#kitloveskh

Turns out I talk about Kingdom Hearts a lot. Be it a rambling bout of questions or a outlined multi-part analysis. Below is a master list of links to my most notable theory posts. 

Early Speculation and Musings:

My Gentle Kingdom Hearts 3: A musing about the End -- KH3 initial review. Emotional blubbering.

Real or Figurative: Question about the Ending -- initial pre-ultimania/pre-dlc debate on the discrepancies of ending being literal or figurative. 

KH Questions I’m afraid to ask: -- A log of questions in my speculation process. Most of which have been answered by canon or my own line of speculation.

Explanation/Speculation on the Metaphysical Mechanics

Define: Heart -- A cited definition of the Heart as it is regarded and understood in the canon with minimal speculation. 

Explaining Terranort in KH3-- A Pre-Ultimania theory on what exactly happened with Terranort in Master Xehanort’s re-assemblage that allowed for Terra’s resurrection. This uses Namine’s unique creation to speculate the nature of the cosmic process that creates and regards beings. [basically CONFIRMED]

Musing on the physical nature of the Stations -- A speculation thread meant to help inform future theories. Centered around the idea of “Hearts as Worlds” and meant to tackle what is really ‘physical’ in the KH mythos. [spoiler: everything is a literal, physical thing]

Death and the Final World-- an exploration of already established mechanics in the KH ‘verse. Centered around the question of “What makes a Heart go to the Final World” and “What made Sora’s body go with his heart to the Final World?

Realm of Light, the PoH, and the Physical Concept Pt. 1 -- a theory on the nature of the Princesses of Heart and their connection to the Realm of Light and the Physical Concept. There is no Part 2 (yet) but you can basically use this to explain all the deus ex machina of the PoH and the function of light. 

The Breakdown of a Somebody-- An in-depth breakdown of the components and functions in a Somebody meant to explain the results of the absence or manipulation of those building blocks.

Worlds as Dreams and the Act of Waking up P.1 Traversing Hearts -- An initial understanding of the Power of Waking in regards to how layers of dreams (and their function as levels of reality) might explain how a power to ‘wake’ would disturb the natural order of things. Part 2 is a forever draft at the moment.

Explicitly Meta-Catastrophe Theories:

List of Theories--A compilation of some of my KH theories before they have been fleshed out. Some worldline theories and ‘realm of fiction’ ideas haven’t been touched upon yet but this is the skinny.

The Edge of Imagination Pt. 1 and The Edge of Imagination Pt.2-- ReMind analysis discussing the nature of the Final World as an ‘Idea graveyard’ that suggests the presence of an author figure between Sora and the ‘Verum Rex’ cross over.

Art Shift Analysis-- Pre-Remind comparison of the model and scenery of the secret ending meant to allude to the presence of a more ‘realistic’ world and therefore a ‘prime real real world’.

The Heart of Stories Theory-

Masterpost / Part 1 / Part 2 / Supplementary Analysis / Part 3

In this theory I ask “What is a Heart” “What is a World” and “What is Kingdom Hearts.” By asking these questions and reasoning through the evidence, I attempt to conceptualize the values of the Kingdom Hearts universe and conclude that Hearts are the essence of fictional stories. From here the theory that Kingdom Hearts is becoming self aware of its status as a fictional story is given a thematic foundation.

Heart of Stories theory follow-up - someone debated me on my points from the above magnum opus

KHUX Theories and Speculation:

** denote relatively active theories with a more formal construction

Thoughts on the Meta-Narrative of Kingdom Hearts X and UX-- what it says on the tin. Connecting KHUX to the idea of a story within a story and active authorship.

**The Master’s Figurative Language: A Breakdown of the Flashback in KHUX’s chapter “Cornerstones of Rebirth” -- analyzing the Master’s ‘backstory’ and motives. I allude to the metacatastrophe theory. 

KHUX Theory Confirmations- a compilation of khux theories that have been confirmed or supported (as of May 2020). With the strong note that I still firmly believe Ava has had a nefarious role in the current catastrophe befalling the Union Leaders. 

Ven as a Sleeper Agent -- early interpretation of Ven’s paradoxical innocence and guilt in the murder of Strelitzia.

