#riku’s driving thoughts

[rikustarlight]

Riku’s driving thoughts;

Excuse my bilingual ass this is literally how I think sometimes

If I wrote a fanfic/drew a musical comic with Naruto:

It would be a Nejiten fic however with the sprinkle of other couples. They’d be about 21 (19-20 for the non-team Gai members since canonically, Team Gai is a year older than rookie 9 with Tenten being the oldest with her birthday being March 9th) so like a college AU type of deal.

The boys;

Neji (21)- the bass player. Classically trained in stand up bass and can also play a mean clarinet. When singing his voice is raspy, and has great breath control for hard rock/metal. His voice equivalents are; Arankai, Corey Taylor (slipknot), Brian Welch (korn), Davey Havok (AFI). Mid to deep tone and can def scream puede hacerlo si fuera deadass about it.

Sasuke (20)- Lead vocals, keys/synth and Guitar. Trained also in violin, however switched to guitar to spite his parents. Sasuke is more of an alt-emo-pop punk type of guy. It’s giving Patrick Stump (Fall out boy), Brendon Urie (Panic! At the disco), Brandon Flowers (the killers), Alec Gaskart (All time low), Ryan Key (Yellocard). His octave is higher than Neji’s but he has range. His voice is a bit smoother and he can hold long notes impressively.

Naruto (20)-is def on guitar or drums. He likes making noise. He’s giving Beastie Boyz, Limpbiskit vibed, Tom DeLonge (Blink-182) But he can carry a tune for sure if he actually tried.

Rock Lee (21) is def on drums (if in the band). I don’t see him grabbing the mic but he can be the Travis Barker of the group LOL

Shikamaru (20) is an ex-member of the band who quit to focus on his studies. From time to time he does play with them if they need him it just to jam. I haven’t thought of voice equivalents yet but he’s be more back up. He’s studying to be a music engineer at Tenten’s parent’s company as a favor to their daughter’s friend.

For the ladies:

Tenten (21-22)- Guitar and/or drums for sure. Also classically trained in piano... Tenten can play almost any percussion instrument. She doesn’t sing much however, she does take the mic sometimes. Her voice equivalents would be a combination of Lily (Lilyisthatyou), Hailey Williams (Paramore), a touch of Avril Lavigne, a touch of Pink. I’m also feeling the new lead singer for Linkin Park, Emily Armstrong which Tenten could develop her vocals when she starts hanging around Neji more often.

Sakura(20)- lead guitar, when singing could have a possible combo of Vanessa Carlton, Taylor Swift, and Michelle Branch.

Ino (20)- would most likely be lead vocals and keyboard. She gives Natasha Bedingfield, Jojo, Cascada, Ellie Goulding vibes.

Hinata (19-20) - would be on bass like her older cousin, in fact was trained with him first in cello. She doesn’t grab the mic but her voice would be giving Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande (minus the whistle tone), Danity Cane, a very high register for Hinata frfr. But great for harmonizing.

Side ideas:

-Neji, Tenten, and Lee consistently host jam sessions and anyone is able to join, which is how the bands were formed. It started in Tenten’s garage back in high school.

-Neji had picked up singing as a side skill, really to impress Tenten who would always comment on how rich his talking voice was and whenever he’d hum or vocalize a scale in order to write a song as she jammed out on the drums or he would him scales as she practiced piano.

-Tenten believes she’s a shit singer, however Neji convinced her she had been trying to hard to sing at a higher octave than she should be. She worked with Neji to develop her style of singing (which is similar to his however slightly more range edgy for sure). Her confidence increased and she can sing and play drums. She finds every excuse to have Neji sing to her because yes her man should always sing to her like why wouldn’t he?

-Naruto joined in when he made friends with Sakura, who was friends with Ino…who knew Tenten who had a reputation for drumming. Had a sibling dynamic with Neji Tenten and Lee.

-Hinata was trained with Neji at a private music program for strings. He used to play with her however switched to electric bass and hasn’t looked back. Hinata practices the cello occasionally still, and has also picked up an electric bass like her cousin. Hinata is last to join the group having seen her cousin have so much fun stepping out of the classical realm of music.

-Sasuke, being friends with Naruto and Shikamaru, was dragged to a jam sessions and Naruto begged him to sing knowing Sasuke could carry a tune. Sasuke finds Neji to be a rival in terms of vocals, it’s stupid because Sasuke’s style is different than Neji’s but ya know how these two are 😤 the girls find it hilarious.

-Ino and Sakura had trouble finding roles in the band; they both wanted to be lead singer. However, the group was able to come to a compromise that they would randomize the set list and that would determine who sang lead for the night.

Socially;

-Neji and Tenten are usually always together. Their parents know each other through the music industry. Neji’s parents being on the business side of it and Tenten’s parents being producers.

-Lee and Tenten are neighbors and share a sibling dynamic with Tenten being the voice of reason.

-Tenten’s piercings are very attractive to Neji. He especially finds her dimple piecing a to be adorable, especially when she smiles. He will buy her jewelry often.

-Ino and Tenten give Chaotic energy; Tenten being Chaotic Neutral, Ino being Chaotic good. In other words they out in the streets and down for whatever.

-Sakura and Ino constantly have sing offs to see who is better. Tenten and Hinata find it amusing.

-Naruto and Tenten are usually seen with drumsticks in their pockets. Naruto prefers guitar, however he would be jamming either Lee and Tenten constantly.

-Neji and Hinata have a pretty good relationship; in fact Hinata looks up to Neji and tried to seek approval from him constantly, especially since they were always compared as children in their music abilities.

-Shikamaru, Neji, and Tenten will smoke/Vape together and just vibe in the studio.

-Each group would attend each other’s performances

-they all attend university/college. Neji and Tenten go to private uni, Ino Sakura and Hinata attend public uni (Hinata, due to not getting into a prestigious arts program). Sasuke, and Naruto (being gifted in guitar) are not in music majors, however attend public uni. Shikamaru is in a trade school program.

-Yes you do see correctly; Ino has a face tattoo. It’s very girly pop of her.

I’ll drop some more sketches soon; I’m tired lol

[hitinmiss]

The soriku and the Hercules/Meg parallels ALWAYS hit huh

[sorikufeels]

https://www.tumblr.com/pondrea/748403783611105280/dont-you-recognise-me

amazing art by pondrea (link above!!!) got me feeling things (the art is so good op!!!!!! 💚) and now i need to yap about this scene lol it’s of the moment zexion disguised himself as sora to riku in com.

(i hope it’s ok to post the link here! let me know if not!)

i’m CONVINCED what zexion said to riku as sora this still haunts riku to this day. it wasn’t even sora who said all that, but i’m sure the fear of how it played out in com actually playing out with the real sora scared riku to death. the fear of this happening led to him walking away from sora first, not even giving him the chance just in case there was a repeat scenario. sure, there was a lot of self hatred and feeling like he didn’t deserve to see sora as well, but the look on riku’s face tells you that this scarred him. this was his biggest fear. he rather fade to darkness than go through this again and isn’t even willing to risk that it could go another way.

anyway, this is just context for what i actually want to talk about lmao

so this is probably one of worst moments for riku right? utterly rejected by his best friend and now that friend was willing to kill him for who he is now. and it wasn’t even real.

but you know who that was real for? sora. in hollow bastion. utterly rejected by riku. his only means of defense taken, basically left to die. and then riku fought him tooth and nail until he lost and sora let him run away.

you know who got closure for their version of this scene? riku. he got it when sora fell to the ground on his knees in the world that never was, when he said he looked everywhere for him and told him he was still riku no matter what. sora told him exactly what he needed to hear to reassure him that sora didn’t think any of things riku feared he did. sora telling him specifically that he was still riku no matter what showed riku that sora stills wants him around. even if he looks like their enemy and even if he did some real awful things, he’s still riku and that’s enough. riku as he is is enough for sora. always has been.

you know who never got anything like that? sora. in fact, the conclusion that sora found to get him through is that he’s not enough. his friends are his power. alone, he has no strength. he only made it through by relying on a complete stranger he managed to befriend. if beast wasn’t there or if he refused to go with sora, would he have survived? he had magic but that would run out eventually. would he have even made it to the room he fights riku in?

i don’t think he thinks he would’ve. in kh3, he says alone, he’s worthless. he’s held that sentiment this entire time. no one told him otherwise. (until riku’s sacrifice but it’s murky about whether sora even remembers that at this point. but even if he does, it wasn’t like the scene in the world that never was. sora was able to dictate exactly what riku needed to hear with no imminent threat and riku was not emotionally compromised like sora was in the keyblade graveyard. riku was able to process everything sora said. that is a far cry to sora screaming in agony over all his friends dying, sora believing wholeheartedly that he's nothing without them, and riku just saying he believes in him. sure, thats what sora needed in that moment to save everyone, but it's not a response to his fears and insecurities established in kh1 like how what sora says to riku is a response to his fears and insecurities established in com.)

at this point, i think it’s obvious that sora knows riku’s changed from kh1 and that he doesn’t believe the same things. sora knows he cares based on his actions and how he saved him too and we know as an audience how dedicated he is to him. but it fucks me up to think that riku got that verbal closure while sora never did. that riku got to start healing from that awful moment but sora really never did.

just,,,, please please please please let them talk about what happened in kh1 i am on my knees begging

extra thoughts: didn’t think of this at first so sorry it’s a little disconnected, but maybe the reason riku is so horrified in that moment in com is because he realizes this is what he put sora through. maybe he made this connection himself and feeling what it was like to be on the other side of it, on sora’s side, horrified him. what’s worse, in riku’s mind, is that riku deserves to be in this position and deserves to be rejected due to his past actions. but sora never deserved it. maybe that contributed to why the self loathing spiral got worse after com.

[princekirijo]

Something I didn't really notice until replaying Royal but Ryuji really doesn't let the past hold him down? Like in the rank 2 scene he tells Akira that he doesn't want to focus on his past and he's more focused about the future.

I think that's kinda neat tbh he doesn't wanna let the stuff with Kamoshida or his dad drag him down, he just wants to keep going forward.

[ayukas]

synopsis love comes in many forms, each as beautiful as the seasons themselves. sion, riku and yushi each came into your life at just the right moment, filling it with joy, laughter, and passion. but as all seasons do, they eventually fade away, leaving behind only memories of love's fleeting warmth.

genre hurt comfort word count 740

notes another draft thats been sitting in the basement for months haaaa i🩶onriyu reblog if u love onriyu 2!!!!!! i hope u enjoy reading and as always, (positive) reviews and comments are welcomed! :D

WINTER

just like the shifting seasons, love takes on different forms, each carrying its own beauty and impermanence. as snow drifts past the windowpane, you find yourself reminiscing over three seasons of love, each distinct yet equally unforgettable.

SPRING

spring arrived with the scent of rain-soaked pavements and the buzz of new beginnings. you met riku at a small town cafe, the air thick with freshly brewed coffee and the soft chatter of customers. he was a quiet man with a steady presence, similar to the way petals clung onto branches before silently being carried away by the wind.

your love bloomed quickly, delicate and fleeting, much like the cherry blossoms that lined the streets. with riku, love was defined as gentle touches over warm mugs, shared glances that spoke more than words, and laughter that was carried by the spring breeze.

but riku was a dreamer, and his dreams were far too big for the place you call home.

when the opportunity arose for him to pursue volleyball professionally, he had already made his mind long before he needed to speak the words out loud. standing at the train station, with the scent of blossoms lingering in the air, you forced yourself to smile as he held you for the last time.

"we'll see each other again, right?" the words slipped past your lips, delicate with hope.

his smile was soft, yet bittersweet.

"of course."

and just like that, spring faded, taking him with it.

SUMMER

summer was a blaze of golden light, in the heart of a festival where music pulsed through the humid air. this was where you met sion—bold, untamed, and the embodiment of summer itself. he was introduced through your brother, daeyoung, though introductions were hardly necessary. after all, sion always had a way of making himself known, attracting people into his orbit with effortless charm.

love with sion was reckless abandonment, stolen kisses beneath neon streetlights, and the rush of wind through open car windows during late night drives. he taught you how to let go, to live in the moment without worrying about what comes next. your days were filled with sun-soaked adventures, while your nights carried the scent of sea salt and the distant hum of the city.

but summer, no matter how colourful, always fades into something quieter. and beneath sion's carefree laughter concealed a truth he had been avoiding.

"i don't think i'm ready for something serious."

the confession came softly, like the way a tide recedes from the shoreline.

sion was someone who loved deeply, but feared being loved in return. and so, as the summer heat began to wane, so did you, leaving behind only sun-bleached memories and the ghost of a warmth that once existed.

