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aitsuheart · 7 months

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Chapter 6 - Don't Think Twice One Shots

A scattered dream that's like a far off memory

Summary: Riku misses Sora and can't help but see Sora wherever he goes. The island replays memories in his head. Once he finally finds Sora in the Quadratum, something unexpected happens.

Rating: General Audiences

Tags: Quadratum au, Sora/Riku, memory loss

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50036125

Preview:

Alone with Sora, Riku had said, "We'll be the darkness." Since the realm of light was safe, Sora carried him down to the beach. It was just them together in the dark margin. "I was jealous of you," but it was way more than that. Something almost unspoken— a feeling hiding in plain sight.

That was the only time it was them alone, but they managed to find a way out— a door of light appeared.

Like shooting star, they returned— falling through the ocean. Kairi, Mickey, Donald and Goofy, waved them over.

But it was the night of a real shooting star that he made a promise— a promise Sora must have forgotten, but it was still real to him. "What if a shooting star hits the islands?" said Sora at only four years of age. "If a shooting star comes this way, I'll protect you." Riku told him confidently, swinging his toy sword before giving him that necklace, he never took off.

Sora is his light, his strength comes from him. He was going to protect his most precious person. Like another promise he made, "I wanna be strong one day. Like that kid who left—he went to the outside world. I bet he's really strong now..." he told the stranger at five years at age, "I bet it's out there somewhere. The strength that I need... Strength to protect what matters."

But he has the strength now, Riku knows that. All those memories proves that.

He will find him.

#soriku #fanfic #kingdom hearts #riku #soriku fanfic #one shot #quadratum #sora in quadratum #riku thinking of the memories #kingdom hearts 2 #kingdom hearts birth by sleep #various kh quotes mentioned #Riku finds Sora in Quadratum #sora doesn't remember #quadratum au #terra is mentioned #Xehanort is referenced

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xiiidarkside · 1 month

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hey has anyone talked about kh2 Winnie the Pooh and how his and Sora's character arc could potentially be foreshadowing/paralleled in the future with Sora not having his memories of Riku and Riku being by his side and Sora knows he's looking for something- someone, in fact- but he can't quite remember who and hello new friend Riku so nice of you to travel with me and help me look :)

#Sorry what #Kh2 #Kh4 #I always thought it was weird the way Pooh doesn't even bother to learn Sora's name #- calling him “somebody I don't know” long into their relationship in kh2 #But it makes sense if this is paralleling Sora's relationship w/ Riku #Where even if Sora gets to know him and has surface level relationship with him #If he can't remember all that Riku means to him he might as well not even be able to remember his name #Kh #Soriku #Listen I'm not saying it will happen I'm just saying it would be sick

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mythicalartistx · 5 months

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So I just looked at Hikari English translation lyrics for the first time...

IT'S DEFINITELY FROM KH1 RIKU'S POV I'm going insane it's so him.

It shows how he is alone and that he got separated for Sora. He forgotten his destiny probably referring to his Kingdom Key going to Sora. Then he is referred to as light he awakens in the middle of the night.

Now the light is sometimes referred to him or Sora. Because to Riku, Sora is light.

He wishes he can tell him but he's scared and repressed his feelings. And he always wants to be together with Sora. Because with Sora who he views as light, he'll be fine when it's In the middle of the night when it's dark such as when he was going through a dark place in KH1

He's like turn everything off, don't do anything else but look at me. It gives KH1 Riku vibes so much.

He's still in his "I'm definitely not gay" phase and says he doesn't believe in us completely

But with Sora, he views as his Light

Riju wants to continue being with him and just want Sora to only pay attention to him.

And the thing about light, Riku is the light but to Riku, Sora is His Light.

They are each other lights.

Riku once said in the novels, Riku looked away from Sora because he was dazzling. For Riku he was too bright or dazzling.

And these are just some of the main stanzas I have thoughts on from it being about Riku

My thoughts on Chikai

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localcryptideli · 1 year

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Every time I think about Riku in re:mind I get so sad, like: this guy spent nearly two years just making sure his best friend, his most precious person, his confidante and light was safe, just to lose him anyway. He put so much of himself to save Sora, and the second he couldn't be there for him Sora destroyed himself (literally set himself on fire to keep others warm ahah... ah...ʘ⁠‿⁠ʘ), like that's depressing to say the least.

The second he sees Sora again he better hold him and never let go of him ever again. That hug better last ten minutes of screentime.

