Latest Posts by sakurarozen - Page 13

11 days to go… until we may see a familiar face

YouTube Music!!

Fragile.

Parallels “Why?!”

13 days

13 days till Destiny Arrives

13 days till the Seeker of Darkness Gather

13 days till the Guardians of Light Assemble

13 days till the Procehy Comes to Pass

13 days till the forces of Darkness, Nothingness, and Negativity Unite

13 days till a Cruel God unlesses Titans

13 days till Toys come to life

13 days till Dreams enter reality

13 days till The Trio Travels Between Worlds Again

13 days till Monsters Protect a Little Girl Once Again

13 days till A Lost Princess Leaves Her Tower

13 days till a Queen Blankets Her Kingdom I’m Snow

13 days till The Graveyard Becomes A Battlefeild One Last Time

13 days Till The Ancient War Is Born Anew

13 days till The Sky, Land, and Ocean Fight Side by Side

13 days till Pirates Arrive at Worlds End

13 days till The Puppet is Remembered

13 days till The Sky’s Other Returns

13 day till A Boy ReAwakens

13 days till A Master falls

13 days till A Lingering Will Fights Again

13 days till Heroes Must Fight A Perversion Of A Brothers Love

13 days till the Wind, Earth, And Water Are Reunited

13 days till Sunrises

13 days till Twilight

13 days till Sunset

13 days till They Climb The Stairway To Heaven

13 days till The Conflict Between Light and Darkness Finally Ends

13 Days Till Kingdom Hearts 3

お祝いしなきゃな！

Kingdom Hearts III Chess Board

Yay! I finally have finished modelling these. I recreated the chess board as seen from the Kingdom Hearts III Trailers and Opening. A few more days left before the game is out! So excited!! Also, the arrangements of the pieces here are not canon. (I apparently don’t know where to put the other pieces lol) I just based on what is seen in the trailers.

Modeled in Autodesk Maya | Textured in Substance Painter

The Rendering is not that yet very HQ. I might update that soon. 

To see this model live, just visit this link: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Pm4B4o

How Mickey’s Poor Memory Ties Into KH3: Kingdom Hearts Meta

Right, so I just finished watching the ReCoded HD Cutscene movie and there’s something that stuck out to me.

So we all know that Mickey knew Terra, Aqua, and Ventus over ten years ago according to the KH lore. Yet he never brought them up. This is highlighted in the KH 2.8 Remix trailer when Mickey not so subtly drops that not only did he know them, but he met Aqua once in the Realm of Darkness. 

This naturally got a lot of people in the fandom really mad. After the sad events that transpired in Birth By Sleep, the only survivor of the ordeal finds out information but doesn’t say anything for ten years? Yeah, that would be suspicious… but is it possible his actions can be explained?

Let’s step back from that for a minute and go towards KH2. Mickey met Xemnas. The leader of Organization 13. The guy who was purposefully destroying countless worlds so he could create Kingdom Hearts. Yet, even though Mickey clearly met him and understands the danger the worlds are in, he completely forgets ever seeing Xemnas until he sees him again at Hallow Bastion.

Which makes things worse considering Xemnas was the spitting image of Terra. And even though Mickey never met Terra personally, he does know Xemnas’ true identity because of his reaction to it in Dream Drop Distance.

So why would Mickey just casually forget the pain and suffering of his friends? Or forget who Xemnas is?

It’s a mystery unless you analyze the psychology of ReCoded.

Near the end of the game, Data Sora is taken to Castle Oblivion where he begins to walk through the castle and starts forgetting all of his friends. Data Roxas tells him that it’s better to just forget and not connect with people in the first place, because that hurt will destroy him. 

Essentially, if Data Sora dwells on the pain, then the darkness will overtake him. Instead of Mickey easily giving sage advice… he instead says something interesting. 

The reason why this is interesting is because MICKEY HAS BEEN THERE!

Mickey was the sole survivor of the onslaught that transpired between Aqua, Ventus, and Terra against Master Xehanort. A fight he wasn’t even supposed to be a part of. Yet because of his friendship with those three, he wanted to join in to help in any way he could…

And he couldn’t save them.

