I already know the old queue limit
saïx spent the better part of a decade quietly wrestling the position of xemnas's right hand man away from xigbar, and then marluxia waltzes in and thinks he can charm his way into power by being an insufferable kiss ass
if there's one thing saïx loathes more than people moving in on his turf, it's fools who insult his intelligence and disrespect the subtle art of the long game
the entries on zexion and saïx are also 👀
Can’t articulate well rn but how come we never talk about the Sora and Terra parallels actually let’s talk about how both of them were both told for years that they were strong and important and special only to fail their marks of mastery because of Xehanort’s manipulations and because of darkness and then stumble and lose themselves as a spiraling result of that and about how they were split and copied and remade against their wishes we should discuss that sometime
I have yet to see ANYONE in all the Riku analysis I’ve seen post kh3 outside of a small bubble of sorikus even acknowledge the clear set-up for Riku’s next arc as being about him finally believing his own dreams are possible/coming true and it drives me insane. No one even notices the blatant references to Cinderella (outside of sorikus) let alone speculates what that means for where his story is going.
in a recent ask game i got a question about something xigbar has done that i cant get over. well. this is my answer.
[Video ID: A cutscene from 358/2 Days for DS, with high-resolution models. Roxas unsummons his keyblade and says, "Mission accomplished. Xigbar looks up and says, "Or is it?" Roxas says "Huh? Oh, come on, quit playing ar—" Xigbar shoves Roxas away, then jumps out of frame to avoid an attack by an off-screen Heartless. Roxas says, "Whoa!" end ID.]
this one moment is so important to how i think about Xigbar's characterization, in this game, in every game, that i feel the need to. write an entire essay about it lmao
It's been a bit since my last bit of KH tinhatting but I was looking at keyblades again and
HOW DOES HE KEEP SUMMONING THESE THINGS??
Keychains, I get! Something something, connecting with people's hearts, keyblades are "heart" swords, boom: your heartsword now resembles whomever you just trauma-bonded with! "Befriended", same thing.
BUT HOW IS RIKU MAKING NEW HEARTSWORDS??
Riku starts out as the "Chosen" of the Light Realm's Kingdom Key but, due to his being preoccupied by Teen Angst (Gay Panic), the Key instead passes to Riku's "Chosen": Sora. This is Keyblade 1.
Kingdom Key is happy to stick with Riku's Chosen but Riku's Villain Arc requires him to be armed so... Riku materializes a WHOLE SECOND KEYBLADE (how?? he's only got one heart! it wasn't like Terranort had one to spare!) to use instead of Kingdom Key. It starts out as the appropriately ominous "Soul Eater" (Devil Wing ft Eyeball) but turns into the much cooler "Way to the Dawn" (Devil AND Angel Wings ft Eyeball) when Riku has his Redemption Arc. Keyblade 2.
Then Maleficent somehow makes a "Keyblade of Hearts" via... daring Riku to de-heart some Disney Princesses? HOW DID SHE EVEN KNOW THIS WOULD WORK?? Why couldn't Xemnas have done this?? Why RIKU??? Is this the Darkness prodding Mal along or..? ugh, Keyblade 3.
It's very quickly brushed aside, in the midst of a big epic reunion between the Destiny Trio, but Riku casually pulls out a shiny new keyblade from nowhere and magically makes Kairi the wielder of "Destiny's Embrace". Aqua accidentally nudging toddler!Kairi with a keyblade always vibed like a red herring tbh: heartswords should require INTENT before being passed down! YET! SOMEHOW?? Untrained Riku can just... mediate on a heart's behalf? idk, man, nomura ain't said nothin'. Keyblade 4.
Fast forward to Dream Drop Distance where Riku AND Sora are now able to manifest their heartswords TO each other, across time and space, because... Best Friendship? Dream Eater & Dreamer? True Love? It's not a dream-only thing either - they summoned this "Combined Keyblade" (there's no official name for it yet but it's more commonly known as "The Gayblade" because... Rainbows) during the Aqua Rescue at the Dark Margin. Keyblade 4½ (Sora has joint custody).
Between the canonical appearances of The Glowing Rainbow Duet Heartsword in DDD & KH3, "Way to the Dawn" breaks. Riku leaves the broken heartsword for Repliku to use (oof), something something thinks of Sora yearningly, new keyblade summoned: "Braveheart" AKA Modern!Kingdom Key AKA Keyblade 5.
THAT'S FIVE FRIGGIN KEYBLADES! "Manifested" by Riku and handed out to FIVE DIFFERENT PEOPLE: Sora; Riku Replica; Terranort's Heartless; Kairi; and Riku himself.
(anyone else remember that one interview where Nomura casually implied Riku wasn't or wasn't entirely human? no? i haven't been able to track it down but it's haunted me ever since: what do you mean "what" Riku "really is" has yet to be revealed??? is he NOT just a dude from Xehanort's home world who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ephemer?? is Riku a changeling??? Kingdom Hearts' Humansona?? *pterodactyl shrieking*)
Oh and, just to feel even more agonized at how mysterious Riku somehow still is, I had a closer look at the symbolism of his keychains:
playing days as an adult is noticing all the little ways in which saïx is looking out for roxas. managing his training schedule, providing detailed mission briefs to help in the field, arranging rewards and promotions
for all his posturing as cold and detached, he sure does go out of his way to support the new kid
that's the thing THAT'S THE THING
so like, immediately throwing roxas at axel? that's saïx's idea of a joke. haha remember when we were kids? (remember when we were friends?)
saïx is protective of roxas for the exact same reason axel is; roxas reminds them of a time when they were happy. so axel buddying up with roxas after work? that's understandable. hell, it's predicable (what is it with you and picking up stray puppies?)
for a while i think saïx was planning to use roxas to close the rift that had gradually formed between him and axel. it would only require some light string-pulling, and he held most of the strings in the organization. there may have even been an alliance for all three of them in their future, if he played his cards right. it would be the perfect opportunity, the perfect machination.
but then comes xion. number "xiv," though saïx didn't see what made this unit any more deserving of a number than the rest. it looked like all the other replicas and demonstrated only the barest veneer of sapience. until it managed to summon a keyblade, it may as well have been a rock in saïx's boot, a footnote in the schedule he was in charge of.
but for some reason, axel and roxas seemed to fucking love it. at first, he just watched them in bemusement out of the corner of his eye, when they thought he was preoccupied. saïx has seen dozens of these puppets by this point, so while they're old news to him, he can understand a certain degree of...novelty.
but as the weeks wear on and the three of them only appear to become closer, his patience turns to frustration. they talk and laugh and scheme and prod each other like old friends, and in the background of their lives saïx seethes in anger jealousy loneliness regret hatred.
because it should have been him.
anon asked: Kingdom Hearts favorite villain ➟ Vanitas
“We needed to make you stronger. The Unversed were the perfect opponents. And better yet, no matter how many times you defeat them, their negativity flows right back into me. You never stood a chance against us, Ventus.”
kairithemang0-fm asked:
I love how Halloween starts in mid September on the luxmoogle blog
Do you think you could draw Aqua as a witch?
luxmoogle answered:
What do you mean September is Halloween just like November is Christmas, in fact we’re LATE!! I started in August last year…
