#Dark Seeker Saga

[jacobbla3]

New Video Out! Like and Subscribe!

KH3 MODS: Aqua vs Real Organization 13 (Critical Mode)

#youtube #kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts 3 #keyblade #kh sora #kingdom hearts 2 #microsoft #playstation #square enix #video editing #aqua kingdom hearts #Real Organization 13 #organization 13 #wayfinder trio #ansem sod #kh ansem #xemnas #master xehanort #Dark Seeker Saga #dark riku #vanitas #kh vanitas #young xehanort #Marluxia #Data Battles #larxene #Terranort #terra xehanort #Xion #xigbar

[cendrilloncd]

#kingdom hearts #kh #kingdom hearts chain of memories #kingdom hearts 358/2 days #kingdom hearts 2 #kingdom hearts birth by sleep #kingdom hearts recoded #kingdom hearts dream drop distance #kingdom hearts birth by sleep 0.2 #kingdom hearts 3 #kingdom hearts melody of memory #kingdom hearts union x #kingdom hearts dark road #kh1 #kh2 #kh3 #kingdom hearts dark seeker saga #kh sora #kh roxas #kh riku #watch recoded get ZERO votes NONE

[goldensunset]

i confess i am starting to fall into the 'team khdr before kh3' pit despite everything i said earlier

#like i don't think you'd actually be able to pick up on the luxu thing just from that bragi scene #if anything it would make the luxu reveal even more interesting #and yeah it is a lot of information but what the heck am i right #if you'd come that far with the x saga might as well go all out right #mostly bc if kh3 is supposed to be the end of an era. well it's kinda awkward to go back in time #just to wrap up the last threads of the dark seeker saga in a prequel? #like ux is very clearly leading into quadratum and stuff but dr? idk #dr seems reasonable to place within the dark seeker saga #like it's literally about xehanort... and how he became the big bad... #you could argue that an origin story is actually more Ough after the fact #but i still think it would be awesome to have all that context going into kh3 #just my thoughts #mine: kh #khdr #kingdom hearts

[fr33sh00tr]

words literally cannot describe how happy i am with the recent xehabraig/xigxem/xehaluxu/etc resurgence. i was here alone for so long (two years)

#txt #me watching as every xehabraig liker migrated to other fandoms after khmom: this is fine #even though the dark seeker saga is over we can still win #also to be fair i was knee deep in batman right after khmom LOL and then mgs right after that and then finally circled back around to kh

[lilyginnyblackv2]

I don't think I've ever seen anyone talk about this Utada Hikaru quote in regards to both Hikari and Passion before:

In an interview, Utada said, "It's like... as if 'Hikari' was the dawn, and 'Passion' has a concluding or 'dusk' feeling to it. The lyrics of 'Passion' show how phases of the past, present and future of the character in my song relate to each other."

This came from the KH Fandom Wiki, which I'll link below in the comments. I've seen the Nomura quote mentioned all the time about how Passion is about Sora and Riku's reunion, but I think a part of Nomura's quote that often gets overlooked is when he states:

I wrote stuff like "An image of a reunion, a happy moment in a way" and "Like a Hikari 2" in there.

Italicized part by me for emphasis and the main thing I want to talk about here. The quote from Nomura can be found over at Kingdom Hearts Insider (which I will also link below in the comments).

We have Utada mentioning how Hikari is like the dawn and Passion is like the concluding dusk, thus connecting the two songs to each other in a sequel like way, just like Nomura mentions in his interview when he states that Passion is "Like a Hikari 2." So, in my mind, since Nomura states that "Passion is about Sora and Riku's reunion" and Utada uses the phrasing of dawn, as well as how the song highlights how past, present, and future relate to each other for the character in the song...I think it's pretty safe to say that Hikari is about Sora and Riku as well.

That seems to be what both Nomura and Utada are implying with their answers here. Now, I know that some people really like to say that Simple & Clean and Sanctuary are their own songs, which they are. The lyrics are different. But the thematic elements are still the same and there are still similar through lines (like the backward lyrics being the same in both Passion and Sanctuary for instance).

The lyrics of Hikari really fit Riku's views on Sora and the bond they have/had - the desire for it to remain unchanged. The person they are singing about being their light (Sora being Riku's light, something we know Riku views Sora as via things like the DDD Novel Side Riku). Simple & Clean's lyrics definitely fit Sora as a character and his voice more.

With Passion and Sanctuary it almost seems like this is reversed though. The English version, Sanctuary, has more lyrics that fit Riku and his perspective on Sora and their reunion. Meanwhile, Passion's lyrics fit Sora a lot more. The line: "I heard my old crush is having a baby in the wintertime" is quite interesting in various ways. The whole last set of lyrics in Passion aren't really directly related to KH, but more to general ideas of things that denote changes and passages of time (people having children, getting New Years cards, etc.).

It's also so interesting that Hikari is mentioned as being the Dawn (the time of day associated with Riku) and Passion the Dusk (the time of day that is often associated with Kairi). In KH2 is when we start to see a shift in Sora's feelings and interactions with Kairi (distance, drifting apart, change) and a reconnection happen with Sora and Riku (reunion, airing out feelings, better communication, reinforcing their friendship and bonds to each other, etc.).

We get games that focus more on Sora and Riku's bonds (Re-coded, BBB when they are little kids, and DDD) and Kairi is sadly neglected by the narrative and both Sora and Riku in a way. Something that we see her taking note of in KH3, more obviously through the novelization.

I don't know. To me these quotes just make me think it is very obvious that both Hikari/Simple & Clean and Passion/Sanctuary are all songs about Sora and Riku and their bond with each other. Of course, since KH3 is meant to be a conclusion to the Dark Seeker Saga, of which KH1 and KH2 are both a part of, it would make sense that Oath and Don't Think Twice are about them too.

Sadly, we don't really have anything remotely official to really solidify that interpretation though, not that official recognition of things like this are necessary - they aren't - but they do add more validity to interpretations and theories. Maybe some day we'll get a comment about Oath / Don't Think Twice from either Nomura or Utada. But until then...I'm still going to think that those songs are about Sora and Riku.

Anyway, these are just rambling thoughts on a topic I've talked about before (the KH themes like Oath / Don't Think Twice and their connection to Sora and Riku). But I was thinking about this all again with the new Hikari re-recording by Utada that came out recently. It's a beautiful re-recording that I definitely suggest every KH fan check out. I'll link that in the comments as well, lol. Also, feel free to add this via reblogs or in the comments! I might not respond right away, but I'll read everything that gets commented, added, etc.

#Soriku #KH #Kingdom Hearts #Sora x Riku #Nomura #Utada Hikaru #Hikari #Simple and Clean #Passion #Sanctuary #Don't Think Twice #Oath #long post #thought post

[forestdeath1]

Lily and James — the alchemical Queen and King. Lily is the main symbol of the entire saga.

In Harry Potter, there are two levels - the mundane and the symbolic. On the mundane level, Lily is a character with her own strengths and weaknesses. On the symbolic level, Lily is the main symbol of the entire saga. Perhaps that's why there's so little talk about her because symbolically Lily is what everyone strives for, everyone searches for but cannot find. Harry learns more about Lily only before the final battle, and there's a reason for that.

It's no secret that HP books are heavily laden with alchemical and Christian symbolism. I'm not religious, and to me, all these symbols are just cultural codes that have had a significant influence on almost all classic literature and art.

Philipp Otto Runge, Chagall, Goethe — they're all alchemical codes

Firstly, alchemy is not about literally turning lead into gold, it's a path of spiritual development, a path of transformation, a "hero's journey," the journey of the Son returning to the Father. Alchemical transformation is described in the text "The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz." This is the third manifesto of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood.

