#cinderiku

Sora/Riku, 7k words, Alternate Universe - Cinderella Fusion

Completion Status: complete! 1/1 chapter(s)

Summary:

Riku used to live at the Royal Palace with his father and stepmother. His father was a member of the Royal Court and a trusted advisor to the King, and had been given the honour of living on the castle's grounds.

In his childhood, Riku had quickly taken to the Prince, and the Prince to him. Riku and Sora were inseparable — the one was rarely ever seen without the other — and they remained close friends until Riku turned fourteen.

During that fateful year, Riku’s father passed away, and Riku and his stepmother were forced to move away to an estate at the edge of the city. Since then, Riku has been enduring her constant cruelty and mistreatment.

Now, having lived at the estate for the past five years, Riku has another chance to see Sora again. That chance arrives in the shape of a letter that appears out of thin air, which invites every member of the kingdom to attend the Royal Ball, held in celebration of Prince Sora’s eighteenth birthday.

Riku’s stepmother, however, forbids him from going. Riku loses the hope of one day reuniting with Sora. But is hope truly lost? Or will a way for Riku to see his best friend again present itself to him?

redraw of something i made during sorikuweek 2020 as a comic of sorts based on @/remousapelli fic with lovely art by @/TheFauxsynder!!

Read the fic here!

i love wondering about what the fuck riku is and how it is he does the things he does (being immune to darkness, wielding it without falling to it, dream eater bs, etc), but i also just love knowing that a big part of it is just his love for sora. like (in regards to darkness) they tell us straight up in bbs that the key to overcoming darkness isn’t light—

aqua couldn’t understand that herself at first, bc of the way she was taught:

"It's strange, the master taught me darkness needs to be destroyed, but how, if not with light?"

Like, even here, imo, she's not getting the full picture? idk for sure what the lore says but like, isn't it kinda accepted that darkness doesn't /have/ to be /destroyed/, necessarily? like, the whole thing is that too much of either is no good? that they need to balance each other out?

Fairy godmother: "Oh, my dear, you're too young to know. Experience more things, and you'll find the answer."

first, cool. Aqua is like what, 18? but fgm doesn't just push/assume Aqua has even properly experienced romantic love. Love that for her, lol. But anyway, the real kicker:

"Just trust in your dreams."

This exchange happens right when Cinderella and the prince reunite. Like, they're hugging and being peak "Straight Couple" lmao but anyway, I still wanted to mention that imo, Cinderella is a pretty cool example? She had a shitty life, controlled by shitty people, but in a way her dreams, wishes, and love for others (verging on jesus territory here lol) kept her heart free (immune???). Like, she says it herself (during "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes, no less)

"Well, there's one thing. They can't order me to stop dreaming."

Like, ??? There it is. But anyway, even if cinderella (and snow white, and others) was like infinitely patient with her abusers bc of toxic mentalities from "the past" and whatnot, like, it still holds up.

I don't even know what I'm saying really, my thoughts just kinda got away from me lol. I just love cinderella and riku and the fact that they're like hella paralleled just kills me every time. I also know i'm not saying anything new, again, i just love freaking out over soriku oop

we all know cinderella had her moment of despair and i might quote the whole scene bc it brings me pain—

but just the fact that The Fairy Godmother appeared to Cinderella in that moment of despair BECAUSE Cinderella still had hope, still BELIEVED, that her dream might come true—???

like if Cinderella didn’t believe at all, if she had given up completely, Fairy Godmother wouldn’t have appeared to her. ??????? MY gosh???

and yeah, a choir is singing A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes and it’s so cool how Cinderella is answering each line—

”Whatever you wish for…”

“No. No, it isn’t true.”

”Have faith in your dreams and someday…”

“It’s just no use.”

”Your rainbow will come smiling through.”

“No use at all.”

”No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing…”

“I can’t believe. Not anymore.”

”The dream that you wish…”

“There’s nothing left to believe in. Nothing.”

riku still believes in soraaaa 😭😭😭😭😭