AUTUMN

autumn carried a crispness in the air, an aroma of cinnamon, and the quiet promise of change. you met yushi at a halloween party, a ridiculous coincidence given that he was dressed as a minion, and you, had come as the purple equivalent.

your love was built on laughter—playful teasing, stolen glances across crowded rooms, and shared warmth beneath oversized sweaters. yushi was a contradiction, both lighthearted yet deeply thoughtful, the kind of person who could make even the dullest days feel golden.

but beyond the laughs and easy smiles, there was something unspoken, something hesitant. it wasn't until the leaves had fully turned and when the air carried the first whispers of winter that he finally told you,

"i have to leave soon."

the words lingered between you, caught in the stillness of an autumn evening. he didn't want to go, and you didn't want him to leave, but life had a way of tugging people in different directions, making choices before hearts were ready to accept them.

and so, as the last of the autumn leaves drifted to the ground, so did your time together. your love, much like the season, had been beautiful in its transformation.

WINTER

snow falls in thick, quiet flurries, blanketing the world in white. winter is the season of calm and reflection, and in its quiet, you find yourself wondering about the loves you lost and the memories you gained.

each season held something different—the softness of spring, the intensity of summer, and the warmth of autumn—but winter, winter is yours alone.

the seasons will always shift again, and perhaps love will find you once more. but for now, you let the snow fall, allowing yourself the space to simply be.

[daylighteclipsed]

Your KH Enchanted posts are driving me INSANE! I've never thought about the connection before but like, Enchanted is literally about a cartoon character going to the real world and finding out that her designated "perfect" love interest wasn't actually the one for her despite the fact that he should be. And then cut to SORA WAKING UP IN QUADRATUM AND RIKU THERE LOOKING FOR HIM like... it's all coming together.

YES!!!! There are so many parallels. In Sora’s dreams, the way he and Riku wake up in this huge city at night with so many lights and signs and skyscrapers… it’s so much like Giselle pulling herself up into the center of Times Square. The area Sora’s in especially, Scramble Crossing, brings to mind Times Square.

Enchanted is about a fictional character becoming real. Giselle’s from a simple, “perfect,” fairytale world. She’s designed to be a stereotypical Disney princess, and she’s a trope more than a person until she ends up in the real world, where she’s quickly challenged by the real world’s imperfections and complexities, embodied especially in Robert and through her relationship with him.

I’ve talked before about how Kingdom Hearts features fictional characters waking up and coming to life, deviating from the script when they’re not really “supposed” to and becoming real. Like Giselle, Sora starts out as a pretty stereotypical trope — the hero — but over the course of his journey grows further away from that. He’s challenged and he changes, and a lot of that is embodied through his relationship with Riku, as Riku represents change and complexity, especially in the context of growing up.

There’s a lot of parallels in the dynamics between Giselle/Robert and Sora/Riku. They’re complementary opposites, and they learn from each other. Giselle inspires Robert to believe in the messages fairytales champion about kindness, the power of love, dreams coming true, and happy endings. Sora inspires Riku to follow his heart and open his heart to others. Robert helps Giselle understand that real life is not as simple as a fairytale. Riku helps Sora see and understand the nuances in their world and in each other.

Real people are complicated, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Giselle’s thrilled, for example, the first time she feels really, truly angry. Robert makes her feel things she’s never felt before, messy things that make her feel alive, that make it easier for her to understand him and grow closer to him. KH emphasizes that experiencing grief, sadness, anger, etc. allows us to connect with others deeper, whether we’re leaning on loved ones for support or trying to understand a stranger. Pain is a necessary part of having a heart, of being alive.

Also, these scenes are literally the same. Giselle and Sora even both smile in their sleep.

Giselle/Robert and Sora/Riku’s relationships develop significantly over the course of their stories. In comparison to Giselle/Edward and Sora/Kairi, which rely on trope expectations instead of character development/actual relationship building. Giselle hardly interacts with Edward. But he’s a prince, he resembles the man of her dreams, he saves her from falling, and she can finish his duet. Surely it’s true love! I’ve already compared sharing the paopu fruit with singing the duet. Kairi is also a princess. She saves Sora from falling to darkness in KH1. And it’s pretty and perfect and Disney, with him reappearing in her arms, gently pulling away, quietly thanking her with sparkles all around them. Just like how Edward catches Giselle right in his lap, perfectly in his arms, with the tree branches forming a heart behind them.

Compare that to later in DDD after Riku saves Sora from falling to darkness and Sora thanks him… and when Robert catches Giselle from falling off a billboard. It’s the same thing, but the moments are not pretty and perfect.

Giselle takes Robert to the hard ground, with a chorus of yelps and ouches as she nearly breaks his wrists. Riku is almost bowled over by Sora’s hug, and Sora holds him tightly, loudly exclaiming his relief, reluctant to let Riku go. But the lack of “Disney fairytale perfection,” I guess, in these scenes kind of makes them better, right? Robert is willing to get really hurt trying to catch Giselle. Sora is so happy to see Riku he can’t contain his emotions. Near the end of Enchanted, we see this again, except Giselle is the one catching Robert. And it’s still very clumsy and rough — he takes her down with him. It’s not perfect, but it’s real.

That’s the biggest difference between Giselle’s relationships with Edward and Robert, and Sora’s relationships with Kairi and Riku. In both surface dynamics and appearance, one is a pretty idea. A perfect, soft, simple fantasy that doesn’t exist, that can’t exist in reality beyond little boys and girls playing Prince and Princess. And the other is grounded in reality, with all the good and bad, the joy and heartbreak, laughter and tears, that entails. Being human is hard. But there is something magical about finding someone you can be human with.

Giselle mistakes Edward for the true love she’s been dreaming of. He’s got the blue eyes and the dark hair, and he catches her from falling. And it reminds me a lot of Sora mistaking Kairi for his light in the darkness in KH3.

It’s reasonable why Giselle and Sora would assume this… But Robert also catches Giselle from falling. He also has blue eyes and dark hair. Later, he dresses exactly like Giselle’s dream prince at the ball, and he even dances with her like in her dreams. In KH3, Riku sacrifices himself in an act of true love for Sora, and we see the light in the tunnel respond when Sora calls out Riku’s name. There’s a number of visual parallels from Sora’s dream and Dive to the Heart that indicate Riku is Sora’s light. While Giselle realizes the truth, it only seems to click for Sora a moment before he forgets. Giselle also gets a follow up parallel. Sora hasn’t yet.

Another little thing I want to point out — Giselle and Edward have a duet (that she stops singing), but Giselle and Robert have a waltz. They have the love song, and they dance to it. Sora and Riku don’t dance, but we see their hearts dancing to the song they create — a waltz version of Dearly Beloved.

Also Robert/Giselle still get the Disney singing element. It’s just not big and flashy like Giselle and Edward’s duet. Robert quietly sings a few words to her as they dance together… Sora and Riku still get the paopu fruit — it’s the keychain of Dearly Beloved (the Combined Keyblade) — but it’s not obvious like the cave drawing between Sora and Kairi is.

TLDR: I completely agree with you and I think, like Enchanted, KH intentionally plays with Disney tropes and audience expectations in order to subvert them. Like Giselle, Sora discovering his designated “perfect” love interest is not the one for him is part of his journey of awakening. It’s part of him becoming real, and growing up.

[yoroshiu]

Kingdom Hearts and the Cost of Empathy

While making yesterday's post I was reminded of this other topic that had been giving me brainworms lately. And I was going to do this on another day but the thought bugged me constantly so I'm just gonna let this out now.

Part ??? of Yoroshiu just reiterating obvious points that have been chewed on a billion times

Kingdom Hearts presents empathy as a means to have characters connect with each other in both the emotional sense and as a literal ability of sorts. If someone is happy, that joy is shared, and if someone is sad, then it's felt on a visceral level.

We've had three characters be confirmed literal empaths:

Sora, Xehanort, and Baldr

And if you know, you know.

It says a lot that 2/3 ended up being antagonists and when we look at the events that shaped them, we see how Kingdom Hearts handles the negative effects of being that exposed to others emotions, especially when put it certain circumstances.

(I didn't really want to use screenshots I used in my last post but these two shots and the following one are important here, even moreso than in the previous one LOL)

In Dark Road, Baldr was shown to be attached to his sister, Hoder, because she being a heart of pure light made him feel safe as, the screenshot shows, he was sensitive to others' hearts. That's part of why it makes Hoder's death so devestating for him.

And for Xehanort, he was able to take in his caretaker's memories and felt a personal and genuine connection with Player and their friends. It's partly why the events of Dark Road hit him so hard. Baldr states that Xehanort shares the same dynamic with Eraqs.

And even for Sora, our current hero, we've seen this Empathy be harmful to him as well. He's felt echoes of the heartache of his Heart Hotel residents (KH2, BBS, etc.) and you can assume how difficult it is to have to handle multiple people's most intense emotions.

And what happens when these characters hit their lowest? Especially when it's in tandem to this Empathy?

They break down, they fall apart, their hearts get wrapped in Darkness.

And what's the factor that turns empathy, the means to bring people together in understanding, into a force that drives people into despair?

Isolation.

If there's one consistent pattern with these characters is that being alone ends up contributing to the downfall.

Baldr falls apart because he's completely isolated from his friends in a completely white room with no windows for SEVEN DAYS. How did Odin think this was a good idea?????

(Day 1 vs Day 7)

Xehanort is a person who prefers doing things on his own. This is what makes him use others and even other versions of himself as tools for his plan. He gets wrapped up in all his plans and essentially becomes a more refined Baldr by the end.

Sora is someone who's tied to a lot of different people and their hearts. This contributes to his heart being broken down and made vulnerable to Darkness, especially with how he was kept alone in his dreams, led further and further away from Riku trying to wake him up.

(Sora being mostly alone in the new saga is going to be interesting. Strel is there but there's probably going to be an effort to isolate him again.)

Being left alone with all these emotions, with no proper way to process it—empathy becomes the most destructive force.

Despite what the mainstream might think, Kingdom Hearts has always believed in the proper balance between Light and Dark, Good and Bad. Empathy is good, it connects hearts together, but at its most extreme, it poses a danger. It can overwhelm a person and make them expel it to the world in the worst way possible.

Being completely alone with no forms of support turns compassion into despair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 66)

[blowingoffsteam2]

Kingdom Key D and Sora's Heart

Gonna paste some thoughts about Kingdom Key D that struck me last night:

Ok so on the topic of KKD being Sora’s true keyblade aka the one made from his heart (as KKL is made from Riku’s) it just struck me that in kh3 Mickey tells Yen Sid that his keyblade-kkd- was damaged in the realm of darkness along with Way to Dawn breaking in half.

Now we already know the theory that Way to Dawn actually broke during Riku’s sacrifice in the first unseen timeline, lining up with the “drop point” when Riku gets swallowed up by the demon tide in the RoD… but if kkd is made of Sora’s heart and what I suspect about Sora’s heart breaking or being damaged in some way during Riku’s sacrifice in the first timeline…That would perfectly explain why kkd randomly gets “damaged” despite them not even showing it to us and quickly glossing over it!

Think about it. Before kh3 we never even knew keyblades getting broken or damaged was a possibility- because keyblades are extensions of a person’s heart not a truly “physical” object. The only other time we’ve seen a keyblade actually be broken was in recoded when Maleficent breaks data Sora’s keyblade. And the ONLY reason she is able to do this, as explained, is because that keyblade was just a data imitation, it wasn’t tied to a real heart. Until Data Sora gets a heart of his own.

Keyblades don’t just break or get damaged because they get hit by a strong heartless. Sora and Riku have faced stronger enemies that small demon tide plenty of times. No. Keyblades only become damaged if the heart they are extension of become damaged. That has to be it.

The way Mickey says this and it’s just completely glossed over. Why would they even bother having KKD getting damaged and replaced when it’s an iconic keyblade and they don’t even SHOW the damage. It makes no sense... unless it’s planting a seed. Something to come back to with new context. Rather than getting a full replacement Mickey seemingly fuses KKD with Star Seeker, his bbs keyblade, in order to repair it.

This is also the first time we’ve seen this type of fusion of keyblades, again with zero explanation or showing it happening on screen. Star Seeker also happens to be the keyblade Sora gets with his first drive form, Valor form…

The fusion keyblade is called Star Cluster, and also apparently in jp it is “Kingdom Key W” (what does the W stand for??) The Star/Galaxy aesthetic also reminds me of that starry space in ReMind where Sora connects constellations…

Other things:

Apparently in Japanese the letter W is very commonly used as an idiogram for "Double" or "Two". This would make sense for a fusion keyblade like Kingdom Key W. Other ideas that were suggested: W for Waking, W for the "Win" timeline (as the previous timeline was fated to be lost to darkness). It's possible it has multiple meanings.

2. “Only King Mickey can open a door to the realm of darkness. It’s because he has a special Keyblade of Darkness. He figured out how to make it open the way.”