#unless sora doesn't know who he is in which case THAT HUG WHEN HE REMEMBERS HIM BETTER LAST FIFTEEN #soriku

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whyarewecalledtheshipname · 2 months

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this makes no sense bc its 4am but

that tron was reprogrammed or whatever and didn't remember sora in ddd, and literally everything that happened because of that—

I rly want that with soriku, im kinda losing my mind

#no context #spam #like we've had it #we got the soriku fight bc riku doesnt recognize sora in coded #but like #LIKE #they keep doing it #i just #another one #give it #basically me imagining parallels and pretending slash hoping they're alluding to yet—#another dramatic soriku fight where one of them doesn't remember or recognize the other #pls

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blowingoffsteam2 · 2 years

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Removing my soriku lenses for a sec: even if the tunnel visions were about Kairi, it makes me mad FOR her. The game could have easily set her up to sacrifice herself to save Sora. She even had a whole scene prior about how she was going to keep him safe, her sacrificing herself would have been a decent narrative. But she just… gets caught and dies lol. So like, going back to the visions, are we as the viewer supposed to interpret Sora seeing those visions to be about him sacrificing himself for her? Like was he just prepping himself up in advance in case he needed to save her? If anything, it would have made sense for him to have those visions after the final battle before he sets off to save her. So now we have Riku sacrificing himself, Kairi dying, Sora sacrificing himself, and now Riku going to save Sora. What am I supposed to think lol

All I can say is that if we are supposed to read S and K as a romance especially in kh3 then Nomura really is as abysmally bad at writing romance as people say (well, and even worse than many people think). To the point where I think it's actually insulting to Nomura to think that he's THAT bad lmao. Like for example the paopu scene. How does one mess up what should have been the easiest layup of romantic scenes in history- Starting the scene with having Sora worrying about Riku instead of paying attention to Kairi who he is sitting alone with on a tree overlooking a romantic sunset, then having a team of animators making him have Those expressions when offered a paopu, not taking it until being reassured that it's just a good luck charm, nothing more, recording a version where they don't even share the paopus, AND failing to tell Sora's own voice actor that it was in fact supposed to be romantic at any point, so he felt the need to say that he doesn't see it as romantic??? I'm sorry but all that cannot be satisfactorily explained by "haha Nomura bad at writing romance". Like there's badly written romance and then there's narratives that look like badly written romances until you realize it's SUPPOSED to not make sense as a romance. ANYWAY back to the tunnel scene: Even in the novel which shows Sora's thought process through that scene, when he sees/remembers those moments and associates them with Kairi (which makes perfect sense for him to do since he doesn't remember Riku's sacrifice anyway, he has no other context for them) he NEVER thinks of them in terms of sacrifice or true love. All he thinks is "Oh, Rapunzel and Elsa/Anna are princesses of heart, so is Kairi. They have powers to save people they care about. I want to be able to do that too, but I guess that's why she was able to save me" So even IF the tunnel scene flashbacks were meant to be about Kairi, Sora himself still doesn't think about it in romantic terms lmao.

And yeah, I've also seen the argument that the flashbacks are supposed to be about Sora eventually sacrificing himself for Kairi, which I can kinda understand that reading? Except again, Sora himself didn't view those flashbacks as relating to true love or sacrifice- only about the princesses' powers and also it misses the whole reason for Sora's journey to the worlds in kh3: He was trying to learn how to regain the power of waking, and his clue, as stated in the kh3 ultimania and in the novel was: "To protect a precious person with all your heart". His heart was guiding him to these worlds to show him this. I don't think it's an accident that Sora regained his powers of waking when he dove into the Realm of Darkness to protect Riku, and lost his powers when he misused the PoW to bring back everyone else + Kairi. The power of waking is not meant for bringing people back from the dead, but something else we were shown in kh3 is.

#soriku #it's love. the answer is love.#Sora doesn't know this because he says himself he doesn't understand love and how it's different than caring about friends #he knows there's overlap but he also knows he's just missing something here #And it doesn't help that he just straight up forgot Riku's sacrifice #like what is he supposed to think when he's shown those flashbacks and Kairi is right there and he knows she saved him right #so of course he'd make that connection #and he isn't even WRONG because she did help save him with her powers #He's just missing half the story #however the audience is not #we remember Riku's sacrifice #so it's up to us to say hey something aint right here

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keykidpilipili · 1 year

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I think at least Elrena (and possibly Lauriam) should become Maleficent's new coworkers for the Lost Masters saga

If I can't have my organized clique of 5+ Disney villains then originals will fill in.

