yoroshiu

[yoroshiu]

A Collection of Reassuring/Happy Soras (There's Definitely Nothing Underlying Here)

Best boyyyy

Oh...

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Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 168)

I know I need to cool it with the Sora angst ToT

There's a specific vibe Sora gives in moments like these and I wanted to complie them together. I'm not just imagining it am I???

Expect to see some Happy Fun Soras before the next angst-related Sora awrkjegrsd

[yoroshiu]

Aqua stared at the boy in front of her. 

Even though it had been over a decade since she last saw Sora, the image of that small child she met on that beach was still clear in her mind. His spiky brown hair and ocean-colored eyes filled her with something close to some kind of warmth. As he grinned at Riku, the supposed affection she was feeling began to mix with a myriad of emotions.

Sora, who somehow got a keyblade, acted like Ven but was someone she saw herself in.  Riku had reminded her of Terra, the tall teen now wielding a keyblade too. 

Best friends since childhood—a happy duo. 

Something that she had lost all those years ago.

It stung hard. She felt her envy go from a simmer to an extreme burn. It was unfair. Why were she and her friends the ones who lost everything and left to rot in void and darkness? Ven still remained in an unending sleep while Terra seemed to disappear from existence completely. Aqua herself had been wandering in an abyss for a decade now. She wouldn’t ever put blame on the children in front of her. Even in her drowning darkness, she would never wish the turbulent lives she and her friends have onto them.

But her heart was oozing out with resentment.

The grief consumed her, dragged her down further.

Aqua lunged forward to strike.

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Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 167)

[yoroshiu]

This line haunts me like I don't even know where to start, genuinely.

*waves hands around*

The fact that Sora's influence gave her a sense of self-awareness, a new identity. Like, almost as if it was foreshadowing of Sora's own opinion when it came to Roxas (and by extension, Xion): that they're their own persons.

(If you're curious about JPN text, Xemnas essentially says "Beyond that, through Roxas, Sora's influence made [her] too self-aware."

「それ以上にロクサスを通じ　ソラの影響も受け　自我を持ちすぎでしまった」)

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Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 166)

[yoroshiu]

Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 165)

[yoroshiu]

I don't think I've ever really managed to fully put a focus on that dichotomy of why some of the stuff that should be considered banter and teasing towards Sora in KH3 feel off for quite a bit of the player base.

This poll was done to gather some insight on how people viewed that, and from that pool (plus some opinions I got when asking fellow KH fans), and a lot of people do seem to think that it was too much, albeit that wasn't the intent (which is the sentiment I carry).

The reasoning that seems to be the most prevalent as to why this is the case, is just the manner in which Sora has reacted to the events he's being teased about. Sora was hurt over failing his Mark of Mastery and being broken down by Darkess, it doesn't help that he has to deal with the physical consequences of such up until near the endgame (losing his powers), but he doesn't blatantly show that hurt, but there's enough for the players to see that.

So when characters tease him or outright insult over it ("Sora needs work" (after Aqua is told that Riku and Mickey are "true Keyblade Masters now" to which Sora's only response to that is "Yeah, rub it in" while everyone laughs) vs Pete noticing Sora's loss of power immediately and Maleficent not even giving them the time of say because Sora's "inconsequential"), especially since no one in-game really addresses it, it leave a more negative impression.

(When you think about it, was it really necessary to Donald to mention that? Like bro lol)

It's a common thing for the hero to be praised and insulted by different parties, and having the hero deal with any insecurities that stem from that also isn't rare. It's just interesting that in KH's case it can slip by without much notice but the fact that there's enough for a lot of people to take it that way says a lot. The timing and framing for this to happen makes the question fascinating to discuss.

I'd still like to hear more perspectives/thoughts/opinions others have on it!

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Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 164)

[yoroshiu]

Smile Through It (sketch)

Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 163)

"I'll...be okay. Don't worry!"

This was originally a normal happy piece but I smudged it so much because of my eraser that I decided to make angst out of it. Sora repressing too much type beat.

[yoroshiu]

Hello! I love your insights and the work you do. I wanted to ask you, do you have opinions or comments on the word 兄弟 that Vanitas calls Ventus and Sora? I have always been fascinated by it since he uses it for the both of them, implying no oldest bother nor youngest brother. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts.

Hi! Thank you for the ask and the kinds words! That’s an interesting question and the different ways one can think about it leads to some good food for thought I feel.

