#Sora does love Kairi. Just not the same way Kairi does for Sora.

[passive-t-u-m-b-l-r-user]

God forbid Kairi have to find a new dream that isn’t being with Sora

[recent-rose]

heres the thing abt kairi. i don't think she's poorly written, i think she's poorly executed. like there's a conflict/lack of cohesive vision for her and they're trying to shoehorn her into a role she does not fit.

nomura, from kh1, has clearly always wanted kairi to remain a link to the past/manifestation of fond memories of childhood/like a bittersweet hometown that isn't quite the same when you come back as an adult. that's the role he has consistently, persistently assigned to her. and there's nothing wrong with that. not every character ever has to take an active role and be a hero and do Things. sometimes characters exist to embody an allegory, or symbolism, or an idea. that was kairi, initially. embodiment of home, safety, comfort, childhood. for that matter, riku was the future, the unknown, growing up and letting childhood go. sora, of course, a boy coming of age and being torn between the two.

so consequently i've never understand the choice to make her a keyblade wielder when she's already a princess of heart twice over. like it or not the princesses of heart have an established role in the story and it's not fighting on the front lines. she could have been a leader and taken an active role in her own way if they really wanted, without ever needing to hold a keyblade and be a Chosen One, Also!(tm). in this way she also would have maintained a cohesive narrative role in the story. her path would still be diverging from sora's, and it would be as bittersweet and nostalgic as it was in kh1 without the clownery than her involvement in endgame kh2 onward has been mired in.

what clownery, you ask? kairi literally cannot grow as a person while in sora's orbit. we've seen it happen again and again, any growth she gets is away from sora and any time she's near him she regresses as a character. this is because, again, she is absolutely cemented in the minds of the writers as The Nostalgic Past that sora is holding onto. in the context of the kh narrative, she can literally be nothing else to him. there's no more growth to be had between them. hence, every time their relationship ends up the focus in a scene you can't help but feel the rapidly growing distance between where they once were vs where they now are as individuals. this relationship can, imo, ONLY be regressive to both of them in the context of kh's overarching narrative where kairi is constantly (and overtly) being framed as Sora's Idealized Childhood. or, as a prize he 'wins' when the story ends. the two are fairly connected in kh.

back on track, having kairi remain a princess of heart and not a keyblade wielder also would've solved the problem of the writing team having to shelve/fridge her every time they want riku+sora to go on another romantic getawa - uhhh adventure together. like she was asleep for a year post kh3? and now she's going to train with aqua while riku goes to rescue the love of his l - i mean bestest best boy friend again? you're joking.

it just stinks of trying to girlbossify a character so she can 'keep up' with her male counterparts in the eyes of media illiterate consumers who associate a lack of a weapon with a lack of power. dawg we're past that. female characters can be relevant, important, interesting and powerful without following in the exact footsteps of their male counterparts. and this is to say nothing of kairi's keyblade bequeathing being a relative accident and how it creates a pretty glaring plot hole because somehow xion and roxas, sora's nobodies, can wield keyblades at will but namine can't? okay. yes, perhaps we just haven't been 'shown' her wielding a keyblade. maybe. but i think it seriously indicates that they had no intention of making kairi a keyblade wielder in the first place.

and don't get me wrong, if they intended on changing/overhauling her role going forward i would understand making her not just a wielder but a guardian of light. problem is, they have already established she's not going to be fighting/active in the next game. she is, yet again, the home they are returning to and not the future they're moving towards. this, consequently, will continue causing some major tonal dissonance among those who either consciously or unconsciously recognize that kairi is not meant to be where she is currently placed in the narrative. she's SHOWN to be just a regular girl who still to this day does not particularly want to go adventuring, and yet we're TOLD again and again that she's a warrior now, riding on sora and riku's coattails regrettably. it's just so tonally off.

[themattress]

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":

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".

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.

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.

[masterfuldoodler]

Okay let's talk about Kingdom Hearts and sacrifice.

There's a lot of stories where someone sacrifices themselves, but then gets brought back. And sometimes it feels right, and other times it hits weird. Kingdom Hearts is one of those stories that gets it right for me. But why does it work? The obvious answer is bias, but I think there's some other stuff at play.

1. Steeped into the world building of kh is the thought that death is not that permanent. There's Nobodies and Heartless, and they're dead but not exactly. And they could come back. It's very hard to die all the way in kh

2. The magic system of kh is pretty loose. Somethings have rules. Somethings have multiple methods. Somethings we know can do stuff, but we don't know how it works. So in this landscape pretty much anything could happen.

When Sora is brought back by Kairi in kh1 it feels pretty cheap at first. Oh he can just...come back? The game does explain it but we don't really understand what that means since it's game one and this is the first we're seeing it in action. (Princess of light and the connection of the heart) The idea that you can call someone out of the darkness through the bonds of the heart does come up in other kh games! This isn't a throw away idea to bring Sora back.

Something else is the way it effects the story. Sora dying and coming back is like a second starting point for the series. It doesn't just give a happy ending yay he's not dead! No it snowballs into multiple games. Whole characters are created and the story gains complexity. If Sora hadn't been called back by Kairi, Roxas would probably have been a more normal Nobody and not a person of his own right. There would have been no Castle Oblivion, and what would happen to Namine? Xion probably wouldn't exist.

Also often the sacrifice isn't Necessary. There were other routes that could have been taken, but the characters choose this instead, which makes a statement about them. (The power of Waking could have gotten Kairi's heart out, but Sora doesn't know this and doesn't stop to find another option. Ventus would rather put an end to himself. Axel burning himself up all at once.)

Axel coming back is funny because it feels like a trick played on him. "haha thought you could die your way outta this one, guess what there's a round two."

I'd love to talk about Roxas and Xion's return, but I still haven't seen the end of kh3. So I guess the best I can say is that them coming back shouldn't feel contrived (same as Ventus, Aqua, Terra) because it's been a goal out characters are working towards, same as bringing Sora back in kh2. There's build up to it!

Kingdom Hearts is riddled with sacrifice, some moments bigger than others. It's very fascinating to watch, pretty much every character has had their moment.

[victimsofyaoipoll]

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.

[superfan44]

Why Sora Should be Treated the Same as Superman (An Opinion Piece)

As I get older, I'm able to look at various fictional characters more closely, understanding more about why they're so iconic. A few years ago, I gained a renewed interest in the Kingdom Hearts franchise, seeing why so many people love its story, characters, and of course, its crossover element with Disney and Final Fantasy. I want to take a little look at the franchise's main protagonist, Sora, shed a light on him if you will. I feel you could draw some similarities between him and the DC Comics hero Superman (aka Kal-El, aka Clark Kent).

Now, I know this may seem like an odd comparison to some of you, but personally, I think it does kind of make sense when you think about it. Obviously these two have very different personalities, backstories, powers, and motivations that drive them. However, both are kindhearted, optimistic heroes from humble beginnings, with a strong sense of justice and morality. Not to mention a desire to help others and do the right thing.

Their respective actions certainly speak for themselves on that front, as they each go about it in their own unique way. In the comic book All-Star Superman, one issue sees him fighting a group of lizard men invading from the Earth's core. Then, in another issue, we see him stop a depressed teenage girl from stepping off a building, giving her comfort and support. Yes, he's got super strength and godlike powers, but he's also considerate, compassionate, and gentle enough to offer a helping hand whenever needed. Superman is a hero who inspires the best in all of us. He is, as filmmaker James Gunn once put it, kindness in a world that sees kindness as old fashioned. Even though he lives on a planet he wasn't born on, he still aspires to bring hope to that planet, providing them a light to show the way. Krypton made him the man of steel, but Earth made him human.