So, lilies are a very ancient symbol.

According to Jewish legends, the lily grew in Eden just at the time of Eve's temptation by the devil and could be defiled by him, but even amid temptation, it remained as pure as it was, and no dirty hand dared to touch it. In early medieval depictions, Christ was placed against a backdrop of lilies or in the lily flower, seen as a symbol of the Virgin Mary. The orange lily often symbolizes the blood of Christ.

Symbolically, Lily is the love of God, a divine spark, and the blood of Christ itself, which was shed in the name of redemption and salvation to atone for the sins of all humanity. And what is the blood of Christ? In Christian tradition, the blood of Jesus Christ is a symbol of the life-giving and saving spirit of God.

By the way, lilies and roses were often confused in translations, and symbolically they are the same. Many suspected that the Rosicrucians' rose is a stylized version of the Egyptian and Indian flowering lotus, and the lotus has often been considered a water lily (they are different, but symbolically they merged). But calling the main character Rose would be too dull and obvious a reference.

Lily - symbolically, she is both the mother of Christ and the Spirit of God herself, the bearer of divine love, to which all seekers are drawn. This is not the only meaning, but for now, it's enough.

God is love, says John the Apostle. (Remus John Lupin, hehe. It was absolutely unnecessary to know his middle name. It's intentionally inserted because each of the marauders, except Sirius, by name signifies one of the disciples closest to Christ. Sirius is a separate story, he signifies something completely different.)

And who is drawn? Well, primarily we see two - James and Snape.

One of the most important things we learn about James is that he's a deer. The deer is a well-known symbol. In myths and folk beliefs, the deer was associated with the soul's aspiration to heaven and purification.

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God" Ps. 42: 1

In the Alexandrian "Physiologus," there's an ancient enmity between the stag and the serpent. The serpent hides from the foe in the clefts of the earth, but the stag, with the help of water, draws out the serpent and defeats it. (Water has always been a symbol of the serpent, even in Slytherin's element water, but the stag fights the serpent not with ordinary water but with the water of baptism. The snake has another important meaning for alchemy, but more on that later.)

Snape belongs to the Serpent, to secret knowledge, occult knowledge, "philosophical" reason, dark magic, which has always been contrary to the divine nature in Christian understanding and originated from the devil. James belongs to the Lion and the Deer.

The Lion is a typical alchemical symbol. Also, the Red Lion is Christ. Gryffindor embodies the soul's aspiration towards light and transformation, towards salvation. By the way, St. Godric (the hermit) also had his own pet deer, which he saved.

The deer seeks love, the spirit of God, the divine spark, God Himself, and in this persistent pursuit is shown James's path, as a seeker and as an alchemist. The Potters — if not alchemists themselves, then at least from the lineage of alchemists — the Peverells (The symbol of the Deathly Hallows is an alchemical-masonic symbol). And this means that the Potters are at least seekers; in their souls, there is a desire to find the divine and undergo transformation. The Potters have a strong hatred for the 'serpentine essence' of evil, and this is what needs to be transformed. (By the way, the graveyard is located near St. Jerome's Church. Besides translating the Bible into Latin, Jerome also healed and tamed a lion).

Masonic-alchemical symbol. Symbol of the philosopher's stone. Symbol of the Deathly Hallows. Solve et coagula is a principle of alchemy meaning "dissolve and coagulate".

An alchemist is a gardener, and this is another interesting reference to James and Lily. The way James tries to find an approach to Lily is an alchemical process. The alchemist tends to the Garden. In Vrisvik's Great Work (the Magnum Opus), it appears as the Garden of the Wise. The Gates to the Garden of the Wise for the Chosen become the process of dissolving "our Substance." James manages to approach Lily only when he dissolves his Ego. The Ego is the main enemy on the path to transformation.

The tradition of "hermetic gardening," that is, "cultivating the flowers of Wisdom in one's garden," becomes a leading line in alchemical symbolism. James cultivates wisdom.

While Snape cultivates "dark knowledge," although his soul also strives for light and love. But Snape is still too captured by his Ego, too captivated by base emotions, a thirst for revenge, recognition, or power, a craving for "secret knowledge." He cannot resist it, no matter how much he may strive for Lily, for the divine transformation of his spirit, and James, still dwelling in his Ego, instead of showing mercy to Snape, pushes him further away. The stag fights the serpent, but God is love. Ultimately, Snape temporarily closes off the paths of alchemical transformation for himself.

The Rebis is the end product of the alchemical magnum opus or great work. The lion must dissolve the serpent. Hermetic gardening. The alchemical wedding: the Queen and the King.

But besides all this, the deer is also a symbol of eternal renewal and victory over death ("The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" 1 Corinthians 15:26 ). A symbol of Christ. His constantly renewing antlers represent eternal life.

In the original Greek of the New Testament, the names Jacob and James are variants of the same root—Yaaqob. James is an active force, a seeker, an investigator, a supplanter. James the Great was of a rather impulsive character, but everyone was also amazed by his courage, he was the only one who acknowledged Christ as the Messiah. And he is the only apostle whose death is described in the New Testament. He dies at the hands of King Herod, a cynical and evil king who was willing to murder babies for his purpose. James also dies at the hands of Voldemort, who is willing to kill a baby for his purpose.

Moreover, it was Saint James who was considered the heavenly patron of alchemists. His tomb was located in Santiago de Compostela, which was the oldest center of adepts. It was there, in 1378, after twenty years of unsuccessful attempts to decipher the Book of Hieroglyphic Figures, that Nicolas Flamel, the most famous alchemist of the Middle Ages, went. By the way, Shell Cottage... the scallop shell is a symbol of the apostle James and the "trademark" of the Way of St. James. Shell Cottage is also alchemical. It is there that Harry sees the symbol of the Deathly Hallows around Lovegood's neck.

James is a seeker. Lily is a symbol of the divine spirit, sparks, transformation. That to which all must ultimately come, that which must change in our world in the image of God. But for now, our world is seized by evil, by the antichrist. To defeat death means to defeat the antichrist in one's soul.

James finds Lily. The Soul finds the Spirit. The Spirit descends into the Soul. The King and Queen marry—and a new life is born, another hero capable of defeating the evil that has engulfed the world, capable of cleansing the world of evil. The connection between Harry and Christ is no secret to anyone.

The power of love conquers death. A rune appears on Harry's forehead—Sowilo rune—the victory rune, the sun rune, the irreversible rune. It symbolically serves as the key to the world of Alfheim—the world of the light elves, that is, the bright ideas, the prototypes of the buddhial plane, the ideality in this world.

The key to God. Harry becomes marked. His scar is a reminder to him that he came into this world not just by chance, but to destroy evil. And coming into this world, materializing, a person invariably receives a particle of the antichrist within himself. That's how this world works. Evil is in the soul of each of us, and through the Great Work, a person must purify himself.

And none can live while the other survives, because they mutually exclude each other by their very nature. Christ and antichrist.

But Harry has a difficult path ahead, the path of the Great Work before he can achieve victory. And that will be the theme of all 7 books, 7 years — exactly 7 days is the duration of The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz for the transformation oh his soul, for victory over death.

#jily #jily meta #hp meta #harry potter meta #lily evans #james potter #lily potter #harry potter

[kudotsurugi]

Happy New Year, folks!

With 2024 on the horizon, it'll not only be the 22nd Anniversary year for Kingdom Hearts, but also the 20th Anniversary for the second-ever game in the franchise: Chain of Memories.

This game essentially kicked off what would be the beginning of the Dark Seeker Saga, introducing us to the long-running villain group, Organization XIII. So, to celebrate, I decided to recreate and color one of @amanoshiroh141127 -sensei's illustrations from the CoM manga in the style of a what-if anime promo image.

