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pred1059 · 1 year

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Just A Chance Chapter Eleven

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Secret Report: Larxene I

Some gamble this turned out to be. The keyblade space case needs to blunder his way through Sora’s memories, just so he can maybe get good. And now Roxas is cozying up to Naminé?!

What does that brat think he’s doing!? He’s either smarter than he looks or a complete moron. Either way, he could deep six our entire operation! The little witch could start getting too many ideas.

Of course, Marluxia wants to make his pitch to the punk. Or at least butter him up. Whatever. Either way tomorrow, we remind them who’s really in charge. And if they don’t listen…

Then it gets fun.

Something was wrong. This was clear to Roxas as he looked up at Marluxia. It wasn’t just that he was up to see him this early, and it wasn’t because he had showed up unannounced out of the blue. No, there was some little voice in the back of Roxas’ mind that screamed as Marluxia looked down at him. Nevertheless, he managed to ask, “Is there a problem?”

“Not as of yet,” he walked into Roxas’ room, barely acknowledging his presence. Marluxia ran his fingers along the empty desk to the side as he continued, “You only began to work for the organization little over a week ago. I would not expect you to understand what it truly means to be a Nobody.”

Wait, was that it? Even Roxas knew this much, “We don’t have hearts. According to Xemnas, we don’t exist.” It was all he knew. What had been taught to him from the beginning, “But...“

Marluxia turned back to him with a raised eyebrow, “But?”

But right now, Roxas really wasn’t sure he could believe that. He really didn’t want to believe it. Yet he knew saying Naminé had something to do with it was a bad idea. So he had to think of another way to talk about it. He made his way over to where he woke up, “This exists.” Grabbing the sheets, he began to make the bed, “I can move this.” Roxas slowly turned to Marluxia, “So wouldn’t I have to be here? Be real?”

To Roxas’ surprise, Marluxia nodded with a smile, “Indeed. That is the core paradox of our existence as described by Xemnas. We are not truly alive, and yet we think. We are. We affect the world around us” Marluxia turned his back to Roxas as he continued his speech, “But the rest of the Organization does not see that. Instead, they cling to the past. They cannot realize their true potential. Not while their existence is bound by the pull of memory. Of knowing what they once were.�� Marluxia turned back and placed a hand to his chest, “Unlike you and me”

It wasn’t too hard for Roxas to understand, given the conversation. He took a step forward, “You don’t remember anything from before either?”

Marluxia waved a hand, “Nothing clear enough to matter. Thus it is irrelevant.” It seemed simple. And yet to Roxas it didn’t sit well. Just ignoring things that weren’t important. Not when his own past, Sora’s past, had such a hold on him. Nevertheless, Marluxia continued. “I have no irrational impulses to ignore. Which brings me to my question.”

He looked down at Roxas, “Is there a reason why you decided to visit Naminé?”

There it was again, the voice that wanted to run. Unfortunately, Marluxia was blocking the exit, and there was no way Roxas could be honest. Just hearing what was said made it clear that Marluxia didn’t want to hear anything about what Roxas believed in. But eventually, Roxas came up with an answer, “I wanted to make sure she was okay.” At Marluxia’s raised eyebrow he continued, “You and Larxene don’t seem to be treating her well.”

“She has no emotions. Nothing in her that feels.” He walked toward Roxas, arms crossed behind him. Eyes unwavering.

Taking a step back Roxas tried his best to speak up, “But she can hurt.”

Marluxia continued to advance, “And because of that pain, she knows not to defy us.”

And then Roxas couldn’t take it anymore. “But she’s doing what she can to help. Why keep hurting her no matter what she does?” Because it made no sense. What kept on driving Marluxia and Larxene to treat her like a tool?!

“It is less than before. Now that she is more compliant, Larxene and I raise a hand against her less and less.”

Roxas was stunned. Did..did Marluxia really not understand what he was asking? If all he was worried about was Naminé doing her job then, “Why do you care about how I treat her?”

“I was concerned that you were simply following impulses based on Sora. Caring for the remnant of the girl that he cares for.”

Roxas tensed at Marluxia’s words. No...no It wasn’t an impulse. There was more. There had to be more.

“But if it is simply practicality, then there is no issue.”

…

Well, if Marluxia was willing to take that answer to back off, “Yes. That’s all I wanted to know about her.” At least at first. He didn’t need to tell Marluxia about how things changed as he kept visiting Naminé. About their dinners. Their conversations.

How everything didn’t hurt so much when he was with her.

For now though, Marluxia was satisfied and walked away, “Focus on what is here and now. Then you will no longer be bound by memory.” Darkness surrounded him and he vanished, speaking, “Only then will we be truly free.”

There was a moment of silence before Roxas’ hand balled into a fist. Free, huh?

Would Naminé be free in that future Marluxia wanted?

Deep down, Roxas knew the answer. And he couldn’t stand it. That’s why he had to keep getting stronger. He had to win for her. So she wouldn’t have to keep making fake memories. So Naminé could be free. Could be happy.

Just the smallest chance was worth it.

Naminé knew she was being selfish. Larxene and Marluxia never failed to remind her of the implications of their plan. And discarding those plans for her own sake was just further proof. But even so. Roxas’ words wouldn’t leave her. Couldn’t leave her.

Real.

What she wanted more than anything was to be someone to somebody. To belong without any worry or fear. And when she was with Roxas, it seemed like she did. Shouldn’t she take that chance? Wasn’t it worth it?

But she sighed as she looked back to the notebook of Sora. Marluxia and Larxene didn’t care, they made that clear even before they unveiled their grand plan. As if on cue there was a swirl of darkness. Of course morning inspections were routine. Making sure she was ready for the day of taking Sora’s memor—.

“So Roxas has been seeing you.”

With Larxene’s words, she froze, crayon hovering above the page. Naminé swallowed the lump in her throat, “Yes.”

“Do you like seeing him?” The voice was closer now, right behind her.

She didn’t want to answer back. It would only make things worse. Upset them that their plans were getting so far off track. It would be easier to keep quiet. Or just say…

No. It wasn’t possible. Something inside of her couldn’t do it. Couldn’t even deny what he meant to her. Some part of her desperately wanted to answer Y—.

“Oh Yeah! I forgot!” A barking laugh accompanied the hand at her shoulder, “You’re a Nobody! As if you could like anyone.” Stepping around, Larxene leaned down so she was eye level with Naminé “So quit getting distracted.”

She tensed, hand gripping the notepad in her lap, “He only sees me for dinner. When I’m done with my work.”

“He comes to see you?” Larxene stood up at the answer before scoffing, “You think that rucksack cares about you? He’s only visiting you because you’re someone new.” She began to tap her fingers on the crystal ball, images swirling within showing Roxas walking the halls, “What happens when he finds someone better to spend his time with?”

Despite everything, there was no way Naminé could speak back. Not with anything that wouldn’t make things worse.

“We both know how this ends,” Larxene snapped her fingers and Roxas’ image vanished, “Once he gets bored of you he’ll leave you behind. So are you going to daydream? Or get back to work?” Larxene glared down at Naminé who was still silent. Until finally, she flipped to the latest page of Sora’s book and resumed her picture. “Good. Now behave while I go take care of business downstairs,” and with that, Larxene vanished into shadow.

Naminé once again continued to outline Sora’s figure travelling Wonderland. But after a few lines she stopped, her crayon hovering above the page before she set it aside with a sigh. Despite Larxene’s lecture being the same as ever, for once she couldn’t really believe it. Something deep inside of her just knew that Roxas was right. There was some part of her that was real, some part of her that had hurt with how she was being treated by the Organization.

A part of her that Roxas’ visits had helped to mend.

Axel stretched, groaning as he joined Roxas and Zexion, “Ugh. Slept like a log last night. Of course, having a decent breakfast helped too.” He clapped his hands together, “So. Next up on our world tour?”

Zexion held up a card showing a massive forest of a world,“The Deep Jungle.”

Axel winced at the sight, “Oh yeah. Going to be a pain going back there. The weather’s a mess and there’s bugs everywhere.”

Roxas raised an eyebrow as he turned to Axel, “Wait. You’ve been there before?”

Zexion nodded and began to explain, “Before you arrived, Naminé attempted an escape using a world card. In fact, it was likely the first world card created.”

“It’s how we discovered her powers. We were able to handle it well enough back then,” Axel gave a shrug, “so It shouldn’t be too tough on you.”

“Indeed, we have been studying the card in the lower levels. It’s been useful in crafting cards of our own, should the need arise. It’s rather fascinating when you get down to it,” Zexion turned the card over in his hand as he rambled, “Even if the memory of a desired world is incomplete, the card will often fashion details as needed where none exist. From that—.”

“Um...Zexion?” Roxas spoke up to interrupt, “I’m not sure I’m going to be able to figure something like that out right now.”

Axel chuckled, “Don’t worry, I helped out with the lab work once or twice, and even I don’t get it. Still, Roxas’ got a point. We’re on the clock for training, not research.”

Zexion sighed and turned to the door, “Very well. A reasonable enough point.” He raised the card and engravings on the doorway glowed with familiar light. “Shall we?

As they walked through, Roxas could definitely feel the heat through his cloak. It was a miracle that he wasn’t overheating in the thing. The door opened to a house made completely out of wood. Roxas walked carefully as the boards creaked. Something was...off...

Axel strode across the length of the room, looking over the wooden crates and shelves covered by moss. He scoffed, “Can’t say much for the decor,” then leaned out the window and whistled, “Though the view isn’t half bad.” Roxas wished he could be as relaxed as Axel. But something told him this just wasn’t right.

Zexion narrowed his eyes, “Mind you, this seems to have been made more with survival as a priority rather than aesthetics.”

Then Roxas realized just what was bothering him, “You said there was a bug problem. Are they like...big?”

Axel pulled his head back in the house, “Nah, just everywhere. Why do you ask?”

“Cause I really want to know what that rumbling sound is.”

Everyone went quiet at that. And as they did, the rumbling sound could be heard by everyone. Rumbling that turned into a growl. The three of them got closer together, looking to see where it was coming from. Only for a roaring sound to precede Roxas getting slammed into the floor by a snarling spotted beast from above. A beast with bared fangs that snarled as it tried to bite through the Keyblade Roxas was using to hold it back.

#my fanfiction #KH Fanfiction #Kingdom Hearts #fanfiction #fanfic #what if #Just A Chance #roxas #kh roxas #namine #roxas/namine #roxas x namine #rokunami #axel #kh axel #zexion #kh zexion

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eternal-reverie · 4 years

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*drumroll*

notes of a kh au of both evil plans successfully getting a sora puppet!!

some context, this is a canon divergence idea inspired by this thing I drew a while ago.

ok im absolutely thriving with this fic idea but first, there was a painful hurdle in thinking about how to rework the Chain of Memories plot for Naminé to go along with Marluxia’s plan completely, and that naturally would change a lot of things. Especially regarding Riku’s story plus Axel’s role and a bunch of other characters. It’s actually so intimidating with all these characters and their conspiracies clashing with each other, scooping all that up to transform that into a (hopefully) coherent sequence of events;; in comparison, Days was pretty simple to deal with the change.

Anyway what I have so far is this:

Roughly decided that Marluxia, Namine, Sora, and Xion are the main characters. Riku and Roxas are in comatose states but still influence the story. Xemnas is the main antagonist naturally. Aqua and Ven become key players towards the end. Saix, Axel, Zexion, and Xigbar are also important. Larxene will be a surprise element. Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and DiZ are there for the most part too.

The original event that pushed Naminé to tell Sora the whole truth was Axel letting her go meet Sora. So for this plot divergence to work, someone has to intervene here. I mulled it over and decided Larxene should be the one to to do it, resulting in her attacking Axel. They argue in the midst of the fray on who’s the real “traitor.” Sora arrives and defeats them both. Larxene learns of Saix’s plot before she fades. Axel then tells Sora to trust his instincts and to fight off Marluxia’s schemes, before cryptically telling him to not forget their appointment on the clocktower for ice cream. Axel then “fades” away.

Namine becomes more convinced with going through the deception (though not completely) due to interacting with the Angelic looking Specter. She encounters this figure and is given some revelation into some of Marluxia’s motives. i’ll have to think a lot about Namine and how her desire to end her loneliness comes into conflict with her integrity, in addition to how she is manipulated. She consistently guides so many characters through the series with her insight, so that’s a trait i want her to grow into. I think she’ll be the one pulling the strings in the end..

One of the biggest changes is Riku’s reverse/rebirth story. Originally, Riku doesn’t fall into Zexion’s trap due to Namine’s influence and advice dealing with darkness. However, in this AU, Naminé is going ahead with tricking Sora, being absent for Riku. So Riku would lose to Zexion, who’s desperate to use him as a counter to Marluxia’s command of Sora. Though it won’t work out for Zexion in the end because Ansem would finally be able to possess Riku fully...

Which has got me thinking there would be a clash between Ansem and Marluxia in the castle. I think it would be interesting for two of these characters who have a guardian behind them to fight!? Somehow Marluxia wins, adding to his arrogance when it comes to Xemnas.

DiZ is now stumbling over what to do and the mouse would get sad at these turn of events; both heroes of the keyblade now compromised...which leads to Mickey thinking, wait there’s someone in the realm of darkness!!! this is now a secret mickey redemption story

That will lead to Aqua returning to Castle Oblivion to do pest control and finds Axel and Zexion scrambling about trying to find the Chamber of Waking. She promptly decides that Ven is no longer safe there and gets him out. She finds Riku replica and recruits him (might change this detail, forgot to say that Marluxia told Naminé to power him down prior. Aqua finding a replica could be interesting, lest Axel or Zexion gets to him first,,)

Also forgot to mention that Riku is now the one placed in the pod for him to sleep and not turn back into Ansem. (role reversal with sora woo!!)

Sora goes happily along with Naminé but despite all the memory rearranging is still wary of Marluxia in charge (thanks Axel). Something that’s interesting in CoM was how Marluxia told Naminé to destroy Sora’s heart, finding this last resort a shame and rather having preferred him unmarred. So this AU is just that, the plan with Sora’s uninjured heart (but perhaps...breaking his heart could be point reached...in regards to Ven’s heart hidden in there..)

Mar’s character is actually one of the harder things to address. So I need to think more but I want this story to touch upon his hidden memories as so many things will remind him of the old plight of losing a loved one. Mainly observing the interactions between Naminé and Sora, Aqua and Ven, and maybe Xion??? I want Saix’s search for Subject X aka Skuld to be relevant to this too. there’s!!! so!!! many!! examples!?!?!

As he remembers more, the specter haunting him becomes more smaller and human-like. The specter will talk to Namine more for the most part. This will influence Naminé to turn the tables against Marluxia; so you could say she will manipulate and influence him with her memory powers along with her insight.

Will he gain a sibling-esque affection for Sora and Naminé? Yes. Vaguely... I think Sora’s going to lose against Xion... so Marluxia’s going to have to take up the protective role much to his displeasure. Being around Sora’s and Namine’s hearts for an extended amount of time will be a factor in his memory returning and regaining a heart.

Much of his story is taking control back of his destiny vs finding what his true purpose is and what method he choses. I feel like his time as a union leader could contribute to him feeling qualified taking over the organization. Plus him having a strong feeling that Xemnas’s plan is b.s. which is of course, spot on. Does Marluxia become a good guy in the end? im not sure yet, but I want to say no for the most part. (oh the appeal of tragic villain protagonists) who’s to say he wouldn’t sacrifice or destroy anything to recover what he’s lost?

in regards to Xion, I think she’ll be the one in most pain oh boy. Roxas was asleep through the Castle Oblivion events and Xion left seashells at his bedside during that time. The discarded Sora memories, as a result of Naminé’s interference, will pour directly into her mostly. Xemnas sees this plan working and once Roxas wakes, forces him and Xion to clash resulting in Xion successfully absorbing Roxas and becoming the perfect sora puppet. sorta

Xion is at this point, still in confusion on who she is. Everything in her tells her she’s Sora, but the dearest memories of her own life so far is of Roxas taking her up on the clocktower for ice cream, and she holds on to that. Xion also has the discarded C.O. memories including Axel’s last remarks to Sora. I want Xion and Repliku to meet in this story.

