I’m not supposed to be like everyone else, am I?
Best scene in this movie.
Xuebing Du
Peter Solarz
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open

@theartofmadeline
KIROKAZE
🪼

blake kathryn
almost home
styofa doing anything

pixel skylines

Kiana Khansmith
Claire Keane

Love Begins
hello vonnie
Misplaced Lens Cap
we're not kids anymore.

shark vs the universe

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Monterey Bay Aquarium
trying on a metaphor

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@iamoncewas
I’m not supposed to be like everyone else, am I?
Best scene in this movie.
i’m going to b opening up a KH server soon so like be ready
Been ready since KH1 XD
I PUT “Kingdom Hearts” INTO GOOGLE SCHOLAR ON A WHIM AND FOUND A CONFERENCE PAPER FROM 2005 THAT TALKED ABOUT IT. According to this paper Kingdom Hearts (the original game) reduces sadness and makes you happier asdfghj
THIS is why you see so many people talking about Kingdom Hearts improving and helping with their mental health and depression
Truth bro.
My other best boy.
Super messy but idc, had to draw something XD
is it fucking weird to anyone else to think that deer are like, everywhere
like, i tend to think of them as a north american animal, but
I like how they just avoid Mongolia
Mongolia has an anti-deer forcefield.
I like the rat map even better
What is Alberta doing
we are fucking constantly vigilant
They went over this in Ratatouille.
I really like how everyone has their own descriptions about the character
And then it’s David Gallagher like “yeah he’s sexy and he has a sexy voice” (he literally said that riku has a sexy voice)
I think this is my new favourite thing
If there were no rewards to reap, no loving embrace to see me through
This tedious path I’ve chosen here, I certainly would’ve walked away
By now…
Gift art for @elidzworld
interesting how this makes riku look like he has wings, huh,
Does anyone else see Riku's Dark Mode heart in the cloud? Am I delusional?
Here I was, cursing the endless buffering. Then bla-blam. Brains everywhere.
“...I could hear your voice the whole time...”
So I looked into Deep Dive, and other stuff, and dear god, what did I get myself into? Tons of things I'm still making sense of, so I apologize if this is disjointed or unclear. Gonna be more, it's just a lot of thangs XP It doesn't exactly change a whole lot per se, but my perspective has shifted greatly, and now I have to look at things differently. It mostly just adds... more levels to what's going on. Pretty sure I killed my own MoM theory XD But I do like where this is going even better.
The scene in Days/KH2 and the scene in Deep Dive aren't the same scene. 1) The conversation is different 2) In KH2/Days, Roxas appears through a dark portal, this doesn't happen in Deep Dive, and 3) again, Roxas doesn't have yellow eyes. The differences and similarities are intentional however.
Before going into yellow-eyed "Sora" in Deep Dive, I have to talk about the other buddy. This is something I had never considered being... a thing, but I'm pretty sure, he's Riku's Nobody.
... I know right? I suppose I should start with logistics and why exactly I think so.
I believe he was created right after Sora defeated Ansem-possessed Riku. There were two hearts in Riku's body until this moment, signified by their overlapping voices. This is when they separated. Riku's body seems to just sink into the ground, and his [extremely bright white] heart vanishes.
Sora then stabs himself with the Keyblade of Heart that Riku forged, creating Naminé, Roxas, and his Heartless.
Ansem then manifests from a Dark Portal as his physical self, completed by Riku's darkness (since all a Heartless's body is, is the darkness of the heart made physical), and Riku's heart momentarily manifests to prevent him from pursuing Kairi and the others. After they escape, Riku's heart then goes to "a place of darkness where hearts are gathered." And Mickey tells him it was "too late for his body."
By this point Riku's body and soul had already become his Nobody, and his heart couldn't return to it, even though his heart had overpowered Ansem's. Riku's heart "won the battle against darkness", so he wasn't taken over permanently by Xehanort like Terra was, which is why Terra never created a Heartless or a Nobody. His heart remained in the Guardian, enslaved by Xehanort, and his body was taken over. His spirit went into Lingering Will.
