Main is @nemo-in-slumberland (30’s). Reblogs appreciated ❤️ **Do not repost/use without permission** Everything made with love and absolutely no Gen AI ever ❤️
Side account mostly for my art, with some zine boosts, and KH reference/info posts. This is a Kingdom Hearts heavy profile.
While I have featured tags set up, it’s based on what I expect to use and may change over time.
Old/current fundraiser info:
100 Xigbar Challenge July wrap up (2024)
100 Xigbar Challenge July wrap up/ late donations accepted through 10/1/25! (2025)
**since this is tumblr: the use of screenshots for funnies does not mean I endorse each OP. It just means I happened to see a funny in passing that fits.**
Comics:
Pre-tablet era: 🔵 A Luxu-ry 🔵 And now, the weather 🔵 The Bar Minimum (of respect)
Tablet era: 🔵 Melody for Memories
Previews of stories with art:
🔵 On a Drunken Evening 🔵 Music to Soothe ch 2 🔵 Passing the Reigns, part 1 of “Winter in the Garden”; part 2 “Snow Day, Class Dismissed” (pending zine release and completion)
☕️ My Ko-fi 🦋 Bsky (rarely used) 📖 Ao3 for full stories
The basics
No Ai is used in the creation of this art!
Reblogs 👍🏼
reposts/use without permission 👎🏼 👎🏼
Shitposts/incorrect quotes now under “Nemo’s Goofs” (I have long since hit the 24 featured tags limit).
TERFs/swerfs/radfems, racists, etc are not welcome here. I can and will make use of the block button as needed.
I’m not into any ships beyond passive enjoyment. Anything that seems shippy probably isn’t unless explicitly stated. This is not a knock against shipping, just a heads up.
I’m team Xaldin is multi/bi-racial at minimum. I’m not ever intentionally drawing him as a white guy with locs.
Sticking with the Organization names for the tags because the names are more unique/less likely for other fandoms.
I tend to be Org XIII heavy, so everyone else will be under any respective group labels.
I don’t enjoy using bsky for art which is why I stopped cross posting there. In addition for it being way too easy to doomscroll
I do have a pillowfort account that I started and I guess I’ll look back into that. It’s not my preference to drop tumblr, but if they stick with the decision to nerf interactions between people like this 🤷🏻♀️
But in the meantime I’ve sent in feedback and encourage others to as well.
Kingdom Hearts 2 lite novel volume 2. Demyx fight in Hollow Bastion.
Once again SDG literally runs into Demyx.
Transcript below readmore
The trio hurled themselves straight into the mass of Nobodies.
Or they were about to—but someone stood in their way.
"Wak!" Unable to stop in time, Donald crashed into the man at full speed. "Get outta the way!
Holding his bruised bill, Donald glared up at him—then noticed that the man wore a black cloak and jumped back.
"You guys sure are looking lively," the man remarked.
Sora recognized the face and the voice.
"Hey, didn't we catch you messing around in the Underworld? How'd a wimp like you get into Organization XIII?"
Demyx backed away, pretending to be cowed.
"Can you even fight?" Sora taunted, folding his arms.
“We won't hold back!" Donald added.
"It's wrong to judge people by appearances," Demyx told them with a self-confidence completely opposed to his earlier attitude.
"You sure about that?" Sora held the Keyblade ready.
“...I told them they were sending the wrong guy." Demyx's expression fell again, and he scratched his head in frustration, confidence gone.
“...What's up with him?" Sora muttered, baffled at his constantly changing mood.
"Remember, Sora?" said Goofy. "The organization's made up of Nobodies."
"Oh, right! No hearts!" Sora nodded and fixed a glare on Demyx.
"Aw, we do too have hearts. Please don't be mad!" Now he looked apologetic.
"You can't fool us!" shouted Donald, waving his wand.
"Silence, traitor" Pointing at Sora, Demyx had transformed again, grimly furious. He dashed at the trio and brandished his weapon, which resembled a huge stringed instrument—a sitar.
"Whơ's this traitor?!" Sora demanded, blocking the attack.
"Traitors are traitors!" Demyx sprang into the air, and a wave of water gushed out of the ground.
"Whoa!"
The ferocious wave knocked them back, and the spray took on shapes—watery copies of Demyx surrounding them.
"Ack!"
