#kh rant

[marcirose]

Sks: Ugh sorikus want Kairi out of the way for their ship how delusional of them

Also sks: Riku should've died in kh3 and Riku should fail in kh4 so Kairi can come in and save Sora so they can have their happily ever after

[yuri-lobotomy000]

people are always talking about how Silver looks like Riku but I wanna say that Riddle does kinda look like Kairi, specifically kh 1 Kairi like is it just me???? because they definitely look similar in the face. (wait, Riddle, Silver, and Kalim trio????)

I know that they have completely different personalites but a trio based off destiny trio from kh would definitely make sense based off silver. (bc you can't tell me that man isn't based off Riku in some way) anyways, am I looking in too deep or does someone agree at the designs similarity

[imminent-danger-came]

I fucking LOVE my MoM and Sora foil, okay. I LOVE IT.

[roxtron]

Y'know now that I think about it, the kh fandom seems to have a huge problem with ignoring or disliking games they find "irrelevant" to the plot. I came into the fandom post-kh3 so I can't say I know how the fandom's changed over time but.. it's kinda ridiculous to me tbh. Because from what I read it sounds like most people hated/ignored BBS and 358/2 days because they were "spin-offs." (Which is dumb anyway, like, even if hypothetically KH3 didn't exist and they were just spin-off characters- Why is that a bad thing? Why should you treat them like they don't matter? Why do some people think the characters from those games don't matter because they only care about the fate of the Destiny Trio?) And even still people consider Chain of Memories irrelevant because "Oh Sora forgets everything anyway, all you need to know is that." And then they consider Coded/Re:Coded irrelevant because "It's all data anyway." And THEN they consider DDD irrelevant because "All you need to know is the Xehanort time travel stuff in the finale." It's so weird to me how some people can claim to be invested in these games yet only care about the numbered titles. It can't be because they care about Destiny Trio that much if they consider titles including them to still be irrelevant.. So what is it then?? Is the concept of a spin-off inherently bad to these people? Like, sure, if you're thinking of the BARE MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE then yes I would agree you don't need to know much about those games beyond what I listed.. HOWEVER, that does not mean it's good to only go into the games with that knowledge. If you truly care about this series and its characters, you would value the ways those games expand on their characters. And even if you don't.. If you're only going into these games with the idea of "vaguely understanding the plot" but the plot alone. Not the characters. If all you care about is "How did Xehanort revive other versions of himself?" And not the buildup for the characters and how these arcs affect them, y'know, as characters..

I just don't understand how you can go into these games like that and still have fun with it. Like sure if I'm into a series where I appreciate the worldbuilding but there isn't much to the characters I can get behind that. (And I mean that in the sense of games with blank-slate protagonists, not to say the characters don't matter to me, but that the characters don't have much personality to get attatched to.) But in a story like Kingdom Hearts where it is about the characters, and the story is just how the characters choices affect each other- I dunno man. I'm not sure of the right words to explain what I'm trying to say but it just feels so dull and boring to only care about that in a series, and especially a series like this. I could go on and on about the ways those games affect the characters and the story more than those little one-sentence quotes.. And sure, maybe I will in addition to this, but that's not the point I'm trying to make here. Even if they didn't affect the story, even if they were solely character-building, or even if they barely served a purpose at all beyond a couple of scenes.. It shouldn't devalue the entire experience as irrelevant. (Chain of Memories I kinda get disliking due to the combat LMAO but aside from that + some people do like the combat-) The games are more than story alone. They're more than gameplay alone. And they're more than characters alone. All aspects of the game come together to create an experience, and if you want to devalue the entire experience as a bad game, because you find it irrelevant due to it not fulfilling your specific preferences of what you want out of these games- Then I have a hard time believing you appreciated this series at all to begin with. Also a hard time believing you have good media literacy or even care about having any but hey that's a topic for another day am i right

[kayura-sanada]

Ephemer seems to be safe for now. It was actually one of those "Darkness" beings who killed Lauriams sister Strelitzia and it is "hiding" inside Ventus. The "Darkness" took the form of what looks like a humanoid-shaped black silhouette and confronted the new Union Leaders. Ven is unconscious due to a mix of "Darkness" emerging from him, his own feelings of guilt despite not actually doing the killing and Lauriam choking him a little. Ephemer and Skuld are defending Ven the whole time and the 1/?