Xemnas discovering comatose Ven will be a main thing eventually. Which led me to this image of Xion!Sora thinking Ven is Roxas ;-;

Up to this point, I still need to address how real Sora and Xion!Sora clash. It’ll probably be in the throne room, not unlike what happens at the climax in ddd. the moment I’m most excited for is Marluxia’s humiliation at these turn of events LOL that’s why i drew that joke comic for the most part! someone commented on the post with ‘GET OFF THE STAGE MARLUXIA’ and i was GONE LMAO

there’s more stuff (from my 10 pages of notes i made yesterday. it’s a small square sketchbook so it’s probably more like 5 pages) but i think this summarizes the majority of my ideas. Idk if I’ll get this off the ground promptly since the scope is so big 😵 but it’s a start!

Here’s some sketches! lol i couldn’t resist.

sorry if there some gaps or holes since this wasn’t an outline, i just jumped around with ideas. now to think about this more meanwhile i have other responsibilities to attend to @_@

#i need to give this a proper tag #hrmm ok #puppetplanaufic #there #a project title i guess #warning this is long #and there's some sketches!! to look at #kh #this is just all the main characters receiving the bad ending of their respective games?#um days already has a 'bad' ending but like this one is...way worse #also a bunch of identity crises!#just average kh stuff #long post #sorry the read more doesn’t work on mobile 😥

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roxasboxas · 4 years

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[#axels a very interesting character #hes incredibly brutal and effective #hes the organizations assassin #(or at least one of them. marluxia might also be bc that’s his title and we don’t see him actually doing his job much) #but you see him when hes not working and hes downright gentle #hes almost a different person on the job and i think thats intentional #he disassociates himself from the horrible things he has to do to survive in the organization #and then hes put in charge of two children #(two dangerous children. two children who might rebel and who he might have to kill) #and he can be soft with them #soft like he is more naturally #softer even than he can be with his best friend #and maybe it makes the moments he cant be soft a little more bearable #maybe things are a little bit better]

Ok I want to make these tags into their own post because I am vibing about this and I want to expand on it a little more.

Axel’s job in the Organization is to deal with traitors. Our introduction to him is in Chain of Memories, where he does so ruthlessly. He harshly eliminates Vexen to maintain his cover and get an in to confirm Marluxia and Larxene’s plan. He attempts to kill Marluxia and doesn’t care that Marluxia is using Namine as a meat shield. He kills Zexion for.... reasons? It’s been a while since I watched that gameplay and I’m currently stuck on the first Repliku fight. For all appearances, Axel Does Not Give A Single Shit, which is in line with the Nobodies as they’re characterized in CoM and for most like half of KH2. He has a job to do and he does it.

Then Days rolls around, and we see what else Axel has been up to: child rearing. In KH2, he obviously cares about Roxas, but in Days we see that he’s basically responsible for raising the kids. There’s this subtext there, that it’s his job because keyblade wielders are willful and emotional and unpredictable and he’s the assassin who has to be in a position to catch that and possibly terminate them if they decide to turn on the Organization. And at the beginning (and the end) of the game, he’s very acutely aware of that. He holds himself apart, and puts up an emotional barrier so he can be ready to do that part of his job. But for most of the game he lets himself forget it.

Axel’s been in a rough position for probably about a decade. He and his best friend can’t be too close anymore, on account of their plans to use an emo cult gang that’s convinced them they can’t feel to their own advantage. He hasn’t been able to be himself (whoever that is, whether you want to say that person is Lea or that the Nobodies are different from their Somebodies) for that whole time (which again, depending on your interpretation, could be his entire life) and that sort of thing fucks you up. But suddenly he’s responsible for two willful, emotional, unpredictable, honest children, and for lack of anyone else they latch onto and love him and each other because they have no one else to love and Axel suddenly finds himself in a position where he can be soft.

At his core, Axel is almost certainly soft. He doesn’t get to be, so much of the time, because there isn’t a place for softness in the Castle That Never Was. There isn’t a place for softness in Castle Oblivion. But there is a place for softness at the top of a clocktower, looking out over a town, eating ice cream with his kids.

Axel’s personality runs hard code shifts. With his kids, he’s gentle. He’s careful, and he cares. He keeps secrets for them, covers for them when they make mistakes or get into rough spots. When he works, he’s stiff. Efficient. Possibly even more so than he was before. He falls into this rhythm, and what he has to live for (a failing friendship with someone who might not want him or only see him as a tool anymore and a search for someone who might be dead, if he thinks about her too hard) shifts to something a little more tangible.

Then Xion runs, and dies, and is forgotten, and Roxas runs, and gets caught by other people with other plans, and sacrifices himself, and Axel is alone and angry again even if he doesn’t understand why. And Sora is there but Roxas isn’t and Xion isn’t and it’s not fair and he doesn’t understand, because how could he understand the feelings he won’t even admit he has? And all those pent up and confusing emotions culminate in him sacrificing himself, too, because even if he can’t see much of his kid in Sora he knows he’s still there, and some things are still the same.

I just think he’s a really tragic character o(TヘTo)

#axel #kh axel #axel kh #kingdom hearts meta #kingdom hearts

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divinerxeclipsed · 4 years

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Axel is NOT “The Organization’s Assassin” in canon.

(Reposting from my personal since Tumblr has APPARENTLY decided my 7-year-old personal blog is a bot and won’t put my posts in the tags :) :) :)

Original post )

So okay, it seems like a thing that people genuinely think Axel had an actual job in the Organization as an assassin for Xemnas and that is just straight up not at all supported by canon even a little bit. Especially this concept that there were previous Org members that he eliminated before CoM?? Like that just straight up did not happen.

1) We know from kh3 that Xemnas personally hand-picked the entire Organization. Members 1-8 were all Apprentices and Isa and Lea had connections to the Keyblade War via Skuld and Ventus. Members 9-12 were also hand chosen for their connection to the Keyblade War. Roxas and Xion were both there also for their connection to the Keyblade. There is absolutely no evidence any other members ever existed. Even if you were to take Xion’s fear of being turned into a Dusk as a real thing Xemnas might do, that still implies Xemnas would have taken care of unwanted or useless members himself rather than outsource it.

2) Axel has never been called an assassin in canon. Marluxia is the one with assassin in his title, not Axel.

3) The cutscene between Axel and Saix in Days before Axel goes to CoM makes it clear that it’s Saix’s order for Axel to go on this mission, not Xemnas’s. Saix at first says that it’s orders from the top but Axel’s response highlights that Saix is the one making the call. It could have been anyone; Xaldin would have been happy to do it based on his later argument that Xion should be eliminated when she runs away, but Axel was chosen because Saix was in charge of assigning personnel and Saix wanted to eliminate Zexion (confirmed in one of the prior Ultimanias).

Axel has no pre-existing role as an assassin and being able to assign him this job is the payoff of Saix’s rise to power. Saix wouldn’t have had to become the second in command to put Axel at Castle Oblivion if Axel would have been sent anyway by Xemnas.

4) Axel was also sent after Roxas because of his personal connection to Roxas and Sora, not because it was his job. Saix sending him to Castle Oblivion was what put Axel on the position of having a connection to the Keyblade, which Xemnas found useful once it had already happened. Axel was also the one who would have been most motivated to get Roxas back alive and stop him from going back to Sora. It had nothing to do with a job title.

5) Axel doesn’t even behave like an assassin. He’s secretive with Saix and he’s sneaky about Zexion but his tactics are too blatant to be called assassination. He kills Vexen against Xemnas’s wishes right in front of witnesses. At Castle Oblivion he mostly lets Riku and Sora do all the work and then cleans up after they’ve done the heavy lifting, but that’s mostly just to cover up what he does for Saix. It’s still incredibly obvious (Xigbar outright says in a journal entry that Axel was obviously working for Saix during that whole debacle, and Xemnas has a journal entry about how he was not planning to lose Vexen yet), but his connection to Sora makes Axel too valuable to punish yet.

There’s no evidence that Axel has ever killed anyone before Castle Oblivion. If anything, the Organization seems like it was mostly doing research for ten years while Xemnas set up the game board for when the Keyblade reappeared. Sure, Evil Coffee Boy is less cool and edgy than assassin but there’s a lot more evidence for the latter than the former.

By all means I’m not saying don’t have fun. There’s a lot of fun to be had with the idea of a darker version of the history and what ifs ands aus. My point is just that, in current canon, there’s no evidence for it. Any meta or theorizing that comes from the assumption that Axel has a job as an assassin is inherently flawed because that’s just not supported by the text.

Axel is not Assassinations Georg. Castle Oblivion is an outlier and should not have been counted

#Kingdom Hearts #Axel #kh meta #notrp

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isan0rt · 4 years

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FFS, Axel is NOT 'The Organization's assassin' in canon

So okay, it seems like a constant fanon thing that people genuinely think Axel had an actual job in the Organization as an assassin for Xemnas and that is just straight up not at all supported by canon even a little bit. Especially this concept that there were previous Org members that he eliminated before CoM?? Like that just straight up did not happen.

1) We know from kh3 that Xemnas personally hand-picked the entire Organization. Members 1-8 were all Apprentices and Isa and Lea had connections to the Keyblade War via Skuld and Ventus. Members 9-12 were also hand chosen for their connection to the Keyblade War. Roxas and Xion were both there also for their connection to the Keyblade. There is absolutely no evidence any other members ever existed. Even if you were to take Xion's fear of being turned into a Dusk as a real thing Xemnas might do, that still implies Xemnas would have taken care of unwanted or useless members himself rather than outsource it.

2) Axel has never been called an assassin in canon. Marluxia is the one with assassin in his title, not Axel.

3) The cutscene between Axel and Saix in Days before Axel goes to CoM makes it clear that it's Saix's order for Axel to go on this mission, not Xemnas's. Saix at first says that it's orders from the top but Axel's response highlights that Saix is the one making the call. It could have been anyone; Xaldin would have been happy to do it based on his later argument that Xion should be eliminated when she runs away, but Axel was chosen because Saix was in charge of assigning personnel and Saix wanted to eliminate Zexion (confirmed in one of the prior Ultimanias).

Axel has no pre-existing role as an assassin and being able to assign him this job is the payoff of Saix's rise to power. Saix wouldn't have had to become the second in command to put Axel at Castle Oblivion if Axel would have been sent anyway by Xemnas.

5) Axel doesn't even behave like an assassin. He's secretive with Saix and he's sneaky about Zexion but his tactics are too blatant to be called assassination. He kills Vexen against Xemnas's wishes right in front of witnesses. At Castle Oblivion he mostly lets Riku and Sora do all the work and then cleans up after they've done the heavy lifting, but that's mostly just to cover up what he does for Saix. It's still incredibly obvious (Xigbar outright says in a journal entry that Axel was obviously working for Saix during that whole debacle, and Xemnas has a journal entry about how he was not planning to lose Vexen yet), but his connection to Sora makes Axel too valuable to punish yet.

There's no evidence that Axel has ever killed anyone before Castle Oblivion. If anything, the Organization seems like it was mostly doing research for ten years while Xemnas set up the game board for when the Keyblade reappeared. Sure, Evil Coffee Boy is less cool and edgy than assassin but there's a lot more evidence for the latter than the former.

By all means I'm not saying don't have fun. There's a lot of fun to be had with the idea of a darker version of the history and what ifs ands aus. My point is just that, in current canon, there's no evidence for it. Any meta or theorizing that comes from the assumption that Axel has a job as an assassin is inherently flawed because that's just not supported by the text.

Axel is not Assassinations Georg. Castle Oblivion is an outlier and should not have been counted

#Kingdom hearts #kh #meta #Axel

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jcmorrigan · 4 years

Text

I have attempted to keep my contempt for Kingdom Hearts III to a minimum. However, it has come to my attention that there are several jokes being passed around about how mean and ineffectual Yen Sid is as a teacher. I’m not demanding everyone change their tune right now and like Yen Sid. He’s not for everyone. But I went through a journey over the course of this series going from disliking him to flat-out loving him, and it really dismays me that I can pinpoint why everyone thought he was so bad in III and it, to use a phrase that has almost lost meaning, “doesn’t exist in a vacuum.”

Historically, Yen Sid has been a punching bag for this fandom. I know. I was there. Doing some of the punching. The problem was we were given Organization XIII and weren’t really sure what to do with them. For one, if you didn’t play CoM in between 1 and II (and not having SEEN Marluxia trying to chess-game everyone to their deaths), which was my story, you got Naminé saying “Good or bad, I cannot say” followed almost immediately by Yen Sid saying that though the Organization would pretend to have emotions , it was a ruse. I can’t pinpoint exactly why the Organization XIII fandom happened (I’m not sure it was so simple as “They’re hot”), but if it was anything like my case, I think it stems deep down from seeing these cool character designs and quirks on a bunch of VILLAINS and feeling the pull of the good/bad binary that suggests you can’t enjoy them as villains and must make them redeemable enough to make fan content of. This is starting to veer into a whole other essay, so I’ll cut it off here - I’ll just say if you know me, you know I figured out that “fun team for fan content” and “moral role models” are not necessarily symbiotic. ANYWAY. ABOUT YEN SID. The other thing I think we have to remember is that at the time, the only people who understood how Nobodies felt were the Nobodies. Ansem the Wise also thought they were emotionless evil. We found out in DDD, whether or not that was planned in advance, that Xemnas basically conditioned them to think of themselves that way. 358/2 Days is so poignant in its depiction of the Sea Salt Trio because you see how the rest have been groomed to be divided and not care about friendship or emotions. So in a way, the Organization defense squad was right, and I think that ended up being kind of the point - Yen Sid was telling us all we knew about this “mysterious entity” that didn’t interact with humanity, and that arc was concluded through Ansem realizing he should’ve treated Roxas like a human person. So that clears away KHII Yen Sid.

BBS Yen Sid was where I really grew to love him as a character. He understands that Terra and Ven need to follow their hearts, and in their individual visits, he basically tells them “Eraqus would not like this, but I know it’s important to you and I trust you, so I’m going to look the other way.” When Aqua visits him, you see a completely new side of him. It always hurts me so much when he has to tell Aqua that Xehanort and Terra have murdered Eraqus. Because he pauses a bit before saying Xehanort’s name. That man was his friend, and all this time, he was hoping there was redeemability in him. (Perhaps contributing to him being later jaded toward Xemnas’ associates, hmm?) But he pauses even longer before saying Terra’s name, and I sincerely believe this is because he recognizes the pain he feels at knowing Xehanort isn’t the person he thought he was...and even more than not wanting to feel it, he doesn’t want Aqua to feel that way about Terra. Yet he knows in the end she deserves the truth. Also, BBS kind of acts “fix fic” toward Fantasia itself, of all things. When I took my stance on KHII Yen Sid, this made me retroactively look at Fantasia and go “What a jerk in how he treats Mickey.” Which really isn’t the case at all - he’s tough but fair, and Mickey kinda BROUGHT THE WATERY APOCALYPSE DOWN UPON HIS LABORATORY. But the end credits scene of Yen Sid and Mickey deliberately subverts Fantasia. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice has Yen Sid strip Mickey of the hat, which Mickey doesn’t want to give up. BBS ends on the note of Mickey feeling that, since he couldn’t save his friends, he didn’t deserve the Keyblade (which is the same pattern as Yen Sid’s hat) anymore, and he tried to give it up. Yen Sid instead hands it BACK to him encouragingly, and this is likely where he awarded Mickey mastery. It takes a scene where we’re used to him punishing the naughty trickster and flips it on its head - when Mickey himself thinks he’s finally gone too far and nothing but a failure, Yen Sid wants him to keep dreaming, keep growing, keep learning.

