#honestly so much can be compared to soriku

[mythicalartistx]

Soriku AMV: KH x Epic The Musical "No Longer You"

[x1e3ju]

another rant: not persona related for the first time i think lol

ok so im back to rant on here as per usual, this time on my sister's computer which is where i do most if not all my websiting and not on my phone which is when you know it is very serious!

ok so as the title suggests, this rant ISNT! about persona 5 as ive been playing kingdom hearts and its been on my list for many, many years but my other sister finally got us a ps4 in nov of 2022 after so very long of us wanting one with her fafsa money and i managed to finish final mix.. now! very productive and not adhd-pilled of me whatsoever (i say incredibly sarcastically) but anywho, i finally finished final mix, as i've stated before and am now playing re:chain and i absolutely hate kingdom hearts' combat because it is so god damn unnecessary and pointless and horrible! but the long time hyperfixation and yaoi grind is so serious which i did not know soriku was so heavy in the game lmfao, my poor girl kairi she deserves so much better omg ToT but that's a whole different, much bigger conversation rant for another day..

but enough with long ass stupid intros, as a long time riku fan seeing his character and just how the overall story has played out so far aside from the ridiculous ass writinggg, i've been really impressed ngl! it has a lot of potential that it actually reaches, again, aside from the horriddd writing, the plot and ending in particular was very similar to revolutionary girl utena which is like. absolute peak everything for me lmfao honestly i wouldn't be shocked if it was inspired by it cuz they are soo many similarities, i kept even pointing it out to my sis (who HASN'T watched it yet very unfortunately!) cuz im such a nerd lmao. and especially with riku, im very happy he's even IN the game first of all cuz compared to most of my other sillies... like rip to my girl akechi you deserved so much better.. but anywho anywho, i really love riku's character and everything his character represents ESP from what i've seen in the com gba ver which i don't know if that passes to re:com, which is the ver im playing but i really hope so cuz i've seen some clips and he is, ugh such an amazing character so yes. im going to deep dive here with revolutionary girl utena, specifically anthy and akio as my basis for most of this lmaosdbhh (rgu spoilers and kh too of course)

i know im very crazy with how i jump to conclusions and try to "analyze" characters and all that, even from as young as i can remember myself i've always thought like. wayy too much its honestly very embarrassing but there's personally a lot of similarities between akio and anthy's whole dynamic that reminds me of riku and diz and ansem, whatever that whole mess is. i know diz isn't essentially a villain from what i've heard and seen and searching more about it now to double check what i'd be saying on here isn't complete nonsense, i forget kingdom hearts is legit nonsense and i clearly do not know much to anything at all about diz and ansem and whatever tf is happening there omglj ToT but but i will try my very best and to differentiate, ill be calling the actual ansem diz and the ansem in final mix just ansem so its easier for everyone involved lol and again ill mostly be focusing on parallels of rgu to final mix but overall, talking mostly about riku (my baby :3) yayy!

its so crazy how the final mix plot went to me, again im actually just very shocked with kingdom hearts' storylines and stuff in general. i imagine not much thought was put behind it as the writing. speaks for itself but it is actual very nuanced and again, has a lot of potential it actually reaches or could reach which is like. gold mine for me! we know that in rgu, akio is very blatantly harassing and abusing anthy in all forms, even the people around her, succumbing to the abuse he had endured throughout all his life really giving him no purpose or real reason as we see and are made to imply in episode 39 and the last scene with anthy as she leaves the school, he has nothing to really back up why anthy should stay, as of course they never will be any real reason to it aside from the abusive cycle that they're in specifically he is stuck in, having to make it everyone else's problem from lack of growth and realization (which still doesn't excuse any of his horrid actions, but was practically impossible for him to do but that is a pretty bigger conversation for what we have here to discuss today). it reminds me a lot of ansem and his connection with riku, how he used riku's body and how ansem's "motive" is never really mentioned in final mix, not that much can really be deciphered with all that darkness-hearts talk anyway but you know. and mind you, i know there's a lot more lore that goes into ansem and the reason for his existence, him being a heartless and all, same with diz and the actual ansem so again, i won't be really going into how ansem and akio are similar as individuals but just as their roles in the respective main storyline of final mix (ive stated that way too much times by now, curse you adhd) riku's body being used as just another vessel to ansem and the "darkness" that was inside of him was only really possible because riku was an easily susceptible child, as children are obviously going to be, and ansem used this position of innocence and hashtag childlike wonder lol to be able to use him and manipulate him to do his bidding, essentially. even after everything, when sora is inside that egg (for reasons i havent yet to know!) which can parallel what happens to utena at the end of rgu, riku/anthy are still in the shadows of their abusers to even save their loved one, as unfortunate as it is. it is just like the door scene with riku and sora which is extremely similar to the rgu door scene (which is when all these similarities really hit me lol), both riku and anthy are inside the door or coffin or whatever the case and they are the ones that have to be saved but it ends up being the other way around as again, the abusive cycle is continuous and unfortunately, ever affecting but it is a very big part to break free from this cycle that you try to grow, into a better person as riku and anthy did. again, they were still connected to their abusers, each to their respective cases but they were actively seeking freedom by putting love first and not just romantic love, but love at all, in all of its forms (such a nuanced thing, lol no pun intended but yes i do love that topic very much) which is something abusers do not have, as someone who is currently in a situation like this, a lot can be said from personal experience.

