Inspired Scents: Kingdom Hearts I.IV

I love Birth By Sleep. It's never really anyone's favorite when you bring the mainline games into the conversation, but as my first proper game and the one I sank the most hours into, I fully admit to being a little biased for this one. Having gone into this game completely blind, I didn't know what the expected order of play was supposed to be so I went in the opposite order (Aqua, Ventus, Terra), trying desperately to piece together what the story was actually about. In addition, I really love the command deck, I think it's a lot of fun - and I really enjoyed just melding commands and getting every single passive upgrade. I also might have some mild trauma from the Dwarf Woodlands dungeon because I had no idea where I was supposed to go (and let me tell you, it was all wrong, everything was wrong). 

Anyway, for this series, this is actually just a BBS characters line up. Again, it has actually come to my attention that there are indeed TVA scents that were released last year (2023), but the line up is probably looking a little different from what I created for the main trio. For your curiosity, and mine, I will be putting theirs down below each character's in italics. 

I actually wanted to really hone in on the more Japanese qualities with this trio (despite the Latin names I know), since both Eraqus and Terra wear hakama. I also wanted all of them to have overlapping notes to show that they're still connected, and optimally, layerable. 

Aqua - an endless stretch of still tranquil water, twinkling stars, rice blossoms, mizuame, silk, and the jingle of a wayfinder. Still waters run deep. 

Not making Aqua an... aqua-tic, would totally be a missed opportunity. That said, this isn't a full aquatic, it's more of a watery scent. I really enjoyed the vibes from Quan Yi (Deconstructing Eden), which is a sort of quiet meditative scent with lake water and soft rice, and it's got a murky yet soothing quality to it. So this is going to be a similar thing, with the softness of silk, a bit of sweetness, although I'd prefer a much stronger rice accord in this (ala Soft from Poesie). 

Fragrance type: A fresh scent of citrus with a fruity sweetness, followed by a fresh and floral bouquet of aquanaut, and the final scent is centered around amber, with patchouli and cedarwood giving you a strong core.
・Top note: bergamot, pear, spearmint
・Middle note: Aquanaut, Freesia, Jasmine
・Last note: Amber, patchouli, cedarwood

Terra - A man of the earth. Grounded soil, fields of grain and wheat, tatami mats and linen. 

Earthy, grounded, warm and reassuring. He's a soft and simple man who just wants to do the right thing. I definitely wanted to pick more of a warm, nutty and earthy blend with the straw from the tatami and the grain and wheat, with a touch of resin, wood and earth. I really want the grain and wheat to compliment the rice accords from Aqua's scent as well. I do love the inclusion of sandalwood and cinnamon from his official blend though, and I would definitely like a Terra 2.0 where it's a little more spice and sandalwood and perhaps some incense, but I wanted to keep this a little more uniquely Japanese - much like Terra's outfit designs and hakama. 

A bouquet of roses with a hint of blue blooms from the spicy scent of cloves and cinnamon, and the complex scent of woody and amber intertwining at the end is a fragrance that reminds you of your heart.
・Top note: Bergamot, clove, cinnamon
・Middle note: Rose, geranium, lilac
・Last note: Sandalwood, patchouli, amber, musk

Ventus - An airy blend of fresh air, sweet amazake and fluffy rice clouds.  

I wanted this one to draw on a more simple, airy, cloud like scent - pairing a light and fluffy sugar cloud with more of the grounded and almost savoury sweetness of rice and the amazake. I think it would be a really lovely way to showcase Ventus' playstyle in BBS a bit more in being a little lighter and quicker on his feet, but also getting similar heart notes to the others for layering as well. For those unaware, amazake is a traditional Japanese drink made from fermented rice, it's a little bit more viscous and lightly alcoholic, and tastes a little bit like sake. I think just the faintest touch of it here would be really interesting. 

Fragrance type: A fresh citrus scent centered on bergamot, followed by a fresh bouquet of water lilies, and a mild, quiet musk at the end that makes you feel like you're sleeping.
・Top note: Bergamot, Yuzu, Mandarin
・Middle note: water lily, rose, tea
・Last note: musk, amber, sandalwood

Eraqus - Soft steamed rice, amakaze and a meditative herbal blend of genmaicha. 

This one is a bit of an outlier, but what's a BBS collection without Eraqus? I definitely really wanted to include all of the Wayfinder trio's qualities in this scent, but also something that channelled all of his traditional Japanese designs in his outfit, so I went for a more traditional type scent - a straight blend of genmaicha (already nutty, toasty and ricey), with the soft muskiness of steamed rice, and just a touch of sweetness. I think amazake tends to pull slightly sharp as a note when compared to the herbaility and softness of the blend, so I think this one needs to just be a smidge toned down - but the lovely roasted quality of genmaicha here would just be divine, and has the same tranquil energy that older Eraqus (mostly) maintains.