Thank you so much @TangoGameworks, words cannot say how much happiness Hi-Fi Rush brought me. I hope with all my heart that everyone there can find a new place to call home soon ♥️

I'm still tangoing with my grief, this mini-comic is now canon to the Firmware Update timeline (taking place before the first chapter). Tango-chan might be making an appearance sometime in the future.

I just can't let Tango and Hi-Fi Rush die like this. I won't.

[Twitter]

I'm so sorry, Tango Gameworks, you all didn't deserve this...

You've all made such cool and great games; HiFi Rush was lifechanging for me. And it will always be one of my favorite games forever.

a real multiverse of melodies, if you will

Almsot forgot to post this on tumblr, but Chapter 3 of Firmware Update is now avaliable on Ao3!

This is my favorite chapter so far! I'm so excited to share with y'all :D Thanks for all the support!

Thinking about the fact that right after Sora finished fighting in what probably a very traumatic war, he fucking time travels to experience it all again, not only as himself, but as different people and inheriting all their pain and trauma in the process. And if you count the first failed attempt, Sora has straight up experienced three different versions of the same damn war and all the trauma that came with all three of them just to make sure everyone he cares about makes it to the end, knowing fully well he was going to "die" in the end.

While everyone else was experiencing their happy ending and a chance to put down their weapons, Sora literally never stopped fighting.

And his reward for all this? Being ripped apart from everyone and everything he knows, with no easy way back home. It's actually incredible that he can still have the mental fortitude to smile in the Secret Episode after all that.

I really hope all this trauma gets unpacked in KH4 or in a future game because I think it's so sad that he has collected all this pain, not only of his own experiences but everyone else's too and now is just holding on to it all.

I want Sora to be happy, but I don't want pain to be hiding behind it.

Just thinking about how apparently when you share a Paopu Fruit with someone, your destinies are entertwined. For Sora and Kairi, it might foreshadow that they will one day reunite, but honestly, it's already been proven that they shared the same destiny.

Both Kairi and Sora died at the end of KH3 💀

Y'know, I've been thinking a lot lately about appearances and identity in regards to both Sora, Yozora, and the Nameless Star.

Both Nameless Star and Yozora say that the person we see as Yozora isn't really what he looks like. Nameless Star specifically says his heart was replaced by another and his form had changed beyond recognition.

You know who else had their form changed "beyond recognition"?

When I first watched the trailer, I just couldn't believe my eyes that this guy was Sora. Like I knew in my heart it was him, but my eyes couldn't recognize him. Judging by the reaction videos I watched, many people seemed to feel the same (it was only when he summoned the Kingdom Key that people were affirmed that it is, Sora). Compared to the lovable spikey haired boy we've grown to love, his KH4 appearance, it's almost like night and day.

Nameless Star talks about how her identity and name had been taken from her. Yozora seemed to have lost his identity too, no longer looking like his original form. And now Sora has been changed so drastically?

I know Nomura did say that Sora looks like this because he is in Quadratum, but even if that's true, it doesn't mean that there isn't also a very delibrate reason on why Sora looks like that and not more like... Sora. I know that KH dev team and Nomura is not uncreative enough to not come up with a more faithful realistic interpretation of what Sora looks like. Just look at other modern FF characters and they were able to pull off their older designs faithfully in realistic graphics, so... why the hell does Sora look like Noctis?

Now how does connect to Sora's changed appearance? No idea honestly, but I do feel do something's up. More consequences to do with being banished from reality? Did Sora get his heart replaced by another too? Or perhaps did he lose part or all of his identity like Nameless Star or Yozora? I have like a crack theory where this could all be foreshadowing that Luxu is about to body hop into Sora, but I have no proof.

And for additional theming, there's a whole can of worms with Riku looking almost exactly like Yozora and Kairi's beta footage from the KH1 secret footage looking eeriely familiar to the girl in the Verum Rex trailer. The whole thing about MoM is that we don't know his identity. And then there's also the fact that Luxu literally replaces people's heart with his own when he body hops like what happened with Yozora.

Like, something is going on here... right?

Happy anniversary to my favorite game c:

I find it so damn sad that it seems like Sora and Roxas are cursed never to exist at the same time.

Sora was in a coma for the first year Roxas was alive. Roxas was reabsorbed into Sora from KH2 all the way to KH3, with them only meeting in dreams or apparitions. And they've only just met face to face physically for the first time ever, only for Sora to literally vanish from reality.

Sora tried so damn hard for Roxas to have his own life, he never gave up on that goal, and Roxas fully knows this. He and Roxas never had a chance to have a one and one conversation yet, as their own people. Roxas didn't even get to thank Sora for giving up a part of himself for his existence.

Roxas' arc has been more or less completed, he got the happy ending he wanted (and deserved). He probably won't play a big part in KH4 onwards, but I hope we get to see his feelings on Sora's disappearance and efforts to get him back. After all, Sora worked so hard to bring him back, I know that Roxas would do the same, he still is the other side to Sora's coin (even if Sora seems to have multiple coins now with Yozora).

Then, maybe they'll finally get to talk things out, face to face.

Happy 1-Year Anniversary, to one of my favorite games ever !🎉🎉

I can't believe Chai is one year old already😭

[twitter]

808 is ready to battle with her friends using magical powers. Thank you very much.

Artist 🖼️: @azurajae

I have a game theory that the events of KH4 has already happened.

So I've heard people interpret the 7 days in Quadratum is equal to 1 year in the real world, but I feel like that might introduce some confusing timey-wimey stuff with ages/time for people not in Quadratum (in just a month, 4 years would pass and that feels like too much). Though, while I think the seven days Sora was asleep is significant, I also think that one year time skip is significant too.

