#riku at a later point

[kingarmorking]

"(simba voice) moooom! mom you're messing up my mane!"

i dont know where this takes place in that au but the image Would Not leave my mind so here we are @tharkflark1

There were many things that Yozora expected when he woke up that morning. Training with his dads, maybe going off world with either of them or Aegis and Magia or maybe it would’ve been a quiet day! Just a day for himself to wander around Quadratum. That was thrown out the window when he saw a news broadcast of a monster, looking eerily similar to the heartless his dads talked about fighting, and then the headline stated, “Young man with a giant key fights off the monster that appears in downtown Quadratum!”

So… yeah he was with a younger version of his dad now. Sora was staying with Strelitzia and they were working on a way to get him back to his own world. That he could do. Sure a wrench or two were consistently being thrown into that plan when the younger version of Riku then showed up followed by his actual dads coming back from where they were off world! But that he could handle! Kind of! He was handling it just fine. What he could not handle… was the younger version of Riku in his spirit form.

Now… his pa (Sora) had told him that dad (Riku) had some trouble controlling the form when they were younger. He wasn’t sure when his dad had gotten a better grasp on it so the few times he’d seen the form growing up, he was in control of his actions for the most part, there were few things that he’d do that pa would embarrass him about later (though he would still find a way to without a doubt)

He’d woken up like normal, after that mess had been settled, terrible bedhead and all that caused it to spike up in random directions. Noise from outside had caught his attention and upon exiting he saw the younger Riku in his spirit form. Again not a big deal but the second Riku’s star-shaped eyes locked with him, Yozora felt the deep rooted instinct of fight-or-flight flare up and he turned to run back inside because where was Sora, why was Riku in his spirit form- he was bowled over none too gently by the giant komory bat dream eater.

He felt the rumbling in Riku’s throat as he nuzzled his back and let out a pained huff, “Okay, Riku I get it, you’re happy to see me, which… better than the alternative… but can you please get off me you’re so much heavier than Meow Mori!” he groaned.

Riku, to absolutely no one’s surprise, did not listen to him. Because why would he like this, Sora was the only one who he’d listen to and Sora was still no where to be seen! A chuff of air further mussed his hair and he rolled his eyes, twisting his body to say something else when a tongue dragged across his forehead up to his hair. Wha… oh hell no, don’t tell him…!

“Riku! I don’t need a bath!” his petulant protests went unnoticed as Riku continued grooming his future child.

The only saving grace was that Aegis and Magia weren’t present because they’d never hear the end of it and then he’d be minus two friends. He continued trying to get out of Riku’s grip, only freezing when he heard muffled giggles from behind him. He craned his head backwards and was greeted with the sight of the older Sora, pa, trying and failing to contain the snickers escaping from his mouth.

“Not… a word.”

“But Zozo!”

“But nothing pa!”

Pa covered his mouth, more muffled giggles coming out at the sight of the predicament Yozora was in as Riku’s tongue made his hair, arguably worse honestly, “Riku! You’re messing up my hair!” he groaned. Pa’s laughs were finally too much and he doubled over, holding his stomach. His dad laughing was fine, this was still better than-

“Aww baby dream eater’s bath time by daddy dream eater~!”

Two sets of laughter joined pa’s and Magia’s voice rang out clear, Yozora briefly wondering if he could suffocate himself in Riku’s mane. Finally he got one arm free and he frantically pat at Riku’s arm, “Okay, okay I’m clean! I’m clean!” he wriggled the rest of his body free and made to smooth his hair out. Once that was done he took a quick calming breath, spun on his heels and materialized his sword and crossbow, aiming them at his two, soon to be, ex-friends. Aegis and Magia both froze, wide grins still on their faces.

“Run.” all three said simultaneously, Aegis and Magia to each other and Yozora’s only warning before he ran after them. Pa could handle Riku’s spirit form for the time being, he had two friends to kill.

[didsomeonesayventus]

thinking about how way to dawn really was like the most iconic keyblade ever that so neatly summarized riku's journey and ideals and had so much meaning and history and so uniquely his and kh3 really threw it away for a fucking car key

[cinnabeat]

also i always considered kh2 to be where sora was really letting his temper flare but i noticed that he was actually pretty mad in kh1 too so i suppose he was always like that

[koushirouizumi]

{D.N. A n g e l} x "Shiroi Ryuu" + S A T O x { D A I }/-> R I S A + R i k u as Support (for Risa); + T a k e s h i as Support (for Risa) + D a r k / v.s. K r a d!Satoshi on A.0.3 / More Info+Lyric{s}: Here!

Summary:

"WHY do you have the {S A M E} {E Y E S} {AS HIM}?!??" - Anime!Krad, to Satoshi, about Risa?/DAISUKE--

"Just as Y O U {T r e a s u r e} that { B O Y }..." - Manga!Krad, to Satoshi, about Daisuke--

Spoiler{s}: For up until Risa begins to learn more about "Satoshi"; towards the end of series / pre final battle.