At the time of this writing, there is currently no announcement of a Kingdom Hearts anime or animated series. But we'll see how things pan out in the future.

Until then, once again, have a Happy New Year! Let's hope 2024 is good one🤞

EDIT: Also, here's a close-up of Sora's 3 cards. 2 friends and 1 enemy card.

#kingdom hearts #kh com #kh recom #chain of memories #chain of memories 20th anniversary #kh sora #donald duck #goofy goof #kh unknown #organization xiii #kh 22nd #kingdom hearts 22nd anniversary #mock image

[insufferableprotagonistpoll]

Please note that a character currently needs at least 3 submissions to make it into the poll

That said:

Has 3 Submissions or more:

Aang - Avatar: The Last Airbender

Anakin Skywalker - Star Wars

Batman - DC

Bella Swan - Twilight

Bloom Peters - Fate: The Winx Saga

Bojack Horseman - Bojack Horseman

Brambleclaw - Warrior Cats

Clary Fray/Fairchild - Shadowhunters

Coriolanus Snow - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Elsa - Frozen

Evan Hansen - Dear Evan Hansen

Frank Reagan - Blue Bloods

Gregory - FNaF Security Breach

Harry Dresden - The Dresden Files

Harry DuBois - Disco Elysium

Heywood Floyd - Space Odyssey

Holden Caulfield - The Catcher in the Rye

Kazuya Kinoshita - Rent-a-Girlfriend

Kiris - On the Emperor's Lap

Mal - Descendants

Peter Pan - Peter Pan

Rand al'Thor - Wheel of Time

Rintaro Okabe - Steins;Gate

Scott McCall - Teen Wolf

Stolas - Helluva Boss

Ted Mosby - How I Met Your Mother

Tim Jackson Drake - DC

Tony Stark - MCU

Walter White - Breaking Bad

Wanda Maximoff - MCU

Xander Harris - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Zoey Redbird - The House of Night

Has 2 Submissions:

Ash Ketchum - Pokemon

Bloom Peters - Winx Club

Claire - Ship It

Dawson Leery - Dawson’s Creek

Duck Dodgers - Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 century

Dr Gregory House - House MD

Elizabeth - Bioshock Burial at Sea

Ezra Bridger - Star Wars Rebels

Ferris Bueller - Ferris Bueller's Day off

Feyre Archeron - A Court of Thorns and Roses

Harry Potter - Harry Potter

James Bond - James Bond

Jaune Arc - RWBY

Kyouya Sata - Ookami shoujo to kuro ouji

Netsa Archeron - A Court of Thorns and Roses

Odysseus - The Odyssey

Owen Grady - Jurassic World

Piper - Orange is the new Black

Pucca - Pucca

Quentin Coldwater - The Magicians (books)

Rey - Star Wars

Richard Rahl - Seeker of Truth/Legend of the Seeker

Riley Matthews - Girl Meets World

Robin - Teen Titans Go

Shen Qingqiu (Shen Yuan) - Scum Villain’s Self Saving System

Tom Paris - Star Trek: vVyager

Velma - Velma

Wade Watts - Ready Player One

Has 1 Submission

Achilles - The Iliad

Akiyama Shun - Ryu Ga Gotoku/Yakuza

Alexander Hamilton - Hamilton

Animal Crossing New Horizons' Player Character - Animal Crossing New Horizons

Aquamarin Hoshino - Oshi No Ko

Aragorn - Lord of the Rings

Arek - So This Is Ever After

Artemis Fowl - Artemis Fowl

Arthur Pendragon - BBC Merlin

Ataru Moroboshi - Urusei Yatsura

August Landry - One Last Stop

Ayin - Lobotomy Corporation

Bakugou Katsuki - My Hero Academia

Betty Cooper - Riverdale

Billy Buddy/Dr. Horrible - Dr. Horrible's Sing Along

Blake - Pokemon Adventures Black 2 and White 2

Blitzo - Helluva Boss

Bubsy - Bubsy 3D

Charley Pollard - Doctor Who

Charlie Morningstar - Hazbin Hotel

Choromatsu Matsuno - Osomatsu-san

Colin Bridgerton - Bridgerton

Corrin - Fire Emblem Fates

Cory Matthews - Boy Meets World

Dal - Star Trek Prodigy

Damian Wayne - DC

Daphne Bridgerton - Bridgerton

Data - Star Trek The Next Generation

Dr. Hanna Heath - People of the Book

Ebony Darkness Dementia Raven Way - My Immortal

Ellison Oswalt - Sinister

Elric of Melniborne - The Elric Saga

Emma Nelson - Degrassi: The Next Generation

Equality 7-2521 - Anthem

Eren Jaegar - Shingeki no Kyojin

Faust - Goethes Faust

Frasier Crane - Frasier

Galadriel Higgins - The Scholomance Trilogy

Geralt of Rivia - The Last Wish, The Witcher books

Go Siwon - A Guy Like You

Gray Wing - Warrior Cats

Haruyuki Arita - Accel World

Homer Simpson - The Simpson

Howard Roark - The Fountainhead

Jaypaw - Warrior Cats

Jean-Luc Picard - Star Trek The Next Generation

Jeff Winger - Community

Jim Hopper - Stranger Things

JJ - Cocomelon

Joaquin Monegro - Abel Sánchez

John Proctor - The Crucible

Jughead Jones - Riverdale

Kai - The Witch King

Kang Jinha - A Guy Like You

Katara - Avatar the Last Airbender

Katnis - Hunger Games

Khai - Theory of Love - Thai BL Show

King Arthur - King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)

Korra - Avatar: Legend of Korra

Koyomi Araragi - The Monogatari series

Kun-chan - Mirai

Kvothe - The Kingkiller Chronicles

Lelouch Lamperouge - Code Geass

Leroy Jethro Gibbs - NCIS

Lionblaze - Warriors (Power of Three and Omen of the Stars)

Luna - Retro

Luffy - One Piece

Lyn - Fire Emblem

Makoto Naegi - Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

Mal - Firefly

Manaow - Love Senior

Mark Watney - The Martian

Mary Poppins - Walt Disney's Mary Poppins

Meliodas - Seven Deadly Sins

Merlin - BBC Merlin

Mia - La La Land

Mike Wheeler - Stranger Things

Miyo Sasaki - A Whisker Away

Mordecai - Regular Show

Nick Carraway - The Great Gatsby

Nightheart - Warrior Cats

North Italy - Hetalia

Okajima ""Rock"" Rokuro - Black Lagoon (Anime)

Oscar - Shark Tale

Otis Milburn - Sex Education

Patrick Bateman - American Psycho

Peppa Pig - Peppa Pig

Piper McLean - Heroes of Olympus

Pippa Fitz-Amobi - A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder

Rebecca Bunch - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV show)

Robert Langdon - The Da Vinci Code

Rodion Raskolnikov - Crime and Punishment

Rorschach - Watchmen

Ruby - Max & Ruby

Ryo Saeba - City Hunter

Sabrina Spellman - Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Satou Kazuma - Konosuba

Shiori - Six Crimson Cranes

Shiro Emiya - Fate/Stay Night

Shrek - Shrek

Skullduggery Pleasant - Skullduggery Pleasant

Snow Villiers - Final Fantasy 13

Star Butterfly - Star vs The Forces of Evil

Stiles Stilinski - Teen Wolf

Sydney Atherton - The Beetle

Tai Kamiya - Digimon Adventure

Takao - Garden of Words

Tara Webster - Dance Academy

Tarl Cabot - The Gor Chronicles

Violetta - Disney's Violetta

William Afton - FNaF Ultimate Custom Night

Yu/Ai - Final Fantasy Unlimited

Yuri Zhivago - Doctor Zhivago

Yuusaku Godai - Maison Ikkoku

Zack Morris - Saved by the Bell

Available for Resubmission (needs at least 1 resubmission to participate)