Mickey didn’t just forget about Terra, Aqua, and Ven as the years went by… he repressed those memories on purpose because it hurt too much to think about. That guilt built up but he couldn’t face his past because that pain was too much for him. And according to Data Roxas, if you dwell on the pain you fall into darkness. We may not see Mickey get close to darkness per-say, but we do see the effects their losses in his actions. 

Why he travels alone during KH1 and 2? Why he has such a strong reaction to Goofy’s “death”? Why he’s so desperate to not let Riku fall into darkness? Why he “forgot” Xemnas?

It’s because he has been hurt by loss in the past and instead of facing that pain head on and accepting it, he ran away and attempted to prevent that pain from happening again by simultaneously trying to repress the memories and trying to make sure it doesn’t happen again. 

That’s why he’s forgotten, but won’t let go. He doesn’t want his friends to go down the same path, but he doesn’t want to go through that pain again. 

The King is at a crossroads throughout most of the games because of these conflicting emotions! Also, Mickey has taught himself that all darkness is inherently evil and that no form of darkness should ever exist. Which also includes feelings such as sadness, anger, loss, or regret…

So he can really relate to Data Sora here. 

If Mickey let his pain in, would it pull him to the darkness? Would it overtake him?

But the difference between Data Sora and Mickey is that Data Sora is willing to accept that pain is essential to who you are and you must carry it. Data Sora can accept it while Mickey, although he accepts darkness can be used for good, still struggles with accepting his own darkness.

And who conveniently meets up with Data Sora after he learns to accept the fact that you gotta carry your pain with you?

That’s right. Mickey. Yes, he didn’t have the energy to talk to Data Sora during Data Sora’s battle with Roxas, but Mickey had to at least keep track of Data Sora somehow. Otherwise he wouldn’t know where Data Sora would be in the Datescape. It’s possible Mickey could have kept a connection open enough so that he could hear Data Sora. Mickey had to since just after he says he’s glad to catch up with Data Sora, he says:

So Mickey knew what Data Sora was going through. Could it be possible that Mickey took his time because he was realizing that Sora was doing something he couldn’t? That Data Sora could accept pain as natural and carry the weight without it letting the pain overtake him?

 If Mickey heard the whole exchange between Data Sora and Data Roxas, Mickey would have been faced with a decision. A decision that he’s been running away from for over ten years.

If Mickey were to help Data Sora find the hidden pieces of the journal, he must learn to accept his own pain too. And even though we do not see how Mickey gets affected on a surface level, we do see how the experience changed him immediately after Mickey returns to the real world.

After the events of this game, Mickey seems more aware of his missing friends. In the secret ending of the game, Mickey immediately starts talking to YenSid about finding Ven’s heart and saving Terra, Ven, and Aqua.

 It could be possible that he has been investigating their losses in the past, but it was only after he accepted that he wasn’t good enough to save them that he was able to get emotionally strong enough to face his mistakes and take his pain head on.

Data Sora showed him the way. After being with Data Sora and facing the memories that were too painful to bear according to Naminé, Mickey had to face the loss he ran away from for over ten years.

Sora’s not the only one who needed a hand to hold during this painful re-experience.

Naminé then says this to Mickey specifically:

Because, she’s right. Mickey does know how much they’re hurting. And how long he has been running away from that pain.

But now he needs to face it, accept it, and carry the burden to make it right.

Some say that ReCoded was pointless. 

I say it added a lot of depth to Mickey and answered a lot of questions related to his character. 

Now Mickey isn’t afraid of his own pain, guilt, and loss anymore. Now he can accept that darkness as a part of himself.

It may be a long time coming, but because of his adventures with Data Sora, Mickey is finally ready to acknowledge his memories, forgive himself, move forward, and finally take the steps to save his friends in Kingdom Hearts 3.

I See The Light

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge.

Day 19 - Wish

Sora leaned back on his hands and sighed. All around them were a bunch of lanterns lighting up the night sky like thousands of stars. Water lapped against the dock where they were sitting, and the way the lanterns reflected off it was like their very own private show. They couldn’t have asked for a better view.