There are moments in the Kingdom Hearts series where we see a bit of that kindness mirrored in Sora as well. One minute he would be cutting down Heartless with his keyblade, the next he'll be enjoying good times with his friends, old and new. Whether it's dancing around with Rapunzel in the Kingdom of Corona, visiting Winnie the Pooh and his pals in the 100 Acre Wood, or helping to make Boo laugh in Monstropolis. He protects the world order and fights against the forces of evil, but he's also having fun along the way. There's a playfulness to Sora, a big smile on his face that warms people up inside. He's a brave young man who can easily form connections with anyone he comes across. There are still hardships to face, but he perseveres through it, showing that deep down, there is a light that never goes out. Even when it seems like he's on the verge of giving up, his friends are there to inspire him and lift him back up, just as he had done for them. He follows his heart, which is, and has always been, his guiding key.

You could say that these similarities are due to the fact that Sora and Superman are very much archetypal heroes. Joseph Cambel's hero's journey cycle (which also heavily influenced Star Wars) can be seen in both of their respective journeys. Individuals from humble beginnings who venture out into the wide world ahead of them, encountering various allies, enemies, and obstacles along the way. The journey ultimately leads to the heroes gaining greater powers and becoming more than who they were before.

It's also worth noting that another thing Superman and Sora have in common is that sometimes they are both willing to take great risks in order to save the people that they love. In Superman: The Movie, the man of steel himself flies around the Earth at great speed, turning back time to save Lois Lane from an earthquake. In Kingdom Hearts 3, Sora uses the power of waking to bring back Kairi after her body was destroyed by Xehanort, sacrificing his own life in the process.

So, why do I bring all of this up? Because I believe that this is something that writers should keep in mind when tackling Sora, whether it's for fan fiction, comics, novels, etc. I've noticed this trend on the internet of people deconstructing the psychology of Sora and delving into the negative effects that his adventures have had on him. A few of them have even declared his optimism and playful smile as a form of "toxic positivity". While it does seem like an interesting idea, I feel like it's causing people to forget about why they love him in the first place. In some cases, there are those who end up going too far with that notion.

Not long ago, I stumbled upon a Kingdom Hearts fan fiction story titled Keys to the Kingdom. Basically, it reads as an alternate universe reimagining of the events of Kingdom Hearts 3. Even though it was well written, this version of the story gets extremely dark, depressing, and cynical. Not only that, but it also mistreats Sora in a somewhat disturbing way, portraying him as a tortured and tormented soul. While his arc in this does prove to be compelling at times, it was still very jarring, making for an overall unpleasant experience. The fic seemed to be so focused on beating this character down, so intent on having him suffer throughout, that it ends up losing sight of what makes him so endearing and likable. Or, to borrow a quote from the young keyblade wielder himself:

"You're so caught up in finding the shadows, you forgot about the light that cast them."

This doesn't feel too out of place with the "evil Superman" trend that was around for a period of time. The video game Injustice is a prime example of this, as it depicts Superman as a merciless dictator of a fascist regime, who rules with an iron fist and shows no compassion towards crime or his enemies. Even other creations like Homelander from The Boys and Omni-Man from Invincible are representations of this idea since they are basically evil Superman-types. Admittedly, I do give those two a little more leeway since they were made specifically for the stories they came from. They are not directly related to Superman other than having similar powers. Although this concept can be fun to tackle with an original character, I don't think it feels right to try to do it with the genuine article himself. That's not really who he is.

When making the first Superman movie back in 1978, director Richard Donner took it upon himself to do the big blue boy scout justice. He didn’t want the material to be treated with disrespect, nor to be seen as a joke. There's a word he used to emphasize this as a top priority: "verisimilitude". For those unfamiliar, the basic definition of it is the appearance of being true and real. Not only was that word hung up on the wall above Donner's office (which it was), but it also established the mission statement that many of the great superhero movies made in the years since then have followed:

Be truthful, honor the source material, believe in it, take it seriously.

This is the type of mindset that should be adopted by anyone who adapts any kind of preexisting work, especially when it comes to something like Kingdom Hearts. If you want a good example of how to write Sora in a way that showcases how great he is while also being faithful to who he is, there's another fan fiction story titled Starbound, created by my friend @skygent. An anthology with an overarching narrative mixed in, it uses the setup of Sora's disappearance at the end of Kingdom Hearts 3 as a way to examine the impact that he's had on all of his friends and allies. In a deeper, meta sense, it offers an analysis of the connection that fans of the franchise itself have formed with him.

The stuff that has been written so far for this fic is absolutely amazing. In fact, it's what led to my renewed interest in Kingdom Hearts in the first place. It has pretty much what you would want in a story like this one. Balancing a sense of scale, mystery, and adventure, but also quiet reflection. Offering some fun little twists, but still retaining the core essence of what the source material is all about. Through this story, we see various characters (including some not featured in the games) learning of and reacting to Sora's disappearance, remembering their encounters with him in the past. Some of them are even inspired to try and figure out where he is, willing to doing whatever it takes to help find him and bring him back home. Here, they demonstrate just how much he means to them, just as they all do to him.

To be clear, I'm not saying that Sora should stay exactly the same. In a series like Kingdom Hearts, we want to see those characters grow and evolve. With the things that Sora has experienced throughout the series, and with where we will find him at in Kingdom Hearts 4, it'll be interesting to see where he goes next. At the same time though, we also should remind ourselves that people love this character for a reason. As this young hero embarks on his newest adventure, he shouldn't lose what makes him who he is as a person. Instead of pulling him apart, I think Sora is someone who deserves to be celebrated. To be treated with dignity and respect, just as Donner did for the last son of Krypton. In the same way we've celebrated Superman over the years for what he stands for and represents, Sora should also be recognized in an equally similar way. Their respective core values and good morals, all the stuff that makes them heroes. It's these things that turned them into pop culture icons who remain with us to this day. It's why they will continue to be icons in the foreseeable future.

Two beacons, shining bright in the darkness. Never forget that.

[mythicalartistx]

KH3 Worlds ACTUALLY Matter and show Major Parallels and Foreshadowing through Sacrifice and Separation

The worlds in KH3 are often seen as just retelling of the Fairytales but with added Sora and his friends or Organization members. Because of this they're often disliked especially when there are some sections that are scene for scene and Sora and the others might not be present for this.

However, if you get passed the fact it's a retelling of the movie and get into how it connects with Kingdom Hearts story, they actually play a major role.

Olympus: Sacrifice

Olympus shows themes of sacrifice and love. It shows that Hercules didn't think and all he knew was that Meg was in trouble and threw himself in harm's way to save her. He sacrificed himself by doing that but also sacrificing his godhood to be with Meg. He would have to be separated from Meg and that's not the kind of life he would want to live.

Later on Riku ends up doing the exact same thing. When Sora feels powerless and all alone he sacrifices his being and life for Sora. And I could also argue he does it out of love because when he does this he doesn't necessarily think of his actions but does it to his devotion to Sora and protecting him like he always promised Terra.

Corona: Sacrifice

In the Tangled world, Rapunzel is willing to sacrifice her freedom to save Flynn's life and become separated from the outside world she's grown to love forever.

However, Flynn decides that her freedom is more important and sacrifices himself by cutting her hair which could make her lose the power to heal.

Rapunzel is also compared to Riku because they both so desperately felt trapped. Riku felt trapped at the island and wished to leave and explore other worlds with Sora and Kairi to point where if the raft didn't work out, he would open the door to darkness. I'll also like to include they both felt that someone they were close to left them for others.

Toy Box: Separation

In Toy Box, we learn of how Woody and Buzz among a few other had separated from half of their group. However, they are later seen that the world was split in half and are separated from their beloved friends. They realize at the end their friends who they've been separated from that they are always connected through their hearts.

And this goes back to how Sora will soon be separated from everyone and become stuck at the Quadratum. It also shows that he is always connected to them through his hearts and that's how he uses/and abuses the power of waking through that connection.

Arrendale: Sacrifice

When Elsa is about to get slashed by Hans' sword, Anna who is in the brink of death rushes in and saves her by taking the hit instead. She freezes at the same time and makes it so the sword shatter from her entire body becoming ice. She sacrifice her life for her. Elsa manages to thaw her and the cold weather by the act of love.