Atsuko Kagiri/Akko - Little Witch Academia

Beca Mitchell - Pitch Perfect

Elena Gilbert - Vampire Diaries

Izuku (Deku) Midoriya - Boku no Hero Academia

Katarina Claes - My Next Life as a Villainess

Scott Pilgrim - Scott Pilgrim

Sophie Foster - Keeper of the Lost Cities

The Tenth Doctor - Doctor Who

Wei (Ying) Wuxian - Mo Dao Zu Shi

Currently unavailable for a new Round:

Aelin Ashryver Galathynius/Celaena Sardothien - Throne of Glass

Alex Eagleston - YIIK

Caillou - Caillou

Dean Winchester - Supernatural

Eragon - Eragon/Inheritance Cycle

Erika Shinohara - Ookami shoujo to kuro ouji

Kirito - Sword Art Online

Light Yagami - Death Note

Marinette Dupain-Cheng - Miraculous Ladybug

Naofumi Iwatani - The Rising of the Shield Hero

Peter Griffin - Family guy

Rachel Berry - Glee

Ross Geller - Friends

Tori Vega - Victorious

Victor Frankenstein - Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus

Y/N - Fanfiction

#insufferable protagonist tournament #insufferable protagonist poll

[thetwilightroadtonightfall]

also happy 5 years to me enjoying watching the kh3 credits roll by, seeing the foretellers included in the voice credits and being like “oh that’s cute, they must be including every character that was introduced during the dark seeker saga because it’s over now” and then getting absolutely knocked on my ass a few minutes later in the epilogue

#and also sobbing the second luxu pulled his hood down #my posts

[andrewwtca]

a Soriku Endgame, Actually essay on Light and Darkness

Also available to read on Archive of our Own.

Kingdom Hearts, with Sora and Riku in particular, has been on my mind as of late. It’s always been on my mind, to be honest, ever since I first got into the series. It’s grabbed my hand and hasn’t let go, especially with all the new lore. And yet, I’ve been struggling to make peace with myself. 

On one hand, I don't want to get my hopes up, thinking that Sora and Riku would ever become something 'more' or that what I’m seeing is anything other than in-depth speculation. I've had my heart broken before and this series means too much to me for me to foolishly dive in like this. 

On the other hand, I can't ignore what the story is telling me, as a literary analysis enthusiast and as a diehard fan. There have been parallels established, setups finally going through, and Nomura has said before that “this series is not intended to be child-focused, and so the complexity of the story is purposely made prominent.” I can’t keep turning a blind eye, knowing everything I know, thinking everything I think. If I did, I feel like I would be doing a disservice to both my experiences with the series and my experiences as a person. 

So yeah—Soriku Endgame, Actually. Today, I’m arguing its canonicality because of the balance of Light and Darkness (or lack thereof) throughout the series. Please enjoy my messy and impassioned essay!

a sky of falling stars

The Children of Destiny is a new concept introduced to us in the finale of Dark Road. To summarize, they are people with the ability to feel what others feel, connect, and become one with them—empaths with Light. 

It appears that the Children of Destiny are all descendants of Ephemer, characterized by silvery hair. There's Ephemer, there's Baldr, there's Xehanort—and, oh yeah, there's Riku. 

Upon the release of the finale, a lot of people—myself included—quickly jumped to the conclusion that Sora is a Child of Destiny, which isn't all that wrong. If we're going by what the games have given us, Sora is very special. What other character has housed five different hearts inside his own? What other character had an entire arc in Birth by Sleep talking about how he felt the pain in someone else’s heart?

But Nomura has insisted since the beginning that Sora is an ordinary boy, that he wasn't born with anything special, explaining that he “had the premise that a heart like Sora’s exists within all the players. Sora is ‘ordinary’, therefore everyone is ‘ordinary.” (Before anyone argues Nomura is just going through a retcon, I doubt he would go through with one to this extent, given how he has had the ending to the Dark Seeker Saga in mind for years.)

Riku, on the other hand, has not been given this kind of treatment at all. He's always been painted as a golden child, better than Sora at everything, being the original bearer of the Keyblade. For crying out loud, he had a light in Birth By Sleep that was seen from space, not Sora. If you factor in bloodlines, it wouldn't be too far off to theorize that Riku is a descendent of Ephemer's line. Riku isn't who most look at first, but all signs lead to him being a Child of Destiny. 

But that doesn't explain Sora at all. He may not have been born special like Riku, but he's special somehow. After all, Nomura did finish his ‘Sora isn't special’ line with, “I figure even if you’re ‘ordinary’, for something important, everyone can exhibit a special power just like Sora.” Aqua even calls out that Sora is the one who can set things right, the boy who can touch others’ hearts. 

And that is where the necklace theory comes in.

Sora has always been associated with royalty, sitting on a throne in box art or having crowns plastered around him—or on him. From his debut, Sora has had a crown necklace that has never been explained. Despite wearing it in every outfit, it's never been addressed how it came to be.

It’s after Aqua and Terra came, judging by the BBS cutscenes of him and Riku. But it’s before KH1, as that's when his journey began. That’s a huge timeframe, from being a kid to deciding to leave the islands, but it's easy to pinpoint a time when considering something the games still never fully fleshed out: the meteor shower. 

In Chain of Memories, Sora and Riku fight over this memory they supposedly both had of Namine one night during a meteor shower. One of them promised they would keep her safe, and it's all cute until we remember that Namine wasn't actually in these memories. And Namine can't make any new memories—she can only rearrange old ones. 

Sora and Riku both share this memory. And the way they fought over this memory gave it the utmost importance. It becomes obvious at this point that the both of them witnessed a meteor shower, and given what we know about their dynamic (and that's a lot), it would make sense to assume it was Riku promising Sora to keep him safe—almost like a charm.

The necklace theory has been around for years, but it’s only after the Dark Road finale that it was expanded upon (or perhaps it’s just me and maybe three others who think this, but I don’t mind one bit.) It isn't just Riku promising to keep Sora safe. In giving Sora a necklace, a crown, Riku has metaphorically crowned Sora. He has brought Sora up to his status as a Child of Destiny, putting all his love into a charm that he hopes can keep Sora safe. 

There’s a flaw in my logic though, trust me, I know. I just said that this meteor shower didn’t happen until after BBS, and yet it’s during the game that Sora feels the pain of others, it’s during the game that Aqua says that Sora is going to be the one to set things right. But I still stand firm in my belief. Riku has always been painted as the golden child, the Child of Destiny, but his love for Sora runs deeper than his love for anything else. 

Riku’s light is the one that brought Terra and Aqua to Destiny Island but Riku’s light shines for Sora; sort of like step one to Sora’s crowning. Riku’s light rubbed off on Sora, ever since they were kids—after all, a Child of Destiny’s power is to connect hearts. Why not connect his own with another? Why not share his light?

Further, in BBS, Sora can feel Ven’s pain and take care of his heart, but he isn’t fully aware of this nor is he able to really do anything about this. It isn’t until KH1 that Sora ever exhibits a power of truly connecting to another’s heart when Sora entered the darkness swallowing Riku and touched Riku’s heart’s light to obtain his Keyblade, explained by Nomura himself. And it isn’t until KH3 that Sora finds the power to wake up Ven’s heart.

