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embraceyourdestiny · 2 years

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I feel like we should look more closely at Sora’s very first and most iconic line in the series; “i’ve been having these weird thoughts lately…. like, is any of this for real, or not?”

i’m quite surprised i’ve never seen anyone analyze it because there’s a lot to unpack from it.

the first thing that dawned on me is how mature it is. sora is known to be a silly, childish character. innocent, and naive. but the way he says this line, it sounds so introspective. in the story sora is shown to be a care-free kid. as his adventure goes on we see him experience and express complex emotions but because he’s fourteen they’re a bit emotionally immature. he doesn’t know how to articulate the big things he feels in charming words because that’s difficult for any fourteen year old to do but he does feel things deeply. this line shows in clearer, raw terms what kinds of things sora feels in the depths of his heart. it’s a pretty big thing for a kid to wonder, an existential thought that the things that happen around him might be trying to fool him. and sora doesn’t let on that he feels this at all on the outside, not to donald and goofy, not to riku and kairi, not even to the player. he might not even be conscious that he does feel this way himself, it could just be a gnawning feeing in the back of his head he doesn’t pay attention to or doesn’t notice. but regardless he does feel this uncertainty, and only in the depths of his heart can it be expressed. cue falling onto a stain glass pillar.

and sora feeling this way is very interesting. the line is so vague, it could be interpreted so many ways. what exactly doesn’t feel real to sora any more? life in the broad term? maybe he was slowly growing out of the island as he saw riku growing away from him. maybe it felt dull and boring without his best friend, like a tv show sora was an audience member to with no control over his life. maybe it was about riku himself? the facade of friendship they kept up as a distance grew between them making it difficult to tell between what was real and what was an act.

maybe it was the keyblade whispering in sora’s ear. or darkness stirring within the island. maybe everything felt like a play reaching its rising action. maybe sora was just waiting for the shoe to drop, to the strange tight feeling and eeriness on the island that something was going to happen.

or maybe, sora’s been dreaming. the line is said before sora fights the darkside and as we see he awakes from a nap after, meaning he hasn’t visited the depths of his heart yet. so what else could he be dreaming out? maybe it’s ven. just like how ven saw sora’s adventures in sleep, maybe sora saw ven’s memories as well. maybe he could feel him in his heart, feel things that weren’t quite real, like they were someone else’s feelings.

putting interpretation aside, this line shows off one of sora’s underrated skills off well: observation. sora is very aware of a lot of things around him, most of all he’s emotionally observant

somehow a part of him feels that something is unreal. and he’s also aware that having thoughts like that is strange. no one else seems to be thinking the same thing, on the outside he’s all alone in that thought. what doesn’t feel real to him? the picturesque life on an island with his best friends? maybe a moment of Suspension when he becomes aware of himself or the world while life continues on around him? just what set off this thought, this observation in sora? how long before kh1 was sora getting this feeling. was it the keyblade? was it kingdom hearts? i have to know, and with the like making a comeback in kh4 i really hope they go in depth with it because this most iconic line has haunted me for years

#og #kingdom hearts #kh #sora kh #kh4 #kingdom hearts 4 #theories #kingdom hearts theories #meta #kingdom hearts meta

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kh3finalmix · 7 months

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sometimes i still think about the darkside from the kh4 trailer like its just so fucking cool

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tinyobserver · 1 year

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Idk why I'm shocked since I've loved every d20 season I've seen but I'm pleasantly surprised with how the details of Neverafter are playing out. Like brennan is taking all of my favorite tropes and narrative points and utilizing them incredibly.

I def thought of KH since ep 1 (mostly with the princesses and specific talismans reminding me of the cornerstone of each world) but in this week's afterparty when brennan told emily that if she had gone down the left path, she would've brought her memories of her past life to her new happy life and that in and of itself would've brought the Shadow to that world.

It's sooooo what YMX was telling Sora in Toybox, about how the heartless didn't arrive until he did, by nature of sora appearing in that world.

I wonder if the darkside we saw for kh4 is the same, since it's technically affiliated with/as Sora's Heartless. I also think it would be very sexy for Sora to regain his memories from his "past lives" if you will

I can't believe how well this all tracks, my brain is going brrrrrrrr I'm hooting and hollering

But also even with these similar threads I look forward to how d20 will have their own spin on it. Like it'll be interesting to see what their ultimate messaging will be. Truthfully I'm never really wowed by the Finales of d20 because it's kind of hard to neatly tie up a satisfying conclusion when most of it is comedy improv, which is absolutely fine and I will always come back for more, but knowing that it's probably not going to be so conclusive will be interesting to see the journey there

#d20 #neverafter #kingdom hearts

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tharkflark1 · 2 months

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WIP for a certain anniversary two wednesdays from now <3

#kh #kingdom hearts #kh4 #yozora #riku #sora #darkside #heartless #quadratum #i rlly like drawing the kh4 darkside can you tell-#tharky's drawings #u can reblog btw

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phoenix-downer · 2 years

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Hearts Bound

~1905 words. Sora/Kairi. Set during KH4. Sora POV. Romance, Fluff, Reunion. For SoKai Week 2022, Day 7: KH4 and the future.

