Once Upon A December (Union X Animatic)

While looking for Sora. Aqua, Terra, and Ventus find a strange world in the Realm Of Darkness...
Song: Once Upon A December - Anastasia
Characters: Kingdom Hearts
Art: by me!
AlsoI'mNeverDrawingVentusInArmorAgain-

[@saltypancakes9365]

Thank you all so much for 7,000 VIEWS?? Like wow! You all have been so nice in the comments and it warms my heart! Also sorry for shattering your hearts, though it is cool to see that this made so many people feel sad or even cry, it’s crazy to think my art made someone feel something like that✨ Again THANK YOOOOUU!!

[@SAbalayan]

It’s gonna be awkward when Terra and Aqua realize Ventus is practically ancient and they’ve been treating him like a baby brother the entire time lol

[@zia166]

hello police my feelings have been hurt and im crying about a gacha game now

[@nicholasholladay-elser7307]

(Person that played The Alchemist Code) First time?

[@strelitziamystery21]

God... its going to be traumatic to watch Ventus remember Union X... Can't wait

[@treymcclure4645]

he and strelitzia were suppose date

[@strelitziamystery21]

@@treymcclure4645? They didn't even know each other so...

[@treymcclure4645]

strelitzia did know our avatar

[@strelitziamystery21]

@@treymcclure4645 She wanted to talk to the avatar but never got the chance. She just admired from a distance.

[@treymcclure4645]

she didn' t know that our avatar turn out to be master xehanort

[@Savagewolver]

Seeing the part about Sterelitza hit the hardest. When Ven truly remembers that in game, it’s gonna be big.

[@FlutterSwag]

Marluxia remembers everything now, i wonder if he'll confront ventus at some point?

[@mobgabriel1767]

@@FlutterSwag nah lauriam and ven end UX in good terms,he is even seen carrying ven into the pods after the confrontation with vantas(darkness)

[@LtBasil]

@@mobgabriel1767 I wouldn't be surprised if Ventus ends up having a hallucination of fighting Marluxia/Lauriam though. Maybe as something similar to what Anti-Aqua was for Aqua in 0.2.

[@animeguy10000000]

Seeing as how Sterlitza is in the trailer for KH4, I wonder if she’ll come back. I feel like her and Ventus have some things to talk about.

[@Star-eg3qt]

So cute I hope Ven gets a reunion with the union leaders because they are his friends and then Ven can introduce them to his adoptive family

[@mickeycorl503]

I hope so too

[@FlutterSwag]

Cant wait to see how missing link will destroy us

[@remberedink]

This made me feel sooo bittersweet. I half expected for Ven, after seeing Skuld and Eph, to turn around to see himself as a kid right before the incident at the house but this is still very good

[@saltypancakes9365]

I did debate on doing that! But I liked the idea more that this isn’t a flash back, more like a what would happen if they were still alive and Ven got to see them again. If that makes sense lol.

[@remberedink]

@@saltypancakes9365 It does, and it still came out quite nice! Maybe one day, Ven will get to live out that scenario himself~

[@saltypancakes9365]

I hope so!!

[@Hyskaris]

WELL. FUCK, THAT ONE HURT CHIEF. THAT ONE REALLY HURT. god im so glad i found this. this is just...such a way for ven to see everything from the past... the fact that aqua and terra must've been worried for him the whole time... and watching him pry that door open and slowly become his younger self... fuck, that hurts. seeing his younger self then fade away with tears on his face. clad in his armour again, in that cold tower... god. my heart is aching.

[@bokutosfrostedhairtips9307]

This may sound like I’m exaggerating, but this has just become my favorite Kingdom Hearts Union X animatic. This was so beautiful and well made, and it’s just...so good! Especially after the more recent updates we got on the story.

[@saltypancakes9365]

Oh wow! Tysm! I’m really glad you like it!

[@TheAmylili]

I am not mentally prepared for when he will remember everything 😭 Anyway that was awesome!