2/? "Darkness" actually confirms that Ven didn't do the kill, he was just present there so that "Darkness" could do it. Lauriam then turns his anger on "Darkness" also because it states that there was no particular reason for killing Strelitzia, it only did it to "help" Ven gain power and to fulfill the Book of Prophecies as Ventus is apparently the "destined carrier of Darkness". Blaine/Brain then starts a sort of interview with "Darkness" which is intersected with several flashbacks of 3/?

3/? of the Master of Masters talking with Luxu about the "Darknesses", identifying them as the enemies of the original Keyblade War, "Masters of mental Warfare" and beings completely incompatible with lifeforms from the Realm of Light, incapable of seeing or understanding hearts yet capable of sensing a persons primal desires without context and thriving generally on negativity. The "Darkness" hiding in Ven then answers some of Brain's questions, stating they have no clear end goal and that 4/?

4/? that they do not think or function like light beings, but are striving to try and understand "how they work" and that there are much more "Darknesses" than there are light beings. They're normally invisible and only show up in a tangible form when they choose to, like another "Darkness" in UX who appeared to Maleficent. In his last question Brain then asks if the "Darkness" hiding in Ven is right now the only one present and upon confirmation summons Eraqus' Keyblade while ordering 5/?

5/? Ephemer, Skuld and Lauriam to also get ready to attack in order to "vanquish" the "Ultimate enemy". There are many theories already around if some if not all the Foretellers were "infected" with a Darkness throughout all their appearances and if Xehanort perhaps at least "worked" with one of them to pursue his own agenda. Many think that the ultimate end goal of the Master of Masters might be to actually exterminate these "Darkness" beings because they cause so much damage. 5/5

So what you’re saying

is that Ventus was a Princess of Heart

until Vanitas, “the Darkness,” entered him

and also that apparently VanVen shippers have not being writing incest or self-masturbation stuff like antis have been accusing them for years.

That is hilarious.

On the more serious side of things... if you’ll indulge me, please let me list out the biggest problems with all of this.

1) Darkness now has sentience. It is now a living thing. Also, it is now absolutely two-dimensional. It is alive, and it is absolutely, 100% evil. I know this is a kid’s game series, but oof. He’s really going hard on this darkness = evil, light = good shit.

2) Yet for some reason the “Darkness” just tells everybody the truth? And acts as a reliable narrator who explains yet more backstory?

3) He made the fandom right in their “it was Ventus!” garbage. You should never make the fandom right about bad writing. You’re feeding the trolls, Nomura.

4) So instead of humans falling to the darkness in their hearts, they just... got taken over by “Darkness.” 🙃🙃🙃 So only outside forces can make people do bad things. 🙃🙃🙃 This is fine.

5) Thank god we have the Master of Masters, whose entire existence is to already know about and explain all of Nomura’s bullshit, to make this garbage some bullshit “truth” that definitely existed before Nomura pulled it out of his ass this past year or two.

6) Return of the “Xehanort is actually a victim just like Ventus!” shit I just spoke about earlier that makes me want to puke. Let me guess - he was just trying to save Ventus, after all, when he tore Ven’s heart from “the Darkness.” God, end this storyline or end me, because I just can’t.

7) So the point of the “traitor” thing... was...???? What? What was the point? The “Darkness” attacked and took over Ven in order to fulfill a prophecy that existed because the “Darkness” attacked and took over Ven?????? I hate to break it to you, Nomura, but having a character point out the pointlessness of it doesn’t let you off the hook for writing something so fucking pointless!!!

