#Mickey and Riku oh my-

[sunny1927]

KH2 manga ending kills me oh my days-

[ikemengoessbrrrrr]

Mickey and Riku having father-son dynamic is everything to me :"))

Like, you have this small mouse and then there's his tall human child with matching outfits together scsgsghsh

[misterbaritone]

ok but why does Dream Drop Distance opening go so hard

[chaoticlovingdreamer]

OMG I LOVE IT!!

Also, not mine.

one thing to know about me is that I will combine every interest of mine with kingdom hearts

[gulava]

Riku's Tears and Sora's Guilt

KH1 Ending / KH2 Intro

I cannot begin to express just how much of a conscious decision this change was. Do you guys know what game came in between these two? COM did. And what did Sora say to Namine in COM?

What did he spend most of COM feeling guilty over?

Causing "Namine" to leave the islands. Forgetting her.

It's why Sora falls to his knees in front of Riku as if begging for forgiveness when they reunite.

Oh, and he does NOT want to admit this either.

He's inhaling copium so bad in Arendelle (which isn't working, mind you) after making a pretty obvious show of his fears. That there's more to why Riku fell to darkness than what he's been told.

He doesn't even look nor sound like he fully believes what he's saying to Anna or himself.

Which, by the way, was a response to this dialogue from Anna:

Sound familiar? "Did I do something? Was it my fault?"

Interesting how they chose a COM character that guilt tripped Sora previously for this world too.

I mean...does the way Sora describes the door scene even make sense? "Disappeared"? "Pushed me away"? Why don't we just say what actually happened here? Riku and Mickey were doomed to be stuck in the lore equivalent of hell with little actual hope of getting out and Riku was crying because he was scared and lost everything.

And a part of Sora blames himself for this. It doesn't have to be rational on his part but the fact that there IS a reason Riku would be crying because of Sora doesn't really help him.

I mean, how is Sora supposed to take Riku's last words in KH1? Sounded pretty final and like Riku didn't expect anything more. And he didn't. He figured Sora would be fine on the islands with Kairi and without him. He still probably doesn't know why Sora ended up in Castle Oblivion in the first place.

It's not like SORA remembers considering he gets so turned around in COM that he forgets the very reason he came. To find Riku.

Riku's probably going to bawl his eyes out because of Sora in KH4 and all this guilt he's been repressing is going to come hurdling back if this game is going to go a similar route as COM did.

Only this time Sora won't be able to bury any of it.

[dreamsy990]

so, re:chain of memories, huh?

warning! its been a little while since i played through recom, so the game isnt as fresh in my mind as some others. sorry for any innacuracies!

spoiler alert, this is my second favorite kingdom hearts game. at least of the ones i've played so far. i get that this isn't like. a POPULAR opinion but fuck you i have almost nothing but positives to say about it.

let's start with the easy stuff first. recom introduced a new card-based combat system. i cant compare it to the gba version, since i didn't play that, but i can say that for what its worth i DID enjoy the combat. recom is by far the hardest game so far (at least for me) and almost every boss took multiple days for me to beat, even with my hp maxed out. it took me a while to get the combat system, but id honestly love to replay the game now that i have a better understanding of how it works. the card system requires a lot of quick thinking and i get that it isnt everyones taste but its CERTAINLY mine. every fight is difficult and feels genuinely rewarding when you win. the movement, like kh1, can use a lot of work, but i wouldnt call it terrible. just kinda sluggish. i think my favorite boss fight was larxene. shes a pain in the ass but i love her.

i think riku's side dropping the deck building mechanic isnt terrible, but i wish i could reorder his deck at the very least. and the lack of healing cards is. not fun. basically any damage you take is permanent unless you HAPPEN to get mickey and its simply Not a fun time. im not very good at games okay.

i have a lot less to say about the worlds than the combat. they're definitely the worst aspect of the game, though. the idea of making worlds with cards is fine! it just leads to kind of repetitive world design. the stories are forgettable, so forgettable that i literally forgot them. and i could make a point about how thats the idea its a game all about forgetting things!! but honestly that just making excuses for it. the worlds couldve kept the idea of forgetting things without literally making them forgettable. i say this about every world, except for one. because DESTINY ISLANDS

destiny islands is just. so fucking good in recom. its the climax of both sora and rikus stories and i think theyre both amazing. id have to say i prefer rikus, soley because of the visual storytelling you get from his side of it, and thats not to say soras is bad at all. but something about zexion telling riku that its his fault his home was destroyed, as riku sees a version of himself turning into a literal monster? thats just good okay. its really good.