Regardless of whether or not I’m right about this, it means Nomura isn't technically wrong about Sora being normal. Sora, no matter what, doesn’t have some divine birthright, but he still has the makings of someone who can bring peace to the world—all thanks to Riku.

This helps set the tone of their relationship, of the depth of Sora and Riku’s bond. It also moves the storyline forward to how they will be the ones to instigate change—but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s first talk about who once were and who they could’ve been.

in another life

Kingdom Hearts is pretty on the nose on parallels between Xehanort/Eraqus and Riku/Sora. Besides personality, Xehanort and Riku are both Childs of Destiny who give in to the darkness and Eraqus and Sora are endless sources of light. But the parallels don't exist to make us empathize with Xehanort/Eraqus: they're to tell us a cautionary tale of what our protagonists could've been. 

So it begs the question, what actually separated Sora and Riku from becoming like Eraqus and Xehanort? Let’s start with Riku.

To recap, Xehanort was a student in Scala ad Caelum alongside Eraqus, who watched all his classmates die. He learned from Baldr about their roles as Children of Destiny and in his grief, became obsessed with wiping the world clean. He wanted a Keyblade War to create a fresh start, void of Light and Darkness, so that the world could try again. 

Riku seemed to have been walking the same road as Xehanort. He stopped fearing Darkness and started dancing on the line between it and Light. Riku was angry at the world and angry at his friends, and perhaps in another life, he may too have wanted to wipe the world clean. 

But every time I compare him and Xehanort, I can't help but think that a cautionary tale isn't what Xehanort/Eraqus is. Because I can't help but think that it just could never have happened to Riku, and it's for two main reasons: 

1) Hope.

Riku has hope in the world. When we look at all the other Children of Light, they all had a Darkness that took them down (although in Ephemer's case, it was a literal Darkness that killed him). Baldr lost himself in grief. Xehanort lost himself in rage. But not Riku. 

When Xehanort saw that the world couldn't be fixed (to how he believed it should be), Riku did not even see a world that needed fixing. Riku saw the world in all of its complicated glory. For instance, Riku is one of the first characters to acknowledge the feelings of Nobodies; their pain, and their love. He doesn't see them as an extension of Darkness or Light. They simply are. 

Riku believes in redemption. It's been his entire character arc, after all, to redeem himself and walk the Road to Dawn, a term coined way back in CoM. Ever since then, Riku has been closely associated with the sunrise—night turning into day. Darkness becomes Light. Redemption. This symbolism is shown in box art, said in interviews, even his Keyblade is called the Way to Dawn. 

The fact that Riku was even able to think of the Road to Dawn proves that he's nothing like Xehanort. Xehanort believes that there is no redemption because the world needs to be wiped clean. But Riku believes that there is a road he can walk, a road he can take to salvation because the world is not good or bad, but made for people to live and learn. But how? How was he able to walk that road? He has hope, but how was he able to use it? And that's the second reason. 

2) Sora. Riku has Sora. 

It may feel a bit obvious to say, but it's true: the fact that Riku is Riku; Sora is Sora; and their relationship is the way it is, is the key to why they would never have fallen to the same fate. We don't know the full extent of Xehanort and Eraqus's relationship, but it's safe to assume it wasn't as kind or loving as Riku and Sora's ever were. The two would play as kids, promise to keep each other safe, tell secrets—the two became princes of destiny together, destined to fight their way home.

I can't see Xehanort and Eraqus as anything more than students in a fucked up situation. Because when things got bad for Xehanort, he didn't think of Eraqus as his guiding light. He only thought of what he lost. There’s even a line in Dark Road of Xehanort hearing Eraqus crying in the other room, yet he never comforts him, never approaches him. They suffered alone, too afraid or perhaps too blind to reach for one another.

When things got bad for Riku, he saw Sora. He saw how Sora loved Kairi and sacrificed himself for her, and he saw that Sora was forgiving towards him. The reason why Riku and Sora didn't end up like Xehanort and Eraqus is that they simply aren't them. Their bond is deeper and their love is stronger, and Riku’s hope is simply stronger than Xehanort’s ever was.

It’s important to emphasize that this truly is a feat that only Riku (and Sora, one day) could’ve accomplished. It's natural to us that Riku, one of the series' protagonists, was able to do this. It's easy to shrug off the balance he managed to strike between his Light and Darkness, but for so many actually in the series, it's an incomprehensible thought. Mickey even stated in CoM, that Riku introduced Light and Darkness in a way nobody has ever seen before. To understand how this affects Sora and Riku’s relationship, it’s important to understand the way things currently are.

the light we pass down

Light and Darkness are the very core of this series. Light represents the connections you make with others, while Darkness represents the lack thereof—those with Darkness in their hearts are those who walk alone, while those with Light are those with many friends around them. Darkness is selfishness, and Light is selflessness. 

Darkness is usually framed as an inherently evil source in many stories, but it's something that cannot be extinguished. Light needs to be there to balance it. 

But Kingdom Hearts seems to be going down the path less taken—yes, Darkness isn't 'good', and it isn't desirable to isolate yourself from the rest of the world. But the series is asking the question many like to ignore: when does Light become Darkness? 

In nearly every game, you can trace one character fed into the illusion that Light is good, everything else is bad, and the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. MoM to his pupils in Union X; Odin to Baldr in Dark Road; Eraqus to his children in BBS; Yen Sid to Mickey in forbidding him to speak of Aqua; Donald and Goofy to Sora in telling him that their ship runs on happy smiles. It is generational trauma. 

A cycle of hypocrisy has been forced on not only the 'defenders of Light' but 'agents of Darkness.' Xehanort doesn't care who he hurts as long as he can get his own idea of balance in the world, believing his judgment to be supreme to others—despite his initial thoughts in Dark Road, that unless someone's heart is pure Light, how can one know for sure what is right and wrong? To which Eraqus responded that they as Keyblade Wielders held the supreme judgment towards morality. 

Again and again, this cycle of defending what they believe is good and Light repeats, hurting themselves and hurting others, and even Sora is not free of this hypocrisy. While he doesn't go out of his way to hurt others the way Xehanort has, he is capable of hurting others: Riku was hurt by Sora in KH1 when he was silent when Kairi suggested leaving him behind or when he shrugged off Riku going missing in Traverse Town. In CoM, when the idea of him ‘abandoning’ people was presented, he acted out harshly and completely rejected the idea (this is all another parallel to Eraqus!)

He even denies the idea that Riku has hurt others. Despite Riku acting out of his own free will, the reason he feels the need to atone and walk the path to redemption, Sora believes that the Darkness was forced on Riku by others.

Sora has been carved into the same mindset as so many others, the idea heavily tackled in Dark Road, that Darkness is only brought upon by others, and that it needs to be expunged. Sora is a firm believer that the Darkness is something to be eradicated, such as with his encounter with Vanitas in KH3. When Vanitas states that he is simply Darkness, Ven is quick to understand and even accept. Sora, on the other hand, rejects this and insists that it isn’t okay. 

Even our series’ protagonist is unable to shake himself from this self-righteous, black-or-white thinking. Riku is the only character in the series who has formed an actual balance in himself, with all other characters having to pick one side. Lea, Xion, and Roxas leave the Darkness of Organization XIII and become Keyblade Wielders. Terra embraces his Light, Aqua leaves the Realm of Darkness, and Ven is literally separated into a being of Light and Darkness (although not out of his own volition).

The series is not framing any of these things as negative—there’s nothing wrong with embracing Light. However, these characters are falling into the same cycle that the generations before have; they will once again be faced with a Darkness too deep to defeat and ignore. It must be talked to, reckoned with, and faced with open arms. Riku has been the only one able to return the hug and walk away.