Which Riku then does the act of love when he sacrifices his life for Sora. Riku is also compared to Elsa on how they both pushed the people they loved/ cared about away to protect them.

Monstropolis: Separation

In this world, Sullie goes through separation of being away from Boo. They have to separate so Boo will be safe.

This also refers to how Sora ends up in the Quadratum from bringing back Kairi and abusing the power of awakening by using it too many times.

100 Acre Woods: Separation

In this world, Pooh talks to hope they're growing apart and that he misses Sora. Sora feels sad that they're not as close. The eventual outcome is that he'll always be in his heart no matter what.

I feel like this refers to him and Kairi not being as close as they were before. Ever since KH1 things changed between them and she changed. She's no longer the Kairi he knew and they are slowly growing apart. (Which is honestly sad). It also shows that even if he's by himself in the Quadratum he'll have everyone in his heart no matter how far away they are.

Fransankyoto: Separation + Sacrifice

Unlike the others I decided to say this world shows both. In the past, Hiro's brother separated from him when he sacrificed himself to try to find and save the teacher. This is also reflected in the past when beymax also stays behind to sacrifice himself so Hiro can then leave.

It helps shows the connections that no matter how far they are away, the people you love and care for will be in his heart. This shows that to help save everyone he used his connection to his friends to bring them that. It furthers that he won't be alone in the Quadratum and that Riku was able to go to him in MOM because of this.

PoTC: Separation

Finally in the pirates world, we show separation. After Will gets stabbed and he is made Captain of the Flying Dutchman, he faces separation from the one he loves Elizabeth. Only every 10 years are they able to see each other.

This foreshadows both being separated from the ones Sora loves and bringing back all his friends' hearts when Will's life almost gets taken when he gets stabbed. Being apart for 10 years also could lead to how it will take at least a year to find Sora in the Quadratum.

[greetings-inferiors]

Kairi for 1 and 2! <3

Oh this is interesting

The problem with kingdom hearts is that I can't remember my first experience with it. Kingdom hearts is the first video game I experienced, so all I remember are small bits and pieces. So I can't really tell you my first impression of Kairi, because by the time I can actually remember my opinions of things she was already a character I had known for a while.

What do I like and dislike about her? Well. One of my favourite things about Kairi is her personality. People make jokes about her being boring but that just isn't the case. Did we play the same game? The same series? Even in kh1 every line she has is full of personality. People probably only remember her as boring because she's unconscious for the majority of the game's playtime, when she's actually conscious she's so fun. The "now promise you'll give it back to me" has more character than some other games' entire rosters. And as the series progresses and the narrative puts her in that helpless damsel role you see her get more and more irritated, until kh3, remind especially, where she learns to wield a keyblade, and she has one of the most distinct fighting styles in the series, being complete reckless offense. She wants to be in the thick of the action, in control, even if it hurts her, because she's sat on the sidelines against her will her whole life, and she's sick of it. Once again, her "Please work!" Whenever she throws her keyblade has more character than any other "damsel in distress" character I've seen.

That brings me to the main thing I don't like about Kairi (that isn't her fault, and is entirely the writing's fault). She doesn't get to do much. Kh1 she's unconscious half the time, and when she wakes up Sora says she'll get in his way. Com and days she's quite literally forgotten. 2 she gets kidnapped and doesn't get to join the fight at the end. Dream drop she's waiting on the sidelines for Sora and Riku. 3 she's in the hyperbolic time chamber and then when she actually gets the chance to do something, fucking wristgate. Only in kh3's ending and melody of memory does she feel like she finally has some agency, but even then, in melmem SHE'S ASLEEP THE WHOLE TIME. GIVE HER A SOLO GAME NOMURA I SWEAR TO GOD.

If you want something about her actual character I dislike it's that the kh1 and the kh2 onward Kairi's do feel like different characters at times. Kh3 Kairi might be the closest we've gotten, and there ARE parts in kh2 where old Kairi shines through, and i can explain it making narrative sense, but I really like kh1 Kairi and I'd love to see her shine through more.

I love Kairi a lot, but I'd love to love her more, since the only things holding her back for me are completely unrelated to her actual character. Xion is similar in terms of her story's narrative structure, but even though Xion has only been in 2 (ddd doesn't count) games, she's left a longer lasting impact because she arguably had an entire game dedicated to dissecting her character. Naminé and Aqua are similar (though I don't like them as much as Kairi, though I get why people would). Even Strelitzia, who only had a single moment in the spotlight, since that single moment is so big, she leaves a massive mental impact, compared to Kairi who's always been there but in the background. I really hope Kairi gets a game solely so she can have her moments, y'know?

[equal-shipping]

Kaishin Reveal and What It Means For You

Okay I need everyone to keep their shit together because I think this is being blown out of proportion. What follows is a quick rant about what the hell is going in the DCMK fandom and what is going on in fandom in general cause I don’t know why I’m seeing so many people lose their shit over something that was most likely going to happen followed by a quick lesson by a ‘fandom elder’ on how to ignore canon and make a ship your own. 

Spoilers ahead and whatnot. 

April 11th the DCMK 27 movie came out and information was revealed about how Kaito Kuroba and Shinichi Kudou are now cousins. Twitter lost its mind, Tumblr lost its mind, Discord servers are being created and now everyone is wondering what the hell should they do. 

I’m going to be honest, if you are a creator for KaiShin, please don’t delete your work. 

Either archive it or orphan it but please don’t delete it.

You put time and effort into this, into something you love, and just because the mangaka is so SO set in his ways of every single ship being friends to lovers does not mean you have to follow the same format. This doesn’t make you an incest shipper or whatever, it doesn’t make you a person who you don’t want to be, it’s just something that you had no idea of knowing was going to happen and I hope that you can look back at it fondly. 

Anyways, for those enjoying Kaishin on the sidelines all I’m going to say is Pick a Lane. 

Ignore Canon 

If you are an old time shipper then this may not be new for you. I mean Gosho literally had another ship that turned out to be cousins like at this point it’s ‘who is my cousin’ being played in the entire Detective Conan manga. You either already guessed it, are an active incest shipper (hi, hello, tis a me) or you are used to your favourites dying. This situation is no fucking different. 

Wolfwood is dead, in my head he is alive and well and treating his Plant husband right. 

Sora is missing, not in my head where he is kissing Roxas and Riku and Kairi and whoever else wants to get at the sunshine of the KH universe. 

Ben is dead, NOT IN MY REYLO FANFICTION. 

If you are a person who actively kept up with the manga or actively kept up with the show it is possible to ignore canon because they do not suddenly go super deep into being cousins and knowing about each other. They both don’t know if they are cousins or else the jig would be up immediately and the manga would be finished. You CAN ignore canon and if Kaishin is a ship that brings you joy and just serotonin production I implore you guys to choose this lane if you still want to enjoy Kaishin. 

It’s by far the healthiest option and teaches you how to curate your own fandom experience. 

Alternate Universes and You 

I was in the Hannibal fandom for a while and I clearly remember the ‘Hannibal is not a Cannibal’ tag on AO3. I thought it was hilarious but I would never dare to make fun of it because that is a prime example of CURATING YOUR FANDOM EXPERIENCE. 

Here are some examples on how you can start tagging: 

Not Cousins AU

Kaito and Shinichi aren’t family 

No Family Relation AU 

Pre Kaishin reveal 

Or just make a quick blurb of how you mean this drawing/fic to be perceived. Again, this is your experience and you get to make the space you want to make. It’s up to you to make/interact with the content that makes you most comfortable. Again, if you want to delve into AU’s then that is up to you and I think it’s a pretty good lane for those who just feel weird about the whole reveal. 

