#jellyfishverse

what is kingdom hearts?

i mean underneath the improbable hairstyles and haley joel osment shipping ur fave disney characters

at it's heart, what is it?

is it a fairytale?

is it an adventure story?

is it, like many fans have posited, a story about fate and destiny and predestination?

LOL NOPE NOT THAT ONE!!!

kingdom hearts is a story about FREEDOM and LOVE and HOPE and CHOICE

aka it's about all the good things

(i'm assuming y'all know what it's rly about so)

BUT JOLIE, WHAT ABOUT SORA AND THE DESTINY MOTIF AND HIM BEING THE CHOSEN ONE

hahaha good point citizen

BUT!!!

sora LEAVES destiny islands, not willingly, but by force

and that is how his journey begins

and, in a traditional predestination narrative, that's how his journey would continue, him pulled along by the force of his destiny and fate and the weight of his heroism and etc etc etc and he'd brood about it so much and it'd be so gloomy

BUT!!! while sora does take the role of the chosen one, the hero, etc, etc, it is one he CHOOSES!

he could give into darkness! he could use the keyblade for evil! he could totally turn his back on anyone who asked for his help and go through the story with the singleminded goal of finding his friends and returning to his home

BUT HE DOESN'T. HE CHOOSES TO FIGHT, HE CHOOSES TO STAND UP FOR THE RIGHT AND GOOD THINGS

most importantly, he chooses to laugh and play and love and grow along the way

the power he has is NOT the keyblade!! his ultimate power DOESN'T come from the narrative plot device!!

"MY FRIENDS ARE MY POWER!!"

!!!!!!!!

SORA'S POWER IS THE POWER HE CHOSE, THE POWER HE MADE, THE POWER HE CLINGS TO EVEN WHEN EVERYTHING ELSE IS GONE

SO THERE

but then you say

"hey jolie WHAT ABOUT RIKU IS HE THE ONE WHO DIDN'T CHOOSE OR CHOSE BADLY MAYBE HE'S THE PREDESTINED ONE THE FOIL TO SORA'S GOODNESS THE ONE WHOSE DARKNESS CONSUMED HIM"

NO

YOU ARE WRONG AND DOING IT WRONG SIT DOWN

riku is definitely a foil for sora

he's cocky bravado and he's all sharp angles and he's the moon to sora's sun

he goes about things in a way that's SO DIFFERENT from sora and yeah that's fascinating and cool and a gr8 dynamic

B U T!!!

his story is also one about CHOICE!!! AND FREEDOM!!! AND LOVE!!!

because while riku does give into temptation, he doesn't do it out of hatred or anger

he does it out of hurt and fear and LOVE

riku LOVES HIS FRIENDS and he's TERRIFIED of losing them! he's terrified of not being able to bring kairi back and he's terrified that sora's abandoned him and so that anger and darkness comes from a place of fear and insecurity

and, most importantly THE DARKNESS DOESN'T WIN

RIKU CHOOSES LOVE IN THE END

HE CHOOSES TO OVERTHROW ANSEM HE CHOOSES TO CLOSE THE DOOR HE CHOOSES TO WALK IN THE DARKNESS TO HELP HIS FRIENDS HE EVEN CHOOSES, WHEN HE FEELS HE'S TOO FAR GONE, TO ACCEPT THE LOVE AND ACCEPTANCE OF HIS FRIENDS

THE MORAL OF KINGDOM HEARTS IS THAT YOU HAVE CHOICE AND YOU HAVE FREE WILL AND YOU CAN WRITE YOUR OWN DESTINY

AND IF YOU CHOOSE YOUR FRIENDS AND LOVE AND LIFE AND HOPE, THEN YOU CAN WIN