8) This new enemy is boring and stupid. I’m sorry. I’m trying to critique it, I’m literally sitting here trying to critique it like an adult, but it’s written so badly that I just don’t know how to go about doing that. It’s just??? evil shadows??? that’s it??? Evil shadows that can apparently act like Yeerks, only inside the heart instead of the brain, and they attack because... because they want to, and because they just don’t have hearts and they don’t understand them. Look at these horrible, evil creatures without hearts. Good lord, it’s KH2 all over again.

9) “Ven was just there so that ‘Darkness’ could [kill Strelitzia].” Please tell me I’m not the only one who sees that’s the most arbitrary garbage to ever walk this Earth. If they’re always around and there’s so many of them (even though??? this one’s the only one here??? even though there’s so many more “Darknesses” than those of light??? XD XD), then why can’t they interact with beings of light without taking over a being of light??? Isn’t taking over a being of light interacting with that being??? God, it’s so random and ridiculous. Just a trumped up reason for the ‘traitor.’ That this man didn’t even commit to. Uuuuuurgh.

10) Can I... Can I just take a moment? To once again complain about how Xehanort’s keyblade, and now also Eraqus’, for some damn reason, are just... ancient keyblades that people have somehow??? Can I please complain about this, even though it could be a part of the original lore? Because it’s clearly a Legendary Weapon, yet it’s done so poorly it hurts. Okay, just let me explain this one.

A Legendary Weapon is supposed to be pretty well known from the start, or near the start, of a story. That way, the readers know its importance and he hero can strive to either acquire it or, at the very least, come to find it someday. Take Lord of the Rings, for instance. We see the Legendary Weapon - Narsil - very early on, and we know its importance immediately. It’s just a note at the beginning, but we know it’s important, and we’re not surprised when it becomes pivotal in the story later on. It’s even pivotal to the hero’s - Aragorn’s - storyline and character growth. It makes sense.

Now let’s look at Xehanort’s weapon. We don’t know it’s special at first; we only know Xehanort’s wielding it and it’s creepy looking. We find out in a later game that it’s actually Legendary. That’s annoying enough, but the information comes early enough that it makes a little bit of sense (though it doesn’t answer how Xehanort, who’s fallen to darkness, can wield a Legendary Weapon when Riku can’t wield one at all in KH1). But whatever!

But now this?! It’s been years since Eraqus’ keyblade was introduced. The only hint we got as to its potential ‘specialness’ is that it allows Sora to do what, quite frankly, he’d been able to do just fine before without the damn keyblade. And also, for some reason that’s yet to be explained, it’s the only Keyblade that can lock or unlock the Land of Departure. (And I emphasize that this should have been explained years ago.)

And now! Now! Apparently it’s a Legendary Weapon!!! And no one’s known! It’s already fulfilled its duty countless times, apparently secretly more special than Sora from the start, and it’s probably going to become Even More Special as the story continues?! What?!?!

There’s been no hint that this keyblade is legendary. It’s just been powerful. This kind of information needs to be introduced early on, or else it feels cheap and unbelievable. The reader’s suspension of disbelief is tested to its breaking point. And now the keyblade, of all things, is the most curious and important aspect of the story, when the hero’s journey toward the blade and slow bonding with the blade (and what it represents) are supposed to be what matter - because the hero is supposed to be what matters.

I just. /huffs/ Okay, well, this has been... enlightening, and I love all of you deeply for explaining all of this to me, and please continue messaging me if you like, but I’m going to take a break and find my happy place again.

[tonberryciel]

I don't make these posts often. This is my first one. But I think it's about time I address a small pet peeve of mine about the KH fandom. It's the statement that generally goes like "Sora's an idiot." Mind you, there can be a fair bit of nuance to that statement. But the message that Sora is an idiot and isn't that smart annoys me. Not because he is beyond smart or anything. It is just people are undermining how smart Sora really is.

