#this sorikai is rolling

[ritzzor]

I may have misjudged this.

This Au write-out is turning out to be longer than I expected it to be.

[houseofsannae]

For the director's commentary, I think the stories of yours I find most interesting are Turnabout Court Martial and Equilateral.

Since I'm being indecisive, how about you pick whichever one of those you think you can give better commentary on?

:P You know, Anon, you could've just asked for both separately and I'd have never known the difference. That said, I'm going to pick Equilateral, because it's shorter.

Equilateral was written for the Entwined in Trine SoRiKai zine, which was my first time working in a zine project, so that was a new, fun experience.

Out of curiosity, how long after you all got back home did it take for you three to confess how you felt to each other? Aqua asked, drily. “The hard part was getting Riku to admit he liked both of us. We actually had to pin him down so he wouldn’t leave,” Kairi whispered, amused. Literally or figuratively? “Yes.”

This quote in the pre-fic notes is taken from Land of Oblivion, where I first touched on how Sora, Kairi, and Riku got together in KHΨ. It was my first idea for what I wanted to do when I came aboard the zine, and the mods liked the idea of expanding on it as well.

For a second, she thought she saw her face flicker like a skipped frame in a movie. Her purple eyes turned blue, her auburn hair turned blonde. “Naminé?” she gasped, but by the time she opened her mouth to speak, the other girl was gone.

Being as this fic is technically a "prequel" to KHΨ, there are a number of call-forwards to things that happen later in the series. Here, Kairi (and we) see a flash of Naminé in her mirror, indicating that Naminé isn't quite as gone as she wants to be, as we'll see in More Affection Than You Know.

    “I love Sora and Riku,” she repeated, and slumped forwards on her hands. Great. Now what was she supposed to do about this? It would be hard enough telling just one of them she liked them, but both?             She let her face slide out of her hand to land forehead-first on the desk itself.             “Oh, fuck me.”

I had to ask the mods' permission to make sure I was allowed to say the fuck word. Fortunately, they were familiar with the way I write Kairi enough to have been expecting it, and also Kairi spends the entire rest of the fic in the company of either Sora or her father, so she refrains from swearing for the rest of it.

  Kairi busied herself with retrieving the cereal box and a bowl in order to avoid his gaze. “I mean… I know you have experience in the area,” she said, casually.             Her dad laughed. “I’m a little out of practice, Kai,” he said.

Kairi's dad is gay! I've alluded to it several times in other fics, but this was the first time it's mentioned. Kairi's got a gay dad!

“That so?” he asked, teasing. “Well then, purple is definitely more your colour than–”

I stand by this, Kairi does look better in the purple she had in her KH1 design than the pink she'd have in subsequent installments.

“If, hypothetically speaking, it was two boys, would their names hypothetically rhyme with ‘Yozora’ and ‘Miku’?” her dad asked, casually.

Yozora will never appear in KHΨ as anything other than a running gag. I have spoken. ;) "Miku" is both a Hatsune Miku joke and the ship name for Mickey/Riku.

            “Kairi,” her father said, “I’m going to level with you.”             “Dad, please don’t use the ‘public service announcement’ voice,” Kairi moaned.             “Hey, I’m hip and cool,” her dad said, smirking.             Kairi rolled her eyes. “Dad, saying things are ‘hip’ was outdated when you were my age!”

He's hip He's cool He's 45 (or somewhere around there, I don't have a solid age for him) It is the solemn duty of parents to playfully annoy their children.

I think this was the first time I ever had Kairi's dad in an extended scene. Writing the kids' parents is always an exercise in "what kind of upbringing would have resulted in who these characters are and how they act", in addition to any canon facts we do know about them (in this case, that Kairi's parent of unspecified gender is the Destiny Islands' mayor).

“No,” her father said, “We’ll get a huge tub of ice cream and invite Selphie over for a movie marathon.” He leaned over and put a hand on her shoulder. “It won’t be the end of the world, I promise.”

You'll note this is describing basically the same sort of get-together Kairi et al would have in Girls' Night. Equilateral was written immediately after Loose Ends, but I'd had the series ending locked in long before that.

Kairi snickered. “Yeah, but it’s a moot point anyways. Besides, I don’t even like girls like that.” She took a sip from her own mug of coffee and by doing so completely missed the incredulous look that flew over her father’s face.

Again, a call-forwards to the running joke about Kairi being oblivious about her own bisexuality, which her father of course noticed long ago - the incredulity is because he didn't realize she hadn't realized.

Boys, Kairi had decided, were really dumb.

This was the first line written for the fic. It was actually supposed to be the first line of the fic, but the tone it sets isn't the one I wanted for the scene with Kairi in her room - it's too frustrated and doesn't lead into her idly thinking about how much she loves them, only to realize she means it romantically instead of platonically. It got moved down to this scene, which also became the portion of the fic that was taken as an excerpt for the physical zine.

If she were Sora, she’d probably back off, practice for several hours to improve her performance, then come back later.

This is a joke about level grinding in a video game.

            She was trying to figure out what exactly to say to the boy next to her when Sora said, out of the blue, “I heard Selphie has a new boyfriend again.”             “Oh, really?” Kairi asked, at once irritated and relieved for the distraction. “Again? Think this one will last longer than the last one?”             Sora shrugged. “No idea. What was the record again?”             “Her third girlfriend lasted three weeks,” Kairi recalled. “The real question is, how long do you think it’s going to take her to figure out she’s not interested in romance?”

This is the first mention that Selphie Tilmitt is pansexual and aromantic in KHΨ. The idea that Naminé would end up dating her for a week before Selphie realized Naminé wanted a romance she couldn't give her had long been plotted by the time of writing.

            Sora blinked. “She’s not?”             Kairi shook her head. “I don’t think she ever was.”             Sora was frowning. “But… if she’s not, why does she keep trying to find it?”             Kairi snickered. “I don’t think it’s the romantic aspect that she’s interested in, Sora.”             “Oh,” Sora said, and then a couple of seconds later, “Oh.” He reddened, and it was adorable.