**The Duality of Ven -- Theory that Ven is harboring a split personality that he created, which may actually be a sentient Darkling. 

**Ven’s Missing Memories -- April 2020 speculation breaking down the nature of Ven’s absent memories, finely deducing exactly what could have caused the memory loss and what can be ruled out. Supports the Split-Personality theory.

**“There is no Traitor” : My Complete Speculation on the Happenings of KHUX -A breakdown of what I speculate to be the twist in the traitor conspiracy, placing blame to Ava as retaliation against a fated demise.

White Coat Strelitzia- initial speculation on the appearance of Strelitzia in Lauriam’s dream. Inconclusive. 

**KHUX- Three Prong Speculation -- A compilation theory analyzing the connection between 1. MoM as the Author of Fate 2. Ava as the Traitor  and 3. Ven as a tool of Darkness. It’s the attempt to see how they interact. 

A Breakdown of khux update: Something Received--(circa November 2019) initial theorizing. Supporting Ava as the Traitor.

“Conviction” speculation- initial musings on Brain’s flashback of Ava giving him the BoP and her cryptic double meaning.

“Frail Defense of Ava”-- slight musings on the rose-tinted glasses the Union Leaders have of Ava. 

***“A Case in Stubborn Belief”-- Breaking down the three main theories I support in light of the murderer reveal. I won’t let these ideas die folks. (circa October 2020)

Dark Road Analysis

Chapter 1 analysis and additional thoughts: Musings on the World building presented in Dark Road’s chapter 1 as well as a meta-theory tie in to the idea of ‘Maturing Worlds”

Xehanort is self-aware: A discussion on the possibility that Xehanort’s reason for existence revealed to him by MoM’s World Tour was that he was created to be the villain.

Scala’s World and the proof of a realm of singularity: Answering an ask about Scala’s cultural fall which then spirals into why the Scala towns are empty. tl:dr--> All timelines converge onto Scala.

The Connection between Xehanort and the Player: Taking my initial analysis a step further and evaluating how Xehanort’s villainy and the Player’s PoV are means for the story to function and revolve around. Therefore their seeming connection is a literal torch passing as ‘primary driver of the story/heart’

Post KHUX Finale

Two KHUX fates?: Your girl is wrong so I’m trying to figure out how to be right with Worldlines and alternate endings. But actually I’m pondering questions like the missing X-blade from khux and the Lights of the Past cutscene not fitting with Ephemer’s fate.

Other:

Not a theory but I write a Kingdom Hearts fanfiction essentially drawing from these ideas known as “IV[or]y Wall”. It started as my attempt to prove that a meta-narrative wasn’t as crazy as it sounded which then became a dumping ground for how I could reveal it and other theories into a narrative. I really slave away at this story and I would appreciate you giving it a read and maybe a comment if you’re so moved. I post updates here when I release a chapter and there are more than a few story reveals you won’t see in this masterlist. Find the first chapter here on Ao3. 

Alright. Finally have some time for this. I swear khux updates have been petrifying. They are bombshells ready to poke holes in my theories or spin me into new ones. This is no different, but I must say I am rather emboldened after this.

I’m gonna break down everything that is said and try to read into the thoughts and intentions of the characters under the a single pretense that Ava did it folks.

---

Let’s get this out of the way. Ava is not impervious to lying. We cannot trust everything she says as gospel and she is not one to rule out for manipulation. As Gula states and Mel defends in this ask-- Ava “always walking the straight and narrow.” She is capable of anything.

And I think she is lying to Brain. 

Ava did pick him. Brain is her planted agent. Ava=Traitor speculation train ahoy but if you look at everything under this lens the conversation makes sense. 

Meta-catastrophe: Kingdom Hearts (the series) is becoming self aware of it’s status as a video game. The 4th Wall is slowly breaking and will completely shatter in future installments. This will not be funny. 

This ~Shibuya~ Sora is in is an incarnation of our reality. It’s not able to be the actual real world because it still exists within a form of fiction (the next video game installment). Which is why the building is still 104 and why Nomura calls it Shibuya in kana. But for all intents and purposes, it’s the real world. The world that hosts his fiction.