As stated in the kh3 glossary there are only three ways to enter the realm of darkness voluntarily: Beings of darkness have the power to open paths to it, a special keyblade of darkness (of which I believe KKD is the only known example- Nomura has explained that it doesn't mean that the keyblade's nature is dark or evil, only that it's a key that works on doors to/from the RoD), and the power of waking (which Sora uses to reach Riku).

I just think it's interesting if KKD is made from Sora's heart it just so happens to be this special keyblade of darkness. It's a complete mystery as to why KKD was just sitting there on the dark side of Destiny Islands. Mickey seems to know that it's a counterpart to KKL and that it would appear where KKL appeared....but how did he know that? What does it mean? Another interesting connection- during the fall of Destiny Islands notice how the door from Sora's dive to the heart appears in front of the Secret Place, and how the door within the cave only blasts wide open when Sora gets near.

Anyway, I've always thought KKD getting damaged was wierd and suspected it had something to do with what happened in the first timeline but assumed it had to do with Mickey's heart getting damaged somehow. But this makes so much more sense to me- after all we know KKD isn't made from Mickey's heart, it was just a keyblade he found. For both Way to Dawn and KKD to have become damaged as a result of Riku's sacrifice, due to whatever happened to Sora and Riku's hearts....it just makes sense. Sora's heart was damaged, so of course the keyblade made from him would be too.

[system-of-a-feather]

Full Integration, Final Fusion, Functional Multiplicitly, and General "Spirituality"

(Disclaimer: this is a very long post)

Heyyo, this is a bit of a hodgepodge of connected topics that I was thinking on this morning. For those that don't know, after like three months of being a really solid fused whole, we really decided that we needed to redivide back into our core parts to recenter, rebalance, and reorganize ourselves since our fused whole was loosing sight / vision of the "plot". We don't consider this "splitting" because we are still in - what we like to call "full integration" - and we don't really engage in much dissociation when we do this as the means of how we do this largely stems from the way we perceive, engage with, and view the concept of "self" and "identity." Our system highly values the mastery and art of a very fluid and ever changing sense of identity and self. This morning - thank you Chunn brain for batting our collective brain from the usual urge to get out of bed and get started with our day to give us time to really sit with our inner selves - we spent about an hour and a half and a small half hour nap just laying there thinking among ourselves and I wanted to share a few.

I think at the moment I am still mostly a fused whole and I had considered trying to go to Ray or Lin for them to write this, but it didn't feel right to go to Ray brain and Lin brain directly told me "Dude, this thought line started with Riku-dominant fused brain, trying to have someone else write it would be a disservice to the reflection. Let Riku or Riku-dominant fused brain do it, it's their thought." and you know, fair point. I think I'll use this post as a temporary "bye few thoughts" and love letter to our parts as a fused whole before leaving it to the individual specialists to do their things.

So introduction to this post aside, hello and temporary soon to be farewell before I choose to temporarily redivide into my main parts. Today is May 15, 2024 and I'm gonna document this a bit for when I come back whenever that is and kind of see if my fused-whole perspective and nature changes - mostly for myself. Online I go by Feathers, irl I just go by our chosen name.

I'm a (mostly, technically non-denominational independent, but most of my views and perspectives come from and align closely with) Zen Buddhist. I'm nonbinary vaguely transmasc (not really though?) intersex individual with the pronouns of they/them. I am extremely pro-endo and if I honestly felt like sticking around longer, I was thinking about writing a much more nuanced essay on tulpa-terminology discourse with my current reflections as a fused whole and as a pretty avid Buddhist but, unforunately, unless one of my parts still shares the same insight AND interest, that essay will have to wait for me to potentially be back (hey, Riku or Chunn might still want to who knows). I dunno what else to say, I love bird, Bleach, walking, driving, listening to music, video games, writing, art? I dunno man, I'm just me.

Documentation aside anyways, I gotta figure out where I want to start. I think I will actually piss my high-school English teachers off and start with the LAST thing in the title card. I might loose a lot of close minded white anti-endos here, but hey, if you are that close minded, then its your loss cause I'm just talking about late-stage recovery as a person with diagnosed DID that is considered polyfragmented. It's a fun conversation to have with other people with DID aiming for recovery so, if you're hell bent on hating people talking about plurality form a non-DID lens enough to disregard cool information, that's your loss. (Thank you XIV brain, crediting that to you for part of our goal today)

Buddhism, Spirituality, Plurality and Our Perspective of Full Integration

According to Buddhism, and one of the largest concepts and principles of Buddhism that we believe the most in and actively work to practice and cultivate the mindset of - is that the concept of "I" and the concept of a singular, distinct, and separate self from the world and others simply does not exist - only the experience and illusion of experience exists. I was talking about it with @quoigenicfromhell in DMs since they were interested in talking shop about Buddhism.

To save myself a whole effort of rewriting a discussion on how one can hold together the clear sensation of existing and being an individual with the idea and Buddhist understanding that the "self" does not exist, I'm going to copy a little bit of what I wrote in response to them. If it doesn't make sense cause its in a bit of Buddhist jargon, then oh well, I'm lazy, it's written for an audience that has done some reading and looking into Buddhist thought so RIP yall srry not srry (Thank you Chunn brain lol)

Honestly the development and understanding of holding those two things together (the non-self and non-existence with the clear experience of self and existence) is largely a lot of exploration on the understanding and respect for the experience without applying too much value or regard to said experience. Its kind of a hard thing to understand just based off of words alone and like all things Buddhism, its one of those sorts of things you really gotta sit on and explore in your own mental space, but like

The experience of self and personhood and existence is a denied concept in Buddhist thought, but its not a bad or incorrect thing, the experience of self and existence is kind of considered an inherent expression of life and the world and while its important to be cognicent that it is an illusion that can cause suffering and muddy an individuals ability to see Things As They Are, the experience and illusion of self is additionally an entirely natural thing to experience and is an important part of being able to, well, be

I kinda of personally perceive it kind of similarly to say a part in a system. Innately the part is not (at least in my experiences of systemhood) a literal entire separate being and thats an important thing to acknowledge for a number of reasons (life organization and direction, system accountability, etc) but its would also be incredibly foolish to completely ignore that the part operates, experiences themselves, and lives in the world (both inner and outer) as if they were an individual of their own

In the same sense that a part in a system can be seen both as an individual and a part of a whole / collective depending on what perspective and demands the moment needs. An individual can be seen both as the individual expression of a self informed by the arguably incorrect illusion of isolation OR as a part of the whole worlds expression depending on what serves the moment the best. I largely kind of see myself as part of a system that is the world much like I see my parts as part of a system that is "me". While the self may be an illusion, its not an experience that can be denied and it is an innate expression that in its own right can prove to be a great teacher So you deny the concept of a self but respect and revere the experience and innate natural expression of self

With that context in mind, while we do not believe in the concept of self and find that trying to seek out a concrete idea of a singular person and singular self in society is a source of extreme suffering, stress, and displeasure, we DEEPLY revere and honor the expression of self. As we see it, in a complete ideal and impossible the world would be in perfect harmony if we let the world express itself as it naturally does. We find that the experiences of self - in whatever form they take - are inherent and natural expressions of the world as a whole and to try to shape oneself to fit a specific image - may that be societally imposed or internally / personally imposed or a sense of envy or any sort of clinging or desire to a specific version / image of self - is a disrespect to the innate beauty found in the natural expression and a means of adding disharmony into the world.

As a result, our system and whole aims deeply, above almost all else to exist simply as we naturally would in any moment time to time. If we find that something we are doing with our sense of self is drawn and influenced too much on a "I should" or "I want" or "I wish" or "I hope" then we tend to pause, self reflect, and ask if we are actually existing in our natural state, or are we trying to fight against our natural state of self to fit into a self-imposed idea of what we "should be".

As a result of that, our system deeply values our flexibility, fluidity, and ability to change any aspect of ourselves, any opinion we hold, any identity label we consider, and our overall presentation in all ways and forms to a very high level. The desire to be consistent and predictable serves us little in simply practicing on "being" and finding the true and simply-run life that we want. That then results in why our system so casually flips around in system size, fusions, redivisions, how we refer to ourselves, etc. We find very little value in committing to labels and concepts and do whatever is natural for us.

Additionally, another large aspect of Buddhism our system deeply reveres and appreciates is the acknowledgement that there are "Buddhas" - or in less Jargon terms, potential for everything both internal and external to be teachers and guides into finding a sense of peace and simplicity in the world - and that it is deeply important to cultivating peace, happiness, and insight to actively always be seeking out the "Buddha" in everything and everyone. It's important to reflect, engage with, and talk with those "Buddhas" as they are the best and number one way to gain the insight that brings happiness and peace into life and removes excessive suffering and stress.

As many Buddhists agree (at least of the Mahayanan branches), everyone is inherently a Buddha because the world and everything is a Buddha. The only issue people have is that they can not connect, hear, and see clearly enough to be in that state due to a large number of human conditions - one large one being the aforementioned illusion of self.

Having lived my life as someone with DID and having gone through a lot of trauma therapy, self reflection, communication and coordination with my parts, and all that to the point we have reached functional multiplicity over a year plus ago and been able to hold a fully fused state for over three months, I feel like its a given to say that of ALL things in the world, the "Buddha nature" of my parts have been the best and most insightful teachers I've ever had. We revere each other's strengths and specialties greatly as each of us have taught the other great strengths, great understandings, great insights, and great appreciations that have collectively brought us so much peace and happiness. It's not to say any part is "enlightened" because each part is also deeply flawed and struggling in their own realms, but it is largely by working and talking and supporting one another and ACTIVELY looking to one another for insight and lessons about the world and our existence that we are able to reach a uniquely peaceful space.

For us, its an incredibly important practice - both for self care and in the art / spirituality of Buddhism - to regularly talk and engage with these specialized and uniquely-wise (and uniquely stupid - thank you XIV) parts of ourselves to gain deeper insight and overall understanding of ourselves and our place in the world.

In the same sense, it is why - despite being completely capable of operating as a fully fused whole - we regularly choose to INTENTIONALLY redivide into our parts. And no, its not us "splitting again" or even really throwing up any real level of dissociation / dissociative barriers. If anything, we usually do this through meditation and mindfulness.

It's a Buddhist practice, its not a mental disorder and its not stemming from the same mechanism's DID stems from. It might operate *based* on the foundation our history with DID stems from, but at this point in our healing, the way our system operates at functional multiplicity that is intentionally chosen to be that way AFTER reaching "final fusion" has a number of differences from how it operated before we reached general full integration.

Again, for those more familiar with the tulpa-terminology discussion, you might be able to see where I would have a long post delving into a highly nuanced and more middle-ground perspective of that syscourse from the paragraph above this one, but I'm gonna leave that cause I already know this post is long and it would detract from the purpose.

At this point, my system is mostly an "intentionally created one" to Western label standards. We personally do not see any significance or binary in plural VS singular people beyond it being a label some people identify with and not. Plural VS Singular is a false binary perpetuated in white, western, and european society and while I respect that perspective and view in a space that is primarily filled with white, western, and/or european individuals, I am going to firmly state that and expect you to give me that same respect. (and if you refuse to give me that same respect, then you are close minded and being very white / western lmao <- thank you XIV, again)

And so the other related but slightly different topic away from the more philosophical, esoteric, mysticism sounding topic of Buddhism...

Full Integration, Final Fusion, and Functional Multiplicitly

At this point, what we used to call "Wishiwashi Recovery" we kind of have taken to just calling "full integration" generally as a means of really breaking apart the suggested categorical and boxed binary of "final fusion" and "functional multiplicity" as our own experience and discussion with other systems at and near full integration have made us realize that the difference between functional multiplicity and final fusion is FAR more a spectrum than it is two seperate categories. Some systems stick to one end, some to the others, but the largest difference is in external and internal expression of the parts and less any fundamental or biological / clinical difference; at least not in terms of integration. (Note: Integration =/= Fusion; Integration is the general connectivity and accessibility of parts with less / limited / no dissociation)

It's a false binary to say Final Fusion or Functional Multiplicity and its why a lot of the "ones bad and ones good" syscourse is dumb. They're two heads of the same Doduo and they should be kissing. (JOKING, thank you Riku-Aya brain)

With that said, our system, as we've made clear, regularly and freely practices sliding and flying all over that spectrum as just how we like to engage with ourselves. We change between the two as we see fit and having spent probably like 9~ months in functional multiplicity and 3~ months in final fusion I wanted to share some pros and cons of both sides.