i ADORE the characters in this game too. everything we get from them is sooo good. it's the introduction to the organization and all of them (except lexaeus who did literally nothing) are a treat. axels my favorite ofc, but larxene is such a fun villain, you love to hate her. shes really the star of the org cast in this game. sure, axels may have said its his show now, but larxene stole the spotlight.

its namines introduction, too, and i love her. on one hand, shes just really kind. she wants a friend, she wants someone to talk to, she wants to meet sora. on the other, shes just a little bit fucked up actually. sure, shes honest with sora, but shes the tiniest little bit guilt trippy and i LOVE THAT. her response to sora saying he wants to get back his own memories and forget her is "oh okay. you want to remember your REAL friends, huh? theyre the ones who REALLY matter to you? yeah anyone would want that. no friends for namine i guess." like shes just a bit salty and we love that for her. i want slightly guilt tripping and salty namine back nomura.

but ofc one of my favorite new characters in this game HAS to be repliku. god i ADORE repliku. his hatred for riku is sooo fun and the way he fights with sora is great too. like in soras side i thought he was a neat villain but rikus side? hes amazing omfg. one of the only villains i liked in rikus story (sorry lexaeus, you werent good until days)

over all, this game certainly isnt everyones cup of tea, but its DEFINITELY mine. it's the game im most excited to replay at some point, mostly because of the amazing boss fights. 9/10. its got issues, but the story and characters are so good that i genuinely could not care less about like. most of them.

[strayheartless]

Thinking about autistic Riku…

Riku who wasn’t diagnosed until after he became a keyblade master, and that was only because Merlin took one look at him and was like “oh my sweet summer child.”

15yr old Riku at the peak of his masking having actual fits of physical rage in his bedroom that he doesn’t really have an answer for other than “today was hard” that are actually meltdowns. We’re talking throwing things, braking shit, rocking and hair gripping. The whole nine yards.

Riku who struggles comprehending why his friends make plans and then don’t follow them through. Like building the raft. They said they were going to do it, so he was doing it. Why was he the only one taking it seriously?

Riku who’s grasp on humour and sarcasm is good up to a point. Meaning he knows how to do it himself, but if it’s directed at him it takes him a hot second to sus it out. He usually ends up giving actual explanations to people for their sarcasm, even though he’s registered what it was, and then gets told “I was joking”. Which fustrated the hell out of him because he KNEW that!!

Riku who has really bad light sensitivity and it’s part of the reason he keeps his hair long for such a long time. Sometimes he kind of wishes he could have the blindfold back.

Riku who despite purposefully keeping his hair long, spends nearly every day tying it back because it’s too much, then taking it down because that’s too much, then putting it back up and taking it back down until he seriously considers taking a pair of scissors to it.

Riku who doesn’t like to be touched unless he’s initiating the touch. Sora is the ONLY exception to that rule, but even then Riku has days when he moves out of Sora’s hold because it’s too much.

Riku who’s special interest is Gummi ships and is VERY happy when they go to see Cid and the RGRC because Cid is the only one that can keep up with his 1000mph rants about mobility blocks and rotation weaponry.

Riku who values silence, and no one can figure out how he deals with Sora’s constant stream of chatter, until he one day moves his hair back to show Mickey the earplugs in his ears. He felt guilty about it for a long time until Sora told him he already knew about the plugs and didn’t mind, he just like being with him.

Riku who likes to play with kairis hair but can’t abide having his own hair touched.

Riku who will usually eat anything but if you give him avocado he will have the biggest sensory ick moment you’ve ever seen. Same goes for mushrooms.

Riku who steadfastly refuses to sleep in fuzzy PJ’s because “no thanks I’d rather be flayed alive, it would be less stressful.”

Riku who, at aged 8, told kairi that if she put that scarf around his neck he would “absolutely start screaming” and then did when she insisted he’d catch cold. Scarfs are demon cloths.

Riku who would rather sit at the back of squalls office in the corner while the other man works, than sit in the science lab with everyone else because Squalls office is quiet and he likes that Squall says what he means.