兄弟 (きょうだい) (kyoudai) is the term used for siblings, but can also be used for sworn brothers/comrades, etc. so it can be argued that Vanitas’s use of it mostly goes under the “brothers-in-arms” meaning. It’s funny because I, personally, hadn’t thought too hard about it until now because I’ve heard 兄弟 be used in that sense across a lot of shows/manga I’ve watched/read so the meaning went through my mind and I was like “yeah!” and left it at that LOL

The most straightforward answer is that Vanitas is seeing in that “brother-comrade” type way. Because they aren’t exactly なかま (nakama) (usually used for friends/comrades with a deep bond (hard to translate succinctly)) and they definitely aren’t 友達 (ちもだち) (tomodachi) (the word commonly used for friends), so I feel like 兄弟 captures the “closeness” while also not necessarily having all the positive feelings that using the other terms would have (even though it’s a supposedly positive term). For Vanitas, they’re bonded by this literal intimate and personal connection so what else is he doing for them if not “cooperating” (using the term used in the Japanese dialogue).

I hope that answers your question! Feel free to ask for clarification or any more questions you might have! Asks are really fun!

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Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 162)

(I’m sorry, I usually make it a rule for myself that I don’t use my responses to asks for this project but my WiFi’s been acting up for a really long period of time today so I don’t know if I’d be able to use Tumblr later on TvT)

[yoroshiu]

Kingdom Hearts Characters' Names Written In Japanese + Notes (Part 3)

ゼクシオン - Zexion / イェンツォ - Ienzo

Ze-ku-shi-o-n / Ye-n-tso

イ is "i" but when placed next to a tiny "e" character, it becomes "ye".

サイクス - Saïx / アイザ - Isa

Sa-i-ku-su / A-i-za

デミックス - Demyx

De-mi-kku-su

The tiny ツ (tsu) is kinda like...a staccato of sorts? Like a mini mini pause rather than just saying de-mi-ku-su.

ルクソード - Luxord

Ru-ku-soo-do

I mentioned it with Xehanort in the previous post but "ー" used in the context of being next to a katakana character elongates the vowel of the character it follows. In this case, the o in "so" hence the extra o in the romaji.

マールーシャ - Marluxia / ラーリアム - Lauriam

Maa-ruu-sha / Raa-ri-a-mu

ラクシーヌ - Larxene / エルレナ - Elrena

Ra-ku-shii-nu / E-ru-re-na

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Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 161)

I really need to not let myself get rusty with katakana ToT

[yoroshiu]

Xemnas (sketch/doodles)

Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 160)

I don't think I've actually drawn Xemnas before so I decided to give him a shot. I need to draw him more to get used to his hair awrnkjegd

[yoroshiu]

I'm trying to see something as this is a topic I've seen discussed over different platforms and posts over the past few years I've been into the series. There's quite a few opinions across the spectrum and I wanted to try and see if I can get a wider scope in a singular space.

Elaboration would be much appreciated too!

[yoroshiu]

Sora and the x-blade (Unfinished piece)

Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 159)

I started drawing this one earlier this year and can't bring myself to finish it LOL I try avoiding having to use keyblades in general but it's all so cool and ughhhhhh. I'd like to give my thanks to the official render art for the keyblades carrying me through ToT

Always thinking about Sora technically being bequeathed by Xehanort using the x-blade and the question of where it is currently. Like did it disappear with Kingdom Hearts at the end of KH3? Surely, Sora can't be carrying it around, especially after getting erased from his universe. Unless...

[yoroshiu]

A Thread Called Connection: Roxas and Sora

Legit, thoughts about these two derailed me so extremely that I need to ramble about it.

Isn't it wild that Kingdom Hearts took the tropes and themes of "From one guy comes another guy that's intrinsically tied to him" and "What constitutes a heart" and "What is a person", said yes and proceeded to make an extremely heart-wrenching narrative on both an indivudual and paired dynamic level???

Because here are these two, born and awakened from each other's sacrifices and even from there, there's already a contrast between them. Roxas was born from Sora willingly sacrificing himself to return Kairi's heart while Sora was awakened by Roxas being forced to resign himself into giving up his own life for Sora.

They come into being not knowing anything about the other. They're nothing yet everything to each other. The bits and pieces they get are through vague memories that feel and don't feel personal, through people not giving them direct answers. Anger grows first because circumstances don't tell them "who" the other is, it's always "what" and even then, sometimes not even that.

All that tragedy, and Roxas goes from general curiosity to resentment in Days to his begrudging yet earned respect in KH2, which what he gets out of that is, Sora was chosen because he's the stronger one and he's the one connected to all these hearts. He thinks it's for practical reasons. Sora makes a good other.