DDD! Yen Sid tests Riku and Sora for Mastery, and ultimately encourages Riku to self-actualize! He assures Riku it’s okay to mix Light and Dark, which is almost UNHEARD of in this universe! He reaches out to Kairi, he allows Lea a second chance - he’s on top of it all!

So let’s get into KHIII. People have said Yen Sid berates Sora too much. And I’m not saying that’s not true. People have said it’s stupid that Yen Sid doesn’t actually act like a “teacher” or introduce a lot of the mechanics from BBS he would’ve known about, like armor or skimmers. And it kind of is. But I think it’s the old KHII sourness that’s bleeding into this interpretation, because honestly...this is not a Yen Sid problem.

This problem affects the characterization of pretty much every main cast member in KHIII.

Sora is now more focused on his own failings than trying to help others (please compare his reaction to Rapunzel to his reaction to Quasimodo back in DDD to see how selfish he’s become). Riku has almost nothing to say or do. Kairi has been watered down - no sense of humor or sass or initiative, to say nothing of the great offensive death scene. Aqua’s time in the Realm of Darkness seems to have had no noticeable effect on her until Re:Mind retroactively patched it in, and her solitude wasn’t explored. Ventus gets barely anything to do or say beyond being a yes-man. The conflict between the Wayfinder Trio? Swept under the rug. Same with Sea Salt, though at least Axel, Roxas, and Xion all feel like themselves, at least. Vexen, whose primary character trait was “grump who hates everyone,” decides midgame that he is no longer grumpy and does not hate everyone. Ansem, Seeker of Darkness? Don’t even get me started; there is no similarity between this ominous harbinger of Master Xehanort’s will and the mad scientist nihilist from KH1. Master Xehanort himself? Has magically gone from “I must explore the Darkness to see what answers of the universe will be revealed when Kingdom Hearts comes, despite the Light acting as a policing force I find unfair” (BBS) to “I hate that everyone acts like a good person but it’s so fake. I want to remake the world and rule over it to make it better” (KHIII). Meanwhile, Eraqus, whose arc centered around fanaticism taken to an extreme that led him to attack his own adoptive child, is now the voice of forgiveness, acting as forgiveness for Xehanort when it was Eraqus’ lack of forgiveness for any slight that kicked off the problem in the first place. I personally love Ienzo as he is, probably because he’s more sincerely happy now and the seeds were planted in DDD for this characterization, but if you add it up, he’s very jarringly different than the Zexion we were used to.

Yen Sid is a victim of the same character assassination that hit pretty much EVERYONE else in this game. Why is he a bad teacher? Because the guy in charge of writing his dialogue didn’t bother to line it up with BBS or DDD for consistency. Why didn’t he show the characters how to do anything worth anything? Because, again, the designers of III decided to switch the BBS mechanics for Attraction Flows and Formchanges without taking lore and continuity into consideration (and for the record, I love Attraction Flows and Formchanges, but we couldn’t have everything, and we need to be aware of the fact that game design dictates a lot of the story; the reason Sora is missing so much power in the first place is because we need to justify starting the game at level 1). At the very least, they allowed Yen Sid to actually travel to the Keyblade Graveyard to rescue his charges when everyone had a betting pool on him “Sitting in his chair doing nothing” during the end times. And that probably involved a lot of haggling over licensing of Fantasia. They at least wanted to show him caring about the others to that degree.

Like I said, Yen Sid isn’t for everyone. If you don’t like him because you just don’t like him, fine. I didn’t come here to try and change everyone’s mind. But I just think it’s a little bit unfair to harp on how much of a “bad teacher” he is in III when this lines up with none of his prior characterization, but lines up perfectly with how much the rest of the cast is bad everything-else.

#yen sid #kingdom hearts critical #kh critical

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thefinalkey16 · 4 years

Text

KH3 Re:Mind spoilers/Reactions

So Xemnas gave the order?? To find the box?? But why??

So did Xigbar actually lose the box? YOU HAD ONE JOB

Oh we’re starting HERE HUH

I forgot how pretty the graphics are

Why is Riku so pretty???

Nomura really went “this DLC is about SOKAI and I’m gonna make sure you KNOW IT.”

Nomura really cares about his ship and I appreciate it so much

LETS GO SAVE OUR GIRL!

Heck yeah REMIND TIME

I love the music in this game so much

YES WE GET MORE MOM

Why does MOM adopt smol children lol

It bothers me that MOM has no actual face behind the hood. It’s like Ansem’s original form

So Xehanort is where Xemnas’s confusion of the heart comes from lol

OH THIS IS PREMASTER XEHANORT

I’m sorry, Xehanort is more powerful than darkness?

I’m sorry MOM is too scared to take off the coat???

MOM is a psychology teacher who gets exasperated by his dumb students

OH THATS JUST RUDE NOMURA

LEMME KNOW HIS NAME

A lost..Master?

Well we know where Xehanort got the hands behind the back walk from

OOO A NEW THEME

OH I LOVE IT

I’m 100% sure that MOM told him his name was “Noneya,” and it took a few decades before he realized what he actually said

DID THEY TELEPORT TO LOOK COOL ON THE ROCKS

I’m sorry they have holograms??

Did they actually call him Riku Replica lol

Wait they were actually nobodies

XEMNAS AND XEHANORT WERE REPLICAS?

“Why we have assembled here,” because Xemnas and Sora destroyed your sick castle

Poor Terra got possessed TWICE?

Demyx! You get Demyx!

I’m sorry 20??

No. I

Oh so they don’t actually remember Xion

Does.. does Xigbar remember Xion?

Wow they got Vexen just to get his daughter in their gang. How rude

Xehanort fell asleep while they chatted I’m cackling

Crazy old man

Now when do I get to save Kairi? :3c

YAY ITS TIME

YAY ITS CHIRITHY TIME

ITS MY SMOL KITTY

“Back so soon?”=you died again?? You’re lame

Chirithy is a mood

Sora you watched your GF get shattered

Oh so that’s why Sora dies

IS SORA SAILOR PLUTO

Oh my god he’s Sailor Pluto

Lose powers? He’s done that so many times 😂

Getting banned from one world? He had a phone and friends with gummi ships lol

ARE WE GONNA SEE EVERONES HEART STATION??

NOOO VEN That still hurts to watch

AWW SORA TRIED TO CATCH HIM

Wow he’s a ghosty ghost

Oh I love Ven’s heart station so much

Wow Vanitas really said that Ven is Baby

YAS GIMME VANITAS

Also wow Vanitas is protecting Ven’s heart and I love that

OH NO NOT THIS GUY

I beat him by using Meow Wow. meow wow is best boy

Oh no oh no it’s this pet

Gotta love Big Bro Lea

I forgot they call him Axel

ITS THE HUG

It’s Donald’s Safrifice ;-;

Donald Really channeled his inner Molly Weasley and said “Not my son you WITCH.”

WASTED

Also aw Sora got to see what Donald did for the first time

AQUA’S STATION IS SO PRETTY

Poor Aqua ;-; this is the moment where everyone hates her for

Also aww she trusts Kairi to protect them

We love Big Sis Aqua

YES WE GET ANTI AQUA FIGHT AGAIN

NAMINEEEEE

I’m literally screaming and I scared my grandma

Oh my god She lost Kairi and she immediately went to Sora cause she knew she’d be safe there ;-;

Namine’s Really here bringing everyone together

Agsisgsjdg I forgot Terra can do the keyblade whip thing lol

AND the cannon

Wow they’re really fighting in the sky

Anyone else getting Star Wars vibes

AWW HE JUST WANTS TO PROTECT HIS FAMILY

I still hate Terra’s pants

Imagine your heart crushing your body. Like really

NO LINGERING WILL

HECK YEAH SORA YOU KICK THEIR BUTT

Wow Sora you’re so cocky

LINGERING WILL NO

OH MY GOD

I forgot that Marluxia is an Ouran Host Club character

Wait, that Mickey finisher was new, wasn’t it?

Okay but I still have no idea what Xemnas did to Luxord

Cards: *Appear*

Sora: PTSD from watching his friends get destroyed from the cards in the manga

Mickey: *is captured*

Sora: PTSD intensifies

I’m really happy that we get to replay all of the Organization battles, they’re so much fun!

I’m so soft for Replinami ;-;

He loves her so much, and all he wants is for her to be safe and happy ;-;

Ven: we aren’t the same. You’re Edgy. I’m Baby

Aqua when Sora appears: TWO Baby’s :0

“If I’m a traitor, then Kairi’s the trump card.” LEA DRINKS RESPECT KAIRI JUICE

Aww Kairi’s so confused. She doesn’t see how she could be a trump card ;-;

HE STRAIGHT UP FLEXED

AWW XION REMEMBERS

Ohhh Isa’s jealous.

YES THW CHAKRAMS

LETS GO

Jealousy mode has been activated in Isa

WHAT WAS THAT RUN

OH MY GOD THAT SCREAM

YES KAIRI GO

PROTEXT YOUR BRO

“Yup” Kairi really just wants this over with so she can go home 😂

The way Kairi’s face lights up at seeing Sora gives me life.

Wow Xemnas was really hurt by Axel’s betrayal. Frankly? I’m shocked.

XION’S HAND IS SMOKING

HER HAND IS BURNING BECAUSE SHES GRABBING THE BLADE

Xemnas does NOT drink Respect Xion juice

ROXAS KEPT XION’S MEMORIES SAFE INSIDE HIM

AND SHE HAS HER FACE BECAUSE HE GAVE THEM BACK TO HER

Lea cares about the small girls he adopted as his little sisters

AWW THE THREE OF THEIR HEARTS ARE CONNECTED

NO XION ISNT ON HIS HEART ANYMORE

YES KAIRI’S HERE TO KICK BUTT

Wow Nomura really got tired of people dissing Kairi so he amped her up with cool stuff

“Oh? Tired of Kairi not doing anything?” Heres her literally overpowering Xemnas and him having to restrain her with a stop spell and magic to stop her

KAIRI IS THE SCARLET WITCH AND XEMNAS IS THANOS

Oh and in case you think she’s weak? Here’s the same thing for Sora too.

God I love Nomura

Oh my god she’s in so much pain because of the darkness

OH MY GOD SHES IN SO MUCH PAIN BECAUSE OF THE DARKENSS

SORA LITERALLY FAINTED AFTER 2 SECONDS BUT KAIRI’S HOLDING ON OH MY GOD THE STRENGTH

OOOOOOOO ROXAS TIME

The MUSIC

THEIR ATTACK IS CALLED “THINKING OF YOU” BECAUSE THEY REMEMBERED XION I CANT

I can not believe i was forced to relive watching Kairi die

SHE WAS CRYSTALLIZED?? SHES NOT DEAD??

I love Donald and Goofy so much ;-;

They aren’t gonna leave their son alone

Also wow Xehanort was just staring there forever

I FORGOT WE GET TO EXPLORE SCALA :D

KAIRI?!?!

Getting KH1 vibes with this

“The heartless that is radiating light” how is that possible??

Okay but this is such a good parallel to the first game, with him saving Kairi ;-;

Except for the fact that HEARTLESS SORA DIDNT GET BEAT UP

Okay so her heart is a thassala shell. Will we have to collect the pieces to make her wayfinder?

Oh my god I see the thing at the top of the screen. We totally are making her wayfinder ;-;

THAT MEANS SHE LITERALLY GAVE HIM HER HEART SO HE COULS RETURN IT TO HER OH MY GOOOOD

Okay so I love the puzzles they have here

XEHANORT?!

I’m sorry you hid her heart? What are you, five?

What do you MEAN almost out of time?!

OH NO KINGDOM HEARTS

Oh no not these guys again

So many keyholes

IM SORRY IS THIS WIZARD OF OZ

Oh my god Lea is so overwhelmed lol

SGAKSSGE ROXAS CAUGHT XION

Okay so for the team ups, I love how all of them were mix and matched from the trio’s

I loved Terra and Riku, the Master and apprentice

I loved Ven, Roxas, and I can’t remember who else was in it. “Thanks Roxas.” “Youre welcome. You’re not too bad yourself.” THAT WAS ADORABLE

Xion, Aqua and Mickey being mages and protecting everyone

Aqua and Lea, him trying to talk and Aqua telling him to shut up and focus

MICKEY’S STRUGGLE TO SAVE HIS FRIENDS BROKE MY HEART

We now present: Kingdom Hearts 3: connect he dots

Connect. Connect the dots. Get it?

KAIRI’S HEART MADE A FLOWER

THE KH2 THING

“SORA :D”

THEIR HUG

HE JUST HOLDS HER CLOSE

TIME FOR PLAYABLE KAIRI BABBYYYYYYY

“I can do this.” YES YOU CAN

I’m sorry you think I want to play as Sora? After waiting my whole life to play Kairi? HA

KAIRI IS THE MOST POWERFUL

Seven wishes saved me in that fight

ONE HEART

THEY HAVE ANGEL WINGS

OKAY YALL HAD YOUR SORIKU ATTACK NOW WE GOT SOKAI :D

Now we just need Rikai and Sorikai and it’ll be complete ^^

AGSKSGSKDGSJS CHIRITHY

“I was trying to give you some privacy” awwww

CHIRITHY IS CRYING

THEYRE GOING ON DATES

Chirithy has my soul and I love it

Every scene with Chirithy adds 7 years to my life

Afsjsgsajg Sora DONT PUSH THE CAT

NAMINE

THEY WERE THERE TO FREE HER HEART

Aaand he’s gone and I’m crying again

LIMITCUT EPISODE TIME BABBYYYY

GAJSGSJDG RIKU AND TERRA ARE TOGETHER

Oh my god Riku and Terra being bro’s are my favorite thing

Wait what are they gonna do

ARE THEY SEALING THE WORLD

OH MY GOD THE ARMOR

HOW DARE THEY NOT SHOW US THE FRONT PARTS

OH they’re going to search for Sora!

IS RIKU IN CHARGE OF THE LAND OF DEPARTURE

ONE YEAR???

Agajsgsjdg MERLINS HOUSE

CLOUD

PRETTY BOY

YUFFFIIEEE

AERIITH

CID

OH MY GOD THE GANGS ALL TOGETHER

THEY WENT TO THE REALM OF DARKNESS WHAT

“The Twilight Town gang” ITS OFFICIAL

OH NO WHAT HAPPENED TO KAIRI

WHY DOES HE LOOK SAD

NO WHATS GOING ON WITH KAIRI

They’re searching her heart?

SHES BEEN ASLEEP FOR A YEAR?!

Riku’s been all ALONE

DATA SORA??

Battalion oh my god lol

I’m mad about Kairi being asleep for a year though

AGSJSGS WE GET TO EXPLORE

Wow. A video game inside of a video game

I spent the rest of the day failing the Data battles and making funny Data Greeting pictures. Hopefully I’ll be better st the battles tomorrow!

#KH3RemindSpoilers #kh3spoilers #KH Re:Mind #kh commentary

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rharyx · 5 years

Text

I had a dream where I was in charge of writing the next KH game, and I think I might’ve been onto something good for the little bit of it I remember after waking up.

So the dream started off with what I can only imagine being a scenario pretty close to the beginning of the game. Probably right after the prologue (where you play as Luxu in the past, btw).

Ventus is sick because of Ux shenanigans (and he’s the easiest character to use to tie the Ux era stuff to the current era stuff) and probably because Darkness is Vanitas, and something about worldlines, blah blah, KH stuff.

Anyway, regular healing magic won’t work on him, so Aqua and Terra ask Riku to bring Namine to their castle so she could sift through his memories to figure out what might’ve caused this.