Riku who ignored his own emotional, physical and sensory needs/wellbeing for months while looking for sora and ended up having a meltdown in front of Mickey and master YenSid.

Riku who now has an app on his Gummiphone that Cid, Squall, Even and Ienzo designed to help him build routine and regulate/track his emotional well-being.

He relies of the breathing exercises game a lot in Quadratum.

Riku who is the reason chip and dale created dark mode in phone settings because nobody could figure out why he barely used his phone until he admitted that it always felt like he was looking into the sun.

Riku who has keyblade related Stims, like tapping the flat of the blade with his nails or messing with the key chain when he’s stressed.

Riku who also has stims such as: flicking his tongue inside his mouth while he’s thinking; twirling strands of his hair incessantly; scrunching his nose; clicking his fingers when he’s distressed; tapping the toe of his boot against the opposite heel when he’s stood still; imperceptible swaying; holding his thumb knuckle gently between his teeth; soft popping noises with his mouth; tapping his palms with the tips of his fingers.

I have more but this is it for now.

[sunny1927]

Oh my goodness. My heart 💓

Kingdom hearts 3 manga poapu scene

Look at how happy riku is for his friends!!

It's so cute!!!!

Ps: Came from @corfidbizna

[night-rise]

Wow! Our team of heroes sure is large now!

Sora Riku Kairi!

Roxas Xion Axel

Ventus Terra Aqua

Mickey Donald Goofy

And now finally, Namine and Saix/Isa!

Dude we got freakin Isa on our team! That is a crazy power up!

I’m feeling pretty unstoppable right now. I’m liking our chances against The Master of Masters and his 6 apprentices

………..

Wait……..

6 apprentices…..

With the Master of Masters… that makes 7…..

7 warriors who are fighting for the light…..

….and who will eventually fight against our team consisting of 13 warriors fighting to keep….the….. balance………

……………

Oh for crying out loud!!!!!

WE’RE the 13 darknesses!! >:O

The ones from the prophecy!! Sora and his friends are the 13 darknesses that will defend the darkness against the light, (The Master of Masters and his apprentices), all for the sake of balance!

It’s been us the whole time! The war hasn’t ended! The 2nd Keyblade War hasn’t even begun!

“On that land shall darkness prevail and light expire”

It was talking about Sora and his friends victory over saving darkness from extinction from the Master of Masters

Guys!!!! WE’RE THE 13 DARKNESSES! We protected the light and now we have to protect the darkness! AGAINST THE LIGHT!

OHHHHHHH MY GOD!!!!!!

[greetings-inferiors]

I know it’s a weird ask but I really want to be able to fight Sora’s friends. I’d love in kh4 to have a limitcut type thing but with Riku, kairi, Donald, goofy, Roxas, etc. I just think it’d be really cool.

1.) Riku. I want the fully evolved form of the destiny islands Riku fight, have him have a dumb ass counter that he spams ever five seconds.

2.) Kairi. Let the girl rip and tear she deserves it. Her reckless teleporting to her keyblade noctis style is also sick as hell I’d love to fight it instead of alongside or as it.

3.) Donald and Goofy. Tag team. Donald zoning out Sora while goofy pressured him, and goofy protecting Donald while he charges up a massive spell. It’d be really cool.

4.) Roxas. The kh2 Roxas fight is one of my favourite in the series and I just want to see how they’ve both progressed.

5.) Axel. Okay so this is the main reason I’m making this post - I want to fight axel, it’s CRIMINAL that he doesn’t have his own theme yet. Every other character on here does, yet he’s stuck with sharing the 13th struggle. Why. Also him stance changing between his chakrams and his keyblade and the fire arena would be sick.

6.) Xion. Any excuse to hear vector to the heavens I’ll take. Also she has one of the best fights in all of kh3 so I want to fight her AGAIN. It’d be so cool if she dons her armour from days and becomes a giant fuckoff gundam as part of her dm too lmao

7.) Terra. We kinda got this in remind but it was terranort so I don’t count it. Also I think the lexaeus boss fight in kh2 is so cool and this is the closest we could ever get to it happening again lol

8.) Ventus. I just really want to see them fight. He’s so quick too I think it’d be Yozora and Xion levels of dancing with your opponent.