#kingdom hearts #kh3 spoilers #khux spoilers #larxene #marluxia #lauriam #elrena #kh #reasoning: depending on how much time they managed to live in the present before turning into heartless they know litttle or nothing #Also they were stuck in the organization which is also not the greatest place to socialize #The only friend among the keyblade wielders they could find would be Ven and he doesn't remember them currently #Cue Ven remembering Lauriam trying to kill him at the worst possible moment during introductions #it's not even mentioning that they are all focused on looking for Sora to spare ressources or people to look for her out of the blue

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death-rebirth-senshi · 1 year

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KH3 was so funny for being like "actually Xehanort had noble intentions this whole time" when the dude couldn't stop chortling and cackling because he was having so much fun ruining the lives of teenagers

#Xehanort 5 minutes after murdering Kairi a princess of heart for no real reason or gain:#'I want to protect the light actually can I go to heaven with Eraqus now'#me vs kh3 #god the game was so serious about it too. I just remembered Xehanort saying 'very well done'#Uh Sora. This guy just killed Kairi. Killed her. Dead. Execute this clown mayhaps?#kingdom hearts definitely declined over the years but 3 was like. Laughably horrifically bad #makes me sad to think about...#I think in particular the whole. 'Very well done' thing. I beat you don't congratulate me #let's not try to pretend Xehanort isn't a gleefully evil asshole without a moral bone in his body #also lol at how they just. Completely and utterly retcon Xehanort's motivations each game.#not revealing more! Just straight up retconning #like. It doesn't make sense. Within kh3. But it makes less sense taking the series as a whole #worst part was seeing people my age go 'wow kh3 was sooo good the plot was so compelling'

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surskip · 2 years

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my favourite kingdom hearts characters are the ones who appear in like. one unknown side game and have the most tragic stories. im talking about like.. replica riku (had his own memories replaced against his will and died fighting his 'true' self after learning that he was just a copy meant to carry out a plan. died with his last few few sentences being about how he's scared to die because he doesn't know what awaits replicas after death) and data sora and riku (also created solely to carry out a plan with little thought to the fact they are also sentient people, who essentially die at the end of the game). can i count xion and namine in this? well, i'm going to

#mine #kh #long post #genuinely. genuinely. i know shes popular but namine is sooooo underrated #theres this one exchange thats stayed with me since i played chain of memorires and its like #you can very clearly see juts how little namine values herself. like she was created and used for her abilities #like yeah she messed with sora's memories and stuff but also She was held hostage and never had a choice in the matter whatsoever #even after org 13 left her alone she then had to deal with diz (im oging to explode ansem the wise) who basically told her #'you dont have emotions and youre just a tool for me btw to revive sora so i can take my revenge'#like.. when she's talking to sora about kairi and making him remember you can clearly see that's she is SO lonely #like. i dunno if it's just me but it reads so much to me like heavy guilt and a tiny hope of #'what if he really does choose me instead. he shouldnt but i am so so so lonely'#she was forced to essentially kill repliku her only friend. she brought him back only to die a second time #(kh3 spoilers from here on out)#when she is in the afterlife you can tell she doesn't think she deserves to come back. that people would be better off without her #it makes me go bonkers i really hope they acknowledge her and her complete lack of support throughout her entire life in the next game #the animation with her and riku going in the gummi ship makes me think so butim just.. maaan. shes such a tragic character #Scroll Scroll. Sorry this is really really really long huh............. OTL sorry....

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smartzelda · 2 years

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Okay for the Character ask:

Riku KingdomHearts

Ooooooh my boy

Okay okay so

First impression: So DDD was my first kh game, okay. I had seen kh crossover fanart with mha and stuff before. So when I witnessed him the first time in this game I thought Riku was cool and very pretty. Instant fav.

Impression now: Still very cool. Still fav. Now he's just much more of a dork. Pretty gay dork who seems cool on the surface but cares about his best friend. Dude has been through a lot and I love him and he's just really growing up but also finally getting the chance to just *be* instead of being forced to grow up too fast. I want great things for him and would write essays for him

Favorite Moment: Hmmmm that's a really hard one (There are just soooo many good ones). So off the top of my head I'll say...the scene in the RoD in kh3 with Mickey. I'm trying not to make everything with him about Sora, but it's just one of those scenes that both proves to us the nature of his feelings for Sora AND shows how far he's come. Sure he's still got his regrets and demons, but for a boy with so much trauma and mistakes, it's...monumental almost that the realm of darkness doesn't suffocate him. He's *healing*. He's reaching the metaphorical dawn. He's finally achieved the balance of light and dark, his past is no longer an anchot dragging him down and constantly haunting him. He's accepted who he used to be, what he did, and who he is, and in a combination of his growth and his love for Sora, it's as if no other feelings matter. He can’t be afraid, because all he can feel is love. He can’t be afraid, because this place doesn't hurt like it used to. My boy is growing and accepting things about himself, and although his arc is nowhere near over, it's a moment that helps solidify how far he's come over the series.