i think it's interesting to view how riku viewed the "ansem in his heart" as just an amalgamation of fear and abuse of all those unfortunate things. the ansem that he was scared of, not diz/the real deal, was a lot more of a disgusting type of person, someone who was "darker, more foul" as the ansem he knew was a literal heartless being, literally. and diz was able to use this fear to his advantage by being insanely creeping and threatening to him (which is where we can see abusers are still human at the end of the day) when riku could've "choose between darkness and light" or he could've realized his specialness, in a much nicer more peaceful way lol and i don't just say that cuz the combat is awful or as jokes, i genuinely mean it. and in all that, that is the literal definition of abuse! same as what akio did and even with akio's character as his prince self and his present self, we are made to believe they are two different ppl bc of how much he gave into that abuse and let it consume him, he became a monster, someone completely different in his entirety (which i fucking love that btw). and again, i know that is not the case with ansem and diz because they are literally two different people but you can't argue the general ideas are similar and the nuisances/themes are and could be there, i think it works really well for an abuse allegory. using sora, what he held very dear as anthy did utena or just the general idea of a genuine love and connection for them both which is obviously what the care and love stems from, to get riku to do his bidding, changing riku by almost entirely just to discard him later and only focus on what really threatened his power, or abusive cycle in reality (cuz ik the ansem drama goes a lot more serious and family oriented and all that lol), which was sora and in akio's case, utena (by keeping them in "eternal slumbers" in the places that they are situated in or around/familiar with). even to the way that riku treats sora in final mix, which i know isn't really him but his sort of detachment to him is very similar to anthy and how she would treat utena. which really isn't just comphet but it is something much, much bigger than that that doesn't really involve utena much when you really look at it. it is a very general sort of detachment and indifference that comes with abuse i really wished more people talked about because abuse is not just some funny little joke or something to be easily looked over! for the love of god, i am ating at so many things rn good lord. but his detachment towards sora was just his brain numbing to the abuse, losing that sense of love and almost sanity and even humanity to look at it that way, just as what happened to anthy and her barely-any-sense-of personality. like unfortunately it's still riku and it was still him, even if very little but he was still there and what we were seeing there was just the abuse and manipulation taking him over or the abuser and abusive cycle taking them over just as what akio became due to his abusers and cycle, once again as it is continuous, and what ansem's literal existence was and meant. they were or had just become amalgamations of the "darkness" in ones' hearts, the bad things and i think the game like com itself showing that you are a mix of them both and you have to balance them both is very beautiful because yes, unfortunately you can never be truly cured even more so when it has affected you even from childhood, you have to just live with it but you can grow and be a better person because you are human and you have broken free from this cycle and have control over your own life. hopefully this makes sense, i really don't wanna come off any sort of way. writing this all makes me realize it is a very messy and nuanced topic even to describe it which.. makes me love it even more lol.

ima attach some lines here i got from this website online of a let's play lmfao cuz im lowkey losing my train here ugh, fuck adhd omg. but update while writing. i am currently rereading after like an hour and it kinda came back to me. sorry if the next paragraph is kinda random and already has some topics i have already introduced previously I REALLY DO HATE ADHD but i wouldn't be here without it would i now....

seeing more of the lines now, the words and nuisances of the things he says are genuinely soo abusive oml. there's just a lot of potential like i've stated so many times at this point, within the game. as someone with a few personality disorders, black and white morality is such a big issue with me and i feel like the whole darkness and light thing especially with how they handle it with riku can fit really well into that too. i headcanon riku with ocpd, something i have because i was really shocked with how much i resonated with his character and how much i see him struggling with that. him not being able to understand how him and sora and kairi could've came to one (agreement terms i mean, lord) and taking such drastic measures with everything and being so avoidant with the things around him, even with how he had such a want for a bigger worldwide and viewed himself as if he had so much more hopes and dreams compared to kairi and sora due to the simplicity of his innate thinking and again, took such drastic measures to achieve that and even prove it, even if it was mostly unwillingly, he was able to be easily manipulated because aside from being a child, his "larger worldview" was easy to crumble because it is just built on excessive thinking and the constant need for answers (which very much reflects perfection and obsessiveness that is the biggest issues with ocpd) which is very unstable because life isn't really like that and when you can't snap yourself into this realization or have no one else to really do it for you, trust me if you don't suffer through ocd or similar things like that yourself, it is difficult asf lemme tell you that. obsession doesn't really get you anywhere and that even goes into abuse and abusers' obsessions with whatever their "motives" are. it's strange because it doesn't really make any sense as their "motives" are never really real motives and can never really be described but that is just its nature because it is nonsensical and is just a result of overdrive and it kills, as simple as that.

ok so i have a lot more kingdom hearts related-thoughts and analyses aside from all my various other cringe, nerdy thoughts (we don't discuss the intrusive or sexual ones my friends) but i think i've ranted enough for today, another mid-way update but lost my train again, but this is the longest i've ever ranted for, definitely had to get it off my chest that's for sure lol. but aside from the ranting, i hope to use tumblr more, just to be on my own but i hope to post more doodles and art related shit on here as i hopefully figure out how to work my tumblr around and all that so it's easier to post from my phone and stuff without getting the computer and eventually losing all my energy :P yes, i will be cooking up rgu au for kingdom hearts like just doodles is what is to take from all this. sorry if it doesn't make much sense i tried my best fhfdshk

[keywieldsarc]

ok ok let’s see if i can decently condense the soriku thoughts that make me go Absolutely Feral every fucking time....

bc it’s quite honestly about the way they endlessly chase each other.  every time sora disappears, riku goes after him.  when riku wanted to hide from him, sora was hellbent on finding him.  it’s about the way sora will Never want to be anywhere without riku, it’s the way sora can’t feel at home or complete without riku.  it’s about the way riku is the only constant in his life, riku is the One Thing that has never been taken away from him or used against him, the way he feels towards riku has never been weaponized or used to manipulate him.

does sora know Exactly what he feels for riku ??  no, he doesn’t, but it doesn’t matter to him because riku is his home, riku is his best friend, and of course he cares about kairi too, but that’s like a drop compared to the very massive depths of what he feels for riku.  because sora has had every opportunity to go home and leave riku, has had every chance to say he’s done, but he can’t be done, because he refuses to live anywhere or anyway that doesn’t have riku by his side.

it’s about the fact that riku is the one thing sora cannot stand to lose and it’s about the way riku has given up so much to keep him safe and sora knows that, knows he owes riku a debt he can’t ever repay and it’s about the way he wants to protect him, fight for him, be strong enough to ensure riku never has to give up anything for him again.

it’s about the way that sora loves riku so unabashedly, so purely and so deeply that there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for riku to see him happy and safe

[gavillain]

Cinderella and Sora?

