned back, taking her hand. Now this was shaping up to be a most wonderful summer.

★~ The End ~★

Chronological order: Embrace, Sleep, Loss, Flowers, Ocean, Anniversary, and Fairytale.

@venquaweek

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #867: Reached Destination (Kingdom Hearts X SSBU)

9:12 a.m. at the Streets of Smash Town......

Roxas/Xion/Ventus/Namine: (Takes a Look Around the Town in Awe) Wooooah.......

Terra: So this is really Smash Town?

Aqua: I never imagine it being so huge and lively.....

Lea: You think this place have a clock tower?

Isa: Probably. But I doubt we'll have the time to find it in a place like this....

Barret: I don't think I'll ever understand how y'all like going up there all the time. Don't you ever scared get of falling off?

Lea: (Shrugs) Eh. Not really. I like the view so much that the fear of dropping doesn't really bother us that much.

Isa: Are you not a fan of heights yourself, Barret?

Barret: Not completely. I'm willin' to go to high places whenever duty calls. But I'm more of a grounded type of guy if ya catch my drift.

Isa: I see.

Riku: (Turns Back to the Gang) Guys. We're getting off tracking here.

Kairi: (Nodded in Agreement) Riku's right. We need to keep focusing on finding Sora and see if he's actually here. So there's no time waste.

Isa: Right. ('Clears Throat') Getting back to the manner at hand, this is Smash Town. A place where it's well known for hosting the biggest combat fighting tournament of the century: Smash Bros. As well as the place Tifa and Cloud moved into years prior, just in case you were wondering.

Barret: Which brings us to why we came here in the first place. You see, a few nights ago, I remembered the Merc telling me about the new fighters that have been joining the tournament as of late. The last five or six if you will. And once I remembered Isa here told me about him entering that Olympic tournament in the past, the idea of him being here just clicked in my mind instantly!

Vantias: So basically what you're saying here is that Sora was chosen to take part of their tournament from the start?

Namine: And that he was summoned here because of it?

Isa: (Simply Nodded) Precisely. And while there's a possible chance of us being wrong, I'm still willing give this place a thorough investigation.

Kairi: (Nodded in Agreement) So are we. Do you think you know where Ms. Lockhart and Mr. Strife live now that they've already moved here?

Barret: Yeah. They said they're living in a mansion along with the other fighters. Can't say I exactly know what it looks like, but from what I've heard, it's supposed to be huge.

Lea: (Starts Nodding While Understanding the Situation More) Alright.....So all we had to find a giant ass mansion....Not too difficult.

Aqua: Well, if that's the case, then I think it's best that we spit into two groups. Terra, Ven, Namine, Vantias, Roxas, Xion, and I will look around town and find ourselves a place to stay for the night or two. While the rest of you find that mansion.

Lea: Sounds like a good enough plan to me. We ain't leaving here until we found our boy, so let's start moving out, people!

Everyone: (Nodded in Agreement) Right!

With everyone splitting up and walking with their respective groups, Lea starts catching up to Riku and Kairi.

Lea: Hey, kids.

Riku: (Turns to Lea Along With Kairi) Hm?

Kairi: What's wrong, Axel?

Lea: It's nothing. I was just.... wondering how you two are feeling right now is all. Especially after everything that happened earlier...

Riku: Well, we don't feel like crying anymore. So there's that at least.......

Kairi: ('Sigh') Yeah..... (Smiles a Little) Still, we can't thank you guys enough for helping us.

Riku: (Nodded in Agreement)

Lea: (Smiles Brightly) Nah. There's no need to thank us for that. You know we got your backs. Plus, we'd probably would've freak out too if any one of us went missing. Maybe without all the crying though.

Riku: I dunno.... (Starts Smirking at Lea) I'm pretty sure you would've start crying in a heart beat if that were to ever happen.

Lea: (Scoffs Before Turning Away) As if! I don't cry that easily!