Summary: Sora takes on an ever-increasing group of Darksides to protect the people of Quadratum. But his heroic efforts mean he’ll need protecting too.

Sora rounded the corner, panting for breath. A throng of people surrounded him, but they were all running in the opposite direction. They were the smart ones, running from danger. He was the one racing towards it.

That was his existence in Quadratum summed up in one tidy sentence: run towards the danger everyone else runs away from. Always speeding faster, closer in the hopes he might keep these people safe and run so hard and fast he’d find his way home.

The hot, unforgiving pavement was rough against his feet. He missed the sandy beaches and dirt paths of home, the cobblestone streets of Twilight Town, the wooden slats of docks and boats and ships. Wherever the sea was in Quadratum, he sure hadn’t found it. He was stuck fighting in the same endless city blocks.

The Darkside loomed up ahead, a few stray cars already in its grasp. How many more Heartless would he have to fight? This never ended, happening over and over again like his entire life was an old CD stuck on repeat.

At last he was within grappling distance. He swung his Keyblade, and the keychain extended into a nice long chain and hook. The hook wrapped around one of the Darkside’s horn-like things, and with a sickening rush Sora was hurtling through the air and soaring towards it.

Releasing the hook, he landed a sharp blow on the Darkside’s head. It roared, the sound waves making a small boom and hurting Sora’s ears. He’d be lucky if he didn’t have hearing damage once he got home.

After another flurry of blows to its head, gravity was already working against him. He was falling, falling, and the Heartless swiped its giant claw. He broke into a roll and soon met pavement, then scrambled to his feet and ran behind the creature. Time to grapple back up to the top again—hits to a Darkside’s head were always more effective.

He’d fought so many of these things that fighting yet another one was more tedious than anything at this point. Grapple up to its head, land as many blows as he could, dodge, repeat. Oh, now it was time for it to summon its minions. Man, dealing with the small fry was always really annoying. The Darkside’s hand smashed into the pavement with a loud crack, and Sora wiped his forehead and waited for the little Shadow Heartless to come crawling out.

A shadow emerged from the cracks, and Sora gripped his Keyblade. How many would it be this time? Four? Five? But that didn’t happen. Instead, the shadow got bigger, and bigger, and bigger. Sora groaned when he realized what it was: another Darkside. Two at once? Ugh, this was really gonna be a pain.

Well, best to focus on the already-weakened one first. Once it was down he could take out the other one. He ran behind it and lodged the grappling hook into its head, then up, up, up he went. A loud bellow sounded out way too close to him, and he gasped and whirled around just in time to see the other Darkside’s shadowy claw coming right at him. Immediately he released the grappling hook and let himself fall to the ground.

Great, so they were protecting each other. This was gonna be tricky. Sighing, he pulled an ether out of his pocket to enhance his magic reserves, then cast a hurtling ball of flame towards the weaker one. That really made it roar, and he took off running again. The good thing about Darksides being so large was that they weren’t particularly fast. That would be his saving grace in this fight—if he could be faster than them, he would win.

He continued using magic for a while in the form of fireball attacks on the weaker one, then dodged the stronger one. Finally, finally he could tell the weaker one was about to succumb. Best to get close to finish it off. He prepared his Keyblade again, only to see both Darksides reaching their awful claws high in the air only to plunge them into the ground.

“Not good, not good,” he said, rushing through the air towards the weaker one’s head. Thwack, thwack, thwack, and—

Two more Darksides arose from the newly-formed cracks in the ground.

“Four? Four?? There’s no way!” He groaned and stared at his foes. He was already winded from fighting the first two, there was no way he’d be able to finish off the original two and these new guys. These Darksides were like the freaking Hydra, the closer he got to defeating them the more that appeared.

But then he heard screams, heard the screams of all the terrified people caught up in this mess. The people who were just living their lives and had homes and families and friends. Who didn’t deserve to die today. For them he’d have to fight, even if—even if it was the end of him.

He rested a hand over his heart. “Kairi, if I don’t… if I don’t win, I’m sorry.”

