not to come into your asks and talk about Ventus lol but as he relates to Ephemer.... You were joking about Ephemer being the yearning yearner who yearns and lately I've been thinking about how Ventus represents "light" in people's lives and their relationship to light is equal to their relationship to him. Lauriam has happiness and light in his life but ruins it all in anger and spends the rest of his life searching for redemption and a second chance at happiness (aka his search for Ven in Chain of Memories) and Terra tries to leave the safety of what makes him happy behind to chase a dream and an ideal of duty and morality, but realizes along the way all he ever wanted was that light he left behind, and again, his journey and ultimate success is based in the fact that Terra believed that he could set things right and that light would return to him because it guided his way home.
I think a lot about that scene in Kh3 when Ephemer turns around and smiles at Sora, giving him the power of the keyblade, and it's striking to be because Ephemer loses his light, well and truly. The people he devoted himself to are all gone, after countless arguments and nasty conflicts leaving many of them in bad standing with things left unsaid. He's watched the world end and been helpless to stop it (helpless in the face of the conflict that uprooted the union leaders-- Ventus's posession) or to convince anyone to stop it. However, Ephemer is not consumed by darkness like Lauriam or Isa or Xigbar. Even though there is truly no hope and he presumably dies heartbroken, there is a light in him that never goes out. A part of Ephemer believes that there is more than conspiracies and darkness in the world, and despite how much it tries to convince him otherwise, the darkness cannot take Ephemer because he truly believes that one day this will be set right.
His sense of hope directly correlates to his desire to return to his loved ones, the representation of his light. Diving into the depths of Sora's heart, you find him there, ready to lend a hand, because Ventus keeps him alive too.
Sorry for the wall of text lol. I am normal about Ephemer and Ventus and the difference between toxic desire and yearning for warmth :)))
AND YOU’D BE CORREECCCTT‼️‼️
Hope is a key aspect of Eph’s character. As much as I would love and enjoy a well done fall from grace arc, I believe the core strength of his character comes from never giving up and finding strength in the connections he’s made, no matter how much pain he goes through, no matter how long it may take for him to have even the possibility of seeing them all again. Player calls him “light’s master” in dr, and that implies that Ephemer held onto light so tightly that it became part of his known legacy
I actually also think Ven’s confrontation with Darkness would’ve been a big deal to him. Seeing this younger person selflessly do whatever it takes to protect his loved ones is something worth remembering, both in terms of harbouring guilt over the helplessness of the situation as you said, but also in terms of having inspiration to do the right thing even when it’s hard. If Ven could do it, why can’t he?
And I like to think him reaching out to Sora is a way of showing that Eph is more than willing to lend a hand because why wouldn’t he, after everything he’s gone through? Why wouldn’t he want to help someone who values his friends and the worlds at large? Why wouldn’t he for the boy who kept Ven safe for so long, just out of the goodness of his heart?