Kairi: Really? (Starts Crossing her Arms While Smirking as Well) So does the movie "Coco" doesn't ring any bells to you or.....

Lea: (Groans While Rolling his Eyes in Defeat) Okay, fiiine! So maybe there's one instance of me-

Riku/Kairi: (Already Raising an Eyebrow at Lea) ..........

Lea: TWO instances of me letting my emotions run rapid. But other than that, I can be as calm and cool-headed as anyone of you clowns!

Isa: (Walks Past Lea With a Chuckling Barret Next to Him) Please. You're the biggest crybaby on the face of the Earth. Especially back when we were children.

Lea: (Groans in Anger Before Glaring at his Boyfriend and Giving him the Middle Finger) PISS OFF, ISA!

Isa: Love you too, crybaby.

Kairi/Riku: (Giggles Softly)

Lea: (Glares Back at the Laughing Teens) Oh! So now my pain and misery is funny to you twerps or something!?

Riku: (Calming Himself Down) No. No. It's nothing like that. It's just helping us feel a lot better than before and we have you to thank for that, Axel.

Lea: Yeah? Well....(Starts Looking Away While Crossing his Arms Again) It better help you feel more better.....(Felt Kairi Hugging Him Before Looking Down at Her) What? Is this some kind of a apology hug or something?

Kairi: (Giggles Softly) No, stupid!~ It's thanks for having our backs and being the best big brother ever. (Gives Lea a Peck on the Cheek on her Tippy Toes) We love you, Axel.

Lea: (Sighs While Smiling Softly) Yeah. Yeah. I love you dorks too.

Meanwhile at Smash Mansion......

Tifa: (Walking Around the Dining Hall with Sora, Cloud and Pit) How are you enjoying the tour so far. Sora?

Sora: (Smiles Brightly) I'm loving every second of it already. I don't think I'll ever get over how huge this mansion really is. (Turns to the Others While Licking his Ice Cream) Hey, do you guys ever get lost here sometimes?

Cloud: When I first moved in. Wasn't long till I was able to know where I was going.

Tifa: Same goes for me as well actually.

Pit: (Smiles Sheepishly While Holding his Popsicle) I still get lose sometimes.....B-But I am getting the hang it though!

Sora: Awesome. (Starts Licking More of his Ice-Cream) Mm. (Turns to Pit) Say, Pit, this Ice Cream's pretty great. What flavor is it?

Pit: Floor favored.

Sora: (Eyes Begins to Widened) This....ice cream came off from floors?

Pit: (Smiles Brightly) Only the cleanest ones there is! Pretty cool, huh?

Sora: Cool?......(Smiles Brightly as He Held his Ice Cream Up) This is awesome!! Someone should get an award of how genius this is.

Pit: I know, right!? That's what I've been saying!

Cloud: (Watching Pit and Sora Talking and Laughing Among Each Other) Well, I'll be damned. They really are twins.....

Tifa: (Giggles Softly) Be nice, dear.

Cloud: (Shrugs) Just saying.

?????: Never thought I would see you again after all this time (Takes a Sip of his Tea Before Putting the Cup Down on the Table).....Sora.

Sora: (Gasps Loudly Before Dropping his Ice Cream and Immediately Summon his Keyblade and Gets into a Battle Stance at the Very Sight of...) SEPHIROTH!

Tifa: (Immediately Rushes Over to Sora's Side Along with Cloud) Woah woah woah woah woah! Sora! It's okay, sweetheart. Lower your stance and keyblade. He's not a threat anymore.

Sora: Wait. (Eyes Widened in Genuine Surprise While his Keyblade Disappears) Really!?

Cloud: As much as I hate to admit it, Tifa's right.... Sephiroth.....('Sighs Heavily') Is a change man....

Pit: Yeah. He's.....not as scary as he once was when we first met him.

Sephiroth: They're right. I've spend my days enjoying the simpler things in life. Being a proud father of one, being part of the League of Villains, embracing popularity, and psychology mess with Cloud every chance I gets.