[@jonathanrobinson198]

It always hurts me thinking about just how much Ventus has lost

[@AzaleaPND]

Help I can’t stop coming back to this AHHHHHH IT’S SO GOOD Ven singing a princess-y ballad about not remembering his past is literally EVERYTHING and this song’s just PERFECT AHHH

[@AzaleaPND]

Also, we need to get together a large supply of hugs stat, because he’s going to need them once he remembers all THAT trauma

[@cio4012]

I’ve rarely seen any kingdom hearts animatics and to find one with my favourite character in it with one of my favourite songs is just SO NICE.

[@maekonatsuki5838]

THIS IS SO AWESOME AND HURTS LIKE HELL

[@Star-vw2qf]

So sweet. I can’t imagine what that must be like for Ventus.

[@zonerz]

MY HEART......... THIS IS SO LOVELY OP!! The CHILLS I got as Ven opened the doors and was embraced by the light and keykids running past,,,,, then again when Strelitzia and Lauriam showed up,,,,,,,, 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

[@psychicmaster92]

As much as I'd hate to see Ven in pain, I'm hoping he gets his memories back. I wonder how he'd react to seeing Skuld & the others again?

[@saltypancakes9365]

If he’s sees them again. IF. *sobs*

[@Godzilla-bj2bb]

@@saltypancakes9365 this should be animated with voice acting, of course LOL I wonder where, in the realm of darkness daybreak town is

[@mobgabriel1767]

@@Godzilla-bj2bb daybreak town didn't go to the realm of darkness in UX since ephemer rebuilds it as scala ad caelum unless... scala ad caelum is the realm of darkness kzbin.info/www/bejne/mIiagKNua9Srb8k

[@LtBasil]

He's probably not going to see Ephemer or Brain again, sadly.

[@ribbonfly]

So many emotions! So many feelings! I want Ventus to remember but it won't bring everyone together.

[@voidjockey82]

The fact of the matter is, we do not entirely know whether the Sentient Darkness was expelled from him with Vanitas' death or even if it was that it did not return to him. So there is a real possibility that him remembering can unleash that being again... and if it gains access to the digital Twilight Town and from there to the Game Central Station... And ironically, the White Robed Figure in the image of Strelitzia is still around somewhere, meaning that seeing her will most likely be the final trigger to remember.

[@voidjockey82]

So... how about that Kungdom Hearts 4 Trailer, huh?!

[@voidjockey82]

Addendum: So I've made a mistake in understanding the mechanics of Kingdom Hearts' world (big schock, I know). The Sentient Darkness is definitely still inside Ven and to understand that fully, let's wind back a bit. There once was a boy named Ventus who had a Heart of such strong light, it also öeft him with an immense potential for coruption and therefore Darkness. One of the Sentient Darkness Entities took residence inside him and was later even kept inside by Ventus, meaning they stayed together until being found by Master Xehanort in the Keyblade Graveyard (the remaining events of Union Cross are not relrvant for this so I skipped over them). Master Xehanort, having realised the immense Light and Darkness inside the boy, wanted to extract the latter for his own plans of creating the Ki-Blade. For that, he urged Ven on to unleash the Darkness inside him which the boy refused, subconciously knowing he swore never to ket it roam free. Due to that, Master Xehanort instead forcibly removed the Darkness from Ventus, at which point the Sentient Darkness, to assume a physical form, also took with it the Darkness inherent to Ventus' Heart. It's why Vanitas, despite being such an ancient and powerful being with much greater ambitions, had such an obsession with Ventus as it was the latter's missing Darkness that gave him shape and therefore defined him. This left Ventus in a dying state as a body needs both Light and Darkness to remain physical and keep its Heart, breing just Light would eventually have him fading away. Luckily, a very young Sora had slipped into the Final World while sleeping, allowing him to Dive into Ventus' Heart and repair it with his own (though that implies Sora used Darkness to do good?). After the events of Birth by Sleep and Ven's fight against Vanitas, the two join together again but Ven's heart hid itself inside Sora (thus beginning the Sors Heart Hotel and all our confusion). It is unclear to me if that meant the Sentient Darkness transferred over to Sora as well or if it stayed in the sleeping body of Ventus. In either case, during the events of KH3, Ventus gets reawakened, Sentient Darkness and all. It's the same Sentient Darkness that speaks to Sora during the Re:Mind story. As for Vanitas in that story, it's a past version of Vanitas that was summoned into a Replica Body while getting a part of Xehanort's Heart. And after it is defeated, it's sent back to the moment of time in the past it came from with no memories of this ever happening. (Though that implies Vanitas, despite being pure Darkness, has a heart? Do the Beings of Darkness from the time of the Master of Masters have Hearts made from Darkness? Nomura...) So all in all, a Sentinet Darkness is still inside Ventus and it might yet break free.

