#sora appreciation

[yoroshiu]

Sora Kingdom Hearts is a magical character, methinks.

The joy and tears he brings so many people—me very much included—that burrows itself so deeply into my skull when I read posts or watch reaction videos hits different every time I think about it.

He's outgoing and goofy and simple-minded but he hides the things that bother him and sacrifices himself without batting an eye. He easily changed gears when admitting that the darkness got to him the moment Riku fell over. He hid his hand away from Kairi when he noticed that he was starting to fade. He ran through each battle in the Keyblade Graveyard without rest. He saved and protected Ventus' heart twice. He housed multiple hearts and could literally feel their emotions. He broke taboos and let himself get erased from existence to bring back his loved ones.

He symbolizes the harmony in Dearly Beloved, and is so special and so normal in a way that he's the protagonist but he's also been thrown aside, gaslit, split apart, put together, nearly and actually killed despite him simply wanting to be with his friends and travel the worlds. His darkness and rage have gotten to a point where his heart bursts in an effort to protect himself—which is left unaddressed. He tends to shift the blame away from any pain given to him by his companions, whether they intended to hurt him or not. He loves his friends deeply. He fears losing his friends. He thought he didn't have any worth without them.

He gets excited over heroes, pirates, robots, and Santa Claus being real. He pecks his phone when he tries to text. His first response to computers is slamming the keyboard. He likes playing games and he sings and dances with princesses. He roots for his Classic Kingdom self. He gets spooked easily and he wears those silly glasses with the nose and mustache. He holds hands with Pooh Bear and picks up the Aliens from Toy Story so gently. He begs Hiro for a Baymax and whines a bit when he says no. He makes silly faces and likes making people smile. He gets angry quickly but he's even quicker to laugh—for better or for worse.

Watching so many people cry in happiness when Sora got into Smash really said something. To know that he was voted as the most wanted character on that poll. The devastation of players at the end of KH3 or the amount of love poured out through fan content. Of course, Sora's not alone in this treatment, but at least on a personal level, he feels so special. He's one of a kind and I love my boy dearly, your honor.

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts 2 - Bulky Vendor

[haunted-xander]

It's Riku! Riku's here!

[kotaki]

"What does it truly mean to be called a hero?"

[azurajae]

I find it really interesting that as the games go on, Riku becomes more confident and secure with himself while Sora gets more insecure and depressesed.

Riku kinda started at a low point in the beginning by giving into the darkness. He was ridden with guilt and depression over the pain he caused by his mistakes and spent CoM, Days, and KH2 trying to make up for it all. He finally manages to get some closure in KH3D and manages to find a healthy way to move on from his guilt and sadness. While the scars might still be there and might creep up sometimes, Riku has grown into someone strong and dependable. There are always new ways for Riku to grow as a person, but I can't say enough about how proud I am of him of the progress he's made so far.

Meanwhile, on a surface level, Sora has remained stagnant personality-wise for most of the series. He is happy-go-lucky, kind, and selfless, someone you'd appreciate as a friend. However, in small moments throughout the games, he shows shades of his anger, sadness, and darkness, which seem to intensify each game. He has been told 'no frowning, no sad faces' and to 'never change', so while he seems the 'same', Sora's actually repressing himself. He's thoughtful and introspective, smarter than he looks, but acts foolish and silly because that's how he believes his friends expect of him. KH3 was really prevelent with him hiding his true feelings behind humor, both his friends and enemies belittling him, and the stress/pressure causing him to snap in the final battle. When Xehanort strips all his light away in the final battle, what's underneath? Rage.

It's also pretty interesting that Riku and Sora both precieve(d) themselves as worthless. In Riku's case it's stemming from the guilt of his mistakes and feeling he should isolate himself as punishment, while Sora is so incredibly selfless and blessed/cursed with the 'friends are my power' motto, he believes that he is nothing without his friends.

Makes me wonder what's going to be happening with Sora now that we are in Stage 2 of KH and the tonal shift with the realistic graphics. He is all alone in a totally different reality with a (possibly) dwindling hope of ever returning home. He doesn't even have anymore people in his heart apartment, it's empty now. How will this new enviroment and situation affect him? And how much will he change by the time Riku meets up with him (if/when he does)? It feels like Sora's character arc is finally beginning.