And yet 3D comes around and they finally meet without any outsiders around to interfere with or influence their conversation. Roxas says what he's been told over and over (that he's just Sora and that he couldn't be the one), the conclusions he's drawn from everything.

"You're me, so you feel what I felt."

In his mind, whether he was aware of it or not, whatever Sora responded with would be the final nail in the coffin. And yet, and yet, Sora, within the small bit of time he became aware of Roxas's existence and interacted with him, what people said about him, from the end of KH2 to 3D, with any possible prejudices against Nobodies that had built up and lingered due to all the antagonizing, he says:

"No. Roxas, you're you. We're not the same. I wanted to tell you that. That you deserve as much as I do to be your own person."

There's no "but", no technicalities, just a direct "Roxas is Roxas and you deserve to exist as your own person."

And that's when Roxas gets it. His response pretty much says "Oh, this is why they chose you." Because not only does Sora have the kindness and compassion, but also the drive and determination to not accept the outcome that came to be. Hilariously, for all their contrasts, here they are, agreeing on the one thing the rest of the world was forcing Roxas to give up on. That through all the "You're Sora"s and "It would be best if you go back to him"s, the very person this was being done for cuts through all of that with a single "You're you." No lies, no secrets—just an honest statement.

Despite being the "same" person, it took until that point for them to see each other and get to know each other on a personal level. No weird dreams, no fleeting emotions, but a conversation. And Roxas, just as Sora's memories had been poured into him, trusts Sora with his own. He trusts Sora now, the Sora in front of him.

And Sora returned that trust with dedication. He made it his personal mission to free Roxas. Sora had no say or choice before, but now he does and he would make things right. Helping Roxas wasn't darkness. For Sora, that was the right thing to do, the only acceptable answer. And at the end of it all, they're able to fight side-by-side, trusting each other completely and I, I

I'M NOT NORMAL ABOUT THEM TvT

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Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 158)

[yoroshiu]

I wanted to throw my two cents here since I’ve always been fascinated by how the order we see/encounter a story affect our perception of something or someone, in this case. It’s really interesting because I’ve mostly seen the opposite of this where people had played through Days (or KH2) first and as a result came out of it not really getting or, at its most extreme, outright hating Sora because they end up seeing him through Roxas’s eyes and we know that there was pretty much no one around him that was going to genuinely answer his questions about him.

Since Roxas’s story is meant to be seen before this moment, people fully know and understand and most probably grown attached to him. We know how much he’s struggled to even get to this point of seeing Sora face-to-face and I think there’s just a relief that someone (especially being Sora) sees what he’s gone through and is devastated and empathetic over it in the way Roxas wasn’t really shown throughout by those that made up his surroundings.

It’s true that I don’t really see people talk or really think about the ramifications of Sora taking on multiple characters’ pain, and especially the suddenness of taking a year-long worth of pain and trauma, but considering the short/succinctness of the conversation they had, I’d imagine that Roxas didn’t exactly have the time (+ the game time and presentation itself). And the moment itself was him getting to know the real Sora, which was really vital and meant to be narratively satisfying.

I think Roxas is as loved as he is due to his relatability and the manner of which his tragedy plays out—and that scene with Sora is a culmination of all those complexities. Due to the nature of his creation, he didn’t get the luxury of having Sora’s memories and understanding who he was, and by the time he even had an inkling, he had his own identity and life and perspective that was mostly unaffected by Sora. And Roxas (rightfully) was mostly concerned with the happenings of his own life, he technically didn’t really have a reason to care/be invested in Sora, and what he gets from what others are saying isn’t Sora the person but Sora the connection (the reason he is, has what he has, and yet also the reason those things are being taken away) (the end in which these means are advertently destroying Roxas’s life for). He’s being told that Sora is more important and worthy of life than him, and that understandably leaves a negative impression of Sora. Sure, it isn’t fair to Sora but it’s understandably hard to not associate Roxas’s suffering with him—no one’s bothered telling him anything, and those scattered memories of Sora’s that he managed to absorb weren’t really telling him much either.

By the time we get to 3D, Roxas was resigned in his acceptance. Losing to Sora in KH2 made him respect him at least, but Sora outright rejecting the notion that they’re the same person, saying that Roxas has every right to be his own person, is the very moment that Roxas sees Sora for who he actually is. When Riku said that things would’ve been different if Roxas had met Sora, this is technically what he meant. It’s just that the tragedy had already happened. Sora had said that he wanted to get to know Roxas in KH2 hence Roxas answers that. He got to see Sora for who he really was, so he shows Sora who he is. This moment finally puts them on an even playing field.