After Riku and Namine get to LoD, Terra shows slight insecurity over Aqua referring to Riku as “Master Riku,” because he’s still not a Master himself, while a user of darkness is. His whole arc in the game was going to end with him realizing that his self-centeredness of wanting to be a Master so badly in BbS is what allowed Xehanort to control him so easily and ruin everyone’s lives. So by the end, he’s fine with not being a Master (even though Aqua offers to grant him the title since he’s technically already on that level).

Anyway, while Namine examines Ven’s memories, Riku calls Ienzo to see if he knows of any way to help (he’s in the gardens picking flowers with Ansem the Wise and Aeleus). Ienzo, as a scientist and not a doctor, cannot help much at all. But he tells Riku that someone who specializes in Cure/Flower magic could probably help out more.

Of course, that would be Lauriam, as he was attuned to Flower as a Nobody.

So Riku tells SDG about this, and they set off to the world where Ienzo suspected Lauriam to be on... Which is the world of The Princess of The Frog. This is then world he was living on before he was turned into a Nobody, so it’s where he was recompleted.

(Oh yeah, I guess Sora’s not dead anymore. Maybe he gets brought back in a spinoff game or something, I don’t know.)

Anyway, as it turns out, I’ve never actually seen Princess & Frog, so my dream being so specific about a film I know nothing about is kinda weird. But whatever. I googled what these characters’ names were after waking up, since all I’ve known about them are their faces, and everything’s good now.

So, by the time SDG arrive, Lauriam’s already been duped by Dr. Facilier, who’s promised to make his wish to “reunite with his sister” come true. Because as KH3′s shown us, Lauriam now [conveniently] remembers his past, so he’s been continuing his search for Strelitzia after being recompleted again.

Now, I’m not too sure how the plot of the world goes, scene-by-scene, but it takes place during the plot of the movie, and so Tiana and Naveen can’t be party members since they’re...frogs. So Lauriam is a party member. Eventually, Elrena joins you too. You explore the city, the La Bouff’s ball, and the bayou.

And you also go to a casino (or some sort of party. Is there a party that takes place in the movie?) in New Orleans at one point and run into “Luxord” as a human. Because why not?

The boss of the world is Facilier during Mardi Gras, using his dark magic to summon some Heartless (apparently he has voodoo spirits in the movie, so that sounds cooler) and after beating him, Lauriam’s pretty bummed about not learning anything about his sister. At this point, Sora tells him that he met Strelitzia’s star in The Final World, giving him hope that she’s not gone for good.

SDG take Lauriam and Elrena to the Land of Departure where Lauriam can work on Ventus, whom he now recognizes from Ux. (Namine isn’t very happy about “Marluxia” being around.)

Anyway, that’s how the first Disney world in this totally-not-real-but-should-be-real Kingdom Hearts game goes. I’m not one to write fanfic or anything, but my unconscious mind while dreaming sure does spin a yarn.

(Also later, you go back to that world as Kairi, because she wants to get to know the other New Seven Hearts, and Tiana is one of them.)

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nadziejastar · 5 years

Note

*spoilers* (Sorry if this has already been asked) Do you think Isa/Saix deserved to be forgiven so quickly in kh3, considering how he treated Xion and Roxas? (Got mixed feelings myself)

Well, this is how I see it. In order to judge a character, they have to remain consistent. Their actions should be reasonably understandable and believable for their circumstances. They have to feel authentic in order for me to judge them in the same way I would judge a real person. As far as I’m concerned, Axel is the same character as Lea. I can judge his character as a whole, in its entirety, because he was consistent. He felt like a real person. I can unequivocally say he deserved to be forgiven by Kairi, Sora, etc.

But I simply cannot view Saïx/Isa that way. In KH3 we are TOLD that Isa and Saïx are the same person. But everything I SAW said otherwise. Actions speak louder than words. Does Isa/Saïx deserve to be forgiven? Depends on which Isa/Saïx you are referring to, lol. Everything I saw prior to KH3 indicated that Saïx and Isa are two completely separate characters.

Who Axel Was Doing It All For

Really? Axel wondered to himself.

Did that self in my memories really have a strong heart? Don’t really know. And then, Nobodies without hearts wish for only one thing. A heart.

If I was asked if I wanted a heart, I guess I’d answer that I did. But, do I really want a heart? Can a heart really fill this hollowness I’ve carried since I fell into existence as a Nobody?

This is from the KH2 Short Stories novel. It’s before Roxas joined the Organization. I think Axel wanted revenge on the Organization as much Saïx did. He truly despised them all and felt nothing but satisfaction when Vexen and Zexion were killed. But beyond that, he wasn’t really sure what he wanted.

He definitely didn’t have faith in Xemnas. He had serious doubts that they’d really get their hearts back by following his orders. And he wasn’t sure if getting his heart back would really heal the emptiness he felt inside, anyways. He encouraged Roxas to keep believing in Kingdom Hearts. And it always felt like it was just as much an attempt to convince himself that it would solve everything.

Saïx gave him a cruel grin. “You will lose everything!” And then the Claymore pierced Axel’s chest.

I don’t want to disappear. I can’t disappear now. I shouldn’t have to disappear at all. Why am I doing all this? Who is it for? For Roxas… For Riku, for Naminé… And for myself. There are still things I should do. Things I have to do.

More than for himself, he needed to believe he had someone who it was all for. After leaving the Organization and getting attacked by Saïx, he was dying. He needed to feel like he was doing it for Roxas, Riku, and Naminé in order to make all the pain worth it—to truly be doing it for himself.

There were other things besides Xion that he wanted to discuss. Well, to be more precise, there were plenty of other things he needed to bring up. They hadn’t been speaking much.

It’s messed up, Axel thought. Why am I trying to put Saïx in charge of the Organization…?

When Axel began to grow a heart, his relationship with Saïx changed. He started questioning why he was trying to get him to the top. They both wanted to overthrow Xemnas, but Axel’s motivation was now wavering.

“We don’t need them both. Just one. And pretending won’t change it. Think about that.”

Axel realized how great the rift was between how he remembered their past and what he saw now.

Why am I even here? I don’t know anymore. What am I trying to do?

Axel thought the person he knew in the past was gone. It’s why he clung to his memories so much. Saïx is nothing like who he remembered Isa to be. He has changed far too much for Axel to recognize him, and it made him question why he was even there anymore.

“You both think you can do whatever you want!” He summoned his flame-wreathed chakrams to his hands. “I’m sick of it. Go on, you just keep running. But I’ll always be there to bring you back!”

It was a plea, a cry, a bitter lament, and a vow.

No matter how many times you leave, I’ll bring you back. Every time. Both of you. For my sake and for yours.

When he fought Xion the second time, he said he would always bring both of them back. It was for their sake, and his. But mostly for his. He didn’t care what either of them wanted. He needed them back.

He’d been overthinking the do’s and don’ts so much that he lost sight of what he wanted. And he couldn’t gather the courage to follow Roxas. Was he afraid of rebelling against the Organization? No—it was just that he wanted things to stay the way they were, even more than Xion or Roxas did.

After Roxas deserts, Axel can’t bring himself to follow him, though. He admits it wasn’t because he was afraid of rebelling against the Organization. He rebelled against them before.

“Traitor,” Saïx had called him. But his betrayal of Organization XIII wasn’t exactly a recent development, Axel thought with a bitter laugh. It had begun back in Castle Oblivion. When Marluxia and Larxene conspired to steal Sora’s memories, trying to take possession of him.

Axel had only acted to keep Sora alive—to keep Roxas alive. But thinking back on it now, maybe all he’d done was to play right into Xemnas’s hands.

Like in Castle Oblivion. Axel was willing to go against the Organization if he had a good enough reason. He chose to stay in the Organization for his own reasons.

Axel didn’t care anymore about what the Organization needed, what Xion or Roxas wanted, or even what was supposed to be good for the worlds. He had been using the Organization for his own ends from the start. The only thing that had changed in the meantime was who it was all for. Maybe Saïx would call that a betrayal. But his world had changed.

I wanted us to stay together. All I wanted was to hold on to our happiness as a trio in the Organization. But I told myself to grow up and stop wishing for the impossible. Well, I’m done with that. That’s not the answer I want.

He admits that who he’s been doing it all for has changed, and that Saïx would consider it a betrayal. His thoughts suggest that until that point, he was doing everything for HIM.

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

After he fought Xion and brought her back the first time, Roxas was angry with him. These are his thoughts. He was the one Axel was originally doing it all for. Not Saïx, though. He was doing it all for Isa. But above all, he was doing it for himself. Doing it for Isa was doing it for himself. It was all so he could bring back the person he lost. It was a plea, a cry, a bitter lament, and a vow.Just like it was with Roxas and Xion.

What if…? What if he’d been able to stop Roxas back then? If he had told Roxas all the things they kept secret, maybe it wouldn’t have come to this. But he’d been unable to betray the organization.

No—he had definitely betrayed them. The one who killed everyone in that castle, who led Riku to Naminé—that was him.

And yet it wasn’t a total betrayal. Doubts still swirled inside him. Why am I here? What do I want? How can I become whole again?

Even now, he wasn’t sure. What should I have done? What should I do? Roxas…

Even after he betrays Saïx in his mind, he still cannot bring himself to completely betray the Organization through action. Not even for Roxas. He’s still uncertain.

Other than being told today’s mission, I didn’t really do anything yesterday. Maybe in reality it’d even be okay to have called it a day off. A holiday…

“Didn’t get to go in the end,” muttered Axel, and he got up.

Today I have to destroy Roxas. I cannot betray the organisation.

From the little shelf at his bedside, Axel took a white envelope, and looked at it vaguely for a while. Putting it in his pocket, Axel got up off the bed and left the room.

He even decides that he has no choice but to destroy Roxas, because he can’t bring himself to betray the Organization.

Axel summoned the chakrams. “But, it’s too late!” Axel yelled, and radiated one big gush of power. Axel’s power was that of fire.

Encircle myself with Roxas, inside the flames. Am I able to destroy Roxas? Probably not. I knew I couldn’t. I reckon Xemnas, and Saïx, knew it too.

But–Maybe we can disappear together from here, and go somewhere.

But…he can’t actually destroy Roxas.

“Axel…” The hostility had vanished from Roxas’ eyes.

I can’t find the spirit to fight this Roxas anymore. Here–there’s nothing but to fade away.

“Let’s meet again in the next life.” At those words spoken with just a hint of a smile, Roxas nodded quietly.

“Yeah. I’ll be waiting.” There was something funny about Roxas’ serious answer, and Axel laughed.

“Silly… you’d have a next life, but…” Axel said to Roxas–and his figure disappeared in the darkness of a portal he’d opened behind him.

He can’t turn his back on Saïx, but he can’t destroy Roxas. He knew all along he couldn’t. He makes it clear that he doesn’t want to disappear. But disappearing isn’t the worst fate for him, either. It’s hurting his friends.

He wasn’t sure what to do yet. He would already be branded a traitor. He hadn’t exactly disobeyed orders…but he had failed to carry them out. The other members were already suspicious of him as the lone survivor from Castle Oblivion. He couldn’t imagine that it was safe for him to return to the organization.

“Oh man, what do I do…?” He stretched carefully and got up again, his eyes narrowed against the setting sun. It turned the sea red, and the sky. The waves lapped at his feet, getting them wet.

After Roxas returned to Sora, Axel was unsure of what to do. He pondered the question while watching the red sunset.

“If I return with you in tow, I get to live without being branded as a traitor,” he said with a wry grin.

“Maybe. Axel, what do you want to do?”

“Avoid being eliminated ideally.”

“So you’re offering me up to the organization?”

“…Well, you see any other options?” His expression was frozen in a forced smile. He had no ideas. He didn’t know what to do. And he had no heart and thus no emotions to guide him, either.

He was considering offering up Naminé to the Organization. He knew this was wrong. But that’s how desperate he was to have things go back to the way they were. It wasn’t until Saïx showed up to eliminate him that he officially became a traitor to the Organization.

Vile traitor!” The great Claymore took shape at Saïx’s back. Axel didn’t waste a second grabbing his chakrams. But his body was reluctant somehow.

I don’t want to disappear… But still, it wouldn��t be so bad if I did. Not here.

He finally turns on the Organization for good, and fights Saïx. And then he feels like fading away again. Just like he did with Roxas.

“What were you trying to do?” Sora asked.

For a moment, Axel didn’t reply. He kept staring into space as he did.

“…I wanted to see Roxas.” That’s it. That’s all it is.

“He…was the only one I liked.” I liked him, that’s all.

“When I was with him…he made me feel…like I had a heart…” Axel closed his eyes. Somehow, he had the feeling that Roxas was close.

Axel said Roxas was the only one in the Organization he liked. The one who made him feel like he had a heart. Yet he couldn’t betray the Organization, even for him. He did NOT like Saïx. But he could not find it in himself to give up on him—on the chance that Isa could come back if Kingdom Hearts was completed. Not until Saïx tried to kill him.

All of his actions suggested that Axel did NOT think Isa was the same person as Saïx. And when I played BBS, I felt the exact same way. The Isa I saw was nothing like Saïx. So I just took it for granted that they were different. I STILL cannot accept that they are the same. Saïx’s relationship to Isa was the equivalent of Xemnas’ relationship to Terra. Xehanort was using Terra’s body. But personality-wise, Terra and Xemnas were nothing alike.

This is a pretty overwhelming disadvantage, Axel thought. Well, I knew that before we started fighting. I can’t win against Saïx with my own strength.

Still, he refused to hesitate. He had to force this path open. He wanted…to find hope—the hope that Sora and Riku had.

Saïx gave him a cruel grin. “You will lose everything!” And then the Claymore pierced Axel’s chest.

Saïx was a cold, sociopathic, and robotic Xehanort clone who literally did not have the capacity for empathy, friendship, or love. He could not “see” Xion. He had an unsettling presence about him. Xion said he gave off an aura like Xehanort’s Heartless inside of Riku. He really creeped Demyx out. There was something seriously wrong with him. He was NOT normal. He was meant to be freakish and disturbing. Demyx unaffectionately calls him “X-face”.

He was absolutely tormented by his lack of a heart. But he could not grow one, no matter how hard he wished he could. Xemnas and Xigbar were amused by this. I truly felt sorry for him because he was such a wretched and miserable being. He was a very complex, very tragic, and very interesting character. But he was unequivocally a villain. He had no warmth, no compassion, and no empathy. He was totally heartless, in a series that revolves around the power of the heart. He never smiled, except when he was being cruel and sadistic. He felt like a Frankenstein experiment gone wrong. He could never, EVER be a “good guy”. He was a Xehanort alter ego, after all.

I cannot picture Roxas or Xion ever wanting to be friends with this Saïx. And I saw no evidence that this Saïx was even capable of feeling remorse or having a redemption arc. He had no capacity to see anything wrong with his way of thinking, and thus no desire to change. In order to justify a character like this being included as one of the good guys, you need something DRASTIC to happen. A miracle, really. The only saving grace Saïx had was that he was a mind-controlled and possessed version of Isa. That’s it. Nothing else could redeem such a character. And all the evidence pointed to this, so I never even questioned it.

I literally could not wrap my mind around it when I first heard Lea and Isa’s canon backstory. I didn’t understand how the game could possibly expect me to believe it, either. God, there’s no way to explain how pissed I was when Saïx said SHE was the lab rat. It made no sense to me how the writers could put in mountains of evidence suggesting that HE was the lab rat, then turn around and tell us it was actually another girl—who was never mentioned before!! Mind control and possession was BY FAR the most sensible explanation to account for the enormous difference between the Isa we saw in BBS, and the Saïx we saw in KH2 and Days.

Saïx: The marks under your eyes. They’re gone.

Lea: Yeah. Don’t need ‘em.

Saïx: Always told you they’d stop you from crying. The upside-down tears.

