#Riku seeing Xion as Sora

[mirror-to-the-past]

I am but a measly 2:00:15 into the genre-defining "Riku is Gay" video, but like. Damn, Tennelle Flowers is a cinematic genius. I've remained so thoroughly enthralled by the tasteful spacing of audio commentary, clips from the games, and excerpts from the novels/writer interviews that I've hardly even noticed the time passing. What is this video laced with, man- I love video essays, but usually I have to rewind a gazillion times due to my attention slipping against my will.

That collage of comparison clips from KH2 Beast's arc and Riku's KH1-KH2 arc is killing me, man. Ever wish you could tattoo a part of a video to your forehead? Apparently, now I do.

[dotted-clouds]

Replaced.

[goldensunset]

if kh4 wants to be good it’s gotta have like sora excitedly telling strelitzia all about his best friends and how great they are but then it cuts to them acting insane

like ‘my buddy riku is really cool and heroic!’ he’s always got a clear rational head’ ((cuts to riku flipping over cars and/or threatening ppl in quadratum screaming ‘WHERE IS SORA’))

‘oh oh oh and kairi is so kind and brave… her pure and strong heart never falters!’ ((cuts to kairi having a full-on mental breakdown blubbering and sobbing in aqua’s arms))

[daylighteclipsed]

Y’all ever think about if Sora falls to darkness that inside his heart will look like the Destiny Islands falling again

[gummi-ships]

[kingarmorking]

@just-a-lamp original post was getting long so NEW POST (picking up from here)

HRRMMMMMM au names... "boats and stars" sounds like a good placeholder for now unless smth else comes up (the song is boats and birds but yknow) arguably "boats and bats" could be used too

quick switch focus to heart hotel and other characters! (uh this got. longer than i was expecting so CUT)

vanitas working at the sanctuary just makes me laugh because any time riku gets swarmed by the bats he makes it a point to record it to send to roxas. vani promised lil bro that hed send anything like that to him cause shits funny as hell

vani rescued a bat from drowning (coughfloodcough) and its the one bat that Does Not want anything to do with riku. hes a nippy bastard and Will Bite, vani is the only exception and hes the only one who can handle him and not get bit

ventus being an announcer is genius i love it, he hypes sora up so much for his shows and they play off each other So Well! i can see him being like... head waiter? idk if manager would be the right word here

and by extension xion would probably be a mermaid too! i can see her making necklaces/bracelets/etc out of shells around the aquarium and they sell them at the gift shop, though she def gives some directly to some kids during her shows

roxas is a cook and he makes it clear he doesnt wanna deal with The Public™️ as i like to call it because thats WAY too much of a fuckin headache he doesnt know how ventus does it

considering the fact that four of the five of them work at this place, it probably ran in the family and vanitas was the only one like "nah fuck that i wanna do smth different" but sometimes he'll show up for halloween events

[kicktwine]

feel like I have to fire rent lowering shots now that I posted my tumblr link on twitter though

[marcirose]

Can you believe we got soriku parallels with all of these Disney couples?

[dominicsorel]

And the day before she disappeared, you said she was put on an important mission. Remember?

[empyreasheart]

i need to sleep but im imagining the kh kids excitedly opening all their presents 😭😭😭 the fact that santa is real in the kh universe makes it so much better tbh

[paopubell]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Kairi/Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi & Naminé (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Aqua & Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi & Naminé & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Sora & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé & Sora (Kingdom Hearts) Characters: Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé (Kingdom Hearts), Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Aqua (Kingdom Hearts), Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Lea (Kingdom Hearts) Additional Tags: Cinderella (Fairy Tale) Elements, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, One Shot, Kissing, Love at First Sight, (sort of), Neopolitan Trio - Freeform, namine xion and kairi being practically sisters, its a Cinderella au obv, lots of description of beautiful dresses and suits, i have drawings too, I'll share them on tumblr Summary:

Kairi's spent her whole life dreaming of going to a royal ball, and she finally gets a chance. After her mistresses shatter her dreams she recieves some magical help, and with the power of magic, dreams, and friendship her dream finally comes true.

[inanotherworldarling]

seein stuff about any of the KH kids gettin married while they're still lil teeny boppers short circuits my brain

[yusukenui]

i fr need to get over my k*iri issues before kh4 comes out or im gonna be rolling in my grave in advance

[starshapedfruits]

The fact that in the manga Riku briefly "sees" Xion as Kairi when she asks if he hates her for taking Sora away from him is absolutely heartbreaking...

[matenr0u]

Oblivion, the Riku Keyblade: Translation

Oblivion/Bygone Memories

過ぎ去りし思い出Sugisarishi Omoide

Here’s my entry point for a bit of a deep dive into the ‘Riku Keyblade’. I have a few points jotted down about Oblivion, since it’s one of my favourite keyblades, but I’ll start with the name of it.

First it’s important to establish that despite being the Riku Keyblade, it’s actually symbolic of not just Riku alone but specifically Sora’s relationship with him. As the series progresses it gains a level of importance to other characters too, but being a Sora enjoyer I tend to regard Roxas and Xion like two little hamsters that escaped their pen and need to be stuffed back in, so I’m not sure if I’ll overly talk about them.

On to the name: I like the sound of the already established translation, ‘Passing Memories’, but I find ‘Passing’ is a word much too vague compared to ‘Bygone Memories’, so as a personal preference I’ll refer to it with my own interpretation unless someone more fluent in Japanese demonstrates another name that rolls more easily off the tongue.