"The closer you get to light, the greater your shadow becomes."

We seem to be calling back to some early quotes from the series. Makes me wonder if this statement is now foreshadowing.

[thefreshprinceofjunes]

kingdom hearts + holding hands

bonus:

[xiiiwayfinders]

So maybe not all of Merlin's books are magic 😬

[enstarsrefs]

Switch - Album TRIP Outfit

[yoroshiu]

Things About JPN Sora (Kingdom Hearts)

When it comes to referring to others Sora has a few ways going about it. He often refers to others by their names.. You can only imagine the many more amount of times he’s said Riku or Kairi’s name in JPN lol

Or even just the amount of times Donald and Goofy is said by him 

Sora’s a very boyish kind of guy, like very casual but not intentionally rude, and also kind of impressionable which is reflected in his speech

Uses ‘ore’ when referring to himself normally but used ‘boku’ once in KH1 while talking to Kairi

He’s the king of comedic timing and deadpan (courtesy of Miyu Irino), his tone and inflection are on point. (i.e. in KH3 when the gang get flung off the mountain in Arendelle once again and Sora’s tired of it. Both Miyu Irino and Haley Joel Osment’s deliveries for Sora’s frustration are amazing)

I think a lot of the awkward pauses found in ENG KH dialogue stems from the fact that we don’t usually make the same noises for affirmations, reactions, and the like. This is more of a general note rather than Sora-specific but JPN Sora does tend to do this

In Re:Coded, Data Sora refers to Data Roxas as ‘omae’ but in 3D, Sora refers to Roxas by name and ‘kimi’. For Re:Coded, my guess is that it’s because Sora didn’t know who he was and Roxas was antagonizing him

Less of a fun fact and more of a fangirl point but, have you heard him asking for one Baymax in JPN??? The way he just says “Just 1, just 1″ in the softest and excited voice!! He’s my precious son frfr ToT

AND HE DOES STUFF LIKE THAT SO OFTEN!! HE’S VERY CUTE YOUR HONOR

When Sora gets excited and happy, his voice tends to get higher pitched (Miyu Irino’s range is actually wild) and...not sure if this is the word I’m looking for, but squishy? I feel like Miyu Irino makes Sora squishy in a very endearing way lol

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts 3 - Kingdom of Corona

[animaxvi]

runs around in circles ✨ Here he issss, tis ballet student Wiku 🩰 to go with contemporary dance student Sora 🎉

[mostdefinitelyahumanperson]

i saw a handful of people doing Sora worldwide and it made me happy

so heres québécois Sora and Arin

[theplatypusblue]

Anyway. Dragons rising good 👍

[oneluckydragon]

Started writing a fic back in early October and had to abandon it for a while due to IRL situations. But I've started working on it again little by little, and I am so excited to eventually share it with my mutuals and followers. I hope you guys enjoy it (I am trying my best to get it done)!

TBH my only motivation anymore is thinking about my friends having a good time reading it when it's finally posted (I love all of you very much). I cannot wait for all of these ideas to be fleshed-out on paper at last.

Over 16,000 words and I am nowhere near satisfied yet. I feel like I can write WAY more. Stay tuned!

[goldensunset]

kingdom hearts is like ‘here’s a complex web of profound gentle loving platonic relationships between a bunch of tragic kids that are so deeply and divinely intimate that they’ll bring you to tears just thinking about them’ and people wonder why this story has such a chokehold on me

[inconsistentracoon]

If Only There Was Someone Out There Who Loved You

❄️ An illustration for my most recent SoRiku story, If Only There Was Someone Out There Who Loved You ❄️

Summary: Having a heart that can connect so deeply with others isn't always a good thing. When Elsa's magic struck Anna's heart Sora felt a shard of ice in his own, and now there are white streaks in his hair and snowflakes appearing on his hands.

His friends are determined to find a way to help him, but if true love is the only thing that can fix this then he knows there's no saving him. He isn't even sure he knows what love is, and he doubts there's anyone who feels it for him.

For the ice effects I used these Ice Brushes