Then we have New Saïx, who has a completely different personality from both Isa AND the Saïx we saw in the previous games. I practically died laughing when he showed up out of nowhere and said “you can’t eat all that.” That line and its delivery, still kills me. Every time. It’s so hilarious because it was SO out-of-character. This Saïx might as well have been a new character, as far as I’m concerned. There was no logical consistency between Old Saïx and New Saïx that would properly account for his sudden personality change.

KH3 revealed that this Saïx was NOT possessed. He was just like any other Nobody, apparently. He was devoted to a mystery girl the whole time, so he was capable of caring about other people, unlike Old Saïx. I guess he had a “burgeoning replacement” heart, like the other members? Evidently, he chose to be cold and cruel, not only to his loyal and devoted best friend Axel…but the two innocent children he befriended. Due to his coldness and cruelty, his best friend became so lonely that he left the Organization. And unlike Axel, he never feels bad for kidnapping Kairi, or attacking Sora.

Saïx: I started to wonder if we’d imagined her. Maybe she never existed. And then, in time, I awakened to a new purpose. I realized I could be stronger.

New Saïx is nothing like Old Saïx. New Saïx was not a very interesting character. He was a crass, arrogant guy with a toxic macho attitude. This caused him to become abusive to innocent people and look down of any displays of emotion. He followed Xemnas’ orders without complaint on the off-chance Xemnas might know where some random girl is. And the off-chance Xemnas might tell him if he became his right-hand man. Why is he so hellbent on finding her? Who knows. He barely knew her and became unsure if she even existed. He happily followed Xemnas for ten years because apparently his new purpose became getting stronger. Why did he want to get stronger? Who knows. He’s not written like a realistic person with believable motives or actions, anyways.

Saïx: I sacrificed everything to try and track her down. You’re the one who went off and made other friends. Left me and her both in the dust. It infuriated me how you just exited our lives. I lost…all sense of purpose.

Instead of telling Lea that he was trying to get replicas, he taunted him that Roxas was “gone forever” and made fun of his tear mark tattoos. Lea was so annoyed by him, he wanted to “clobber him”.

Instead of apologizing to his friend for trying to kill him and his other friends, he blames him for making new friends. He says he was jealous, but he’ll never admit it a second time. He never actually apologizes directly for any of his actions in the Organization.

After Axel left, he lost his purpose. Which one? Getting stronger? The girl you thought you imagined? It’s not clear. They almost make it seem like Axel’s departure caused Saïx to be so fucked up. But anyone who played Days could see he was fucked up long before the game even started. So that’s no excuse.

Nomura: Saïx rejoined the Organization to atone for what he did in the past. He drifted away from Axel and put Roxas through a lot because of his jealousy and displeasure, but vowed to do good for the sake of both Axel and Roxas.

Basically, he was a douchebag. He wasn’t a victim of human experimentation to justify his terrible personality. KH3 didn’t even bother trying to make you feel sorry for him. He just “drifted away” from Axel due to jealousy and displeasure and is trying to “atone”. He admitted he was infuriated due to the jealousy he felt. Jealousy over Axel spending time with…two children who eased his loneliness? Loneliness he only felt because Saïx was so indifferent to him?

Day 51: Measures Must Be Taken

The Replica Program continues apace, but something has gone wrong at Castle Oblivion. The Dusks returned with word that none of those we dispatched survived—but the news came in fragments. I still know too little to extract the truth. I doubt Axel would be among those lost, but I must plan for the worst. First, I must locate the Keyblade master.

That’s the most sympathetic they could make him, apparently. New Saïx could have rekindled his friendship with Axel any time he wanted. Axel would have been more than happy to spend time with him like the old days. He desperately longed for that. But New Saïx chose not to for unspecified reasons. He treated his friend like a disposable tool. Then he tried to murder Axel after he left. He had no hesitation about this, either.

“He was involved in the incident at Castle Oblivion… I warned you he had a hand in the demise of Marluxia and the others, and yet someone failed to eliminate him.” Saïx, number 7, glared at Xigbar from under his hood with a sharp glint in his eyes.

“Hey, he’s the only one who’s had direct contact with the Keyblade wielder,” Xigbar replied, unruffled.

He chided Xigbar for not eliminating Axel earlier.

Axel looked up to see someone else he knew.

He hadn’t even sensed him coming!

“Saïx…!” he snarled, and the other man slowly lowered his hood, smiling serenely. Long blue hair escaped from the hood, but it didn’t hide the scar on his forehead.

“Naminé, run!”

He smiled serenely after he located Axel, and prepared to kill him.

Saïx couldn’t fathom what Xemnas’s true objective might be.

“Sora or Xion—it matters not. But we need one of them under our control. Bear that in mind.” Saïx nodded, and a serene smile came to Xemnas’s face. If that smile meant anything, it was beyond him.

Just like Xemans smiled serenely at him when he had no clue what he was thinking.

Axel let out a deep breath and leaped into the air as flames erupted around them.

“…Pathetic!” The Claymore moved to block Axel’s strike, while Saïx himself didn’t even twitch.

Axel felt like disappearing when he fought his former friend. But Old and New Saïx didn’t even twitch as he tried to strike him down. He just called him pathetic.

“Did you take care of Axel?” Xigbar asked.

“Most likely,” Saïx replied. Technically, he hadn’t seen Axel’s end. But it was hard to imagine that he had survived.

And this was his reaction to thinking Axel had perished. He wasn’t sure he did… but he hoped he did. LOL. The message I got from KH3 was that Roxas and Xion are Axel’s REAL friends.You’re going to wanna spend $19.99 on the DLC to learn why they came back, right? RIGHT?They’re the only ones anybody cares about. Saïx atoned by giving them back to Axel as a present, so now he can go back to being irrelevant.

Isa’s personal relationship with Lea was not considered valuable enough to get any attention. New Saïx had absolutely no business being included with the good guys. The writers didn’t give a shit about him. He had an off-screen redemption, which still didn’t make up for his horrible personality. He is simply not likable, compared to all the other characters. He feels out of place in the ending. Him smiling and having fun felt out-of-character. Axel was always likable. Yet he STILL required a redemption arc spanning multiple games.

I cannot imagine that New Saïx would be the type of person Lea would have been close friends with in the past. There’s no way in hell Lea would EVER become inseparable from a guy who belittles others for crying. That is not the type of person he would choose to spend time with. He was very choosy with who he spent his time with. I cannot picture Roxas or Xion wanting to be friends with him, either.

We slipped into the castle that day knowing only that we wanted, with all our hearts, to save her.

Then there’s the third character in this debacle. Isa, who had a single appearance in BBS, and that was it. He was a nice kid. He had a sarcastic and dry sense of humor, but he was happy when Lea made friends with Ventus. They all laughed together while teasing him in a lighthearted manner. He was sincere when he said he would never forget Lea. Unlike Old or New Saïx, he closed his eyes when he smiled. He seemed reluctant to show his emotions, but not in the same way New Saïx was.

Rabbit Meanings and Symbolism

The rabbit has a diverse nature and can symbolize many things, including:

Fear, shyness and anxiety

Fertility

Abundance and wealth

Cleverness and creativity

Spontaneity

The rabbit spirit animal carries many complex meanings. It is associated with fear because of the rabbit’s timid nature, but also with fertility and creativity. The rabbit totem is a symbol of luck in many cultures, and is also a symbol of abundance. People who feel connected to the rabbit spirit animal are clever and creative, but may be working to overcome fear and anxiety.

Rabbit as a Symbol of Fear

Everyone has seen a rabbit freeze and then suddenly bolt away as a person walks by. Rabbits are small and gentle, without many defenses. They treat everything as a potential threat, yet are still able to relax as they eat grass or sleep in their safe burrows. People who identify with the rabbit spirit animal may have a similar timid and fearful response. They may be shy in social situations and suffer from anxiety. The rabbit totem teaches us to overcome irrational fears while still protecting ourselves from harm.

He just seemed shy. Timid, but very warm and caring inside.

Let me face, let me faceLet me face my fearsOh, let me face, let me faceLet me face my fearsWon’t be long, won’t be longI’m almost hereWatch me cry all my tears

And THIS is the type of person I can see Lea becoming inseparable from. THIS character I can see wanting to rescue a complete stranger with all his heart, putting himself in danger to do so. THIS character I can understand having a Moon Rabbit represent his personality. THIS is a character I can understand Axel not wanting to leave in a Frankenstein-like condition. THIS is a character I can see Axel doing it all for, desperately hoping to see him again. THIS is a character I can see Axel never wanting to forget, even when he changed into a monster. THIS is a character I can see Lea using the power of waking on, and helping to face his fears. “Won’t be long, I’m almost here.”

KH3 was ridiculous and impossible for me to take seriously in so many ways. Saïx was the last character that would fit in with all the good guys. KH3 did nothing to fix that. They could have chosen any character to be Lea’s best friend. And they chose a complete sociopath? Highly doubtful. Nobody in their right mind would plan a character arc like Saïx’s, if they were planned to be in the epilogue happily eating ice cream with all of their victims. The sad truth is that New Saïx took Isa’s place in the story.

Isa deserved to be there. It was heavily implied that he was made into a vessel against his will, like Terra was. Isa has no reason to apologize to anyone. He needs forgiveness from no one. He was an innocent victim. He deserved to be rescued, but unfortunately he was not. He is dead. He was unable to reunite with his best friend, and sadly he never will. Instead, his Xehanort-possessed self took his place among the good guys during the victory celebration. I can’t see either Roxas or Xion being friends with Old or New Saïx. I could easily see them being close friends with Isa, though. Sadly, they never will.

#kh meta #kh saix #kh axel #kh isa #kh lea #leaisa #isalea #akusai #anti-kh3

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hearts-lover · 5 years

Text

More proof of Kairi isn’t useless.

Disclaimer: I already know that the topic of Kairi being the damsel of Distress has already died and the fan is focusing on the DLC and other things, but I feel a need to make this post because I have a mindblown after playing KH3 again and watching the other cutscene (most likely in the events Birth by sleep, Re:chain of memories, KH2 and in Dream Drop Distance) Which that being said, for those who are a Soriku/Anti-Kairi/Anti-Sokai who wish to message their opinion, please speak in a mature way, I know that I don’t have any control of what anyone says, but it considers it as a warning. I also like to say that I do not hate any of these characters, I love each and everyone in the Kingdom Hearts series, I feel like I need to say that considering people will assume otherwise. (this is Tumblr) This is also kinda a sequel to my first defensive post to Kairi, so if you like to see my post defending Kairi, Click-Here So before we talk about, I’m gonna mention who I will be used to prove that Kairi isn’t useless, I’m not gonna use Nomura, nor the Ultimania, instead I’m gonna use someone that in the series; Axel. Now before I explain why, we first need to Axel fighting experiences. In the event of Birth by sleep, when he was Lea and met Ventus and ask for his names After Ventus answers Lea say this:

We know for sure that Lea has “some” experiences when its come to fighting WAY before he becomes Axel if he was able to say that the Wooden Keyblade Terra gave to Ventus is kid toy, and he shows him off as if it a real weapons However, he was easily bested by Ventus, Gasping for Air while Ventus still standing there, ready for any counterattacks (I mean it's most likely since Ven train with Terra and Aqua, went to 4 other worlds including Raident Garden, fought many bosses included Vanitas and Maleficent, but he wasn’t able to beat them without help) moving on to Rechain of memories when Axel got used to his power, he has fought (with his Chakrams) was Sora and Marluxia The first time he fought Sora, he was going easy on him only to see if Sora is ready to take on Castle Oblivion, before the final boss, Axel went and fought Marluxia for betraying the Organization but then stop after Marluxia uses Namines as a shield and uses Sora to fight Axel as he stated that he’ll go through Namine to get to Marluxia and as you fight in like a boss, he’ll use Firewall and Firetooth (where he threw his weapon but not before putting them on fire) and its also seem that he can contorl his weapons whenever he like In Kingdom Hearts 2, he becomes more active; when you face him for the first time as Roxas, he can dash behind Roxas and attack him, basically going easy on him to see if he remembers his life in the Organization, the 2nd time you face him he first creates Firewall and slowly burn your health, as the battle begins he then uses more combo than he usually use, hide behind the flame only to strike if Roxas doesn’t react in time, he also has a supercombo where you can’t hit him at all, but have to dodge his attack and wait until he hittable again (idk if it happen when you first face him, but I'm just assuming so) After you played as sorry and found a lead where he can find Xemnas and Kairi, once he in the portal he was stopped by the Nobodies but was saved by Axel. After Sora and Axel fought several nobodies, Axel uses his power to sacrifice himself to open the past for sora in the events on DDD: when Axel was able to be Lea once again and save Queen Minnie, and it seems that he remembers everything he learned from the Organization 13, how he uses his weapons, how to fight with them and etc. He even still know how to use Fire magic

and finally, in the event of Kingdom Hearts 3, when the seven light faced Terranort and witness him took down Ventus and Stun Sora (for a short while) Terranort went after Kairi, but Axel steps in to protect her But Fails

So even after Axel was able to be experienced ever since he was a Teen (and practiced to wield the Keyblade with Kairi) He was still able to be sent flying, where the only thing that he was pushed into his limited was in Rechain of memories Sora (when Sora was still 15-year-old mind you), KH2 Roxas and when he killed himself So if Axel has no chance of blocking Terranort Swing, what chance do Kairi have if the only thing that she faces was in KH2 when she has to face a few shadows with Riku ________________________________________________________________ Another point is when Xemnas Grab Kairi

now I already made a point where why Kairi wasn’t able to use her keyblade due to my first post about Kairi but what seems more interesting that when I was watching KH2 and Axel found Kairi in Twilight Town, This happened

Now if any of you remember these scenes, then you must’ve remembered that Kairi told Axel to let go of her and was struggling to pull free from him and I also assume that people are going to say is that the way Axel grabs her is different than the one Xemnas grab her, and that is exactly my point Kairi couldn’t able to use her Keyblade because Xemnas is hurting her while Axel only intended to take Kairi to lure Sora to her, So that Axel can have Roxas back. And I know that everyone is going to say “but why Kairi doesn’t use her other hands?” Remember, In KH3 when Terranort encounter Lingering Will, his keyblade was caught and was flying around, but he let go

As he where charging to Will and got blasted, he then retrieved his keyblade

BUT HE RETURNS IT AT THE SAME HANDS and this isn’t the first time that it happens Xemnas who is the nobodies of Xehanort has two dual lasers for each hand, however, he always uses the hands that Xehanort uses when he holds a keyblade.