And Roxas has no choice but to rely on Sora. He sees that Sora has the heart and personality that wouldn’t accept these tragedies lying down. Sora had the time and space to grow into a person that had a heart like this and Roxas didn’t, and he understands that really well (which does a great job showing how they’re different, and I think that could pave a way for Roxas being someone who could point out Sora’s overly-sacrificial behavior, as someone who became/is intimate with Sora’s inner-workings). He becomes fully aware that Sora wouldn’t be able to live with the guilt of being the reason others’ lives were destroyed, that he’d inevitably try to do something to undo the damage. Make right of the wrongs. I’d imagine that if Roxas could have done things himself, he would have.

In a way, I think this moment is supposed to represent the hope and the tragedy these two were tied together by. They could have met and had a positive and understanding relationship from the get-go, this was proof of it, but they could only come to an understanding after the damage was done. It’s not under the best of circumstances so they have to work with what they have.

Now, I’m not sure if this will be followed up in detail in the next saga, but he, among the others, were putting in the effort to get Sora back. I’d imagine that he, of all people, would want to bring him back and prove that they can coexist in the same space, showing his care and gratitude this way.

The circumstances around this moment and these two weren’t fair so they could only work with what they had and what they knew (Org 13 purposefully trying to break Sora down, not that either of them would know).

Either way, it’s really interesting contemplating others’ perspectives on moments and characters! Also I hope I’ve been making sense LOL

While I’m on topics I don’t understand… I’ll never understand why Roxas is such a beloved character in KH.

Perhaps it is because all I saw before finishing the series with DDD, was the movie version of Days, which is a bit incomplete in terms of capturing the essence of the game. Many fans had a lot of time to chew on all of that.

As an aside, I will say that Days does a really good job in really making you feel the connections between the characters. Mainly because the story takes the time to have those little scenes between the sea salt trio, the stuff that fan fic is made of.

Normally I’d love all that, save for one thing: I saw DDD first. When I took the time to really digest what happened between Sora and Roxas, I was a bit appalled. I can imagine that Roxas was relieved to share his memories mind-meld style—complete with the emotional transference—with Sora. However Roxas’ compete lack of empathy, does not sit well with me.

So while I don’t hate Roxas in any way, I’ll take Ven over Roxas any day of the week. Roxas saw Sora as a means to an end. While Ven saw Sora’s value, especially towards the end, and wanted to give as much as he could back.

In other words: one shows care of another, while the other does not. I’ll let you figure out which one is which.

[yoroshiu]

Put Yourself Back Together (Colored Sketch)

Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 157)

Oh to be at the edge of sleep and death

[yoroshiu]

On the topic of keyblade semi-sentience, I was amused by the thought of Lea's keyblade perfectly timing itself for comedic reasons. Like, to fit his goofy energy, it had to appear when it did for The Bit.

On a serious note though, I saw it mentioned in a comment and I haven't stopped thinking about it since then—that it appeared as a response to the solidification of him trying to keep his promises. "I'll always be there to bring my friends back!" and he saves Sora (and by extension Roxas, Xion, and Ven), and that manifests "Bond of the Blaze", a physical manifestation of his will. Absolute Cinema.

People have gotten keyblades in different ways and if we look at them as "manifestations of the will/heart" it makes me think about a lot of things. How keyblades can be passed, like the passing of wills. How MoM made the process in which keyblades are made (and how he seemingly can take them freely when he wants). If keyblades are semi-sentient, what does it mean that MoM can take them? Are their sentience connected to him? Or is it more of a who has the more convincing/stronger will concept applying to him as well? Cause considering MoM's plans and how long he's been commited to his agenda, it's no surprise that his will is strong.

This ramble just devolved into random keyblade thoughts ToT but it's a super interesting topic!!!

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Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 156)

[yoroshiu]

Sora and Vanitas (Voice Comparison)

Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 155)

One of my favorite things is Sora and Vanitas having the same voicelines v-v it makes comparisons like this possible

Also drawing their hair is still a pain, even in chibi form ToT

Speaking of chibi forms, this is a slight experiment of style change on my part. I'm figuring out what I like the most LOL

[yoroshiu]

KH4 Sora sketches and doodles

Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 154)

These were from the past couple days. I've been experimenting and trying/studying other art styles so the first 2-3 are products of that. Also I was trying for different outfits for him LOL

Sora is, once again, drawn inconsistently ToT