[@mobgabriel1767]

@@voidjockey82 when vanitas was created it didn't only take ventus's darkness out of him but also part of his heart,we see that when sora repairs his heart and xehanort also mentions having damaged ventus's heart to terra when he is explaining vanitas to terra, i think that said sentient darkness is still vanitas even if what he says to sora doesn't match to what we normally see vanitas saying his dialogue makes a lot of sense if you read vanish into the blue,vanitas's short story from the character files

[@nicholasholladay-elser7307]

@@voidjockey82 That is a good theory and may hold true, though a few corrections. When Sora's heart came to help Ven, he wasn't sleeping, he was on his way to being born. Remember that Sora's Heart introduced himself as a 'brand-new heart' and not his name or even using his voice, implying that he had neither of these things yet. Ven and the boy that would be Sora just had the lucky timing of being there at the same time. The second correction would be that Sora used light to heal Ven's heart. With Sora's heart still being new it did not yet have any darkness to really share with Ven and if he did then Ven's heart would not have been the pure light needed to forge the first attempted X-Blade. And before you say 'he needed darkness to exist', hearts of pure light can and do exist in the KH universe, otherwise there would be no 7 Princesses of Heart.

[@voidjockey82]

@@nicholasholladay-elser7307 That "not sleeping, actually just born" is totally correct, I just thought of mini-Sora that Terra and Aqua meet and forgot that between then and Ven meeting Sora several years pass. Tell me if I'm mistaken, wasn't it a point in Union Cross that, when the Sentient Darkness left Ventus, he was pure light and slowly fading and thus had to reabsorb the Sentient Darkness to become stable again? It's been quite a long time, I'm not sure anymore.

[@crimsonvoid1595]

As much as I like this song it’s heartbreaking to see Ventus in pain. He lost all his friends in the Dandelions during the Keyblade War despite Master Ava telling them all not to get involved in the conflict.

[@utsinboots]

SOMEONE HOLD HIM AAAAAAA

[@RenatoGPadilla]

Absolutely phenomenal and heartwrenching. I want this to HURT when it happens in the games. Thank you for this. A true labour of love!

[@Growmetheus]

Lmao inly a kh fan could say that.

[@risasdesktop]

How dare you BREAK MY HEART LIKE THIS SALTY PANCAKES WHYYYYY!!!

[@TheLanydx]

I always pictured Kairi when listening to this, but Ven is a close second.

[@Sanimatez7865]

Ventus needs to get his own game, I feel like there is more to his story that could be told, maybe a story where he travels around trying to remember his past. Well done on this!

[@gavinwright7076]

I don't have any words except for this. Best Union Animatic Ever

[@cheshirewolf1574]

Yo, y'all ready for when ventus remembers everything and for him to find out he used to be possessed by one of the original darknesses AND that he killed Marlusha's sister and that he willingly joined Xehanort in the future and that he abandoned his friends and party members to die in the original keyblade war, this probably starting his depression arc? *_Im not_*

[@lindsay8538]

I have no words, it's just briliant. It made me love Union cross story even more and I never thought it'd be possible.