I would also like to put a disclaimer that this isn't meant to be "positives and why this side sucks" as much as it is the differences in life style according to our opinion and our experience. Both final fusion and functional multiplicity are absolutely WONDERFUL things overall and we love both states. If we got "stuck" in either, we would still be immensely happy. The purpose of this part is just to share certain differences in how we experience the two different ends. The Cons in these case are only "cons" relative to the "alternative" and not "to not ever reaching either"

Functional Multiplicity Pros:

A lot more clear and direct communication between parts internally that allows for a SHIT ton of internal banter, productive conversation about complex topic and perspectives from unique and diverse perspectives; the communication is a lot more intentional and a lot more in focus so its easier to properly sit and attend to the complex differences and sometimes conflicting directions

It's honestly just a lot of fun, not gonna lie. A lot more dramatic and extravagant expression + brain friends in a more overt sense

Easier to let certain parts of the brain take "breaks" - it's not the same as it is with not-fully-integrated DID but compared to Full Fusion, certain parts of the brain can "tune out" easier than not

More palatable to DID / OSDD spaces online

Easier to focus and use a wide variety of skills, interests, hobbies, and thinking patterns by simply just having a specialist part take their look at it

Generally easier to target specific boxes to look into as you process all the newly accessible memories and information from being highly / fully integrated

Final Fusion Pros:

Quick and a lot more inherent understanding of all parts on a general gut level without necessarily needing to fully think about everything and listen to every opinion and perspective; there is a lot more of an inherent understanding, trust, and awareness of the collective whole which makes decision making and seeing whats good for the system as a whole a lot easier

It's honestly way more calming, relaxing, and solid feeling. There is a unique sense of confidence, understanding, and trust within yourself and you have a HUGE arsenal of skills and interests that come from the combined parts that you've lived as

You are a lot more present and aware of your life and you actually get to live YOUR life and have all parts of yourself be engaged in life; no part feels really left behind or is caught off guard from having their brain partially turned off. The awareness is really present and engagement is so much more complete.

More palatable in real life and non-DID/OSDD spaces

Easier to simultaneously use skills from multiple parts at once; very much a jack of all trades all at once situation

Generally easier to integrate multiple complex and otherwise seemingly detatched boxes of memory and the past as you process all the newly accessible memories and information from being highly / fully integrated

Functional Multiplicity Cons:

Takes more intention, focus, and often time to get the same level of full understanding of the whole system when making decisions. It can be slow and it requires a lot more internal engagement which can make it harder to be fully present in life

Sometimes you can get what I call "lite" amnesia where a part was not paying attention and doesn't fully process what was going on / what is going on and so sometimes you get poor attention-driven "amnesia". It's small and easily recovered by simply going "hold up wait" and thinking back or asking another part

Harder to use skills from different parts at the same time; albeit definitely still possible and only "harder" relative to final fusion

Generally harder / requires intentional discussion between parts to integrate multiple complex boxes as you process all the newly accessible memories and information from being highly / fully integrated

Final Fusion Cons:

Less direct and overt bantering and discussion between parts (still present by the way, just less frequent and less overt). It can be a little less fun (still is fun cause they are sill there) and it can be a bit harder to fully see the extent of a more extreme perspective

It can be tiring and overwhelming to be aware and present so much for so long if you were accustomed to the breaks DID / OSDD tends to give parts

Easier to forget to use a lot of the skills and hobbies that may have been more niche to less-dominant and less-prominent parts; you don't "loose" the skills, you just aren't accustomed to using them as much so you can just kinda forget to use them

Harder to focus on a targetted recovered memory / information that you want to process and can sometimes be a bit overwhelming trying to connect a number of things at once

And this is all just to say that both are absolutely astonishing and great places to mentally be. The main point is that - for us - sometimes one state works better for us in the moment and another state works better for us later and that's completely cool cause - as aforementioned - the difference between plural vs singular is not a binary one for us anyways.

Anyways, I don't know how to wrap this up so I'mma just post it

Ideally today we will focus on cultivating our independent parts and return to Functional Multiplicity end of the spectrum so I guess tata for now

-Feathers

EDIT and PS: Anyone is allowed to add their thoughts to this so long it is in good faith.

[septnanis]

places to hide / soriku

“Hey,” Terra says, a tall shadow in the doorway.

Riku looks up at him and smiles. He likes Terra. Not just because they shared a moment so poignant that it shaped Riku’s future, but because Terra is a kind, steady presence in his life.

“You okay?” Terra asks.

But most of all, Riku feels like he can let his guard down. He nods, his throat feeling thick with emotion he can’t quite place.

“Yeah,” Riku says.

“Sora was worried about you,” Terra says. “May I?” He gestures to the overturned crate across from the one Riku is sitting on. “He said this is your favorite hiding spot.”

Riku nods and Terra sits down, the door shutting slowly behind him. Once it closes, only the light from underneath cuts through the darkness. It’s enough that they see each other.

“Are you?” Terra asks.

“Huh?” Riku replies.

“Hiding from something?” Terra moves a bit so he’s more comfortable.

From everything, Riku wants to say. From expectations, from my innate drive to keep going and going, a dozen other things and some he would never dare say out loud.

“I asked Sora why he didn’t look for you,” Terra says. “He seems to think you might be mad at him. Another year wasted on me, he said. Did you and Sora argue?”

Riku shakes his head. “No, I just…” he says. “I may have been avoiding him a little.”

Terra lets the words settle in the room for a while. It floats in the air like dust motes, catching whatever light is left in the room.

“I like sitting in dark places, too,” Terra says. “You’d think after years of being trapped in darkness I’d hate it. But it feels… comforting.” He runs his hands over the top of his legs. “Guess I learned to love my chains.”

“I felt like a monster,” Riku says. “Or a Heartless. But now it just feels nice… kinda quiet and almost peaceful. It makes stepping into the light feel even better.”

“Perfect balance,” Terra says. “You’re a wiser man than anyone who ever tried to teach me anything, Riku.”

Riku shifts and smiles. “Except for Aqua and Ven,” he says.

Terra nods. “They’re always my exception to everything,” he says in a fond tone.

Another silence falls.

When Terra chooses to speak again he does so carefully. “I know how you feel,” he says. “About yourself. And Sora.”

Riku’s demeanor changes, his back slightly straighter.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Terra says. “Or admit anything. I’m not going to push you to do anything. But I know you haven’t stood still for a moment since you left your home. I know despite how strong you are and how brave you’ve been, that you’re tired.”

Terra looks away from him, when Riku puts a hand on his own face. “I know you’re frustrated, and that maybe you think you don’t deserve to want the things you do.”

“I just want you to know that you deserve good things,” he says. “You deserve to be a happy young man in the prime of his life. Don’t give up on that.”

Riku inhales sharply, leans back and nods. “I didn’t waste anything,” he says. “Not for him.”

Terra places his hand on Riku’s shoulder and stands. “Tell him that, when you’re ready,” he says. “I think his answer might surprise you.”

Riku looks up at him and looks every bit the young man he is. When he nods again, Terra puts his hand on the door.

“It’s a good hiding spot,” Terra says. “Mind if I borrow it sometimes?”

Riku laughs, a little emotion stuck in the sound. “Sure,” he says. “I don’t mind.”

—-

“Sorry,” Riku says, weeks later. “If you thought I was avoiding you.”

Sora shrugs against his side. He sat down beside Riku when Riku invited him in without asking. Real light doesn’t ask permission, real darkness never pushes back. Perfect balance.

“That’s okay,” Sora says. “My foot’s in a bucket.”

“Your foot is a bucket,” Riku shoots back. It takes a beat, but they both snigger.

The silence between them is so different than the one between Riku and Terra. It’s lighter, and there’s electricity.

“I know sometimes you need some space,” Sora says. “You’ve always been like that. I don’t mind!”

Riku imagines how he couldn’t have fallen for Sora. It seems so impossible.

“You can tell me,” Sora says. “Even if it’s just a ‘I want to be alone now!’ thing. And if I ever do anything, you can tell me. You don’t owe me anything.”

Riku looks at him. His blue eyes, his spiky hair, his eyebrows, one just a little higher than the other. The way his mouth always looks like it wants to smile.

“And you could never be a waste of time,” Riku says. There’s a moment and then relief seems to wash over Sora’s face.

“It’s a good hiding spot,” Sora says, an echo of Terra that makes Riku smile.

When Sora lays his head just ever so slightly on Riku’s shoulder and lays the back of his hand against Riku’s leg. An open invitation to something he’s wanted for as long as he can remember.

Just because Riku reached out a little.

“It really is,” Riku says, lays his head ever so gently on Sora’s.

He reaches his own hand out, farther than he’s ever dared.

In the darkness, he’s no longer afraid.

[turnupswritessometimes]

When the Last Petal Falls - SoRiku Oneshot

A03 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46589221

Summary: Still think you should say hi to Santa," Sora murmured. His bat wings fluttered, of their own accord.. "Later." It was Sora's turn to roll his eyes. The door in front of them was not the one to Christmas Town. Instead, it was a red heart. Valentines Town. They were had a heartless problem, according to Jack. According to Jack it was, "A delightful, interesting place! Sally and I honeymooned there, you know. I'd hate for them to have trouble." So Sora and Riku agreed to help out.

Hijinks in Valentine's Town

Word Count: 5358

When the Last Petal Falls

"I'm confused," Riku said.

"That doesn't take much," Sora replied. He couldn’t resist.

Screams came from the graveyard behind them. Riku glanced back, frowning. It made Sora feel very brave - very cool - to ignore them, but they still sent a chill up his spine.

Riku elbowed him. Hard enough to make him stumble. "Halloweentown is its own world, yet there are doors to other worlds within it. But they aren't their own worlds. You don't need a gummi ship to get to Christmas Town.”

They walked through the forest, under the silver moonlight. It made every shadow look twice as spindly, twice as long. Sora expected Heartless to jump out from behind any of them. His hand itched to summon his keyblade, even though Jack insisted no heartless had gotten back through to Halloween Town. Yet.

"I could park the Gummi Ship in Christmas Town.” Sora pressed his tongue against his fang until there was a spark of pain. He tasted blood.

Riku just snorted, and rolled his eyes. Disconcerting, when they were yellow. When they glowed like a cats. Whatever magic disguised them in other worlds had bleached what little colour there was in Riku's skin and hair. It made the black stand out; the black of his clothes (not so dissimilar to his own), the black of the great, clawed hands - the black of the horns. They reminded Sora of Maleficent's. Of course, he couldn't say that. It was hard to say anything whilst Riku had fangs. They were all Sora could see. The thought crossed his mind – of cutting his tongue on Riku's fangs – and his cheeks warmed.

Riku actually paused in their walk to look at him, properly. The snort and eye roll had been a dig at Sora's driving. He'd gotten distracted – the shadows made Riku's cheekbones look carved from marble – so he tried elbowed him back.

Those thoughts were getting harder and harder to control. They snuck in whenever he was with Riku, and sometimes when he wasn't. Passing thoughts, but ones that turned his stomach or made him warm. Thoughts about kissing him. He told himself they were silly thoughts, that he’d never do. But they weren't. He knew they weren't. They were more than that.

Still, weren't to be acted upon. Couldn't be acted upon.

They reached the door, in the middle of the woods. The screaming graveyard could barely be heard from here.

"Still think you should say hi to Santa," Sora murmured. His bat wings fluttered, of their own accord..

"Later."

It was Sora's turn to roll his eyes. The door in front of them was not the one to Christmas Town. Instead, it was a red heart. Valentines Town.

They were had a heartless problem, according to Jack. According to Jack it was, "A delightful, interesting place! Sally and I honeymooned there, you know. I'd hate for them to have trouble."

So Sora and Riku agreed to help out.

He took hold of the handle. Took a breath, and tugged it open. He didn't have the same excitement that he had over Christmas Town. There was no Santa on the other side of this door. Instead, there would be – chocolates, he supposed. Girls made boys chocolates on Valentines.

"You're not scared of here, but you're scared of Valentines?" Riku asked. He had a hand on the edge of the tree, ready to jump.

Sora forced himself to laugh. Forced himself to say, "No way," and take the jump. It was a familiar sensation; magic; rippling his clothes, ruffling his hair, over his wings.

Then, they landed.

His heart still raced. The air here was warmer, with the sun pressing through his eyelids; it smelt sweet. He didn't know why he was so nervous. This was a routine job. In, make friends, fight heartless, out.

This world was extremely pink. The path spread out before them, edged on either side with magenta poppies and red roses bursting from their stems.

"We changed forms to blend into Halloween Town, but changed again to blend into here." Riku shook his head. "It is confusing."

Sora made a sound. He was too busy taking Riku's new appearance in. He’d kept the fangs, and curling horns - though they were a dark, shining mauve now. His clothes had shifted; a cravat and collar, though his shirt was still sleeveless. Smart trousers and shining boots. And a tail. He had a long, thin tail with a spade shape at the end. It should not have been attractive.

Riku blinked, his eyes very green in the pink forest. "What?"