My theory is that in that one year time skip from the KH3 ending to Limit Cut / MoM, Sora is already going through the events of KH4. So instead of Riku arriving anytime during KH4, he arrives after KH4 ends. And I also feel like Sora isn't going home or reuniting with any of his friends by the end either. The whole game is just going to be Sora living that one year, trying to find his way home and I can't help feel that KH4 going to end with the thing that Yozora needs to save him from, happening.

I don't have any evidence for this, I just feel like Nomura wouldn't just do a time skip for no real reason. It might be just to give the characters some breathing room or to age them up a little, but why one year and not 3 or 6 months? Or even 8 months? He must have needed that one year to past for the story right?

Chapter 2 of Firmware Update is now avaliable on AO3!

I hope you guys enjoy! This one's a doozy ^^

🧃Pick me up

[Twitter]

Thematically, I think Star Wars would be a great world for KH4. Not only just because of the whole Light vs Dark themes, but also mirroring Anakin's decent into darkness to what Sora is (possibly) going through. I know a lot of people wanna fight Dark Vader not befriend him, but hear me out.

Kingdom Hearts always liked to have "Disney" worlds connected thematically with a character's development or overarching plot (ex. KH3 Carribean connecting thematically with Sora's sacrifices in the end). People often talk about how they'd like worlds that theme with 'death' (ex. Coco, Soul) or worlds that give Sora therapy (ex. Encanto, Inside Out, etc), but what about a world that brings out his darkness? To emphasize his pain and isolation?

Come KH4, it seems like Sora is beginning his 'Dark Road', with most of the DS Saga only hinting and building the turmoil underneath, just like how Anakin's darkness had been throughout his life in the Prequels.

My dream scenario would be having the Prequels, specifically the Clone Wars era instead of the OT or Sequel era, just so Sora can physically interact with Anakin and have those parellels with him. Imagine Anakin talking with Sora about how he'd do anything for the people he loves, and Sora realizing he feels exactly the same. And while Sora isn't the typical 'Chosen One' like Anakin is, Sora was pushed into that role by circumstance and feels the stress all the same. Both these characters are pressured to repress their emotions/trauma, which often manifests as rage. Maybe some paralells could be drawn between between Obi-Wan, Padmé, Ahsoka, and Rex with Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy.

Sora would leave the world before RotS happens, so he has no idea what kind of path Anakin was about to follow. He might even be happy that he finds someone who feels the same way as him, completely unaware that he's also spiraling into that same darkness that turned Anakin into Darth Vader.

If you wanna get into this idea even more, let's factor in the 'realm moves at different times', so by the time Riku and friends arrive in Quadratum, It's the OT era and their version of events is helping Obi-Wan or Luke deal with Darth Vader to coincide with Sora's Dark Road.

Honestly, It's more likely that the OT will be the focus if a Star Wars world appeared because its just overall more popular (and like how can you deny the suspiciously placed AT-ST foot on "Endor", which takes place in OT era), but can you imagine the parellels? A Darth Vader boss is scary, but Sora befriending a "Pre-Darth Vader" because they are on the same Dark Road feels a bit scarier, right?

I may also be putting all my chips on Sora becoming a boss down the line for Riku, Kairi, and/or Yozora to fight please

I find it really interesting that as the games go on, Riku becomes more confident and secure with himself while Sora gets more insecure and depressesed.

Riku kinda started at a low point in the beginning by giving into the darkness. He was ridden with guilt and depression over the pain he caused by his mistakes and spent CoM, Days, and KH2 trying to make up for it all. He finally manages to get some closure in KH3D and manages to find a healthy way to move on from his guilt and sadness. While the scars might still be there and might creep up sometimes, Riku has grown into someone strong and dependable. There are always new ways for Riku to grow as a person, but I can't say enough about how proud I am of him of the progress he's made so far.

Meanwhile, on a surface level, Sora has remained stagnant personality-wise for most of the series. He is happy-go-lucky, kind, and selfless, someone you'd appreciate as a friend. However, in small moments throughout the games, he shows shades of his anger, sadness, and darkness, which seem to intensify each game. He has been told 'no frowning, no sad faces' and to 'never change', so while he seems the 'same', Sora's actually repressing himself. He's thoughtful and introspective, smarter than he looks, but acts foolish and silly because that's how he believes his friends expect of him. KH3 was really prevelent with him hiding his true feelings behind humor, both his friends and enemies belittling him, and the stress/pressure causing him to snap in the final battle. When Xehanort strips all his light away in the final battle, what's underneath? Rage.

It's also pretty interesting that Riku and Sora both precieve(d) themselves as worthless. In Riku's case it's stemming from the guilt of his mistakes and feeling he should isolate himself as punishment, while Sora is so incredibly selfless and blessed/cursed with the 'friends are my power' motto, he believes that he is nothing without his friends.

Makes me wonder what's going to be happening with Sora now that we are in Stage 2 of KH and the tonal shift with the realistic graphics. He is all alone in a totally different reality with a (possibly) dwindling hope of ever returning home. He doesn't even have anymore people in his heart apartment, it's empty now. How will this new enviroment and situation affect him? And how much will he change by the time Riku meets up with him (if/when he does)? It feels like Sora's character arc is finally beginning.

"The closer you get to light, the greater your shadow becomes."

We seem to be calling back to some early quotes from the series. Makes me wonder if this statement is now foreshadowing.

I'm excited to finally post this after so long, but here is the first chapter to my Hi-Rush fancomic: Firmware Update! Thanks so much for the support leading up to this!

You can read the full chapter on AO3!

While I'll share chapter updates here on tumblr, I will be posting both updates and sneak peeks on my twitter! @azurajae

Note: Please do not print, redistribute, and/or sell this comic! Thank you!