#riku: surprised

[luxmoogle]

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[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts 3 - Sora

[kingdomhearts-and-soriku-trash]

I love when Riku is in the room where Sora’s sleeping pod is in, and he doesn’t see Sora at first, but when he does he RUNS to him. And then he’s panicked and says, “What have you done to Sora?!” And the way he calms down when he knows he’s not dead or hurt. He’s simply sleeping to get his memories back. And Naminé’s gasp before she says, “Nothing!” Just makes us all feel Riku’s wrath at that moment since she was like “!!!” At his words.

AND THEN!! How when Riku is talking to Xion in 358/2 days, and she asks about where Sora is at the time, Riku’s voice is a little sharper on the ‘that’ when he says, “That secret stays with me.”

AND HIM ADMITTING HE’S NOT MAD…HE’S JUST SAD!!! And wants his best friend back!!!

I love protective Riku when he’s actively showing it😭😭.

[robotsafari]

i had a dream where something was off with riku’s shadow…

(this art is so sucks i made this when i was tired and less experienced which ended up making riku look so much skinnier than how i normally draw him post-kh2 can you stop engaging it with pretty pweeease)

[lenaellsi]

a concept for Riku’s heart station at the end of re:mind/start of kh4!

[holleighgram]

The KH3 manga omitted the gayblade and that's a goddman crime.

[firestorm09890]

Okay so in canon kingdom hearts, Riku Replica absorbs Zexion and then fights Riku but eats shit and dies, with his disembodied heart going to wander the Realm of Darkness for over a year and Zexion’s lifeforce presumably going to whatever abyss every other Nobody goes to. But what if. Instead. Repliku ends up hitching a ride immediately and also drags Zexion’s remains with him

That’s right babey we’re making Heart Hotel 2: This One’s Awful. I’m calling it Riku’s Rest Stop

[gulava]

How did you get here? By choice or chance?

[rikufanclub]

"  I know that I have to stand up with these feet.   Both love and pain, I want to take on everything. "

recreated frames from ‘little cry of the abyss’

[masteraqua]

alright, as promised, here's my list of the disney worlds in kh1, ranked from favorite to least favorite!

Atlantica: structurally, this world is perfect. it’s not too long, there’s minimal backtracking, and the way it expands the player’s understanding of the universe through king triton is *chefs kiss*. i will take any excuse to listen to pat carroll and jodi benson

Wonderland: loooove how creative and layered this world is, there’s nothing else like it. it’s the perfect choice to introduce the disney worlds and make you feel like you’re not in kansas anymore. and then right as you start to get comfortable, BAM, the main character gets kidnapped in the middle of her own story

Neverland: the way this world is integrated into the plot is excellent. seeing riku and kairi here always has me on the edge of my seat and the whole concept of shadow sora is ingenious. the only reason this world isn’t ranker higher is because there are too many rooms that look the same

Monstro: everything about this scenario is cool, from the story actually beginning in traverse town with pinocchio committing petty theft to the flashbacks of sora and riku’s childhood to getting eaten by a giant goddamn SPACE WHALE. i think i love this world actually, i’m moving it up the list

Deep Jungle: i have mixed feelings on this world. on the one hand, there is WAY too much backtracking and the clunky physics are at their worst here. but on the other hand, the conflict between sora and his new companions is surprisingly compelling, and, most importantly, the VIBES are IMMACULATE *bongo drums intensify*

Olympus Coliseum: what this world lacks in size it makes up for in fun character dynamics. love the cast, love the tournaments, love cloud's little arc. but the cerberus fight can rot in hades, it’s probably my least favorite boss in the game

Halloween Town: this world has a lot of charm to be sure, but it also feels very disconnected from the story, almost to the point of distraction. even sora doesn't seem very enthused to be here. oogie boogie as a giant haunted house is the fun kind of nightmare fuel tho

Hundred-Acre Wood: i feel bad putting this so far down the list. i love the idea of this world and i quite like the execution too. the minigames just aren’t very strong in this game unfortunately