His tail twitched, as though it was self-conscious. Not a spade, Sora realised. A heart. It was tinged mauve too.

"Just - you don't look very Valentines-y," he replied, sure his cheeks were burning again. His heart and wings kept fluttering. He still had wings. He hadn't had wings in Christmas Town. He glanced back to see white. They were still small – not big enough to lift him from the ground. Here, they were feathered. He twisted, trying to see them better. Kept twisting, and felt like a dog chasing his tail.

Riku caught his shoulder. Turned him back the right way, and looked him over. Even his cheeks looked pink; that must have been a side effect from the world's magic.

"You do," Riku said. "Look Valentines-y."

Sora glanced down. His own clothes were lightweight, light - draping, like the fashion at the colosseum. He didn't usually feel self-conscious about a different form, but he did now. With Riku.

He tried to play it off. Gave Riku's shoulder a light punch and said, "Watch out, or my arrow’ll go through your heart.”

And Riku laughed - showing those fangs - before following Sora down the path. The rose bushes grew in heart shapes, so did the tree trunks; all cherry blossom of course, scattering pale pink petals down like confetti.

"So, you're an angel," Riku said. His tail twitched behind him, the heart staying upright. "What does that make me?"

Sora stretched an arm above his head. Tried to stay casual. "Some kind of imp?"

"A devil?" And Riku actually looked a little hurt. He pouted around the fangs. "I feel typecast."

They came to an iron gate, entirely made of twisted hearts. Sora stopped, a hand on the swirls, and looked at Riku. "It doesn't matter what you look like, you have a good heart. A good, strong heart."

His hand had risen. It hovered above Riku's chest, to prove his point. They were closer than he realised. Closer than he’d meant them to be.

Riku looked down, eyes searching as though he expected him to be joking. Searching for something. He bit his lip. Didn’t reply.

Sora’s fingers curled into his palm. Slowly, he brought his hand down. Twisted it into the gate behind him, instead. Gripped it so tightly his palm hurt.

Then Riku looked up, sharply. Frowned. “Are those heartless?”

He already had his keyblade summoned. Sora caught his, as he turned, grateful for the interruption, for once. There were dark shapes in the sky, flitting about like huge birds. He ended up hopping onto the gate to see better. One swooped close enough for him to see clearly.

“Those are cherubs,” he replied. Now that the amber sun had caught them in its light, he could make out the baby-like features of their faces. He laughed, releasing his keyblade. “I’m just an oversized chicken.”

And almost squawked like one, when Riku swung the gate open, with him still perched on it. He stepped past, onto the dirt road. His hand grazed Sora’s bare arm, as he did.

“It doesn’t matter what you look like,” Riku chanted. But then turned earnest. “You’ve got a good strong heart.”

Said heart was still racing. Sora hopped down from the gate, and hurried to catch up. Couldn’t help tweaking Riku’s tail as he did. He jumped, with his whole body, turning on him. He looked impish, with that look in his eye, and that smirk on his face.

Sora’s wings fluttered. He grinned back. Only half-heartedly tried to dodge Riku’s hand as he sought payback; he tweaked the covering still over Sora’s eye.

That made him realise it had changed to. A rose. Riku had caused one of the petals to come loose. It fell, almost heart-shaped itself, to the path. Crimson, against the plain dirt.

He tore his gaze away. They had a job to do. Heartless. Fighting. Saving the world. Not messing around. Not thinking about how handsome Riku looked. What the fluttering in him meant.

He needed to shed those thoughts, like petals from a rose.

*

This world felt like sweet torture.

They continued until the road turned to cobblestones, and the found the town proper. It looked like a child’s illustration; chalk white buildings topped with sugar-pink rooftiles, decorated with stained glass, hard-candy windows. Good enough to eat. And there certainly were a lot of things to eat; the highstreets were chocked full of confectionaries and chocolatiers; bakeries and coffee shops. Riku’s stomach grumbled at the pastries, the candy, the chocolate truffles. He noticed the dentists stuck in between like crooked teeth, their windows still full of lollipops.

They wandered, through meadows lined with rainbow tulips and past window boxes of carnations. The smell stayed stuck in Riku’s nose; he constantly had to sneeze here. It was all so very – much. Everyone walked in pairs, wearing flowers or reading poems. All lovestruck like puppies, without a care in the world. The two of them walked in a pair as well, but he couldn’t put an arm around Sora. They could hardly walk hand in hand.

They weren’t like that. Just friends.

And he was grateful they were friends, after everything. That he had been forgiven, and, most of all, they were both still here and whole. Safe. He couldn’t ruin that by turning this into anything more.

But it was so hard, when Sora looked like that. When his hair seemed bouncier and softer; he couldn’t stop staring at the wisps at the nape of his neck; short and fluffy like duckling feathers. Couldn’t look away when the one visible eye stared up at him; blue and shining like light in the darkness. His skin caught the sunlight so that he practically glowed bronze, the white clothes accentuating that all the more. He was, quite literally, an angel.

Which was playing havoc with Riku. It was always like this, now, around Sora, but being here, surrounded by love, made it all the worse.

He’d known for a while. Had confessed to the king in a muddle of, “I care about him – a lot. I thought I hated him. I hated him making friends without me. But that’s not – it was jealousy. And it wasn’t hate. I – I don’t know what it is. It makes my heart hurt.”

Mickey had looked at him, in a way that was part pitying, part amused. “Riku, you love him.”

He’d snapped that wasn’t it at the time. Of course, it was. Of course, Mickey guessed right. Of course, he encouraged him to be honest with his feelings.

He couldn’t be.

It was always Sora and Kairi. They were the love story. And how could he ruin this friendship by adding his feelings into the mix? It was best for everyone to suffer in silence.

Suffering was the word now. They trailed through town, but they didn’t see any heartless. Not a single shadow.

Eventually, they brought giant chocolate eclairs, and sat at the edge of the fountain in town square. It was marble, topped with a cherub statue and pouring pale pink liquid. Riku licked at the chocolate topping on the éclair, and tried not to think about how Sora sat so close that their legs were grazing.

“Do you remember Valentine’s day back home?” Riku’s tongue asked, before his brain could keep up. “I think we were six, or maybe seven, and you gave me handmade chocolates at school?”

Sora swung back, on the fountain, almost dipping into the flow of the water. “Oh, don’t.”

But he didn’t really mean it. Riku smiled. “They were burnt.”

“Riku.”

“But you had this big, beaming smile like you really didn’t care.”

They spoke at the same time, the words overlapping like ill-fitting puzzle pieces:

“Everyone laughed at me.”

“You were my only Valentines.”

They both stopped short, staring at each other in surprise. A sweet-smelling wind picked up, and it took another one of the petals sat over Sora’s eye. It left the rose in a heart-shape. His cheeks were the same red as it. That hurt feeling in Riku’s heart returned in full force, and he couldn’t stand it. That was what love felt like, apparently.

Sora swallowed. He ducked his chin. “Like, ever?”

Their hands both sat on the stone edge of the fountain. Riku looked at them, too. Sora’s gloves were fingerless; his own were tipped with claws. Was there a better metaphor for being unsuited for each other?

Yet, his own twitched closer. “Like, ever.”

“Kairi must have given you chocolates,” Sora murmured.

“Only because she made you some. Because she didn’t want me to be left out,” Riku said. Sora didn’t argue. He took a shaking breath. “You never usually care if people laugh at you.”

“I don’t.” Sora’s finger twitched in response. “Because I’m usually laughing with them. But I wasn’t, then. I was the joke.”

Girls gave boys chocolates on Valentines. Boys didn’t give other boys chocolates. But they’d grown up since then, and learnt they could.

“Not to me.” Riku dared to look up; dared to meet that blue eye. Sora stared back, as though he was – amazing. He couldn’t help it, his gaze twitched down, to his parted mouths. His lips were the same pink colour as the rooftops around them. Spun, pink sugar. With a dollop of cream at the edge, from the éclair.

Riku wasn’t really thinking, his heart was beating too loudly; it had taken control of all of him, and his hand reached up. His thumb wiped away the cream. He was hardly breathing; Sora didn’t seem to be either.

His fingers found Riku’s. Seemed to be entangling in his own, when a voice interrupted: “How very unusual!”

Riku pulled away from Sora. Pulled his hand away. Almost summoned his keyblade – half expecting Organization 13 – before he really took in the character before them. Because she was more like a character, than a real person. A towering lady in a meringue of cream skirts; emblazoned with yet more hearts; her beehive hair added another layer of height, coloured as sweetly pink as the rest of the town.

“Oh, sorry—” Sora was already on his feet. His wings stretched out behind him, feathers trembling. “We’re Jack’s friends. Jack Skellington?”

“Oh yes. Him. He’s quite charming, and he knows my dear Mr Shakespeare well.”

Riku managed to pull enough of himself together to stand, and step forward too. He glanced at Sora, who only lifted his shoulders in a shrug back. He supposed if Santa was in this world, there was no reason Shakespeare couldn’t be alive as well.

“He said you had a heartless problem,” Sora continued. “We’ve come to help!”

He put his fist to his chest, looking every bit a plucky hero. Riku’s heart hurt, again. This newcomer glanced to him with eyes the colour of chocolate. Seemed to know, and his stomach jolted in panic.

“Heartless?” The lady shook her head, and it made said beehive sway alarmingly. “No, we focus on filling hearts here. Filling them with love. Why, I thought you were filling your arrows with potion.”

They exchanged another glance, both as blank as each other.

“Sorry,” Riku said, eventually. “It’s our first time here.”

“That would explain the lack of respect for a queen.” She seemed to raise herself even higher, her dress flouncing around her as if it was preening. “Queen Ruby Valentino, the ruler of this land. I would have thought Jack would have told you that. Though—” She peered at them both. “You don’t look like you come from his domain.”

“We didn’t want to disturb anyone in your town,” Sora said. It wasn’t quite a lie, and perhaps that’s why it came so easily from him. “So, we – disguised ourselves.”

The queen stepped around them, examining them both. Riku felt that stupid tail twitch. It was irritating to have something attached to him, giving him away.

“Magic.” The queen concluded. She tweaked one of Sora’s wings. He jumped in response. Pressed back against Riku. He steadied his shoulder without thinking about it.

“And how interesting that magic would choose this. A cupid and an imp, working together. Love and heartbreak.”

Riku suspected his face was terribly red. Imp. Heartbreak. Typecast.

“We’re friends,” Sora said. Defensively. His arm even came out, a little, as if he was shielding Riku.

“Like I said, interesting.” The queen only smiled, glancing between them. “But love is love, darlings. You don’t need to hide it.”

Riku couldn’t move – couldn’t breathe – could only stare. It was obvious, then. He was obvious. She knew. Did everyone?

Sora was frozen too. Even his wings had stopped fluttering. The wind ruffled his hair, and it took another rose petal with it.

“So there are—” Sora sounded choked. “There are no monsters causing trouble about town?”

“None that I’m aware of.”

“It’s not like that,” Riku said. Had to say. “We’re not—”

“Oh. I see.” But she made it sound like she didn’t. The queen stepped forward. Still smiling, and perhaps that was why neither of them moved. She only patted them both on the head, just once, like they were small children. “Well then, enjoy your stay here, sweethearts.”

Then she was swanning off with all of her ruffles and chiffon. Barking an order about flowers to a man who seemed to appear from nowhere, bowing profusely. It left Sora and Riku stood by the fountain. Not alone. Plenty of couples milled at the edges, but they were all in their own lovesick bubbles. They’d barely noticed the entrance of the queen.

Riku was burning. He stepped away, trying to get his tail under control. Running a hand through his hair and finding those horns. Maleficent, he thought, and knew he’d never be entirely free of her.

Sora ruffled his wings like a duck shaking off feathers. He turned to Riku and smiled, shakily. He put his hands behind his head, like nothing was wrong.

“Looks like we’re not needed, after all.”

They weren’t going to talk about it. That was fine – good – Riku could cope with that. He let go of the horn, but still didn’t feel settled. “Why would Jack send us here, if there was no heartless?”

“He must have gotten it wrong.”

Riku wondered about that. Hoped it was not a case of sending them to the wrong world, because he had no desire to see what was behind the door shaped like a turkey. But Jack Skellington didn’t seem like someone who got things wrong. It felt deliberate.

All he wanted was to stop feeling this fluttery panic, stop feeling this pain in his chest. He bit the inside of his cheek, gently, because of the fangs.

“Well,” Sora said. “As long as we’re here, we might as well explore.”

Riku didn’t have an argument to the contrary.

*

Sora didn’t want to go home. Not yet. Not when he had a purse leaden with munny and they were surrounded by sweet things. Certainly not when going home meant sitting in the Gummi ship, with the queen’s words echoing in their heads. They couldn’t talk about it.