Okay, last ones for this set of this meme, let's go!

Cinderella

First impression - I always liked her just fine, but her movie was never quite on my radar in the same way the other princess movies were for the simple fact that Lady Tremaine wasn't as big of a villain as Grimhilde or Maleficent was.

Impression now - I adore her! Now that I've sort of grown and taken an adult's perspective on Disney, I can see very plainly that Cinderella is one of their best films, and that's in large part thanks to Cinderella herself. She's such an interesting and compelling character, and I think her story is just inspiring and so important for a lot of us.

Favorite moment - I think "Sing Sweet Nightingale" and her subsequent wrath towards Lucifer is the moment that stands out in my mind when I think of Cinderella. Just the way it showcases her effortless beauty and grace and then immediately contrasts that by showing what a spitfire she can be if she gets pushed.

Idea for a story - I'd be interested to see the version of Cinderella from Cinderella III get to travel through time to meet her self from the end of the first movie. I just think it'd be really interesting to see Jennifer Hale's Cinderella and Ilene Woods's Cinderella having a chance to meet and sort of compare and contrast them.

Unpopular opinion - She's not a bad feminist figure, and it's actually doing more harm than good painting her as the emblem of everything feminism is supposedly against because it alienates women in traditionally feminine roles and it treats surviving abuse as a weak character trait. It's lazy to dismiss her like that, and there's more relevant discussions to be had when it comes to gender.

Favorite relationship - Cinderella reconciling with her stepsister Anastasia and picking up the pieces there is one of the most interesting dynamics that the series touched on, at least for me.

Favorite headcanon - I like the idea that she was the one to handle most diplomatic relationships for the kingdom after she became queen. She's got a sort of "steering without letting you know she's steering" quality to how she interacts wit the world, and I feel like as a leader, she'd be much more effective at it than lovable himbo Prince Charming. She faced down Lady Tremaine. Hostile foreign powers got nothin' on that.

Sora

First impression - I actually thought he was very weird. The spiky hair, the fact that he had" girly" eyelashes and a "girl's" name, the fact that he was the main character of a game I thought was supposed to be a Disney crossover... it all just kinda turned me at first. It took a while when I was a kid for me to really get into the game and his story.

Impression now - He grew on me a lot! I came to love him and for him to be one of my favorite video game protagonists... then Kingdom Hearts 3 kinda just soiled the franchise for me. I'm still trying to pick up the pieces with him. But I do still care about him.

Favorite moment - KH1, cutscene before the first fight with Dark Riku when he gives the original (and best) "My friends are my power!" speech. Honestly, just a perfect moment!

Idea for a story - A Soriku Sleeping Beauty story where Sora finds himself trapped in slumber like he was in Dream Drop Distance and Riku having to face Maleficent and all the forces of Hell in order to wake him with True Love's Kiss.

Unpopular opinion - He's not himself in KH3. He was so full of life for most of the franchise, but in KH3 the animation makes him look dead behind the eyes and Osment's voice work and the dip in writing quality made him feel that way. I miss the person who Sora was before the series started turning to crap, but it's kinda hard to parse things out.

Favorite relationship - Sora/Riku is genuinely the greatest Disney love story that never happened. It's a true shame that the franchise never canonized it because the writing and the groundwork was ALL there, and it would have been so important!

Favorite headcanon - Both of his parents are very loving and friendly people who became sort of a second home for Riku. His mom is actually a head taller than his dad, a source of many inside jokes in the family.

[cloudofash]

Kingdom Hearts - Riku’s Possessiveness and Jealousy Part 3

The Counter Arguments

Please read Part 1 here.

Please read Part 2 here.

Please read Part 2 Addendum here.

So far I have hopefully connected some dots to build up to the claim that Riku was always in love Sora so no one can say I pulled this all out of my rump. While it’s obviously true that I am a HUGE Soriku fan, I didn’t come into Kingdom Hearts with the intention of shipping. Actually, I disliked Riku at first because I looked at him on the surface, but he's now my most favorite character in the series because of his development and I appreciate KH1 Riku now because I looked back and realized why he was such a brat. When I put together that he possibly had feelings for his best friend everything made sense. By KH2 I was like “Hm...Riku seems to harbor very strong feelings for Sora” and by DDD I was like “Oh hell, this boy is in love.” I know that my arguments will not change everyone’s mind, in fact I’m sure many read everything I said and came to the conclusion “Look at this crazy Soriku fangirl, reaching to make her pairing real!” I get it, such is the way in any fanbase. For this reason I would like to dedicate this part of my Jealous Riku series to counter some of the common counter arguments. I promise to shut up about KH1 Riku and his jealousy after this lol, I'll be focusing on current Riku and the series' future.