9.) Aqua. I want to not be able to make out her or Sora underneath the sheer mass of projectiles she’d release. I need her fight to be a bullet hell. Also she deserves to let off some steam after being trapped in hell for a decade.

10.) Naminé. Dear god please give her something to do. She’s literally done nothing since 2005. Kh3 forgot her so bad they had to make up a scene just to justify putting her on the boxart. I know that she technically has no offensive prowess since her only power is being able to change the memories of people related to Sora specifically, but please oh please just give her something else. Have her become a keyblade wielder. Have Donald teach her magic. Actually that’d be sick as hell, have the witch be incredibly strong at magic without needing a keyblade like everyone and their grandmother. Just please do something with her.

11.) Mickey. Let me beat up Michael. Let him go all out. See who deserves the title of king.

Extras:

Have “hard mode”s where you have Riku and Kairi, Mickey Donald and goofy, Roxas Axel and Xion, and Terra Ventus and Aqua pairing up. Who’d Naminé pair up with? Nomura knows.

Have Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie grouped up as a fight and it’s literally just them ripped straight from 7 rebirth to its synergy skills and everything.

Yozora rematch? Idk it might be too soon.

I would say to have union cross characters as fights but that’ll probably happen in kh4 anyway. At the very least the lost masters for sure.

[mythicalartistx]

Opinions of KH2 novels that happen that are funny/interesting

I saw a lot of sections recently

Riku Axel & Namine are a trio

Their interactions are nice

It's something I didn't know I needed

I love seeing them do stuff in the background while Sora does basic (game moments), instead of focusing what happens in the games during Disney worlds, it shows them

Axel being a grey character

He doesn't know himself if he's bad or good

But some of the others noticed it and gladly call him their friend.

Also when Goofy "dies" he helps him to see if he's alright and even gives him a potion

Instead of initially kidnapping Kairi, he does so with good interest in mind, thinking she's in danger because the organization is after her— Riku and Naminé were going to her but got caught up in a battle with Saïx.

Then Saïx fought Axel and won, obtaining Kairi.

Also Naminé helps heal Axel after he lost to Saïx.

I love his banner with Riku

At one point Mickey is like, I'm glad you're not alone Riku, Riku responds, He's my friend, but then Axel says, Nobodies don't have friends, it's not exactly word for word, but similar.

Axel comments to Riku

Riku eating ice cream and Axel is like is it good, You're like a little kid even though you look like a mean old man. Then Axel steals his ice cream and Riku like bruh really dude there is plenty of ice cream in there.

After Land of Dragons, Axel tells Riku, Seeing Sora made you that happy, and Riku is like I don't feel like telling you. Then afterwards he's like it's creepy how you smile with Ansem's face.

Mickey and Goofy can smell

So Pluto is in the novel sometimes around Axel and of course Kairi. When Mickey first sees Axel after Riku leaves, he sniffs him and is like oh it's you I thought it was Riku but you smell like Pluto.

Then later when Axel helps Goofy after his "death" he is like you smell like Pluto and at this point Axel is like AGAIN!?!?

Maleficent and Riku

Honestly I find this kinda charming and kinda nice.

At one point she calls Pete useless and how Riku was so much helpful and even got him what he was trying to do and gave him Kairi. She then admits that she was using him, but it made her kinda sad or a "thorn in her heart" that he left her without hesitation.

Then at one point Riku goes to see Maleficent and Maleficent is like oh you're alive and he says I see you came back from the dead. And it's great exchange.

He wanted to see if she'd fight the nobodies/ organization 13. But when he goes to her he wonders if he is betraying Mickey by doing that and he thinks it's all for Sora.

Riku opinion of DiZ request

So DiZ got Riku to do some things... that isn't great and afterwards he wonders if that was right.

After seeing how DiZ treated Naminé and views nobodies he is like Should I have fought Roxas? He was thinking Should I have destroyed him for him to go back to Sora? What if there was another way so he could still be here?

And I wanted to point it out that he obviously questions whether it was right and he was just following DiZ because he wanted Sora back and thought it was the ONLY way and much would have rather Roxas to stay as a person too.