And hell, if you think about it, Everyone uses the Arm to hold their weapon similar to both Xemnas and Xehanort

________________________________________________________________ One more thing before I head to sleep: After Sora went to Yen-sid to get suit up, we get a cutscene of Kairi writing a letter for Sora, when she mentions Lea, that interested me

After Axel gave Kairi Seasalt Icecream, Kairi said this

That when it hit me, we all should know who said the same thing as Kairi

XION In the events of Days 358/2; Axel was assigned by Saix that it's his mission to return Xion, after realizing that She is nothing but a puppet, He didn’t like she was treated like one and the fact that Xion just accepted it, so of course he was mad at Xion, giving up life like that, think that disappearing is the right thing to do. After that scene, Axel carried knocked-out Xion to their homebase not until he passed out

And since we don’t know if Axel know that Roxas fought and killed Xion, all we can know is that he blames himself since in order to knock her out is to fight her, and the last time I check fighting your best friend can be emotional Not only that, but we all remember Axel kidnapped Kairi to lure sora in to save Roxas, only for her to be taken Saix thus the organization that would explain why he apologize to sora for taking Kairi

and how he quickly told Sora who took Kairi

It's obviously shown that he felt bad for stalking Kairi like that and using her to lure Sora Thus the reason why he told Sora to run to go and save her instead of protecting him. Why did I explain all that? Simple, Look what Kairi said before she told Axel not to hold back.

and since Kairi say that “don’t hold back” line similar to Xion as if Axel and Kairi will spar with each other only and Axel for a second was able to see Xion If you haven’t caught on, I’m applying that Axel was the reason why Kairi was so weak. Compare to Sora and Riku spar, he never catch you a break, Riku’ll use everything that he knows in order to beat Sora whenever if it a race or a swordfight However, Sora and Riku supposedly sparring to each other since they were a kid, and since they are a friend during that time, its seem they think it's fine if they get a little hurt from sparring since pain helps you improve. and since Axel still feels bad about the thing he does to Kairi and Sora, and knocking out Xion, He holds back. He hurt Xion when he didn’t hold back, and he simply didn’t hold back when he keeps kidnapping Kairi and looking from Axel point of view, I would also hold back. but because of him doing that, Kairi won’t get stronger, Axel went all easy mode on Kairi because of the memories he had with Kairi and Xion and if he HAS been going easy on her, that’ll mean he making her win. and the more she wins beside learning from her mistake, the more overconfident Kairi will get, I mean those confident Kairi had was able to make her give a Papou fruit to sora and said all of this:

(unironically to the one she loved) and if I was able to face the same person who stalked me, overall made me hated him and won many time (even if it just a spar) I also will be onverconfident, but that overconfident feeling she had will be her downfall. but because of Axel not pushing her limits (and merlin most likely tought Kairi and Axel how to use magic, similar how he trained Sora Magic in KH1) and making her win, she’ll be thinking that she is strong enough to protect sora. So for all of KH fan that are disappointed of Kairi characrter, not only we should blame nomura for writing her bad, but we should also blame Axel for not making her a strong independent warrior that we all hoped she is. but of course, that just my headcanon/opinion

#kingdom hearts 3 #kingdom hearts rant #Kairi #axel #kh3 rant #KH3 #xion

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zdbztumble · 5 years

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So What to do About it? (KH III Spoilers)

Complain about something enough, and you may end up hearing from somebody: “well, what would you have done differently?” No one’s asked me that about Kingdom Hearts III, but I’m bored at work and eager to dodge emotional problems, so that’s what we’re getting into tonight, kids!

Note: I’m going to limit myself to changes I would make to KH III only. A number of its problems are the culmination of trends begun much earlier in the series, particularly DDD, but I don’t want to get into hypothetical changes to five different games, none of which were as flawed in degree, or as painful an experience as the story of KH III was.

To start out with, the first change I would make to KH III would be to make cuts. A lot of cuts. Because there’s a lot in the story of this game that didn’t need to be there. On the chopping block would be:

- Maleficent. She’s my favorite Disney villain, and I love her role within the KH series, but Maleficent (and Pete) had no role in this story. A tease at a potential future game and a promotion of KH UX are no reason to include a character. And, if a character - even a favorite one - has no good reason to be in a story, they shouldn’t be.

- Roxas, Xion, and Namine. Again, they have no real role to play in this story. Namine doesn’t do anything except summon the Lingering Will (and we’ll get to that), Roxas isn’t needed to complete the roster of Seven Lights, and the whole point of Xion’s tragic death was that she was gone for good. She comes back into the story from nowhere, while Roxas and Namine are only present to give Sora and Kairi some semblance of a quest in the front half of the story; they both want to find a way to let their Nobodies live as real people outside of their hearts. But Sora and Kairi didn’t need any additional motivation to do things in this story, because they’re already motivated by the far more consequential goal of stopping Xehanort on a macro level, and by the desire to keep each other safe on the micro level (as poorly reintroduced as that idea was.) They also have very little (and in Kairi’s case, no) role in restoring their Nobodies in the game as-is.

The idea that these characters could, or at least deserved to, exist as their own persons was first introduced in DDD, but it was presented as more of a desire on Sora’s part than something that could practically be done. There wasn’t a wealth of build-up to this idea in previous games that needed to be paid off. And as I’ve said before, Roxas and Namine choosing to return to Sora and Kairi, no longer existing as themselves but as a part of their true selves, was a wonderfully bittersweet aspect of KH II and a noble sacrifice on their part. Even with the stupid retcons concerning Nobodies and hearts pulled by DDD, that sacrifice is still valid, and Roxas, Namine, and Xion all remain distinct enough from other Nobodies and replicas that their choices and losses remain valid. Without any good reason to undermine that sacrifice, it shouldn’t be.

That said, while I would cut their revivals and presence in the larger plot, I would make use of them in the game...but we’ll get to that later.

- Ienzo and the other ex-Organizers. If Roxas and Namine go, then these guys might as well too. Ienzo is the only one who actually functions in the plot, and other than researching means to restore former Nobodies, he has no role to play. Any residual exposition that he gave out could be given to other characters. I would cut Ansem the Wise as well, but secret endings of previous games and my self-imposed rule mean he has to stay.

- Demyx. Again, without Roxas, he has no role to play. Vexen’s role would also change significantly, but...well, we’ll come back to that.

- Riku and Mickey updating their Keyblades. What was wrong with their old ones? And what value does the idea of re-charging Keyblades, or arbitrarily getting a hold of new ones, bring to the table?

- The mystery girl. Both of them. When it comes to Nameless Star - I do not care about Marluxia’s long-lost sister. There is no bottom to the well of how little I care about the pasts of any of the Organizers, especially any that tie into KH UX. If you do, then more power to you, but a game that’s meant to be the culmination of so many stories does not have the time or space to tease something like this. Leave it in the mobile game.

Subject X is a trickier issue. When that idea first came up via Ansem and “Ansem,” I thought they might be talking about Kairi, and that the story might finally be at least hinting at something of her past. It took me until last night to realize it, but Kairi’s past is the one plot point directly tied into Xehanort’s schemes that isn’t resolved in KH II. When Xion finally appeared, my first thought was that all the talk about a girl with no memory was actually about her all along, which I could’ve figured out wasn’t the case even before getting the Secret Reports if I’d thought about it for more than a minute. But that the mystery girl is actually a character who has never before been mentioned or had any role in the plot, and is probably yet another reference to KH UX, is absolutely ridiculous. If it wasn’t bad enough that Kairi’s past is going to be left unexplored, a key detail of it - that she was in some way a victim of Xehanort’s experiments before turning up on Destiny Islands - is re-purposed for another character who does not matter to this story.

I would be sorely tempted to modify this material so that the mystery girl who the Ansems discuss actually is Kairi. If this game really is the end to the Xehanort saga, and Kairi’s past is directly tied to Xehanort, it’s the last chance to get into it. But even if the story saw all the cuts I suggest here through, it would still be a very crowded story tasked with paying off a very complicated plot. So unfortunately, if we’re assuming that every other game in the series stays the same as it is, Kairi’s past is still a casualty of poor decisions in those earlier games. The mystery girl material gets cut - completely.

- Chirithy. He’s cute. He’s also not necessary. Cut him.

- Replica Riku. Repliku living inside of Riku, and Riku becoming aware of that, is the closest thing to an arc that Riku has in this game. His character arc, at least as far as the Xehanort saga is concerned, really reached its conclusion in DDD. In KH III, he remains throughout the stoic chief supporting figure to Sora and King Mickey, not counting Donald and Goofy. But I can’t say that I found that a bad role for him, or that I find him being set and constant in who he is to be a bad thing. And Repliku suddenly re-entering the story, in its finale of all times, through truly convoluted and confusing means, was just not worth it to give Riku some small measure of an arc.

- The chess frame. This put a metaphor on to the entire conflict that I didn’t like, and made the whole thing feel much smaller than it should. And, if you cut this, then you also cut...

- Eraqus. Again, the chess frame lessens the story, and Eraqus turning up to talk down Xehanort takes a lot away from the actual protagonists of the story.

Alright, so that’s everything for the chopping block, which already clears out a lot of narrative real estate. So besides what I would’ve left out, what would I have changed? Well...

- Show Kairi’s training. Axel’s too, but Kairi’s the one who’s been a main character from the beginning and started getting built up since the end of II as a Keyblade wielder. And I would have used her training as the tutorial. In the spirit of the prolonged Roxas segment of KH II, a mix of cutscenes, tutorials-as-in-time-gameplay, and tutorials-as-Dives-to-the-Heart would illustrate Kairi’s training, give some context for her thoughts and feelings (which I imagine would be an outgrowth of her expressions of wanting to be part of the adventure from the end of II), and introduce the idea of the Final World. In KH III as it is, it just sort of appears; here, Kairi could find her way there from the Dive to the Heart stained glass, and be confused and a little disturbed by what she finds. At the end of the tutorial, a cutscene could show her summarizing everything for Sora in a letter and actually sending it to him, and we’d cut over to Sora reading the letter (and conveniently, the letter carries over the choices you, the player, made as Kairi about which powers you wanted.)

- Improve Sora’s recovery. Motivating Sora’s reset to Level One by the events of DDD is one of the game’s better notions, but it’s not executed very well. Sora regains most of his abilities, in their basic form at least, within the first level, and the Power of Waking becomes an exercise in repetitive cutscenes until it suddenly needs to start working. I would spread out when Sora regains certain abilities and when he acquires new ones (though he’d get everything within the first World Map), and I would wait to bring the Power of Waking up until much later in the game, so that it isn’t hanging around the plot like an albatross. And he would get Glide some time before the Badlands.

- Multiple parties. The only Final Fantasy game that I’ve played is XIII. I don’t remember much of it, but I do remember that, at various points in the story, you control different characters. That was an ensemble cast; Kingdom Hearts is meant to be centered on Sora, and I wouldn’t make an even division of time spent with other parties. But I would give Riku and Kairi one Disney world each, and Aqua her own level. And the way I would do that is...

- Motivate the Disney worlds. III as-is is easily the worst game in the series for integrating the Disney worlds into the larger plot. This was frustrating as a failure to execute the founding concept of the series, but also because there were plenty of openings for how to integrate the worlds they chose, either through story or through character and thematic ideas. To wit:

Olympus: Admittedly, this one is motivated, by Yen Sid sending Sora off to it to try and regain strength. And, had they preserved the training/tournament angle on this world from previous games, that would have made even more sense. But I like that they went in another direction with Olympus this time, as that was rather played out. So I suppose I wouldn’t change all that much here, other than improving the dialogue, reducing the number of abilities Sora regains, and have Herc’s talk about Meg trigger some recollection of Kairi in Sora. I’d also emphasize a line from the movie: “A life without Meg would be empty.”

Twilight Town: If you cut Roxas from the game, then this world doesn’t really have much point other than the Bistro and the shops. Given that, I’d just as soon replace it with Radiant Garden as the hub world, relocating the Bistro mini-game and the 100 Acre Wood to there. Any exposition that can’t be delivered by Yen Sid, Mickey, or Chip and Dale, can be delivered from Radiant Garden by...Leon, Yuffie, Cid, and Aerith. Nomura may have been right when he said that original characters from Kingdom Hearts could take the place of these three as sources of exposition, but the fact is that Sora has more of a relationship with them than he has with the ex-Organizers that displaced them, and their presence would mean that the Final Fantasy elements of this series get some real representation. They wouldn’t have much to do; they would in essence be making cameo appearances, which I’m sure some would find unsatisfying; but those cameos would at least be justified by the story and the setting.

The Toy Box: Here is where Vexen would come into play. Have him back as a non-Norted member of Organization XIII, unrepentant, building replicas for the Xehanorts. He’s the one who put the toys in a split world, as study subjects for building his replicas. He would be the member of Organization XIII appearing in cutscenes to taunt Sora and attempt to pit the toys against each other. And he’s the boss battle in this world. That’s right; you’d actually get to fight a member of the Organization before the Keyblade Graveyard. A cutscene following his defeat could reveal that he’d obtained sufficient data from his research for the replica bodies of the various Xehanorts who need them to be perfected.

Kingdom of Corona: Here’s where the multiple parties come into play. I’d let Kairi be the one to explore this world. Let her have a Gummi ship, and be on her way back to Master Yen Sid’s from training. She can sense that there’s something wrong in the nearby world of Corona, and she and Axel can check it out. Kairi can be the one to relate to Rapunzel’s feelings about setting out into the wide world, she can recognize in Rapunzel the light of a Princess of Heart, and she can realize on her own that the Organization (via Marluxia in this case) is seeking out new princesses, as incentive for the heroes: “fight us like we want, or we go after these innocent people.” (A cutscene from another game where Yen Sid and Mickey discuss why they have to play into Xehanort’s plan wasn’t enough to clarify this point IMO, nor was the idea of “seven new lights” given enough motivation. Kill two birds with one stone here.) Kairi would also take note of Eugene’s sacrifice, and Rapunzel’s revival of him. As for what Axel would be doing here...I suppose he could hang in the background, existential about his second chance at life.

(I would hold off on Riku and Mickey’s sojourn into the Realm of Darkness until here. By mentioning one of the factions peopled with a member of the Destiny Trio but not showing it until the first World Map is complete, you can build a certain amount of suspense, and avoid the problem of Riku and Mickey’s story dragging throughout the first two acts. This would also eliminate their check-in with Yen Sid from the first World Map, and thus eliminate Sora’s check-in at the same time as well, cutting down on repetition.)

Monstropolis: Play up the fact that Vanitas is after negative energy, in particular the screams of children, more. This is one of the few things about KH III that I think could’ve done with a bit more exposition, or more specifically, exposition spaced throughout the level.

Arendelle: I would make Riku and Mickey’s retreat from the darkness a more rushed and hurried affair, so much so that they have no time to make it to Yen Sid’s and end up diving for the first world they can. That world would be Arendelle, and you’d play as Riku. That connection Sora made between Elsa’s treatment of Anna and Riku’s of him and Kairi? Riku’s the one to make that connection, and he actually talks to Elsa about it. And Elsa is your battle partner, at least for the final boss; I would probably structure it so that, after Anna’s sacrifice, the darkness overwhelms Hans, and Elsa joins you in fighting him as Skoll. In the aftermath of that, she can break down crying, revive Anna, happy ending, etc. And Riku and Mickey can deduce the same conclusion that Kairi did about the princesses - Larxene wouldn’t blurt it out. Seeing the sisters and their plight could also re-energize and re-motivate the two of them to head back to the darkness in search of Aqua.

(The cutscene after Arendelle is where I’d probably introduce the Power of Waking. Sora and Kairi would be the ones checking in with Yen Sid, Mickey and Riku heading straight back to the darkness. On the basis of what Sora saw in the Toy Box, he could also ask if it’s possible for Roxas to get a replica body of his own, and Kairi could ask the same about Namine. And Yen Sid could tell them...no. That Roxas and Namine aren’t the same as regular Nobodies, and that they chose to become a part of Sora and Kairi again. And this could have a real impact on Sora and Kairi, as it hits them that not everything can work out the way it should be, that not everyone can get a happy ending in this story at this point. And it could affect Axel by further deepening his ambivalence about his second chance, when his one friend [that he can remember] is lost forever while he lingers on, recompleted but alone.)

The Caribbean: I would re-work the adaptation of At World’s End to include more material concerning Will and Elizabeth, for thematic purposes; I want Sora to make a connection between Will’s death, and his possible future with Kairi. But I would adapt that material, and everything taken from the film, more freely than the game did as-is. I’d also cut the Kraken as a boss, and instead have Davy Jones be the opener to a Heartless-possessed Endeavor as the final boss. And instead of teasing the Black Box concept, I’d have Luxord trying to recruit Davy Jones as a Xehanort host. Jones is already a being without a heart who can walk and talk and function the way the Organizers can; why not make that connection? Jones would refuse, of course, and Luxord’s desire for the chest is to gain leverage on Jones to comply. When that whole plan fails, he sends the Endeavor against Sora and the others. And, by the end of the level, you could have a cutscene where Luxord makes his apologies to a hooded, shrouded Master Xehanort (tease him before the final level without seeing him outright), who assures him that they’ve been able to find another thirteenth.