Stepping Away

Your moral values are your own, people, and I am in no position or even want to judge them. If you feel uncomfortable about this now, see your love for Kaishin diminishing because of the reveal or just don’t see yourself shipping Kaishin in the future then you are more than capable of measuring your response and stepping away from the ship entirely for your own health. 

Is it going to be sad? Yes, but they are fictional and I recommend having an idea of what you have in your life outside of fandom that makes you happy that you can focus on as you go through this. College, work, whatever hobbies you may have taken up–hell put all your eggs into another ship that you know also brings you joy! 

Do not let this dictate your day or your month or your year. This is just fandom, you don’t have to make a big statement unless asked about it, you do not have to justify your decision to anybody, curate.your.fandom.experience. 

I’m going to end this with a repeat of what I just said. 

This is all fictional. We are playing in a fictional sandbox where we can all make whatever we want in any capacity and as long as it is tagged correctly then nobody’s lines have to be crossed. If you just started enjoying Kaishin, find out how you still want to enjoy it or step away. If you have shipped Kaishin for a while, do the same fucking thing! The east side of the fandom is having a field day with the movie, why can’t the west have some fun too?! 

I’m going to ship Kaishin (however all my reblogs will be moved to my other blog for incest-y stuff and just other content people may not vibe with in general) and hell I might just join the Kaishin Big Bang for the hell of it because I have been shipping this ship since I was 15 years old and I’m about to be 30 so….I’m staying fucking seated cause you aren’t getting me out of this chair, Aoyama, you aren’t getting me to ship Aoko with anyone other an Akako so suck on that. 

Be safe, be smart and curate y’all.

[goldensunset]

Hey. Pspsps.

I don't 100% know who your favorite characters are.

If I asked you to pick one and go ham telling me about them, would you?

*grabs you* ok today i’m gonna change it up and talk about a pair of characters i don’t usually talk about

loooong story short (i'll dm you the story if you want or something) roxas and xion were the reason i got into the kh franchise. their story and their unique indescribable connection to our wonderful protagonist singlehandedly took me from the mindset of 'haha kh is a dumb wacky disney fanfiction' to 'this is genuinely a stunning and heartwrenching piece of media full of so much honest and serious emotion and love and i'm insane now'

here's a boy who was never meant to exist, a mistake, someone who doesn't even possess the full capability to experience emotions, someone who's just the inferior resentful shadow of another who needs to die so that the precious original can come back. but he wasn't gonna take that lying down he fought tooth and nail until the bitter end against his fate and defiantly proclaimed that he was human and he was himself and yet it was all in vain. but it still mattered. it mattered to us and it mattered to those who knew him. the love was there even if it couldn't save him it still mattered.

meanwhile, here's a girl who's just a patchwork mess of pieces of other people. a clone of both sora and roxas, meant as a backup vessel for xehanort, wielding what used to be riku's key, having accidentally absorbed select memories of kairi from the magic naminé wove. it's a miracle she exists at all. does she exist at all? she was an 'it', an empty thing designed to mimic the fighting capabilities of another, who gradually started absorbing that other's memories of some girl until it subconsciously tricked itself into thinking it was that girl. suddenly 'it' became 'she.' but she had her own life experiences and therefore was not that girl but someone new entirely. what exactly did her mind look like? what did it feel like to be her? her mind was just a fragment of sora's mind and she didn't even know who he was. the insane headaches and crises that came free with her very existence drove her to seek answers and eventually made her realize she shouldn't even be alive.

but she was so brave. she was so so brave and resolute and made the firm decision to sacrifice herself for the greater good even though she should've never had to. it was the only agency she had and she took hold of it. she knew there was never any hope for her but she at least wanted something good to come out of her demise. roxas didn't really have that same agency even though he seems more proactive as a character at first glance. roxas fought and fought but was constantly being dragged here and there by the narrative up until the end. he fought his fate and xion accepted hers and they both met the same tragic end.

in kh2fm we saw what was left of roxas, angrily fighting back inside of sora. he was full of hate and anger and who can blame him? he should've won. he was stronger. almost. but victory eluded him once more. it was all for nothing and roxas faded again and sora was so confused and full of sadness he didn't even understand.

then in ddd we again saw roxas within sora's mindscape, but that time he was so so different. that time he was calm and smiling and gentle. roxas had surrendered. but sora told him what we'd all been wanting to tell him- he was his own person and deserved to be treated as such. to which roxas said like the best line in the series: 'sora, see? that's why it has to be you.'

roxas wanted things his way, he wanted his own life, he was bitter and sick of people telling him he had to make sacrifices for others. roxas would've gotten rid of others for his own sake. meanwhile sora had always been intensely loving and selfless. sora was always reaching out to people, seeing the light and humanity in them, caring about them. i'm not saying roxas was bad for wanting to live or that sora's insane constant self-sacrificial behavior isn't deeply worrying but the point here is: sora was the hero roxas wasn't.

roxas recognized this. that's why it had to be sora. if it was the other way around, roxas wouldn't have had the strength to be the person sora was. he would've never surrendered on his own. he had to be forced to surrender and then spend time within sora's heart to begin to understand him and to begin to love him.

roxas resented sora because roxas had to be sacrificed in his name. he didn't want to die to save someone he didn't even know who was apparently his real self and the only person who mattered. roxas was sick of hearing about him. but then once roxas met him he couldn't help but love him too. both because sora is just that easy to love, and because something in roxas resonated with- well, his other. that was him and that wasn't him and that was who he used to be and that was who he would be and they each held a piece of each other within them and even though they were their own people they would obviously be forever linked.

the bond that was created between sora and roxas transcends anything i really even have the language to say. or anyone who speaks this language to say. or possibly anyone in existence. that's self love and love of another in one. they're part of each other. i'm really normal about it

[rolaplayor101]

After searching about, I've found others who've had and thought about the same issue that I did, which is that the Kingdom Hearts fandom has a HUGE amatonormativity problem. Which, yeah, most fandoms do, but the difference here is that the KH fandom is pretty small, which makes it way more prevalent.

There's a good amount of people who think Sora is aroace, grayromantic, or alloromantic asexual, but they keep it to themselves for risk of being harassed by shippers. They have to protect themselves with "aphobes DNI" on the few posts they do post about it. They have to continuously reblog their own art or go to a confession blog to lament about it.

And it's sad! This is saddening! And the thing is, I do ship SoRiKai. At least the minimum amount, enough to be fully invested in what's going on in canon. Because, canonically? They do care about each other intensely enough to usually go beyond the bounds of typical friendship. Especially Sora. The way he thinks, the things he does, it's all so grandeur in comparison to the things people do in real life for their friends. He flat out says he wants to be with Riku and Kairi forever in one of the first games.

The problem is that people still think being aroace means being apothi and aplatonic, but that's not the case. Sora feels platonic attraction so quickly, frequently, and intensely that it even puts off new characters he meets in the game. He's affectionate, uplifting, and confident(most of the time). But people can't see aroace people as a whole as anything but negative and loveless. Which is just plain not the case for all of us. Aspec people post about the different ways aspec people think all the time! It's mostly the only thing in the aromantic and asexual tags, and I frequent those a lot! So I'd know!

This is an issue thats brought up over and over and over again, and it's that being aroace-- feeling exactly zero romantic or sexual attraction-- does not mean you also feel zero platonic or queerplatonic (or sensual or alterous or any tertiary) attraction. It does not mean you can't feel attraction that is just as intense as allos feel romantic or sexual attraction. Sora has always attributed his strength and confidence to his friends, to his heart that belongs to all of his friends. He feels platonic attraction so intensely that it literally powers him up. It's the main theme of the entire Kingdom Hearts franchise.

Saying that Sora feels queerplatonic attraction towards Riku and Kairi does not mean he'd feel any less than if he were romantically and/or sexually attracted to them.

Thinking that queerplatonic and/or platonic attraction is less than romantic and/or sexual attraction is incorrect, aphobic, amatonormative, and exactly contrary to what Kingdom Hearts the franchise is partially trying to do.