Agrabah: idk, this world just kinda falls flat to me and it’s hard to explain why. it seems to be more interested in cramming in as many callbacks to the movie as possible than in being novel or compelling. also there are too many boss fights

[princekirijo]

POINTS ‼️‼️NEW RIKU ICON‼️ REAL‼️ GRAHHHHH HE LOOKS AWESOME 🔥🔥🔥

Ahh thank you Misty :3c

Here is the uh full icon for those who want to see it properly 👉👈

He's my silly little goose :3 my funny boy

Also uhm a bonus and a little lore drop I'd planning to make for a while undercut ehe

Tada this is Riku's actual eye colour! Much similar to Mitsuru's :3 He wears eye contacts throughout a lot of Captain AU's story and if you ask him why he will give you a different answer every time ehe

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance - The Grid

[thefreshprinceofjunes]

you know. as much as i love rikus unyielding devotion to sora. part of me wonders how hes been, like, surviving in the year without him.

has he been doing anything else in his life besides looking for sora?

will riku need to have some sort of revelation in the future about his own importance and self-worth separate from sora, in a similiar vein to pearl from su?

bc like

a lot of pearls character arc feels... relevant. to riku. or at least, it could be.

idk like. im well aware sora and rikus relationship is leagues healthier than rose and pearls. and sora is a much better person than rose was. but i just. 

i see a lot of pearl in riku at times

[lunawings]

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW Riku... thank you....

WHAAAAAAAAAT

This game gives you 50 stella stones for YOUR OWN birthday!!?!

Well, I guess you technically are a character (you're playing as their manager) so it kinda makes sense. Still.

[mythicalartistx]

Soriku Week 2023 day 5 Free Day

For the Free Day I drew Sora and Riku in a blanket and Sora fell asleep on Rikuwho doesn't want to move because he is so adorable and cute to him

[daylighteclipsed]

As someone who only got into KH as an adult, what do you think of Riku's motives during KH1? There's very different opinions from long time fans. From dismissive it's just badly written, he's being petty, it doesn't make sense, he's desperately in love with Kairi so he resent Sora, he's a fuckboy who always want more and never could have enough to it's gay panic from soriku fans. Some even call it plot holes since the games don't state it outright. As a new adult fan how do you see it?

I think Riku is someone very unhappy. He feels left out and forgotten by Sora and Kairi. He's jealous, for multiple reasons, but only understands some of them. He's built his identity around being the more mature, cool older brother figure, which drives an emotional wedge between him and Sora&Kairi who allow themselves to be more childish and carefree. And he doesn't really know who he is outside of this role -- hence, his fear that if Sora and Kairi don't need him anymore, they won't want him around and he won't really have a purpose. But it's a role he doesn't actually enjoy playing, as we see he's much happier when he abandons those expectations in order to follow his heart and be true to himself.

I think those expectations, forcing himself to play that role, is part of why Riku fails to express how he's feeling to his friends and begins retreating from them -- which is the "change" Kairi picks up on, but also, for instance, Selphie notices Riku sitting by himself and staring at the ocean for long periods of time. Riku's always wanted to see other worlds, but I think, by the time KH1 starts, he's started talking about it more frequently. He's started making it happen by building the raft. He is so focused on leaving, he, in his words, hasn’t even thought about what he wants to do when he gets where he’s going. I think he's frustrated that Kairi and Sora aren't really taking the raft seriously -- and though he knows Sora likes to slack off and it's not personal, I think he's hurt especially by Sora's lack of care because this is supposed to be their dream, and Sora seems happier goofing around with Kairi. But Riku tells himself it's fine because once they're sailing everything will be different. Everything will finally change. Right?