San Fransokyo: This one is tough for me, because the further away I get from the game, the more this world baffles me with the sudden appearance of Dark Riku and all the blather about hearts and data. I suppose I’d just try to simplify things down to simple taunting; instead of talking about data, Dark Riku (revealed as the thirteenth just set up in the previous world) just wants to prove something to Sora about pain and loss, which would let that reviewer’s perceived theme about what makes a heart whole come into play.

- Overhaul on the Anti-Aqua fight. I would not have had Aqua or Ansem appear before this point in the game. Riku and Mickey’s encounter with Anti-Aqua can be her first appearance, and it can be preceded by an encounter with Ansem the Wise, warning them to turn back. When Aqua fell to the darkness is thus left as something that happened at an indeterminate time between the KH 0.2 and now, not something that arbitrarily happens right after we see her just as she normally is. Sora can still rush in to save the day, but I would change that fight so that it’s Sora and Riku together who combat Aqua, and Riku who first greets her when she awakens. Ansem would be saved from the darkness too, and take his place back at Radiant Garden, mingling with the FF characters, Merlin, and Uncle Scrooge and Little Chef.

- Yensid warns Sora. After the rescue of Ventus and the big group conference, have Yen Sid hold Sora back and explain the consequences of misusing the Power of Waking, a bit more clearly than Xehanort did in the game as-is.

- No Saix talk. In the whole “respite” sequence, I would do without Saix and Axel meeting up. If Roxas and Xion, and Subject X, aren’t here, most of that material would be rendered meaningless anyway. Instead, I would have Riku and Axel talk about being lost to darkness and about second chances. Riku would be at peace with where he’s ended up; Axel would be more ambivalent.

I would also have Riku talk to Sora and Kairi, briefly, before leaving them alone to have their moment with the paopu fruit.

- Revisiting Worlds options. From this point on, when you revisit worlds, you can choose which party you visit them as: Sora, Donald and Goofy; Riku and Mickey; Kairi and Axel; or Aqua and Ven (and later Terra.) If you visit a world as a party that didn’t visit that world, the characters there will drop some line of dialogue like “friend of Sora’s, huh? You’re welcome here.”

- Toggling against the swarm. Instead of having the group all split up, everyone takes part in fighting the massive swarm that meets them when they first land in the Badlands, and you would toggle between parties. You’d start out fighting as Sora with Donald and Goofy; at a certain point in the fight, you’d throw over to Riku and Mickey. At another point, you’d toss to Aqua and Ven, then to Kairi and Axel, finishing back with Sora to use that awesome train attack.

- Maze first, then death. A wholesale rewrite of the events surrounding the battles in this section of the game, basically. The swarm that you just finished battling as all the different parties is replaced by another swarm, of multiple Demon Towers; they just won’t stop coming. Here is where Yen Sid appears to hold them at bay, and where Donald and Goofy stay behind to help as the Keybalde wielders press on.

Our heroes are greeted by Organization XIII, who immediately raise the maze and separate the seven into smaller groups. You, the player, would jump around to each one. I would do this to give individual heroes a bit more agency in resolving their personal stories before moving on to the final resolution. Riku would defeat Dark Riku on his own; you could fight as Ven against Vanitas, and as Aqua as she (and Ven) succeed in awakening Terra (a moment in the fight triggers the Lingering Will to suddenly appear, instead of having Terra inside the Heartless); Sora could join up with Mickey to take out Luxord; and Kairi and Axel could handle Marluxia, Larxene, and Saix. (Yes, I changed the arrangements of bosses. It doesn’t matter all that much. And outside maybe Luxord and Saix, no faux-pathos at their deaths.)

The casualties would begin in the maze. I might have Ven and Vanitas both fall, after Terra is restored, so Ven can point out that he kept his promise before fading. Axel and Saix could go down together (and I admit that’s recycling Axel dying a noble death; I don’t know what else to do with the guy.) Just to play up Xigbar’s sliminess, he could snipe Mickey as the survivors make their way through the maze, and Aqua and Terra could stay behind to fight him, giving you a turn to play as Terra; the cutscene at the end could show Terra and Aqua wounded, unable to go on. And the very next cutscene could cut back to the Disney characters holding back the swarm. Here is where Donald can use his Zetta Flare, with a much clearer need for that drastic spell on-hand to motivate it. Sora can sense Donald’s fall, and the others, as he presses on, so that he’s already angry and distressed when he, Riku, and Kairi face the three Xehanorts together. And unlike with the other Organizers, you need to beat all three before the cutscene triggers.

Said cutscene would have all the combatants exhausted as Master Xehanort declares that he has his twelve keys and just needs the one more. The heroes can declare that they won’t give him his thirteenth clash; I might give the lines for this to Riku, the one of the group who had fallen into Xehanort’s schemes in the biggest way before. But Master Xehanort jumps in to land a blow against Riku, making for the thirteenth clash with darkness. That creates the X-Blade, and Master Xehanort uses it to summon the Demon Tornado and sweep everyone left away before he turns to Kingdom Hearts. But in this case, it’s Kairi who tells Sora not to give up and is the second-to-last to get swallowed.

- Play as Kairi in the Final World. If Kairi’s supposed to escape falling into darkness, and if she’s meant to be the one holding Sora to life, go ahead and run with that. This would pay off her discovering the Final World during the tutorial earlier. She (via inference and text boxes explaining things instead of a random cat creature) collects the various pieces of Sora, depositing them in his translucent body. Two of those pieces can be Roxas and Xion (I told you I’d work her in somewhere). Kairi and Sora, and even Roxas, wouldn’t know who Xion is, but she could trigger something within Kairi that allows a telepathic conversation with Namine that gets into questions about hard choices and the greater good - something Kairi hasn’t yet had to deal with, but Namine, a part of her, and Xion, built out of memories of her, have.

Once Sora is fully restored, he becomes the player character again, but it’s Kairi who comes with him to rescue the others, not Jiminy Cricket. She’s your battle partner as you make your way through the worlds saving everyone. Master Xehanort (not the Young version) can still turn up to give Sora another warning about the Power of Waking - and Kairi takes that to heart, more than Sora does. The sacrifices and deaths from the Disney worlds come back to mind, just as they did in the game; only this time, Sora and Kairi have both made the connection prior to this point, and this is just brings it back to mind.

- One battle, two trios. When time resets, it’s after the X-Blade has been formed. Sora turns the time power against Xehanort, and he, Riku, and Kairi follow him while the others hold shut Kingdom Hearts. In the course of this battle, there can be a moment that triggers a cutscene where Riku is severely injured and blasted through the portal back to the outside world. Caught off-guard, Sora is about to be struck down, but Kairi takes the hit. (As I said, I don’t object to the death itself; it’s the execution. This would let Kairi have a chance to shine as a character, throughout the game and in the boss battles, and would tie in more directly to the thematic threads in the chosen Disney worlds and pay off the conversation just held with Namine.) Sora hits a point of despair here, but Donald and Goofy join him for the final stretch (an injured Riku could have enough strength to return to Scala ad Caelum and bring the two of them with him.) And there is no bullshit last-minute redemption for Master Xehanort; he gets wiped out.

- SHOW. SORA’S. FATE. The single biggest flaw in the game as-is, and the one that would most need to get fixed. Have Sora go back to the final world, find Kairi, and have a scene between them. I would have Kairi not want Sora to use the Power of Waking to save her; she would point out its risks to him, and that she made a choice to keep him safe (see that callback there?) In response, Sora would bring up Herc’s line about an empty life. Kairi would be in the same boat, so they’d both be at a standstill. In the end, Sora persuades her by quoting her; that he trusts her to believe that he won’t fade away, and that she’ll keep him safe, even in this. So, as he readies the Power of Waking, the final cutscene is triggered, and you can have that final shot of Sora and Kairi holding hands as he fades away - only now, it’s motivated. And you have not just a bittersweet ending, but a hook into a future game that would be nearly impossible to write Kairi out of.

- Xigbar =/= Luxu. You want an epilogue and a secret movie? Fine. But don’t pull this shit.

And there you have it. Would this be a big improvement on the game we got? Yes, if I do say so myself. Would it be good? I don’t know. Since it assumes everything else in the series stays put, we’re still left with a lot of the problems that III was saddled with, not the least of them being too many characters even with the cuts I made. There’s no clear way that I can see to give everyone a meaningful payoff. But it’s what I’ve got, and it at least keeps the original threesome all prominent and sends Sora off with more grace.

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts 3 #critique #headcanon #alternate #z's crits

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chuplayswithfire · 5 years

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KH3: How I'd Have Done That End Game [ Spoilers ]

Speaking of end game is things I would change in KH3 honestly I'd have embraced that they had fifteen darknesses and changed the fights and how they worked. These are the big changes I'd have made. Obviously, spoilers!

Instead of playing as Sora helping everyone we should have had more fights as other characters, and the fights should have consisted of groups that had relevance to each other. If I could change this I'd have it more like:

Marluxia, Larxene, Demyx, and Luxord vs Mickey and Sora, with Sora being the playable character.

Repliku and Ansem versus Kairi, Sora, and Riku, so that the Destiny Trio can fight together, and because Sora, Riku, and Kairi suffered the most at Ansem's hands, and Repliku would have been perfect for Sora and Riku to fight yes, with Namine reacting inside of Kairi in much the manner that Roxas does inside Sora throughout the game. Riku would be playable, because these two are his direct character relations. Riku would still race off to track Ansem, Kairi and Sora would go look for Lea to back him up.

Vexen, Saix, and Xion versus Lea, Kairi, and Sora, with Xemnas swooping in when Vexen dies and Xion and Saix can't finish the job so the cutscene can work as it should. Vexen would be the relief between the high emotional intensity of playing versus Saix and Xion, and Lea should be playable, and then Roxas and Sora and Xion finish the fight. Kairi and Sora leave the two to their reunion - Kairi and Sora chase Xemnas, figuring he'll be going to where Ansem is with Riku.

Xigbar, Vanitas, and Terranort verse Aqua, Ven, and Lingering Will, with either Aqua as the playable character. These three were all enemies in BBS, so it would be great thematically appropriate. They don't need Sora here at all?? He didn't have to be in this fight. Aqua should have shot Terra-Xehanort through the back, not Sora, and Lingering Will being there means that Terra's heart and mind are both close by when he gets back his body.

Sora, Riku, and Kairi face Ansem and Xemnas and defeat them together - playing as Sora again probably for most emotional sense because those are the big bads of KH1 and KH2 and then:

Master Xehanort and Young Nort left standing with the thirteen keys, so that Young Xehanort can see the future and have it etched in his memory so that he can learn his path. He returns to the past as Xehanort forges the X-Blade, resolute and sure of their strength and that the future will not be altered.

Sora charges into Scala ad Caelum to face Xehanort with Donald and Goofy, everyone else staying to deal with Kingdom Hearts and another approaching tornado of heartless ready to sweep across the worlds.

And fuck that Kairi dying bullshit.

#kh3 #kh3spoilers #kh3 spoilers #kingdom hearts

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eternal-reverie · 5 years

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Lauriam/Marluxia for the character ask thing if you're still doing it? ^^

I had to scroll through my archives to find that post again sorry

OK. *cracks knuckles* Prepare for a really, really long answer ^^;

First impression

For Marluxia, it was like this:

Sister: Hey look! *shows me 358/2 days opening*

Me: Whoa I guess everyone looks cool*sees marluxia for the first time ever*

Me: wow she’s gorgeous :D

Sister: No, that’s a guy…I think o_0

Me: :0 ???

I had the experience of seeing Marluxia in Days first, so hearing his voice for the first time in re:CoM was…a revelation. Then seeing his part of the story, my impression was while he was definitely one of the most wonderful looking characters I ever seen, he still was a bad guy that shows up once and with vague ambitions at the time. Back then, his motives were hard to pin down in the overall grand scheme of things. (There was a time when CoM felt irrelevant after kh2, besides the whole castle oblivion/land of departure thing)

Lauriam on the other hand, was a bigger whirlwind of impressions for me:

Why is there kid Marluxia in khux???

Wait he’s a murderer now???

He’s just a kid though???

There’s no proof???

Why is everyone so mean???

*signs adoption papers*

During the early updates, it was hard to gauge his personality if it was more arrogant and calculated or rather just formal and resolute. What gave me some hope was his smiling at Ven bounding into Foreteller’s room for the first time, and his words of comfort to Ven’s self doubt in that same scene. That, and Nomura asserting that Lauriam is simply Lauriam.

Impression now

Marluxia, after learning all the new information from khux and seeing him now post-kh3, I definitely appreciate him a lot more now. The mystery in figuring out how Lauriam links back to Marluxia is what caused me reexamine obsessively all his past scenes, and actively care more about his role in the story. Giving a character a solid backstory does wonders for intrigue lol

That extends over to Lauriam. I love him so much more to the nth degree. His concern for Strelitzia is really relatable to me since I grew up being the oldest, and also having had that harrowing experience of losing a younger sibling that was under my care.

Favorite moment

I have so manyMarluxia: His final monologue in CoM, I feel like it’s a pretty defining moment for his character, baffled by these children willing to give up so much for each other despite the deceptions and strife that led them together in first place. That scene is now open to more interpretation too considering his backstory. It feels like it’s coming from a subconscious place.

In kh3, there’s two moments in particular. The way he just strolls into the tower in his first scene like 👀he has a very confident power walk.

Then there’s this moment when he’s asking Sora for a favor, and says “Please hear what I have to say.” The way he says it so amusing, like there’s a hint of him losing patience but gracefully recovers to keep propriety. I enjoy seeing his polite traits being pushed. He’s a pretty refined fellow.

Aaannnd I lied there’s a third moment. Seeing him at the end remembering his real identity was one of the best things I ever seen. His smile while thanking Sora broke and repaired my heart.

Oof I typed all that and I still didn’t get to Lauriam. Ok Top 3 moments: his making Ephemera laugh, Elrena pointing out he must really love his sister and him sheepishly confirming. Andddd him running inside that abandoned house, desperately yelling out Strelitzia’s name :DDD Honorable mention: Lauriam telling player to keep Strelitzia in their heart.

Idea for a story

…I have so many ideas for comics and fics that I have no time for atm because of school. 😞I really want to make a simple zine of Marluxia’s time in Corona exploring his thoughts about the past and future. The segment in the kh3 novel about him remembering but not fully grasping the memories motivated me even more. Also, it’s an excuse to illustrate the beautiful environments from the Corona world level. Like I wish we could take the camera and take pictures of him in that flower field??? *-*I have a historical au in the works too that has Streltizia and Lauriam as the main characters but I still have to plan it out more.

Unpopular opinion

He’s not really that flamboyant?? His appearance definitely pushes that impression but his manner in personality is a lot more subtle. Though he can be melodramatic in speech sometimes.🤔 My opinion of that isn’t hard and fast though.

I don’t think I have unpopular opinions about Lauriam. If I answered this last year, my unpopular opinion would’ve been that he’s a nice kid who would never commit murder in cold blood. and look what happened >:D

Favorite relationship

This section is making me wish we seen more interactions between characters and not just told they worked together in the background.

On Marluxia’s side of things, I definitely find his interactions with Vexen and Axel to be entertaining. They have these distinct, loud personalities and they contrast with his almost serene, cultivated person. If only we saw more interactions with Larxene 😩

Lauriam working together with all the union leaders and Elrena is a joy to see. I’m hoping one of these days they will give us the long awaited flashback scene of Strelitzia interacting with Lauriam. We see how much Lauriam cares for his little sister, deferring his union leader activities to search for her, but I wonder how she felt about him?

Favorite headcanon

Again I’m going to put multiple ones

I have this headcanon of Marluxia, prior being appointed to lord of CO, as this real go-getter in the organization, trying to gain favor as much like Saix who was trying to do the same. Which sparks off a slight rivalry between them, but Marluxia hardly notices because he’d considers his real rivalry is with Xemnas who also barely notices him… (I think an interview segment from Nomura explaining how Marluxia got the CO position inspired this but it’s hard to find/confirm???)