Idea for a story: Like, story about him? Like a fanfic? Or where I would like to see him go? Au wise I've got plenty, one of my favs in the drafts being the Barbie and the Nutcracker inspired Soriku au where Riku is the once prince turned nutcracker. Canon wise, I'd love to do some explanation on how the year where Sora was missing has affected him or even focusing on him during the year Sora was asleep. Idk. At the moment though I've been working on post canon type stuff where dude is just domestic with his husband and mostly free from the responsibilities of being a keyblade master. Idk.

Unpopular opinion: Can't say I'm too good at these because it's hard to determine if my opinions are *actually* unpopular sometimes. I guess mine is that I actually loved his Semi long look, especially at the beginning of kh3 when he was wearing his new clothes. Like obviously I'm more of a long haired Riku lover, so kh2 riku hair is more my style (although I would love him to have that kind of long hair but out of his face so it looks like he's properly caring for it), but shots of kh3 Riku semi long hair version in the realm of darkness are some of my favorites and I reject the horseshoe crab hair slander

Favorite relationship: Okay yeah this is no secret. Soriku. And in any flavor. Romantic? Check. Queerplatonic? Check. Best friends? Check. Ex best friends current angsty enemies? Check. They are versatile to so many good flavors and all I care about is that they get to be together forever, no matter the nature of their relationship. While I am a huge fan of Soriku becoming canon as long as they both get to be alive and happy with each other I could not care the nature of their relationship in canon specifically. I just want Riku to be happy.

Favorite headcanon: This is probably a dumb one, but my fav is that Riku just like could barely handle sweets until he became Sora’s dreameater. Like Terra, he's not much for sweets, but then he becomes a dreameater and has more of a sweet tooth than Sora. Riku is definitely not the only fictional character I've inflicted this headcanon on😂

#riku kingdom hearts #riku kh #Riku #kingdom hearts #soriku #tagging it since I talk about it #asks #as a treat I'll add in another headcanon I love #Since becoming Sora's dreameater Riku can’t remember his own dreams. he can’t tell if he doesn't dream or if he just can't remember. he can #only really remember dreams when he’s sharing Sora's #also thanks for the ask happybunnykat I rarely get them so this really made my day😊

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ngc-5194 · 1 year

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happy wip wednesday! this week's edition: a guide to how to wake up Highly Disoriented, missing a year of your life without knowing it, and now a portmanteau of at least three people with very very blurry lines between them

#wip wednesday #kingdom hearts #writing #lemon blossoms #or in less words: sora's situation at the start of kh2 #because..... there is literally no way that he and roxas were that neatly defined. ever really. but especially at the start there #and you can tell that in game too #like #he knew the town. he cried when leaving #which means roxas' memories and feelings were still *right* on top #so. that begs the question #how much else was floating up there #did he feel like his body was Wrong? what about his voice?#what about the way he fights?#the voices of his friends #being called 'sora'#knowing and not knowing a million things about where he is now #or how he got there #and it doesn't help that his clothes are now too small and his voice has dropped and he doesn't remember how he got there in the first plac #*place #and anyway shutting up now

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tommysm0ondust · 25 days

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OK SO NINJAGO DRAGONS RISING SEASON 2 SPOILERS IF YOU HAVENT SEEN IT DO NOT READ RAHHHH

ahem.

AHHHHHHHHHHH OMGOMGOMGOMG

I loved it so much guys you don't get it

GUYS. COLE AND GEO???? OMG??????? THE FLASHBACKS WHILE LOOKING LOVINGLY AT THE PHOTO??? THEM HOLDING HANDS AGH SOMEONE KNOCK ME OUT BEFORE I EXPLODE

Kai learning how to do rising dragon while thinking of him and Nya as kids. and then Nya doing the same later. sobbing uncontrollably rn.

also I have something IMPORTANT to say Abt my boy Jay

I've seen ppl say like "omg why is he so stupid lol" but no. no you guys just don't get him like me. I am him and he is me guys trust me.

but no fr like, him being terrified that this orb in front of him knows he has powers that he's hiding. he seemed TERRIFIED. he is obviously scared of what ppl will think of him.

like he does not want ANYONE knowing he has powers and I don't think it's like a "ooh I'm powerful but I can't show them bc they'll know how cool and powerful I am" or smth.

no

I don't think he's using them at all.

he's SCARED of his powers. and he's scared of what it will do to others

so since I'm guessing the jay villain rumors™ are happening probs, it will be so easy to get this man to follow an evil path

either blackmail, or manipulation.

my boy does not know what he's doing and is scared he is easily gonna be controlled and then become a badass villain.