"Fire! Blizzard!" Donald shot off spells at the copies, which splashed into nothing with one hit.
The trio made quick work of the rest of the clones and then began to chase down Demyx. But jets of water spouted up from near his feet, and they couldn't get close.
"That's cheatin!" Goofy complained.
"I don't see how!" Demyx retorted and fired more water at them.
"Thunder!" Donald managed to stop one of the jets with a spell.
"Quick, take him down!" Donald called.
"Nice work, Donald!" Sora saw the opening and rushed at Demyx.
"You got it!" Sora leaped up to attack—and so did Demyx, sitar poised.
"Having fun yet?"
"Not really!" Sora brought down the Keyblade.
"Gah!" Demyx yelped. That was all it took to send him crashing into the ground. He let out a pitiful whine as his sitar dissolved into water trickling between his fingers. "Aw, c'mon, no way!"
"Yes way." Sora stared down at him.
Before his eyes, a dark mist enveloped Demyx, and then he was gone.
"Anyone from the organization who wants to be next?" Sora shouted at the empty square.
"Hey, Sora.." Donald tugged at his hand, then stood up to scold with his arms folded. "Don't antagonize them!"
"Yeah, we gotta go help out our friends first," Goofy said cheer fully, running over to join them.
"Oh, right. Sorry" Sora rubbed his head sheenishly.
This takes place before they go antagonize Sora at Hollow Bastion the first time.
Transcript under readmore
In a room made of white marble, a large mirror reflected Demyx as he prepared to leave for the mission. He took particular care with his hairstyle, painstakingly manipulating the brown strands with a comb to make them stand straight up. Saïx observed him from behind with what appeared to be distaste. In stark contrast to Demyx, Saïx left his long blue hair unstyled. The X-shaped scare on his forehead was all the style he needed.
Instead of responding, the other man simply disappeared.
“Excuse me?!” Demyx shouted at the space where Sais had been standing.
And then, as if to take Saix's place, Xigbar appeared with his hood low over his eyes. "Ready yet?"
"...Yeah, yeah, just about, Demyx replied apathetically. "Yknow, Xigbar, I don't really think I'm the best suited for tailing somebody..."
"Orders are orders, and you can't go against the big man himself. Or did you forget?"
“..Hmph."
Not the most satisfying answer. Demyx scowled and leaned on the sitar in his hand.
"Anyway, you're going to be saying hello first," Xigbar added.
"Huh?"
"The hero and his little entourage are out and about. Saix heard their voices."
"Uh-huh...," Demyx said, more like a sigh than a response, and frowned.
He couldn't hear the voices.
He may have been assigned a number, but he knew perfectly well that he just wasn't cut out for fighting. All he could do was control water by playing music. He didn't think of himself as especially strong. And shadowing the Keyblade wielder-or rather, Roxas—really didn't sound like much fun.
Still, he couldn't defy the organization. For that sole reason, he had to follow his orders.
"Time to get going," Xigbar said.
"Okay, okay..." Demyx shouldered his sitar and vanished.
"He really is a handful." Xigbar chuckled to himself and likewise disappeared from the room.
Brief interlude about SDG touching down at Beast’s Castle for the “first” time (the lite novels either combine the two visits or ignore the 1st visit for various worlds) and encountering Beast and Belle before everyone heads to the ballroom for the dance.
After the fight Beast has his panic over the rose, Sora plays relationship therapist/self help counselor etc. Beast gets things together and they encounter hordes of heartless that Xaldin summoned, and wipe those out.
Kingdom Hearts 2 lite novel Organization XIII: Xaldin and Beast’s Castle focus. I trimmed off some excess since tumblr only allows 10 images.
Will aim to make a transcript later, and update here on the OG post but right now I’m trying to get these references off my phone.
Radiant Garden lore regarding the experiments of the heart, per secondary canon (the lite novels). From the Kingdom Hearts 2 novels.
Transcript below cut
The people of Radiant Garden had lived in peace, with Ansem the Wise maintaining the balance of their world.
In the center of the town was a small research facility where Ansem and his apprentices carried out their many experiments.
His apprentices numbered six-Xehanort, Even, Ienzo, Braig, Dilan, and Aeleus-and each was brilliant in his own way.
Ansem, however, had only one objective: to uncover the secrets of the darkness in the heart.