Marluxia has some eye for interior design since his floor in CO is just FLOWERS. Everyone else finds this superfluous but he asserts he’s in charge. lord of the castle so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

and that’s why the pod that sora sleeps in flower shaped because Mar insisted to Vexen to match the aesthetic much to his irritation.

For Lauriam:

Strelitzia was the first to gain interest in tending plants and Lauriam casually joins in but is very bad at it. (All the plants he tends end up dying. He sends the poor things to Strelitzia to recover from his care.)

And so he prefers having cut flowers in his room instead

He has a sweet tooth and since he’s growing, he usually eats more than his fair share much to Strelizia’s frustration.

Strelitzia likes to practice nail art and Lauriam lets her practice on his nails. He returns the favor by giving her manicures too.

His waistcoat got one tear, and rather than repairing it or getting a new one, he decides to rip more tears to make it all have the same semblance. (I feel like he would apply that sort of thinking to a lot of other things. He’s a teenager.)

prior to the union leader thing, he probably was in a very active party that ranks high often with enforced lux quotas in order to do that. He’s quite successful in keeping up.

And due to being high ranked and visible, he’s pretty popular but he’s too cool to focus on that.

I have more but I’ll stop now. I made this way longer than it needed to be…

#kh #kingdom hearts #marluxia #lauriam #i started typing at 5am and now it's almost noon...#this is what happens when someone gives free reign to talk about a favorite character #asks #edit:so i was watching clips of the english dub of the new fruits basket & ayame's voice was what i imagined for mar in Days back then lmao

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dnmeinster · 5 years

Text

Sorting Through Kingdom Hearts III Part 2 - What I Wouldn't Give to Go Back in Time

Spoiler Warning

Link to Part 1

Dream Drop Distance is a polarizing entry in the Kingdom Hearts series. While it answers why Organization XIII needed to be stopped in KH2, and provides clarity to what happens in KH3, it's the time travel that is most controversial. Did it break the series?

The first instance of time travel was not in Dream Drop Distance. It was in KH2. Pete, after being verbally assaulted by Maleficent for his incompetence, whines:

"Pete: Oh...I miss the good ol' days...What I wouldn't give to go back in time...What I wouldn't give..."

Pete's wish is seemingly granted by the appearance of a white door. This door leads to the Timeless River, which is really a past version of Disney Castle, before the castle was built. But how did this door appear?

The wizard Merlin is summoned to Disney Castle to investigate the results of Maleficent and Pete's meddling with the past. He knows exactly what is happening and conjures up another door to Timeless River.

Merlin: "Somewhere in that world, there should be another door that's identical to this one. I believe our enemies are utilizing that door. As long as it remains open, the castle will be in grave danger...While you're there, the nature of that world may tempt you to do something dark. You must resist that temptation at all costs!"

These events establish not only that time travel is possible in the Kingdom Hearts universe, but that the past itself can be altered and shape the present. The nature of time travel is inherently magical here, as Merlin the wizard is the only one shown that can create a pathway to the past. Pete unintentionally does so by wish, which I suppose is a form of magic. So magic is the only known means of temporal manipulation until Dream Drop Distance.

Here we go. Somehow time travel through magic makes a lot more sense than the alternative method contrived of in Dream Drop Distance. There's a detailed Reddit post that sums it all up here, but I'm going to go over it myself, starting with Young Master Xehanort's (YMX) explanation of his displacement in time.

"YMX: There are restrictions to movement in time. First, you must leave your body behind to do it. Then, there must be a version of you waiting at the destination. Upon arrival, you can only move forward as per the laws of time. And you cannot rewrite the events that are destined to happen."

So the first step of the new time travel rules is that you must leave your body behind. Terranort did this when he and his apprentices experimented on the hearts. They split themselves into Heartless and Nobodies. And apparently, Heartless, or specifically special Heartless that retain their form, have the capability of traveling through time.

The second step is that a version of you must exist wherever you are traveling to. Terranort's Heartless aka Ansem travels back to speak with his younger self on Destiny Islands. This act allowed YMX the ability to travel forward in time. This is hinted within the game:

YMX: "Ansem first sent me on my way, and then placed himself here when the time was right. That was what set all these events in motion."

By saying he sent him on his way, YMX literally means he sent him on his way to the future. But what about all the other time-traveling Xehanorts? Well, Nomura clarified this in an interview.

Nomura: "As a result of the actions of the Brown Robed figure [Ansem], they all were in a state where they had gained the power to transcend time. The Brown Robed figure explained the fact. The thirteen were summoned at the same time, this time thanks to Young Xehanort who borrowed that power. However, apart from Young Xehanort, this does not mean all the members transcended time."

So not only did Ansem's trip to the past set the events of Dream Drop Distance in motion, it also provided every Xehanort with the ability to travel through time, supposing they follow the previously established rules. My head already hurts.

YMX takes advantage of his gifted abilities by gathering the now free-to-move-through-time Xehanorts and messing with Sora and Riku's Mark of Mastery exam. However, according to the third rule, he cannot change destiny. Which perhaps is why Xehanort ultimately fails to acquire all 13 darknesses and suggests they meet at "the fated place." The final clash was never going to happen in the World that Never Was.

The three steps/rules are simple enough, but their execution is messy. And there's one more caveat to time travel.

YMX: "While I know this future now that I have lived it, returning to my own time will erase the memories and experiences I have gained here. Still, my appointed path is now etched in my heart, which will first lead me to seek the outside world."

So the events that happened in Dream Drop Distance were to be forgotten by all the time-traveling Xehanorts once they returned to their own times. But not every Xehanort present in the World that Never Was was time traveling. We'll get into this shortly.

There are a few more instances that need to be touched upon first. One, Sora and Riku time travel in this entry, but only once, with the assistance of Master Yen Sid's magic. He sends them both back to Destiny Islands just before it falls to darkness. Two, according to Nomura, since Ansem is also present at the point they time travel to, he becomes a "portal himself as a result of contact with Sora and co., making it possible for the other Xehanorts to intervene within the dreams." Xehanort being a portal is an important aspect to the end of KH3. And lastly, Yen Sid mentions that Merlin and the fairies are aiding Axel in "a place that's more...temporally flexible." Once again, reiterating the connection between time travel and magic.

Let's move on to KH3.

The most blatant example of time travel in KH3 once again involves Xehanort. Multiple Xehanorts are existing at the same time. Let's look at that list of 13 darknesses again:

Master Xehanort

Young Master Xehanort (YMX)

Terranort

Ansem, Seeker of Darkness

Xemnas

Vanitas

Xigbar

Saix

Luxord

Marluxia

Larxene

Riku Replica

Xion

It's safe to assume that Numbers 7-13 are not time traveling and exist in the present (though Number 12 could be iffy). So what of Numbers 1-6? We must turn to the Secret Reports for an answer:

"Xemnas cannot exist in the present because there is already a Xehanort here: the old man in charge. The old man's humanity prevents his Heartless and Nobody, others vanquished in the past, and his younger self from being denizens of this time.

"To circumvent this, Xehanort is using prototype replicas I created in the past as containers, plucking his other selves' hearts from the time they existed."

This report, written by Vexen, states straight out that the only non-time traveler is Master Xehanort in his original body. This must mean that when Sora defeated Ansem and Xemnas, it was not Terranort that was reformed but the original Xehanort. But how?

Terranort is a special case. Like Numbers 7-13, it is a separate entity, Terra, bearing Xehanort's heart. But, unlike 7-13, it was a direct one-to-one transfer, where Master Xehanort transferred his entire heart to Terra and seemingly took over the driver's seat. Terra's mind and heart became controlled by Xehanort, at least until both Aqua and the Lingering Will drove Xehanort from his mind. That left an amnesiac Xehanort at Ansem the Wise's door in Radiant Garden.

Xehanort regained his memories through his experiments on the heart and went on to pursue his original goal: 7 lights, 13 darknesses, and the Chi-blade. When Ansem and Xemnas were defeated, it had to be Terranort that reformed. But it didn't have to stay that way.

In need of 13 darknesses, Xehanort could return his heart to his original body, leaving a fragment in Terra to continue on as Terranort. At this point, it became easier for Terra to fight back against Xehanort. And he eventually prevails, driving out what remained of Xehanort and becoming himself once more.

Why do I find this scenario to be most likely? Well, we already know that Master Xehanort in his original body is his "most future self." YMX says as much in Dream Drop Distance. So that means he was formed last, after Xemnas and Ansem were defeated and Terranort was reborn. Terranort could then go on to recreate his original self, leaving only a fragment behind to retain a darkness for his list. This is speculative, yes, but barring further clarification, it's what I'm sticking with.

Looking back to the list, 1 (Master Xehanort) and 3 (Terranort) aren't time travelers, while 2 (YMX), 4 (Ansem), and 5 (Xemnas) are. All are capable of time travel because of Ansem's actions prior to Dream Drop Distance, and all have the hearts necessary to traverse time. But who is plucking them from the past and bringing them forward in time? It could be YMX, given his role in KH3D. But it could also be...no one. I'll get to that.

So what of Number 6, Vanitas, and Number 12, Riku Replica? I posit that neither are time travelers, as only Xehanort has been permitted time travel among the 13 darknesses. As such, I will go into further detail on these two in Part 3.

As for the 7 lights, only 2 have ever become Heartless (Sora and Axel), while Kairi's heart has left her body and Riku has time traveled via Master Yensid's magic. What exactly does this mean? And do any of them utilize time travel?

Axel does not time travel in this game, but he is training in a place Merlin has made "temporally flexible." Riku doesn't time travel. As for Sora and Kairi, they most certainly do.

Upon their initial arrival to the Keyblade Graveyard, the Seven Lights are confronted and killed; torn heart from body, so to speak. Five are left in a state between life and death, waiting for a Heartless to take their hearts. Kairi is in a similar place, though she retains her consciousness and will. I would guess that this is because she is a Princess of Heart, and it's not the first time her heart and body have been separated.

Sora, however, has ended up in the Final World aka the afterlife. He, along with his friends, remain tethered to the Realm of Light because of Kairi. So Sora only needs to gather the pieces of himself scattered about the world before being able to return to his friends. Besides doing this, he also encounters Namine's heart, who clarifies his condition before revealing that she is going to reach out to Terra's Lingering Will.

After leaving the Final World, Sora saves his friends hearts from the Heartless, reunites with Kairi, and returns to the Keyblade Graveyard. However, he and Kairi seemingly return at the moment when they first arrived, before they were all killed. At the scene plays, it appears that the exact course of events that unfolded the last time are happening again. Neither Sora nor Kairi try to intervene or do anything differently? Why? The only possible reason is that neither of them remember their deaths, which means that none of the Seven Lights know that what happened before is happening again.

How could Sora and Kairi forget? There are actually several possibilities. The first is that, since Sora and Kairi are time traveling, they are merely bound by the rules. Sora and Kairi have both left their bodies behind before, in KH1. But Heartless Sora never time traveled, almost certainly unaware that he could. And Kairi's heart only found refuge with Sora. Given the Secret Reports, we know Terranort became aware of the possibility of time travel due to a visitor in Radiant Garden. Sora never had that knowledge, at least until Dream Drop Distance.

So if Sora and Kairi were indeed ripped heart from body in the Keyblade Graveyard, they are definitely capable of time traveling. And there is a past version of themselves waiting in that world, from their initial arrival. And, having returned from the future, they've forgotten the events they've already experienced. So far, all the boxes are checked.

There's just one caveat. The final rule. You cannot rewrite the rules that are destined to happened. Wait. What was the exact quote?

"And you cannot rewrite the events that are destined to happen."

Well, what do you know? Neither he or Kairi do rewrite the events that happened. Instead, it is Terra's Lingering Will that intervenes and saves everyone, thanks to Namine reaching out from the Final World.

Namine, the special Nobody who can alter the memories of everyone connected to Sora, also altered destiny. But she wasn't bound by the rules of time travel like Sora and Kairi, so, I guess this makes sense in a Kingdom Hearts way. Her body was formed from Kairi's heart leaving Sora, so though her heart rests within Kairi, she doesn't exactly have a body to leave behind. There's no version of her waiting in Keyblade Graveyard, except for that place in Kairi's heart. So she bends rules one and two, and breaks rule three. She might be the only one that can remember the initial defeat there, since if the others rules don't really apply to her, why should that one?

What are the other possibilities if this is not the case? Well, it could be the game trying to have it both ways. In Dream Drop Distance, Xigbar says Sora can only travel back to the Destiny Islands because there was a version of him there. But it's clearly Yensid's magic that enables him to time travel. We've already seen Sora time travel without needing a past version of himself to be there in Timeless River. But it could be that Sora time travels via magic and merely forgets because they're melding together rules that shouldn't apply with ones that should. But if it's by magic, who's casting it? Chirithy? I'd like to rule this one out, though it's not beyond reason. There's even a hint that Sora and Co know something worked when they return to the Keyblade Graveyard, which they could only know if magic was involved. But the fact that they don't do anything differently in the next scene may mean that their actions were etched in their hearts but the specifics were forgotten.

Lastly, there's a possibility that Sora and Kairi time travel to an alternate timeline, or worldline, as the Secret Reports hint that this is possible. But then why don't they intervene to try and change the course of events? If destiny isn't set in stone and they can change it, then there's no reason they'd forget and be unable to. OR perhaps it is time travel and then the altering of destiny creates a second timeline/worldline. It remains plausible that Kingdom Hearts will incorporate multiple timelines/worldlines in the future. As if it wasn't complex enough. For now, though, I'm sticking with my first hypothesis: Sora and Kairi time travel and it's Namine that changes the future.

Circling back to Xehanort, after the Seven Guardians survive long enough to face Master Xehanort and he forges the Chi-blade, Riku reveals that they've learned Xehanort is actually a time and space portal. How? Why? What?

Okay, here goes. Because Ansem traveled through time and provided all his selves with the ability to do so, he became the portal that Riku mentions. Each version of Xehanort is a portal capable of traveling to wherever their heart's desire, as long as they follow the set upon rules.

Nomura stated that Ansem on Destiny Islands became a portal into the Dream World, as he was there when Sora and Riku crossed over. So all the Xehanorts use this "portal" to stalk the two guardians on their Mark of Mastery Exam in the Sleeping Worlds.

Similarly, as Master Xehanort is a portal, the other versions of himself use their connection to him to arrive in the future, where they are loaded up into replicas. They don't need a Xehanort to come pluck them from the past since they are capable of moving through time via this portal. They need only cast off their bodies and enter the replicas waiting for them.

Riku, realizing what Master Xehanort is thanks to YMX's monologue at the end of Dream Drop Distance, exposes the portal and utilizes it. And where does it lead? The world that would always hold a special place in Xehanort's heart: the one where he was trained to be a Keyblade wielder, Scala ad Caleum. And it turns out that all the fragments of his heart from the defeated darknesses were utilizing this portal to go there as well, waiting to rejoin with the original.

We can assume that this time, they're not traveling in time via Xehanort's portal but merely space. So why was Scala ad Caleum abandoned? And why was it built atop Daybreak Town? Questions for another entry, I suppose.

So, did time travel break the series? If they'd kept it simple and just left time travel as a magical device, it would've worked better. By adding a secondary method with layers of rules, time travel became over-complicated. It's more than the three simple rules it appears as, and analyzing it is headache-inducing. BUT there is a logic to it, and though it's an extra complication the series didn't need, it is not series breaking. Feel free to disagree.

Next time, we take a deep dive into replicas and how exactly the non-Xehanorts utilized them.

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts 3 #kingdom hearts iii #kh3 #kh3 spoilers #keyblade #sora #organization xiii #xehanort #chi-blade #kairi #riku #terranort #keyblade graveyard #namine #time travel #vexen

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