First and most importantly, how do we know Riku is possessive of Sora because he is in love with him? Couldn’t he just be jealous of others who claim his spot as Sora's best friend? If Riku was just possessive of his best friend in a platonic way then that would pretty much destroy my theory that he is attracted to and in love with Sora. I would say in Riku’s case, no his jealousy wasn't platonic. Riku’s possessiveness goes far beyond what is normal for a best friend. Let’s look back on the scene where he meets Donald and Goofy. If Riku actually bothered to introduce himself and be cordial with Donald and Goofy and Sora sided with Donald even after he refused to let Riku board the ship then I wouldn’t even be here writing this. Riku would have rightfully been angry with his best friend, angry that Sora chose to stick by a rude duck over his childhood friend of however many years. But this didn’t happen. Riku gave Donald and Goofy a hard look within seconds of acknowledging their presence. Though Donald shows that he’s a jerk Goofy was nice, but neither matter because Riku had already decided he didn’t like either of them. This is not normal jealousy, this is clearly a sign of extreme possessiveness. He doesn’t like ANYONE new to be around Sora or act friendly with him regardless of their intentions.

Some will probably claim "It's Kingdom hearts the writing is just bad". This is something I've seen before and I want to stress that this is not an argument it's an opinion. Some think the writing in the series is good, some say it’s decent, it's all subjective. For the sake of argument, let's run with the idea that someone claims "Nomura didn't know how to properly express Riku's jealousy which is why he seemed possessive" to branch off the "bad writing" idea. I have two counters for this: Sora and Isa/Saix. Sora says himself in KH2 that he was jealous of Riku which is why he always wanted to compete with him and hopefully beat him. Sora exhibited a far healthier form of jealousy, he didn’t care if Riku went off and made new friends, Sora never gave any hard side-eyes to Mickey when he found Riku had started hanging out with him. He didn’t start to hate or dislike Riku, he just wanted to compete with and beat him with his own strength. As for the case with Saix, in KH3 he told Axel that he was jealous of his relationship with Roxas and Xion. His jealousy compares greatly to Riku's, he saw someone he was once best friends with get close to someone else. But Saix specifically says:

This is where he differs from Riku, Saix isn't jealous of Roxas and Xion because he's possessive of Axel. Axel stopped hanging around with Saix, stopped helping him look for their missing friend and started focusing more and more on Roxas and Xion which occurred over a period of time not instantly. This goes back to what I said about rightful anger, Saix had every right to feel upset and abandoned by Axel. His jealousy was reasonable. Sora, at no point, alienated Riku the way Axel alienated Saix. Sora never took Donald's side when he said Riku couldn't come, Sora argued with Donald in Riku's defense. Even prior to that, Sora never abandoned or alienated Riku on the island and even when the darkness was swallowing Riku Sora tried to take his hand and go with him. Sora's and Saix's jealousy shows that Nomura/the KH writers (since they do change) know full well how to write jealousy in several different ways, therefore the argument that Riku's possessive jealousy is somehow bad writing is moot. I believe Nomura knew exactly how he wanted to portray Riku. 

Another counterargument that I commonly see is “Riku wasn’t jealous of people close to Sora, he was jealous of Sora himself he said so in KH2″. First of all, Riku said specifically that he was jealous of Sora because he wished he could “follow his heart” the way Sora did and that could be interpreted in a NUMBER of ways that prove my point but I’ll return to that in a second. Some people took this as meaning Riku was jealous of Sora being a Keyblade Wielder but this isn't possible. Riku’s darkness began on Destiny Islands BEFORE Sora even obtained the Keyblade in fact Riku’s darkness is what caused Sora to obtain it in the first place as confirmed by Nomura.

“That part is also a bit vague. In the Destiny Islands when Riku is swallowed by the darkness, there's a sparkle of light, and next comes the scene where Sora first gets the Keyblade, right? In my setting, the darkness wrapping itself around those two is the darkness of Riku's heart. At the moment when Sora enters that darkness, the light you can see is the light of the heart. Sora, trying to help Riku, struggling in the darkness, touches that light and temporarily the Keyblade goes to Sora. “ - Nomura

Riku could not be jealous of Sora being a Keyblade Wielder if it’s HIS darkness, HIS jealousy that leads to Sora getting the Keyblade in the first place. This point has been debunked.

Now if we look at what Riku says about being jealous of Sora because he’s able to “follow his heart”...I don’t know about you but doesn’t that seem like Riku’s admitting that he’s jealous that Sora can follow his heart to Kairi? Sora literally spent all of KH1 following his heart, searching for his crush. Even before that Sora was constantly thinking about Kairi and sharing a papou fruit with her even going as far as to draw himself feeding her the fruit. Riku would only be jealous of this if he was in a position where he couldn’t follow his heart. This point about Riku being jealous of Sora actually backs up what I said about Riku being attracted to Sora and learning that Sora is attracted to Kairi, Riku literally can’t follow his heart to his hetero (hopefully bisexual) crush. This would yet again explain Riku's initial descent into darkness - he had everything he wanted, the strongest, the smartest, the admiration of the other Island Children, the only thing he didn't have is Sora himself and he grew jealous of Kairi, of Sora's feelings for her. Now I’m not saying this is true, because Riku could also be jealous of Sora’s ability to follow his heart to his friends in general and not just his romantic crush. You know, the whole platonic thing which is the most likely meaning behind Riku’s words because KH is all about friendships which is why I did not use this as proof in my essay because I have no way to prove or even show evidence of which way Riku meant it. I’m just saying it is still possible Riku was referring to the romantic side of “following one’s heart”, he could have even meant both.

Now that we have established that Riku’s jealousy was definitely possessive, let’s head to some of the other arguments. There is usually the “Riku is straight argument” which runs along the lines of "Riku said he wanted to share the paopu fruit with Kairi so the one he is in love with is her." Or "Riku is about to be paired with Naminé , he is attracted to girls and is therefore straight." I already addressed Riku’s feelings about Kairi in the 2nd Part, there isn’t really anymore left to add. Namine is also easy to debunk. Nomura confirmed in the KH3 Ultimania that Riku only helped Naminé obtain a Replica body to act on behalf of Repliku’s feelings. In other words, as of now there ain’t nothin’ between them. Riku’s only reason for ever interacting with Namine was to help Sora retrieve his memories and he hasn’t really interacted with her too much beyond that. Not to say Square couldn't pull this pairing out of their ass but it would leave much to be desired since this ship doesn't have the buildup that Soriku has. I hope they never go down the route of throwing random pairs out for the sake of pleasing het shippers.