Tifa: (Gives Sephiroth a Dark Glare) What was that?

Sephiroth: Nothing. (Went Back to Sipping his Tea Casually) Nothing at all.

Sora: I....see.....G-Good for you, Sephiroth. (Turns to the Others and Whispers to Them) You guys really don't trust him completely, do you?

Tifa: No.

Cloud: Not in a million years.....

Pit: (Turns to Sora) What about you, Sora?

Sora: (Starts Shaking his Hands Little an Uncertain Manner) Ehhhhh.....But....Wait. (Turns Back Sephiroth) Cloud killed you a long while back, right? How were you able to come back to life?

????: That would be thanks to yours truly!

Sora: (Turns and Look at an Unfamiliar Face For a Brief Second Before Turning Back to Pit) Uhhh...Pit, who's that?

Pit: Hades.

Sora: (Eyes Begins to Widened Again) Wait. As in....THE Hades!?

Hades: (Suddenly Appears Next to Sora, Which Caused the Boy to get Startled a Little) The one and only, Keyblade boy! (Starts Smirking in Smug Fashion) Bet you've heard a few things about me, haven't you?

Sora: Yeah, but..... You look COMPLETELY different from the last time I saw you.

Hades: Wait. (Raised an Eyebrow in Confusion) What? Kid, this is the first time we're meeting each other in person. And I've always look like this. (Smirks Evilly) Handsome and evil!

Pit: (Starts Rolling his Eyes) Not too sure about the handsome part......

Hades: Says the angel boy who still can't read.

Pit: (Glares at Hades) HEY! I've gotten better!!

Hades: Doubt it.

Tifa: (Glares at Hades as Well) He has. Just the other day, he managed to read the stop sign all by himself.

Pit: Yeah!

Sora: Ohhhhhhhhh! I think I get it now. (Turns Back to Hades) Sorry, mister. I think I've confused you with another Hades.

Hades: Wait. (Eyes Widened) There's another me!?

Sora: Yeah. He had blue fiery hair, dressed in grey and black, had yellow, sharp teeth, and I think I remember him being more angrier the last time I saw him.

Hades: .....Huh. That's.... actually pretty interesting. (Shrugs) Eh, I'll read into it later. In the meantime, how does it feel being in Smash?

Sora: It feels amazing.....And still surprising in hindsight. I can tell by everyone here that it's not gonna be easy. (Smiles Brightly) But I'll still do my very best no matter what!

Cloud: (Nodded With a Small, Proud Smirk on his Face) Good spirit there, Sora. As long as you keep having faith in yourself, I think you'll do just fine out there.

Tifa: (Smiles Brightly) And we'll be very happy to help whenever you need us.

Pit: I know this is the first time we met and everything, but....(Smiles Brightly) We'll always have your back no matter what. That's the Smash Family way!

Sora: (Heart Begins to Melt in Genuine Happiness) Thanks, guys. (Hugs the Trio Together) You really are amazing.

Pit: (Happily Hugs Sora Back) You too, new buddy!~

Hades: (Teleports Back to Sephiroth Before Whispering to Him in his Ear) You were not kidding when you said the boy was overly positive. Almost giving Kirby a run for his money.

Sephiroth: Perhaps. But regardless, it will be interesting to see how strong the boy has really gotten as of late. Speaking of which......(Noticed Bowser and Ridley Trying to Sneak Out of the Dinning Hall) Oh boys!

Bowser/Ridley: (Immediately Stop in their Tracks) !!!!!

Sephiroth: I believe our bet money is in order. (Continues to Slip on his Tea)

Hades: (Smirks Evilly While Sticking his Hand Out Along) Cough it up!

Bowser/Ridley: (Reluctantly Gives the Duo Fifty Bucks Each While Grumbling in Annoyance)

@26shann

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@caleb13frede

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@cyber-wildcat

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@albion-93

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