The Master of Masters is an authorial (Nomura’s) self-insert from this reality. He penned the KH fiction and has thus authored Destiny itself. He’s granted some level of autonomy to his characters and is playing the apathetic god (power trip?). The conflict of man vs destiny becomes a more literal man vs god. 

Kingdom Hearts (the object) is not a massive collection of hearts-- world’s hearts or hearts of men-- no it’s the collective heart of reality itself.

The Worlds in Kingdom Hearts are not isolated environments and settings, or even dimensions of progressed scenarios but literally manifestation of authored Stories. The actual Disney movie stories. They are physically limited to the stories they derive from, but by virtue of being connected to the greater collective story of KH they are capable of behaving like transformative works. 

Because Worlds are Stories, the Hearts of Worlds are actually the Hearts of the Stories they contain. We connect with people from the heart. We also connect with stories and characters in the same way. It doesn’t matter that they aren’t real. 

If Kingdom Hearts (the object) is the Heart of Reality, and the Heart of Worlds are actually the Hearts of Stories, and Kingdom Hearts (the game) is becoming self aware of its status as a work of fiction (A Story), then Kingdom Hearts is both the game and the in-universe object. 

The ‘Unchained Realm’ is actually more of the ‘Realm of Fiction’ where dreams and fictional fabrications become real, untethered to (KH) Reality.

The Realm of Sleep falls under this umbrella because dreams are fiction that don’t actually exist. 

There are two forms of fiction. Set and Continuous. Set stories are stories already written, with a beginning and an end, unable to be changed by virtue of their source material. Continuous Stories are stories currently being written, able to change and be manipulated. The kind of fiction depends on the type of medium and if there’s an active author. Books can’t change whats been physically written, AI driven simulations have some kind active author in the form of computer unless programmed otherwise. The dreams of worlds (stories) can’t actually expand past what’s already happened so they are set unless tethered to the land of the living (awoken). 

Worldlines as parallel timelines with minute differences, are within the Unchained Realm, untethered to the original (KH) Reality as they are fictional depictions of an alternative scenario in the original story. 

The Realm of Fiction is only traversable due to the objective definition empowering the select denizens of the (also fictional) Realm of KH Reality to traverse Stories tethered to their reality. Nothing is fake and nothing is real at the same time. 

The objective definition of ‘traversing worlds’ allowing to make real, actual elements of fiction in their universe, is the same obtuse exploitation used with the Power of Waking. “To wake something from slumber” is initially mundane until exploited against the concept that ‘sleep and death cross over.’ Thus you can wake someone up from the dead. 

Sora exploiting the objective definition of his Reality’s laws by sole nature of being a work of fiction caused him to weaken the fabric of said fiction. So he fell through into the Actual Real World. 

Master of Masters wanted this because Sora has the power to see a heart in everything and can even give the Real World a heart if he connects with it. That’s why he makes a Kingdom Hearts out of the Real Moon. It’s going to become a part of Kingdom Hearts(the game) and no longer be bound to the limits of Actual Reality. Actual godhood achieved.

And we don’t know what happened to Scala ad Caelum and the keyblade legacy.

Like the story is written in the stars. Scala fell. Hard. Xehanort and Eraqus were the only survivors and they lost everything. He clearly reveres Scala. The portal to his Heart is Scala in the same way Destiny Islands is Sora’s Heart. Just knowing that Xehanort felt trapped in his homeworld and some dream come true whisked him away saved him... The attachment is palpable. I’m just imagining that paradise crumbling around him, this clear sanctuary, falling into nonexistence in front of his eyes. 

 Maybe Xehanort steals No Name in the chaos. Maybe he’s a newly dubbed master. Maybe its his fault. Maybe Eraqus is the reason they survived. Maybe, shortly after, Xehanort grows weary of the balance of the world an abundance of light was the cause of Scala’s fall? and his new ambitions and curiosities take center stage. Maybe it’s that vulnerable state that his future ambitions work to corrupt, YX traveling time to achieve this worthy goal, the tragedy so much more fresh in his memory. 

So my reddit post about that list of interconnected theories got some comments and I thought it’d be good to post a thread of comments as a little followup. It pertains to some nuance of the Worlds as Stories sub-theory that I cover in this post. 

Namely these points in question:

Kingdom Hearts (the object) is not a massive collection of hearts– world’s hearts or hearts of men– no it’s the collective heart of reality itself.