{DO NOT COPY} {DO NOT RE-POST}

By Me "Shiroi Ryuu" / "White Dragon" (C)/from S p i r i t e d A w a y D.N. A n g e l (C) Y u k i r u S u g i s a k i & (C) T.V. T o k y o / X e b e c

Notes: This is Old {10+ yrs old}. it’s one of my last early things made for this series out of multiple. The footage used will reflect this, as it was made before widespread change into H. D. Please be understanding. [There may be intent for me to remake it someday!]

-This embed may randomly not display at times, Showing like it’s “down”, but it’s not at this time! {It usually happens late at night[s] or seemingly when the site is experiencing very high traffic} If that happens, please consider watching at another direct link here!

{I am NOT taking new Requests (+for this series) at this time. Please DO NOT Ask!}

[thistaleisabloodyone]

Hm. Does anyone see a trend here?

[last-flight-of-fancy]

Started thinking about Riku-Kairi parallels and symbolism wrt the ending of kh2 so please hold while i get needlessly verbose about it-

specifically it started with this gif

and ofc adhd is as adhd does and started going down the rabbit hole of connecting the dots.

The act of reaching out a hand/hand holding is a recurring thing in kh, the vast majority of which is chock full of meaning and symbolism, and this is no exception. This is the culmination of The Hero's Journey part of Sora's tale, the return home, and the heartfelt reunion between long-seperated friends. fun fact the heroine's journey follows the hero's journey for the first third or so before continuing on. kinda like how kh continued on long after things seemed to be 'resolved'. weekly plug to look up Howler's Heroine's Journey essays if you haven't yet

The angle from which I am viewing this scene right now is in regards to ofc Riku, and his own iconic pose that we see the first time in the intro to kh1 (and many, many times since)

And this is where my riku-kairi-are-inverted-parallels-to-each-other brain starts barking like a dog because oughghghghggh same pose opposite side completely different body language- AHG.

And this matches their character arcs (as well as their respective combined arcs with sora) to a T as well. Riku's pose is the first we see, way back in kh1, and his hand is as much a taunt as it is an offer. Very befitting his relationship to sora in that game, which was coloured by a forged rivalry and intense jealousy (to quote the ultimania; Complicated Feelings) of/for sora.

(it is also notable that to date this gesture has yet to be resolved. the closest they've gotten is when sora grasped Riku's hand in kh2 on finding him- albeit in Ansem's visage.

Symbolically this is Sora attempting to accept the gesture, but this time it is Riku who fails to meet him halfway, too deep in guilt and regret to feel worthy of it. his hand is turned downwards, limp and unresisting.

And again in DDD when Riku grabs sora's hand/wrist in an attempt to wake him from his nightmares, but this time sora isn't capable of reciprocating. like two ships passing in the night, always reaching but never quite meeting)

(this one isn't quite as strong in the visual symbolism specific to the Riku Pose, but i did think it bore mentioning)

to return to the first gif however, for Kairi her posture is much less stiff, leaning forward with palpable releif at Sora's return. Honestly the fact that she holds out her left hand (which as far as i know is not her dominant hand) marks this as a very deliberate choice to parallel her as opposite to riku. and much like the rest of kh2's ending, it FEELS like a culmination, a completion of their arcs.... and most certainly isnt.

Which i mean to say, it's a mid-point. And the reason I say this is because of one little thing.

The seashell charm.

There's a sort of irony here in that the charm that was meant to reunite them in this moment is also symbolically like a wedge between them. A heartfelt and meaningful gesture, don't get me wrong! i love this scene and the genuine emotions within, but i do love chewing on the way this gains a slightly different meaning in the greater context of later story beats; specifically that of kh3.

With how pointed and direct the parallel is between kairi and riku in these scenes, it did make me pause for a moment thinking about kh3. i know we've all seen a thousand and one analysis' of the paopu scene at this point, but forgive me as i must do so again under this specific lens.

'how does the paopu scene relate to the hand extended gesture at all?' i hear you ask, and on the visual surface not much. it has more to do with sora and kairi's relationship arc through the games and, of course, the lingering loose thread that was the cave drawing.

The paopu scene is a touching recreation of that cave drawing, one enacted by a pair of kids who didn't know if they would live to see another sunset. It's also probably the most symbollically dense thing in all of kh and that is saying something so I'm going to try and keep my observations limited to just what is relevant to this post- and that would be the way that the paopu scene is a direct continuation of Kairi's 'you're home' gesture in kh2.