This was what he loved about traveling. This was the kind of thing that made all the time spent away from home worth it. If he had to be away from Kairi and Riku, at least he was making memories like this to share with them when he got back.

“Seeing all these lanterns really reminds me of home,” he said. “The stars reflect off the water at night, and it kinda looks like this.”

“Gawrsh, I bet it’s real pretty, then,” Goofy said.

Donald stared in awe at the light show surrounding them. “Yeah. We have fireworks, but nothing like this.”

As beautiful as the sight was around them, Sora couldn’t help but wish he was back home.

No, that wasn’t exactly it. He liked being here. It was like there was something, or someone, missing—

Jiminy stirred in his hood and perched on his shoulder. “You know what they say about stars, dontcha?”

Sora turned to look at his friend. “That they’re other worlds?”

“Well, that too. On my world though, we say that if you wish upon a star, your dreams will come true.”

“My dreams… will come true?”

“Sure. Why dontcha try it? Maybe it’ll work on lanterns, not just stars.”

He thought about this for a moment. What were his dreams?

Seguir leyendo

 Hey Nomura I fixed it for you you’re welcome

I just wanted Aqua to lean a bit closer with her head but the guys at the Terraqua Discord server had some better ideas, like not abandoning Naminé xD

What I hope to see in KH3? - Day 12

Terra x Aqua moment

Those two are my KH otp. I really want to see a Terraqua moment which likely is their reunion or the game’s ending.

Let me state a few points of why I should think they should have a special moment or become a canon couple:

They have the foundation to become a couple even as a trio it won’t be awkward since their dynamic is different than the other trios. Terra and Aqua have always been each others’ equal while Ven looks up to both and they’re his guardians. They function as a family not only friends.

Their personalities compliment each other.

They have known each other for a very long time and have a strong bond (which would get stronger after their reunion).

They’re the only ones who can understand each other’ suffering due to both falling to darkness.

There is the other likely fact that Aqua has deeper feelings for Terra which is hinted in her story throughout BBS.

They are adults and their separation could trigger emotions they both kept inside for a long time which is why now is the time to bring those feelings out.

I think KH3 is the perfect opportunity for this especially since both have been separated for more than a decade and their reunion is definitely going to be very emotional. I hope I see them cry tears of joy and hugging each other tightly like they can’t believe this is real (Ven joining them of course!).

Their whole relationship is gonna be stronger and more intimate once Terra realizes Aqua sacrificed herself and fell in the Realm of Darkness for him. He will realize how much Aqua believes in him even after everything that happened (Namine confirms that to him during their conversation).

Nomura said. “For example, I’m sure you had friends when you were young, a good group of friends, but as you grow older things change and it doesn’t always stay the same. I think all I can say is please play to the very end and see what happens. But I think [Kingdom Hearts 3] does depict how each character feels about each other in this new storyline.”

I mean from Nomura’s statement we can expect that some friendships could change. So what if Aqua and Terra are no longer mere friends and take it to the next level? After both going through hell and what Aqua did for Terra I would be surprised if they remained friends only without developing a more intimate bond.

To conclude this post, I just want some fluff for these two.

Be mine

Hello everybody! I am very honored to be one of the people contributing to the Sokai/Rokunami fanzine @twosidesfanzine

In hopes of hyping the fanzine up even more, I’d love to share a deleted scene from my new fanfic “Be mine” that wrote for this project! It acts as a prologue to the rest of the fanfic and while the rest of the fanfic is still understandable without any problem, this scene just adds the icing on the cake :D

Please consider getting a copy of the @twosidesfanzine! All extra funds go to the Best Friends Animal Society (that I would love to link, but I don’t trust tumblr not to make my post invisible and the whole point of this is to make people aware of the zine existing so >.< Sorry!!)

Please enjoy!

“I can do this!”

Sora took a deep breath and squared his shoulders as he looked across the old wooden bridge to the crooked paopu tree and the girl sitting on it. His mouth ran dry.

“I can do this,” he reassured himself, a little less confident as he saw a slight breeze starting to play with her hair, gently rocking it back and forth until she tucked it behind her ear, throwing a short glance back over her shoulder at the same time. Despite their distance, he saw her face light up with recognition and she happily waved at him. Sora swallowed hard.