The Worlds in Kingdom Hearts are not isolated environments and settings, or even dimensions of progressed scenarios but literally manifestation of authored Stories. The actual Disney movie stories. They are physically limited to the stories they derive from, but by virtue of being connected to the greater collective story of KH they are capable of behaving like transformative works.

Because Worlds are Stories, the Hearts of Worlds are actually the Hearts of the Stories they contain. We connect with people from the heart. We also connect with stories and characters in the same way. It doesn’t matter that they aren’t real.

If Kingdom Hearts (the object) is the Heart of Reality, and the Heart of Worlds are actually the Hearts of Stories, and Kingdom Hearts (the game) is becoming self aware of its status as a work of fiction (A Story), then Kingdom Hearts is both the actual game and the in-universe object at the same time. Like, the definition is singular.  

Masterpost / Part 1 (here) / Part 2 / Supplementary Analysis / Part 3

Question: What is a Heart?

Heart: The essence of existence. A concept that instigates human emotion through the connection to other hearts. It is composed of Darkness and Light and held together by memory. They are born from sentient connection and fostered by interaction.

1. Living Metaphor

Saïx: ...Axel aside, it would break our hearts to hear something happened to you.

Donald: Hearts? You don't have any hearts!

Saïx: True, we don't have hearts

-KH2

This is an interesting exchange if only because it highlights the strange homographic nature of the typical Kingdom Hearts buzzwords. One one hand the lore speaks of the ‘Heart’ as specific force in the universe’s natural world— literal things that have physical presence. Nobodies are creatures who lack this literal component which Donald’s referencing in the quote above. This force just so happen to share a name with a more abstract interpretation of the word which is where Saïx’s turn of phrase comes from. To ‘break someone’s heart’ is to hurt their feelings— fill someone with sadness. In this case ‘heart’ is an approximation for ‘feelings’ and in its usual context is simply a metaphor.  

Now we know what it looks like to physically break a Kingdom Hearts Heart, courtesy of Ventus in BBS and Donald is clearly not even attempting that. So while he is speaking sarcastically, Saïx’s use a stock phrase with the homograph (‘heart’) indicates the more metaphorical meaning was intended. Alas, the lore interpretation is countered back to him and Saïx pivots off of that without misunderstanding or explanation. That suggests that the lore concept (Heart) and the metaphorical term (heart) are virtually synonymous in function.

Mixing metaphor and reality is the crux of this analysis. Because Kingdom Hearts is a series that makes real the abstract and manipulates it to make a point.

So when someone says you ‘put your heart’ into something, it usually means that you put yourself into it. It means that you exhausted a significant amount of emotional care into an act, wove it into the product and made your metaphorical mark on it. The heart therefore, is what binds people to their work and purpose. Understanding what we do of metaphor in denoting the Heart’s function, the flowery verbiage speaks for itself. The Heart is your essence.

2. We exist because we feel. We exist because we connect.

As the literal heart deficient bodies left over, Nobodies are characterized by their inability to feel emotions and make connections (or friendships). The often said; ‘Nobodies do not exist’ has in most cases seemed like a baseless degradation. The Nobodies are physical present beings that traverse the reality of the narrative; they by our definition exist—[def.] “to have objective reality or being.” 

The put-down can be interpreted as denoting their status as an unnatural abomination, which applies to DiZ’s insult “... a Nobody doesn’t have the right to be (KH2).”  The insistence on whether they deserve to exist and whether the actually do is an important distinction to make because from it, the values of the natural universe can be derived. As such, by some standard of definition, outside of external forces, something cannot exist without having a Heart.  

From here there is a clear commentary on the role of feelings and connections in determining the existence of an individual. If Nobodies can’t feel emotion because they lack a Heart, and they aren’t valued as existing because they lack a Heart, and Hearts are the emotion giving force in a real person— then the act of feeling in this universe is the sole component of life. Without feelings, you are not really ‘here’.

3. But what does it mean to feel? What is an emotion?

Feelings then, are an interaction between the conscious mind and the external world. To put simply— a connection. A connection that transcends space and time and all sense of reality or logic. Emotions shape who we are and the world we live in. We feel in response to things happening or in anticipation of it. We feel when we learn information or encounter new people, places or, things. We exchange feelings to reinforce already existing feelings. This phenomenon is an essential, unavoidable, and powerful process in the human experience.