shooting stars are also a common recurring symbol in kh, and that's the symbol that ties these two scene's together. if kh1 is two disparate stars each trying to reach the other (the cave drawing, the seashell charm, the way their hands are seperated at the end of kh1), and the end of kh2 is that of the stars finally meeting (the single seashell star charm pressed between their palms), then the paopu scene is that of the stars passing each other by and beginning their own journey's anew (two stars held by crossed arms, each now holding a small piece of the other (bitten fruit) to show that their meeting may have been brief but it was meaningful)

it is in this way that kh3 quietly and tenderly closes out sora and kairi's combined arc, as two unlikely friends who then drift apart again, shining brightly for the shared experiance, Remind mostly serves to support that finality, tying up the last couple loose ends between them, and leaving the two far more comfortable with each other than they ever were while that arc was still ongoing (which i read as them no longer being uncertain as to what their relationship is; that of friends, and not whatever so many others around them had pushed and assumed)

(seriously look at how much more comfortable they are with each other the second the pressure to be something they're not is off. the awkwardness is completely gone i love it)

All of this is ofc still in parallel to Riku, who boasts no such star imagery (instead he has the iconic Heart of KH itself), and in fact while he symbollically continues to reach out to sora, physically he has completely refrained from doing so at all- in fact most examples of the Gesture in kh are deliberately invoked by other characters in order to bring riku to mind in some way (and often more for the players benifit than sora's)

axel in CoM,

(i have given up on tumblr gif search)

YMX in DDD,

which then immidiately cuts to riku in kh1 just to make it as blatant as possible that yes the reference is intentional (i guess CoM was too subtle somehow so they had to make sure this time)

and even Riku himself to Namine at the end of kh3, representing Repliku's final wishes in a funny sort of symbolism oroboros.)

and it's not a coincidence that the completion of that connection provides definitive closure to the arcs in question; that of namine to repliku, but also a little bit to riku himself. namine still has a role to play, but that role (i think) is more or less exclusive to her relationship with sora. namine and riku's relationship arc, background as it is, is complete, and now both are connected primarily through their incomplete arcs with sora.

(which makes the way that sora and kairi's example in kh2 is a complete outlier really interesting tbh. smth smth thinking your relationship is one thing and if it was that thing then yes that would have been the end, but it wasn't that thing and thus it wasn't the end smth smth comphet metaphor smth)

which brings us back to how riku himself hasn't really reached out to sora directly since kh1, the act that set off both of their journey's. The reasons for that are many- guilt, fear, a certainty that sora will not reach back and that he doesn't deserve it anyway- but despite that the Gesture is still subtly affirmed as being Riku's over and over again, never quite letting the audience forget it... because eventually this bit of symbolism so consistently portrayed throughout the series will reach its own conclusion, starting how it began with one deuteragonist reaching out to the other, and this time the other reaching back to complete the gesture.

[matenr0u]

While deep sea diving in the web archive I stumbled upon some neat bits of Kingdom Hearts fandom history, like this— what may be the first ever “Riku is Gay” essay (in English).

The first snapshot of the page is from 26th November 2002, just after the international release of KH. Soriku really been out here since day 1…

The purple prose dates it a lot but I didn’t notice any blatant Kairi bashing, which is impressive. It’s interesting that Riku’s complicated feelings for Sora have been documented even as early as 2002, pointing to the same subtext fans discuss even 20 years later.

Here’s a link to the essay: Dissertation on Riku x Sora by Ruaki

“In the end, Riku fell into the 'as long as he's happy' mentality. A much needed noble gesture on his part, but who can say what the future holds for him?“

[maiqua]

So I recently was replaying KH3 and while in the toy story world I noticed something that made me pretty excited. The focus on Woody and Buzz reaching their hands for each other and holding onto it.

In this scene here Woody was climbing and Buzz reached his hand for him to grab to help him stand up.

And at first I was like oh okay until I noticed who was staring at the scene taking place while everyone was looking the opposite way.

Was he thinking of Riku here? Cause as the player we have seen multiple times how much Sora regrets not taking Riku's hand. Now at this point I was on notice for any other time Woody and Buzz reached and held each other's hand.

And later on in this world Young Xehanort used Buzz darkness to have him took over. And he says this to Sora.

This to me feels like such a call back to KH1. Buzz is in the place of Riku and Young Xehanort is in the place of Ansem. Young Xehanort uses Buzz's darkness here against him like how Ansem used Riku's against him. Sora though not intentionally made Riku feel distrust and doubt in KH1. Just like Xehanort is saying Sora is doing here.

Im not saying Sora's reaction here is fully because he was making the connection to what happend in KH1. I do truly believe Sora wanted to help Buzz here cause he considers him his friend! But I wouldn't be suprised if it reminded him of KH1 and thats why his reaction was so extreme here.

Im not sure what Young Xehanort says in the Original JP dialogue in this scene but Im assuming its something similar.

Now another instance of Woody and Buzz reaching each other's hand is after Buzz is saved. Woody reaches his hand to Buzz and Buzz accepts it.

I do think since in this scenario Buzz is being shown to be Riku I feel it's safe to say Woody here is Sora. In the first example Buzz reached for Woody and now in the second one Woody reached for Buzz. Like how Riku reached for Sora in KH1 and since then Sora has been reaching for Riku. But in both cases on Sora and Riku's sides they haven't been able to reach and hold onto each other's hands like Woody and Buzz can yet.