We’ve explored what makes Riku’s character arc so significant and what Sora’s flaws are, and it’s time to dive into the murky waters of the future.

when does the sun become the night?

Sora. Oh, Sora. I love you, Sora. Now let me tear you and your smile apart. 

The parallels between Xehanort and Riku are very on the nose and easy to distinguish; meanwhile, Eraqus and Sora are a bit more challenging. 

In BBS, Eraqus is the Master of Aqua, Terra, and Ventus. He forms a bond between them, as one would expect, mentoring and looking out for their well-being. The Light in his heart is strong due to his connections with them, alongside being a Keyblade wielder. Although not perfect (feeding into Terra's insecurities about his Darkness, cough), he does care for them. But when the world falls to Darkness, Eraqus doesn't hesitate to be selfless, to give up his connections, the Light in his heart, to kill them to save a greater good. As long as someone somewhere can benefit from his actions, he isn't harming.

But is that selfless? Is sacrificing for a 'greater good' truly selfless? Is there a line between the needs of the many and the needs of the few? Or is there a certain ‘darkness’ that comes with these acts? Disregarding yourself, disregarding others, selfless yet selfish; it's not the right thing to do, and the series doesn't hesitate to frame it as that. What Eraqus did was wrong. He hurt others, even if he refused to acknowledge it.

And yet, no one seems to make any noise toward Sora. 

Sora is a Guardian of Light. He is the cheerful protagonist who makes everyone smile and feel better. Ever since the first game, when Donald and Goofy (although not with ill intent) told him that the Gummi Ship runs on happy faces, he's been under the precedent that his emotions do not matter in the greater scheme of things. In the long run, what matters is that others are safe, the people he cares about. 

Once again, like how Xehanort and Riku deviated in terms of having hope, this is where Eraqus and Sora begin to deviate from their parallels. While both are selfless to the point of ‘darkness,’ they show it in dramatically different ways. Eraqus is willing to hurt the people he cares about (and by extension, himself) to serve this 'greater good', but Sora is only willing to actively hurt himself. 

I feel the need to remind everyone that this is a teenager we're talking about. If we weren't in a franchise partially owned by Disney, I feel like more people would be willing to call this what it is: suicidal. This is not Light.

We've already seen ways that this harms Sora outside the narrative and the whole getting sent to Quadratum thing in his Rage form. Sora transforms into a drive form that’s oddly reminiscent of his time as a Heartless and can unleash powerful attacks that lower his HP (hmm). Furthermore, this form only appears when his HP is low (double hmm) and stated by Nomura, “based on him going into a rampage state, controlled by feelings of anger (triple hmm).”

Back inside the narrative, the climax of KH3 was Sora believing that he's worthless without his friends, genuinely worthless, and unable to fight at all. This is the very definition of a Light gone too far when remembering that Light is the connections you form with others. With too much Light, Sora lost himself. He couldn't find himself past who he was for others.

In the section prior that broke down generational trauma as it appears in Kingdom Hearts, I mentioned that Sora does not only end up hurting himself but passively hurting others around him, most notably Riku. Sora is unable to understand that Darkness is not the absence of all good but rather the shadow that simply follows you around. Sora cannot understand that Darkness is not something to be shunned, to never talk about. (This could also be tied back to his Rage form—while he does not actively channel his anger to hurt, that is what happens; only to never be acknowledged by him.)

(Off-topic, but I find it funny that Sora, who is so keen on the idea that Darkness is Not Good, was only ever to have a proper conversation with Riku in the Realm of Darkness. It’s very telling to their characters.)

Kingdom Hearts is setting up a narrative that Light and Darkness cannot exist in excess. That Light doesn't exist to balance out the Darkness, to stop it from becoming too strong—you need Darkness to exist as well. 

Sora has gotten this far along the story and still hasn't managed to learn this, because it’s just not something you can learn (or unlearn, rather) on your own. Because this kind of thinking isn’t undone with hours of contemplation; in a fitting Kingdom Hearts fashion, it’s connections that lead to the revelation.

the roads we walk

Xehanort and Eraqus fall out with each other. They stop talking and sever the connection with each other. That was a core reason things got as out of hand as they did for each other; they weren't keeping each other in check. Xehanort's Darkness left him blind and unable to see that there was Light after all, and Eraqus's Light blinded him and left him stumbling with a Keyblade for a 'greater purpose.' Their hearts fell too far to one end of the balance, leaving the scales unbalanced.

Riku and Sora do not have that. They have a connection like nothing seen in this series before—Riku had literally raised Sora to become a Child of Destiny alongside him. The Light of their hearts is just so awe-strikingly bright. 

Sora, however, has lost himself in all his light. He is stuck in the same bright room that Eraqus was, stumbling around with his Keyblade. But where Eraqus was forever lost, Sora can be found: because where Riku had Sora to guide him to the Light, Sora will have Riku to guide him through the Darkness. 

Riku spends the majority of his character simply proving that he is capable of redemption. It takes him the ending of a game to realize the errors in his ways and another game to figure out the solution he must fight for, and these weren't revelations he finds on his own—he found the first with Sora and the second (in CoM) with Mickey and Namine.

For Sora to even have the revelation that he cannot keep shutting out the Darkness in him unless he wants more pain for himself and others, he needs someone to help show him that is an option. And who else but Riku, who is living proof that existence isn’t just black-or-white, Light or Darkness?

Riku is Sora's foil. A foil is a character who either has pronounced differences between themselves and the protagonist or is so alike that a contrast appears. Riku is the ladder, similar enough to Sora that one can begin to make assumptions about where the story is heading. Their similarities aren't hard to find: they both hail from Destiny Islands, they both have a love for adventure, they both were assumed to walk a path of Light for the rest of their lives, and they both care deeply for each other. The contrast begins in KH1 when Riku begins his fall to Darkness while Sora remains firm in his standing.

Riku’s arc ended with acceptance; he needed to accept the Darkness and the Light inside him to find peace. It’s only natural that his foil, struggling with the same imbalance, would go through a similar arc but still different enough to be his own.

It isn't just the story telling us this. Riku has always been associated with imagery of dawn, the breaking of Darkness into Light, and Kairi is always associated with imagery of dusk, the breaking of Light into Darkness (which is a conversation all on its own). Sora, on the other hand, is associated with a large blue sky (his name, after all, does mean sky.) It's not hinting towards a journey of any kind—not a redemption like for Riku.

He is the daylight. He is the Light in everyone's lives. But ‘Sora’ doesn't mean the day sky. It simply means sky. Sky, at day or night—and I don't mind if you call me reaching at this point, but it feels like it's calling out to the fact that Sora needs to accept that he is both Light and Darkness, the way the sky is both day and night. 

Nomura has even stated in an interview before when asked about the two different versions of the Dream Drop Distance illustrations that he “wanted its composition and look to remind [the player] of the title’s catch copy, ‘Darkness becomes light, light falls into darkness.’” The parallel structure of the tagline serves to mirror the parallel structure of Sora and Riku’s paths, Sora’s road to night and Riku’s road to dawn.

But I digress. Exhaustively, it’s very apparent that Sora is heading toward a climax, a Darkness he cannot ignore. His breakdown in KH3 was left unspoken, unresolved, and his disappearance only contributes to the fact that he’s heading toward another breaking point, where the cheerful protagonist can no longer remain cheerful. But like in KH3, something is going to be the same: Riku.

At his lowest point, it was Riku who was next to him, telling Sora that he believed in him. It was Riku who carried on when Sora couldn’t. Riku is going to be key in Sora's journey to night. Riku was able to find his Road to Dawn by remembering Sora. He was able to walk by remembering his love, his passion, his everything, and it was because of Sora that Riku found balance. He found the Light within himself, and he learned to accept that the Darkness would always be a part of him, the way it is for others. 