DiZ offers Naminé ice cream

At one point Naminé goes back to the mansion in the middle of KH2 and she finds DiZ which she is surprised by. DiZ was harsh and mean to her at the beginning of the game and is weary of him,

But this dude straight up offers her sea salt ice cream like he didn't want her destroyed or want Riku to get rid of her (which Riku was like NAHHH I won't because he saw them as people and Sora was waking up). And then he says there are plenty more, you can share with friends 😀😁 LIKE COMPLETE SWAP

Saïx fight Riku and Naminé

First when Riku and Naminé is fighting Saïx while Axel gets Kairi, Saïx slaps Naminé and causes her to fly back.

Then he is like oh you're trying to protect your home from darkness (assuming he might corrupt it or by getting Kairi) and then he's like but you did that once before. LIKE 😭😭😭 THAT WAS UNCALLED FOR

And then he tells Riku he sold his Soul for Power. JUST wow, great character but man is he cold sometimes.

I never want Saïx to touch Naminé again though... Saïx over here hurting Axel and Naminé.

Donald and Goofy no longer tease about Kairi

So... In KH2 there are moments where Donald and Goofy tease Sora about Kairi with possible romantic implications

(though I'm not exactly sure since that is the English version which could have some transaction errors and there's a lot of added romantic moments because of English version)

In Halloween town, Sora also imagines himself dancing with Kairi when Jack and Sally dance, but in the novels none of these things happen. Donald and Goofy don't tease him about Kairi.

Shang and Mulan = Sora and Riku

So in land of the dragons when Sora sees Mulan and Shang he tears up and thinks of himself and Riku cause he missed him.

This does happen in the game, but it's more explicit here that he missed him and thinks of Riku and himself when he sees Shang and Mulan.

Sora always wanted to fight by Riku's side

In the novels throughout the ending battle Sora is so excited and is just glad to fight by Riku's side and he had always wanted to have him as an ally.

He states how he always hoped and dreamed he'd be able to.

He feels so excited and just glad to be able to do so.

Also want to point out that they feel better together and they're okay in the dark realm because they have the other

Sora doesn't care as long as Riku is okay

At one point Sora says, so what if he's in organization 13, it's fine.

Donald is like it's not they're a bad group of people.

This just shows how much he cares about him.

Axel pretends to betray Riku and Naminé to help Kairi

He told them he was going to and would give them their location and reassures them that he doubt Xemnas would come over.

And Xemnas ends up being the one going over....

[leo-x-u-raptor-fan]

Kingdom Hearts :Weremouse

Prologue: the bite

The sound of crickets chirping around the forest during the night at the Kingdom of Corona it was a perfect time for a camp trip Sora, Riku, Lea ,Terra, Aqua Donald, Goofy and King Mickey were setting up the campfire just to tell scary campfire stories of course the moon was full as they can tell from the sight soon after making a fire they decided to tell scary campfire stories ever since Master Xehanort was defeated and Sora returned to the realm of light the problem was that Xigbar is still at large and Maleficent and Pete ( Kingdom Hearts version) are still planning on conquering the worlds they having been prepared for anything, Mickey had scan all over the forest for any heartless that appeared and ruin the camping trip he had a gut feeling that things would happen looking left he could see nocturnal animals roam the forest scanning on the right he could see Rapunzel's castle the mouse king looked at the castle in awe embracing it's beauty only to be snap out of his thoughts when he hear Goofy pulled out marshmallows out of his hat saying " anyone up for marshmallows we also bring some sticks " the group each got the marshmallows with sticks they roast them over the fire and ate them then telling stories around the campfire each taking turns telling than it was Lea's turn " alright I will tell you a story so scary it'll scare your pants off" said the redhead while he held a flashlight this joke amused the others except for Donald who give him the annoyed look commented " I don't have any pants" Lea continue to tell the scary campfire story " it all started when two people when on the walk in the woods the night was all calm when all of the sudden one of them got attacked by a beast and bitten the friend on the next the man felt the change and transform into a terror beast and ate his own friend the end" Sora, Riku, Terra, Aqua, Donald, Goofy and Mickey gasped in fear from the story then they heard the sound of rustling from the bushes the king stood up armed with his star cluster keyblade suddenly the large werewolf jumped out of the bush and tackle him across the forest making him yelp in surprise aidding the king to fight the werewolf Sora, Riku, Terra, Aqua, Lea summoned their keyblades while Donald summoned his magic staff and Goofy summoned his shield they rushed towards the large werewolf, the wolf was too powerful to them as it continues to pursuits the mouse king , Riku attempted to use dark firaga on the beast but it avoided the flames surprising the keyblade master only to be launched to the tree knocking its branches by it's superhuman strength and it easily fought off Sora, Terra, Aqua, Lea,Donald and Goofy before setting its yellow eyes on the mouse king slashed him in the chest and arm causing blood to spill king may be fast but werewolf is may faster it then snap it's jaws on his right hand causing him to yell out "ow"

