You're the reason I believe in ghosts
Vidar/Hoder fic
After Odin tells them of their mission, Vidar invites Hoder for a spar to try and get her to cheer up a little.
Word count: 4500+. It's fluff :)
Read here
I want to talk about how this fic uses sea-salt icecream as a metaphor for Vidar and Hoder's relationship because I like it quite a lot (spoilers for the fic obviously.)
So, in this fic, Hoder and Vidar treat themselves to some icecream after a day of sparring, though they had to get a flavor they weren't particularly fond of because the icecream seller sold out of everything else. This flavor ends up being sea-salt ice cream.
The first thing I like about this is the novelty of it: most Kingdom Hearts characters like sea-salt icecream even if they initially have reservations about the flavor combo before trying it themselves. As far as I know, there's not a single KH character who canonically dislikes it (might be wrong on that), and given what it tends to represent (friendship), that makes sense thematically. Here, however, Hoder and Vidar emphatically do not like the flavor. I feel like this fits KHDR's story quite well, considering the game takes a more pessimistic view of KH's theme of friendship overcoming all, and this is reflected in Vidar and Hoder's contrary opinions about sea-salt icecream, being unable to find the redeeming quality in it.
The second thing I like about this—the thing I like the best about it—is how the icecream (and even the popsicle stick by the end) feels like a metaphor for Vidar and Hoder's past, present, and future relationship. I believe both Nine and I hold the opinion that their relationship leading up to the tragedy in Enchanted Dominion was likely a rocky one given Hoder's actions there, and the sea-salt icecream does a good job of representing that.
On the surface their relationship seems perfectly fine here, healthy even: they joke, they tease, they smile and laugh and reminisce. And most of it probably is genuine. But perhaps there is still an element of overcompensation to their interactions here. Vidar is surprised that Hoder agreed to spar with him at all, alluding to some past but recent hiccup in their friendship. We then learn several things from Vidar: that Hoder has been more distant lately, perhaps even secretly resentful at times (at who or what, we don't know, though Vidar himself may be one such target of that resentment), and that the last time Vidar and Hoder had spent significant time together like this, it had ended in a huge, bitter argument, one so bad that Vidar never wants to see it repeated again.
This, to me, ties directly into what he says about the icecream:
It was like taking a lap of sea water, then someone pouring an egregious amount of sugar in a futile attempt to balance it out.
He says that it's too salty, with way too much sugar added on top to try and mask that saltiness. One could argue that much like the icecream, Vidar and Hoder's relationship is becoming intolerably salty over time as they grow into different people with different ideals, and they are trying to mask the emergent problems in their relationship with an overabundance of sweetness.
Notably, despite Vidar and Hoder not liking the icecream whatsoever, they cannot bring themselves to throw it away, or stop eating it. Hoder even reflexively catches hers when she almost drops it in the ocean.
“Throwing out food is bad luck.” Hoder also took a bite, and her expression too twisted into one of disgust. “Eugh, ew. Is this even considered food?”
“I was hoping we’d at least get a freebie for our troubles.” She smacked her lips. “This thing sucks.” Knowing Hoder, she would’ve wanted to chuck it into the sea out of frustration, but she was also staunchly against doing anything of the sort, the sea was sacred after all.
She almost dropped her ice cream from surprise, catching it before it became fish food.
Which, while yes, there are several logical reasons provided for why Hoder doesn't want to throw the icecream away, especially not in the ocean, I still think this reluctance, this obstinance, to part with the yucky icecream or waste it is ultimately representative of this: that despite their relationship growing increasingly salty and unpleasant, despite the negative feelings that are arising between them, they cannot let go. They remember the simple days of sweetness with no salt. Even now they can still grasp small moments of sweetness here and there. Their relationship can still be salvaged, the sweetness can still be uncovered underneath the overpowering salt—it's not worth throwing away just yet.
At least, that's what they currently believe. That they can "figure it out". That there's still hope for them. With those feelings in mind, the icecream becomes slightly more tolerable.
“…Anyway.” He recomposed himself. “Have you thought of anything?” Hoder hummed. He saw her slight smile fade as she pondered. “I’m not sure,” she answered, plainly. “We’ll figure it out.” He took a less miserable bite out of his ice cream.
But here's the thing. Ice cream eventually melts. It's inevitable. Their icecream (their relationship) melting is even what interrupts their first (brief, too brief) kiss, which is described as breaking them away from each other. In more ways than one, surely.
They’d only kissed briefly, when a droplet of cold ice cream dripped onto their hands, breaking them away from each other.
Finally, once the icecream has been consumed completely, its existence cut short before it can "make a mess", the popsicle stick is all that remains. And what do their popsicle sticks say?
He took the last bite of his ice cream, and Hoder finished hers too before it dripped and made a mess. “What’s yours say?” He craned his neck down, looking over the stick, stained a faint blue from the sweet-not-sweet-salty treat. She pouted, turning it over. “Better luck next time.” “Same.” He showed it to her.
Their relationship was doomed from the start. Foretold and written down as such in the Book of Prophecies? A sign, a warning, staring them right in the face that they fail to take heed of. An inevitable and unavoidable fate. At least in this lifetime.
But maybe, just maybe, they'll have "better luck next time", wherever they end up. Lessons hopefully learned.