[@doodlingcat4800]

This hits differently after the union x ending

[@FlutterSwag]

At the end, where streletzia and lauriam are standing, what if it flashed back to aqua and terra in the same place, Because in bbs ven techincally tried to kill aqua too while possessed by vanitas

[@mobgabriel1767]

i imagine vanitas awaking moments before the point where ventus opens the door and being like:shit its happening already?! i need to get my popcorn done before my part arrives!

[@Godzilla-bj2bb]

Ventus: I,I I think I remember this world this town this place Terra: what’s it called? Aqua: can you remember and what you tell us the name of this world will get out of this pit of despair, the realm of darkness not hell Ventus: D day day, break town Terra: whoa, whoa Aqua: daybreak town I’ve heard of this place Terra: it was destroyed years ago though, and scala ad caelum was built on the land Aqua: this, this is where it all started, you were born here Terra: you have a strong connection to this place. It’s why your heart group heavy. Ventus: Laurium Elrena brain Strelitzia Ephemer i’m sorry Terra: it’s OK buddy Ventus: all right, let’s get this place out of the darkness Daybreak town returns to the realm of light Terra: this world has been in the realm of darkness for so long Aqua: at least it’s out now Ventus: I remember everything from this town Aqua: that’s good ven Terra: yeah, that’s good

[@EmilyisTired]

SHUT UP! IM NOT CRYING YOU’RE CRYING! poor baby, he’s been through so much

[@fringolm]

the moment when he opens the doors and all the people appear??? 👌👌

[@minalumina717]

Oooof...... Gave me the chills. Poor Ven ;;

[@hallie736]

THIS IS SO PERFECT I am close to tears, ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? 😭

[@saltypancakes9365]

Yes :))

[@itaraaah]

I am IN LOVE with your kingdom hearts animatics. Your art is so beautiful and expressive! 🥺

[@iwouldlikemycoffeewithanon622]

it's not a spoilor if most of us still barely understand the lore (my most of us I mean me lol) Great job on this btw!!!

[@anshiel]

OOOOOH, THIS IS GOOD! god anytime i think about ventus and the dandelions i lose my goddamn mind, the emotions here are so good!

[@roverbernhard4489]

bro this gave me chills and made me tear up a little ngl

[@EgoFromTheSun]

This is waaaaay more emotional than kh3 as a whole 😭😭😭 good job 😍🍎

[@Frootoon]

This is so cute and so wonderfully made omg??!! Why am I only just finding this!!

[@1234567890Yami]

I can not stop re-watching this beautiful animatic! It just fits so damn well! Great job!

[@morganl3980]

Yooo This is so good!! I was so happy when I saw this in my recommended videos!! Once Upon A December gives me huge khux vibes and I'm so glad that I'm not the only one lol When the part with Lauriam and Strelitzia came up I said "Oh that's mean" out loud. Why must you hurt me like this

[@spsilcox]

I've been watching this a TON

[@goldenwitherphoenix1389]

THE FEELS MY GUY! THIS IS BRILLIANT!

[@Paytonzane]

Oh man, that light effect wiping his outfit back to his old one was perfect.

[@demetriozema3606]

Sora: Ven seems to be sad, maybe I shloud try some Dream Eater therapy...

[@lovelyrodriguez2190]

Oof.

[@nicholasholladay-elser7307]

I mean it might work, being that they are likely his friends too?

[@spinacc466]

im so obsessed with this video, it’s incredible!! i love the way it turned out

[@awesomeinmyworld]

I love this so much, I've watched it so many times today. You really captured the emotional beats from the song and the story of UX so far. It's sooooooooo goood!

[@meteorblazes5311]

HNNNNNG PRETTIE im gonna CRY THIS IS SO GOOD

[@RikukunShinigami]

THANKS, I DIDN'T NEED MY HEART.

[@xl_ju_lx9193]

Hey for the artist in came for tumblr, your deserve more recognition... it's really good, don't give up ok?...i know how is hard make animations or animatics so don't give up

[@mariacargille1396]

I was delighted just to find this, honestly. I had no idea anyway was making such awesome fill-in-plotline-blanks fan material for that goofy game, and Ven is such a good marshmallow-- we love him. :,) Thank you!