So he chattered loudly and kept buying chocolate. Fluttered around and tried to act as though nothing was wrong. But it wasn’t working. Riku became more and more distracted, fiddling with his hair, biting his lip, looking anywhere but Sora.

It was probably a bad idea to suggest the rowboats. But they were moored on the lake, and Sora had ran out of ideas. So, he caught Riku’s arm and tugged him closer.

“Come on, Riku, you always rowed us to the island.”

Riku dug his heels in. “Sora, we’re wasting time.”

“They expect us to be gone all day.”

“Because you said we would be fighting heartless. They’re out there, in other worlds, and we’re messing around.”

“It’s fun.” Sora dropped Riku’s arm.  “You remember fun, don’t you?”

“Don’t do that,” Riku snapped. He looked over Sora’s head, in that infuriating way. As though he couldn’t bear to look him in the eye. “You’ve always gotten to be the careless one. I’m the one who pieced everything together, who—”

It was what Sora couldn’t bear to think about. “I didn’t mean that!”

They shouted it at the same time: “Stop being so stubborn!”

Sora had been focusing so much on the argument – on trying to make Riku look at him – that he hadn’t paid attention to the birds over their heads. Not birds, cupids. Hadn’t noticed the giggles. Hadn’t noticed one notching an arrow. Not until it was flying towards the back of Riku’s head. He didn’t have time to cry out.

It was, mercifully, not sharpened. It bounced off the back of Riku’s head and to the sweet-smelling grass. Rubber.

But it did knock him off balance. He stumbled. Caught hold of Sora for balance, just as an arrow hit Sora’s shoulder. He stepped back, raising a hand to ward them off, and Riku’s weight lurched him over.

He fell, backwards. Hit wood with a great crash that jarred the back of his head. Something heavy landed on top of him. Whatever he’d landed on began to move, sweeping out in the direction of the lake.

The boat. He’d landed on one of the little row boats. He scrambled, trying to sit up properly to grab the oars.

Realised what had fallen on top of him was Riku. Riku, over him, his white hair hanging down, his face flushed red to his pointed ears; hips on top of Sora’s; knees nudging his; hands either side his head.

And Sora’s hands were on his chest. He stared.

Riku blinked. Pulled away, catching himself on the side of the boat. “It’s fine, it’s moored.”

It had been moored. They both sat in time to see that one of the cupids had swooped down. It threw the loop of rope from the side. They had set the boat in motion, and it was getting further and further from the shore.

“The oars,” Riku said. They dove in opposite directions – sending the whole thing swaying – grasping for the oars in their mooring holes. The one on Sora’s side fell through He fumbled, catching it just before it could disappear into the murky water. He threaded it back through, turning with a grin to Riku.

Who looked stricken. His hands were empty. The oar on that side was already gone.

Sora looked back to the shore. The cupids sat on the docks, nudging each other and giggling. They rested their chins on their hands, and watched the two of them.

He shifted, so that he sat properly in the boat, his back against the rim and one hand on the oar. “At least we can go in circles.”

For a moment, he thought Riku was going to punch him. It certainly looked like the thought occurred to him. But then his eyes closed, and he begun to laugh. So widely that it showed his fangs. They glinted in the sunlight.

Riku shifted too, so that he was sat opposite. The boat rocked. Years of rowing back home made it easy to keep their balance, and settle it.

“Or we could swim for it,” Sora said.

Riku raised an eyebrow. He reached a hand over the side, dipping his hand into the water. He held out his clawed fingers afterward, and Sora saw it wasn’t water. It was chocolate.

“I don’t relish the thought.”

“Of course not. Relish is made with pickles,” Sora replied.

Riku flicked the chocolate at him. It landed on his cheek, but he could only laugh. He brought his hand up to wipe it, and paused, the heel of his hand on his cheek. The moment at the fountain. Riku had wiped the cream from his cheek. He’d been so close. His green eyes had made Sora’s heart flutter faster than his wings. Then they had looked down. His eyelashes cast shadows over his cheeks, and he did look like a devil, then.

Then, he’d looked like he was about to kiss Sora.

And he’d wanted him to. Was desperate for him to. That would answer his thoughts and feelings; would solve them.

“Riku.” He swallowed. Pulled his hand back down and there was a smear of chocolate on his white glove. “Back there…”

Riku looked away. His chest heaved with a sigh. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

They continued drifting, chocolate lapping at the hull of the boat. It wasn’t so dissimilar to being back home. Boats and islands had been their world.

Riku didn’t answer. He stared stubbornly into the distance, his tail flicking back and forth like an angry cat’s.

“We can’t do anything else.” Sora looked back to shore. It would be simple enough for one of the cherubs to fly out and tow them back in with the rope, but they were sat, watching. Like this was fun for them.

“It doesn’t matter,” Riku said. “It wasn’t anything.”

Sora slumped further into the boat, crossing his arms.

“The queen’s just – so used to everybody being in love, that…” Riku waved his hands. They fell, heavily, onto the bottom of the boat.

“I didn’t mean her.” Though he’d been turning those words over and over in his head. Love is love. Love. “I meant, before.”

“You’re not a joke to me,” Riku repeated. His green eyes finally flicked back. Shone, like emeralds.

“Thank you.” And Sora really meant it, because that memory still made him want to curl up like a woodlouse. “But, after that.”

“After that—” Riku’s cheeks burnt red. “I don’t know what you mean, after that.”

It was easier to be frustrated, than dwell on that Valentines day. Sora remembered the sniggers. Remembered sitting on his mom’s lap and crying when he got home because they’d laughed at him. He sat up, properly, kicking his shoe against Riku’s.

“You’re not a very good imp.”

“I’m not an imp at all!” Riku stayed slumped.

“Pretty sure love imps are meant to entice people into falling in love.” Sora knew he was pouting. Knew he was being childish. Only half-knew what the plan was. “But you can’t even kiss me.”

“I can.” Riku did sit up then. So suddenly the boat swayed and they both had to catch the side to keep their balance. “But you – we’re not – we’re friends. Just – friends.”

“Well, yeah.”

“And you – and Kairi—”

“No.” Sora didn’t realise that the word had escaped. He clapped a hand over his mouth, but it was too late to stop it. It was out. The admission. His twitched the hem of his toga, instead. “I don’t feel this way about Kairi.”

There was a pause. They were nearing the middle of the lake now. The sun was starting to set, tinging everything rose.

Riku shifted, again. They were very close, their legs fitting around each other. “This way?”

Sora looked up, his chin still pressed to his chest. He opened his mouth, but couldn’t even find the word, much less form it. His heart hammered, wings fluttering. He looked to Riku’s mouth, his tongue pressing against his own bottom lip. Back up, to his bewildered eyes, and back down. Struggled to catch his breath, his fingernails digging into the wood underneath them.

Riku seemed to understand, all the same. Of course he did, he was Riku. His hand raised, palm grazing Sora’s cheek. It wasn’t so much leaning closer, when they were already so close, but just tilting his head closer. Close enough to graze their lips together.

It felt like magic. Like when he cast magic. Sora pressed their mouths together, firmly, chasing that feeling. Caught the back of Riku’s neck as he went to pull away. Kept him close, their legs tangled, one hand finding Riku’s chest, leaning into the hand on his cheek. Feeling like he was truly flying.

It made sense. It was Riku. The thoughts and feelings – the puzzle – fit together. Love.

Riku was gentle, when he took Sora’s shoulders. He let himself be tugged away an inch, gasping for breath. He was sure he heard cheering in the distance.

“We’re – is this just because of the town?” Riku whispered.

Sora’s eyes were still closed. It was a great effort to prise them open. “I meant that valentines. You were my valentines.”

Riku’s hands went to his cheeks. Pushed him just far enough to examine his expression. Whatever he saw made his brows unfurrow. Made his eyes soften. Riku tugged Sora back, their lips crashing clumsily. But that was fine. Still felt like magic. He kissed Riku back, fangs catching against his lips. It made his stomach leap.

They kept kissing. It kept feeling wonderful. Until one of Riku’s fangs caught Sora’s bottom lip in earnest, and made it bleed. Riku insisted on no more of that until they were in their own bodies again. Sora pouted. Settled for entwining their hands though, and marvelled at the feel of it. They used to hold hands, when they were very small. Until they’d been told boys didn’t do that. He’d missed it.

“How long?” Sora asked.

Riku shrugged. “At least Castle Oblivion. But I have a feeling it was before.” He made a face. “I feel like even Maleficent guessed.”

Sora couldn’t help cringing. It was one thing to fight an enemy. It was another for them to get involved in their love life.

“I felt so confused,” Sora admitted. “After that valentines. After – everything.”

Riku’s fingers tightened on his. It sent a bolt of warmth through him. He pressed his tongue against the cut Riku’s fangs had made, and smiled to himself. His fluttering heart didn’t feel so terrible anymore. Not when they were both smiling at each other, cheeks warm, eyes shining. They were still drifting, but that was alright. They weren’t expected back, yet. They were floating on a chocolate lake, at sunset. It was like a dream.

Riku sighed, but was still smiling. “If we hadn’t gotten stranded here, I wonder if I’d ever have told you.”

“All according to her majesty’s plan,” a new voice said. A high, squeaky voice, from above them. A cherub. Up close, they really did look like chubby babies. It grinned at them.

Another had picked up the rope from the helm. It took three cherubs to tow them back to shore, where the rest of the flock was. They clapped and waved at the two of them.

Sora really did want to curl up like a woodlouse. He looked at Riku, his stomach twisting.

“They planned this,” Riku replied. Rolled his eyes, and maybe there was something in the air, because Sora found himself chuckling. Their string of clumsy tumbling made sense. The bad luck that had stranded them on a boat with nothing to do but confess to each other. Of course, the queen of Valentine’s Town would set something like that up.

The rest of it fell into place. There weren’t any heartless here. There never was.

“No.” Sora didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. They had been so obvious, even the dead had realised it. “Jack planned this.”

Riku groaned, throwing his head back. But his shoulders were shaking with laughter. Sora leant against him. Hid his face, and felt safe. He always felt safe, with Riku, now. Another petal flew from over his eye, somersaulting on the wind.

They were towed back into shore. An imp and a cherub. But they weren’t, really. It didn’t matter what they looked like.

What mattered was their hearts.

[lucky0stars]

Hehe! Ask and you shall receive! How about FemReader activating a Rage Form in front of her S/O Sora? Maybe he's hurt in battle and she is desperate to save him? Idk I'll leave the specifics to y'all. I'm fine with HCs or fic btw!

Rage? Intense battle? Fighting for a loved one?? I grabbed it up as soon as I could!

Enjoy!

TW: Blood and mentions of Death

One Bad Day

Word count: 1743

The fires hadn’t stopped in three days. And had been burning since you all got your boots on the ground in this world a few hours ago. You charge through the streets, your weapon in hand. This world was under fire of an unexpected Heartless storm, and you were ordered to go onto patrol looking for those in need of evacuation as Sora was on the offensive. Clearing the streets of Heartless while you were helping civilians.

The smell of burning wood and the sight of dense clouds lingering overhead was overwhelming. It reminded you of the fires that roared in Hollow Bastion when an entire legion of Heartless laid siege to the world. It was supposed to get easier, that’s what you thought would happen when the Organization fell. 

The collective sigh of relief from throughout the whole Universe when Xemnas fell, the bright morning sun that shone when Organization Thirteen had been destroyed by Sora and Riku could be felt from one end of the realm to the other side. But that didn’t mean the worlds were completely safe and sound after all.

There were still villains and still dangers throughout the universe, Sora and Riku were then tasked to take up arms and continue the work to protect them. Just as Keyblade Wielders were tasked with doing. Sora and you were tasked with this world this mission, and here you were assisting with the protection of the denizens of this world. You’ve already escorted so many of them to safety and you couldn’t bear to think there was one out there that you didn’t see or couldn’t save. You turned the corner and came face to face with a squad of Soldiers, their purple armor jingling and eyes on their leader. Listening to the wordless orders of their commander. 

The one clearly in charge of this attack was an Invisible that was named Orcus, an intimidating and dangerous Heartless. This horned creature of pure darkness and exuding power, with a strong sharp jaw and a mouth full of sharp fangs, a crown of crimson horns and the Heartless signature golden glare. With a pair of charcoal wings on its back that helped it hover across the ash laiden floor. A blade of sharpened iron and with a shade of red along the cheek of the steel. Whether it was hammered into the metal or stained with the blood of the innocent, it is unknown. 

The Heartless turned towards you, those golden eyes drilling into your soul as it approached you with a seething hatred lingering in its stare. The Heartless zoomed ahead, so much faster than you think something this big should move, sword held firmly in hand. By the time your hand could begin to get a solid grip, Orcus was in striking distance. 