SPEAKING OF HIS POWERS. they seemed like wonky. probs cuz he doesn't remember how to use them, so that means he won't hold back much. because he doesn't know HOW.

Lego pls let Jay murder someone

this turned into a jay rant my apologies

guys I love Arin he's my child actually.

him feeling useless to the team sobs

and then sora helping him so he thinks he did his little spinjitzu thing so he feels better I love them both sm.

there's so much more I could say but my fingers are tired so I'm gonna stop here and continue ranting on another time💔

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mythicalartistx · 3 months

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How Riku has no idea that Riku means so much to Sora

An Analysis through mom

Riku has always been afraid of being forgotten and left behind by Sora. And this is how he is able get manipulated by Maleficent. She tells him his greatest fears, that Sora found new friends and doesn't care about him anymore. She gives him proof letting him watch Sora being silly and argue with Donald and Goofy.

But from day one as soon as Sora is separated, he wants to find Riku. All on his mind is finding Riku (and Kairi too) and when he finds Riku in Traverse Town he is happy and to make sure he isn't dreaming he goes up to him and pulls on his mouth.

Riku is glad he had found Sora and wants to continue to play the role of protector but when it seems Sora can handle himself he doesn't know where he is supposed to fit in. Sora has these new friends and now can handle himself, Riku is afraid of being forgotten.

But throughout kh1 Sora keeps trying to reason with Riku and it's important that his friend sees what's right. And when they close the door Riku tells Sora take care of Kairi.

COM

He doesn't exactly do that.... The first thing he does is wanting to find Riku. That's on his mind. He ventures through castle oblivion in hopes he can find Riku. And when he faces Repliku he is so happy even though his thoughts of trying to find Riku is almost replaced with Naminé.

This Repliku is bitter about that and upset even saying how Sora never care about that or cared about him (being Repliku). But Riku hates how he feels towards his friend and how he wants his friend still even though he believes Sora has forgotten about him saying, You always have wormed your way into my heart," and Sora is confused by this statement.

And once Naminé tells Repliku to stop and he falls back Sora is completely overwhelmed by what happened to Repliku and what did Naminé do to him. This scene is especially good in the novel where it shows Sora holding Repliku.

Later Repliku realizes how true Sora's feelings towards him are (how he cares for him as an individual not being a Riku) before leaving, still Sora is sad he is leaving and still wants to find him.

During Rebirth/Reverse when Repliku fades away into darkness he doesn't mind if he fades away but what he actually cares is that Sora remembers him. He doesn't want to get forgotten by Sora or get mixed up with the real Riku.

Kh2

Sora wakes up and forgets everything in Castle Oblivion and still has the same desire to find Riku. Throughout kh2 all on his mind is where is Riku, is he okay, I really miss him. And it's the most precious thing. He integrates Mickey about it and it isn't until Mickey accidentally slip up that Sora is so happy and jumps for joy.

Another time during land of the dragons when he finds out Riku been there he is excited because it meant he is okay and nearby. He didn't care that he might be with the organization, he just cares about Riku. During the novel, Sora talks about fighting Riku was so fun.

And finally when he actually sees him he goes on his knees crying because he misses him and is happy to finally be with Riku. In the novel he states how happy he is to be fighting by Riku's side and is just bashful about this.

Riku doesn't care that much about himself and thinks less of himself on why anyone would actually care for him. And is surprised when Sora helps him up and brings him through the dark world. He admits in the novel, he is sad Sora is there and didn't want him to fade into the darkness but is glad he isn't alone. Sora seems to precious and important to Riku that he doesn't believe he deserves his friendship.

He is afraid of being forgotten but he accepts that he might not be worth it and as long as Sora is happy that is all that matters. He doesn't realize how much Sora truly cares about himself. They come to the conclusion they both will be okay because they're together.

RC

Even though it's technically not them in recoded data Riku doesn't believe in his worth after how he messed up everything in the data worlds. Sora is sadden by how little he thinks of himself and thinks he is the only one trying to maintain their friendship.

When Data Sora hears him talking to him in the Olympus Coliseum worlds, he is glad to hear Riku's voice. Even when his keyblade gets destroyed Riku comes in and Sora is just happy that he is there. It means everything to him and he doesn't care that he has no way to fight, Sora was determined to save data Riku

BBS

Even ten years prior when Terra gave Riku the ability to wield a keyblade, Sora immediately wants to know about Riku. He wants to know who that man was and if he knew him. In BBS it has them both care for each other. Riku admit how important Sora is to him and wishes to get stronger to protect him while Sora blatantly tells Aqua he likes Riku, he is his best friend. He seems to want to do everything with him and wouldn't hesitate to help him from darkness.