So then, the nature of Riku's Nobody's birth, and that of Ansem SoD, is unique. Riku and Xehanort's hearts were merged, and Riku's body held both of them simultaneously. After Sora defeated his body, Riku forced Ansem from his heart, succeeding in taking it back, but his body was already occupied. Not by Ansem though, because his body is Riku's darkness made physical, wrapped around Xehanort's heart. [So like Riku asks in his Kingstagram post, he is indeed the reason Ansem looks the way he does.] This is where Terra failed, his heart couldn't overpower Xehanort's.
This "place of darkness where hearts are gathered" is Kingdom Hearts. The Door to Darkness was the door to Kingdom Hearts. Everything Ansem said about Kingdom Hearts in KH1 was true. He just doesn't understand the other side of it, what it is that creates light in the heart. KH3 immediately references KH1 because it turns out KH1 is like... everything.
Kingdom Hearts is the conglomerate of all hearts, and is therefore connected to all hearts. The darkness in every single heart, is the realm of Kingdom Hearts. "All hearts begin in darkness, and all so end." Truth bro.
The light doesn't come from Kingdom Hearts, the light comes from us and our bonds to the things we cherish.
When the Door to Darkness opens, you can see darkness start flooding from it. But when Sora states his belief that Kingdom Hearts is light, light floods from the door. Not because this was really the Door to Light, but because that light behind the door was created by Sora's belief in the light. His belief in Riku. Their bond.
When Sora believed in the light, and it consumed Ansem, it returned Riku's physical body back to him, like Kairi's belief in Sora returned his body when he became a Shadow ["Consume the darkness, return it to light."]. And like Sora and Kairi, Riku returned to his human form without destroying his Nobody. This is also exactly how Riku got his body back from "Ansem" in KH2. Being bathed in the light of Kingdom Hearts, after protecting the others.
From Ansem/Riku's KH2 journal entry:
“Riku began calling himself “Ansem”, perhaps as a sign of resolve. He would live in darkness if that’s what it took to wake Sora.”
“He had clad himself in darkness in order to wield it, and had even changed in appearance. But when the real Ansem’s Kingdom Hearts Encoder exploded, Riku returned to his old form. You could say it was a miracle -- worked by a heart no darkness could eclipse.”
Ansem was shocked to see light flood from the DtD, because he was not expecting Sora and Riku's bond to create such light, given what had just happened between them. He knows the darkness in Riku's heart, it's what he's made from. And he knows exactly where it comes from. The desire to possess Sora’s heart, and his fears about telling him so.
Riku admitted on two occasions after this, to feeling like a "nobody." (ie: Like he had no heart, no emotion, no purpose. As if he didn't matter.) First to Xion, and then to Sora and Kairi during the Reunion.
Castaway - Lost or unclaimed person or thing; Person who is unwanted, not accepted; Thrown away; Abandoned
Out of all the characters, I think Riku's situation embodies most what it means to feel like a nobody. He gave up everything, including his own emotions [his heart], even his form, so that Sora could be happy, which he believes Sora will be, with Kairi. So he hides his own feelings for Sora, resolving instead to keep him safe. "He would live in darkness if that's what it took to wake Sora." Literal and proverbial darkness. [This is why, in the KG after everyone else dies, he reached out his hand, about to comfort Sora physically, but he decided against it. Instead, he protected him. I actually started bawling while writing this, thinking, Of course Riku would have a Nobody.]
Xehanort's heart was within Riku's body when his Nobody was created, like Ventus was within Sora when Roxas was created. So I think he looks exactly like Young Master Xehanort, but his skin, hair, and eyes are the same colour as Riku's. The body and soul he was made from however, are Riku's, and he would therefore identify with Riku. Even though I believe he looks just like YMX. This is why both Terra and Sora have had visions of Riku becoming young Xehanort and vice versa. Not Ansem, YMX specifically.