With Even's assistance, Ansem performed a little experiment Xehanort. It was meant to awaken the memories sleeping in Xehanort's heart.
Ansem no longer understood what had precipitated it. But at some point, the research slipped from his control, and his apprentices found experimental subjects on their own. They continued the studies in an enormous laboratory built under Ienzo's direction.
And then the night when they opened the Door to Darkness meteors rained down on their world.
That meteor shower was the reason his apprentices unusual activities even came to Ansem's attention.
"You're conducting experiments without my supervision?” He bellowed at his apprentices, all gathered in his study.
"But Master Ansem—," Xehanort began.
"I don't want to hear it. Shut it down immediately!" Ansemsnapped. "I won't have anyone opening the Door to Darkness.”
Xehanort, the young man who had once lost his memory desperately persisted. "But the truth of the worlds is there."
"I will not allow it! Out. I'm sealing off the entire laboratory.”
At that, the apprentices all gloomily hung their heads and left the lab. Ansem made sure the door was closed and locked behind the before he sank into a chair and let out a bone-deep sigh.
Could those six have hit upon anything about the darkness in the heart?
Had they grown entangled in that darkness themselves white, pursuing its mysteries?
There was no doubt Ansem himself had led to all this as the one who'd begun these experiments. He tried to think what he could do to correct this grave mistake-
And that was when it happened.
<present day interlude not shown>
It was a while after the night of the meteor shower.
"Xehanort!" cried Even, bursting into the experimental lab in the basement. The other apprentices looked up from the various computers where they were sorting their data.
This lab also served as a facility for producing Heartless in mass quantities.
"What's the matter? asked Dilan with a nasty smirk. "Did Master Ansem say something again?"
"No—there's a visitor from somewhere else," Even replied.
"Apparently, there really are other worlds."
Xehanort frowned. "What does that mean?"
"Someone calling himself the king of one of those worlds came to visit Master Ansem. And from his appearance, it's obvious he is indeed from another world. Said his name is Mickey, I believe...”
"So, the opening of the door affects the worlds," lenzo said quietly.
Aeleus and Braig had nothing to add.
"Let's go and see." Xehanort got to his feet and wasted no time heading for Ansem's room upstairs.
Even followed him.
<present day interlude not included>
Ansem's study was piled high with books and documents. At the large desk in the center of the room, Ansem sat munching on an ice cream pop, listening intently to the visitor from another world.
The blue salty-sweet ice cream was his favorite— sea-salt ice cream.
"Wise Ansem, I've come to seek your advice," said the king.
Ansem smiled. "I'm glad we have an opportunity to speak like this, my friend. Your hypothesis is most intriguing. To be frank, it's not easy to stave off the urge to test it." He paused there, taking another bite of ice cream, and his expression darkened. "Still, I’m concerned about the stability of the worlds."
He knew that the door had already been opened. It was the reckless actions of his apprentices, merely based on his own experiments, and yet he couldn't help but feel the blame lay entirely with him.
"Yep, that's what worries me, too," the king replied.
"The doors that appeared and the place the Heartless seek... fear my research may have brought this upon us..." Ansem rested his forehead in his hands.
Then there was a knock at the door. A young man stepped into the study—Xehanort. "Master Ansem, regarding the experimentI presented the other day... With your permission—“
"Which is denied! Forget this talk of doors and the heart of all worlds!" Ansem stood to stare down Xehanort and told him with quiet finality, "That place must not be defiled."
The heart was sacrosanct. And the darkness within the heart must never be tampered with.
Darkness in the heart would invite darkness in the world... The world would be corrupted, and its stability would break down. And they must not let that happen.
"But Master Ansem... I've been thinking that—"
Ansem shook his head. "Xehanort, those thoughts are best forgotten." Defeated, Xehanort took a step back, nodded, and left the room.
<<PRESENT INTERLUDE
"I remember now! It was Ansem's apprentice Xehanort!" cried King Mickey.
The Nobody only smirked.
"The leader of Organization XIII is Xehanort's Nobody!" The Keyblade flashed in his hand as the king rushed at him.
"Let's go!" Sora tried to follow-but found Nobodies blocking his way. He lashed out with the Keyblade. "Move it!"
"We can't let Xehanort get away!" Donald called.
"Right!" Sora replied. Donald and Goofy gave him a thumbs-up, and Sora turned.