When Ven goes to Sora's heart, Riku notices something is wrong and knows how to help him. Without questioning it, he takes his advice even if it is strange.

DDD

He goes through the exam because Riku felt like he needed to be tested, Sora didn't think either of them needed to. Sora really wanted to take the exam by his side and is a bit sad that Riku isn't there. However through his heart he feels connected to Riku and when things happen Sora knows Riku will be there.

Joshua asks Sora if he wants to give Riku a message, he tells him there's no need because he knows they will see each other soon. On Riku's side he goes through a personal journey of accepting himself despite everything he has done. He doesn't know if he deserves everyone but knows he is lucky to have Sora.

KH3

Riku still doesn't see the full extent to how much Sora cares about him. Sora just wants to be with him through out the entire game. He is constantly worried about Riku especially going into the dark world. Sora wants to join him. And once they lose connection with Riku, Sora is sad and is like see this is why I should have gone.

And since discovering the Gummiphone being able to talk to Riku, Sora constantly thinks about calling Riku and just telling Riku about how cool this place is, when they went to Fransankyoto.

Riku is surprised when Sora comes in to save him the the dark realm. He's glad he is there but doesn't think much of it. At the pre battle Riku doesn't think he means that much to Sora, he's just like any of his other friends. He talks to Repliku and allows Sora to spent time with Kairi.

However Sora is questioning why Riku is alone there and seems to want to spend time with him. Then Riku and Sora are the only ones left. Sora breaks down. Riku wants Sora's happiness beyond anything else and reassures him with his words something only Riku can do. He feels better but still Riku doesn't think his life is that important and sacrifices himself. The expression Sora makes during this scene tells you everything. Sora is hurt that Riku is too doing this.

Riku is extremely important to Sora that when trying to recover him, he is floating in Olympus like he is the most important person ever to Sora.

Riku doesn't believe he means much to Sora. He doesn't see how he's the one that Sora just wants to spend time with and searching for. He rather put Sora's happiness before his own and believes in Sora. He let him save Kairi because he believes in him and his own happiness.

Mom

Riku thought it was Kairi who meant so much to Sora. He didn't believe it was him who was supposed to find Sora. That's why he was so shocked when the fairy godmother told him his dreams were the key and it was him who was supposed to dive to the Quadratum by following Sora's heart.

He didn't realize how important he was to Sora. He kept being selfishly selfless about this. Until he realizes it was him. He is the key. And Riku means so much to Sora, but he doesn't realize how much.

This could be a deep friendship or possibly something more, but he's very important to Sora and Riku just needs to realize it...

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theophagie · 2 months

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Granted I don't remember how every "jump" that Sora makes in ReMind went, but when he left Riku's heart did that happen because Riku subconsciously kicked him out to protect him (since he had jumped in to shield Mickey) or

Me from the future edit. Like. It doesn't look intentional to me

#like he reacted to that. why would he react to that if he had left by himself #mytext #video games #soriku #kingdom hearts

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themattress · 4 months

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Untitled Kairi Post

Y'know what? In a way, Kairi was tragically doomed as a character from the very beginning.

"Oh, because she was a love interest and damsel in distress!"

No. Myths, fairy tales and, well, Disney movies have used those tropes for ages, and if you're doing a story where a huge point is the influence of those things, it's kind of a given that the leading lady be a love interest and damsel in distress. And the writing is smart enough to put a twist on the trope given that Kairi's distress is much less than it appeared to be because she's Sora's love interest and he's her's, and after Sora saves her she saves him right back.

"Oh, because she wasn't a playable character or party member!"

No. It would have been nice to have the playable puzzle solving-based Kairi sequence they initially planned at Hollow Bastion, but I can understand why it was removed given how it would slow down the pace following what is perhaps the signature sequence of the game. And in any case it doesn't have any bearing on how things went for the rest of the series, given that Riku also was not a playable character or party member (he just had a crappy AI when pretending to help you fight Parasite Cage all so that he could kidnap Pinocchio).

"Oh, because she was stuck in a coma the whole game!"

NO! God damn it, how much must the game beat the point into your stupid head!?

And who could forget?

Stop laughing right now.