Kingdom Hearts normalizes healthy, platonic, life-long relationships, which wasn't well represented in the early 2000s. Most media represented friendships as on the back burner, especially when pit against romantic relationships. Affectionate arospecs watched shows and movies when they were younger seeing the main character dismiss their friends, grow out of them, or outright hate them, and then have their problems be solved by a romantic partner. Toxic or unhealthy friendships (and also sibling relationships) were the norm, so having Kingdom Hearts, and a few other media I can't think of right now, be made where there's no romance outside of background characters and established ones fron Disney Movies, and where friendship is treated as equal and as the most important, was revolutionary.

Tons of Shounen anime do this, too. Bleach, Full Metal Alchemist, Hero Academia, most sports anime. Then there's other stuff like most magical girl anime, Soul Eater, Little Witch Academia, Promised Neverland, Lucky Star, Baccano, most Miyazaki movies. A lot of popular anime are popular because people love the friendships between characters. And I bet most people in Kingdom Hearts love it specifically because of the friendships too. They like that they're friends. Because their friendships are wholesome, and healthy, and good. They make us feel good. KH isn't "Queerbaiting"(which is only ever brought up for mlm ships and never for aspecs or wlw) for having Riku and Sora care about each other and get along. Just because pop culture has forced f/m relationships start specifically because a girl and a boy get along(if even that happens), doesn't mean that all characters in all media that get along are romantically into each other. Both of those are bad and thinking that its not is a double standard. Platonic chemistry and romantic chemistry are not the same (even if pop culture media continue to try and make it seem like they are). But so many posts trying to prove Sora is actually canonically secretly in romantic love with Riku and Kairi only have evidence of him just being his regular old self, doing things he canonically sees as platonic-- things that are platonic.

It's not an issue of people headcanoning Sora with romantic/sexual attraction (or otherwise) for the other characters, it's about the harassing of other people that it's canon and the blatant aphobia and amatonormativity. All that's canon right now is that Sora cares about his friends, which includes Riku and Kairi, and the fact that I got so much negativity back for saying he's aroace and feels queerplatonic attraction for them only proves that some people in this fandom think aroace people can't care about anyone strictly because they don't feel romantic or sexual attraction. The aphobia in the fandom needs to be addressed, and the aspec content should be allowed to be post freely without push back.

TLDR; Once the main Kingdom Hearts fandom stops seeing every little interaction between certain characters as canonically romantic, it'll finally be a more open and healthy community that people won't be afraid to engage in.

I want this to be helpful to read and for someone to learn something. And if aphobia shows up again, maybe take that person to the side and say that's not cool? Defend us aspecs, please? Cause all that..really makes me feel bad about and put off Kingdom Hearts completely. (And again! I ship SoRiKai! But people that don't ship it shouldn't have to go through this either!)

[nobodies-png]

Destiny Trio - Love Languages

Headcanons and analysis on Sora, Kairi and Riku's love languages and the way they show their appreciation.

I started writing a draft with this very same prompt for the orgxiii but my god, i forgot how time consuming it is to write for 14 people all at once without repeating myself too much

so i'm taking a break from that by doing the exact same thing with less characters lmfao

Giving: Acts of Service, Physical Touch

Receiving: Gifts, Quality Time

[Acts of Service]

Sora is a bleeding heart through and through, so it makes sense to me that his first and foremost love language is acts of service - one way or another, he's always doing things for the sake of others, both big and small. Without a doubt, Sora is the type of person who would gladly give you the world and ask for nothing in return.

Because he's willing to help anyone, it's extremely easy to see Sora as gullible, naive and easy to take advantage of. And that might've been true when he was younger! However, those closest to him know about that stubborn streak of his: every day, Sora wakes up and actively chooses kindness over everything else.

This intense mindset is what drives him forward, it's also what makes Sora so reliable. No matter the situation, he'll always be there for those he cares about.

He'll be there if you need someone to help you with chores or to keep you company during sleepless nights, telling you all about his adventures until you fall asleep. He's the one staying behind on the island, looking for that good luck charm Kairi gave you, the one you lost while playing on the beach. The second he hears you're sick, or lonely, or feeling bad in general, he's at your doorstep calling out your name, so that you can tell him how to help. To him, the best feeling is knowing that his loved ones are cared for and safe, that they don't have to worry about anything.

And because he makes friends wherever he goes, it means he has many, many connections. If he can't help you out directly, then chances are he knows someone who absolutely can.

Out of the group, the one who gets carried away the most is Sora. So in this case, acts of service is a double-edged sword - he'll stop at nothing to help others or to do what he believes will soothe their pain, even if it means sacrificing himself for it.

One of my favorite portrayals of Sora is seeing how years of being "the chosen one" affected him while growing up, to the point where he doesn't see any alternatives to martyrdom because he's so used to carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. So whenever he wants to show someone that he cares, he does it through acts of service because - in his eyes - there's nothing else that he can offer other than being helpful and fixing what's wrong. Because he's supposed to being the one to save everything and everyone.

[Physical Touch]

This love language isn't as loaded as the previous one - Sora is just a naturally touchy-feely, clingy person!

He's usually leaning or touching his friends and loved ones in some manner, either by having an arm around their shoulders, holding their hand, linking arms, leaning on them, etc... You name it! Hell, this isn't even limited to people Sora knows or cares about, because he'll also be pretty friendly and casually affectionate with people he just met.

His welcoming aura, paired with the incredible hugs he gives, makes Sora an absolute machine when it comes to getting people to eventually drop their guard, no matter how hesitant they may be towards physical contact. The main example to this is Riku!

Of course, if confronted directly about boundaries and such, Sora would respect them to the best of his ability and make it an habit of asking for permission before doing anything.

Also I lied, there is a bittersweet tone to Sora's affections.

It might not seem like it, since he's extremely casual with physical touch, it means a lot to him. In a way, being able to reach out to people, know they're right there next to him, that he can actually hug them, helps ground Sora.

I imagine he becomes even clingier over the years, a side-effect to constantly losing his best friends and all the people he's befriended in his journeys. One would expect physical touch to be a love language he likes to receive instead of give, but it all ties back to Sora's inability to let himself be cared for.

Perhaps he re-contextualizes it as him letting others know that he'll always be there, that they're the ones who can reach out for him and he'll actually be there - as opposed to him needing their presence to feel whole and calm. Who knows!

Giving: Gifts, Words of Affirmation

Receiving: Acts of Service, Quality Time

[Gifts]

Kairi is also very openly affectionate with her loved ones, but she shows how much she cares about them through gifts.

Typically, she tries to get small, cute and useful things to her friends - perhaps erasers shaped like fun animals, hair clips to keep the hair out of your face or some scrunchies, sometimes it's things she knows you've been eyeing for awhile. Sometimes it's matching lunchboxes! Kairi is extremely attentive to her surroundings and those around her, so her gifts tend to come in at just the right moment. Like Sora, she likes to make the lives of her loved ones a bit easier and more colorful.

Her love for lucky charms and trinkets is known by almost everyone on the islands, but contrary to popular belief, Kairi only makes them for very special occasions - they're very meaningful gifts for her, after all! In her words, if she were to give everyone she knows one, they would lose all their magic.

Like the ones she gives to Sora, these charms are meant to represent a promise between her and her loved ones - that you'll come back safe and sound to her, that you'll never forget her. Because Kairi is used to being the one left behind, these charms are a way for her to be with all the people she has to say goodbye to, even if its just a very small part of her.

It also goes without saying that Kairi always gives the best gifts during any event that requires them, like Secret Santas, special holidays, birthdays and so on. Even if you don't know what type of gift you'd like, she'll figure it out. It's almost scary!

I also like to think that she's quite good at arts and crafts (and that's why Naminé is so artistic) as well as writing, so she'd include very heartfelt notes with her gifts.