“Y/N!” Sora shouted as he raced to your side and placed himself between your body and the blade of this powerhouse of a Heartless to protect you from its incoming wrath. You could only watch as he matched the swings of the Orcus with his own defending blows. Meeting strike for strike until the Heartless jabs him across the bridge of his nose with the hilt, stunning the young man long enough for it a wide hard strike to drive into Sora. From his to its opposite shoulder, nearly cleaving the young Keyblade Wielder in half. Your heart stops, your pulse drops, with a faint and immediate chill coursing through your whole body. Your lungs feel their breath dragged out, leaving you light headed and confused for a moment. Sora fought, Sora was winning, Sora was struck, and now Sora fell. A series of events that seemed almost impossible, but you knew it to be true. 

Watching him fall from the strike of the crimson hued blade was nauseating, chilling you down to the bone. Watching the frenzied slash spray a torrent of red up against the turbulent blackened skies and paint the street in a bloody splash. The sound of his skull knocking against the ground was a hollowed out echoing bang that makes your stomach flip and your eyes immediately hazy and wet. 

They hurt him, they might have just killed him, and for that? For that they will pay. A rumbling deep within your heart and soul roars to the surface, your passion for him only rivaled by the passion for his safety and wellbeing. He would be avenged. 

Your hair stands on end, your gentle gaze being quickly replaced with a rapidly bleeding in wrathful golden glare. Your skin morphed from its typical shade to a shade of pitch that matched a starless night. Your hands flexing out into extended fingers that grew out sharp-as-dagger claws. Your roars of depthless misery and unbridled rage rattling nearby windows in their frames. The Orcus huffed in bewilderment, its crimson crown cocked curiously toward this new development. They let the weight of their blade carry their arm and they moved to strike. You dodge with a backstep that makes you jump off your feet and miss the incoming swing.

The Orcus gives chase, wide horizontal chops aiming to bisect you across your hips. Your mind is now a roaring mess of smoke and fire, images flashing behind your eyes of your sullen sulk to Sora’s childhood home, to have to carry the weight of the responsibility to explain to his mother that her son fell trying to save you. 

You charge forward when the Heartless overextended their swing and you strike without delay, slamming your shoulders into the Orcus’ wide frame, arms hooking into knees and following through with tackling them hard onto the stones. Once the creature landed, you follow up with driving your claws hard into their chest. Puncturing deep to ensure that they felt every bit of pain they inflicted on Sora. Then you got to clawing. 

Each scratch and tear with your claws brings to mind the weight of the spades in one’s own hands when they prepare the earth to receive the most compassionate and loving person you’ve ever met. Your savage screams echoing through the streets as you finish your slashing and let the back of your fist crash against the Orcus’ cheek. This blow ended up disorienting the creature just long enough for you to take up the creature’s own blade and drive it into its scored chest without hesitation. Sending this Heartless back into the dark and letting it combust into dark matter beneath your power and rage. Your heaving and heavy growls of passion and adrenaline are immediately chased by the image of a single cold tombstone, morning dew wet grass, and the apathetic feeling of a morning sun rising overhead. You tremble and you feel your body begin to seize and surge with sorrow. You have to take him home, you wouldn’t dare leave him here, which means you have to see what damage was done to your boy. That’s when you hear the sound of ringing bells and a flash of ember all over your shoulder. 

“Y/N, Y/N,” Sora’s tender broken voice was enough to bring you back to your senses just enough to make you straighten your back, even out your current heavy animal like panting, and make you turn your attention back to him. He is upright, barely, and shuffling over to you as quickly as his body would let him. “It’s ok… you can stop. The fight is over…” 

His bloodshot blue meeting your burning golden glare. He shuffles forward with a grimace and a dragging of his right foot behind him. The Cure he used had staunch the bleeding, but left him with a wicked wound that would leave a scar. The sight of the broken limping body of the one you love the most is enough to drag your hyper vigilant and hyper aggressive mind out of its dreadfully dark corner and back into the light. Your claws reach up with a little hesitance as you cradle the tanned baby cheeks of Sora with a tenderness that any extra pressure could cause him to shatter in your grasp. Your body shudders as you watch him lean into your grasp and press his cheek against your palm. Unafraid of you. 

“Sora…” Your single word came out into a guttural and monstrous, more of a bark than a real word. Your claws begin to sink back into your typical nails as your skin illuminates back into its typical shade and tone. Your golden eyes shift back to your normal eye color, the heat of fresh tears streaming down your cheeks as you feel his hands shakily reach up to cup your own face. You feel your jaw clench as his palms make contact, your breathing stifles as you feel how gently he handles you. As if he could break you. “Sora?”

“You’re hurt, Y/N.” He mewls with a whine in his voice, his rough thumbs combing over your cheek to wipe away your tears. His soft blue eyes glisten as he lets out a soft cough and keeps rolling his digit over your face. His eyes seemingly drawing your somber expression over and over again, a look of self-disappointment in his eyes. That lingering fear in his eyes, you could tell what he was thinking. He blamed himself for your pain. For your damage. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry you got hurt. I should’ve- I should’ve-”

“Sora,” You simply whisper, catching his attention just before he starts to spiral. You kiss him softly on the nose, letting your hands slide along his jaw to meet and interlock against the base of his neck. Getting lost in the hazel spikes of his hair. Keeping him close to you. Keeping him safe.

“Let’s go. We need to get you somewhere safe.” Sora responded with a tender tone. You almost want to laugh, the Keyblade wielder who should be dead from such a devastating attack is only concerned about you and your safety. You had buried him several times over in your head already, and to feel his unsteady breath against your chin shocked your system with every wheeze and hum that slipped out of him. Your foreheads meet and you're just thankful for those blue eyes that still held the beauty of the picture perfect sea and the endless lovely sky. All you can do is nod with a grateful smile and let him focus on saving you. 

— Mod Stranger

[mysteryoftwilight]

Closed starter for @multif0rmed !

Shelby would hesitate to say she was good for much. She would readily say she wasn't good at anything, actually. Especially compared to the 'oh, I'll casually cut throw a building made of solid stone and fly around like I have wings' crowd she now found herself associated with (entirely against her will, mind). If there was one thing she was good at, though, it was avoiding notice. Years of being antisocial in a school setting made that a breeze. Unfortunately, it seemed that meant she was also good at sneaking according to that gaggle of idiots. So, she was sent (only mostly against her will) to investigate the remnants of The World That Never Was and recover important information from their servers. Completely on her lonesome, since everyone else was either busy with training or busy with missions to recover lost Keyblade Wielders or whatever Sora was doing.

'Forget Sora,' Shelby thought bitterly as she climbed down another staircase, 'That idiot is probably out somewhere havin' th' time of 'is life, 'nd I'm here, in mortal danger...'

Not that she had much choice now. Ienzo said it would help bring some of the other Nobodies back, and she had little reason to doubt him on it. They would need bodies, and Replicas were apparently the only option there. They needed Even's data, which with no one in a rush to go back to Castle Oblivion (for some reason that no one seemed keen to explain to her), the data in their other castle was chosen as the target. So, instead of relaxing or working on her gummi ship, she walked through the eerily empty and very echo prone halls of the castle, largely defenseless against anything more threatening than a shadow.

"Fuck's sake, a dusk'd probably get me dead to rights..."

She cursed under her breath as she continued down the featureless grey hallways of the Castle That Never Was, looking on her phone at the map the old Organization members had made her (well, they made the map and she designed an app to help her navigate. She had a horrible sense of direction and couldn't read a map to save her life, so it was an essential). Her only light source was the soft glow of her screen and the flashlight on the phone's back. While the castle was mostly broken and the direct route to the server room was blocked off by a collapsed roof or three, whoever designed the castle had the foresight to make it easily accessible from multiple directions to those who couldn't teleport. That knowledge didn't help the sense of unease and paranoia as her footfalls echoed softly up and down the castle's corridors. She'd gone past the more commonly used portions of the castle (the Grey Room, the residential wing, the kitchen) and into the depths. Apparently, the old Organization XIII did some messed up experiments down here and needed the hardline connection to their server to record and easily access their notes. Made sense, but also unnerved her: how many had they performed that they needed a server to hold their notes? Pictures and text files don't take up that much space, surely.

Not that it mattered to her, really. The world was 'asleep' (whatever that meant, she only glanced at the explanatory notes Yen Sid gave her), so she only had to worry about Dream Eaters. Not that she'd seen any since she got here, but that was fine. She'd rather just get in and out; maybe Sora and Riku cleared them all out when they were here last. Ienzo had given her a specifically formatted hard drive that should gather the data from the server quickly enough. Then it was as simple as pulling on her connection with Yen Sid and then she could forget this absolutely idiotic nonsense ever happened... well, after she and Ienzo went over the data, anyway.

"Fuckin'... Couldn't jus' send Aeleus and Dilan, huh? Or Cloud and Leon, or maybe jus' wait 'till Riku came back if it's so goddamn important... What in th' name of Chaos am I supposed t' do if the old goat comes back to look at the data too, huh? Ask him t' politely not look at it?"

'Just keep it cool, Shell.' She reminded herself as she found herself in the server room. According to the three who were there when it happened, the old goat (as she so fondly called him because of his goatee and advanced age) had split because his twelve vessels couldn't stay around for the party or something. 'He prob'ly already has the data easily accessible wherever he fucked off to. Th' leader of a doomsday cult is smart enough to have copies around of important information'.

The sound of a weapon being summoned immediately told her that her life, as per usual, was not going to be easy and actually extremely difficult. Panic rose in her body, and it became a struggle to keep her breathing even. Cold daggers of fear pierced every inch of her body, but she tried to keep herself from trembling. She felt her hairs stand on end, and found herself hoping whoever had decided to make her day worse would at least be reasonable enough to not just immediately stab her. Or shoot her. Or cast magic. Absently, she fiddled with the ring on her right pinky: a handy little piece of artifice that had the Second Chance ability infused into it. An essential for being as substantial as a low level shadow. She didn't make any sudden movements (not that she thought her taser would work on any member of the Organization if she could reach it), instead attempted to remain perfectly still as the silence dragged on.

'if I make it out of here, I'm taking Riku's fuckin' kneecaps...'

"So, I, uh... gonna guess you won't accept 'I was jus' lookin' fer th' restroom' as a reason for being here?" She attempted to break the tension with a poorly conceived joke. For once, she didn't even pick up on her accent being on display. She was more preoccupied with surviving the next sixty seconds. Should she try to make a break for it? She didn't have the stamina for a chase, and she also didn't think it'd work; he probably outsped her fifty times over and then some. She doubted pulling on Yen Sid would work either, instead only serving to lead their enemy right to their defacto base. Could she get them monologuing and sneak away while they're distracted? Maybe...

[phoenix-downer]

Thanks for answering in such a timely manner and I completely understand that! I know you did great work post KH3 when people were making a fuss about the localizations and you don’t have a bias in your translations so I thought you were the best person to reach out to! There was a few bits in Riku’s telling of KH3 talking about how the guardians were saved that had me questioning a few things.

Here Riku is talking about the defeat and revival of the guardians and I was wondering if in this sentence he confirms that it was specifically only Sora and Kairi that were responsible for restoring them? Many have speculated Riku played a part in the process but to me it seems even Riku himself refutes the idea in this sentence if that makes sense?

And the other line I wanted to ask about was the last line of the page. The rough translation I got was this was the beginning of sora and kairi who were separated’s story.

I have rough translations of both but I was wondering how to translate them more naturally? Thanks in advance for your time I really do appreciate it! I had planned on making a tweet on the manner but I will respect your rules 100% and just keep the information here in the asks! ✨

Sure, thanks for the ask! Here's a transcription of the Japanese version, then the Romaji version followed by a rather literal English version and then a more naturalistic version.

Excerpt 1:

JP: そしてキーブレード墓場で、俺たちはマスターゼアノートの戦いに挑むが、敗北した…はずだった。

ソラとカイリの思いが俺たちを引き戻す。

Romaji: Soshite kīburēdo hakaba de, oretachi wa masutā zeanōto no tatakai ni tanomu ga, haiboku shita... hazudatta.

Sora to kairi no omoi ga oretachi o hikimodosu.

EN: And at (the) Keyblade Graveyard, we challenge Master Xehanort to (a) battle, but (we) were defeated... (or at least that's what) was supposed to happen.

Sora and Kairi's thoughts/feelings bring us back.

More naturalistic version: And at the Keyblade Graveyard, we challenged Master Xehanort to a battle, but we were defeated... or at least that's what should've happened.

Sora and Kairi's feelings brought us back.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To answer your question, based on Riku's words here and the grammatical structures he uses, it's clear he gives Sora and Kairi credit for restoring everyone to life. He doesn't take credit at all but groups himself in with the people who were brought back by using oretachi, "us/we," as the direct object of hikimodosu, "restore/bring back," which is indicated by the direct object marker o. And just to make things really clear, the subject in this sentence is Sora to Kairi no omoi, "Sora and Kairi's thoughts/feelings," which is marked by the ga subject marker particle and indicates that Sora and Kairi's thoughts/feelings are what brought "us" (Riku included) back.