He really didn’t want to make her cry again. But this was just impossible. He could either run away and leave these people to die and turn against everything he stood for, or he could fight these Darksides for as long as possible and buy these people as much time as possible to escape.

The answer was obvious. But he needed to steel his heart to do it. So he thought of Kairi, thought of her warmth and light and how strong she made him feel. Thought of her smile, her laughter, her hugs.

There, he felt some of his energy returning. Sighing deeply, he raced back into the fray. If he could just take the weakest one out, then maybe he had a fighting chance of—

All four of them lifted their claws high into the air and plunged them in the ground. Sora didn’t wait to see what would happen this time, just stayed his course to the weakest one’s head. If he could wail on this one for long enough, then at least it would go down. Then maybe a few more people could escape. A few more lives might be spared.

One of the other ones swatted at him. He gasped as the wind was knocked out of him, then tumbled to the ground. It took him a few seconds to get up, and one of the other ones swiped at him again, sending him flying. He landed against a nearby building with a painful thud, then slumped to the ground.

His vision was woozy and his breathing was wheezy. His back ached where he’d hit the building, too. Not good, not good. With a shaking hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a potion, then fumbled with the lid before chugging the green liquid inside. That rejuvenated him a little, and he stumbled to his feet and limped towards the danger.

If he could just—get that weakened one—

Summoning his Keyblade, he aimed the grappling hook at its horns. The hook lodged itself properly, and he let the chain guide him up, up, up towards it. One of the other Darksides swiped at him, but he dodged it. Closer, closer, he was so close now.

Another one grabbed the chain and snapped it. He gasped and started falling, then used his Keyblade to create a new hook. There. He caught himself, though the strain on his arms wasn’t fun. Up, up, up he went. He didn’t wait to get close enough to its head this time; he just summoned as much fire as he could and sent it hurtling towards the Darkside.

There. He smiled in satisfaction as it roared and then started to disappear into black smoke. One down, seven to go—

An awful smoky claw slammed into his face and hurtled him to the ground with so much force he knew this would be it. If he survived the fall, it would be with a broken spine and brain damage for sure.

Well, at least he’d taken one out with him. He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable—

“Sora!” came a very dear, very familiar voice. Yeah, he must be about to die. No way Kairi would be here. His brain was just in its death throes and he was gonna see the light next or something.

Ah yep, there it was. A bright light shining above him and taking over his vision as he fell. This was just like that near-death experience his aunt had. Which other loved ones would he see?

“Sora!” came Kairi’s voice again. Huh, his aunt had said she’d seen her long-dead grandma. Kairi wasn’t dead, was she?

“SORA, GRAB MY HAND!”

He gasped. Kairi’s face was above him now, and she held out her hand. He reached for it, and their fingers brushed against each other.

She grasped his hand and shouted, “One Heart!” and he understood. He felt more than saw the big white wing burst out of his back, saving him from certain death by pavement just in the nick of time. Kairi’s wing extended too, and they swooped through the air, the wind rushing past their ears.

“Light!” he shouted, and together they sent an explosion of light hurtling towards the Darksides. Was it his imagination, or was Kairi’s light bigger and brighter than ever before? Fighting these guys would be way easier with her by his side. All the weariness and injuries he’d gotten melted away as they soared through the air and rained down attacks on the Heartless below.

At last, the final one dissolved in a cloud of black smoke, and he and Kairi floated to the pavement, their wings dissolving into specks of light. They were both panting for breath and sweating hard, or at least he was. She looked like an angel even without the wing. He couldn’t stop staring at her, taking in everything he’d missed in their year apart. Man, she was even prettier than before—something about her confidence and the way she carried herself. And that wasn’t even getting into her new look. Her hair was long again, she wore a stylish pink coat with a white blouse, pleated skirt, and long black boots, and her makeup was really nice.

They were still holding hands, and man he’d missed this. Her warmth, her touch, he’d had to content himself with ghosts and flickers of memories. But now the real deal was here. She searched his face like she needed a moment to remember everything about it, about him. Like she was seeing a dead man walking, only he wasn’t dead, not one bit, not anymore.

He smiled, and she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. “Sora…”

“Kairi,” he said, then wrapped his arms around her too. Tears filled his eyes as they clung to each other. He wasn’t sure how she’d arrived or why she’d come, but he was grateful she was here in his arms. There were so many feelings in his heart that he couldn’t put into words. But a gentle touch, a sweet caress, a tender hug, fingers wound together and hearts bound as one, that got close to getting his message across.

The rest they could figure out together. For now, he’d treasure this moment and make this new memory with her.