In DDD, YMX straight up told Riku that he wanted him as a vessel. So, in the added scene with Xemnas in KH1.5FM, I don't think he was comparing Sora to Roxas. He was comparing him to Riku's Nobody. Whom I believe he fought and attempted to recruit into the Organization, but failed. Sora was later their target as one of Xehanort's vessels, because, like YMX said, they moved down the list. Riku’s Nobody doesn’t have the air of hopelessness that Roxas did when he was created, because he knows that his “heart”, his purpose, is the same as his Somebody’s: protecting Sora.
In -Another Side, Another Story-, a heart appears around Roxas, seemingly at Riku's whim, creating a barrier between him and the Neoshadows. This is the same heart from his Dark Mode, the Heartless symbol without the X inside. This is the symbol used on his chess piece in KH3, and it's also Way to the Dawn's token. The symbol we most associate with Riku. Granted, you cant see the bottom three points, but you can tell its elongated at the bottom, and therefore must make the symbol. This isn't associated with Roxas, it's associated with Riku, so he must have made it appear.
In Deep Dive, this symbol also appears. In light, of all things. Riku made the symbol appear around Roxas, Sora's Nobody, and he made it appear here too, on... yellow-eyed "Sora".
"Even in the deepest darkness, a light always shines through." A connection.
Then there's the framing of this shot. The light. There's a similar shot in Yozora. [Almost looks like the bright white light of his heart]
He also sits at the Dark Margin, the shores of which touch that of the Destiny Islands. Even though hes a Nobody, rejected by the RoD and the RoL, he sits right in the center. Twilight and dawn, the middle road.
Riku was pretty down to chill at the Dark Margin in KH2 too, and this is where he and Sora saw the door to light.
Gotta stop here though cuz no more room for pics and I neeeeed them XD
In the KG when Terra and Sora are crying their eyes become visibly red. Like eyes do when one cries. It's a small detail that adds realism.
In the KH2 intro, it shows when Sora closed the Door to Darkness on Riku, and Riku told him to "Take care of her."
His eyes are red.
He had been crying.
Okay so... holy shit.
Remember the scene at the beginning of KH2 in the RoD? I always had the impression the one arriving here was Roxas.
This scene is also shown in the second secret ending for 1.5.
Roxas doesn't have yellow eyes.
Who DOES have yellow eyes, and looks just like Sora?
Looking into this has begun -> X
"Heh." ♡
There are seven hearts to save.
The Final World/Scala ad Caelum
Some of those who's hearts and bodies perish, end up waiting in the Final World before passing on. As such, the Final World represents death, and endings. The stars there are not hearts however, their hearts are already dead, like their bodies. These are their souls, being held there by their soul mates, who are still alive, so they may pass on together (showing that a “soul mate” doesn’t specifically have to be romantic). So Sora's heart and body are actually dead here, and it’s his soul that retained it’s form.
Chirithy weirdly tells Sora that, outside, he's just fine, even though he's dead, and not fine at all. She tells him it's on the inside that he's "in pieces", and he has to put himself back together first.
I believe Chirithy telling him to do this was also vital to the timeline changing. It changed after Riku's sacrifice, so everything that happened after that originally, could be entirely different. To say that Sora is in pieces inside is significant. Shes telling him to process what had just happened.
Everyone who was depending on him died. Kairi reached out to him as she too was swallowed by the demon tide. Everyone he loves, "torn heart from body." And right after that, he watched Riku sacrifice himself trying to protect him. Sora is no doubt emotionally shattered. In pieces inside. The idea of death often makes one reevaluate their priorities. Chirithy is telling him to pick up the pieces, to put it together, so to speak. In his rush to save everyone, he is forgetting to make sure that he himself is whole first.
Xehanort said Scala ad Caelum is the birthplace of all worlds, and a place where all of his selves could be one.
Since the Final World represents death, and Scala, birth, the beginning and the end, I believe that Scala is located in the Final World. At the very least, they are interconnected.
After the final battle, when the keyhole opened in Scala, it opened directly over Kingdom Hearts.