Sora: Hearts are made of the people we meet, and how we feel about them— they're what ties us together even when we're apart! They're what...make me strong.

-DDD

This extends to human connection. Bonds of relation, friendship, or adversary are simply the emotions between one person and another. The memories created in those bonds are the vessels that support those emotions. But as we’ve proven with Xion, even if those memories are destroyed and the structure supporting the those bonds collapses, the feelings that created those connections remain. If the feelings are real. The bonds are real. There is no ‘make believe friendships.’

4. Existing to feel. Feeling to exist. The Heart is the embodiment of this process.

So what does this say about existing? If feeling and connecting is the core component to ‘having objective reality’ what does this say about the values in the Kingdom Hearts universe? From our frame of mind, in our world, action asserts existence. We are required to physically make our mark on the world, and you aren’t real if you don’t have a physical body. That is clearly not the case in the Kingdom Hearts universe. Things that have never happened, fake memories implanted by a computer simulation, people who have never met, puppets who were never meant to be anything more that an object— become real and are regarded as real. Emotions assert existence in this world. So while our world demands action because it is clearly a tangible realm, we are left asking why are emotions the core of this world? To answer that I must pose another question: What even is a World in Kingdom Hearts?

Masterpost / Part 1  / Part 2 / Supplementary Analysis / Part 3 (here)

Question: What is Kingdom Hearts?

Kingdom Hearts: The supreme heart. A source of immeasurable power capable of re-writing the universe and all it contains.

It is notable that we have never truly received a proper in-universe explanation for what the force of Kingdom Hearts is. We know that lesser variations of the thing have been summoned, illuminating more so the nature of its components than the actual definition of its model. The first lesser-Kingdom Hearts was the Heart of Worlds, composited in the realm of Darkness where the fallen world’s hearts amassed. The second was the Heart of Men, captured from the Heartless slain by the keyblade. Being an amalgamation of Hearts— which by this definition is the essence of people and things— makes it so that Kingdom Hearts is some kind of collective existence. As lesser iterations, these Kingdom Hearts’ do not hold nearly the magnitude of influence or power that Xehanort was wishing to attain in his final attempt. So it must be assumed the quintessential example is a force that is the collective Heart of everything.

1. A Story about Stories is a Story

In the previous section we discussed how Worlds are vessels for lesser existences. Existences whom require connection and feelings to be real. As vessels to emotions, Worlds satisfy that process of asserting existence in the Kingdom Hearts universe by functioning as Stories. The Heart of Worlds is formed by the stories it tells. Tales created by the denizens of that world. A symbiotic relationship that produces a greater, collective Heart.  

So if stories are made up of the characters they hold. The even greater Kingdom Hearts— a collective Heart of everything— is made up of the Stories that it holds.

And ultimately that would conclude irrefutably that Kingdom Hearts is the Heart of the greater multiverse. And by the logic present in the previous section, that would make that supreme Heart the story of the multiverse. Fiction. Like the Worlds within it. So where is the line drawn? And what non-fiction lies behind it?

If Kingdom Hearts was about a kid jumping into his favorite Disney movies and saving the day, this would not nearly be as hard to parse. From that perspective, the concepts of emotional existence would be exclusively contained within the fictional worlds as some ground of non-fiction would exist within this hypothetical protagonist. But that isn’t the case as Sora— a denizen of his own World, is placed on the same plane of existence as his Disney and Original World contemporaries. The only thing elevating him from his World is the contrivance of a greater universe and a story empowering that traversal.

The story of a Keyblade giving a responsibility to defend these worlds. The conflict of a force looking to tarnish the status quo in some manner.

The Story of Kingdom Hearts.

The Heart of Kingdom Hearts.

Kingdom Hearts is Kingdom Hearts (2002), like Land of Dragons is Mulan (1998). Toy Box is Toy Story(1995). Olympus Coliseum is Hercules (1997). Atlantica is The Little Mermaid (1989). etc.etc.

A very obvious answer indeed. By living in a realm where emotional connection is paramount to existence, and where narratives are the vessels that contain those emotions, the Kingdom Hearts universe establishes itself as a fictional construct.