A stab into his side reminded Sora of the presence of his best friend and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Riku raise his hand in greeting. Immediately, Sora’s hand shot up as well and he waved frantically at Kairi. He didn’t get to hear her soft giggles when he saw her shoulders shake gently, but to his dismay, he couldn’t say the same about his best friend’s snickers.

“Smooth.”

Sora only graced Riku with a scowl before turning his attention back to Kairi who had turned around again to stare at the horizon, waiting patiently for him. As she always did.

“I can’t do this, Riku.”

“Yes, you can. All you need to do is walk over to her, offer her a fruit and bite into it.”

“What if she says no?”

He turned back to look at Riku who sighed and crossed his arms. At the gaze that he threw him, Sora felt himself shrink even more.

“You must be kidding me. Do you really think she could say no? The girl who drew your face on her lucky charm? The girl who was stubborn enough to hold onto the idea of you when everyone else had long forgotten you? The girl who wouldn’t leave your side for days after your last big fight?”

Subconsciously, Sora’s hand flew to his stomach and rubbed the tender spot on it as he threw another look in Kairi’s direction.

Everything Riku said was true. And yet he couldn’t help but be nervous. Sora knew Kairi cared for him, that much was obvious, but he also knew how much deeper his feelings ran: he was ready to commit to her and it excited and terrified him at the same time.

“Hey.”

Riku squeezed his shoulder lightly.

“Don’t worry, she’s just as crazy about you as you are about her, she’s only better at hiding it. Now go,” he said as he gently pushed Sora towards the wooden bridge, “she waited long enough for you.”

Sora nodded.

“Thank you, Riku.”

Taking a deep breath, Sora squared his shoulders once again and walked ahead until Riku called him.

“Hey, Sora! Haven’t you forgotten this?”

Confused, he turned around, just in time to catch something in his outstretched arms.

A paopu fruit.

He threw a last appreciative smile at his best friend before pocketing the fruit and running off towards Kairi.

To be continued ;)

What she says: I’m fine.

What she means: Fuck, fuck I’m not okay fuck. Aqua’s been Norted, and I’m not over this shit. I’ll never be over this shit. Vanitas is back and I know for sure he ain’t getting a redemption arc and so far he’s only been seen for like 10 seconds. Sora Riku and Kairi’s relationship is gonna change and I’m scared that they would drift apart. Roxas my Darling Boy is the “biggest secret of kingdom Hearts” and I’m losing my fucking mind. I haven’t seen hide or hair of Ventus and there is a possibility he’ll be norted. Sora’s eyes are turning green and we’re still not sure why. Xion isn’t mentioned at all and I want my baby girl back. Numora has said that he identifies with Xehanort and doesn’t empathize with Sora at all. No I’m not fine!!!!!

Why is Vanitas wearing an Organization coat?

Yes, yes, I know he’s affiliated with Xehanort, though we don’t know to what extent, but, and here’s the BUT,

HE DOESN’T NEED IT??

As said on the KH wiki “The Black Coat’s main purpose is to resist the corruption inflicted upon one’s heart when they pass through a Corridor of Darkness.” For what the fandom knows, Vanitas is made of pure darkness, and because of that, we see him in Ventus’ story effortlessly going through it in the Lanes Between like Nobody’s business (ha). 

What, I’m getting at, is maybe Vanitas isn’t totally 100% darkness anymore, because that would mean there would be something to actually corrupt. You can’t corrupt darkness with darkness? You can make it grow and corrupt the light in one’s heart, but Vanitas has NOTHING to corrupt. 

Thoughts, anyone?

The Keyblades of Kingdom Hearts 3

Needed to smile so I drew some more Zootopia!Kingdom Hearts stuff. ;w;a

I hope it makes you smile too.

In Preparation for Kingdom Hearts 3 - World Choices

Yesterday, I made a post in regards to World Choices in KH3D possibly being very deliberate. Today, I’ll explain the ORIGIN of that post. 