The final common argument that I see literally EVERYWHERE, in just about any fandom, is the inane argument that “You fangirls just want to make everything gay. Such-and-such is a Japanese work and the Japanese put a higher emphasis on male bonding and intimacy and friendship but it’s not gay, these two characters could never be gay. Japan doesn’t accept homosexuality - blah blah blah”

And wheeeeeew chile, there is so much to unpack here. I honestly didn't even want to touch this but since I see it so much in the KH fandom I felt compelled to address this. First of all, it irks me when people act like homosexuality doesn’t exist at all in Japan. Statistics from 2018 claim that about 8.9% of the Japanese population identify as LGBT+ between the ages of 20 to 59. That’s 1.1% away from being 10% of the ages 20-59 population, that is a significant number. It is incredibly ignorant to claim that Japanese people do not accept homosexuality, they are all individuals and naturally there will be close-minded people who don’t but there are many who do. The conservative Japanese politicians don’t accept it, but then again neither do most American politicians. Don’t mistake the views of the politicians as the views of the people.

Now, while it is true that those in Japan have different views on masculinity than some in America (ie: men soaking in a hot springs together, touching or even sitting on each others laps isn’t incorrectly labeled as “gay” like it most likely would be here in the States) this doesn’t mean that Japanese people don’t know the distinction between platonic intimacy and romantic intimacy. They know full well the difference between the two, it’s awful to claim with such arrogance that they don’t know as if they’re clueless. Even within the anime/manga/videogame industry Shounen-Ai and Yaoi exists with men kissing, hugging, touching romantically. As a matter of fact, the Kingdom Hearts novels themselves heavily imply that there is more between Sora and Riku and that Riku does have romantic feelings for Sora. There was a scene in the KH2 novel where Axel asks Riku "What is Sora to you?" Riku is lost for words, instead Namine answers that they're "best friends" for him. Read it for yourself below:

This is the official Kingdom Hearts novel by the way, the writer and artist (Tomoco Kanemaki and Shiro Amano) are both Japanese. Not a random "fangirl's fanfic". And let's not forget that Nomura approves these novels and the manga. They seem to have no problem writing/approving of Riku being canonically gay. You can dislike it all you want but it’s here to stay so get over it. Don't be the person who makes this horrible argument.

The one last counter I want to make is this: If you are against Soriku ask yourself if you would accept the pairing if Riku was a girl.

This Jealous Riku series focused heavily on Kingdom Hearts 1 but there is content across the entire series which could also act as strong evidence for Riku’s feelings. I could go on for years about how much evidence there is in this series. You can find such evidence plastered all across the net, I will probably touch upon some of it myself. This marks my series' conclusion, I hope the evidence I provided and the counter-arguments I’ve made show that Riku is truly in love with his best friend and that it’s not impossible that Riku could love Sora in a romantic way. Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this!!

[smartzelda]

(Wow, I wish I could kill tumblr for messing up and making me rewrite this whole thing from scratch)

Hi, bros! I've gotten so much of crit done this week, so there's a LOT to talk about

Let's start out where we left off in Toy Box.

So like, the Riku and Buzz parallels are so good, like, the Buzz being afraid of being taken over and hurting his friends. Buzz being more skeptical of people, but trusting of his friends and just trusting Woody a whole lot. I love how he just trusts Sora, Donald, and Goofy by the end and they're friends and stuff

The Sora and Woody parallels are so good too, like, Woody trusting Sora and friends right away because they seem to be good guys, fighting the enemies (it's such a Sora thing to trust people just cause they seem good) and really trusting Buzz. Woody doing the angry sassy while talking to YMX/the organization

And bro, like...the Soriku parallels...the softness...

This has so many kh2 Soriku vibes

SAME PICTURE DIFFERENT ANGLE. YOU CAN'T TELL ME OTHERWISE.

*clears throat* Ahem, um...anyways... I was thinking about when YMX tosses Sora into the Verum Rex Gigas minigame. 1st off, I beat it a lot faster than I did my first play through the game on proud mode, so that's helpful. I'm glad that having done this before is helping me learn to be at least a little less stupid and do some things easier because of experience. 2nd, YMX's role in kh3 is very interesting. The hole time I get that he knows more than he's letting on. I feel like he, like Sora, can remember everything between the demon tornado, Riku's sacrifice, mass death, and Sora saving everyone's hearts before the timeline being rewritten and turned back to before everyone dies, and assuming the SRT holds up, he even seems to know the events of the first go around of timeline set before the kh3 we play. It's in the SRT too, but like, him saying "Not this time" and being able to dodge Sora's attacks like he already knows. Then there's YMX's line before the boss battle where he's like, "Find the hearts connected to yours." We could take it as him guiding Sora, getting him to find the seven guardians of light. I'm feeling like it might be foreshadowing or like YMX leading Sora to his end because it could be foreshadowing of remind (I mean, I won't know till I can play) or it's referring to the future of Sora saving all the hearts from the lich. Back to him knowing what's going on in the timelines somehow with that whole leading aspect, then there's during the lich segment where YMX is there somehow and tells Sora about how he'll pay the price, then YMX's "death" where he says that Sora's time in the world is over, indicating he knows what Sora's done and has to pay the price for