The werewolf then bite his left arm the king struggles to escape the jaws of the large werewolf he summoned his star cluster keyblade despite his hand was bitten the tip of the keyblade started to glow blue raise it in the air yelling " let me go you overgrown wolf!" He struck the werewolf in the head so hard launched it to the trees knocking the few of them surprising Sora and the others as they watched as it emerged from the tree pile and run off to the unknown parts of the forest they heard heavy panting they found the sorce of the sound King Mickey constantly bleeding from his wounds and breathing from using the light attack ,Donald and Goofy ran to the wounded King yelling " your majesty!" The injured mouse almost collapsed as Sora caught him in his waiting arms examined the wounds " gosh that giant wolf bit you there" Riku then noticed a red patch on the bitten right hand realized it was blood the werewolf somehow had sinked it's fangs through the glove and penetrat the skin exclaimed in shock " oh my gosh you're bitten " Aqua began to pondering how would a werewolf could be strong to knock Riku and others except for King Mickey question to the wounded mouse " what was that ,no ordinary wolf could have a strength to knock us down" Mickey answers the master's question despite being exhausted " I don't think that's an ordinary wolf that's a werewolf " shocking Sora and the others upon hearing the king said werewolf they put out the campfire so it wouldn't spread and left to the mysterious tower many minutes later Mickey woke up in the room where Sora got his new clothes on his second journey before his original human form was destroyed by Maleficent the mouse slowly turns his head to see his wife Queen Minnie she felt concerned when she heard about her husband been bitten she had stayed by his side until he's awake

The concerned queen place her left hand on her husband's cheek asking " are you alright " the king answer " yes" he slowly rose up slipping the blanket off of him noticed his torso was covered in bandages and he looked at his right hand it was covered in bandages along with his arm his right glove must've taken off save for his Sliver wedding ring on his ring finger she explained to him " after Sora told me what happened I was shocked and worried about you so I clean up the wounds and Master Yen Sid put some bandages on you " the male mouse felt sorry for his wife when she was in shock and was worried at the same time apologized " I'm sorry Minnie I got you worried like that " the mouse queen place her right hand on his shoulder " it's all right Mickey come the others are waiting " He leans against her helping him walk towards the room where the wizard was at Sora,Riku, Lea, Terra, Aqua, Donald, Goofy, Ventus,and Kairi turn to the mouse couple the brunette was the first to ask " Mickey are you alright" Mickey answers "I'm alright Sora just a bit sore on my right hand "

[catboygirljoker]

What were your thoughts about KHearts before you got into it vs Now having been into it? Also late welcome to the community hope you've had fun!

thankyou :D!! i have had fun, sitting in my little crevice and exporting my xigbar images and xigbar posts. im happy that people have connected with it in some way :]

thoughts about KH before i got into it:

for some reason i was under the impression that the games were about a boy who has dreams about disney worlds. and he has regular size feet in the real world and only has big feet in the dream world. i also think he traveled with mickey and not donald or goofy

also for some reason i was under the impression that ventus was sora's dad. it was not until i actually watched the cutscenes in birth by sleep and saw lea and isa that i realized OH. this is NOT as far back on the timeline as i thought it was

images of a spiky red boy and a spiky blond boy and a black haired depressed girl eating ice cream together with lots&lots of people sobbing in the replies. (REALLY emphasized the slow creeping emotional dread of that game for me. like golly i sure hope i dont get emotionally destroyed like all those other people! and then i , was)

when i was in middle/high school i had friends who were super into it, but i was never able to play it because my parents had a policy of No Consoles. we were allowed to have handhelds, though, because my family took frequent road trips, so when i found out that there was a KH game for DS i said to a friend "oh, cool! dyou think id be able to play it without playing the other games?" and she looked at me, and looked at her copy of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, and said "........no"

only ~15 years later do i realize how funny of a question that was

thoughts about KH as i was getting into it:

too numerous to count. i shall attempt to keep it moderately brief

last year my husband listened to a podcast called "lore dump" where people explain the lore of different media to each other, and they did an episode/series on kingdom hearts, and i heard some pretty WaCkY sTuFf (i specifically remember them explaining what the recusant's sigil is, in the context of xigbar explaining that they'd been tracking sora and riku through the story of DDD)

found a vod of one of my favorite streamers streaming 1 and 2 to benefit abortion rights in texas, and i was like, well, here's my chance, heh, im gonna understand all of the WaCkY LoRe

i start up the stream. within the first 15 minutes i Get it. like it feels very dated in a lot of ways but i instantly understood what made people connect so strongly with this series. even as someone who didn't grow up with any attachment to it, and was a little put off of it even by how into it my friends were, to me kh1 is just pure high octane nostalgia. the tone is so specific and warm and bittersweet. i cried multiple times during the ending. it just really got to me! i was hooked!

when i fixate on a media property i like to have a hot person to chew on. i really. really thought it was gonna be axel. he is exactly the kind of character i would've fixated on when i was younger, when i had friends who were into KH. older mentor figure character who takes younger characters under his wing. associated with fire. projects brash confidence. k,ills people. he's a really good character! i love him a lot! every time he appears on screen i get on all fours and start barking! and there's all this fanart and merch and...then i got distracted......

hey blake in early 2023. it's me, blake in late 2024. have you heard of kingdom hearts. yeah. yeah youre gonna get really into it. yeah youre gonna have the longest running blorbo since you mega-fixated on the tenth doctor when you were 14. yeah. yeah um. you know the clip where the guy says "me? i'm already half xehanort!" and sora says "that's..nuts!"? yeah that guy? yeah. yeah. that guy. the half xehanort guy. yeah youre gonna make a fool of yourself online for that guy.

[firestorm09890]

bruh I’m at disney world and I can’t stop thinking about kingdom hearts. I see Mickey Mouse and go “oh the king!” My little cousins went to a character meal thing with Chip and Dale and I couldn’t stop thinking about how they should be mechanics and how naked they look without their aprons. I went on a TRON ride and thought “whoa… Radiant Garden…. this is just like Riku in DDD” and so on and so forth with literally everything that’s had an appearance in kh- even Animal Kingdom with real actual animals made me think of the platforming on hippos in Deep Jungle. how the fuck did kh alter my psyche so much

[theophagie]

Kingdom Hearts is shounen-esque in the way it calls upon the Power of Friendship and Connections, but I think it's really nice that it also goes "hey this can be bad if it's the only thing you think you have going on btw". Both Ventus and Sora have "my friends are my power" speeches, but only Ventus has the confidence to outright state that he is a part of it too ("and I'm theirs"), while Sora. Well. "Alone, I'm worthless". It's something you can really feel if you compare KH1 to DDD... His speech in the latter isn't sad or anything, but at the same time it's not exactly triumphant or empowering to the same degree, or at the very least it tells you that huh-oh! The boy's having a shounen mc moment but there are issues beneath it all. Issues which more blatantly surface in KH3, and that are made worse by the various jokes that people around him make at his expense

Which is why it was a really bad move to change Riku's words into "You don't believe that. I know you don't" in english, because no, he truly does... the character arc...... "I believe in you. You won't give up", it's moving that Sora managed to save everyone thanks to the boost of confidence that Riku gave him, but there's also a sad aspect to it. Obviously it's something that ties into the series' themes (the believing in someone, I mean), but at the same time... spare self esteem... some spare self esteem, please... It also does a disservice to their relationship because Riku's trust in Sora is absolute to a fault and he is blindsided by it at times ("Sora could fall into any darkness and swim his way out") (said after Mickey said that Aqua is strong like Sora) ("She's been trapped in hell for 10 years but if she's like Sora then she must be fine") (needless to say, she was not fine) (gee Sora, are you fine?)

(He's not)

[talaofthevalley]

Vibe check for borderline crack but also kinda serious AU where Baldr somehow finds himself heart freeloading in Riku years after his death, and now Riku has a keyblade wielder with a body count hanging around over the events of the mainline games. Baldr haunting the narative figuratively AND literally.

