Like. Every decent science fiction is a metaphor. Or satire. Or something that's not literal. Especially Kingdom Hearts.
And I just. Narrowed it down to -
The all time classic, Jesus metaphor.
Newlyweds speedrunning Parenthood into leaving the nest.
anyway Isa as Jesus !!! Literally taking all of the "sins" of the project! Making sure he's got his name on the dotted line! Even if Isa didn't go on the trip. The people in power absolutely wouldn't have wanted him to keep those followers and that power..so it was either prison or death.
And both Isa and Lea get to ascend, pretty much. Their resurrection just happens to be in video diary. And through the Beetles.
Honestly. We can say that about Grace and Stratt from PHM too.
Then option 2!!! Parenthood! I'm generalizing men and women here but you are all very smart and understand Basic Social Roles that are expected of people.
You meet someone. You find out you work well together. You both fit a checklist.
The sun dimming as a parallel to time running out to start a family? The social pressure to follow the "2.5 kids and a picket fence" life!?!
Both Isa and Lea are older, and Isa is absolutely more aware of being an adult and taking on the next correct steps. Normal hesitation from Lea, less pressure on the "man" of the duo.
Theres a comic which compared getting ready for Parenthood feels like. Expecting to build and successfully fly a plane. Women are pretty much handed contradictory books and shoved into plane classes first thing. And they Know! It's enough pressure that they Have To Do it. And when they get the second person in the cockpit. Their partner, their Man...even if they studied and prepared. It feels like they're just. Winging it. Didn't study didn't need to take classes. Didn't have the sword hanging over their head.
Infinitely frustrating, btw.
Drugging Lea to go along with it is coercive and fucked up tho. Which. It's not unheard of irl for men to get trapped. It's also. The audacity of thinking it doesn't affect you. When it's baked in Every Part of Society.
Anyway. They're on the ship. Mary'd. For the pun. Only able to answer to themselves and the "mission" of making the World better.
Ventus being dead on arrival could symbolize that there should have been "love" or "God" supporting them. Between them smoothing out all the cracks. People think just because you're married your relationship is special or has something driving it...but it's still just you and them. Changing the terms doesn't change you. Just perception.
Anyway. That crazy hot minute where you can "let yourself go" when you don't have to perform for anyone because you're married and thus "succeeded". Scraps of being a real person and the blowout from that.
The world has snowed in. Society has collapsed. We get to decide what being human means. (It means making mac and cheese and cuddles on the couch).
But that doesn't last long because Saix gets an injury. And Axel tends to him. And it's just. The home that Saix set up, to specifications, to be comfortable, he knows how the dishwasher is loaded. Suddenly Saix can't be in place to make sure it runs smooth it's just. Minimal and Axel with amnesia means it's a learning curve.
They are a foot rub couple. I feel it. With the way Saix is stressed to shit and how tactile Axel is. He's gotta use that ambidexterity for Something. Not. Horny ... Ok it's a little horny.
Then the (babies) the Aliens arrive and Saix is still not fully functional! And it's okay because Axel is stepping up to teach them! They have to learn language and social norms! But. Axel is pulling away from Saix because the aliens are their help to fixing the World and (making them normal).
With Saix constantly Aware that it's First Contact and it's not. Ideal circumstances. He can't connect. He should be able to, he set up the rooms, watched and learned habits and somehow. Can't feel anything for these things he's tried so hard to support and provide for. //(let's goooooo post partum! But also normal disconnect between Moms and kids. People hype the love up too much.)
Eventually. Saix does connect with Xion. Builds her a body! And work out a friendship with Sora and Riku. And it's great. They are a functioning team and have inside jokes. They can go Home. They can live like this. It doesn't matter that they don't follow the plan.
All goes to plan and the aliens. Leave. Saix and Axel can't throw themselves into the problem anymore. They were given fuel and hope to go back.
And the western/USA centric cutoff of 18 being "you're an adult now". Which. Only worked for a short window that closed and was boarded and crucified and deified-
But. Yeah. Axel being closer to one set of kids and Saix being closer to the other. Having mobility around the galaxy and. Being independent together.
...what was the point of all this? Uhh. Getting married and having kids won't automatically solve any personal problems. It just. Changes the situation. Maybe it explains or exacerbates them. Puts pressure to solve something else. And then what? If you can't self reflect or get the chance to actualize. 40 years go by and you're still half an 18 year old in a 58 year olds body...
... anyway. The fic is almost done I just have to write cuddles and a morning after. 👍 Thank you for your time.
In the same vein as the XemSai anon, I ship AkuSai, but as toxic exes who want to kill each other, with yandere!Saix being all jealous that Axel is moving on without him. Because, let’s be real, Saix practically cleaving Axel in half is hot as fuck. Let them be toxic! Let them have hate sex! But wholesome LeaIsa post-KH3…? Yeah, that doesn’t interest me at all. To me, Saix is the abusive ex that Axel needs to escape. And they can reconcile after KH3, but ultimately I see them as wrong for each other, and Axel’s happy ending is with Roxas (please don’t start the discourse again I’m begging you).
In general I find it interesting, the idea of shipping two characters, but not as an endgame couple. Which I don’t think is “wrong” per se, but maybe just… You might not get along with shippers who see it as their OTP. Which is why I tread carefully around AkuSai stuff, and why my “toxic AkuSai during Days” one-shot is languishing in my drafts folder. Because to enjoy it you would need to like both AkuSai and AkuRoku. And that overlap is probably…microscopic, lmao.