So, unlike the gigas thing that went surprisingly well, the possessed marionette and the flying saucer did not, and the flying saucer was the worst. I learned that, unlike in my proud run through, I couldn't just try to beat a gigas as just Sora that easily, considering a gigas could oneshot me (I kinda suck, so I honestly couldn't beat em at all without commanding a gigas myself on crit). So, it was very time consuming, considering I couldn't use a gigas to finish it off and shoot it from afar, and I had to evade all like four gigas and the scattered heartless (it was especially bad if I was about to die and needed to heal) while trying to attack it (needless to say, Donald and Goofy did most of the work in the final stretch while I was trying not to die and also attack the enemy that would warp away if you got too close). I did it though

Okay, final boss battle! Ngl, just...I enjoy the angry sassy of Woody when YMX is like, "See, look buzz fell to darkness blah blah" and Woody is like, "I don't care. Put buzz back the way he was." (Y'know, totally not a Sora attitude and totally not a parallel to CoM when Sora's telling Vexen "I don't care! Just put Riku back!") And YMX like talking about hearts and Woody like, "I don't think you've ever been loved before, because you know nothing about hearts and love." The final boss battle was easy compared to the other boss battles in Toy Box.

Also, I just...enjoy Buzz finally being friends with Sora, Donald, and Goofy and caring about and trusting them now

Now ownards to Corona!

So, starting in the forest just before getting to the tower, I opened a treasure chest with an item that gives sneeze protection (I got a shield for Goofy that does the same thing after I finished this world) which...I... Bro, I'm stupid I like didn't get this item my first run through nor did I know it existed, but playing through this world definitely was easier without sneezing Sora, especially the final boss (but we'll get to that later)

Gotta love that Flynn Rider charm.

"So, I've made the decision to trust you."

"A horrible decision, really."

Hi, I'm Flynn I hope you expect me to run away from battles and have Sora, Donald, and Goofy, who are totally my bodyguards, do all the work and make me look good Rider

Rapunzel after getting out of the tower and her enthusiasm is so Sora like, but ngl, I'd say she's a Riku parallel in this segment. Later in this world, they remark that the tower is a prison for Rapunzel. In this moment she has a lot of conflicting feelings.

"I'M SO FREE!"

"I'm such a terrible person..."

"This is so fun!"

"Oh, what would Mother think...? I should go back..."

"I'M NEVER GOING BACK!"

She's being pulled two ways. Part of her is excited to see the whole outside world and ready to live her dream, defying Mother Gothel, while the other part of her urges her to go back to her prison with Gothel where she'll be safe. This is much like in DDD with the Quasimodo and Riku parallel where Riku tells Quasi that it's not because of Frollo's rules or because Frollo said the outside world would harm him, it's because something in his heart holding him back. Most likely, it was from fear. In Riku's case, he said it from experience because he too is struggling with something where it's his heart holding him back, nothing else (probably his feelings for Sora are the thing he won't set free)

I like how kh3 is like, self aware or like, aware of the kh lore like when Donald and Goofy mention Data Sora, or in this case where Sora, Donald, and Goofy don't remember Marluxia because castle oblivion and he's like, "Such a pain. Whatever. It's not like you need to know." Kh3 shows that Nomura remembers the things he set up before.

Also, Goofy: "I think the 'has-been' prefers Marluxia" 😂😂😂

The heartless chariot was just as terrible and time consuming as always because of how much I died.

I did surprisingly well at the dancing section compared to past attempts, so that was cool. Rapunzel and Sora are just so adorable though and Rapunzel with the flowers in her hair is just😔👌

Okay, I like, I love the lantern scene because it's just so beautiful. Like, I just love those shots of all the lanterns and of Flynn and Rapunzel and of Sora, Donald, and Goofy watching them. Also...Flynn lowkey being given the choice between Rapunzel and the crown and basically choosing her

"I should've given it to you before, but I was just scared."

"I'm starting to." And Flynn pushes the satchel away, focusing on Rapunzel, choosing her.

Also, thinking that this part is a parallel to Riku in the RoD because Riku got the strength to protect the one he cherishes most (Sora) and now he's not afraid anymore, even in the RoD. He feels stronger and more confident. For Rapunzel, after spending time with Flynn and traveling, she's not afraid of the world anymore and she becomes more confident. She trusts Flynn and gives him the satchel (which in the movie I believe she originally withheld and hid out of fear of him going back on their promise)

So, then, Flynn and Rapunzel release their lanterns into the sky, and they twirl around each other as they fly up

Seem familiar? It's almost like...

HEARTS IN TUNE BAY BEE

SORIKU PARALLELS

Also, rip Sora, Donald, and Goofy. They just wanted to watch the scenery, but got interrupted by nobodies

Bro, it's really sad, like, I feel so sad for Rapunzel because she really trusted Flynn and Mother Gothel framed Flynn, breaking Rapunzel's heart because she thought it was all genuine, that Flynn really wasn't going to hurt her and meant the things he said. Then, Gothel takes her to the tower

Sora still being able to be awoken from a lick to the face from an animal like in kh1😂

In my first run through of the game, I got to this part with all the heartless and nobodies on the way to the tower and the section between everyone starting off towards the castle and reaching the castle I tried to go through as fast as possible and skipped fighting the heartless and nobodies I could. This time, I managed to clear the whole area after making it my goal for leveling up purposes, so that was cool👍

And now we reach the tower cutscenes and a very niiiiiiice Soriku parallel, which I'll have to put in the next post due to the photo limit

[twilight-town-gays]

Kairi in KH3

Not everyone is going to like the topics I talk about in these rants and I love KH3 to pieces but I feel like I need to talk about these things. They will contain spoilers which I'll tag, but please don't read until you have finished the game.

I hate the fact that I have to even talk about this, but KH3 didn't really do much for Kairi.