[Words of Affirmation]

In KH2, we see that Kairi was very eager to start protecting Sora and Riku in return instead of staying by the sidelines, the culmination of all those themes about being left behind over and over - so I like to think that words of affirmation is Kairi's secondary love language because it's more of a skill she's had to develop over the years.

She was rarely allowed the chance to do anything for herself, but she knows that people will listen to her words, if that makes sense?

Like, let's be honest: as close as the Destiny Trio might be, growing up with two boys who will constantly fight for your attention is kind of tiring - the amount of mediating Kairi has had to do from a young age is amazing. So that awareness, paired with the fact that she was adopted by the mayor of the islands, made Kairi very aware of the effect her words would have on people, whether she liked it or not.

She's always been kind and considerate, but her words tend to be a little sweeter because of this whole thing. Whenever she sees someone in need of a listening ear, she'll be very gentle, allowing the other party to steer the conversation to whatever they're comfortable discussing with her.

Her advice is always solid, but it might feel a little distant to some, like she's specifically choosing to say the safest things for your situation.

This is something she outgrows as she becomes older, the current Kairi doesn't have to suppress her own stubbornness anymore, after all - she calls it how she sees it, and might tease you from time to time, but she always make sure that you feel heard, seen and cared for, passionately talking about how much you inspire her.

And this is also where her letters come into play! It's way easier for her to put thoughts and feelings into a letters or notes, because she does get flustered over rambling and gushing so much about her loved ones.

Giving: Acts of Service, Quality Time

Receiving: Words of Affirmation, Physical Touch

[Acts of Service]

Riku is a stark contrast to Sora and Kairi, he struggles with being as openly affectionate - both verbally and physically - as them, which leaves him with two love languages that don't necessarily focus on either of those two things.

He shares acts of service with Sora, but Riku helps those he cares about specifically to repay all the kindness and patience he's been shown. And in this aspect, he's more similar to Kairi - instead of grand gestures, both prefer to do little things to make others happy.

In fact, Riku doubles down on this. He's proud to know others rely on him, whenever someone might approach to ask him for help, but he greatly prefers helping from the shadows (less embarrassing and less chances to get flustered that way). He'll wake up early to make breakfast or make whatever necessary preparations for the day, just so that you can take a few extra minutes in bed. If you need to run errands, he's most likely taken care of half of them already so that you only have half of the work left.

To differentiate him more from Sora: Sora is on your doorstep the second he finds out you're sick, but Riku is most likely the reason you never got sick in the first place because he's probably been fussing about you wearing enough layers.

One thing I love to headcanon about Riku is that he's great at everything and anything - as long as he's doing it for someone else. He'll put in the extra effort if needed, but really he'll only succeed if his motivation is helping someone he cares about. And because he makes sure that no one sees his failures (if possible), it makes Riku come across as this perfect guy, which is most likely what fueled his rivalry with Sora when they were kids.

[Quality Time]

Because of the chaotic life he's led, Riku appreciates the quiet moments even more.

Whenever he feels restless, or whenever he sees his loved ones stressed and in need of a break, Riku won't hesitate to pull them away from their responsibilities into an impromptu date. You will hang out with him and you will relax or so help him.

Like every person native to Destiny Islands, his first instinct is to seek the nearest body of water (if the ocean isn't that easy to get to). An empty beach, river or lakeside on a sunny day is the perfect way to relax - whether you want to swim around, walk along the shore, or just dip your feet into the water and talk until the sun sets.

He's never been one for large crowds or huge outings with dozens of friends, so one-on-one time is perfect for someone like Riku. If you ever need someone to just sit with you in absolute silence, you can count on Riku to be there for you. If you need that to be a daily or weekly occurrence, he'll set up seven alarms to make sure he's never late.

You'll get to see Riku's most vulnerable side, when he trusts you enough to show that he genuinely wants to be closer to you - even if all you two do is talk about groceries, what you'd like to do next week or to show you the funny shit Kairi and Sora text him when half-asleep. He'll stumble over his words at times, apologize for the smallest of things that you never even noticed or thought were an issue, like getting a little sassy and regretting it instantly because what if you weren't as close as he thought you were, etc.

All in all, under all those layers of nonchalance and effortless perfection, Riku is one huge mess, but he trusts you enough to know that. And he'd be over the moon to know you also trusted him enough to lower your guard around him.

[isan0rt]

Hey crazy thought but maybe Kairi wouldn’t seem like such a ‘wasted character’ if this fandom would quit taking everything of narrative and thematic significance about her and assigning it to Riku constantly all the time.

(The evaluation of the ways in which Kairi and Riku are important and vital foils for each other got kind of long so it’s under a read more; to be clear, I love Riku so much, and it makes me super mad to see his narrative also being undermined by this trend, this is not a hate post.)

Kairi and Riku serve opposing but complementary purposes in the narrative. Kairi represents light, but she also represents the stagnation of the light. Many characters who are associated with just light are also associated with stagnation and a resistance to change. Hoder and Eraqus are particularly extreme examples, but Aqua exemplifies this as well. They want a predictable world where things stay as they ‘should’ be and they are threatened by changes to the status quo. Eraqus in particular refuses to change anything about himself for 60 years, only taking on students at the last minute because he’s running out of time. Kairi, like Eraqus and Hoder and Aqua, stands as the bold, sharp light that casts others into shadow.

However, the other side of “resistance to change” means that Kairi represents restoration. She is able to restore Sora in KH1, pull them home in KH2, and hold Sora back from death itself in KH3, because her power is one of restoration. She holds so tightly to their old way of being that she can stop death itself in the interest of not changing too drastically. But she is unable to move forward on her own, because she fears change too much. She wants to chase after the boys when they keep leaving her behind…but she isn’t able to keep up, because what she actually wants is for them not to run at all. 

She wants to go home, and restore their previous status quo. This desire is consistent in her for the entire series; this is also why she is unable to let go of her childhood crush for Sora, even though he’s obviously not the person she wants him to be anymore. For Sora, Kairi is the rock, she is the home that will always be there, he feels that she is the secure dock he can always return to after the storm. He relies on her not changing, which reinforces her fear of change. Lea is similar, and they can bond in KH3 over both their mutual desires to restore a prior, idealized status quo where their friends were reliably there and not at risk of disappearing on them or running away from them or changing.

Riku on the other hand embodies transformation. He represents change to the status quo, growth and development and a new way to be. Too much change is as much of a problem as too little; Kairi in KH1 sees Riku wants change, and it scares her, and he does in fact go too far. At the same time, she’s the catalyst for Riku’s desire to change their circumstances. Kairi’s arrival at the islands in the meteor shower incites Riku to dream of going to the outside world. This too is a tension that creates an anxiety in Kairi - in a way, she can see herself as to blame for Riku’s desire to change. But Riku was always going to change, because that’s who he is. He is radical change, the change that cuts away restrictive dogma so that the world can advance. Riku drives Sora to also want to grow and change, to excel and challenge himself. Sora wants to be like Riku, whose strength and internal drive he admires.

Ultimately Kairi and Riku are in BALANCE with each other. Ironically, while Kairi is themed as ‘the sea,’ her narrative purpose is to be steady as the earth. Riku’s name is ‘the earth,’ but he is changing and dangerous as the sea. They are one another’s reflections in the narrative. Kairi’s arc is about learning to let go and move forward, even though it scares her. Riku’s entire arc is about finding balance, not throwing away the comfort of the past, that inoculates him from falling too far the way Baldr and Xehanort do. Riku can drive Kairi to join them by giving her a Keyblade too. Kairi can pull Riku back from fleeing from them by seeing him even under Ansem’s face. He is able to be in contrast with Kairi in a healthy way, in a way that honors her fears while also refusing stagnation. They have to work TOGETHER to find Sora, because they are one another’s narrative and thematic opposites. Kairi is too stagnant on her own, and Riku too volatile. Sora is the healthy middle between them, the center-point that can bind the light and the dark TOGETHER for one purpose. 