Selphie fucks.

            Sora opened his mouth to respond, confident, then frowned, reconsidering his answer. “Oh… yeah. It’s Riku. He’s probably going to panic, and think we’re just humouring him, or something. Good point.”             Kairi nodded. “If we don’t have a plan to counteract his Riku-instincts, we’re sunk.”

I like Riku, but I also like dragging Riku by pointing out how his character works.

            “Right,” Sora said, nodding. His face scrunched up. “Man, I wish there was a way we could send each other messages just between the two of us. Like, a portable phone, or something.”             “Yeah, that’d be really convenient,” Kairi agreed.

I would introduce gummiphones after the timeskip between Seeker of Darkness and Mistress of Evil. This is a joking call-forward to that.

            Sora took a deep breath. He was bad at lying. He knew he was bad at lying.             Unfortunately, his mom also knew he was bad at lying.             Which made it awkward to try to keep secrets from her.

This scene was not in the outline. Sora's mother doesn't realize that he, Riku, and Kairi are together until a ways through More Affection. So she can't find out here that they like each other. Originally I was going to avoid the issue entirely and just not have a scene of Sora talking to his parent, but the fic felt unbalanced without it - Kairi and Riku both talk to theirs, why not Sora? So I decided on this balancing act where Sora goes out of his way to keep the truth from his mother, and while she can tell he's full of shit, she doesn't know how much shit, and knows him well enough to know it's probably nothing bad he's hiding, and he'll tell her in his own time.

            But he had a plan. He’d met Tidus on the way back from his talk with Kairi, and had begged him for help. Tidus had volunteered his services, always ready to help a friend, and had also promised not to say anything about Sora and Kairi to Riku or to anyone else.             Sora figured Wakka would know by the end of the week, but hopefully the older boy would be able to exercise some impulse control over Tidus.

I don't think I had started FFX before I wrote this; this is one of the last times I had an excuse for writing Tidus and Wakka wrong if I had ;)

But he wasn’t sure how his mother would react if he said that he was trying to take things with Kairi and Riku to an even higher level.

Well, Sora, all you gotta do is say the word; you know they'll follow ;) I enjoy putting song lyrics in the narration quite a bit.

            “Does she have a name?” his mother asked.             “Yuna,” Sora blurted, on instinct.

            Several worlds away, a fairy sneezed.

I'm also glad I put this scene in because this is my favourite joke in the fic ;)

That was very sensible, and also not the answer Sora wanted.

No commentary, I just like this line.

            “Oh, one other thing,” his mother said.             Sora jerked up from his thoughts. “Huh? What’s up, mom?”             She leaned over to the fridge and pulled open the ice box. “I don’t suppose you know who keeps eating all my sea-salt ice cream? I could’ve sworn I had more than this.”

And a call-forwards to Roxas (and Xion) borrowing Sora's body every once in a while to watch the sunset, which would eventually be how Sora's mother discovers they exist.

            Riku had had a lot of time to think during his year apart from both of them, but he’d done his best not to. Singular focus on his goal of reviving Sora had been all that drove him forwards; drove him forwards and kept him willingly blind to the effects his actions were having, on Roxas, on Naminé, and on… on…             Riku shook his head, not sure where that train of thought was supposed to be going.

At this point in the timeline, the only person who remembers that Xion ever existed is Naminé (who is trying very hard to pretend she herself doesn't exist anymore).

            Riku declined to comment on the subject. “So I went to see a therapist,” his uncle continued, respecting his silence. “He’s a bit on the younger side, only a few years older than you are, I think, but… The things I talked about with him made a lot of sense. Not just about my relationship with you, but about…” he trailed off, staring at the bottom of his glass.             Riku sipped his own water. “About my mom and dad?”             “Yeah,” his uncle muttered. “He said something like… ‘with all the problems in this world, you’d think there’d be more answers, but there aren’t. It’s not fair, but it’s the way things are.’ And that if I wanted to find an answer, I had to do it myself.”

The quoted sentences here is a direct quote from Final Fantasy IX; hinting that Riku's uncle's therapist is Zidane Tribal, whom Naminé would also start going to for therapy in Whatever Lies Beyond This Morning.

            “I wasn’t going to just bury my head in the sand,” Riku said, defensively.             “Yes, you were,” his uncle deadpanned.

I love Riku, and I also love reading him to filth.

“And it’s a bad idea,” his uncle added. “Take advice from your elders who made mistakes.”

Listen, boy, it's good information from a man who's made mistakes Just a word or two that she gets from you can be the difference that it makes She's a trusting soul, she's put her trust in you But a girl like that won't tell you what you should do

My outline says:

h. Riku’s Uncle: Trust me, trust them i. Riku’s Uncle: And for the love of nonspecific deity(ies), Tell them about it, tell them everything you feel i. Riku: I’m not sure if we’re allowed to print lyrics from a Billy Joel song

Basically Riku needs to give them every reason to accept that he's for real. ;)

His uncle smiled back. “Then all you have to do, is tell them everything you feel. Not,” he added, “that that’s going to be easy.”

Yeah, exactly!

            Even if it might be taking them longer than it’d taken Sora to realize, or admit it. Sora could afford to be patient with them. They had all the time in the world. Kairi’s teasing, Riku’s sardonic smile, their laughter, their faces, everything he loved about them were here to stay.             And, he sometimes thought to himself in the part of his mind that wanted to be rebellious, they both had nice butts.             This was just an objective truth.

KHΨ Sora is an ass man. I have spoken.

Riku sat there, in silence, held down in a patch of sand by his two best friends, unconsciously enjoying the sensation of them pinning him down while consciously trying to figure out if they actually were making his wildest dreams come true, or if this was some sort of convoluted, extended way of letting him down gently.

Riku gonna Riku.

“It’s like a triangle when all the sides are the same,” Sora said. “Equilateral.”

            “An mmf threesome by default,” Kairi agreed, smirking at Riku, who rolled his eyes.             “A what threesome?” Sora asked, looking over at her in confusion. Kairi and Riku met each other’s eyes and privately agreed to do their best at maintaining Sora’s innocence for as long as possible.