Yes, we see her fighting (for like a minute or two) and find out that she likes writing but other than reminding Lea/Axel of Xion, saving Sora, and getting kidnapped for Sora to go into Rage Mode at Xehanort (who then. I may add. Kills her), she didn't really impact the plot that much.

She just seemed and felt very one dimensional which was one of the major fixes I was hoping for in KH3. Kairi /wants/ to fight and get all in on the action and the community have been wanting this for years- so why not just let her have her moment instead of being the damsel in distress again?

After all the training she got with Lea, I'm pretty sure she can take care of herself, and being a Princess of Heart while also being a Guardian would have been an interesting concept to delve into more.

All the trailers were building Kairi up to fighting alongside everyone and actually seeing this, but nope. What's a minute compared to years of hoping?

Moreover, despite her supposedly being one of Riku's best friends, where was the interaction between them in this game? And I don't mean romantically (you guys ship whatever you want, no judgements here but I don't see it), even just like a "hey, how've you been-" would have been nice to see. But nope. Even that scene where Sora and Kairi where sitting on the papou tree and Riku was by himself. There was an opportunity for them all to be together again as the Destiny Trio but it wasn't taken. They just didn't seem to have such a deep and impactful relationship as the other trios despite being the original trio.

That's another thing too, the relationship between Sora and Kairi feels romantically forced. I wouldn't be as bothered if their relationship was more developed so that you could feel that connection, but I just wasn't feeling it?? Yeah, it was sweet, but it doesn't feel right. Canon romantic relationships with the original characters in the KH series in general doesn't feel right to me, so it just seemed a bit out of place. Also, yes I do ship Soriku but I have no issues with Sokai becoming canon if it's done right.

Kairi also has gotten kidnapped three times in the KH series- once in each numbered title. Honestly, this trope gets old pretty fast and also makes me feel like Kairi hasn't developed at all across the series.

Personally, I would love for Kairi to be tough and for her to show that she really does want to help out more rather then "I'll protect you Sora" *gets kidnapped then dies*. She can still keep her femme side but I want her to reach her full potential- like in the manga. She is Ready To Go.

This is another thing that p*sses me off- yes she came back after Sora saved her and died doing so but she still got killed before any major development was done.

I love Kairi and the potential she has but it was just handled wrong in this game and the series in general.

[hearts-lover]

Lets take a look on the Combined Keyblade

Disclaimer: If you dislike Kairi/Sokai/Soriku or anything that I will be talking about in this post, Please read it with a grand of salt, Even though I enjoy Sokai more than Soriku, I do not hate Soriku nor the fan, I’m also not a homophobic, I have friend and family members who are homosexuality, so therefore, just because I don’t enjoy a specific homo-ship, doesn’t mean I am a homophobic, I also don’t enjoy specific heter-ship either. I also apologize if this post seems rushed, I started writing this at 12:40am for whatever reason. I know I haven’t posted anything about my Critical mode progress, but I really need to talk about this. Lately, I have been looking at a post about the Combined Keyblade (or the Gayblade for those Soriku fans) and I think I want to analyze this Keyblade. I also need to explain that I will be covering both separate and combined cause I feel like they need to talk about. First, let talk about Sora side:

So right off the bat, the color (that seem to be flower Pellets) could serve different meaning. I noticed how the color has 2 gold and 2 light green, and if I have to guess, I believe it's referring to Roxas and Ventus colors since they were part of Sora until the end of KH3, I also noticed that its have one pink and 2 light purple (or dark pink). All of us should know that the pink one obviously referring to Kairi, no doubt  I tried to find out who could’ve had the color purple/dark pink, and the only thing that I can figure out Is Kairi from KH1:

Though, I can’t guaranty it, so let say that color idea is headcanon. Now I know some of you may say “But dude, there are also 2 blues in there, that could referring to Riku, thus Soriku is canon” and I would agree If Riku's keyblade didn’t have the same thing. Let me explain;

If you compare Riku’s to Sora’s and look at the Light blue Symbol, both Sora and Riku are similar, besides Riku having more blues than Sora’s. Plus, look at the purples in Riku’s, it's a lot darker than the one in Sora, and if you compare the same symbol like the pink from Sora’s, it's light blue, similar to the color between Sora and Riku.  But what about the dark purple? Well, even though I don’t have a straight answer, but I think the one who should be referring to the dark purple, could be Ansem;

The reason why I said that because if we remember, before Ansem become a thing, Xehanort took over Riku heart in the event of Kingdom hearts after Riku first defeat against Sora. After they formed Ansem together, he almost forces Riku to Kill sora, created a Keyblade that has the princesses hearts, the same keyblade that sora uses to save the princess and Kairi, Then created a heartless world called “The End of The World” where Goofy described it;

Not the mention, but basically haunting Riku, even after Sora defeating Ansem, He haunts Riku (whenever intentionally or not) whenever as part as is darkness (Since Riku still has his darkness in the event of Chain of memories until KH2 when Ansem the Wise damage Kingdom hearts) Haunts him in Dream Drop Distance, and still do in Kh3 for the last time. So after nearly hurting/Killing his only friend, after destroying multiple worlds, separating Riku from Sora and Kairi, and now return much time, even after Riku no longer have darkness, he still haunts him no matter how many time Riku fights back. But now that Ansem finally falls, and his wrath is over. What does Riku say after all of that?

and I think that means something, I think that's Riku isn’t over Ansem and his darkness. Remember, Riku is able to take the form of Ansem at the events of 358/2 days and Kh2, and since we know that Riku was wearing the organization outfit in Chain of memories; 

where the only thing that could explain that Riku was able to transform into Ansem is that at least for a year, Riku was able to control darkness, but in order to do that, you have to turn into darkness.