And just to be fair, the start of this section is a quote from Riku to Sora at the Keyblade Graveyard:

JP ソラ　俺は信じてる

EN Sora, you don’t believe that.

TR Sora, I believe (in you).

JP おまえはあきらめない

EN I know you don’t.

TR You won’t give up/You haven’t given up.

I could see Riku's quote being... creatively interpreted into giving him credit for helping rescue everyone as well, given how he encouraged Sora not to give up, but Sora kinda gave up anyway once Riku died, and (granted I haven't played KH3 in a while so I'm going off of memory here, so take my interpretation with a grain of salt), it wasn't really till Sora heard from Chirithy in The Final World that Kairi was fighting with all her heart to keep him alive that he really regained his drive.

Plus, taking credit for rescuing everyone is not at all the sense I get from Riku's words here. If anything, he places all the credit with Sora and Kairi for reviving everyone and doesn't try to take it for himself. The inclusion of his quote at the top almost gives me the vibe that he's thinking, see, I knew Sora wouldn't give up, I believed in him, and he's proven me right with how he and Kairi brought everyone back. In the next sentence he does talk about how he defeated Ansem and how the others defeated the various Xehanort vessels, which tracks exactly with what we see in the game, but he does not take credit for everyone being revived; that was Sora and Kairi's doing. He's come a long way from how arrogant he was in KH1, and this excerpt really shows his growth and his admiration for his friends.

Additional Notes: A few interesting grammar points: I was doing some quick research, and 戦いに挑む with its use of the ni particle gives the impression that the battle was already scheduled or planned (which makes sense, given the themes of fate in KH3 and Xehanort's machinations).

Hazudatta means something like "should've happened" or "was expected to happen." In other words, Riku is making it clear that they should've lost the battle and would have if it weren't for Sora and Kairi.

The word I translated as "thoughts/feelings," omoi, can mean a variety of things; here's the full definition from jisho.org to give you an idea of the nuance here:

And then the compound verb, hikimodosu, is interesting because if you look at the kanji it literally means "pull + return," and together the meaning is exactly what you'd think: to bring back, to restore, to return, to reinstate. There's this image inherently built into the meaning of the verb of the subject pulling the object back to itself (and in this case Sora and Kairi's feelings are pulling their friends out of the abyss and back to them, back to life).

Riku uses a different verb, hikimodosu, than Sora uses in Blank Points to talk about wanting to rescue his friends, but I thought it was interesting all the same because it's another -modosu compound verb, torimodoshi. Sora is the one wanting to "take back" his friends, and Riku is speaking of the same act but as being on the receiving end of it ("we were pulled/brought back" by "Sora and Kairi's thoughts/feelings" vs. Sora telling Kairi in Blank Points he "has to go and take back/recover all that is connected to him" aka his friends). Not anything huge or groundbreaking, I just thought it was kinda neat.

Excerpt 2:

JP: そして俺たちは見知らぬ世界でマスター・ゼアノートと戦い勝利する。だがそれはソラとカイリ、ふたりが離れ離れになる物語の始まりだった。

Romaji: Soshite oretachi wa misharanu sekai de masutā zeanōto to tatakai shōri suru. Daga sore wa sora to kairi, futari ga hanarebanare ni naru monogatari no hajimari datta.

EN: And in a strange/unfamiliar world, we fight with Master Xehanort and win. But for Sora and Kairi, that was the start of the story of the two of them becoming separated.

More naturalistic translation: And in a strange world, we fought Master Xehanort and won. But for Sora and Kairi, it was the start of the story of their separation from each other.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I find it really interesting how Riku frames this, like the next arc of Sora's story is centered on his separation from Kairi. He contrasts the victory against Xehanort with the separation of Sora and Kairi and speaks of that separation in terms of it being the beginning of a story. Also, the quote at the beginning of this section in gold is one of Sora's lines at the end of KH3...

JP ううん　俺はこのまま行くよ

EN No, I know what to do.

TR No. I’ll go on from here.

...which is what Sora says right before he goes after Kairi. One story ends as another begins. I think a big part of Sora's next story arc will be his reunion with Kairi, just going off of how everything has been set up and how Riku refers to his separation from Kairi here.

Additional Notes: This is just linguistic nerdery so feel free to skip it lol but in case anyone wants to read more about Japanese linguistics:

Mishiranu strikes me as a set expression that originated in an older form of the language but continues to be used today, as it preserves the older form of the negative verb conjugation shiranu instead of using the more modern shiranai. It's something I want to do more research on to see if my hunch is correct or completely off, so off I go lol.

Hanarebanare is a word that exhibits the rendaku phenomenon where a word repeats in Japanese, and in its repeated second form the voiceless obstruent consonant that starts the word becomes voiced ("h" used to be pronounced as "p" in Japanese, and "b" is said in the exact same position of the mouth/lips as "p," only with voicing, so I wonder if this word was originally panarebanare and then the "p" became "h" over time after the rendaku occurred, and now I've found another rabbit hole to look into lol).

Anyway, thank you for the ask Star! Hope that helped with your questions ❤️

(Ninja edit: I realized I inserted a particle where there wasn't one in the second excerpt and updated my translation slightly to account for it--no major changes to the meaning, just wanted to more accurately reflect the grammatical structures).

[torahoes]

(IDOLiSH7) Minami Natsume - An Idol's Daily Life Rabbit Chat: Part 3 - Minami and Ryunosuke

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Minami Natsume: Good work today, Takanashi-san. I saw you speaking with Tsunashi-san earlier and couldn’t help but greet the two of you. Was that alright? I hope I didn’t interrupt.

Minami Natsume: I was worried I might have been a bother...

Tsumugi Takanashi: Good work today, Natsume-san! You weren't a bother at all; not in the slightest!

Tsumugi Takanashi: I was simply thanking TRIGGER for the souvenirs they brought from their shoot anyway!

Minami Natsume: That's a relief.

Minami Natsume: I came to greet you both impulsively, so I was a bit worried when I thought about it afterward.

Tsumugi Takanashi: If anything, I was happy that you so courteously took the time to greet us despite your busy schedule.

Tsumugi Takanashi: Tsunashi-san also mentioned that he enjoyed talking with you!

Minami Natsume: ,

Minami Natsume: My apologies, my finger slipped. It was a brief exchange, but I’m honored to hear that.

Minami Natsume: Did you continue your conversation after I left?

Tsumugi Takanashi: Yes!

Tsumugi Takanashi:

1) He mentioned he plans to see the movie you’re starring in.

Minami Natsume: He must be referring to the movie where I play an android. To think that Tsunashi-san would go out of his way to watch it in the theater... I'm thrilled. I hope he enjoys it.

2) He said he wanted to talk with you more.

Minami Natsume: Really? Tsunashi-san said that… I’m very happy to hear it. I hope we can talk more leisurely next time.

3) He said he’s looking forward to ŹOOĻ’s new song.

Minami Natsume: We aim to meet those expectations. I’m glad to hear about this from you, Takanashi-san.

Tsumugi Takanashi: He was also cheering you on for getting your motorcycle license, wasn't he?

Minami Natsume: He even recommended some fantastic places to go for drives, which I really appreciate. Driving along the coast truly does feel great.

Minami Natsume: Mido-san and the others also said the coast is the perfect place for a first drive.

Tsumugi Takanashi: I agree! Even in a car, driving while looking at the scenic ocean views makes for a refreshing experience.

Tsumugi Takanashi: Plus, there are thriving port towns where you can enjoy meals during your tour.

Minami Natsume: That sounds wonderful. I’ll look for some port towns nearby.

Tsumugi Takanashi: Please do! The place Iori-san and Riku-san visited for their shoot was amazing as well. There were many restaurants serving fresh seafood straight from the market.

Minami Natsume: I love the phrase "straight from the market."

Tsumugi Takanashi: Riku-san’s eyes lit up just reading the words on the signs!

Tsumugi Takanashi:

Minami Natsume: What did they eat?

Tsumugi Takanashi: Iori-san had the simmered fish set, while Riku-san ordered the sashimi set.

Tsumugi Takanashi: The simmered fish was cooked in a secret sweet sauce, and the sashimi set featured a selection of seasonal fish, limited to 30 servings a day.

Minami Natsume: Both "secret sweet sauce" and "seasonal fish" are enticing phrases. It’s hard to choose between them.

Tsumugi Takanashi: They had the same dilemma. In the end, they agreed to order different sets and share a bite of each other's meals.

Minami Natsume: They really are close. I saw them sharing side dishes in the dressing room before as well.

Tsumugi Takanashi: Does ŹOOĻ not do things like that?

Minami Natsume: Not really, we don't exchange food often. Though we do sometimes bring snacks for each other, like we did the other day.

Minami Natsume: At one point, we used to hold meetings where we would give Mido-san cheap candy he likely hadn't tried before, and we watched his reactions as he ate them.

Tsumugi Takanashi: Wow! That sounds like a fun meeting! Did he have any interesting reactions?

Minami Natsume: Yes, he was delighted with the fizzy Ramune, among other things. It was quite adorable.

Minami Natsume: He didn’t know how to make it fizz, so we all taught him together.

Tsumugi Takanashi: Just imagining it makes me smile. Were there any other candies that impressed Mido-san?

Minami Natsume: I think his favorite was the kneading candy.

Minami Natsume: He was very focused, trying not to drop the syrup on the tip of the chopstick.

Tsumugi Takanashi:

End of Part 3.

[friends-to-lovers-tournament]

Friends to Lovers Tournament: Round 1, Side A, Match 15

propaganda under the cut!

Soriku:

Ultimate friends to lovers. They've been best friends since childhood but as they start to grow up, those feelings change into a more romantic nature but neither handles this well. Riku in particular has a whole villain arc about it bc his insecurities about the situation get the better of him, meanwhile Sora isn't self aware enough to recognize his feelings are romantic in nature but he spends all of his time desperately trying to get Riku back so they can be together again. Ultimately even after they come together, their love continues to be a main driving force of the narrative and it's so palpable

Scarlet/Chase/Brook:

It all started with Chase and Scarlet knowing each other, and becoming friends. THEN, sudden ✨rival✨? Except not at all lmao

Brook pretty much didnt care about Scarlet at all, he just didnt really wanted to feel bad about which sinners he choose, pretty much. Which was why Scarlet and Chase started teaming up at first too.

So Chase, as any clever person thought "hey, then what if *you team with us too?*", and Brook basically went "good idea :3" and joined. Like, no joke, his boss told him "KILL THE BLONDIE" and Brook went "Nah". (Please someone add it as propaganda I love that scene)

ANYWAYS, THEYRE ALL FRIENDS RIGHT? SO HOW ABOUT THEIR DYNAMICS? The answer is: I love them <3

Ok, we all know about Chase and Scarlet right? Its pretty obvious with those ones, for those who read the comic, BUT HEAR ME OUT, MY FELLOW COMRADES ✨Brook too✨

They all live under the same roof, and are pretty much always together? Its 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘰.

I know we all make the joke about Brook third wheeling but DID YOU ALL SEE HOW MUCH HE WANTS THOSE TWO TO BE HAPPY.

And Chase and Scarlet care about Brook too :( <3

Literally, we see Chase caring about Scarlet and Brook searching for sinners, even when Scarlet disappeared for a while and Chase was depressed af. Brook and Chase stayed together. And Brook felt so bad for Chase he almost fucks around and finds out??? Just to get Scarlet back??? THAT WAS SO CUTE.

AND LATER. THE JUDAH SITUATION. WHEN SCARLET FOUGHT HER TRAUMA TO GET BROOK. And how she consoled Brook because he thought they didnt care about him :(

Even after The Chase Situation, when Scarlet and Brook stayed together as a team, and how Scarlet THOUGHT OF LEAVING BROOK BECAUSE HE SAID HE WAS HAPPY (staying in a place) AND SHE THOUGHT HE DESERVES IT.

This trio is going to kill me they love each other so much.

AND HEY, I KNOW SOMEONE IN THE NOTES IS GOING TO START "but brook and scarlet have a brother-sister bond, and brook does not have any Feeling™ towards chase". HEADCANONS COUNT. And although its true Chase and Brook havent really shown any other feeling that is not friendship towards each other, I can still ship Brook and Scarlet. You all just dont because Brook cares towards Chase and Scarlet as The Priority, and because of that does not try any move romantic move with Scarlet (????). BUT WHY CHOOSE. LET THEM BE A LITTLE CUTE POLYCULE. THEY CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER SO MUCH, WHAT ELSE DO WE NEED.