And of course what really drilled this into me was this scene in the last few minutes of the Toy Story world.

Buzz who is the Riku parallel of this world reaches his hand out to Sora. Expressing his guilt.

And Sora accepts it.

[cloudofash]

The Ariel / Riku Parallel and the future of Sora and Riku

This is a parallel I see covered a lot of the time but when it's mentioned the comparison usually involves Naminé in place of Ursula.

The parallel typically follows:

Ariel is Riku. They both wanted to see the outside world.

Sora is Prince Eric.

Naminé is/was Ursula (Vanessa).

Naminé (Ursula) used witch like powers to place Sora (Eric) in a trance and blind him from his true light/the one, Riku (Ariel).

It's a direct parallel that needs little analysis or explanation.

I have also seen fellow Sorikus touch on this parallel with the Final World tunnel scene where Sora notices that the Light is Riku much like Eric notices "the one" who sang to him and saved him in the storm is Ariel.

My theory is that this parallel goes beyond just the tunnel scene. In fact, I believe that Nomura is following the KH2 Atlantica storyline for Sora and Riku's eventual romance later in the games. Walk with me here.

-

The KH2 Atlantica story begins with Ariel saving Eric after a storm. She immediately falls in love, and sings to him. He wakes up just enough to hear her singing, she goes back to Atlantica and her father breaks her statue of him, her heart breaks and Ursula makes her contract with her...you know the tale.

In the KH2 version of this tale however, Ariel falls into a deep depression because she knows she can't be with a human up on land as a mermaid. Not to mention her father's hatred of humans casted fear and doubt into her. When Ariel and Eric defeat Ursula, Ariel reveals to Eric that she is actually a mermaid. However in this scene, Ariel hangs her head in shame and tells him "goodbye" anticipating that he would not accept her as she was. To her surprise, he does accept her.

This scene always struck me because at no point in the original film is Ariel ever ashamed of being a mermaid, she simply knew as a mermaid she couldn't live on land with the one she loved. Why would shame and fear of not being accepted for who you are be added to this tale?

And it doesn't stop there. All throughout the Atlantica storyline, we're told that Ariel and Eric's love is a "forbidden love". A love that shouldn't happen between mermaid and human, sea and land. We're told how a "love struck" mermaid in the sea felt she could only love her human soulmate from afar, that they could never be together despite her wanting them to be.

Who, in the entire Kingdom Hearts cast, does this sound like? Who else, if confirmed that he truly is in love with Sora, would have a forbidden love?

There is no one else other than Riku. Kai*ri, as a cishet female, would not have a forbidden love with Sora. Riku, as a demi/gay male, would have the forbidden love.

Riku has spent a good portion of this series loving and protecting Sora from afar, most often than not, without Sora even being aware.

Who would be more likely to be "ashamed" for loving Sora, and fearful of rejection? Kai*ri, or Riku? In fact, just as Ariel was ashamed that she was originally a mermaid and had to transform into a human, Riku was ashamed that he had to borrow the powers of Ansem and transformed into Ansem.

--

Now why do I say this parallel is going to dictate the future of Sora and Riku's relationship? Because KH3 pretty much follows half of this parallel already.

We already know that Sora discovered that Riku was his true light in the tunnel. He then forgets all of this ever happened and forgets that he ever saved Riku.

And not only that, but Riku's light is blocked out and Sora ends up thinking that the light belongs to another character.

That's right. Sora (Prince Eric) has yet another haze over his eyes. And instead of Naminé, this time Kairi is Ursula.

This is an exact parallel of not only Atlantica, but of what happened in Chain of Memories with Naminé.

Naminé describes herself as a witch who controls the memories of Sora and everyone surrounding him.

Naminé is Ka*iri's Nobody, also described as her "alter ego". Vanessa is in a way Ursula's human alter ego, they're one in the same.

Ka*iri, most likely, has a similar power. She may not use it consciously, but whenever Sora turns his focus on Ka*iri, he forgets all about Riku. This has happened since KH1.

Ursula used her power to make Eric forget about Ariel, the girl who saved him and sang to him. Let's also not forget that Ursula made an appearance in Dream Drop Distance when Sora and Riku were building their dream raft.

We're following the Ariel parallel, just a bit out of order. We're past the point of Ariel's (Riku's) depression. We're past the point of Ariel makes a contract with Ursula to transform into a human / Riku making a contract with Ansem to transform into Ansem. We're at the point where Prince Eric is tricked by Ursula / Sora realized who his light is but forgot and is currently under the false impression that Kai*ri is his true light.

Memory of Melody aside, KH3 is the most recent major title in the series. KH2 happened way back in 2005 and Nomura is STILL referencing it. This tells me this parallel is not concluded nor going away, rather, it's building up. Which means, we will eventually reach the conclusion of this parallel.

Prince Eric finding the one. Sora finding his light.