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A/N: I love the idea of Sora and Kairi reuniting during battle as Kairi keeps her promise to protect him (plus show off her new skills courtesy of Aqua). Honestly the idea of Sora and Kairi reuniting in general just makes me really happy and I like to imagine all the different ways it could happen.

Seven fics for seven days of SoKai Week! Thank you all for your comments, kudos, and support! And thank you to Liv for all her wonderful comments and support on these stories as I was writing them, I really appreciate it. Hope you all enjoyed!

#sokai #sokaiweek #sokaiweek2022 #sora #kairi #kingdom hearts #kh fanfiction #phoenix writes #phoenix-downer #romance #fluff #reunion #long post

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blowingoffsteam2 · 2 years

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#soriku #Sora is getting closer to the light :)))#closer to knowing the truth #that’s why the darkside is so big in kh4 #Sora and darksides #I’m gonna bite something

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deusvervewrites · 2 years

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Not directly fic related but when do you think KH4 will be out? I'm hoping soon personally since we've already got a trailer but it could literally be any time given this series' track record

It's hard to say.

That trailer was clearly prerendered footage instead of gameplay, but it was designed to emulate gameplay as much as possible. This means they already have a strong idea of what 4's gameplay will eventually look like, but it also means they probably haven't finalized a lot of important assets, like Sora, the Darkside Heartless, or even some buildings they could use as placeholders for a city street.

Now the good news is that this means they're almost certainly out of pre-production if, again, they have such a strong idea of what the gameplay will be like. Given the money and manpower Square Enix has, I'd give it, probably two or three years? Maybe more depending on how development goes, but that's the rough estimate I would give from early prototyping to complete.

(This could easily change if they're creating new technologies for the game. The first Epic Mickey took something like seven years to make because of all the systems they built from the ground up.)

But there are other problems with Kingdom Hearts in particular. Namely, the Disney half. Disney gets a lot of say over what can and cannot be done with their properties. You ever wonder why the Frozen world in Kingdom Hearts III is basically just the movie and Sora doesn't impact the plot at all? Disney Legal told them they couldn't change that story. Those negotiations can be time consuming.

And while I have no source to cite on this one, so big CITATION NEEDED warning, I've heard that Tetsuya Nomura can be a bit fickle when leading a project, changing between a bunch of ideas based on what catches his interest and that can affect development as well.

#asks

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atomic-taco-muffin · 1 year

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The Legend of Hana Chapter 138

Warnings: More angst (duh), me trying to write that fight scene in the KH4 trailer from memory

Rating: SFW

It was a cloudy day in Quadratum, and Sora, Strelitzia, and Hana’s imps were discussing a plan on how to save Hana and return to the normal world. But they couldn’t come up with anything. Just then, Strelitzia’s alarm went off, signaling that it was time for her to go to work.

“Alright, I gotta go. Call me if you come up with anything,” she said.

“Will do,” Sora replied and Strelitzia then left the apartment. As she walked down the halls, she spotted Yozora leaning against the wall

“Here to report?” he asked her as she approached him.

“The girl’s imps are there with the wielder. They’re trying to take the Master’s queen from him,” she replied.

“You’re steering him away, right?”

“Of course. Doing what the Master says will help us find our families.” Yozora nodded and then walked away.

“I’ll find you, Sora,” he whispered.

☽✧☽✧

In an alleyway in the city of Quadratum, the young Spirit of Life woke up to find herself dressed in a long, black and purple kimono-like dress. The right side had a design of white flowers and birds while the left was just plain purple. She wore black thigh highs on her legs along with black sandals. Lily groaned as she got up, barely remembering what happened. She stumbled out of the alleyway, and walked down the street, not sure of where to go. Only hoping to find answers and if her family were okay. As she walked, she spotted a few cars suddenly stopping in front of her, not wanting to hit her. A man stepped out of the car and approached her, both confused and angry as to why she’s in the middle of the road.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?! There’s a thing called a sidewalk!” he said to her. Lily didn’t say anything but looked at the man with a blank stare. As if there were no emotions or thoughts inside her head.

“Hey, are you listening to me?!” the man asked, seeming to get even angrier when she didn’t respond to him. Lily lowered her head, and then suddenly, a splitting headache happened causing the young girl to scream in pain, causing the man to become concerned. He ran to his car and grabbed his phone, but when he came back, Lily was in a ball of darkness and hovering in the air. The darkness kept getting bigger and bigger, until it formed the Darkside Heartless, with Lily in the middle.

☽✧☽✧

Sora was stressed out about how to find Hana and a way back to his world that he and the imps decided to take a walk around Quadratum. During their walk around the city, however, Morana could not shake the feeling something was wrong.