[@LunamFlore]

GOD this is so good I keep coming back to rewatch it. Such cathartic pain now that the game's story has ended

[@CourtneyHartman-mm5zz]

I like this song for Ven

[@mickeycorl503]

I like it too

[@PurpleFX1]

If this doesn’t play out in a similar way in KH4, I don’t want it

[@blockyround2160]

This is SO GOOD and works SO WELL with the finale. I flippen LOVE this so much!

[@c.q.studios5437]

This is awesome! I strive to have the will to finish something this long. You deserve so many more subs

[@lenathefox4428]

WOW THAT AWSEOME!!

[@HaruTau]

The song is so perfect, gj 🤍🤍

[@Asharp_902]

2:19 venletzia intensifies

[@sadlad203]

omg this is so cute and wholesome...………………....nvm

[@utsinboots]

i...love this.... hhh

[@CourtneyHartman-mm5zz]

Brain and Freya are my favorites

[@victoriafranconogueira1058]

That was so beautiful!!! I totally wanna see this scenes next kh!

[@_fukurumi_1318]

That...hurt. A lot. But, beautiful.

[@candelapugliese]

It's so awsome!

[@Star-eg3qt]

I want to cry

[@cassiemartin3029]

This is soo good I love it so much

[@mobgabriel1767]

i would cry if i had a heart to

[@Idaire]

THIS IS SO GOOD ahrgh my heart...

[@bctoastyyy709]

feeling Emotions,,,this is so good!!

[@snowway0ut552]

Oh stars, this is awesome!

[@rougestarlight4308]

This animatic killed me 🥺😭

[@squirrelpower0149]

That was so beautifully told ❤️

[@chakalex]

i love it!

[@polinashtukina324]

im a huge fan of your artwork but i just saw this and it made me cry its sooooo beautiful and well-done!!!! i love it immensely thank you so much for sharing your work

[@harukananase48]

Omg me hizo llorar demasiado, esta precioso la animacion, es una joya en verdad

[@skymaiden16]

Its so painful 😭😭 1i LOVE IT

[@chaheradoxon637]

This is great.

[@oranlander99]

Bruh this hurt my heart QwQ nice job

[@CourtneyHartman-mm5zz]

This is actually really sad I mean Ven wants to know where he came from but can't remember anything about his past and I hope he does in kingdom hearts 4

[@basilchie4]

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!

[@CHEESEPUFF_7]

OH MY GOD Mixing KH Ux with a film a grew up with

[@peach6648]

my heart 😭

[@mr.corndog823]

This is amazing :O

[@CosplayNeverEnds]

op i am SOBBING, this is absolutely phenomenal thank you so much for sharing it with us!!! additionally, i am in Love with how you design the wayfinder trio; they've just got such a good weight and brain feel to them!!

[@SAbalayan]

I need need neeeed another kh game with the Wayfinder Trio they deserved so much more and I want to see them as a team together :,)

[@gabrielcrispimdebarros9054]

So epic ❤

[@sailortara7]

I love it

[@TheEnder515]

This was fantastic. And you! Your art is fantastic. Be proud of what you made.

[@ajsmart1666]

THIS IS SO GOOD SO GOOD

[@CourtneyHartman-mm5zz]

I can't wait for kingdom hearts missing link it's coming 2024 spring or summer someone please tell me what season missing link is coming to the rest of the world

[@vitrincreates]

This is just so beautiful and SAD 😢 I'm inspired to draw Ven now

[@xionsunrise9185]

This gave me a great idea! Thank you!

[@SpringlockWarriorAnimates]

Please let this happen in kh 4 ;-;

[@TheObsidianArchives]

Such great armor!

[@xl_ju_lx9193]

Why look so sad?...stop too mean he lost all...friends,memories and family...of course ven miss all dis...he can't remember for that it's more sad