Every Disney parallel thus far has either reached a conclusion, or is still ongoing (such as the Riku / Hercules and self sacrifice for love). I highly doubt this parallel will be dropped before its conclusion, unless Disney or some Square execs drop the hammer on it and either force Prince Sora to be with Kai*ri instead of Riku or force Sora into some "power of friendship" spiel. Or if Nomura's hands get sweaty and he remembers the pressures of homophobia in society and ends up fearing the anger of the fanbase for pushing an LGBTQ romance. So although I genuinely believe it's Nomura's intention to pair Sora and Riku given the buildup of their relationship over the longevity of this series, and the Disney couple parallels between the two, he may end up cracking and decide against pursuing it.

Given that Riku in the Novels all but confirmed Sora is his light and love and Nomura approved it, I'm hoping that he has the confidence in his tale to propel this love into the mainline titles. Nomura DID say that the series has taken a directional shift, this may be the shift he's referring to all along.

----

So what would a Soriku love look like in future titles? Well let's look at the portion of the Atlantica parallel not explored yet.

Ariel returned Prince Eric's pendant. The Crown Necklace theory and Shooting Star Memory has yet to be addressed. Perhaps at some point in Quadratum Sora loses his crown necklace, Riku finds it and returns it to him triggering the both of them to finally address the Crown Necklace with Sora remembering that Riku is the one who gave it to him in the first place. Sora remembering that Riku was the light in the darkness and not Kai*ri is now a new plot point needing to be addressed. Just as Eric realized Ariel was the one he was looking for all along, he declared his love for her. Sora will eventually realize Riku was the one he's been searching for all his life and will probably apologize for not realizing it sooner.

Not to mention the Hercules parallel of self sacrifice for true love has also yet to be addressed on Sora's end. He's still figuring out what love is and what love means. Both the Ariel-Eric and Hercules-Meg parallels end with a confession of love. That confession may just be how Kingdom Hearts ends.

Additional Note: Do I think there will be a Soriku kiss? Maybe, but it most likely won't happen in-game.

I instead believe that Soriku will be confirmed with a koibito tsunagi - an interlocking hand hold that roughly translates to "lover's connection". Nomura and other Square Enix devs have used this before, especially in FF7 Remake when Aerith takes Cloud's hand and interlocks his fingers with hers (on their date towards the end of the game), further confirming her feelings for him. It's a subtle way of showing a character's affection and I think it will be fitting for both Sora and Riku.

[rizzyu]

hey there! could i request luxiem reacting to their s/o cosplaying as them or one of their alter egos? :) thanks!♡♡

When You Cosplay As Them

Pairing: Vox, Mysta, Luca, Ike, Shu x gn! reader

Category: Fluff, slightly suggestive if you squint hard enough

Warning: Uhhhh slight cursing in Mysta’s, mentions of exposed chests and smol waists, pet names

Summary: If you’re braindead and didn’t understand the title, this is how the Luxiem members react to you cosplaying as them stoopid :)

A/N: thx for the requeeeeeeeeeeeeeest I wanna cosplay as shuey shu :3

Vox Akuma

As you step out of the changing room, Vox’s eyes widened at the sight of you in the white suit and red shirt identical to his own. And just like his, your black and red hair was sprayed over your shoulders. You looked away from him, blushing, as you were worried about what his reaction would be. “Darling, don’t be shy, look at me.” Your beloved demon walked over and lifted your chin, making you face him. Your red eyeliners and golden lenses were displayed clearly for him to see. “Holy Riku Tazumi, you look so hot.” You felt your face heat up at his comments. Vox chuckled at your reaction and leaned in to peck you on your lips. “See? No need to be shy, you look stunning. I’ll have to take a photo later.”

Mysta Rias

“HOLY SHIT-” Mysta���s lips were left agape, and his eyes got so wide when you walked into you and his shared bedroom wearing a cosplay of him. You were dressed in the orange patterned shirt, white pants, and the fox beret similar to his. You had one hand on your waist, the other lowering your orange sunglasses, showing him your turquoise lenses while slightly sticking your tongue out. Your cleavage was also slightly revealed by the orange shirt. Mysta was ready to just cross his arms over his chest and pass out right there. Why do you look so beautiful?? “So, what do you think?” Your question snapped Mysta out of his thoughts. Mysta lifted your taupe coloured hair to peck your forehead. “Absolutely perfect.”

Luca Kaneshiro

What’s a cleavage? Your entire chest was exposed at this point. Luca’s face immediately heated up at the sight of you in the similar looking white striped suit, dark grey shirt, and fur coat. To be honest, both of you were way too flustered right now. Luca had never seen you wear such exposed clothes, and you never had worn any. “So uhhh… do you like it..?” Luca tried to keep his composure and lifted two thumbs up. “You look so poggers babe.” You chuckled “And you were so adorable just now” You walked over to him to squish his cheeks, causing him to become a blushing mess (not that he wasn’t already). “My cute golden retriever boy” Oh man what did you do to him?