Kairi is narratively and thematically important to Kingdom Hearts. She represents something, and trying to take the things that reinforce her narrative importance to the story (her representation of the light, her narrative purpose of ‘disruption’ in her arrival via the meteor shower, her position as the one who grounds Sora in opposition to Riku’s position as the one who drives Sora to push himself and achieve more) not only undermines her story, it undermines Riku’s.

[themattress]

Untitled Kairi Post II

Kingdom Hearts II is Kairi's other good game. It's (sadly enough) where she peaked.

However, many fans were and still are disappointed in KH2 Kairi. Is that reasonable?

…..Yes and no.

I feel that Kairi’s role in Nomura’s base story for KH2 is really good, barring one factor. She starts remembering Sora and even makes contact with his heart via Roxas which causes her to send her poem out to sea, she befriends Pluto and goes through a Dark Corridor to Twilight Town where she befriends Hayner, Pence and Olette, she gets kidnapped by Organization XIII and held captive in the Castle That Never Was, is rescued by Namine (the other half of herself) and reunites with Riku and in turn reunites him with Sora, is given a weapon and is able to fight as part of the heroic party, she saves Namine from fading through reassimilating her into her heart, and ultimately her poem inspiring pure feelings in Sora allows him to open the Door to Light and bring himself and Riku home after all hope seemed to be lost; he even is finally able to return her good luck charm to her as promised in KH1.

The one factor that needed to be altered was the kidnapping part. It still had to happen, but it preferably should have happened a good while after showcasing her stay in Twilight Town and fleshing out her character. The scene where she goes to Twilight Town should have happened much earlier, and we could constantly cut back to her after completing each world (maybe even have a playable moment or two with her). Do that and everything’s perfect.

However, not only was this factor not altered, but three glaring problems also transpired.

First of all, notice a pattern in all of Kairi’s major scenes?

WE GET IT. Kairi really, really likes Sora; she’s his love interest. That was a huge part of her character in KH1, but there (as I just got done analyzing) Kairi still had a backstory and feelings on matters that were unrelated to Sora and an inner life and an actual character arc that progressed from beginning to end…all of this despite Sora being the one whom she primarily interacted with! And it’s terrible that KH2 isn’t affording her the same treatment when at the same time it gives her so many other characters to interact with like Selphie, Pluto, Hayner, Pence, Olette, Namine, King Mickey, Axel and Saix. The best she gets is with Riku:

Secondly, she gets a weapon. Did it have to be a Keyblade, and did that Keyblade have to be so flowery? No, but whatever. It’s a weapon, and she can fight with it. She says so herself!

She does so against a horde of Heartless - in a cutscene. Where we only see her take out two enemies and then the remainder of the fight largely happens offscreen. Afterwards, we never see the goddamn thing again! Not even when it clearly is supposed to be there:

Come ON! We needed way more than that! And hey, game developers, couldn’t you have given Kairi a non-party battle AI? You gave one for Axel who wasn’t even supposed to make it that far into the story; so why not Kairi? It makes this whole pay-off underwhelming to many.

Third and finally, what is she doing when not fighting or having a scene centered around how much she cares for Sora? Mainly just idly standing in the back row of the party and saying “Sora!”, “Riku!”, or both. Now, this point isn’t quite as bad as the others since this is shared with Donald and Goofy rather than be exclusive to her, and the game also has several screens where you can talk to Kairi and she has text boxes with dialogue that actually showcases more of her personality beyond just being Sora’s love interest. She reminds you of her knowledge of nautical superstitions, is perceptive enough to recognize the Proof of Existence chamber as a graveyard, says she doesn’t like being left out of adventuring, says that she wants to get more skilled as Sora and Riku in combat so that they get hurt less, and outright puts her foot down and tells Sora in non-negotiable terms that from now on where he goes she goes too (please ignore Nomura totally ruining this in the games past KH2, ‘kay?)

So, that’s why people are often hard on KH2 Kairi. BUT I still say that she still deserves credit for the things done right with her, namely the important plot-relevant actions she undertakes, the fact that she gets to forge connections with so many other characters at all, the fact that she even has a weapon and gets to fight competently with it, those aforementioned text boxes, and her still getting some measure of character development through learning that “waiting isn’t good enough” (again, ignore Nomura’s post-KH2 fuckery!) Plus - her attitude!

And this leads me to my final point, which is….

Kairi in the Kingdom Hearts II manga doesn’t get kidnapped until after quite a while spent in Twilight Town and even receives a focus chapter while being held captive, her relationships with other characters are fleshed out beyond her just talking about Sora with them, she has much more impressive showcasing of her combat skills and is even outright acknowledged as possibly a fiercer fighter than Sora and Riku, she displays her character the whole way through and not just in optionally viewable text boxes, and on top of all this her facial expression are always on point, which isn’t even something that can be said of other characters in the manga! She’s got all of the game upsides, and none of the downsides.

[kosmic-arts]

It is Once Again Time To Complain About Things That Don't Matter

358/2 days is definitely one of the better written kh games, but don't let that fool you. its not like the bar was very high to begin with (i am only partially joking).

i love days, but there is so much wasted time and space in that game. i despise how much characters fainting, falling asleep, having amnesia, and gotdamn brainblasts, are constantly used as plot devices because the writers don't know how to organically move characters along to the next plot point(this goes for all of kh, not even just days). the entire novelty of days is getting to play on the bad guy's side while getting an intimate look at all the cool badass org members, and yet you hardly get to know any of them over the course of the game. barely any time is taken to flesh them out, which is a complete travesty btw, and even axel- who is one of the major supporting characters- ultimately takes a backseat to roxas and xion's emotional angst. its good emotional angst, but theres no reason for it to overwhelm the entire game. and honestly, even roxas himself takes a backseat to xion's even bigger emotional angst! roxas hardly gets to know who or what he is, whats going on, or what for. roxas is a complete passenger, and as time goes on i struggle to see the value in that, even if it does feed into the overall themes of his story and his own emotional angst.

because, look: xion was a passenger as well; she had no choice in her situation, only the illusion of one that riku offered her. and yet, she still was allowed a moment of agency. roxas tried to do the same after xion's death by going to kill the organization(which frankly, he could've killed every last one of them- get real), riku stops him and refuses to explain or reason with roxas to get him to consider another way. riku just proceeds to taunt him. whwhy i find it hilarious that riku took pity on xion because she reminded him of kairi, but the guy who's literally his best friend's nobody whom he is currently fighting to save-... he acts like a bitch to, and refuses to give him any of the same consideration that he gave to the girl. what the fuck is that

what is with the complete and utter disrespect of roxas in his own game- >>specifically<< by the people who should be his allies. remember that bit at the end of days where roxas is about to leave and confronts axel for answers, and practically pours his heart out begging axel to help him?? axel refuses to tell him who sora is and that he’s sora’s nobody, etc. ok.. maybe he’s afraid of getting shot by the organization because it’s classified information. no, fuck that. its a major part of axel’s character is that he puts his own desires and wants before his job or duty. and! he also cares a great deal about his friends, even above his own wellbeing. he helps xion escape the organization when he was on that mission with xigbar. he didn’t even have an excuse to protect himself when xigbar interrogated him for letting xion go- axel could’ve gotten shot then and there for helping the traitor. he straight up put his neck on the chopping block for xion’s sake.

so then, why now with roxas, does he refuse to do anything at all to help him? he’s done shit before like lie to roxas in a vain attempt to make him happy- axel cares about him! he wants to help him, especially when hes sad- and in this final moment, roxas is in complete despair. axel could’ve very easily been like “well i cant tell you,, but maybe some other guy could… uh idk his name starts with an R”. god almighty it would’ve been so easy to just nudge roxas in a direction while still covering for himself if he was still worried about that. but no, completely out of character, axel just abandons roxas to possible execution(of which he would likely be the one to carry out) by the org for rebelling, without even giving roxas the slightest lifeline to find the answers that he deserves.