Kairi. Not just "her heart". KAIRI. Since the heart = the person.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, it exposes some serious sexism if one goes with the "Kairi was in a coma" line for KH1 and yet says "Ventus was inside of Sora" post BBS, since it's literally the exact same situation except that Kairi was always awake within Sora's heart as opposed to Ventus only waking up at the end of 3D. It's why Sora felt things regarding Hollow Bastion, why he experienced the memory of Kairi and her grandfather, and why he saw and heard Kairi multiple times. He wasn't hallucinating; that was always really her.

So, enough beating around the bush. What did I actually mean, then?

Well....let's start at the beginning.

Kairi's arc in the original Kingdom Hearts is not just told through the writing. Utilizing a video game as a visual/audible medium, it is also told through animation, voicework and music. During her introductory cutscene, we see Kairi asked by Sora if she remembers the world she was born in before being sent to Destiny Islands. "I told you before. I don't remember." She answers this sincerely. "Nothing at all?" Sora responds. That's when we see this detail.

"Nothing." Kairi is lying. She doesn't remember everything given the trauma caused by being forced out of her old home, but she does remember just enough to understand why it was traumatic. She had a comfortable life there, and a family. She was happy. And then it was all gone in an instant. Now, on Destiny Islands, she is similarly content ("Well, I'm happy here.") and fears risking that same loss. And yet a small part of her still yearns for the past. She loved what she can recall of her past, as she loves her present. She fears only the future.

Riku's fixation on his existential woes and the mysteries of the universe, while also putting her up on some sort of pedestal like she's something special, is not helping at all. Something about it feels wrong to Kairi...wrong and uncomfortably familiar. It's making her very anxious.

But Kairi has someone to lean on and help her keep up an optimistic, cheerful front, perhaps enough to talk herself into believing it: Sora. And during this scene, we hear the track "Kairi I":

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This track reflects Kairi's character in this moment. While there is a subtle undercurrent of worry, her heart is strong enough to not let it get to her and look on the bright side as she looks out to the sun setting over the ocean. With Sora's reassurance, she is able to feel as though her home and friends won't change or go away no matter what happens on her, Sora and Riku's planned voyage, which allows her to feel anticipation for it. All finally feels right.

Of course, things were not right, and Kairi ended up in heart form as her body and soul were lost to darkness along with Destiny Islands. From Kairi's POV, she is now in the Station of Awakening (aka Dive to the Heart) and can do little but watch Sora's adventures as she can see them through his eyes, not fully putting it together why she can and where she truly is.

In the scene at Merlin's House, we get to hear "Kairi II".

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While it's similar to "Kairi I", there is now a more somber and mysterious feel to it given the present circumstances. While she doesn't know if Sora can hear her, Kairi wistfully waxes nostalgic over how Merlin's House reminds her of the Secret Place on Destiny Islands. And while Kairi feels sad over missing that place, she's also happy that there are places like it elsewhere in the universe. She's clearly learning as much from Sora's journey as Sora is.

Finally, we hear "Kairi III" in the flashback with little Kairi and her grandmother.

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And while it starts out reflecting Kairi's childhood innocence, it ends up turning...almost sad. The reason why being one of the most overlooked details of the scene: at the end of the grandmother's story, she disappears, and little Kairi is shown moving her head all around looking for her. This isn't actually part of the memory, but a reflection of Kairi's heart. She knows that she had a grandmother and that her grandmother isn't here anymore, but she can't remember how her grandmother "left". But she at least still exists...within her heart.

Speaking of which, once Kairi's heart returns to her body and Sora loses his heart in the process, Kairi puts her foot down. She may have learned how to better deal with and accept change and loss, but a line still has to be drawn somewhere and Sora is that line for her.

Thus is she able to save him. Later, we see her worry about the future and things changing again when she questions whether anything can be the same between her, Sora and Riku again after the corruption Riku had underwent. Once again, Sora boosts her optimism.

More importantly, he helps her learn, as he does, that even when separated you can take strength in keeping your loved ones (metaphorically) in your heart, and that even if things change and Kairi is cut off from the people and things she loves, they will always exist within her heart, just as with her grandmother and the story she told her about light and darkness.

This is why, in the end, Kairi is able to let Sora go and yet still feel content.

From "Hikari" (JP):

I'll stop doing pointless things like thinking about the future. Today I'll eat delicious things. The future is always before us, Even if I don't know it.

From "Simple and Clean" (EN):

Regardless of warnings, the future doesn't scare me at all. Nothing's like before.

This is a really good, really well done character arc.

It's also a very human character arc.

