I'll Tell You When All This Is Over.

[rionaleonhart]

I was pleased when Aqua reached Destiny Islands in Birth by Sleep, because I seemed to recall that she met the young Sora and Riku and it was adorable. I had forgotten that Aqua in fact spent that scene reflecting on how Keyblades have ruined the lives of everyone she loves and are probably going to destroy these kids as well. I'd misremembered that scene as a reprieve from the heartbreak of Birth by Sleep, but there are no reprieves in Kingdom Hearts.


I've never really mentioned Chain of Memories in this journal, even though I did play the original GBA version years ago and, more recently, watched the remade cutscenes from the PS2 version. Overall, it's my least favourite game in the Kingdom Hearts series; I'm not a huge fan of the gameplay or of Castle Oblivion as a setting, and too much of Chain of Memories is spent going over the same ground as the original Kingdom Hearts.

There are, however, some things I like a lot about Chain of Memories. Firstly, it introduces the core themes of memory, identity and what makes a person 'real', which are some of my favourite themes running through the Kingdom Hearts series. Secondly, Sora's interactions with Naminé are awfully cute (in the remake, at least; I don't remember the GBA version very clearly).

And then there's the Riku replica's big gay meltdown.

Now, I've 'shipped Sora/Riku for over a decade, and it's a pairing I still hold a lot of fondness for. I've only just realised, in the course of writing this entry, that it fits perfectly into my 'cynic/idealist who makes the cynic a little less cynical' 'shipping pattern. And it contains one of my favourite character types: the character who makes horrible mistakes and is then deeply ashamed and tries to atone. I was doomed from the start.

Ahem. My point is this: I've loved this pairing since the first game. I read a lot of fanfiction back then (all of which treated Kairi atrociously, unfortunately). And then Chain of Memories came out.

And the Riku replica, who has Riku's memories and believes himself to be the real Riku, has a big gay meltdown in front of Sora.

And I missed it.

The scene in question, in the remake, goes like this:

Sora: C'mon, Riku. Let's quit fighting - let's go help Naminé.
Riku: Together? Right. So like you, Sora - you're always trying to worm your way into my heart!
Sora: Hold on! When did I ever do that?
Riku: Hmph, you forgot that, too? You never cared! It never mattered to you! (runs off)

Perhaps there's a possible interpretation of this that isn't 'I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU, YOU MORON', with a possible side of 'and I can't believe you forgot about that one time we made out'. Perhaps. I certainly can't think of one.

I was so confused when I hit this scene in the remake, because I had no recollection of it from the GBA version. How could I have missed this? I would have to investigate. Maybe the translation of the original was slightly less gay?

Sora: C'mon, Riku, let's quit pushing each other around and go help Naminé.
Riku: What, together? That's so like you. You're always trying to worm your way into my heart.
Sora: Whoa, whoa, time out! When did I ever do that?
Riku: Hmph, you probably forgot. It never mattered to you how I felt! (runs off)

In conclusion, I am hopeless at picking up on subtext, even for pairings I already fiercely 'ship.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

COMBINED REPLY TO YOUR LAST TWO POSTS YEAH.

I can't believe you didn't mention Hip Young Seifer in your last post about doing odd things with FF characters. ALSO HOW DID VIVI END UP IN THAT FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE. THEY ARE THE LEAST ALIKE CHARACTERS EVER.

Would be surprised if there isn't a Frozen world given how successful it is, and I'm sure Lightning will at least cameo (Square seems to really like Lightning). Though BALTHIER AND FRAN ARE OBVIOUSLY TOP PRIORITY. I'm sorry Lightning, I really like you, but Balthier and Fran are my favourites. The fact they weren't shoehorned into a Pirates of the Carribean level very awkwardly is deeply tragic.

I don't really care too much what new worlds are in KH3, as long as we miss out some of my least favourites! Mostly Agrabah (I HATE FALLING DOWN TEN MILLION LEVELS, although KH2 stopped this) and Atlantica (fighting in water is hard ;-;). But of course Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden must exist, or FF characters will appear less and that is just not allowed.

Kingdom Hearts has so many deeply cheesy conversations but it makes me smile. I don't want Donald and Goofy to be forgotten about either, but I love Riku and Kairi. Maybe fandom would even stop treating Kairi like some sort of shrieking banshee! Well, we can hope?

Would be very surprised if Birth By Sleep's plot threads aren't picked up again, too. (I would also have the command board in everything ever. BEST MINIGAME. Except Triple Triad and Chocobo Hot and Cold, obviously. <3)

The cutscene version of 358/2 days is really funny as without the gameplay segments between, all the mentions of ice cream - which were already ridiculous in the first place - seem to come every 30 seconds, haha. ICE CREAM ICE CREAM ICE CREAM OH THEN PLOT HAPPENED THEN ICE CREAM.

FINALLY I've been playing FF13 now it's on steam! I've seen it before, but not for years. I am enjoying it! I still like Hope a lot (and the HOPE IS ANGRY AT SNOW part doesn't go on for nearly as long as people complaining about it suggest, though it's by no means short). Snow is -really annoying-. I'm sorry, Snow. I want to like you -but I really want to punch you most of the time-. I am going to have my party - when it lets me select - be Team Favourite Characters, aka Lighting, Hope and Sazh. (Sazh is the actual best.) I don't care if it doesn't work. I WILL MAKE IT WORK SOMEHOW.

(The captcha below this post is "question everything" which I think is hilarious.)

You can probably tell this is me by the TERRIBLY LATE REPLY, but:

-timydamonkey

[rionaleonhart]

It's always so good to see you! Hello! ♥!

Hip Young Seifer is, I think you'll find, a great thing Kingdom Hearts did with a Final Fantasy character. (I'd completely forgotten that Vivi was supposed to be in his gang, and was bewildered when I ran into that little fact in this replay. How did that happen?)

BALTHIER AND FRAN IN THE PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN WORLD WOULD BE BEAUTIFUL. Final Fantasy characters don't tend to appear outside the worlds that originated in Kingdom Hearts (and, for some reason, Olympus Coliseum), but I'm going to hope for this anyway! (I was surprised to realise that no Final Fantasy XII character had ever appeared in Kingdom Hearts, until I was reminded that Final Fantasy XII was in fact released after Kingdom Hearts II (and I think Zack and the World Ends with You cast are the only Square characters introduced in the side games). It's been so long!)

I very much hope that Birth by Sleep's plot threads are picked up, and I'd like to see Roxas again. And Xion. Somehow. (th_esaurus, who has only played I and II, said recently that she hoped III would be accessible to people who hadn't played the side games. I laughed in her face. IT'S NOT EVEN GOING TO BE ACCESSIBLE TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE PLAYED THE SIDE GAMES.)

Good luck with Team Favourite Characters! You won't have a good Sentinel, and I found Sentinel quite useful, but your Medic will be a lot better than mine, so maybe it'll balance out. I went with Lightning, Sazh and Fang, which is almost my personal Team Favourite Characters; my actual Team Favourite Characters would probably be Lightning, Sazh and Snow. Which is actually a viable team; it covers everything but Saboteur, and that's the only role I never really use. But I love Fang's absurd Strength stat too much to give it up. (I also like Snow best in small doses; I've got far more patience for prolonged exposure to Fang. I love Snow, but he is, as you say, really annoying.)