Two nights ago, I came to a rather startling realization that the Worlds of KH3, at least the majority of them, all had something to do with the themes KH3 intends to explore, and the parallels it likes to draw between its characters’ stories and the Worlds themselves. Like I did yesterday, I shall list the worlds out, and then explain what exactly they mean. Note that none of them shall be in order of appearance.

Olympus Coliseum This is by far the most frequent recurring World in Kingdom Hearts so far, mainly because of what it represents in Kingdom Hearts as a whole. Olympus Coliseum and the story of Hercules is basically the step by step process of the Hero’s Journey, and each time it appears in KH, it represents one stage in that Journey. As of right now, KH3 is the climatic end to Sora’s Journey, finishing off the Xehanort conflict. However, the secondary thing the World represents is this - the scale of the disaster Sora shall face in his fight against Xehanort. KH3 will cover the escape of the Titans in the Hercules movie, which means pretty much world ending stuff is happening. Which… pretty much sums up what will probably happen in the KH3 endgame.

Toy Box (Toy Story) This is probably one of the ones where we can’t predict the plot, this and BH6. Nomura has worked with the Pixar producers to create a completely original Toy Story… well, story, and because of this we can’t exactly know where it will actually go. However, we can make predictions. Specifically, it has to do with the matters of Heart. It’s one World where we actually examine sentience in what is normally the inanimate. We’ve done this before, in fact, but Toy Story hits home a bit more, because the toys all have physical bodies. What measure is alive? What does it mean to have a Heart?

San Fransokyo (BH6) This is the other movie that has a completely original plot for its run in KH. Once more, we can’t exactly know where the story will take us, but we can try and make a few guesses. What we know so far is that it will touch upon Baymax’s existence, and judging from the Bug Blox, it may even be possible that we are dealing with Data Riku. If so, the question here is this: Do memories define who we are?

Corona (Rapunzel) All I have to say is this: Parallels to Namine. Rapunzel’s story will not be undergoing any changes. Heck BOTH of the Princess movies will have no changes to their original plot. That’s because it plays closer to what Sora does not remember… Castle Oblivion. Marluxia is the Organisation member stationed there, and lets just say that his and Mother Gothel are manipulative and absolutely willing to keep the one giving them all the power under their thumb, no matter the lies. There is also the fact that we still have no clue what happened to Strelitzia. The flower theme is strong in this World as well. But most importantly is the theme of this World that stands out to me based off the movie alone: Sometimes, no matter the good someone’s actions seem to be, no matter how often they say the words ‘It’s for your own good.’… it may be hiding something else. A truth, a lie, a selfish desire.

Arendelle (Frozen) Like I said, more call backs to Castle Oblivion’s crew. Larxene is actually here, and, well… there are two themes in Frozen really. Blind belief in the good in all people may not be the right choice, and sometimes overbearing control and fear of what is a part of you, may do more bad than good. The parallels however, is related to Marluxia and Strelitzia’s sibling relationship, as well as Larxene’s friendship with his past self. We still have no clue about what exactly happened, but I find it interesting that Nomura places someone who helped set of siblings, one of whom died, in a world where siblings were nearly driven apart, one of whom will almost die. 

Monster’s Inc.  … Honestly this one seems to question what measure is Human again. But with Vanitas there? There may be the added question here: Which are the true monsters that we should really fear? The physical ones? Or the ones that dwell in our own Hearts?

Pirates of the Caribbean 3 Honestly there isn’t exactly a theme for this one. It may in fact be a breather World for Sora, though considering we are STILL LOOKING FOR THE BOX. Then again, this may allude to something else… Specifically this:  How much will Sora sacrifice, in order to save the ones he loves? Is he willing to give up his Heart once more? Is he willing to be forever separated from Kairi by a sea of stars?

It is 19 days away from this game. I’ve made my preorder for the PS4 edition. I’m luckily OFF ON THAT DAY THANK YOU AUSSIE FOR THE WELL TIMED HOLIDAY. And honestly? If I keep churning out theory posts like these in the up coming weeks, I’m gonna go crazy by the time I play the game.

Vanitas Appreciation Week - Day 1 - Favourite Scene.