Yes, there are a lot of fantastical things going on, but when you put all of that aside, what are you left with? A young girl moves away from her old home and everything that she ever knew and loved, which gives her anxiety about the same thing happening with the new home and everything that she's come to know and love from it, which now includes a certain boy. She fears the future; she fears change. In the end, she ends up staying in her new home - but the boy moves away! However, through her time spent with him she's learned to accept this because he'll always be a part of her heart, which is something that won't ever change.

When put that way, it sounds positively mundane, and by and large the KH fandom - and Tetsuya Nomura himself for that matter - don't want or like mundane stuff like that. They want the crazy, the overdramatic, the angsty, the flashy, the anime tropeyness they're familiar with. This is why they were unreceptive to Kairi's arc to the fullest degree, as in many of them are literally unaware it even happened because they were too busy fixating on the archetypal Japanese media-style dick measuring contest between Sora and Riku (which is also far deeper than they tend to give it credit for, btw, but I digress). And if that's the case, then the question gets raised: why bother focusing on or expanding Kairi at all? She doesn't "sell".

THIS is why Kairi was doomed from the start. It's not her fault. But it's sadly the truth.

#Disney #Square Enix #Kingdom Hearts #Kairi #Opinion #Analysis #Kairi Deserved Better #This has been a PSA

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victimsofyaoipoll · 8 months

Text

Round 3

Propaganda Under Cut

Kairi

kairi is the third protagonist of the kingdom hearts series and the third member of the destiny trio, alongside fan favorites sora and riku. sora/riku shippers HATE kairi, and will go out of their way to discount her at every turn. the hate for her ranges from typical "she's a boring bitch" to fans of soriku making five-hour long video essays reassuring their fellow shippers that the big bad kairi won't show up in the next installment – to quote one video, "she's in a box. she's on the shelf. four walls, no door." kairi is the greatest bogeyman the soriku fandom has ever known, to the point where most of said video essays and fanon meta posts focus not on why sora and riku should get together, but rather on why they don't like kairi.

Literally has a 100+ page Google doc fan theory writing her out of the narrative and putting all of her (few) canonical accomplishments onto half of the popular m/m ship (soriku). Don't even get me started on how her memory was completely written out of the canon plot of re:coded. KH is a nightmare to explain so dude trust me she is THE victim of yaoi

She is so fundamental to the plot and themes and narratives of game and yet it is near impossible to find anything about her thats not ship bashing pre-mlm with the other two characters. I dont even care if she ends up with one of the main characters i just want fans to see her as a cool character to love or like, anything other than “annoying comphet girl.” You can write your mlm but pleaae stop inventing comphet where it doesnt exist. She does not even get to spend time with sora ever?? Why does everyone see her as a threat and a thing to destroy?? Let her have friends so help me

Misa Amane

she gets treated in-canon the way fandoms treat female characters that Threaten an m/m ship. it's like, "oh why don't you go sit in the corner and be pretty, misa, while the Men have intelligent conversation and pretend they aren't ten seconds from fucking each other, doesn't that sound nice?" it's infuriating. and MAYBE it's better now but i remember her getting treated the same way in fanfiction too, like we all need to do just as badly by our female secondary characters as fucking tsugumi ohba, but with the added insult of making her be alternately oblivious of the relationship between light and L or actively trying to sabotage it—incompetently, of course, because god forbid misa be allowed dignity or moments of cleverness.

she's one of the first characters I think of when I consider old school fandom misogyny. The annoying bitch and clingy crazy gf allegations were AFTER HER ASS. She's also a lot more intelligent than people gave her credit for, but most seem inclined to take the Very Biased word of our unreliable, narcissistic narrator and his homoerotic arch nemesis and claim that just because she's bubbly and into romance that she's also a complete moron. Which is blatantly untrue. Everyone was afraid of Misa girlbossing too hard. Killing people and devoting yourself to the deranged twink of your dreams even though you know he'll never love you back??? Having a hardcore goth aesthetic and being so Hot even literal Death Gods are into you?? God forbid women do ANYTHING!

Not only is she the victim of yaoi culture, she is the victim of early 2000s misogyny by an author that wanted to introduce a girl character because he knew his male rivals were getting too homoerotic. She is a goth bimbo icon who portrays what I think is one of the few callouts for stan culture and what parasocial relationships can do to both the stan and the idol. The fact that she is a toxic fan of Kira and also hot, funny, sociable is tragic in its own way, which I think the author did try to touch on but was too misogynistic too really get through. Of course, she was reduced to villain status by the fandom and anime alike because she got in the way of the supposed romance in their psychological horror anime.

#round 3 #poll #kairi kingdom hearts #kh kairi #kairi #kingdom hearts #misa amane #misa misa #death note

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