And thus began Kairi and Riku's quest to prevent Sora from acting his age, which would eventually come to a head in Adjustments.

            “Of course not, my Princess,” Riku said, taking her hand as she turned bright red once more.             “Nicknames are cheating,” she muttered.             Riku smirked. “Sorry, Kairi.”             “I didn’t say ‘stop’,” she added in exactly the same tone.

This bit is just to point out that while Kairi does get flustered over being called "Princess" as a nickname, she does actually enjoy it.

The news would come out to Selphie, regardless, and Kairi knew there’d be a reckoning if it didn’t reach Selphie’s ears through Kairi’s lips, so she’d taken him up on the offer. Her father was fetching the ice cream, and Kairi was fetching Selphie, assuming she wasn’t busy with her newest partner (Kairi had long since learned to knock before entering).

Selphie fucks.

            The road to Selphie’s house passed by Sora’s, and Kairi was pleased to see the boy himself, sitting on the branch of a tall tree in the yard, watching the sunset. He had a stick of something that was probably an ice cream bar in his hand. Kairi almost called out to him, but something held her back. This moment seemed… private, almost. Like there was a spell over the area that she would break if she wasn’t careful.             There was a brief pulse in her heart, a momentary feeling of warmth. “Naminé?” she asked, placing a hand over her heart, but there was no response. She looked back at Sora, up on the branch.             Slowly, almost mechanically, he took a bite of the ice cream.             There was a strange air of loneliness around him, almost melancholy. But it was private. Not her place to intrude.

And here we see Roxas doing what he'd be doing in More Affection; eating Sora's mom's sea-salt ice cream and watching the sunset. I don't have a set amount of time between Equilateral and More Affection, but you could easily consider it only a couple of days.

And that's everything! This was fun, thank you for asking for it! ^_^

[sacredmoonrising]

Ok but this shot was cuute ❤

[xiiiwayfinders]

Riku for the character headcannons?

1: sexuality headcanon

Probably pan

2: otp

Soriku/Sorikai

3: brotp

Terra or Sora (I like them together both romantically and just as friends ok)

4: notp

Any adults ig

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

He has anxiety

6: one way in which I relate to this character

I mean just his whole story with his darkness lol

7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

KH1 Riku ashshsjfjdk

8: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

Hm. Former problematic fave, now cinnamon roll

[copdog1234]

You might have better luck finding poly content for Sora Kairi and Riku if you look under sorikai instead of sokairiku. I think that's the generally decided upon ship name, though obviously those things aren't exactly standardized so there's content in both tags.

Oh, did not know that, thanks! Honestly?? Sokairiku rolls better off the tongue, I'm surprised it isn't the "official" name

[fawninthewinter]

Character headcanon. Sora.

1: sexuality headcanon 

Bi or Pansexual. I'd say that is actually near confirmed in the games.

2: otp 

SoRiKai is always ultimate ot3.

3: brotp

Trinity Trio Sora Donald Goofy themselves of course.  

4: notp

Sora X Axel, Ansem, or any other pedophilic ships of the sort.

 5: first headcanon that pops into my head

He's autistic and has ADHD.

6: one way in which I relate to this character

I would do just about anything for my friends and yet to be as optimistic as I can be.

7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

The fact he was a first teenagehood video game crush.

8: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

Cinnamon roll definitely. This boy is so joyful and eager to explore and make friends while helping anyone in need.

[tharkflark1]

kairi for character ask :)

1: sexuality headcanon

Im gonna be completely honest, i have no idea. Lesbian maybe?

2: otp

I like Sorikai! Its cute!

3: brotp

Her and Axel. It's just, I love them

4: notp

I'm actually not a huge fan of Sokai, nor her and Ollette. Tho for a true notp def Naminé x Kairi

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

Plz God, Nomura, anyone on the writing team I want Axel and Kairi to be long lost cousins/siblings so god damn BAD. two Red heads in Radiant Garden??? Sus

6: one way in which I relate to this character

She wants to get better and is trying her best, tho more often than not its not enough. Like, I feel you girl. :(

7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

gonna be honest, kairi, writing to Sora all the time kinda weird

8: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

Cinnamon roll. I love her i do, I just wish she was able to do more :(

[palizinhas]

SoRiKai Amphibia AU

- Sora, Riku and Kairi grew up together in Destiny Islands

- King Ansem (who’s a newt) travels to Destiny Islands briefly and Riku meets him. Something goes wrong when Ansem leaves and the Calamity Box stays behind

- Riku’s parents tell him they’re moving to another Island, and Riku starts to fear being separated from Sora and Kairi

- On Sora’s birthday, Riku decides to give him the gift of exploring another world together and uses the Calamity Box he kept

- Riku ends up in Toad Tower, where he meets Toad Maleficent. Initially they keep him locked up, but Maleficent sees potential in him

- Sora goes to Wartwood, and meets frogs Goofy, Donald and their son Max (yes Goofy and Donald are married frogs in this au. roll with it)

- Kairi goes to Newtopia and meets King Ansem (who looks different from the one Riku met, but Kairi has no way of knowing that), as well as Lord Isa and General Lea

- Maleficent is the initial villain, King Ansem turns out to be Xehanort, who deposed the actual King and has been pretending to be him since

[darkestelemental616]

tagged by @storm-elf AND @fangirl-taylorsversion

Three Ships: Darkolai, Sabriel, Sorikai

First Ship: me/Pavel Chekov (fight me)

Last Song: Ghost https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvGTuguFkfs

Last Film: Zoolander

Currently Reading: Gideon the Ninth, The Brothers Karamazov

Next Book: Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Robots of Gotham, and The Moon and the Sun by Vonda McIntyre

Currently Watching: Supernatural rewatch with a friend, currently on season 2

Currently Consuming: Pizza rolls and peach tea

Tagging: @dorkery, @red--thedragon, @merindab

[spacebeyonce]

this wip wednesday post is for @ride-the-bifrost specifically. because they asked for a sorikai body art au ages ago, and I’m finally working on it but it’s since went and morphed into a mash up of florist/tattoo parlor au meets urban fantasy. I mentioned it uhhh last week? I think?

but anyway - a snippet! I’m still building it up - duh, obviously, but here’s what I have rn.