UNPOPULAR OPINION BUT - I like the extremely brief appearance of Vanitas in Dream Drop Distance. Why? Because I wasn’t expecting him to show up at all in the game.  AND EVEN THOUGH he had one tiny line of dialogue, I believe it heavily hints towards Vantias’ return in KH3 which gets me excited. 

I’M SORRY IM LATE. And post-post-post-haste is completely responsible for inspiring the painting style I went with in this. It needs work I know~ I’ll get there. ONTO THE NEXT PROMPT.

21 Days Left!!!!

Check out #kh3countdowntrain and www.twitter.com/kh3countingdown on Twitter for more countdown art!

Why I think Brain is the culprit behind Strelitzia’s death and why I think he is not a new character

Now that we have been shown that not only did Lauriam most likely not kill Strelitzia, but also that he is her older brother, we are left wondering, well who DID kill her? Many are pointing to Ventus now because he is “too innocent” to be innocent and Skuld was given a pass by Lauriam in the latest update. Ephemera we saw get the book from Ava herself so he is out. However, Brain is most suspect. What if I told you that only one red herring is needed and Lauriam was already one? Therefore, Brain is still the most likely culprit. Brain is a character we are not familiar with from prior games, and in his introductory scene he seems shady and antisocial. Sure, one could argue Ventus seems lonely and friendless, but he still seems like he wants friends and didn’t even think he would make the cut. His animations did not make it seem insincere. Meanwhile Brain has been antagonistic to Ventus and brash in other ways. He covers his eyes with a hat and his hair in game, and in the recent update tried to tell Lauriam that Strelitzia was most likely not among the Dandelions, which makes him seem dodgy. No one else gave Lauriam that reasoning, even if it’s somewhat reasonable, and especially not an attitude. What this means is that he is trying to leave the trail cold. Why would he not help? He is likely obstuficating stupidity. And there is one character we ARE familiar with that’s just like that. Braig/Xigbar Is it really a coincidence that Braig’s name is only one letter off from Brain? Maybe that’s why his name is officially that and not Blaine as many had believed. This is the same creator who used ‘Names’ as a name for someone after scrambling it to ‘Ansem’ so why not here? Besides, Braig’s drive is to gain the ability to wield a Keyblade, at any cost. The traitor may wield a Keyblade or not, but definitely seeks a seat among the Union Leaders. That connects much more when you realise the traitor might have been caught and stripped of the Keyblade. It would be parallel to Lauriam’s potential journey to becoming Marluxia. Who as we remember manipulated Sora to gain access to a Keyblade. Another point against him is that scarf/bandanna. Call me crazy but Ephemera’s scarf looks way too similar to Braig’s to be a coincidence. Nomura doesn’t believe in those. I believe Brain does in Ephemera or steals it in a moment of intense brawling before getting to the future somehow. Braig’s scarf is frayed after all. Also, Braig found Marluxia according to his own words in a scene with Zexion in KH2FM. I wonder why? To manipulate a new Nobody of one of his enemies before Xemnas did but not enough to let him retain memory of Union Cross! Perhaps this is why Marluxia is a traitor because he protects Vens location instead of finding it. Maybe this is why he said to Young Xehanort that he is busy with “his own plans” and looks younger than he should in that scene, when it seems perfectly logical he should look like his Nobody after recompletion, specially as a vessel. It would be a great way to set Braig up as the next villain without him being expressly tied to Xehanort post KH3 (I personally don’t agree that MoM is a straight villain, if at all, nor the next major one)

Tide and Sea

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge.

Day 13 - Memory

Kairi stared at the girl in front of her.

Other than the fact that she had short dark hair, the girl was the spitting image of… well… Kairi. It was like looking in a mirror, almost.

Kairi took a step closer to her, the tide lapping at her feet. “Who… are you?”

Kairi had never seen her before. Was she like Naminé? Her body was hidden beneath a long black coat that looked too hot for Destiny Island’s warm temperatures, so it was hard to tell.

The girl was silent for a moment. “I’m you, as Sora remembers you,” she finally said.

Kairi paused at this. “Me as Sora remembers me? What does that mean?”

Seguir leyendo

First Friend

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge. 

Day 9 - Friendship

It was kinda funny how Sora had never really met his first and oldest friend face-to-face before.