Anyway, let’s get into the meat of this thing and how I reached this conclusion.

EN: Oblivion

JP: 過ぎ去りし思い出Sugisarishi Omoide

過ぎ去りし = Sugisarishi = Bygone/Long ago/Departed

思い出 = Omoide = Memory/Memories 

過ぎ = Too much/Passed/Past

去りし = Gone

Bygone Memories

Generally you can think of the meaning like, ‘a keyblade representing our shared memories of the distant past.’

Another interpretation more specific to the breakdown of their relationship could be, ‘our fond memories which have been left by the wayside.’

An example of how this phrase is typically used: 

過ぎ去りし日の思い出 

Memories of bygone days

I wonder if the keyblade’s name is a contraction of this phrase.

I don’t get the feeling that 過ぎ去りし思い出/Sugisarishi Omoide implies literally confused/forgotten memories as much as the EN name Oblivion does; moreso a nostalgic, or melancholy, reflection on good times between two people which occurred long ago.

I think both the EN and JP names can be interpreted to suit Sora and Riku’s connection to this Keyblade well, but there’s some nuance I’d like to get into.

忘却 Bokyaku is the term used in the JP name for Castle Oblivion — 忘却の城/Bokyaku no Shiro (Castle of Oblivion) — this word translates much more literally to Oblivion, a state of confusion or having forgot, than 過ぎ去りし/Sugisarishi, which is more like ‘long since passed/departed’. 

For this reason I get the idea that the keyblade was named Oblivion in EN because it sounds badass, still gets the point across, and goes well with Oathkeeper (which also has some liberties taken in the translation, presumably because that too sounds cooler to a western audience*).

There is a similar example within Kingdom Hearts’ usage of the word ‘memories’, too. In contrast to 記憶/kioku which is used for Memory’s Skyscraper — and sounds closer to, plainly, ‘one’s own memory/recollection’ —, the term 思い出/omoide usually denotes a memory or memories shared between people. It has a much more reminiscent tone of fond memories (or, perhaps, a particular memory?) shared with another, which fits well with the purpose of this keyblade and adds a bit of nuance that the EN name Oblivion lacks.

*You can also see this reflected in KHIII Oblivion’s default shotlock, named ‘Bladefury Eclipse’ in EN and ドーンエクリプス/Dawn Eclipse in JP. The JP name is much more meaningful to Sora and Riku and it’s a shame this was cast aside for cool points. ‘Dawn’ is written right there in kana, why didn’t they use it?

Meanwhile the shotlock ステラインセプション/Stellar Inception — which is shared with its sister keyblade Oathkeeper — remains identical in EN and JP.

I have Thoughts about the item required to obtain Oblivion in KHIII, known as Proof of Times Past in EN, but for now I’ll offer a simple translation.

EN: Proof of Times Past

JP: 過ぎ去りし証 Sugisarishi Akashi

Certificate of the Bygone

Or, ‘Evidence of Long Ago’

This one checks out, but some EN players seem confused about this certificate being called Times Past while the keyblade is called Oblivion. Hopefully my translation notes on the JP name shed some light on it.

And the item description:

EN: “A certificate awarded to those who have endured the most difficult trial of them all.”

JP: 「険しい戦いを制した者に贈られる証」

`Kewashii tatakai o seishita mono ni okurareru akashi'

“A certificate awarded to those who have overcome an insurmountable battle.”

Not much to add here either, but as a game dev myself I really enjoy the tiny gameplay detail of Sora literally being rewarded with Bygone Memories for pushing through ‘an extremely difficult conflict’— if you’re familiar with other Sora & Riku centric KH analyses, you can probably see where I’m going with this, so I’ll save that tangent for another day.

That about wraps up this part.

A final note for those who subscribe to the necklace theory: Bygone Memory — as in, a singular fond memory shared between two people long ago that may have since been cast aside, is an equally valid translation of the JP name.

This is just a fun little rant into the void, if I missed anything or made any mistakes, feel free to add on to it.

[strayheartless]

People absolutely underestimate Rikus potential cryptid energy. We are talking like big “moth man” vibes.

Like he’s my boy, but I’m imagining nights where someone -we will say Aqua- hears noise from the kitchen in the land of departure. when she swings the door open all she sees is these two eyes that catch the light from the hallway.

Aqua yells and turns on the light, keyblade at the ready… only to find Riku standing with a yogurt pot in one hand and a spoon in his mouth.

And Riku’s just like “evening,”.

OR

times when Terra will be looking for him for literal hours only for him to fold out of a dark corner in the rafters like a paper doll. And Terra doesn’t know whether to terrified or impressed.

OR

times when Riku’s dream eater form is triggered (I love that particular fanon) and he’s crawling around and hanging off of ceilings and Roxas and Ven are doubly like “NOT TODAY SATAN”

It would be worse when Sora’s Anti form gets triggered at the same time because then you have one crawling around on the ceiling like some bram stokers nightmare fuel, and the other one crab scuttling across the floor like Gollum on darkness filled steroids. Kairi personally believes she needs a raise. Mostly because she now carries around a spray bottle to stop them from chewing on drapes.

Biggest nightmare fuel moment:

Riku’s dream eater form

Sora’s anti form

And Vanitas (just him in general)

Just coming together for one beautiful awful storm of cryptid behaviour while on mission in beasts castle.

Ven, Kairi and Xion trailing behind their path of destruction, apologising to Belle and Beast for the furniture they chew.