Riku never paid much mind to the tattoo parlor across from his grandmother’s shop.

That isn’t to say he’s never seen it before, or anything – he still remembers the day it popped up a few years ago, across the street and two buildings over. Synthesize, with its striking midnight blue bricks and bright red door. A lot of people were skeptical of the business, doubtful that it would be there long – himself included - but despite all their doubts, it’s stuck around so far, highly recommended through word of mouth for the high quality of their work. If you wanted a tattoo or piercing as a magic focus, or for protection, or hell, just for a good night’s sleep – Synthesis would always provide.

It has been a while since the Destiny Islands had any kind of person around who’s spell work was primarily through body art; on the cities inland yeah, sure, there’s plenty – but that’s a two-day trip that many don’t feel like taking, at minimum. Here in their little beach town, folks like the ones at Synthesize were a rarity. It’s not like Riku knows the people that worked there, though; he’s rarely seen them, even after moving back home from the mainland – and that wasn’t planned, either. But life never turns out the way you want, even if you plan every possible turn on your path to the letter.

See, Riku was a witch – a witch like his mother and father, and their foremothers and fathers, on and on and on. He was a witch, and when he was seventeen, he had left home - like all good witches are supposed to do - and traveled inland to try and find a place to settle down and call his own. His plan had been to open his own shop to sell his own magical wares and make a name for himself – though what he wanted to sell, he wasn’t really sure. But he would figure it out on his own time. He had been well on his way to it, too – a few apprenticeships under his belt, a growing number of clients – he was doing it. It had been so close.

But then he got a call from his mother. And he had to come back home in August at twenty-two, to help around the house and care for his father, who had fallen ill. And eight months later he had to hold his mother’s hand as they stared out into the sea, draped in mourning white as his father’s ashes were swept away by the tide.

He hasn’t left home since. He hasn’t felt the urge to. Before, he had been so eager to leave home, so ready to just – grow up. But now, he’s not much of anything – not anymore.

Riku wasn’t resentful about staying in the Destiny Islands, not now; in the earlier years, when grief blinded everything, he was – he snapped and lashed out and quickly gave into the dark, bitter ugliness of his heart. But it was fine in the end; he had family to support him and pull him back when he got too into his head – and a grandmother that put him to work so he could get his head out of his ass, forcing him to try his hand at selling green things and potions – a tincture for better health, a bouquet with flowers placed just so to sharpen the mind or brighten a room, ethers to restore a person’s magic when exhausted. He wasn’t as good as his grandmother at first but now – he was decent enough. It was something that would keep him focused, keep him busy, and deal with the stormy turbulence in his heart in other ways.

And then his grandmother up and left the shop in his name a year and a half later when she finally decided to retire – a little apothecary all his own.

He didn’t think he could handle it by himself – a whole shop, belonging to him and him alone? It was too soon. He still felt so unbalanced – so young. He was only twenty-three. He hadn’t been sure. But his grandmother had put her foot down.

“You need this.” She insisted. “You need this, and it will be good for you. Besides – you think I’d let you run this place by yourself? No, no, I’ll be there to help when needed – but that doesn’t mean you get to slack off!”

Time passed, and he slowly settled. Slowly made the apothecary feel more like his, made a name for himself outside of his family. And then – Synthesize.

All he knows about the people that work there is that the artists are around his age, and the owner was a blue haired woman that he’d seen coming and going now and then. That, and the high compliments of their work, he supposed. But other than those things, he knows nothing about them – and he didn’t really mind all that much. Never really noticed, anyway, too caught up in his own work, his own life, filling in the ragged space his father left behind bit by bit. He didn’t really think his path would ever cross with his mysterious neighbors.

But that all changed one cold winter day – that day, he thinks, was the one that set him onto that long, winding path.

He didn’t really mind it that much, in the end.

-o-

It had been a pretty normal start to the day.

Riku arrives to his shop at eight in the morning, as he has done for the past three years, and then he makes his rounds around the shop to check on the plants that filled buckets to bursting and the state of the potions that lined the shelves, taking note on what needed to be restocked for the day. His grandmother wouldn’t be in until noon, and that was alright – the morning hours were slow, with customers few in number - which meant he could take his time.

After taking care of what needed to be restocked, Riku returned to the back rooms of the store to prepare himself for the day. He pulled his apron on and tied it snugly around his waist, adjusting the straps and making sure they weren’t twisted around his neck. He combed his fingers through his long, platinum hair, pulling his hair tie off his wrist and holding it between his teeth as he braided his hair back, ensuring it wouldn’t get in the way. His movements were slow, meditative, and with the added scent of flowers and dried herbs, Riku felt himself slipping into a calm space, muscles relaxing. As he tied the end off, the soft jingle of the bells over the door rang through the air, and Riku raised an eyebrow.

A customer? At this hour?

“Hello?” A man’s voice called out – bright, chipper, but still relatively deep. “Anyone there?”

“Be with you in a moment!” Riku called back, making a face at his reflection and the way his bangs hung in front of his eyes, futilely blowing the hair out the way. He quickly put it aside and left the back room behind, adjusting his apron one last time as he returned to the front area, wondering who could possibly be coming by this early.

A man around his age was waiting at the counter, hands tucked into the pockets of his coat as he looked around the shop. He had spiky brown hair, warm brown skin, and strikingly blue eyes, and when Riku stepped up behind the counter, the man gave him a quick once over before giving him a smile so bright it made him squint a little. It felt fine if he only admitted it to himself, but the man was…cute.  “Can I help you?”

“Yes! I was wondering if you had any celebration flowers?”

Riku tilted his head, surveying the buckets of flowers around the room. “Probably, yes.” He mused. “What’s the occasion?”