2. The Fourth Realm of Thought

This final layer of context allows for the very function of the universe to bow to the rules and whims of fiction. What was originally phenomenon functioning independently and in isolation is now completely constructed by intelligent design. A creator and author of the story—  someone who exists in a newly revealed Fourth Realm of thought (Heart<World<Kingdom Hearts<Fourth Realm). The realm holding this story is ambiguous because it exists beyond the scope of the already immeasurably large Kingdom Hearts multiverse. But by virtue of containing the final bastion of narrative purity, this Fourth Realm is most certainly a World of Non-fiction.  

Reality. The ‘real’ world. 

Now whether this can be considered our world is an exercise in futility, especially as the literal story begins to encompass a new scope of ‘Non-fiction.’ By bringing attention to it, the story makes it fictional. So while it can parallel our reality to a science, it ultimately cannot literally make real the fictional constructs of our imaginations. It is here that I am reminded of a familiar tagline. 

Take the further implications of this phrases source to heart, especially in regards to the Secret Ending, but also do note the substance. Reality and Fantasy. Non-Fiction and Fiction. This World of Non-Fiction can function as reality but is just as fake as a fantasy. That’s just the facts. Even so, the intention and conversation remains close enough to speak synonymously of our world and this Fourth Realm the Story of Kingdom Hearts expands toward.

And that’s where we can bring in the Fourth Wall. 

3. The Fourth Wall 

The Fourth Wall is a performance construct used in theater to denote the audience. It is an invisible, imaginary wall that divides the story from its observers and contains the narrative by force of thought and the willing suspension of disbelief. This wall manifests in variations of strength depending on medium, the weakest being live theater with a wealth of permutations below that. But ultimately, anything can break this wall and shatter the foundation of a functioning story. 

Addressing the audience in some form is the sure fire way to break the Fourth Wall, but simply alluding to the existence of the barrier in the first place is enough to ‘weaken’ the Fourth Wall for lack of a better word. What we see in Kingdom Hearts is the premise of an emotionally dependent existence ballooning into an innate recognition of its fictional status. A fragile relationship with the barrier that will inevitably break should the story continue. 

4. Putting it Together

Kingdom Hearts creates for itself a sort of existential terrarium. Fostering an ecosystem of self-sustaining narratives that are independent of each other, but subservient to the larger whole. It re-contextualized every aspect of the lesser story from there, functioning not as a selfish sequence of events, but as a small part to something much bigger. 

Sora, as the existences transcending all stories in this multiverse narrative, is not only an average, unremarkable boy— but is the Main Character. He functions a role outside himself that makes him a driving force behind the Story of Kingdom Hearts. The leader not by action, but by existence. Or to put it in a theatrically pleasing way— the King of a Kingdom. 

Light becomes the means by which a Story is seen. It is literally what illuminates existence so that hearts can connect. Gathering Light expands a story and when Light expires, the story ends. Darkness by that contrast is the process of ending stories. Destroying their relevance and meaning with with emotions unbefitting the childlike hearts that yearn to connect and resonate with them in the first place. But it is also the reason for a story’s being. From it’s consuming irrelevancy, light persists to combat it with more stories to replace what’s been lost. The original light of Kingdom Hearts that Xehanort wished to attain would be the Kingdom Hearts story in its purest, most earnest form.

Then the process of ‘dictating Destiny’ which Kingdom Hearts would supposedly grant, brings in the conversation of authorial intention and narrative flexibility. All the while speaking to a larger conversation about our place in our universe. 

So when asked what is Kingdom Hearts, I think @invigoraide observed it at its most simplistic in their analysis. Kingdom Hearts is the very force that gives birth to the primary conflict of this multiverse— that which drives the story of Kingdom Hearts. The plot device. The Plot made manifest. The heart in the sky and the disc in our gaming system.

Afterward

The importance of bonds, the feelings that people share, and the ways we leave our mark on others. Kingdom Hearts has a lot to say on what it means to exist. Pain, joy, sadness, wonder— life is all about those emotions and often times we get so consumed in the day to day that we never let ourselves feel and experience and connect. The stories that captured our imagination as children gave us models on how to do just that.