Even though Riku said it was closing on the other side, they were able to follow their hearts to Sora. Even though Mickey can also use the Power of Waking, I believe Riku opened the keyhole because he is the last to emerge from it. [He doesn't explicitly say so because he's a piece of humble pie.]
Scala is composed of many individual islands, connected by thin cables. Underneath each island is a "reflection".
Daybreak Town existed when all the worlds were still one. Upon its ruins all other worlds sprang. Scala was built upon the ruins of the whole world.
Xehanort said Scala was once a seat of power for keyblade wielders. Because it's a place within every heart, and those who Master their hearts could come and go there freely. Nomura said the Final World is connected to the Station of Awakening, and therefore can be visited, like any other world. Sora went to the Final World before he ever died, like Chirithy said. Judging from what Xehanort said, Scala can be visited as well.
Scala ad Caelum and the Final World ARE Kingdom Hearts. Birth and death. Light and Dark. All dualities and the harmony between them. They exist outside of time and space, and yet exist within every heart.
There is light and darkness in every heart, so every heart is a world. A kingdom. The heart's nature is darkness until we care about something, until we see it's heart, and it then becomes real, creating a connection. Light. (And remember, anything can have a heart.)
When we see young Xehanort and Eraqus playing their chess game in Scala, I believe they were in the process of their Mark of Mastery exam, within Scala, within Kingdom Hearts, within their own hearts. And the heart leads to all worlds.
This is another metaphor with the Destiny Islands trio's names. The Final World, a world of endless sky and sea (water, or darkness), is purgatory. It's nothing. When you add the land, or the light if you will, worlds are created. The foundation all things are built on. Land, sea, and the sky connects everything. Scala ad Caelum translates to Stairway to Heaven, and Sora's name also means heaven. His greatest strength is his power to connect with the hearts of others, and that is what creates the proverbial "heaven" within one's own heart.
The Symphony of Sorcery
The dark musical score possessing Mickey can be seen as being controlled by fear or doubt, and Spellican is the source of it. In order to face him, the source of the fear, the darkness first has to be dispelled. To do that, Sora needs a Sound Idea, and its a power that can dispel any darkness. Mickey tells Riku that force won't stop the darkness, but a Sound Idea will.
An "Idea" is a thought or concept, actually or potentially present to consciousness. When something is "Sound", it is free from flaw or fallacy, based on knowledge and experience, is logically valid, and has true premise.
When Sora tries his Sound Idea, they find one isn't enough. Sora is unconcerned, and knows Riku will come through, which he does. They needed 2 Sound Ideas because this "power that dispels any darkness" is love, and that takes a connection between 2 hearts.
Sora and Riku both had a Sound Idea. They traversed beautiful worlds to retrieve them. These worlds however, were fraught with monsters (fear, doubt, and lies), though not as powerful as the "big one". They each considered something that was logical and had true premise. Something that can dispel any darkness. These Sound Ideas then came together and created a "powerful harmony".
The "Sound Idea" that both Sora and Riku had, was that they just might really, truly, be in love with each other. And yes, those two separate ideas they had are in fact so sound, that they literally created music together. Dearly Beloved.
When Riku retrieves his sound idea, he places his hand on his heart and gasps. He then falls into darkness, landing in front of YMX.
This is mentioned here because, Riku originally had his Sound Idea in KH1, which was when he became jealous of Kairi, which led to his fall to darkness.
Sora's boss is Spellican, who can be seen as his confusion over his feelings for Kairi, what is obscuring his truth. That's why Riku instead fights Chernobog, representing his own darkness.
Sora continually refers to Mickey as "Your Majesty", forgetting this is a past time where they haven't yet met. Riku doesn't have this issue, having been calling Mickey by his name for a while because of their closeness, which is pointed out by Mickey's continual remarks on their familiarity, and his hopes to one day be part of the team. Riku and Mickey have a strong bond, as strong as Sora's is to Donald and Goofy. And this past, dream version of Mickey can still feel their experiences in his heart.