Sure, he had vague, fuzzy memories of talking to Ventus as a kid, but that was different from actually, you know, talking to him. Out loud. In person. Face-to-face. Like how most normal friendships went.

To be fair, though, most of Sora’s friendships were anything but normal these days. How many people had been hanging out inside his heart before he’d begun this rescue mission again? Sheesh, he really could start charging rental space like Donald had suggested. Bunch of freeloaders.

Not that he ever would. They were his freeloaders, and he would give them shelter for as long as they needed. It was the least he could do after Xehanort had ruined their lives. Ruined the lives of his beloved friends that he was determined now more than ever to restore.

And that meant it was time to return Ventus to his rightful body, and that thought both excited him and scared him. Ventus had been with him ever since he was a baby. What kind of person would he be without him?

“What will Ventus think when he sees me?” he couldn’t help but ask.

Because Ventus was this… well, this legendary figure, almost. With him since the day he was born. A Keyblade wielder long before he’d become one. A hero to be admired from afar, even while, ironically enough, he rested inside Sora’s heart.

How was he supposed to approach that reintroduction? Sure, maybe he should be more worried about the fight that was probably gonna happen if he wanted to save Ventus’s body and restore his heart. Getting back each and every one of the people Xehanort had stolen from him hadn’t been easy so far, and Ventus wasn’t about to be an exception.

But for whatever reason, he was more nervous about seeing Ventus face-to-face for the first time than he was about the upcoming battle.

Aqua patted his head and smiled, like she always used to pat Ventus’s head. She’d smiled a lot after her rescue, really.

“He’ll be thrilled to see you, I’m sure,” she said. “And Sora?”

“Yeah?”

“Call him Ven. It’s what all his friends do.”

Sora returned her smile. “Okay.”

Broken Promise

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge.

Day 12 - Promise

Everyone always told Donald he had a short temper. And sure, it was true, sort of. He couldn’t help that he was more spirited than other folks! Besides, Goofy (and to a lesser extent Sora) were always around to keep him in check.

But today something had happened that had made Donald have to hold Goofy back for once.

The two of them stood there in the aftermath of it all, panting and dirty and banged up from the fight. Xehanort’s cronies were gone now, but the damage had been done. Sora faced away from them, and his shoulders were shaking and his head was hanging low. He wasn’t even trying to hide his quiet sobs from them, either.

Because clutched in his hand were the broken pieces of Kairi’s good luck charm. Xehanort was waging an all out war against his heart, and this was the latest in a long string of casualties.

Donald wouldn’t forget the look in Sora’s eyes or the way he’d cried out when it had happened. As their enemies had disappeared into swirls of black smoke with cruel smirks on their faces afterwards, it had taken all of Donald’s strength to hold Goofy back from jumping in after them.

Sora sniffed, and it snapped Goofy out of his funk. He walked over to Sora and put a hand on his shoulder.

“There now, Sora, I’m sure Kairi can fix it for you—”

“I broke my promise.”

Seguir leyendo

Broken Promise

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge.

Day 12 - Promise

Everyone always told Donald he had a short temper. And sure, it was true, sort of. He couldn’t help that he was more spirited than other folks! Besides, Goofy (and to a lesser extent Sora) were always around to keep him in check.

But today something had happened that had made Donald have to hold Goofy back for once.

The two of them stood there in the aftermath of it all, panting and dirty and banged up from the fight. Xehanort’s cronies were gone now, but the damage had been done. Sora faced away from them, and his shoulders were shaking and his head was hanging low. He wasn’t even trying to hide his quiet sobs from them, either.

Because clutched in his hand were the broken pieces of Kairi’s good luck charm. Xehanort was waging an all out war against his heart, and this was the latest in a long string of casualties.

Donald wouldn’t forget the look in Sora’s eyes or the way he’d cried out when it had happened. As their enemies had disappeared into swirls of black smoke with cruel smirks on their faces afterwards, it had taken all of Donald’s strength to hold Goofy back from jumping in after them.

Sora sniffed, and it snapped Goofy out of his funk. He walked over to Sora and put a hand on his shoulder.