Sora's arc will be spun into motion because of Riku. The next installments of Kingdom Hearts are setting up that Riku's dreams are the key to finding Sora, implying perhaps that it may be Sora and Riku all alone in a world. Whatever the case, Riku is going to be by Sora's side, as that is where they are at their best, to face Sora’s worst.

And it's fitting. Riku had to go from Darkness, defined as a lack of connections, to a balance with Light, having connections. He went from his isolation, wearing a blindfold and not being able to face anyone, to being the charming Riku we all love, fighting alongside the Keyblade wielders. His journey would have him open up, so he would be joined by memories, ghosts, not by people until he began to embrace others.

Sora will be going from Light to a balance with Darkness. He'd be going from connections to a lack (though not in the same extremes that Riku did), in a sense. Understandably, he can’t do it alone, make such a drastic change; he'd need someone.

This change, this balance, this emphasis on connections, it’s guiding us to what the narrative has been trying to tell us all along.

we can be the darkness, and the light, and the sunsets and sunrises too

When asked about the theme of KH3 and the entire series, Nomura answered, “It’s in the title: hearts. The consistent theme across the whole series is ‘What is a heart?’”

Kingdom Hearts is going to be doing something unprecedented in not only a lot of media but in its world itself. While the idea of Light and Darkness existing within characters is not new, the characters aren't exactly behind that idea. Most of the Keyblade Wielders and Guardians of Light cherish the Light above all else—while all the primary villains worship the Darkness. They fight for a balance but don't fully grasp that within (nearly) all of them lies both entities. 

Riku seems to be more accepted in the world, as he did join the Light in the end. But what Sora would do is... just absolutely bonkers. He will be embracing a Darkness in him, the same kind that Terra and so many others were taught to push out. Sora will be... well, a teenager. Happy and angsty and all the things teens are.

This is where Kingdom Hearts has the chance to seal the deal, to fully welcome this balance of Light and Darkness: a relationship between Riku and Sora. 

For all Guardians of Light, there is a generational trauma hanging over their heads and haunting them, and Sora will need to accept his Darkness to combat it, but the story can't end there. The games have been building up the idea that Sora will be the one to bring change to the world, that Sora will be the one to end this cycle. He won’t just accept his Darkness but lead a new age. He will be the one to show that there's a different way (or really, only one other way) to move forward:

Love. 

Unconditional love. Not love depending on whether they fit the wielders' definitions of Light and Darkness, not love depending on the amount of Light in someone's heart, not love clouded by hypocrisy. Just pure love, forever forgiving and growing.

So who better for Sora’s love than Riku?

Let’s get all the arguments for Kairi out of the way first. Some may say that Kairi could still fulfill this role of spreading love in the next games, but that’s only if her role in the story is completely revamped. She represents friends growing apart as they grow older yet remaining close. While Sora and Riku represent a balance between Light and Darkness, Kairi represents holding a Light close to your heart, even when it's so far away; fitting for her story of being ripped apart from her home.

The games keep pushing the friends' growing apart narrative rather than pulling from it, having Kairi remain with Aqua to train while Riku goes after Sora. There is little space for Kairi to suddenly walk a road to dusk that leads to romance. Especially because it’s Sora and Riku who are the Children of Destiny, they are the ones who will connect to other hearts and bring change, not Kairi. Her lesson would be for herself, not for the world to see. 

A relationship between Kairi and Sora would just be backtracking on this message. Sora needs to accept his Darkness, but joining forces with a Princess of Light does not challenge any norms, it does not provide a new answer. It makes sense because the core of Kingdom Hearts isn’t a Prince and Princess of Light—it’s two boys who saw the night sky fall one day, two boys who grew up together, two boys destined for something greater who write their own paths anyway. It’s Sora and Riku. Nomura himself has stated that “Sora and Riku represent the theme of the Kingdom Hearts series, which is the ‘light and dark sides of the heart,’” the essence of this essay. 

Carrying on, some may stop me here and say that their love doesn't need to be romantic for a point to be made. But I argue that there is no other way.

Romantic love in stories often serves as the culmination of the story’s themes. In Leigh Bardugo's books, her romances serve to show the importance of love and healing. In the Shadow & Bone trilogy, Alina has the options between the Darkling, representing power, Nikolai, representing nationalism, and Mal, representing love. Just love. Not one befitting of a Saint, someone to change the world, but that’s not who Alina wanted to be; she just wanted a happy ending. Shockingly, she picks Mal. In Six of Crows, Kaz and Inej's romance, both traumatized teenagers, serves to show that you can heal and you can love. They're both scared of people, scared of intimacy and yet they still love with all their scars on display.

In Revolutionary Girl Utena, the romance between Utena and Anthy reaches its climax at the end of the show, displaying the vulnerability of both girls and the rawness of their feelings. But most importantly, it drives home the message: that the power to bring revolution is not the power of a prince or a witch. The power to change the world is love. The only way to change the world to be suitable to live in is through love. The power, a revolution, brought by love.

Romance is a revolution. It’s often saved for the last act of stories because of how it acts as a thread between all of the themes. In Kingdom Hearts, the theme needing weaving is balance: balance between yourself and others, balance between selflessness and selfishness, balance between Light and Darkness. Sora and Riku getting together would be Yin and Yang—a boy who had to accept his Darkness and a boy who had to fight for his Light. They complement each other and fill where the other lacks. 

Likewise, a relationship between them stresses the importance of connections. Tai Yasue, co-director of the series, has stated that “the theme of the KH series is ‘connections of the heart,’” and the narrative will take advantage of any opportunity to let that theme shine. Previously, many defenders of Light would sacrifice their connections with others for a greater good. But Sora and Riku choosing to love each other, choosing to love the Light and Darkness in each other instead of trying to chase away their Darkness, is showing that love is their other option. 

Sora getting with Kairi challenges nothing. It tells the others that Light must be with Light, that good must be with good. Even their grand attack in Re:Mind is two giant angel wings where they proclaim, “Light!” Sora and Riku, however, show that Light does not mean good. It shows that people can do bad things, and it doesn't make them bad, because people are not black and white. Like two kingdoms forever at war with each other, finally coming together and realizing that the other side is human and that you can't simply demonize them.

Sora and Kairi say there is nothing wrong with the world. To carry on. Sora and Riku say that there isn’t anything wrong with the world; it’s the people looking the wrong way. There is nothing wrong with what’s around us. Nothing wrong, nothing right. “Nothing is whole, and nothing is broken.” It’s simply being: being Darkness, being Light, being both, being neither.

It has to be Sora and Riku. It's always had to be them. Riku brought Sora up to the status of a Child of Destiny, and their journeys were led by each other, their character development taught by one another, and their acceptance will come from (an eventual) conversation between the two about their pain and hurt and Darkness, it’s all always been leading here. To this moment in time where they show the world all the hurt they hold and how they carry on with.

All of that, and loving each other? 

They are crossing the line, as Hikaru Utada sings in Don't Think Twice. They are going to be crossing every line established in Kingdom Hearts, and this is their power. Their revolution. Their predetermined yet self-made destiny. The payoff for years and years of searching and yearning and pining and chasing is a love that brings revolution, and oh...isn't that just romantic? 

That is the answer to “What is a heart?” The heart is the love you have, despite it all. The heart is the connections you make, despite it all. The heart is your Darkness and your Light and your experiences and your fights, despite it all. The heart is Sora and Riku, despite it all.

grant us the power to bring the world revolution

A lot of this analysis really depends on whether or not you believe Sora and Riku are in love with one another, I realize. You may agree with me that it seems fitting that their coming together as a pair would catalyze all the themes in Kingdom Hearts, but you disagree that it means they'd ever be a pairing. Which, I'd like to thank you for at least hearing me out. 