Ike Eveland

Ike leaned forward on his seat when you came out all cute looking in his cosplay. He felt like in heaven when he saw you in heels, fishnet gloves and the golden rimmed glasses. You even held a book and a quill pen by your side as props. You tucked away some of your grey-to-blue coloured hair while slightly blushing. “Heheh, your cosplay was kinda hard to put on. At least it looks good.” Dammit, how could you speak in such a sugar-coated voice while cosplaying as him? You were going to make Ike ascend. Ike walked over to you, and like the gentleman that he is, he took your hand and tenderly placed a peck on the knuckles while keeping eye contact with your golden lenses. “You look way more than good.”

Shu Yamino

“EYYYYYYYYYYYYYY” And that was the hardest Shu had ever eyy-ed before, just from looking at you in his sorcerer cosplay. As soon as you showed Shu your cosplay, it was visible that Shu was looking at your small waist bound in the black corset. “Shuey, it’s not nice to stare~” You chuckled as you managed to snap your banana boi back to reality. “O-oh! S-sorry…” Shu could only sheepishly look away blushing upon getting caught staring at your waist. You pulled him closer by the arm, close enough for you to whisper in his ear. “Don’t worry pretty boy, I often stare at your snatched waist too.” Well if that did not bring the true flustered Shu out. Broski was standing there stuttering and everything. He’s too cute you couldn’t help but giggle at his reaction. “H-hey! Not funny! You’ll be paying back later when I get to hold your snatched waist all to myself!”

[magickedteacup]

“Riku, I remember the promise you made!”

“But I broke it. I didn’t—”

“You promised you’d protect me. All this time—! Riku, I always used to wonder what love is. Now I know.”

Then they summon the Gayblade—I mean, “Combined Keyblade,” fight the final battle, and live happily ever after.

Song: Dreaming by Helios

Very much inspired by @starhoodies Requited. Which is a masterpiece. Honestly, if I were handling character animation more directly referencing this art, the acting would have been different than in the above video, the expressiveness and intentionality in Requieted is so good, with Riku’s open, surprised and helpless motion with his hands—! This one is posted as WIP because I started hitting a stalling point at the clean up/inking/painting stage. The pencil animation is really dodgy, which became more apparent the more I went into the later phases of the animation process…and then I had a second draft started where I changed the posing/composition, the action is much smoother, and I kept track of the shapes better… So I’m leaving this unfinished as a learning draft. 🌟

[eddiezpaghetti]

Okay, so my experience with Stranger Things is a weird one.

I didn't care when it first came out, started to watch it out of "might as well" in 2020, wasn't interested in it enough to make it past S2, forgot about it outside of going "oh, hey, cool, there's a lesbian in it now, I guess," in S3, got really annoyed when "Running Up That Hill" got popular from it because it was a song I listened to on fucking loop after one of my best friends died in high school and I fully expected its appearance in the show to ignore the whole survivor's guilt theme of the song (and was very happy to learn later that it did the exact opposite of ignoring the lyrics), saw people drawing Eddie, suddenly got a lot more interested, watched just the fourth season like a fucking psychopath because I was seriously only there for Eddie, then got interested enough to start the show over properly, having mostly forgotten what I did watch of the show before.

And let me tell you something from the perspective of someone who started with the complete fourth season, who wasn't there from the start, who wasn't tainted by ship goggles or this internal battle of hope and despair, who wasn't theorizing about what the painting could be or expecting Mike and Will to kiss when Volume 2 happened or rooting for Mike and Eleven's relationship to go down in flames or whatever the fuck. Just someone who went blind into Season 4.

It's really fucking obvious that Will and Mike are gonna be endgame.

Like holy fuck. It's so fucking blatant I don't even know why people are nervous.

No sane fucking person would shoot this scene this way if they wanted the audience to care about El and Mike as a couple. Despite being all blurry in the background, Will's reaction to what's happening here is smackdab in the fucking middle, clearly showing that the important part is what's going through his head here. What he's feeling. It's like the opposite of that scene from Kingdom Hearts II where Sora and Riku reunite and Kairi just fucking vanishes into the aether while it's happening because, despite the fact that she was standing between them when the scene began, she doesn't matter to the scene, so she's just kind of gone when the camera angle changes. Will could have been behind one of their heads, or so far in the distance he blends in with the background, but he's not. He's so obvious that despite being massively blurred out, he's still the first goddamn thing you look at. What, you think that's an accident? You think he's in the middle of this dramatic fucking scene because of a mistake? He basically has a big flashing neon arrow pointing at him with "THIS IS THE POINT" being screamed through a megaphone.

And then this?

They're paired up like they're taking fucking prom pictures. Each one of these pairs is so fucking close to one another and so fucking far from everyone else. It's not, "Oh, they're standing vaguely near each other in a group shot," it's fucking Noah's Ark out here. Again, there's no way to take this as an accident. It's not just a framing issue. If they wanted to make the shot look balanced while still not hiding anyone else behind El, they would have scattered people around much more naturally. Even if they wanted to keep Nancy with Jonathan and Hopper with Joyce, there's so much room on that hill for three people to stand on El's left and three on her right. But they didn't do that. They put Mike and Will together on purpose in the most obvious way possible.