“Ah, my girlfriend – it’s her birthday today, and I wanted to give her some flowers before work.”

Ah. A girlfriend. Well, no big deal.

He shrugged off the slight sting of disappointment with a smile. “That’s nice of you. Do you know what flowers you wanted to give her?”

“Uhh…”

Sheepish, the man shrugged, his grin turning shy as he reached up to scratch at the back of his head. The sleeve of his coat slips down, just enough so that Riku could see a small paopu fruit tattooed on his wrist. “I didn’t – sorry! I just thought, um, that there would be bouquets that were pre-made?”

Riku breathed out a little laugh. “That’s not how it works here, no. It – alright then. Can you tell me about her?”

“Huh?”

“Your girlfriend.” Riku says, beginning to roll up the sleeves of his sweater. “Can you tell me about her? What’s she like?”

He’s still a little new to this, but he’s worked here long enough that he feels like he’s got a good grip on this now.

“Oh! Um. Well –”

The man scratched at his hair again, and his eyes went soft as he thought over his words. “Kairi, well, she’s – she’s really smart, and nice – but don’t let that fool you! Even though she’s sweet, she’s got a real temper, too. And she’s so – she’s so funny, and competitive, and really hard working! And she always tries to make everyone feel good, and is just – she’s really warm, and welcoming, and – um.”

He smiled dopily. “I, uh. I like her a lot.”

Riku couldn’t help but smile. “I can tell. Alright, then. Give me just a second.”

He marinated over what he’d been told, humming in thought as he wandered around the space, staring at the buckets of flowers. It didn’t have to be a huge bouquet, he thinks – nothing too outlandish. He started off with a few pink carnations as the base, thinking for a second before grabbing a few amaryllis flowers. What else…? Jasmines, Riku decides. And larkspur. Maybe forget-me-nots? Riku wasn’t sure yet, but he felt pretty good about the idea.

So far it was looking good – whites and pinks with a little hint of purple. It felt…fitting. He didn’t know this Kairi person, but this looked like it would suit her well enough.

“So…”

“Hm?” Riku hummed absently, looking around the room.

“How long have you worked here?”

“Oh – um.” He tucked some of his wayward bangs behind his ear, even though he knew the act was futile. “About three years. This shop was – it’s family owned.”

“Really? That’s so cool!”

“You think so? It was my grandmother’s and, well. Now it’s mine.”

“Whaaaat?” The man gaped at him, astounded, and Riku felt prickly heat spread down his neck. “You own this place? But you look like – my age!!”

Riku sharply turned away, pressing the back of his hand against his cheek as he looked over the plants. The bouquet still needed a little – something. He decided to go with the forget-me-nots, after all. “That’s because I probably am your age. Really, it - it’s not that impressive.” Riku mumbles quietly, back turned to the man. “I mean – this place isn’t really mine. It’s not something I made on my own. But – that’s nothing you have to worry about. Sorry.”

How unprofessional of him; what is he thinking, starting to unload his problems on a stranger? Get a grip.

He decided to grab a few leaves of a fern plant, thinking that a touch of green would be good. As he started to head back to the counter he felt – something. A light brush against his senses – a magical aura rubbing against his. It made him shiver a little, hair rising at the nape of his neck, and he cut a glance over at the man, only to notice him staring, blue eyes piercing. It felt like – like he was trying to figure him out.

“I still think it’s great.” He said softly, and he sounded so…sincere. Riku tore his eyes away, letting out a soft laugh of disbelief. “If you say so.”

“Can you do magic, too?” The man asked as Riku returned behind the counter, grabbing some lavender tissue paper to wrap the flowers in.

“I can.” Riku’s hands moved fluidly, tucking the flowers together and wrapping them up, turning some of the blooms just so, so the arrangement looks perfect. “I come from a very long line of witches.”

“Really?? That’s amazing!”

The man looked so amazed, eyes sparkling, and Riku actively had to fight back the heat creeping up his neck. “Thanks.” He mumbled bashfully. “Anyway –”

He wrapped the flowers with a nice white ribbon and held out the bouquet. “You’re all set.”

“Oh! Thank you!” The man carefully takes the flowers, a little awed smile on his face. “They look amazing – and they smell so good! And they feel really – bright! Wow, you’re really good at this!”

“I should hope so.” Riku says dryly, and the man makes a face.

“Sorry, sorry. How much do I owe you? Oh, can I also get a couple ethers, as well?”

He grabbed the bottles of ether before munny exchanged hands, and Riku gave the man his change and receipt with a smile. “Have a good one. I hope Kairi likes the birthday flowers.”

“Thanks! I hope so, too!”

The man grinned brightly at him and took a couple steps back, arms laden with his purchases. He’d started to turn to the door but – stopped. Turned back to face him. “Hey…what’s your name?”

Riku tilted his head a little, bemused. “I’m Riku.”

“Riku.” He repeated slowly, like he was testing the sound of his name, and then he gave him a smile. “I’m Sora! It’s nice to meet you – and thanks for all your help! I’ll probably come around more often.”

Sora gave him one more wave before stepping outside, the door quietly swinging shut behind him. The shop felt – much quieter, with Sora’s presence gone; everything about him was very…bright. Loud. But not in a bad way.

He did say he would come around more often, and Riku, well – he guessed that he wouldn’t mind the noise too much.

Riku stepped around the counter and moved towards the large windows, discreetly staring after Sora as he walked down the street and headed –

To Synthesize.

“Oh.” He said aloud, mouth falling open a little as Sora entered the shop, letting that bright red door close behind him.

He guessed – the little glimpse of a tattoo should’ve made it obvious. But that doesn’t mean Sora works there. Maybe his girlfriend works there? That’s probably it.

It slowly started to sink in how Riku must have looked to others, pressed up against the window and staring after someone he only talked to for five minutes.

Why was he thinking so hard about this? What was there to wonder about? He needs to get it together.

“I have work to do.” He muttered to himself, pushing away from the windows and retreating into the store’s depths.