Those expectations -- to be the cool older bro figure who's strong and unbeatable and always levelheaded and never needs help, the sort of ideal Sora strives for -- are also, I think, part of why Sora does not reach out to Riku and ignores all the signs that something is really wrong until it is too late. He's used to Riku never needing his help. Even if Sora notices something is up, he's not worried because Riku can handle it on his own -- because he always does. And while Sora does gradually abandon this mindset the more he sees that Riku is capable of being manipulated and defeated -- he's only a year older than Sora, he's a kid, and he needs help sometimes because everyone does -- it's not until the end of KH2 that Sora fully gets this, as Riku lets Sora be his support and admits he's always been jealous of Sora. This is the moment they both really become equals.

What Riku tells Sora about being jealous of Sora’s ability to follow his heart and live more carefree isn't the whole truth, but it is some of it… I personally do think Riku has feelings for Sora. In KH1, I don’t think Riku understands this. A lot of what we see in the beginning of KH1 seem to be relatively new developments. Riku retreating from his friends and becoming obsessed with building the raft and leaving, like I said. But also Riku’s dragging Kairi (as a romantic interest) into his rivalry with Sora and mean-spirited teasing. Based on Sora’s surprised/confused reactions to Riku’s behavior, this has to be relatively new. If I were to speculate… I would say that Riku perhaps noticing or at least perceiving a blossoming romance between Sora and Kairi, which would also have been relatively new, is what spurned this change in behavior from him and the sudden building of the raft instead of just dreaming about it.

And that doesn’t necessarily mean Riku is jealous of Kairi in a romantic sense, as many people can feel jealous or forgotten when their best friend begins dating or hell even just starts spending a lot of time with someone else. We see this kind of jealousy when Riku meets Donald and Goofy, too, and it’s that feeling of abandonment by Sora that even pushes Riku to trust Maleficent. Riku’s mean-spirited teasing about Kairi really could just be because Riku feels like he needs Sora to feel inferior to need Riku around and Riku wants Sora’s attention… But I think there is enough, especially looking at the series collectively, to strongly argue Riku is also jealous of Kairi in KH1 because he has feelings for Sora that he doesn’t understand or know how to handle. You don’t have to like it, but to completely deny it as a possibility at this point is foolish.

There’s also the fact that Riku feels like working with Maleficent is the best move in terms of most quickly saving Kairi. To Riku, it looks like Sora is goofing around in all these different worlds, playing hero with his special sword and his new best friends who think he’s so special. He’s prioritizing people he just met and strangers over Riku and Kairi. For Riku, who seems to have always had Sora as his first priority, and probably just assumed the reverse would be true, that’s gotta feel so insane and when he’s already been feeling like Sora’s not pulling his weight in their friendship lmao… But Riku still offers Sora a chance to help him save Kairi, for them to work together.

Sora turns his blade against him, and Riku realizes Sora can’t do what Riku believes is necessary to save Kairi. Sora is not willing to get his hands dirty to help Kairi... but he is willing to sincerely fight Riku as an enemy. And that’s the breaking point for Riku, I think. That’s when making Sora lose and hurt begins to take precedence over helping Kairi. Riku wants to cram Sora back into that dependent, inferior role that Sora never truly belonged in, was (much like Riku playing the superior) also unhappy in, and certainly by the end of KH1 does not fit in any longer.

KH1 Riku’s also arrogant lmao. He’s not happy playing the repressed but cool older brother, but he is used to always winning and being the best among his peers, so that’s going to affect what he thinks he can/can’t do or handle, like when he shouts that he’s not afraid of the darkness, for instance. His failures in this game (and having his butt handed to him by Sora) definitely humble him.

So we have Riku’s motives. We have an idea of what he’s feeling and thinking: He’s jealous of Sora. He’s jealous of Kairi. He’s jealous of Donald and Goofy. He fears if Sora doesn’t need him around, Sora won’t want him around. He’s unhappy with the role he plays and the way things are and desperately wants everything to change. He feels abandoned by Sora. He feels responsible for Kairi losing her heart and wants to save her as quickly as possible. He’s arrogant. He thinks working with Maleficent is the best move to fix his mistake… and later the best way to hurt Sora, as badly as he feels Sora has hurt him.

Maybe it’s not easy to extrapolate everything from only the first game or even a first run-through of the first game, but I think it all makes sense.