Like I get that coming up with crackpot theories is fun in and of itself and I'm not blaming anyone for having fun. I totally get the appeal of arguing a point and reaching for every stupid little thing to pull into it because it's like a game, okay? I've done that. But if you're trying to actually convince someone (whether it's someone who wants to believe or someone who's pissed at the very idea that Mike and Will could be in love), stay away from blue and yellow lights, stay away from costume design, stay away from the existence of closets in backgrounds. And don't worry about whether Mike's gay or bi when he's in love with Will either way. I'll give you a little tip about persuasion: You're only as strong as your weakest argument. Even if you've got strong stuff in there, too, the person you're trying to convince is going to dismiss anything you say as complete insanity the second you start going on an entire tangent about the shape of a character's fucking pocket.

Sometimes, clothes are just clothes. Sometimes, there's a closet in the background because it helps establish that a character is in a bedroom. Sometimes, blue and yellow are just a couple of colors that look nice together. And sure, it might be set designers and costume designers and cinematographers smirking and winking at the audience from behind the camera. But if the show was just those things, instead of those things in the context of everything else, they wouldn't be saying anything of note.

But this?

This tells a story all on its own. Someone with no context can look at this and automatically assume that each paired person is standing with someone they care about deeply, seeking comfort as they watch some sort of disaster unfold. And yeah, romantic couples usually come in twos, and we live in an amatonormative society, so that's going to be the first association anyone makes seeing a bunch of people paired off.

It's the same reason you look at this

And go, "Oh..."

"Those two are probably a couple."

And I genuinely don't understand how people could have watched S4 Vol. 2 and gotten scared. Because as someone who went in with no investment whatsoever, I just looked at these two--

--and went, "Oh, those two are a couple. Good for them." And I moved on. Shut up about the trees for five seconds and just see the forest for what it is.

Oh, and if you're still nervous? Little thing from a storyteller here: You don't leave a hanging thread like "Will confessed his romantic feelings for Mike by projecting them onto El, but Mike either didn't understand or at least didn't say he understood," without coming back to that later. That's Chekov's gun hanging on the wall, babes. It's gonna fire at some point. If Mike was going to reject Will's feelings, if they weren't relevant, they would have had that discussion in Argyle's van. There'd be no reason to leave you in suspense.

[cinnabeat]

its so wild how sora really looks uncomfortable with hugging other people besides riku

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 1

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

Winry Rockbell

One of the most badass women you could hope to meet, competent, smart and sweet (and hot of course), canonically gets married to Edward Elric, and yet is put on the sidelines in order to ship him with his superior officer.

edward's love interest and later romantic partner. cast aside by the fandom cause you all hate woman in STEM

SHES AN ENGINEER/MECHANIC!!! she works on automail, delivered a baby in an emergency, and was both the strongest and most empathetic, kind character in FMA(B). and she often gets shunted off to the side so that Ed can be paired with Ling Yao and mischaracterised to be annoying and/or mean

[sorikufeels]

im having more thoughts about sora. how this 14 year old kid did not hesitate to stab himself in the chest, effectively killing himself to free his friend. didn’t even stop to consider any other option. maybe he didn’t think he’d die but he still stabbed himself in the chest and grinned just before doing so.

i know we saw sora drop to his knees when riku ripped the keyblade away from him and then donald and goofy subsequently abandoned (wonder if that has anything to do with his later actions huh) him but otherwise he didn’t react that much iirc. i feel like that speaks to him being used to burying his emotions from a young, young age. and then him grinning right before stabbing himself is just so disturbing to me now. like as a kid i was like aw he’s trying to reassure his friends and like yeah that’s part of it i think but like that was his only reaction to literally killing himself. he is so not okay.

what the hell happened to this kid before the games even started to make him like this?

and the fact that it’s not addressed again (i think) is so wild to me. donald and goofy watched him stab himself with a smile and then said nothing about it after he’s brought back?? like that’s so concerning, like 1000000000/10 on the concerning scale. but like they abandoned him in the first place so why am i surprised.

idk if this is a dumb question, but does riku know that’s how he freed kairi’s heart? like im assuming he knows sora was a heartless at one point since he has a nobody but did he ever find out how that happened? i forget stuff a lot, so sorry if there is somewhere where it’s shown he knows about it and i can’t remember.

i’ve said before i want sora’s darkness to be explored more and i hope this is part of it. like i want his suicidal tendencies to be addressed and for sora to realize that he is actually worth a damn

[thetrashthatsmilesback]

So building off the "Sora is now fictional" idea, Roxas is more of a person than Sora is.