[somena-libra-dawn]

Thoughts of Ventus in many trios (including his main trio)

Terra, Ventus, Aqua - Wayfinder trio: The trio that Ven originally belongs. Idk I prefer to interpret Aqua and Terra as adults sitting Ven or them as his siblings. Anyway, I like both.

Now... we go to other trios with Ven!!

Ven, Roxas, Xion - Heart hotel / Sora heart trio: Okay... maybe this one is pretty much well known because many fanarts that involve Sora Heart Hotel are about them. But I also love it when they include other characters like Vani, Namine and Kairi. PLUS THIS TRIO in Re:Mind!!

Ven, Kairi, Lea - Radiant trio: the name is based on this fic I read. I say... I love this trio because Lea is literally already BFF with them too. (Plus, i want venkai frienship...) The similarity I can catch is probably that Aqua and Terra/ Sora and Riku/ Roxas and Xion leave them (in bbs, kh, and days respectively).

Riku, Ven, Xion - ??? Trio: the concept is also from the same fanfic above. Sooo about this trio, I'm not fond with it, unlike with Radiant trio. But it is an interesting concept nevertheless. I wonder how do they would interact. The similarity I can find... is probably they're possessed (sort of): Riku with Ansem SoD, Ven with Vani, Xion was norted in kh3.

Ephemer, Skuld, Ven - Cinnamon Roll/ Cinnamon Buns/ Must Be Protected trio: names based on this post. the cinnamon of khux!2017. No seriously I thought that since Lauri, Blaine, and Strel are good trio to me back then. Though I wasn't into X (chi) back then, they have that one concept art card (that one them with kh3!SoRiKai).

Blaine, Lauriam, Ven - Suspect trio: the name is based on this fanart. Boy... I like the name even though I don't suspect them as Strel's killer when I found out the name. But they're mysterious in any way. So ok.

Vor, Ven, Ienzo - baby trio: the naming is based on these fanarts. (two different links based on the font). Sure, sure, they babey and I love them. But you may or may not have to watch out...

Ven, Sora, Kairi - Napping trio: Sure, this joke started after Re:Mind. The cinnamon rolls who solve their problem with sleeping are good kiddos. Guess my reason loving them because I was into venkai.... hahah... (at least sora and kairi don't sleep as long as ven)

Add more if I’m missing something.

[minijenn]

Hmm 46 and 99 for Keys Sora? 😋

46. “You can’t hurt me anymore.” & 99. “Please stop!”

This is a nightmare, one that Riku and Kairi had both known they might have to face for quite some time now. But actually being in the middle of it like they are now is something else entirely. 

Sora is spiraling, they can tell. He’s fighting a battle he has no chance at winning, both inside and out. His golden eyes are glazed over by a haze of madness, sharp and stark as he glares between them with hatred that isn’t his own. He’s breathing heavily, hunched over as if he’s injured even though neither of them have landed a single blow against him. His sharp teeth are bared, his own heavily cracked Keyblade clutched tightly in one clawed hand and Xehanort’s much darker weapon in his other. He looks like he’s on the verge of lashing out at any second, but strangely he doesn’t, almost as if he’s expecting them to make the first move against him instead. 

“W-well?!” he challenges, his voice tight and angry. “Aren’t you gonna finish me off?! I know that’s what you really want!”

They exchanged a pitied glance, both of them wondering how it had come to this. How far all three of them had fallen to reach this point when all three of them had started so much simpler, so much happier off than they were now. “Sora…” Riku said, his voice firm and earnest as he lowered his Keyblade. “That’s not what we want. We just… we want to help you.”

“Help me?” he laughs, but the sound of it is borderline insane, lacking any sort of levity it might have once held before. “Help me?! What, do you think I’m stupid?! The Master told me why you’re really here! You think I’m a traitor, that I turned my back on you, when you guys all turned your backs on me!”

“Sora, you know that’s not true!” Kairi counters earnestly, barely managing to hold back tears all the while. “Please, you have to believe us. Xehanort is lying to you! We-”

“The only ones have ever lied to me are the two of you!” Sora accuses, pointing his master’s sinister Keyblade directly at them both. “But things are different now.” He walks toward them, the tips of both of his weapons dragging across the stony ground. “I’m stronger than I ever was when I was on your side. And now that I am, neither of you can hurt me. Not anymore.”

“We don’t want to hurt you-”

“Stop lying!” Sora cuts Riku off sharply. “Just stop! Why can’t either of you be honest with me for a change?! Why can’t you just tell me that you hate me?! I know you both do!” 

Despair permeates his fury as an anguished sob escapes him, one that breaks Riku and Kairi’s hearts alike. By now, both of their Keyblades have vanished; they know they’ll need a weapon of an entirely different kind to fight what Sora is facing now. 

“Sora…” Kairi begins, daring to take a brave step toward him. He stumbles backward, afraid, making no move to attack her in the process. “Neither of us hate you…”

“Y-yes, you do,” he protests, tears streaking down his cheeks as his Keyblades leave his grip. He stares down at his clawed hands, whimpering as he presses them both tightly against his head, weaving them through his messy white locks. “You have to hate me. After all, I-I… I hate myself…” 

In an instant, before he can even think, before he can even take in another breath, Riku and Kairi are both upon him. “P-please, stop!” he lets out a panicked cry, thrashing against the shared hold they have him locked within and he thinks this is it, that they’re going to kill him, that they should kill him, that it’s the only thing he deserves and yet-

“No, Sora, we won’t stop,” Riku insists gently, tightening his comforting embrace as Kairi does the same. Both of them breaking down as Sora does the exact same thing in their arms. “We can’t.” 

“Don’t you see?” Kairi whispers to him, her head resting against his shoulder as his heart begins to waver. As love and longing slowly begin to take the place that darkness and hatred had infested within his heart in their stead. “No matter what happens, no matter how you might feel about yourself, we’ll never stop loving you.”

They love him. They love him. And if two people as bright and brilliant and blessed as his two best friends can love a worthless, hopeless creature of darkness like him, then maybe, just maybe, he could someday learn to love himself again too.