Then he ran straight into a mass of Heartless.>>
(Back to the past)
Xehanort pondered what he'd heard of the conversation between Ansem and King Mickey.
So there was a key called the Keyblade, said to have the power to open any door.
There was a strange material that enabled one to traverse the Ocean Between-Gummi blocks, fallen pieces from that meteor shower.
And something about women known as the Princesses of Heart.
All these immensely important shards of information began to form together in Xehanort's mind.
"What in the world were they talking about?" said Even, who had been trying to eavesdrop.
Xehanort ignored him and continued down the stairs to the basement laboratory. He flung open the door, and the others all turned to him at once.
"Aeleus, where is the girl?" Xehanort asked.
"She's asleep.." Aeleus pointed to the capsule room in the back.
The girl was very particular—unique among people. They had not been able to create any Heartless using her heart.
The moment I saw @taylrartz ‘s Organization Olympics I knew I wanted to take a crack at it!
While javelin toss was admittedly Right There, I was more enamored of Xaldin taking part in the pole vault since he moves around so much in his boss fight
There were some truly awesome, dynamic poses when looking up pose references, but I saw Emmanouil Karalis and was like “👍🏼 👍🏼 absolutely perfect reference thanks for existing!”
I think I want to color in at least one of these but haven’t decided which 🤔
Applications for the community zine are now OPEN! ✨💛💜
If you've missed the chance to apply for the charity fanthology, now is a good chance to join. Unlike the main zine, we will be accepting contributors regardless of skill level, and this zine will be available as a free, digital-only copy.
Apps will go up until April 3, so be sure to sign up soon.
Anyways, as much as I look forward to actually getting to drafts of any of the Dilan stories, I think there’s 1 stand out line I wrote tonight.
It’s meant to be entirely behind the scenes for me to keep in mind but it’s part of the idea I have for Dilan’s parents, specifically about his father.
“He is self-absorbed but insecure; if this were a different sort of story he’d be sitting in the cuck chair. Fortunately for him, his non-threatening behavior and wealth secured him the apple of his eye, his most precious treasure, that coveted jewel above all others. Y’know… his wife.”
“Foul baby from my precious wife riven, to you, the name Nuisance shall be given”
“Did you say something to the baby, dear?”
“Ohoho nooo, of course not angel heart of mine! Rest my darling 🥺💕”
And then father and son resumed glaring at eachother.
Rambles under readmore
Between being super sick for almost 2 weeks, and decision paralysis on what to work on when I did have energy, I’ve chipped away at least a tiny bit on background work for Dilan/Xaldin.
Some of the lore may or may not make into the various Dilan/Xaldin focused fics, but I realized I wanted to have consistent details to weave through them since they’re all in the same canon-compliant universe.
I do not view canon appearance Dilan as white, and since the official position is the “aracial/raceless” shtick 😒 , he’s biracial/mixed-black as far as I’m concerned.
All fan representations of Dilan/Xaldin as fully black have a special place in my heart and full support 💜
Anyways, one of the big things to start with was getting an idea of his childhood and relation to his parents. This meme, and my modifications, quickly gets to a lot of the heart of that.
For this year’s Xigbar fundraiser I’ve been mulling things over based on time/energy and I’m still trying to figure things out
As much as I love doing the art requests, I’m in a pickle.
I like keeping the donation threshold low at $5, but admittedly am putting waaaaaaaay more time and energy into them than I should for that low a rate.
While I could aim to do small quick sketches… I’m not good at reining in the desire to do more when I’m having fun with someone’s idea.
But then I end up not working on other things I’d like to because I’m pouring tons of energy into these…
What should I aim for with this July’s fundraiser? Feedback appreciated 💜
Premade $5 small sketches similar to year 1 Like snoozaga?
Option 1 and maybe some $10 color ones too?
Unlockable large art peice(s) like Evolution of Luxu
Offer $12(?) prints of Evolution of Luxu
Some mix of the above?
op what about?
Voting ended onMar 5
One of my long time goals is to have my own printer so I can be in control of print quality etc in as ethical a means as possible… but I have also been curious about using INPRNT for overall ease of use for everyone…
I don’t know if I’ll ever managed to draw 100 Xigbar’s in 1 month lol, but I’d love to raise at least $100 minimum each year.
