PlaySkul

PlaySkul is the non-binary ship between Player and Skuld from the Kingdom Hearts fandom.

Canon
Player first meets Skuld after returning from a mission. Skuld tells Player she was told to find them in a dream by their mutual friend Ephemer, who had recently disappeared. The two then travel to the clock tower to find him, as that was where Ephemer promised to meet Player before he disappeared. Upon reaching the top of the Clock tower, the two are confronted by one of the Foretellers (either the Foreteller of Player's Union or Ira if Player is a member of the Vulpes Union) who tells them that they killed Ephemer. Enraged by this revelation, Player and Skuld attack the Foreteller in an attempt to avenge their seemingly fallen friend.

After defeating the pair, the Foreteller reveals themselves to actually be Ava and that not only was their fight a test but that Ephemer is alive. She then tells them that they are both worthy of being Dandelions, just like Ephemer. Player then asks Ava if they can have some time to decide whether or not to join the Dandelions and Ava complies. Upon returning to the fountain square, they both make their decision, Skuld decides to join, while Player refuses to join, not wanting to leave everyone who wasn't able to become a dandelion to die. Skuld respects Player's decision and then leaves to attend a Dandelion gathering.

Player and Skuld next meet when Player tried to break up a fight between two Keyblade Wielders from different unions. Despite their efforts, the tension only manages to escalate as more Keyblade Wielders show up and join the fight, eventually getting the attention of Aced, who then challenges Player to a duel. After Aced defeats Player, he then tells them that they aren't worthy of wielding the Keyblade before being reprimanded by Ira for attacking a union member. After Aced leaves and the crowd of Keyblade wielders disperses, Ira tells Player and Skuld that the Keyblade War is inevitable before leaving as well. Player then loses consciousness as a result of the injuries they received during their fight with Aced and Skuld then takes them home.

Player then travels with their Foreteller and the rest of their union to the battlefield of the Keyblade War which would eventually come to be known as the Keyblade Graveyard. Player nearly dies at the end of the battle, having fought every Foreteller except their own back-to-back. However, Skuld then arrives with Ephemer to save Player. Ephemer then apologizes to Player for breaking their promise, before making Player a Dandelion, so they can survive after the end of the world. Ephemer and Skuld, who have since become members of the new Union Leaders alongside Ventus, Brain and Lauriam, then decide to erase Player's memories of fighting in the Keyblade War and replace them with fake memories of Player accepting Ava's offer to join the Dandelions, believing that Player wouldn't be able to handle the trauma of fighting in the Keyblade War.

Fanon
PlaySkul is Player's third most popular ship after PlayStreli and PlayEphe as well as Skuld's second most popular ship after EpheSkul. The ship first became popular when Skuld was introduced. It was especially popular with fans who would prefer to ship Player with a female character rather than a male character as PlayEphe was Player's only other popular ship at the time. However after the Keyblade War, PlaySkul began to decline in popularity, not only due to the lack of interactions between the two until the final three quests of the game, but also due to Skuld getting several ship tease moments with Ephemer and the introduction of Strelitzia who, unlike Skuld, is confirmed to have romantic feelings towards Player. PlaySkul managed to regain some of its popularity following the release of Union Cross' finale as the two refused to leave each other behind in the Data World and Skuld mourned Player's sacrifice to stop the four Darknesses.

There are currently 2 works with the tag 'Player Character/Skuld' and 8 works with the tag 'Player Character & Skuld' on AO3.

Fandom
FAN FICTION



Variations

 * Daybreak Trio refers to the ship between Player, Ephemer and Skuld