But because of Ansem the Wise helping Riku clearing his heart again, he loses the power to control darkness.

But because of him have gotten used to using the darkness, as he looks at his hand as if something happened to him;

AND the fact that he uses his own darkness in the events of Dream Drop Distance, and in Kh3 (where the only Dark magic I can find in KH3 was Dark Firaga) Proof that not only he misses using the darkness, but also miss working with Ansem (to some degree) Now let's look at the combined Keyblade;

While that I did explain the flower Pellet(?), I want to explain the Keyblade as a whole, first at Sora’s, the color seem to be a mixture of Golden/yellow into Blue. Now next, I want to explain Sora, Kairi and Riku names meanings. In Japanese; Sora meaning Sky, Kairi meaning Sea and Riku meaning Land. Now I know that people are gonna quickly assume that Sora’s Keyblade color could be referring to Sora and Riku since the Sky is blue and land could be golden, especially its a (somewhat) same color as the sand when Riku first gave Sora a paopu Fruit.

But I don’t think that is the case. Cause at the same time, the color could refer to Riku and Kairi since the Sea is blue. But I think in reality, Sora’s side could referring to Kairi and himself.  As a long time Sokai fan, we always get that moment that whenever Sora and Kairi is alone on the island (even if it a moment) that Iconic moments appear as the sunset always shine whenever they’re together

and we also do know that Sky isn’t always about Blue. It changes color, and again. whenever its sunset, the sky turns golden. Looking at Riku’s side, we all should know that the darkness in the tips obversely refers to Riku and his adventure with Darkness, but those Purple/pink could referring to Kairi since it also has a hint of blue similar to Sora’s but I don’t think that is the case. Honestly, I think it’ll be awkward if that the case because remember, the blue and the pink where they hold the keyblade is the crossguard;

and since it protect the weider hand, and if Kairi is the protector of Sora, what of Riku? Well, remember the question DiZ ask Riku at the end of Chain of memories and when Riku answer; 

and since Dawn Sky does change its color into purple in some cases, this could prove that Sora is the sun, while Riku is the nightfall. and as for the Keyblade Token, Sora’s is obversely referring to Angels, while Rikus’s is referring to the Devils. But as for the combined Token that turns into a paopu fruit symbol, I already talk about that in this post  Overall, we all should take a closer look at the Keyblade design (as if people wasn’t doing that anyway) and look at the meaning at the someone names Cause Nomura is a tricky bastard (but he’s our bastard and we love him very much) and the fact that he keeps putting Sora and Kairi anywhere near the sunsets could mean something. But of course, these are just my opinion/thoughts/headcanons, and you are just as welcome to post yours.

[mythicalartistx]

Soriku in Novels Part 4 — DDD

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 5

The cricket's question made Riku think of Sora. Of course, Riku couldn't tell him everything, but Sora was still a friend with a special place in his heart.

"Yeah... actually I do." Riku closed his eyes and imagined Soras's face for a moment, then looked at Pinocchio and Jiminy. "That stupid grin he's always wearing— he's the best teacher I could ever have."

DDD novel — Riku's side.

I loved this scene during the game and it was clear in DDD he's so gay and he loves Sora so much. A big part of DDD in my perspective was being able to accept yourself/forgive yourself of the darkness of the past and maybe someday open himself up to Sora about his feelings.

And here it shows Sora has a special place in his heart... He definitely likes him. I love how he imagines Sora in the scene, I mean I thought he was thinking of Sora BUT TO EXPLICITLY SAY he imagined Sora's face is another thing.

"He saved me. But you two are nothing alike." Shiki leaned in close to Sora's ear and whispered, "You know, Neku and Riku are really similar."

"Huh?". Surprised, Sora looked at Neku.

Now that you mentioned it, I can see it. They're both a little prickly sometimes, but they have a heart of gold underneath.

"Wh-why are you staring at me..?" Neku returned Sora's gaze uneasily.

"Yeah, you may be onto something."

DDD NOVEL — Sora's Side

This is a nice section that shows a comparison between the characters. Shiki notes how Sora and Riku are nothing alike, but Neku is quite similar to Riku. It's not that Soriku filled, but it's nice to see the comparison with Neku who ends up in his actual game accidentally trading Shiki (who's very important to him/ with no memories at that) to continue to survive another round to be able to return to life.

Also I'd imagined Riku getting flustered if someone stares at him because of one of the kh2 novel states that Riku always won sword fights, but Sora won starring contests. HE PROBABLY GETS FLUSTERED.

"I won't hold back, and I won't underestimate you. I give everything I have to set you free. I was always jealous of you, Sora. I used to feel it all the time, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't still. I believe that feeling was darkness, but now I know it's not.

The truth is, it gave me strength, and so did having someone to challenge me. Light and Darkness are perfect compliments of each other — the shadows are always greatest next to the dark. I know what that means now, truly. When those dark feelings come over you, only your heart can decide whether to let them sink deeper into the darkness or to bring them out into the light of the sun.

Accepting both is what it means to have a heart. It gives us strength. Even a form of pride, in a way. I don't think anyone can honestly say it's not. Same with wanting to be stronger. Joy and Sorrow, Anger and Hatred— whether those feelings become your light or your darkness is for you to decide.

The strength of your darkness is what allows you to choose. That's why I choose to let the light shine onto my own darkness. And Sora that's you."

DDD Novel — Riku Side

I made a post on just this entire statement Riku made before but I had to include it, it's so gay. He's comparing dark and light to him and Sora. He says Sora is his light. He accepts both light and Darkness and because of that it's strength and some sort of pride... Maybe gay pride 🧐🧐🧐

But he realizes his jealousy made him stronger and just shows his development of how he is with darkness and how he is with Sora.