“There now, Sora, I’m sure Kairi can fix it for you—”

“I broke my promise.”

Seguir leyendo

joining the zero sleep squad for when this baby comes out

-ˋˏ ✧ ° ✩ Kingdom Hearts : Keyblades + Locations ✩ ° ✧ ˎˊ-

Endless Rage

She bides her time. Over the past weeks, the darkness has strengthened within her, pushing back against the Xehanort influence, loosening the control he has over her. Soon, she knows that it will cancel out the influence, and she will be free. Nothing else matters.

It may be foolhardy to try and leave, but she does not care. For so long, she has strained at her bindings, longing for freedom. Now that she is so close to obtaining it at last she cannot back down. She wants her mind and body back, and she wants Terra. (He has already agreed to come with her, which pleases her immensely.) The only way for all this to be possible is if they leave the Organization for good.

Seguir leyendo

Aqua’s experience in A Fragmentary Passage and subsequent Norting changed the entire way I look at Light and Darkness in the Kingdom Hearts series.

Up until now, the light/darkness dichotomy was only ever something I interpreted as being a plot-specific force within the narrative. Sure, we had characters verbally telling us that darkness is related to negative emotions, light is related to friendship and positivity, etc. but beyond characters getting powered up for battle after verbally making those connections (“My friends are my power,” basically anything that comes out of Ansem SOD’s mouth), we don’t really get a chance to see what that means.

A Fragmentary Passage connected the emotions to the forces in a much more obvious way, for me at least. I’ll never forget playing the mirror level that has Aqua’s inner monologue going the whole time and realizing that, holy shit, this game is about depression! And then we see the E3 trailer from this year. For her to get Norted, we know she had to succumb to The Darkness, and because we have her experience in AFP as a background, we know how she got to that point and exactly what she was feeling when it happened. (Yes, AFP ended on a more hopeful note, but … I still think this is probably what happened).

I’m playing through all the main games again, and suddenly, the rest of the series has a LOT more context. The Xehanort/Eraqus arguments get a lot more nuance. Honestly, I think Xehanort has a little bit of a point? Light and Darkness (ie: positive emotions and negative emotions) existing in a balance seems WAY healthier than just trying to have ALL POSITIVE EMOTIONS ALL THE TIME. This could apply to “The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.” The more you try to push down or hide your negative emotions in an attempt to remain positive 24/7, the more that negativity festers beneath the surface and can explode out of you. Maybe this is what happened with Terra. Dealing with the Darkness is something that has plagued him since he was a kid, but because light-obsessed Eraqus basically raised him, he had to repress negativity until it sorta just exploded in BBS. (As someone with mental health problems who grew up in a family that didn’t talk about problems or emotions and just pretended everything was fine all the time… my most recent BBS playthrough hit me kind of hard.) Along these same lines “hearts of pure light” don’t seem totally healthy either? Maybe it’s different for Princesses of Heart, because they’re Naturally Occurring, but it makes total sense why my boy Ven was so fragile after Vanitas got ripped out of him. In any case I am REALLY SCARED for Sora. I know he was close to getting Norted in DDD, but if he just tries to stay positive all the time because so many people are counting on him my boy is going to BREAK.

Now, when I see the darkness cloud animation emanating off a character, I have context for what that means and what that feels like. When Terra uses his dark command styles, I used to think “well yeah, he’s mad” but know I get that he’s pissed. When a Nort uses dark attacks, I get that he’s channeling his greed, his feelings of superiority. When Sora goes into Anti-form, I get that this is his moment of release, where he physically can’t be his happy-go-lucky self. The black cloaks, which protect people when travelling in corridors of darkness, have the power to shield people from negative emotions. Does turning into a heartless feel like being overwhelmed with hopelessness and dread?

This also makes Riku’s arc way more interesting to me! His “road to dawn” becomes a road to recovery!! Instead of pushing down his negativity, he lives with it! He uses it to his advantage without letting it overtake him!!! He doesn’t pretend to be sunshine and rainbows, and his friends still love him!!!!

I don’t really have a conclusion to this. I’m just really glad that they did what they did with A Fragmentary Passage.