starry skies

After my merch order was stuck in customs for a month I can finally say I have my BRAND NEW TOY SORA CHARM!

✨ YIPPEE!! ✨

He's available right now in my shop!

Along with this, my sticker books are back in stock as well as my wooden baby soriku pins and DDD pins!

Before you go I have one really important detail for the people;

hi it was my birthday AND it's pride AND i'm soft launching a top surgery fund tip jar over on ko-fi and ooooo you wanna donate some funds sooo baddd over here

silliness aside, if i'm being honest I'm kinda going through a lot right now with a lot of uncertainty at work, looking at reduced hours, and being a full-time caregiver to my grandma so that's why I decided to make a little tip jar for it... I'm taking care of a lot of those family expenses rn so I can't really prioritize myself... ;_;

I’ve been tentatively calling it “Destiny Islands AU”

On the surface, it’s a slice of life AU.In the general context of kingdom hearts, they never left the islands, Sora is just a regular school boy and all he’s worried about is what’s he gonna do once he graduates and how he’ll keep his childhood friends post-high school.

But underneath that, this is a post KH3 AU. Sora is stuck in a (wow! so original!) simulation a lá KH2. We get the “bad” and “true” end post Yozora fight, however, this AU follows the belief that the bad ending still happens. This is while Sora is asleep and in his crystal state. Using his powers, Yozora creates this as a way to keep Sora busy and ensure he doesn’t wake up any time soon to spoil any plans.

Sora’s connection to the Real World is through Riku, who has the power to reach out to him via Dreams, however, this starts to cause discrepancies. There is a “Dream” Riku and a “Real” Riku that unintentionally swap places. As Sora’s real memories start to come through, there’s hiccups in the simulation as well. Sometimes he’ll remember an experience that he knows he didn’t go through, he’ll see a ship in the sky where he once saw a boat, and sometimes people don’t remember…..Riku.

As these memories continue to surface, Sora constantly finds himself wondering what’s a dream and what’s reality.

As an aside, there’s a bit of added lore to the islands that goes as follows. The motto is Destiny Islands: of Fate, Fortune & Future.

This is thematically relevant:

FATE (memories): Play island; Where things are predestined to happen

FORTUNE(simulation): Main Island; prosperity from land, community, and tradition

FUTURE (reality): Big Island; Where those go who want change

How does this relate to Sora?

The Play Island is where the discrepancies start, and it’s where Riku first shows up. It’s a place that isn’t tied down to whatever rules the rest of the simulation is running on. A bit of a limbo if you will. This is where Sora starts to regain his true sense of self.

The Main Island is the simulation at large. It has the town, his family's shop, the school and the grocer. It’s as close to normalcy as you would imagine. If Riku hadn’t shown up Sora would probably still be stuck in the routine of it all…

The “Big Island” exists as more of a vague threat. Sora doesn’t realize that “Riku graduating and leaving the main island” means “Riku is somewhere where I'm not” to him. At least not yet. It’s also his feelings manifesting of Riku having left the islands already, except this time he has no way to follow.

Okay but where is the soriku?

It’s the Vibes™

My initial thoughts are that this is a place that’s familiar to Sora, but since it’s a world without “conflict”, it leaves him bored and reflective. Life has only ever been this hometown. Even before Riku shows up, Sora is slowly unlocking thoughts and emotions he hasn’t had the time to sit and think about for quite some time. We know he has feelings of sadness, anger, and hopelessness. Without the constant threat of the worlds falling to darkness, or friends being in danger, how would he deal with these emotions without the context. I’m sure it has him feeling confused and at a bit of a loss. The desperation starts to kick in as he imagines this dull life without Riku, he’ll do anything so he won’t get left behind(….again). It starts to break the simulation even more.

On Riku’s end… he has no idea what’s going on! Seeing Sora constantly “Dream” about the islands makes him feel guilty that he isn’t searching hard enough or that he’s not bringing him home fast enough. He truly believes Sora wants to “return home” and since he never sees himself in this simulation (because he takes his own spot) he believes it to be a home where he doesn't belong. A home he’s not welcome to return to.

However, that doesn’t stop him from at least trying to get Sora back. It’s the least he could do after all. He tells himself it’s strictly his responsibility and nothing more.

Buuuuut….. As they catch themselves meeting up from time to time, lines begin to blur. Sora thinks Real Riku is actually Dream Riku. Riku thinks Sora is simply stuck in a dream world cycle and unaware of what he’s doing. They let themselves be more honest, not knowing they are talking with each other and idk maybe they get to kiss as a treat…

The rest is a bit more of a secret since I might do something with this in the future (looks at my hands….i wanna make a comic. so bad…) but for now that’s the gist of it!

THE MAIN ISLAND.... MY AU.....

"Destiny Islands" consists of a cluster of many small islands; while the outlying islet served as a playground for the children in KH1, the main island—home to their houses and school—features prominently in KH2

Saw a fun chart on twitter and had to draw some cuties!~

It's everybody's favorite rubber hose boy! The Timeless River Charm + Lanyard is now open for Preorders!! 🤍

One more done off the list, he's going to have a white heart charm to boot!

I also have a Jiminy's Journal Reusable Sticker Book!!

50 reusable wax pages for all your sticker needs!