“What is it, Morana?” Aki asked.

“I sense something is wrong. We better stay on alert,” she warned. Sora and the others nodded, and continued on their walk. When they reached the center of town, however, they saw the Darkside Heartless attacking the citizens of Quadratum.

“We have to help!” Sora said and the imps nodded. They rushed over and as they got closer, they saw Lily holding her head in pain, as if trying to fight whatever is happening to her.

“What do we do?!” Kek asked. As if on instinct, Sora charged in, summoning his Keyblade to his hand. The Darkside gave a loud roar at the sight of Sora approaching it. With the help of Aki and his skills of climbing buildings, Sora was able to be face to face with the Darkside. The Darkside was about to punch Sora away but he was able to block it with a spell from his Keyblade, knocking the Heartless back a little.

“We must be careful! We don’t want to harm Lily!” Thana warned.

“Thankfully, I have experience with this Heartless. But it’ll be a lot quicker with your guys' help,” Sora responded.

“It would be unwise if I helped,” Morana said. “If I were to take control of your body Sora like I do with Hana, your body will be torn from the inside out. The same if I were to take control of Lily’s body.”

“Then, just be my eyes then,” Sora said to her. Morana nodded and they went right back into battle. Sora was able to land hits on the Heartless, making sure that he didn’t hurt Lily or worse accidentally kill her with Hana’s imps but soon the Heartless was defeated. The Heartless disappeared and Lily fell from the sky but before she could touch the ground, a large serpent-like creature made out of water caught her. On top of that serpent was a young woman who wore a navy-blue kimono-like coat with white accents that resembled waves. On her back, she had two large white loops around a red, three-looped bow, all kept in place with a large lilac shell. Underneath her blue kimono, was a near-white lilac bodysuit under her coat which ended with shorts that have a scalloped hem. Her stomach was uncovered and decorated with a light blue gem. The sides had cutouts with light blue bows and pearls, and were connected to her thigh high stockings. She also wore white half gloves with pearls in the middle of them.

“Let’s go, Calypso,” she said to the serpent and the two took off with Lily.

“Hey, wait!” Sora called out to them but they were already gone. He heard clapping behind him and turned around to see a man in a black coat. Just like the Organization coats.

“Well done, my boy! You’re very skilled at that Keyblade of yours!” the man said.

“Huh? Who are you?” Sora asked.

“Not important.” Hana’s imps spotted the man and hovered over Sora in a protective manner. “Ah, I see my queen’s little imps are here. Great…”

Sora looked at the imps then at the man, confused. How did they know each other? Did it have something to do with Hana?

“I must say, I’m surprised you were able to defeat that Heartless. You do have a gift, boy,” the man said to Sora.

“My name is Sora.”

“Ah, yes. The Child of Destiny. The chosen Keyblade Wielder.”

“How…how do you know about that?” Sora asked, now freaking out. How did this man know about him?

“I have seen everything, including your own life. And I know where your precious Hana is.”

“W-What?” Hana’s imps growled at the man, knowing that he did something to hurt her. But the man continued, as if the imps weren’t there.

“Oh yeah. And she’s under my control now. I’m sure Strelitzia can explain more,” he said. Sora looked at him shocked and confused, and then turned around to see Strelitzia there in tears.

“Have fun, you two!” the man said and then disappeared.

“Litz…you lied to me?” Sora asked as he slowly approached her.

“I had no choice!” she sobbed. But Sora wasn’t having it.

“Bullshit!” he yelled.

“But it’s true!”

“Then explain yourself! I thought we were friends!” Then Strelitzia explained everything. How the man promised her to help find her brother and a way back home. How if she just did as he asked, he would grant her those wishes. But that only seemed to make Sora even more angry.

“You’re on your own, Litz. I don’t want to see you ever again,” he said and walked away with Hana’s imps, leaving Strelitzia in the middle of the road. Sora walked along the sidewalk, his hands in his pockets, and just thinking about what that man and Strelitzia might have done to Hana. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t hear Morana warning him that someone was watching him. Sora snapped out of his thoughts when he felt something grab his ankle and drag him into an alleyway.

“Help!” he shouted to the imps.

“Sora!”

To be continued…

#hana kh #hana imagines #hana kingdom hearts #hana #lily imagines #lily kh #lily kingdom hearts #lily #kingdom hearts #kingdomhearts #kingdom hearts imagine #kingdom hearts imagines #kingdom hearts OC #kingdom hearts original character #kingdomhearts oc #kingdomhearts imagines #kingdomhearts imagine #kingdomhearts original character

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