Extra features such as Riku and Baldr having extra strong light in them because to quote the intro to KH1 "the closer you get to light the greater your shadow becomes" but much like how negative times can easily overtake positive ones, it's not easily noticeable.

Featuring events such as:

Hanging around Destiny Islands as an incorporeal ghost that can barely interact with Riku but spending most of his time sleeping or at ease kinda does wonders for all those repressed emotions and trauma.

Adults think Riku has an imaginary friend. Riku was halfway convinced he was being haunted thanks to Baldr's white hair, eyes and lashes.

Baldr gets attached. Just a little bit.

Watching Riku struggle with his inner darkness and feeling abandoned in KH1 hits a little too close for comfort for Baldr, but hey, he knows from experience that anyone's voice would be preferable to the darkness.

Baldr clocking Xehanort almost immediately and going what the fuck. What the hell are you doing. Bastard what happened to you after all these years. Finds out Xehanort's trying to create Kingdom Hearts and is all OH so when *I* try to do it, you kill me, but if it's you, it's totally fine? I hope the kid beats your ass.

Baldr popping in as a voice in the climax and giving Ansem Seeker of Darkness a crisis before he dies, which he didn't quite *mean* to but he can still read emotions as a heart ghost. Feels kinda good he's not gonna lie.

Riku eventually grows taller than Baldr and he feels slighted. Offended. You're supposed to be a pipsqueak stop that.

Riku instead of turning into Ansem SoD in KH2 takes on the form of Baldr from connecting with his own darkness and, by proxy, Baldr. Instead of getting taller he gets shorter.

Cue Baldr weighing the pros and cons of Riku revealing his new form in front of Xemnas like- Cons: The possible rise of danger my heart innkeeper will be in. Pros: Chaos.

Sora squinting at Baldr!Riku until he screams and points like "YOU'RE THE GUY! FROM RIKU'S DRAWINGS! THE GHOST!" and Kairi doesn't get it until Sora reminds her of the guy Riku sometimes talked about when they were kids and drew pictures of and then SHE'S pointing like !??!!?! and Riku's like uuuuhhhh I can explain but it'll take a while.

"You know Xehanort? Why didn't you say anything??" "Yeah he was my classmate. And then he executed me after I killed the others in our class. And some of our upperclassmen. It's not the best conversation opener."

Riku becoming understandably distressed once he finds out how exactly Baldr died and the lead-up to his breakdown. Has to go talk to Mickey and be reassured that if Riku ever loses his way in the darkness again, they'll pull him right out no matter how many times it takes.

Baldr tries very, very hard not to be bitter.

"My feelings about my friends, sister and place of birth are complicated on the best of days, but I'm glad you don't have to live with the suffocating guilt and anxiety that there's something inherently wrong with you for having even a sliver more darkness in you than what's considered acceptable and worrying your loved ones will put you down if they find out. I'm glad you have people who understand you, and who try to understand you."

"Do you ever wish you could meet your sister again?" "I'm content mourning her."

The state of Sora, Riku and Kairi's friendship and complicated feelings about each other is almost enough to give Baldr an aneurysm when he feels them.

The fun of DDD where Baldr can take a solid form inside the dream realm and meets young Xehanort when his death is still fresh in his mind :^ )

Baldr, finding out about what happened with Eraqus and his apprentices; "Goddamnit Eraqus."

Someone telling Riku to follow his heart and he goes "Are you asking me to kill?"

Baldr; The number one guy who can get under Xehanort's skin and tear down his 'specialest guy' mindset, and only partly because his emotions are an open book to him. Takes a look at adult versions of him and goes "Oh I want to bully him so bad, it'd be so easy." Xehanort; Has spent the last decades researching darkness because of Baldr, while also pointedly not thinking about Baldr, that Baldr killed their friends, or that Xehanort killed him.

Why is Baldr in Riku? Eeeh, unsure. Mayhaps the kids were all meant to go to Quadratum after they died but Baldr went "nope" and drifted around instead until Riku was born and his heart went "oh twinsies". Maybe his classmates have been looking for him, after time has passed to think and reflect yet there's still been no sign of him.

And since I'm a sucker for happy endings all the DR kids reunite in Quadratum and Xehanort and Baldr can now kick each other's ankles and be the kind of pair that would be unbelievably toxic where they different people but it somehow works. Being able to read your partner's emotions would be very one-sided in any situation except where they can read yours right back.