Yes, I am acutely aware that Sora has shown an inability to count. Donald and Goofy have pointed this out a few times. And we all know full well Sora and computers don't mix well. But I wouldn't go as far as stating Sora is stupid or an idiot. There are plenty of people who are smart and don't know how to use a computer to save their life. And while Sora can't do a seemingly basic task as counting on his fingers, it doesn’t mean he is stupid. It means he just isn’t academically smart. And that really doesn’t matter given the context of the game series at hand.

Goofy and Sora both can’t count. But that doesn’t mean Goofy is stupid. He’s quite bright given the context of the story. He even puts stay pieces together before anyone does on the occasion. And while I wouldn’t say Sora is a genius, I wouldn’t say Sora isn’t stupid either. He just lacks smarts in academics and computers. I know full well that not being able to count might not look good, but he does own quiet the vocabulary. Sora is just more street smart than anything else.

Comparing him to Riku and Kairi to prove how stupid he is, just isn’t fair either. Riku can use a computer semi-decently. I don’t think it’s fair to compare Riku’s skills to Sora. Riku is like a middle ground between the 3. Riku knows how plan in battle if he isn’t distracted and have academic smarts. Kairi on the other hand could barely hold her own in a fight with no training in Kingdom Hearts 2, but she arguably has the most smarts due to her being in school the longest. So it’s not fair to compare her to Sora either. Unlike Sora and Riku, she did need training to be ready for the war in Kingdom Hearts 3.

While Sora can’t compare to the two academically, he makes up for it with his planning and skills in battle. Now, I have heard that Sora can’t fight due to him charging headfirst into battle or because he hasn’t been trained like Wayfinder Trio. But I can’t agree with that either. Yes, diving headfirst into a battle isn’t the best of plans. And Sora is famous for not thinking ahead before going into a battle. But I think he doesn’t need to. I don’t think he needs a plan before he starts a battle. Because it might be harder for him to stick to one, instead of going with the flow of the battle and making up a plan as he goes. And honestly, that can be a lot harder than it might appear. Especially when you must face up to a thousand heartless, or battle someone like Xehanort. And it’s not like Riku plans how he’ll defeat Demon Tide before he even encounter’s it. None of the cast plan before battling an enemy to the fullest extent. They might go as far as supplies and how they should use them, but I don’t see the lack of planning meaning everyone is incompetent.

Just because Sora might not be able to count or may need help with computers, does not mean he is stupid. A lack of planning before battle doesn’t indicate that either. Sora is bright in his own ways. He can plan and he isn’t half bad at figuring out who are he bad guys. And most of special attacks, such as quick blitz, sonic blade, and Ars arcanum, take a decent bit of planning and focus. As the player, you must know when to properly use these attacks to gain the best advantage in battle. Wouldn’t that logically translate to Sora’s know how as well? And Sora did learn one grand magic spell before Kingdom Hearts 3 while in the sleeping worlds.

Overall, it’s your opinion and I know I can’t always change that. But I would appreciate it if people wouldn’t consider Sora stupid because he lacks academic skills. I don’t think Sora isn’t smart, but I wouldn’t call him a genus either. He is just as smart as Riku and Kairi, just in different fields of knowledge.

[in-our-veins]

It's really annoying when people are saying that it's stupid to connect one thing to another because the idea or theory is stupid. It's a fucking game and I'm invested in every stupid thing, even if I'm proven wrong.

MoM could be Sora, or MoM could be Demyx, or he could be nothing under that fucking coat!

Who tf knows, none of us will for the next few years until the game comes out, so let the stupid theories come and go. Ffs.

And who tf cares if Yozora is Noctis, everyone's been bitching about XV since it came out and how bad it was, at least a small portion of people enjoyed it, and that Nomura can do something with the concept that has stayed with him by using Kingdom Hearts. He's passionate about it, let him have this thing that was taken from him. It'll look different, but at least he and us will have it.

I'm quite enthusiastic for whatever tf he's going to do with the next portion of Kingdom Hearts. :)

[fandom-rants]

Nomura needs to stop pretending Xehanort did anything out of the goodness of his heart.

“Broke Ven’s heart in order to save Vanitas.” What a fucking load.