The present Mickey knows how deeply Riku and Sora are connected, how much they truly care for each other, and Mickey knew exactly who they were talking about in the RoD in 2.9. And this past Mickey knows too, even though he just met them.
He hears the way Riku talks about Sora, and then tells him blatantly that it's because Riku loves Sora so much that Sora was able to enjoy the music at all. Without Riku the music wouldn't exist. To say their "hearts are always in tune" and that they are each "holding onto a little part of the other" [this part is quite literal as well I think] is to say that they inherently understand each other, they match each other. He's basically telling Riku that they're soul mates. They are counterpoint to each other.
[Counterpoint's Japanese name is Fantasy Notes, but I still believe this is relevant or its English name would be more similar. Perhaps this was a clue specifically aimed at the Western audience but idk.]
Counterpoint - the combination of two or more independent melodies into a single harmonic texture in which each retains its linear character.
Dearly Beloved is a counterpoint. It contains two distinct melodies composed out of identical chord structures, allowing them to be layered on top of each other.
The KH1 version of Dearly Beloved contained only the primary melody. Every game after has contained the secondary melody as well. Riku can be seen as the primary melody. That's why the KH1 version only contained the primary melody, because only Riku had faced his romantic feelings for Sora. Sora was suppressing his. They resurfaced in him when he closed the Door to Darkness in Riku's face at the end of KH1. Sora is the secondary melody.
Sora's score is pink. Riku's is blue. The colours of dawn. The beginning of the KH3 intro is the dawn sky.
"I cant go back to being the liar I used to be. Our rings shall be the colour of the sunrise. Lay your heartbeat on top of mine and let's dance. Let's celebrate the fact that we live in this moment."
"Kiss me once, kiss me twice, give me you. Let's listen to the sound of the sunrise, side by side. Let's vow to live our lives together."
"Its so damn annoying that I want to fall asleep clinging to you every day."
"Under the beautiful blue sky, we would keep sleeping..."
Nomura said Passion is specifically about "Sora and Riku's reunion". He told Utada Hikaru that he wanted it to be like a "Hikari 2". Therefore, Hikari is also about Riku and Sora. All of the theme songs are, including Dearly Beloved, the theme of the series.
The Combined Keyblade has only appeared in The World That Never Was in DDD (the dream), and in the Dark World in KH3. Sora and Riku appear to only be able use it in sleep/darkness. If they could use it in the Realm of Light, I imagine they would be using it all the time. This is intentional, because it's in the darkness that Sora and Riku's connection is the strongest. Because that's where they face their fears, shining light on the darkness. Riku knew he had to face Ansem, his darkness, or he would keep coming back. He had to shine light on him, and what he represented. It's not about changing the darkness into light. The darkness is still darkness, it just doesn't control you. When Riku says "consume the darkness, return it to light", he means, see it for what it is, and don't fight it. Accept it as a part of you. This is how he "trapped darkness in his heart", making him immune to it's influence. It happened when he turned into Ansem, which was when he looked directly at his darkness, and it changed him. He returned to his true form after protecting the others in KH2, after staring directly into the light. Once he realized all he cared about was Sora.
The combined keyblade only manifests in darkness because it represents the truth within the darkness, that Sora and Riku are each other's light. Accepting the "dark power in their hearts", their secret deep feelings they were once ashamed of, which led to a sometimes painful journey. A heart is pain, but pain is being human. This is darkness born from love. Why the combined keyblade has both a light side, and a dark side.
Darkness IS the heart's true nature. It's what we love, what we care about, what we connect with, that gives the heart it's light.
Dearly Beloved basically means, something very treasured or important. It's also something said by the officiate at the start of a wedding. A wedding of sorts is clearly what the original lyrics to Chikai convey.
"Today is the perfect day for an unprecedented vow, our vow. We don't need beautiful flowers or witnesses. Let's wear rings of the same colour."
When something is gotten "dearly", it has been achieved through great hardship.
This is why I think the combined keyblade's name is Dearly Beloved. It's the music their hearts make together manifested as a keyblade, and it cuts through any darkness. Their heart and soul's union.