(So this wasn’t the direction I was originally going to take with this one at all but then my galaxy brain was like SORIKAI FEEEEEEELS So I rolled with it. Is this like a scene we’re actually going to get later on down the line in Keys??? Ehhhhh maybe? Can’t say for sure without spoilers ahahah ;) 

Prompts are open, send away!

[snowflake-of-destruction]

axel / roxas / riku for the character asks — rhyme ✨

1: sexuality headcanon

Axel--Identifies as omnisexual instead of pansexual because he didn’t have much education on different labels and just figured that since animals and people are classified as omnivore if they eat both meat and vegetation, then classifications on attraction should follow omni too. Omni still feels right even once he learns other labels and nuances.

Roxas--This is yet another area of “stuff he didn’t know was a thing until other people brought it up” and did not know why he was called “so adorable” for answering he guessed he was Axelsexual, though that seemed like a super personal question. “It’s a personal question” is the answer he would stick with forever. He will identify differently than Sora though out of old spite.

Riku--Biromantic, demisexual. He will break it down for you. Like many things at this point in canon, he’s spend a lot time thinking about it and searching to find the truth that works for him. He will give you advice on your own journey whether you want it or not, though all the while he’ll insist he’s not an expert.

2: otp

Axel--Akuroku

Roxas--Akuroku

Riku--Sorikai 

3: brotp

The answers would be the same as the brotp, really, but if you take those relationships out of the running, though, as hard as that is, especially when you take both Sora and Kairi from Riku...

Axel--Saix/Isa, even despite the *waves vaguely* everything, or perhaps because of it, the bond that outlasts and forgives years of testing and twisting while they had no hearts

Roxas--Xion

Riku--Mickey

4: notp

Axel--I can’t recall any ship involving Axel I’ve seen and had that strong NO THANK YOU reaction instead of just “hmm, depends on the setup of the story and the writing.” Maybe Axel and Xemnas? 

Roxas--I don’t know. I have been known to back out of fics that have Roxas/Xion, but a lot of times I don’t mind it. I have issues with Riku/Roxas too, but...idk.  I have very few notps in the Kingdom Hearts fandom. Nope, I got it. Sora/Roxas or Roxas/Ventus. There’s the notps.

Riku--Riku/Riku Replica would get the notp badge

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

Axel--Was friends with Tifa Lockhart when they were growing up on Radiant Garden, vaguely remembers Aerith and Leon as familiar (though not so well that he would realize Leon changed his name instead of just assuming he forgot it), but would not remember Cloud in the slightest. 

Roxas--Claims strong memories of several worlds he only saw from inside Sora while they were rejoined, but then gets severely lost on Corona, Arendelle, and so on.

Riku--Was in advanced placement/gifted and talented/whatever “smart kid” classes when he still went to school

6: favorite line from this character

Axel--Even though this isn’t even his “real death” in KH2 and he comes back and back and back, "Silly. Just because you have a next life..." will get me every time

Roxas--The most emotional is “Looks like my summer vacation is over” and there are a lot of good/better lines just for pithy quotes, BUT I don’t think anything sums him up as well as “What is so wrong with wanting some answers!?"

Riku--I am sure I’m missing some killer quote I love but I’m going to quote his core/sum up quote “the strength to protect what matters.” Riku in one phrase

7: one way in which I relate to this character

Axel--Trying to use humor as a fallback and bringing it into emotional moments. The instinct to try and save everyone

Roxas--Spurts of anger at any perceived injustice/inconsistency or not understanding something

Riku--The tendency to internalize things and to carry fault with me even when I’m moving forward

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

Axel--A lot of his vocabulary and shoehorned in jokes even when I love everything that comes out of his mouth

Roxas--Some of his 358 moments even though he is literally learning everything about the world(s) and it’s justified

Riku--He’s just an increasingly socially awkward nugget who forgot how to go back to his cool act, and I respect that, but, yeah I don’t think he’d ready to mix back in society

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

Everyone is problematic. Everyone.

[kessielrg]

Secrets

Baby SoRiKai? Baby SoRiKai.

---

“Sora, you're terrible at keeping secrets.”

“Am not!” the five year old spat just seconds before giving his friend a raspberry. Riku rolled his eyes while letting out a disgusted groan. Sora noted it out of the corner of his eye, and puffed his chest up in defiance. “You're just jealous that I didn't get a gift for you too.”

“Not really.” the older of the two mused. “I just don't know why you want to keep it a secret. You always ruin them.”

“I do not.” Sora asserted, even stomping his foot on the ground. “When was the last time I ruined a surprise, Riku? Huh? I bet you can't name one-”

“Last month. At Tidus's birthday party.”

“But that-”

“It was a surprise party.” Riku went on with a wave of his hand. “You told everyone about it the moment you got the invitation. Tidus found out weeks before he was supposed to.”

“One time!” Sora then clarified, holding up a chubby finger. “I did it one time!”

“Oh, I have plenty of other examples if you want more.”

“You do not.”

“I do to.”

“Do not!”

“Do to.”

“Do...” Sora was about to argue once more before releasing the they had reached their destination. It was the front of the mayor's house. Sora held the small box shaped present he was holding even closer to his chest. “This is it! Kairi's house!” And without another warning to Riku, he darted on over to the front door.

Patience was a virtue that usually flew right over Sora's head on a good day. Today, it was practically nonexistent as he rabidly tapped his knuckles against the door. He was lucky that someone answered pretty quickly. The boy was even luckier to find that it was Kairi's adoptive mother.

“Sora,” the older woman remarked, “Why are you out so late? Admiring the stars again, you silly boy?”

But the child adamantly shook his head. “I have a present for Kairi that she must not open until tomorrow.” Sora immediately told her- holding up said present in a flourish.

“Oh?” Kairi's mother mused. “What is it?”

“It's a…!” Sora started to say before cutting himself off. “I mean, it's a surprise. She's gotta wait until tomorrow to open it.”

Kairi's adoptive mother gave him a gentle smile before taking the gift from him. “I'll set it right under our tree then.” she told him.

