#sora the best boy

[yoroshiu]

Today's brainrot is over how often Sora's theme appears throughout KH3's ost, both in direct and not-so-direct ways. Sora is so vital and fundamental to this series and the music shows that.

[haunted-xander]

It's Riku! Riku's here!

[kwoojii]

[matenr0u]

Riku: “Taisetsu na hito - Cherished person”

Throughout the series we’ve seen an escalation of Riku’s enduring journey to find the “strength to protect what matters”. It appears to peak in KHIII with “strength to protect someone precious”, but I’m gonna propose that they could some day take it a step further than that. 

I am once again slamming my tiny fistful of evidence and wish fulfilment on the KH meta table.

So as we know this line first appears in BBS when Baby Riku meets Terra and says he wants to protect his “daiji na mono”:

強くなりたいんだ

I want to become strong.

(…)

どうして強くなりたい?

Why do you want to be strong?

大事なものを守れるでしょ

So that I can protect important stuff

友達や みんなを

Like my friend, everyone…

He repeats this in DDD as he fights to save Sora, recalling twice the secret promise he made that day:

大事なものを守れる力

Power to protect important stuff

Finally this culminates in Riku’s KHIII sacrifice, following up from Mickey suggesting that he’s found the strength to protect someone he cherishes.

大切な人を守る強さか—

Strength to protect someone precious—

Which is cool. But there’s room for more, if Squisney decide it won’t hurt their profits to go down that path. Or even if they just feel like addressing at any point the absolute non reaction everyone had to being obliterated on the spot and then Riku dying for Sora. With that in mind, I began to wonder if we’ll see just one more callback later down the line. 

I think there are two possible options. First:

一番大切な人

Ichiban taisetsu na hito / Most precious person

In CoM for example Namine urged Sora to remember his “ichiban taisetsu na hito” — number one most precious person. This one has more of an obvious romantic air I feel. I choose to think Namine was talking about Kairi when she said that but I respect that other SR fans think it’s Riku so I’m including it. If we’re going to hear this one again and in reference to Sora & Riku, we’ll surely get it around the time the necklace theory is inevitably revealed. Either way, it’s already been used in the series, so it’s not a crazy implausible love declaration or anything. It can happen.

I mean, in DDD Riku all but says it when Ven asks:

“Kimi ni totte ichiban taisetsu na mono tte nani?”

“What’s the number one most important thing to you?”

And of course Riku replies:

“Taisetsu na shinyuu”

“My precious best friend”

As far as I’ve noticed, Riku only calls Sora his shinyuu. It’s cute.

Another possible route they could take is:

愛するもの

Aisuru mono / Beloved person

Which sounds far fetched at a glance, but it is what Terra says to Riku during the bequeathing, in response to Riku’s “daiji na mono”.

いずれ選ばれし者として この小さな世界を出て——

Some day, you will leave this tiny world as the chosen one—

俺のもとへたどり着くだろう

You will find me.

その時こそ――

That’s the time—

本当の広い世界——

The real wide world—

愛する者を守る力を教えよう

Will teach you the power to protect the people you love.

“Love” being such a diluted word in EN means it doesn’t convey the gravity of it well at all, but “aisuru mono” is one of the strongest ways you can say you love someone in JP. It can be singular or plural, platonic or romantic, and I’ve seen KH’s fandom war cousins cloti/clerith argue over the use of this term— so it highkey wouldn’t surprise me to see this one used by Riku or someone else in reference to his feelings for Sora. Like, in a ‘vague enough to not offend the unwashed dudebros but can also be read as incredibly romantic’ kind of way.

(By the way, I’ve seen “aisuru mono” or “aisuru hito” translated as “dearly beloved” in some places before, too. So naturally I’m gunning hard for this one. Shoot that probably unintentional symbolic double meaning shit straight into my veins.)

For the reasons above, I personally can envision a realistic pipeline of:

Daiji na mono / Important stuff ->

Taisetsu na mono / Precious thing ->

Taisetsu na shinyuu / Precious best friend ->

Taisetsu na hito / Precious person ->

Aisuru mono, Aisuru hito / Beloved person

or

Ichiban taisetsu na hito / Most precious person

Not to say it will happen in any capacity, but there’s space for it. A ton of weird stuff happened around That Moment, and even if that’s just down to KHIII bunk….. the whole ass Fairy Godmother herself has come to set Riku on a solo mission to make his dreams come true.

The setup is right there if they ever want to take that opportunity to clarify the depth and nature of Riku’s feelings for Sora specifically. 

Riku already promised Terra he’d find the strength to protect someone he loves, which he has now found, and in the case of ‘Aisuru’, I think it would round off that callback to the bequeathing perfectly.

[blue-eli]

Ink October day twenty-five: Contexture

The act of weaving or assembling parts into a whole.

An arrangement of interconnected parts; a structure.

The arrangement and union of the constituent parts of a thing; a weaving together of parts; structural character of a thing; system; constitution; texture.

[xiiiwayfinders]

Sora Kingdom Hearts, friend to all

[xdestinykey]

Happy anniversary to the series that forever changed my life and happy birthday to my favorite boy! 💖

Bonus timelapse below!

Total time: 10:18.

[animaxvi]

Thought I’d finally post something XD. Might as well start with my fav illustration I’ve done this year. I had started drawing this right after the KH4 trailer but had to stop ‘cause life... I eventually finished it about four months later lol 

INPRNT

[inkmoose]

"Is that it? "Strength to protect what matters"... It reminds me of a promise I made."

Whump version here (CW: blood, injury).

[espurr-roba]

"Resenting! DDD Riku eating Dream Eater sweets."

@ribbonfly tumblr ate the ask AGAIN, but I got it through email this time mweheheh

[riddle-of-sphinx]

My concept of what Keyblade armor for Sora could look like. He's Kingdom Key colors :)

[mintwitch24]

Kingdom hearts has never failed to lift my mood. It has gotten me through some tough stuff. Thanks Sora for being the goodest boi.

[rolaplayor101]

The best Bois of 2019 and 2021! For spiderman day and Miles’ birthday!

Buy as a shirt or sticker!! Oooo you wanna Commission me so badd oooo! Pls don’t ignore my DNI! Reblogs are mandatory!

[valentinesparda]

i will not do selfship stuff with my kh insert!!

*looming sense of dread hangs over me like jean jacket in nope*

[accursedthing]

This is neither here nor there but it does get on my nerves somewhat that one of the most popular nonbinary headcanons in Kingdom Hearts fandom is just a degendering of Xion, the I Saw The TV Glow of Kingdom Hearts characters

[beefosaur]

zero effort kh doodlecomic of what i think sora’s first rage form went like.