The queerness of their relationship means there will always be naysayers to them getting together, there will always be people claiming that I'm reaching. I do not care if you see them as brothers or ‘just’ really good friends. I see a love story. I see a love story and a love story saying to love, above all else. Do not judge others for you don't know what is wrong or right, for you are biased, for you are flawed, for you are human. Love others for that is the heart's will. Love.

I see that their getting together would be a testament to that love. To that forgiveness, to those flaws we have. It would be an acceptance of Riku's pain and Darkness that he mysteriously doesn't want to acknowledge, it would be an acceptance of Sora's pain that he's been bottling up ever since the beginning of his journey, and it would be an acceptance to the Light they both share. It would be the balance that so many generations have looked for and couldn't find because they did not practice acceptance, only judgment. 

Sora and Riku getting together is acceptance and it's proof that love is the answer to a generational trauma that has been around ever since the beginning of time. So yeah: Soriku Endgame, Actually. 

Thank you so much for reading! I’m a really big fan of stories about light and darkness and the balance between them, stories about love, and just Kingdom Hearts in general. I didn’t want to keep these thoughts in the back of my head and I’m glad I wrote them all out, even if it’s messy (and a shocking 6k words long...) Kingdom Hearts is a bit messy, after all.

If you're interested in more about Sora and Riku's relationship or just literary analysis of KH in general, please check out Constructing Kingdoms on YouTube, as it helped give me the words to write a lot of this essay. Further, if you're in total denial that there is any queer text in Kingdom Hearts, please check out this amazing video essay on Riku being gay. 

That's all I have. Please feel free to share if you have any disagreements or if any parts really spoke to you, or if you have anything to add, or anything really. These two live rent-free in my mind, and I don't mind talking about them or about how they're just so perfect to change the world.

Thank you. Spread love (and the Soriku agenda.)

#kingdom hearts #sora #riku #sora and riku #soriku #soriku endgame actually #media analysis #literary analysis is my special interest #andrew's essays #meta essay #kh meta

[jacobbla3]

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[cendrilloncd]

I can’t wrap my head around the fact that we’re starting a new arc after 20+ years. It makes me wonder how long Nomura is planning for the full story to be

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts dark seeker saga #kingdom hearts 4 #kh4 #kh

[invidiatechdemo]

think people should draw more dramatic art of kairi with the damn master xehanort 'some pronounce it kye'' thing especially since like.

"Death... A letter that spells endings." when kairi's game chronologically is the last game in the 'dark seeker saga'. in the world of kingdom hearts her name is literally x-ri basically, and she capstones the series with her presence.

#nomura i am handing you money to make good on the audacious stuff that you ended up implying re: kairi. #seriously though if you think there's nothing going on w/ kairi you flat-out have not been paying attention. <3 #the issue is the writers do not like her so they keep writing stuff that should make kairi conceptually /bonkers/ but then refuse to linger #like. TECHNICALLY SPEAKING. kairi is 1/20th of a legendary sword. #and while the new seven lights thing is whatever i think kairi being that /consistently/ is wild. #invidia hort talk

[oveliagirlhaditright]

But Green Requiem's video about the music in the Kingdom Hearts Chi saga--and about how most of it seems to very much be two different chords going on at the same time (if I am wrong and butchering music terms here, through this game of telephone, please forgive me [and know that Green Requiem got it right and I alone am the idiot]; I'm not a musician) has me so excited about what the music for what the rest of this new saga might be like, as Shimomura makes a new discography.

As Green Requiem pointed out, I wonder if the two chords thing going on, was because Shimomura knew beforehand that there was a double layer to Daybreak Town, so to speak: that Daybreak Town would become Scala ad Caelum.

I'm also loving the bit of mixolydian we've gotten so far (I say as someone who had no idea what that was until I watched this video). And Green Requiem wonders if Shimomura also knew that KHUX would eventually tie to Missing Link (and hey, even Dark Road), that would go more Norse in a lot of ways, and would perhaps even moreso fit with the mixolydian.

Already, the Kingdom Hearts Chi music is quite a bit set apart from what we got in the Dark Seeker Chronicles. And yet, there are of course a lot of things that connect to it, too. I love it!

Edit: Here's the KH Chi video I'm talking about.

#we truly don't deserve yoko shimomura's amazing compositions and the music in this series

[violethowler]

Was thinking about Maleficent in KH last night and had to cackle like a madman at the reminder of how the KH writers took the criticism of how complicated the story became after KH1 when it was just "boy saves the worlds from a bunch of Disney Villains and the mad scientist whose work the villains were building on" and retroactively made it so that all the complexity of post-KH1 games was literally Maleficent's fault.

Like, Dark Road reveals that the entire chain of events that pushed Xehanort down his path to villainy was started by Maleficent cursing Aurora in Sleeping Beauty.

And by the end of Union Cross, the only reason that the Keyblade Wielding civilization that Xehanort trained under existed in the first place was because Maleficent tried to time travel back to the BBS era and change the ending of Sleeping Beauyt but overshot by several centuries, then inadvertently triggered the destruction of what remained of the pre-Keyblade War world as a direct result of the method she used to return to the present for the start of KH2.

And you can even go back further, because the events of the X saga happened as a result of the Master of Masters manipulating everyone to play out the events he recorded in the Book of Prophecies, which were based on him witnessing the events of the future seen through the eye on Luxu's keyblade, up to and including the events of the Dark Seeker Saga. Meaning that the Master saw everything that happened as a result of Maleficent's meddling and then guided events in order to bring those circumstances about.

I dunno, I just think it's hilarious how if you follow the chain of causality back far enough, you realize that so much of the convoluted shenanigans fans complain about in the series are canonically only possible because of the Mistress of All Evil doing what the Mistress of All Evil does best.

(While also adding to the Sisyphean tragedy at the heart of her character journey that I talked about in my 12th Constructing Kingdoms video, because even as she fights to remain relevant as a serious threat in a post-KH1 world, she ironically created the very villains who surpassed her as the main threat to the universe).

#kingdom hearts meta #kh maleficent #controvertial opinion but i'd argue that xehanort was maleficent's first pseudo-kid in kh

[goldensunset]

so i’m curious what people think about the order you ought to do kh games in, specifically with regards to khdr or kh3 first. (i’ve put propaganda for both arguments under the poll)

arguments for kh3 first: there’s already way too much info you’re expected to remember going into kh3. and khux’s place in the order is already debatable with how some of it was released before kh3 and some of it after so it’s hard to say. it’s asking a lot from people to go through all of both khux and khdr before kh3 when that wasn’t even the order things were written in. to get the authentic information-revealing experience, you should play in release order. plus, the luxu-bragi thing might spoil the xigbar twist, which is like so crucial to protect

arguments for khdr first: it would give kh3 a delicious additional sort of flavor. like all that new context about xehanort and eraqus… man. and if kh3 is supposed to be the end of the dark seeker saga, it feels janky to follow it up with a game about the now-dead dark seeker’s backstory before moving on. like why bother. plus, while it would foreshadow a connection between bragi and xigbar, you probably wouldn’t actually be able to figure out anything about luxu here based only on what’s in khdr without pre-existing kh3 knowledge about him body-hopping. not even the khux ending would definitively have told you anything

#i’m guessing most people will think kh3 first but i’d like to hear any thoughts #ya know #kingdom hearts #kh #khdr #kingdom hearts dark road #dark road #kingdom hearts 3 #kh3 #mine: kh