“Don't forget to tell her it was from me!”

“Of course dear.” Kairi's mother laughed. “Get home safe, alright?”

“Will do ma'am!” Sora agreed with a salute before spinning on his heel, then skipping away from the house. He continued on his merry way back home until he remembered that Riku was waiting for him.

“Well?” Riku asked when he close was close enough. Sora let out a wide grin.

“Her mom answered the door, and I didn't slip up once!”

“Uh-huh.” Riku absently nodded. He moved his hand to his hip before then wondering, “What did you even give Kairi? Your parents don't even give you an allowance.”

For this, Sora smiled so wide that his whole face almost beamed with glee. “She's gonna love it!” he declared. “Her very own friendship bracelet!”

“You bought me a friendship bracelet?”

“Of course I didn't buy it, I made it with my own two-” Sora paused for a moment. That didn't sound like Riku's voice. The boy turned a little to see Kairi standing there with a happy grin. “Kairi!” he suddenly shouted. “How long have you been standing there?!”

The girl only offered up a little giggle. “Long enough.” she politely hummed. “Don't worry, I'll pretend to be super surprised when I open it tomorrow.”

“No, don't!” Sora immediately said to her, waving his hands in defense. “You will be surprised- you won't have to fake it! Better yet, just forget you heard a thing! Y-yeah! Do that! Forget you were ever here Kairi. There is nothing to see here, nope, nothing at all. In fact, I can't even see you Kairi! You're not here, so you can't hear that I made you a friendship bracelet, and you will be super surprised when you open it. But you don't know that. Nope, nope, nope. Not at all.”

Kairi let out another small giggle before turning to Riku. “Is he always like this?” she politely wondered. For a moment, Riku only gave a bemused snort.

“You have no idea.”

[destroyscythe-heck]

For the ask meme, Kingdom Hearts

Here we go

my beautiful cinnamon roll too good for this world fave: Sora (duh), Kairi (duh), Namine, 

my trash-shit fave: Xigbar, all the Norts, Vanitas 

my I love to hate them fave: Vexen, Demyx, Xaldin (the beast just isn’t that into you, move the fuck on), Axel 

my I hate to love them fave: (Scooby gang gasp) Old Man Xehanort! 

my I wouldn’t piss on them if they were on fire non-fave: Lexaus all he does is be a really big man who looks like a brick, did he ever actually do anything? 

my I didn’t care about them either way at first but the fandom makes such a big deal about them now I can’t stand them non-fave: Roxas, sorry not sorry he doesn’t have a personality of his own, he’s just the Kingdom Hearts Good Boy (tm) with mild skateboard and Ska flavor  

my I could take them or leave them kinda non-fave: Luxord, Terra, 

my I will go down with this ship and I won’t put my hands up and surrender, there will be no white flag above my door. I’m in love and always will be fave ship: Disney has held off on the first gay rep too long, it’s time to introduce Polyamory, enter Sorikai! also I like Xeraqus because I like old man ships, they deserve love too 

my dirtybadwrong fave ship: I don’t really know the ships, 

my they’re cute together and I dig them but I’m not all that terribly invested kinda fave ship:

my I didn’t care about this ship either way at first but the fandom makes such a big deal about it now I can’t stand it non-fave ship: I don’t know what ships are popular now, I’m just off in my own bubble, maybe Axel and Roxas? but are people still into that? 

my MAKE IT STOP non-fave ship: anything where Aqua and Larxene are with men, the sheer lesbiasity, the big dyke energy of them is too strong 

[thescentofwhiteroses]

Hello! I'm gonna post about this on here. (Cuz I'm not logged into the zine account on my phone.)

'Entwined in Trine' is an unofficial fanzine dedicated to Sora, Riku, and Kairi from the Kingdom Hearts franchise. All proceeds will be donated to the Organization for Transformative Works, which is a non-profit organization.

Over 50 artists and writers came together to create this wonderful project, and we're all very excited to finally get to share it. We are currently in the pre-order period.

The printed zine will be a perfect bound 8.5" x 11" book, featuring about 90 pages of full color artwork, including standalone pieces, two four page comics, and fourteen illustrated/visually enhanced written pieces.

All purchases of the printed zine will include a PDF of the digital zine which will contain extended versions of the written pieces, additional artwork, a set of letters written as if by Kairi, and a bonus section of sketches.

We also offer the option of purchasing only the PDF, in the 'Crown of the Heavens' bundle which comes with our digital merch pack.

'Hearts Trined' our digital merch pack, is also available as an add-on to any orders of the physical bundles. The digital merch pack includes multiple icon sets, various desktop and mobile wallpapers, emojis, a digital postcard, and a printable bookmark. If we reach our stretch goal we will be adding digital coloring book pages.

'Destinies Entwined' is our biggest bundle, and in addition to the print and digital copies of the zine it contains the most physical merch: a beautiful A5 sized color print, a sticker sheet, two acrylic charms (designed by me!), a heart shaped pin-back button, a roll of washi tape, and an adorable hard enamel pin.

We have two other bundles 'Sea of Stars' which includes both zines, plus the print, sticker sheet and one of the charms. And 'Heart of the Shore' which is just the physical and digital zine.

All of the physical bundles can have the 'Hearts Trined' digital merch pack added to them.

And our other available add-on option is for 'Sitting by the Paopu Tree' a 75mm x 100mm acrylic standee.

All of our acrylic products will be manufactured by Zap!Creatives who specialize in using recycled and sustainable materials.

You can view images and more details on our shop:

https://sorikaizine.bigcartel.com/

If you have any questions you may ask me directly, I am the head moderator. I also wrote a piece for the zine, and contributed artwork in addition to the merch I designed. All graphics on the shop were created by me, but the individual images of artwork and merch designs belong to their respective artists. Please do not reproduce or repost any of these images, except for as direct links to the Sorikai zine shop.

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and the characters depicted are the property of Disney and Square Enix, this is an unofficial fan work of original pieces/designs inspired by the series.