Lower your pitchforks and hear me out. This isn't a "Roxas is just Sora but actually interesting" post. I find those fucking annoying as well, and I prefer Roxas to Sora (though you wouldn't be able to tell based on my posts - sue me, the concept of hearts living inside each other and how that would effect the og person is too fascinating to ignore... which actually leads me into the main point of this post)

Roxas fought tooth and nail to be seen as an individual. He carved his identity out of rock while everyone around him acted like a demolition team trying to destroy it at every moment.

Sora willingly gives up his identity. While Roxas is firm in who he is, even in the moments where he doubts his humanity, Sora is a chameleon. From the obvious things such as hiding his darkness to the more subtle way his actual design changes across even individual games. Im going to actually split this up into two parts - Sora loaing his identity to those he interacts with and Sora losing his identity to those within his own heart.

- Sora when it comes to those outside of Sora's heart, Sora is whatever the person at that moment needs. He's the light for Riku, he's a confidante for various Disney characters, he's the unchanging (stable, steady) knight in armor for Kairi, he's the joyful companion to Goofy and Donald, but simultaneously the avenging angel of the side of light towards the nobodies. Sora is what he needs to be at any given moment because his driving force is his loyalty to his friends. Sora doesn't have an identity he clings to outside of his loyalty. It's his strongest unchanging trait. "Sora is light!" Except for when he admits to Riku he struggles with darkness and agrees to be the darkness. Except for when overuse of his drive forms (overuse of reliance on his friends) turns him into a pseudoheartless. Except for when rage over takes him and he transforms infront of everybody into a dark form to attack Xehanort after Kairi dies. Sora is a light for those who need him to be, but Sora himself is not pure light. Which actually brings me to my next section.

People have talked at length about Sora being less intelligent in later games than he was in kh1 and kh2, with the worst being in 3D, but I think to an extent this is also Sora molding himself (on top of flanderization by the writers). Sora is goofy and silly to those who need it. Think about who he acts "dumb" around. Its the newly reformed scientists, or those who need a confidence boost (he allows people to overexplain to him). We see in re:mind that kh3 Sora never once lost his intelligence from the previous games, but he allows others to call him forgetful/silly/behind (which he literally is, his memories are objectively fucked why are they mocking him for memories they never worked to help him restore agh *rips hair out). Sora knows they need someone to lighten things, or to explain to in order to think things through, and so there he is. "I don't computer, so you do that," he says while piloting a ship. He's talking to the newly reformed scientists, he knows that this is their chance to solidify themselves on the side of light, and so he sends them off to do their work without his help.

- for those inside his heart, there's a ton to talk about but I'm going to begin with the bridge I used from the first part. Every light has a balancing darkness. The closer you are to the light, the greater your darkness grows. Darkness is a shadow (which is why Sora losing his shadow when in anti form is not only a cool as fuck animation detail but important in terms of lore) so what does that mean for Sora who housed Ventus's heart of pure light within his own? People have commented that sora's darkness has grown since the first game, and others have pointed out that the hollow in the space of the heart in the Darkseid is obviously related to Sora's capacity to hide others within his own heart, and the fact that Sora's name doesn't only translate to "sky" but can be translated as "void"... thats all relevant but im at work so I'm not going to get too much into that at this moment. instead I'm going to point out that if his heart was holding a heart of pure light (two at one point with kairi), and all hearts except for those which either belong to princesses of light OR which are artificially split from their darkness must have darkness inside of their hearts. Riku shows that this darkness is about balance for light (I'm not getting into the "Riku actually has more light in his heart than Sora" meta arguments, though I do agree that the text is open to that interpretation and I enjoy the theory). If Sora had a heart of pure light within him, then he would have to artificially darken his own heart to keep balance.

It's also further than taking on the pain of Roxas and Xion. We see the way he gives himself up for those in his heart with his actual actions and looks. Sora (and Roxas, God i wish they'd explore more what it means to be the nobody of two hearts rather than one or if roxas is actually Ven's nobody instead of Sora's but Roxas's arc is over sadly) walks with his arms behind his head the way Ventus does. Many people have pointed out that Sora's hair is decidedly a lighter color after the KH2 prologue than at any other point in series (including in official art and posters), leading many to theorize that he actually changed appearance in response to Roxas's blond hair.

Even at the times when Roxas gives into the idea that he himself is not an individual, or implies that he and sora truly are one ("I know he'll do it, because he's me,") there's still the fight within him that he *is* a person with a distinct personality and way of being.

Sora doesnt have a distinct way of existing. Sora is what others require at that moment. This almost ties into the whole "Sora went to the realm of fiction" thing. "Sora the Concept" has become an ideal of whatever those around him invision him being at that moment while "Sora the Person" has slowly dissipated behind layers of acting.

So yeah, Roxas is more of a person than Sora is. Sora has become a concept, the idealized version of himself that others came up with, and which he molded himself to fit, losing his personhood in the process.

Sorry if this is incomprehensible. I'm at work and didn't take my meds 🤙