man i just lost the entire topic going on an whole ass side tangent…. what even was the topic to begin with idk im complaining about days. i'll proceed with a spicy hot take! get ready. when xion died, all memory and evidence of her existence shouldn't have been erased. yes. as depressing of an idea as it is- like, her friends aren't even allowed the luxury of cherishing her memory when she's gone, i think we all know why it was a bad move in the long run. xion getting wiped from existence was a poorly veiled excuse to avoid having to explain why nobody talks about her in other games- while also just straight up being able to get away without really mentioning 99% of what happens in 358/2 days to begin with. even as a kid i knew this was shit and i still think it's shit now, and the fact they had to pull a memory wipe trick like this is even more proof that the writers of kh are absolutely abysmal at tying their stories together or thinking ahead at all. or more like, they shot themselves in the foot daring to implement important plot details into spin-off titles in the first place. chain of memories started this trend, and even that game had to pull the memory wipe trick at the end of the game so as to not stunt players who didn't happen to own both a ps2 and a gba.

its a really asinine trend that has indisputably ruined kh with each installment. like, you can't be serious. in order to understand the main villian's(xehanort) motivations, i have to play 2 games and a casino, to have a full understanding as to why this old fuck wants to blow everyone up. for the longest time, i didn't understand why xehanort was concocting this decade long masterplan to attain kingdom hearts, UNTIL i happened upon the kh wiki. this is so sad you cant make this shit up you can figure out within the space of kh1 why ansem wants kingdom hearts. he's a power hungry mad scientist that went batshit insane in pursuit of knowledge. a classic victor frankenstien-esque character archetype. its so easy! I understood that without issue even as a child. too bad they couldn't just do that again with the next major villian! tbf, even xemnas' goals were extremely simple-...... until they added in the bit where he was lying to the entire org about them not having hearts or the ability to feel and yadayada... what was he trying to accomplish with that stunt again? don't get me started how stupid xemnas lying is. you've gotta be shitting me. like, are you saying that intelligent scientists like zexion and vexen wouldn't figure out such an obvious lie? what about lexaeus? luxord? really?? these aren't stupid people. at least one of them would have figured it out. would've been a good opportunity to give marluxia a reason to have been trying to pull a coup(besides wanting power???) because he figured out xemnas was a manipulative fuck and marluxia decided to take initiative and overthrow him. i love marluxia, but damn, the entire time i was playing com i had no idea what the fuck his motivations were.. why does he want to take over the organization... was that ever mentioned? …huh

but wait wait, i just went on another massive side tangent. i want to go back to talking about xion. i would've much preferred if we got to see moments of roxas and axel struggling to come to terms with losing one of their only friends. like, how would axel handle being completely powerless to save her, and frankly unable to even be there in her final moments? maybe he would've turned on the organization much sooner, because how could he ever continue working for the group that split him apart from the 2 people that really matter to him. that'd be interesting. roxas could eventually cool down, and simmer into a depression AND NOT GET THROWN INTO A SHITTY SIMULATION BECAUSE RIKU SHOULDVE BEEN NICER TO HIM. huh what- and maybe roxas might feel inclined to give up, but meeting with namine could be some reassurance to him because she tells him all that stuff about how he won't disappear and there's hope for nobodies like them!! honestly, just seeing the characters having to grapple with the pain of their past and actually talk about it instead of vaguely wincing about things they feel but can't remember would've been so much better. i get it, it's a mildly entertaining trope- characters suffering emotional wounds they don't remember receiving, or acting in strange ways in deference to old traditions they can no longer recall... yeah i get the appeal, but it doesn't make for a very strong story in the long run, especially with an event as major as xion's sacrifice. why can't characters be allowed to grow from their past and have character development. i like it when a character's history influences them in meaningful ways that isn't entirely superficial.

heck man, idk. you get the point. days is full of amazing ideas and has a fantastic premise, but like all things in kh, it struggles to hold up as soon as you examine it with the barest amount of scrutiny. thanks for coming to my ted talk.

[strayheartless]

Something we don’t talk enough about is the fact that the folklaw of the paopu fruit isn’t inherently romantic (And before I go any further I want to make clear that this is not trying to discredit ships or claim kairi and sora are not in love. You ship what you ship and I’ll ship what I ship and never the two shall interfere.).

The fact of the matter is, that what we hear about the folk law of the fruit is this:

“If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They’ll remain a part of each others lives no matter what.” - Riku, KH1

NOW! I am aware that within the context of the scene rRku is teasing sora over his crush on Kairi - anyone with eyes could see that. However, despite the obvious romantic ideal of having a shared destiny, it is not a wholly romance based idea.

You could share the fruit with just about anyone you knew if you wanted to be in their lives forever. Say, a best friend or a family member, or a particularly precious family pet.

Anyone you wanted to stay with, you could share one with.

Which raises a question about this mystical fruit. Is it’s sharing symbolic in KH law or is Namora really out here basing the entirety of sora’s connection to his friends on the basis of -what essentially boils down to- a magical star shaped mango?

The way I see it is that Sora’s intention to share the Paopu with Kairi can absolutely be read as romantic. The narrative clues are there, we can see them. However, arguably Sora has just as much reason to share the paopu with all of his friends as he does with her.

His fate is so intrinsically intertwined with that of ventus, Roxas and Xion, That he could share one with them. He has deep connections with Donald and Goofy, that he holds incredibly dear to him. After all his friends are his power, his strength to carry on. So he could share one with them.

He spent so long looking for, finding, loosing, and looking all over again for Riku, that he has every reason to share one with his best friend, even if it simply means never loosing sight of him again.

Sora’s motivations to share one with kairi may stem from romance, but that doesn’t make the law of the fruit specifically romantic.

In a way the paopu fruit is a bit like a pinky swear. It’s a promise to never loose sight of the other person and to share their destiny with the other person.

Perhaps the magic goes simply as deep as the intention of sharing one or the visualisation. Perhaps in simply handing a person the fruit with the intent to share is enough to bind one another.

The only three people that we ever see holding the fruit are Kairi, Sora and Riku. Perhaps that is where the bond starts.

In KH 1 Riku throws the fruit to Sora, who catches it. That is, in itself an act of sharing. In the cave sora draws himself feeding kairi and she then draws herself feeding him. That is an intent to share.

Therefore, by this logic, Sora is inextricably linked to both of them. Because they, all three, passed the fruit/ visualised passing the fruit to another.

And I can hear you say, ah yes, but flo, Riku and Kairi never shared a paopu in any capacity. And, dear reader you’d be right. However, they both shared one in different capacities with Sora, and thus are both linked to him, and by extension each other.

Now, Riku and Kairi are a odd little conundrum that has often bothered me. They are friends, they obviously care for one and other. And in KH1 it’s clear that there’s a little bit of show boating going on between the boys as to who can impress Kairi more.

Its something Naminé plays on in CoM, and it’s obvious that at one point or another, Riku’s priorities were the same as Sora’s. Protect Kairi. Yet, there is an extremely noticeable point at which that changes.

That place being Rikus journey in CoM. It is here that Riku shifts his focus from protecting Kairi to protecting Sora.

There are many reasons and possible theories for this. If your are on this app as frequently as I think you are then you probably know about most of them. So I’m not going to delve too deep into that one.

The point remains though, that Kairi and Riku’s destinies both diverge/ and converge at the same time. On the one hand, they diverge as Riku moves his focus from protecting her and making up for his actions as Ansam’s puppet; while simultaneously converging on one single fixed point that is their only meaningful connection to each other for the entire story.

Sora.

He is what binds them together, he is their destiny and he is what intertwined their destiny’s with each other.

Sora -as mushy as it sounds- is their star shaped fruit. They chose to share the paopu with him and thus inadvertently shared him between them. They both hold a piece of his destiny and his heart. Regardless of what you ship that can’t be denied.

Because the folk law of the paopu fruit is not an inherently romantic.